I get the sense ole Paul is a bit irked by Bill Polian and Jim Caldwell post-Super Bowl:
"I'm through that. I'm looking ahead."
Jim Caldwell is a stand-up guy. But when he finally talked to a reporter for the first time since the night of Feb. 7, he pulled that looking-ahead-not-back card, one of the weakest in the game. Here’s Mike Chappell’s story and another from John Oehser.
It’s the same thing Bill Polian did when he met with the press late the week after the Super Bowl, insisting when asked about the game that "past is prologue," butchering the meaning of the line as he declined to talk about the Colts’ failures against the Saints. (If past is prologue, than you HAVE to talk about the past if you’re talking about the future.)Call me crazy, but I firmly believe fans are entitled to hear from the coach and the team president one time after they’ve had some time to soak in the Super Bowl, to ponder what happened and to look at film.
If you talk for 30 minutes after the game and never take questions about it from the media again, aren’t you hiding from it? It's hiding or it's contempt for fans and either way it's unbecoming from a classy organization and two highly respected guys.
It’s no war crime, and I’ll get over it.
But for a team that preaches next man up, it didn’t feel like the top guys manned up.
Polian's press conference after the Super Bowl was indeed a farce. But, then again, Polian has suffered from an extra severe case of "bitter-old-man syndrome" since Tony Dungy left. Dungy was good with the media, smoothing over rough edges. Polian IS the rough edge.
Also, Caldwell pathetically parroting Polian's opinion continues to reinforce the notion that he is nothing more than Bill's poodle. Again, I don't agree with that opinion, but perception means a lot in coaching. Right now, if you go to any Colts message board, or if you ask Colts fans in your nearby sports bar, Caldwell is perceived by many to be nothing more than an extension of Polian and not his own man.
Paul Kuharsky is a pretty fun guy and he cares about what he does. So, when you see him taking veiled shots at people (and yes Paul, you are calling out Bill Polian and Jim Caldwell in this piece), it means they've done something that he will likely later log in his primary complaints.
The Colts did some serious PR damage in 2009. Media and fans are still stinging from how they handled Week Sixteen and other events throughout the season. I still have not received confirmation as to whether Polian attended Media Day. I certainly did not see him, and I saw everyone. There just seems to be an extra element of edge added that was not there when Tony Dungy was the front man. I still think Jim Irsay needs to step in and relegate Polian to the background. Bill has a nasty habit of sticking his foot in his mouth whenever he talks. I mean, just ask Howard Mudd (who retired as o-line coach) how he feels after Polian took shots at his guys after the Super Bowl.
"What did you think when Bill Polian said on his radio show that the offensive line was largely responsible for the loss to the Saints in the Super Bowl?'
Here's what Polian said the Monday after the Super Bowl:
"Our offensive line, by our standards, did not have a good game," the team president said. "They were outplayed by the Saints defensive line . . .''
So here was Mudd nearly two weeks later, contemplating the question. He began to talk. Then he stopped, went silent. Finally, after a pregnant pause, he said, "I don't think I want to weigh into that.''
I love Bill Polian as a personnel guy, but he really needs to stop pissing off people. It just makes the entire organization look bad.