TERRE HAUTE — For the record, Sunday marked the greatest day in NFL history. Colts vs. Bears. Super Bowl. Only in our dreams.
This matchup is a dream come true for coaches Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. Peyton Manning finally wins the big one after all the regular season success, or the Bears’ defense is finally rewarded for its hard work over the years.
Dungy was right. Well, almost. He said the Colts and Bears should play the game off in Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne may have its share of Bears fans, but the point halfway between Indianapolis and Chicago is basically my parents backyard in rural Francesville — exactly 100 miles to Chicago and 99.7 miles to Indianapolis.
That yard was used more for Ryne Sandberg and Shawon Dunston impersonations, but I spent much of my youth watching either Mike Tomczak or Jim Harbaugh in a Bears and Colts jersey.
Several cousins introduced me and my brother to football at Thanksgiving. Before we knew it, we were rushing to fill our Thanksgiving plates to get in front of the TV and watch the Bears.
The Wabash Valley has its share of Bears fans, similar to my hometown’s sprinkling of Colts fans. The farther north you go, the more the Peyton Manning jerseys turn into Brian Urlacher.
As a football fan in college, I was on the fence.
In my Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at ISU, one room would have a dozen fans of each team yelling across the hall at each other.
I’d usually just walk back and forth watching both games. Not wanting to miss a Bears interception return for a touchdown or a Peyton Manning touchdown pass, I’d listen for a roar from across the hall and sprint on over for the replay.
People have told me, I have to pick. ‘You can’t be a fan of both teams,’ people still say. This year’s Super Bowl wouldn’t be so sweet. Maybe West Lafayette would be a good locale for the teams to meet up. The city where Patriots’ linebacker Colvin and Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees played their college ball would be close to halfway. The Saints’ loss was predictable, but what a season Drew Brees had. And Terre Haute native Steve Weatherford had an unwanted busy day punting in Chicago. Kudos to him for earning that job; he’ll probably have it for a long time under coach Sean Payton.
The future is still bright in New Orleans with Brees, the NFL coach of the year and amazing Reggie Bush. Payton, the one-time quarterbacks coach at Indiana State who had an outstanding playing career at Eastern Illinois, was outcoached Sunday. Not only was he outcoached by Smith but by the Bears’ highly sought-after coordinators Ron Turner and Ron Rivera. The Bears are fortunate the Pittsburgh Steelers went a different direction, hiring Vikings’ defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin as their head coach.
The Bears-Colts Super Bowl is a meeting of destiny. Is this Manning’s time to win it all, or does he come so close only to be turned away by a team quarterbacked by Rex Grossman.
It was clear they were the two best teams through most of the season. Both teams had to overcome some injuries, among other problems near the end of the year.
The Colts’ defense looked hopeless. Grossman looked reckless. Give credit where it is due: the men in charge of these teams.
Tony Dungy had patience with his young defense. Just like in Sunday’s game, he didn’t panic. He inserted veteran Rob Morris at outside linebacker, he waited patiently for Bob Sanders and Antoine Bethea to return at safety.
Smith had patience with his young quarterback. He never wavered. Grossman has responded. He played smart and made accurate throws in the biggest game of his life.
Speaking of patience. They’ve got to do away with this two-week period before the Super Bowl.
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone after 4 p.m. at (812) 231-4356.
Given to Fly
January 24, 2007
Given to Fly: Sunday was a great day to watch dreams come true
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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'Til It's Over: Hansbrough, Hibbert give Pacers glimpse of future
You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
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