Why blogs rule the universe

It’s good therapy as well, I’ve bitched and moaned and groaned in my comments all over the place today. And you know what? I’m actually starting to feel bettter, just by venting.
NO MATTER WHAT I THINK ABOUT YESTERDAY’S DECISION, I STILL LOVE THE COLTS.

I’m not necessarily pro-benching. I’m pro-do what’s best for the team so they can win another Super Bowl. Benching players just happened to be what’s best for the team. 19-0 would have been cool, but merely a cherry on the top of what is an already excellent cake.

Yes you may quote that.

I’m starting to think that Indy has a pathological inferiority complex. It’s not enough for us to have the best team in the NFL, no, we have to have the best team EVAR!!! How many other fans would gouge out their eyeballs for a 15-1 season? or even 14-2?

Last night was for fan rage. Today is for building a bridge and getting the hell over it.

the other part is pissed because we essentially gave the game away. Is there any doubt we would have won had Manning not come out? I think the fans and players deserved more than that. Caldwellllll!!!

after 3 weeks off and being demoralized because of the way this game went down and then to lose again and go into the bye week weith a TWO game lossing streak

is there practice today?

I’ve been playing my Madden franchise one game at a time. I think I’m about to go put it on rookie difficulty, blow out the jets and go to 15-0. Fuck real life, Madden football is therapy.

It is not the season that is remembered later,it is who held up the trophy at the end.2hell with the whiners.

Peyton does miss alot of games due to injury so i guess they were right to pull him

/sarcasm

First, I agree with my buddy Hank (over at coltpower.com) told me yesterday – this decision was much more Bill Polian than Jim Caldwell. Bill runs the show in Indy. (Consider that Bill and Dungy butted heads on whether to draft Dallas or some unnamed defensive player – we all know who won that one.) Bill has never, ever gotten over losing Cornelius Bennett in that meaningless, last game of the 1999 season in Buffalo. He cites it every time the subject of resting starters comes up. One difference to consider is that the Colts were 13-2 heading into that game, as opposed to undefeated. As much as Polian wants to say there is no meaning in being undefeated, that position is clearly indefensible. There may be “little” or “minimal” meaning, but clearly there is something. This whole thing is driven by fans. We make these people extremely rich, and it obviously matters to fans, so that should give it some meaning. Bill clearly disagrees with this though, as highlighted by BBS.
 
This is a bit frustrating, as Bill is basically thumbing his nose at the people who ultimately pay his salary. I guess the popularity of the NFL can lead to some hubris, as evidenced by the frankness of his comments. Clearly, he does not care much about making friends with the fans.

Last week, Phil B. of the Star said, “the players are playing the whole game, unless they are being kept in the dark as to the plans.” After the game, Hayden made the comment that he had no idea they were going to pull people. Peyton seemed to be the only one with even a clue, as he said Caldwell had told him before the game that he might not play the whole game. That’s kinda crappy that they wouldn’t tell the players, and, I think, builds distrust.

I think the Colts now have more pressure than ever to win this year. Yeah, there was obviously an abundance of pressure before, but it has no doubt been increased. Although losing would have been disappointing (to say the least) before yesterday, I think we could have dealt with it on some level. Now, we’ve pushed all our chips onto the table. We’ve said, “we want to win the superbowl, and the only way that can be accomplished is by resting starters, regardless of whether that means we lose a game.” If we fail to win it all (again), the fan base and media will say “See, we told you! Your policy of resting starters doesn’t work!” People will be so pissed, I think it could lead to people calling for heads to roll. How can you blame that position? That will be 3 times that policy was followed, and 3 times it has failed. (I think there are other, more valid, reasons that we lost those games, but that argument will not be denied any further if it happens again.) Furthermore, even if we win, everyone will always wonder, “what if?” So, even if Polian wins the argument, he still doesn’t win.

At the end of the day, the thing I hate is that the decision has invited all kinds of bad vibes into a situation that previously had ZERO. Yesterday, our 14-0 team was being booed. When they put Caldwell’s face up on the jumbotron, people booed even louder. Imagine – an undefeated team and their undefeated coach being mercilessly booed on their home field. I wasn’t booing, but I don’t really blame other fans for doing it. The brain trust robbed us of an opportunity to see something truely special. There is a superbowl winner every year – but no team has ever gone 19-0. It also concerns me about the players mentality. Two weeks from the playoffs, and I guarantee the players are mad at their coach. They have to feel betrayed. If we are sore about not having a chance to see a team go 19-0, imagine how the players feel. They are the most ultra competitive people on the planet. Personally, I would be furious with my coach. Think of it this way – if you were playing high school ball, you were undefeated, and in the 3rd quarter, the coach pulled all the starters to put in freshmen, resulting in a loss, you would be upset with that coach for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. At least in ’05 we went down swinging. This year, we layed down. Regardless if whether it was right or wrong, whether it was the smart decision or a dumb one, it has resulted in a bad situation. Mad players, mad fans, and an unbelievable amount of pressure to win it all.

I don’t know what’s right, so I don’t really have a position. I guess in Polian we trust, but I can’t help but feel disappointment and concern where there previously was none. I can’t help but recognize that whatever it was we had going on is over, and there are a lot of bad vibes reverberating from the situation, which should not be in the mix at this stage of the season. I sure hope for everyone’s sake – Polian’s, Caldwell’s, the players, and ours – that we win it all. I hate to think of the carnage if we don’t.