Crow’s not so bad!

Well...you read it here first, and last!:-)

My Super Bowl prediction was just a bit off.

Hail to the champs...the Indianapolis Colts! They went out and beat a good Chicago Bears' team 29-17...and silenced a number of their doubters(this one included)in the process.

IMO, Peyton Manning demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is indeed a quarterback, and not just a good passer! For years, Manning put up the gaudiest statistics in the league, but because he was never on the best team, he wasn't able to win the key games as many expected him to. Not that he had to prove himself as a player...his record speaks for itself...but now there can be no doubt that given the opportunity to lead the best team in football to the title, he can do that. It was nice to see him on the winning team.

But to me, always a fan of the human interest story, I was most touched by the fact that, at the end of the game, the Colts carried coach Tony Dungy to midfield to meet his close friend and opposite number, Bears coach Lovie Smith. Much was made of their race when this matchup became reality, but much was also made of the fact that they're very close friends and also Christians. And truly, both Dungy and Smith conducted themselves with class and Christlike grace throughout, and that is a pleasant change in the very "me first" world of professional sports.

We know that people will once again heap coals of criticism on Bears QB Rex Grossman, pointing to his two interceptions in the fourth quarter, and ridiculing him for not carrying the Bears to victory. To you who are so inclined, go to WalMart and buy a clue. Grossman did NOT lose this game for the Bears. The Colts WON the game...because they outplayed the Bears and made the key plays, where the Bears did not.

The Colts are the champs now, but are they a great team? Hardly. But does that matter? No. All that matters is that this year, they are the best team in the NFL...and they earned the championship.

Maybe, just for me, next year, they'll get a gospel quartet to sing the National Anthem! ANYTHING but an off-key Billy Joel!:-)

Anyway, the Indianapolis Colts are the champs...and in the process, they proved me wrong! Congratulations to them!

My Super Prediction

Well, the hype is winding down...and Super Bowl XLI is nearly upon us.

And since I was a sports reporter and talk show host for many years, I figure I have about as much credibility to make a prediction on how the game will come out as anyone.

So here goes my obligatory take on the game.

The Indianapolis Colts are facing the Chicago Bears...two teams that appear on paper to be evenly matched...their records are similar in many ways. But if you listen to much of the speculation in the past two weeks, you'd think a colossal mismatch is in the works. After all, the Colts have the greatest quarterback of this generation, while the Bears' quarterback is so inherently schizophrenic that he can't be depended upon in any way...therefore, the Colts are a shoo-in to win.

Nonsense.

Peyton Manning is indeed a great QB...his record proves that. But a lot of the reason he's been great is that he's had one of the best offensive units in recent memory to work with. Running backs like Edgerrin James and Joseph Addai and wideouts such as Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne don't hurt Manning's stats one bit. And he was an oustanding QB since his college days at Tennessee.

But the Bears' Rex Grossman was also a college star when he played at the University of Florida...he was a serious Heisman candidate all that time. And now that he's finally gotten over his injury history to put in a full season with the Bears, he's shown he can do the job when called upon.

Yes, I know...he had some awful games in there...and people who don't even have a clue how a quarterback rating is determined continue to harp on those games, as if Grossman were a Jekyll and Hyde kind of QB who could change identities at any moment without warning.

But his good games are almost never referred to...and this is curious, when one considers that Grossman was twice named the NFL Offensive Player of the Week TWICE this year. Everyone has bad games...haven't we all had those days at one time or another? Besides, thus far in the playoffs, Grossman has had slightly BETTER statistics than Manning...I guess it depends on what records you want to focus on.

But anyone who really understands football analysis knows that games are not simply quarterback matchup, like baseball games are referred to in terms of their starting pitching matchups. Football is a TEAM game...and especially in these kinds of games, it seldom comes down to individuals very much anyway.

So let's break it down TEAMwise...offense? Both teams scored the exact same number of points this year...sounds like a wash to me there.

Defense? The Bears have a HUGE edge in that department...despite late season injuries that caused them to look like a comparative sieve in the final weeks of the year. The Colts have an average pass defense, and against the run, they were HORRIBLE...giving up more yards on the ground per game than any team in the NFL...and even though it's been better in the playoffs, the jury is still out on how well they can keep it up.

Special teams? No question...da Bears have it all over the Colts. Brian Maynard is one of the NFL's better punters, and return specialist Devin Hester has had more return touchdowns(6)than anyone in NFL history...and placekicking? What about the much heralded Adam Vinatieri? What about him? The Bears' Robbie Gould was the most accurate and consistent placekicker in the NFL this season. If it comes down to special teams, the Bears have the edge.

So let's see...offense-even...defense-the Bears, and special teams-da Bears!

I don't know about you, but those analyses give the edge to the "mediocre" Bears. But there's one more thing to keep in mind.

The Bears and Colts were BOTH 13-3...yet to hear the "experts", the Bears are a mediocre team, saved by the fact that they play in a far worse conference(the NFC)...while the Colts battled through the NFL's best sub-unit(the AFC)to get to this game.

You can only "dis" a team so long before they get sick and tired of hearing it, and the Bears showed New Orleans(this year's media darling)what can happen when a team is motivated by a desire to prove its' critics wrong. I sense that the Bears motivation runs far deeper than the one Manning has to "prove" he can win the big game(which he NEVER has, going back to college), which may show on the field.

It's only my hunch, but perhaps the game may be more determined by the Bears' Manning(Ricky, Jr.)than the Colts'(Peyton).

Final score: Bears 23, Colts 17.

You read it here first.

I should have known

God works in wondrous ways oftimes.

In my last entry, I pined on how things were rather quiet, and wondered aloud(OK, in type, but you still saw it!)if I was doing an adequate job of communicating the things I wanted to say here in this little corner of the web.

I should know from almost 21 years in radio(and doing talk shows), that just because people don't outwardly respond right away, it doesn't mean they're not there!

Right after I posted that entry, I went to the SouthernGospelNews message board. Lately there have been links to my most recent blog entries here over there. And when I did, I found that God evidently had His own comment on the situation.

On the entry regarding Stacy, one of my newest sisters in Christ, it said that 152 people had read the post on the board that linked to the blog entry. And three had posted responses right there!

And even though my final thoughts on SSQ didn't attract anywhere near the attention here than my initial ones did, almost 100 people had perused the board post linking to that blog entry.

What does that mean? It means plenty of you are out there...more than I could imagine! And if you're there, imagine how many of those came here, too....not to mention those who may have bypassed the middleman and come straight here from th SGM home page!

I interpreted that as a sign from God that, hey, I'm not alone out here...there are people buzzing by here all the time!

And I am thankful for each and every one of you.

As if that weren't enough, Daniel Mount and Mike Wilkins, two of the most friendly and considerate "cyber-brothers" I know, also weighed in on my post yesterday!

Anyone who knows me well at all knows that I take nothing for granted....I am grateful beyond mere words for every friend and reader I have out there in the cyber world! And it's those kinds of people that fuel my fire for continuing to share myself and my thoughts for Southern Gospel News, and for this blog!

I'm glad this incarnation of my blog is much more interactive than my previous one....I like hearing(or seeing)your thoughts, and I like occasionally swapping observations and ideas with all of you!

THAT is why I'm here! Not so much to vent..or sound off...and certainly not to attract undue attention to myself! I just like to share my thoughts, and share them with people who might enjoy or at least be interested in them!:-)

It's great to have you all gather in my little corner of the web...for at least a FEW minutes every day!

And truly, I don't care if I get noticed, or thanked, or "congratulated" mindlessly just because I happen to have space here...no, I just want to share...and hear back from all of you.

Thank you all for the privilege and honor of allowing me to do that with you.

And yes, Mike, I DO admire the gentlemen in the original Couriers...very much! And if I have any agenda at all, it's to help them gain the recognition and admiration that they so richly deserve, but don't often get...or at least not as often as they might!

But you know, they don't care about that, just like I don't mind if I appear to get "passed over" in favor of other writers or bloggers that are far more willing to "push the buttons" of their audiences. Ultimately, there's only One Whose opinion means the most to me.

And He just gave me a great big smile last night.

I think it's time to talk about another old album next time.

We'll see where I'm led.

Hello?

(tapping keyboard)...anyone there?:-)

It's been a pretty lonely week around here...not that I haven't had things to do...it's been a very busy week for me!

But I haven't read a lot of things I feel compelled to comment on...and evidently I haven't writtten anything that has compelled anyone else to respond either.

I keep coming back...because I like to write...and I feel I have something to say! Maybe not every day, but at least sometimes I think I have thoughts worth sharing with the rest of you. To be perfectly honest, it's been discouraging to come here and check the activity and find little if any. Am I failing to communicate effectively(or often enough for some of you)?

I could be like some bloggers, who seemingly comment on certain things just to say something, and type out some of my more pointed opinions(I have them, you know)...but I choose not to do that because I don't think everything I think is suitable to share with the rest of cyberspace!

Like every person, sometimes I'm just plain incorrect about some things! And I notice how some people who, like me, have the ability verbally to wound someone who's out there doing his or her or their best, and they do...and I don't want to do that! I try to ask myself before I put some opinion down on this blog, do I really need to say this...and in this way?

For the most part, I have resisted the temptation to throw caution to the winds, and I have refrained from too much potentially inflammatory comment here. But every once in a while, I slip, and say something I wish later I hadn't.

The art of doing these blogs is having the creativity and boldness to say something compelling, while abiding by the principles I know are the best. Once in a while, I do that. I guess the relative quietness here of late has stemmed in part from my feeling that I can't strike the balance I described above, so rather than chance it, I try to be more discreet and reserved.

I'm not saying I'll change that philosophy...I'm just saying that I'm a little blue about things being so quiet around here.

But that stuff happens sometimes...so I refuse to get too discouraged about it.

Who knows? Tomorrow, something compelling may strike me...and if anything does that I feel led to share, you'll read it...right here!

Thanks for "listening"...and for visiting!

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