Cranky Bastard

ESPN.com - NFL/PLAYOFFS06 - Clayton: Manning picks apart Bears and answers questions: "Manning was a master surgeon on Sunday. For now, Manning is off to the Pro Bowl, but his plan is to return to Indianapolis in March to start working on next season.
'We're going to work in March, and we're going to be better because of this,' Manning said.
The Blue Reign started in Miami on Sunday night, and it might be just the beginning."

I was wrong. This year and last year, I was rooting for the losing team. This year, I believed that Rex could perform and would show those awful sports writers just how good he could be. He proved them right. Last year, I was just rooting for Shaun.
Interestingly, both years, I felt the emotion for and with the winning teams. It is hard not to enjoy seeing Manning win one. One has to truly respect Dungy, because not only did he get the Colts to the Super Bowl, but many would argue that he set up the Bucs for theirs. Last year, I thought about all of the working class folks of Pittsburgh feeling triumph over the yuppy Seattle elite. David, Goliath, I suppose.
What it really does is allows the viewers to feel close to greatness...to history. I know it is just a game, but it is also talent, grit, and heart. These are things that nearly everyone can understand and believe in. We like to see people like Peyton, the ultimate perfectionist, who never felt he could plan or study enough get his big gratifying win. We know how people describe the Dan Marino's who go without it. He is a model of leadership, football intellect, and steafast faith in his and his team's ability to win the Championship. The viewer got to watch him put another huge accomplishment into the Peyton legacy. We will be able to, years from now, talk about how we watched him in this game as if it were lore. I suppose it becomes lore at some point. What is clear is that Peyton is not lucky. He is talented, prepared, and one of the game's greats.