Oscar Gamble Society

Very happy for the Saints, their fans, and the city/region on whole. Yes, I jumped on that bandwagon along with most of the country. As I’d explained previously, I’m happy that Bill Polian didn’t get “justification” for the disgraceful laydown he heaped upon his players (and coaching staff). I actually feel bad for the Colts players/coaches, as their myopic GM denied them an opportunity at history. Whether they’d won or lost the SB, Polian made the wrong decision (again specifically to pull healthy guys - I completely agree that injured guys didn’t need to play in that situation). Okay, I’ve beat that horse to death, so I won’t bring it up again. Oh, but one other thing… talking with a guy Saturday, explaining that I didn’t want the Colts to win cuz it’d make Polian happy - and he countered that he didn’t want the Saints to win cuz it’d make the Kardasians happy (one of those vacuous bimboes is dating Reggie Bush, couldn’t tell you which one - and don’t care)… and I hesitated… he had a good point. Ultimately I decided Polian still annoys me more than the Kardasians, which says a *lot* about my annoyance level with Bill Polian. Also, I love The Who… my all-time favorite band and nobody else is even close. Course, I haven’t been in the coveted 18-35 demographic for a while, so it’s understandable that nearly 50-yr-old band is my personal favorite. I had two general thoughts as I watched them perform at halftime: First, I haven’t seen them live in a few years… really need to get out to their next tour - and I’m sure there will be a next tour (indeed likely their reason for doing the SB, to let everyone know they’re still around… for those that care… which leads me to…). Second, whenever the lights allowed a view of the crowd, I saw… well, a bunch of people seemingly standing around, bored to pieces. It’s sorta like how I would act if I went to a Super Bowl, and the Jonas Brothers were the halftime show (as in, “Um… yeah… don’t really know too much about these guys.”) I know Tom Petty was last year, I forget before that… but is this Geezer Patrol still fallout from the wardrobe malfunction of 5-6 years ago? Hey, I love The Who, so I was fine with it… but stepping back from that, I don’t get why The Who played halftime at the Super Bowl in 2010.

Finally, few specific thoughts on the game: Very well-played game - very entertaining. Clearly one of those “a lot closer than the final score indicates”. Drew Brees was a deserving MVP, and it never hurts to be the QB in this situation - but I thought Pierre Thomas was *huge* for the Saints. Brees was 1, but I submit Thomas was 1A… tough runs (either via handoff, or after the catch), good blocks… he played a great, great game.

I loved the aggressiveness that Sean Payton showed in going for it on 4th-and-goal (from around the 2, IIRC) with about 2 minutes to go in the half. Yes, it didn’t work… but I loved the call. I also loved the aggressiveness he showed with the onsides kick to start the second half - whether it worked or not (and in this case, it did), I *loved* the call. Whether it was “fear of Peyton” or whatever, so be it… he played… to win… the game. On the INT, I can’t decide if Peyton made a bad throw or if Wayne (or was it Garcon?) stopped short, or perhaps a little of both - a miscommunication between the two (i.e. WR thought he was supposed to stop/curl, and Peyton thought he was supposed to continue to move across)? Whichever it was, still a great play by Porter.

Perhaps lost in the review of the game, I submit the kickers played a huge role. Hartley was 3/3 on FGs - ranging from 44 to 47 yards, and IIRC, all would’ve good from well over 50. Meanwhile Stover (oldest guy to appear in a SB, btw), was 1/2 - hitting a 38, and missing the 51-yd kick early in the 4th, with the Colts up 17-16. The Saints took that great field position and marched down to score the go-ahead TD - and complete the successful 2-pt conversion to make it a 7-pt spread… arguably an 11-pt turnaround there. Now, the Saints scored on every 2nd-half offensive posession (except for the kneeldown to end the game) with 2 TDs and 1 FG - but it’s fair to wonder if a “longer” field on that drive (after a successful Stover 51-yd FG) would’ve perhaps produced a FG (i.e. making it, what, 20-19 then) or perhaps the Colts defense does come up with a stop. As mentioned, though, terrific game - one that definitely lived up to the hype, IMHO.

P.S. I’d like to add a third category to the “Blank are gold in advertising” mantra… the first is “Chimps are Gold”, the second is “Babies are Gold”, and now… “Abe and Betty are Gold”. If you asked most people (before the ad aired), whether Betty White was still alive, they probably would’ve said “yeah, I think so” - and if you asked those same people if Abe Vigoda was still alive, they probably would’ve universally and confidently replied, “No way… he’s been dead for years.” God bless both of ‘em… they’re still alive and kicking, and apparently willing to play tackle football (which means they’re in better shape than me, fwiw).

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 9:07 am and is filed under Sports, Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.