>>It's going to be another game where I am cheering for the Bears but won't be disappointed either way. The Colts are another team I like and have defended against the doubters. All those who can't shut up about Peyton Manning being nobody until we wins the big one can pipe down now. Bringing your team back from a 21-3 deficit against the Patriots, with a banged-up thumb for part of the time, should silence the doubting Kevins. (Well, some of them won't lay off until he wins the Super Bowl, but I consider that their problem, not his).
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>>Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy being the first black head coaches in the Super Bowl is a nice angle. I hope it doesn't get overdone. (It will, of course). What I like and respect about both of them is not the color of their skin but the way they comport themselves on the field. Neither of them is the typical football coach type with a neck vein about to burst at any moment. You can see the loyalty their players feel toward them.
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>Lovie Smith... what kind of a name is that for a head football coach?
>That name alone should cost him the game.:-)

Oddly enough, I wound up sitting next to a guy named Sam at a soccer training session on Saturday. It was for a program we have called VIP, which stands for very important players. Most AYSO regions do not have such a program. I signed up for the class for strictly utilitarian reasons, namely that I schedule the referees and wanted to have a certified backup when one of the regular VIP refs is not available. That happened a couple of times last season and we had to scramble. After going through the class I am hoping for the opportunity. I think it's terrific that kids who are freaks to almost everyone else get to go out there and play soccer. (Sorry, Terry, football). I talked a lot to Valerie, the head of the program, and others who have been involved. It sounds really cool. They tell me most of the kids are emotionally or mentally handicapped, not phycically. Some of them literally cling to you. Others can't stand to be touched. Some don't like whistles. Some are afraid to cross lines. We were trained how to deal with these behaviors, to the extent training can go. Among the bullet points was how to deal with on-field seizures. It's a whole different ballgame.