Hello Everybody! Who Dat? So great to see so many smiling faces. Who Dat! How's everyone been? Who Dat?!
This is a very special broadcast of The Tuckgraph Show, as it is our Super Bowl (Feud) Spectacular! And some might wonder why we've included that word, "Bowl," but that's not why we're here tonight. It's Super! And it's a Feud!
Quick background. Tonight we're leaching off a sports spectacular (this could be a long blog), which is the pinnacle of American football. That means it's not soccer or rugby. It's the championship of the National Football League! This year's combatants are:
That's the game part. As for the parenthesis (Feud) part, it's a friendly rivalry between:
Okay, stop it. Stop The Show right now. For the record, I know neither of the people in the photos above. That is not me, nor is it Indianamom. As far as I know. :) Indymom lives in Indianapolis Colts Country, while I reside in New Orleans Saints Country. It's a geographical thing. Now, on with The Show!
I got to wondering, why did Indiana name their largest city Indianapolis? Wouldn't it have been easier to name it Metropolis, and name the state Metro? :) Could be worse. Can you say Louisianapolis Saints? Oh, we're just getting started! :)
This is where I need to say something. Every "expert," every "prognosticator," every "Colts Fan" I know, has predicted a Colts win. And I've had enough of it. Let me say this right now, as a Saints fan:
"We're gonna win the game.
I guarantee it."
Don't get me wrong, we're here to have fun tonight. But this game means oh, so very much to Saints fans. And to Colts fans, I know. And there's a lot of people who really don't care. I hope this Show will be a fun Show for all of us!
With that in mind, I would like to dismiss the "X's and O's" of the game. Believe me, it is an intriguing matchup! We'll gloss over it here, but there's a couple of websites that are outstanding for up to the minute Super Bowl news, from both teams' fans perspectives.
For Saints Fans, I rely on this website:
Saints Big News Page
For Colts Fans, this website is a great resource:
Colts Big News Page
Tonight, I'd like to take a look at The Big Picture. We'll look at a history of the Colts and Saints, and how it relates to the history of the Super Bowl. We'll also look at how it weaves into a great tapestry, much like a fine quilt, or an automobile into an oncoming lane. Let's break it down.
The Saints Super Bowl History
Thank you, goodnight everybody! :) Yes, the Saints have never been to the Super Bowl. But there's still some interesting stuff here! The Saints were founded in 1967, the first year of the Super Bowl. Chew on that! :) Sadly, it took the Saints 21 seasons (like 21 years) to even have a winning season! No offense to the Redskins, but what a Trail of Tears! That was a bad joke.
But the Saints did start having winning seasons, going to the playoffs, and eventually got to within one game of the Super Bowl. In 2006, they lost to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game. Meanwhile...
The Colts Super Bowl History
When you think of the Colts, what do you think? One name. Peyton Manning. He is the standard of excellence, a first ballot to the hall of fame. Despite all the MVP awards and accolades, he's only won one Super Bowl. In 2006, when he beat the Bears. Yeah, the same team that beat the Saints to go to the Super Bowl! So chew on that! :)
Before that, the Colts had been to the Super Bowl only once.
A Brief History of the Super Bowl
As It Relates To What I'm Talking About
There was a time when there was no Super Bowl. I know that's hard to imagine. It was just the NFL, a tough as nails league of guys with names like Otto Graham. Old School. I mean, how many people do you know named Otto? If I ever have a son (It could happen!), I just might name him Otto. Otto Tuckgraph. Get Otto here! :)
Problem was, there was this upstart league called the American Football League. They couldn't settle their differences, so they became one league with two conferences, the AFC and the NFC. And they play each other for the Super Bowl! This is like the Don Pardo version of Wikipedia. :)
We need to make this relevant quick. In the first couple of Super Bowls, the Green Bay Packers won, under the tutelage of Vince Lombardi. 
The Super Bowl Trophy is called The Lombardi Trophy. 'Nuff said about that man! And it was well established that the NFC was dominant over the upstart AFC.
Then, in Super Bowl III, something happened. The NFC was represented by the Baltimore Colts (they moved, get over it), and the AFC was represented by the New York Jets. The Colts were a 17 point favorite.
The game was played in Miami, same as this year's contest! Everyone ragged on the Jets about the disparity. Then the Jets quarterback, "Broadway" Joe Namath, said:
"We're gonna win the game.
I guarantee it."
A nation sat in stunned silence (not to mention their lazyboys). The rest is, as they say, history. Yeah, the Colts got beat by this guy:
At the time, I was an eight year old snot nosed kid. I thought Broadway Joe was cool. He was flamboyant, a party guy, and a ladies man. He carried that moniker long after retirement, to some rather awkward moments:
Joe Namath is Struggling
On a side note, after seeing that video, Joe sobered up. He went on to earn his college degree at his alma mater, the University of Alabama. I am a vessel of irrelevant knowledge.
Joe cemented his place in history in 1970. And while he was cool to me, I discovered someone else that year who was much cooler to me. On a Sunday afternoon in Tulane Stadium, the New Orleans Saints captured my heart and imagination.
They were playing the Detroit Lions. I happened to be watching the game. It came down to a field goal. And this kicker, Tom Dempsey, kicked it 63 yards to win the game. Just a regular season game, in a losing season. But here's the kick:
I want to hug Tom Dempsey's foot.
And here's Tom's kicking foot:
At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Still ranks up there. No one's beaten that kick, I hope they never do. When someone has half of what the Good Lord has given everyone else, and does something no one else has ever done better, I still smile and shake my head. Maybe I get misty. I keep that to myself.
Where was I?
Back to the Super Bowl. After the Jets/Colts game, there came a string of dynasties, the Steelers, the Cowboys, the 49'ers.
Then, in 1985, something happened. It was the Chicago Bears! They were led by Coach Mike Ditka (who later coached the Saints!), and a band of brash but talented players, like Jim McMahon, William "The Refrigerator" Perry, and Walter Payton. And the game was played in the Superdome in New Orleans!
I can't even remember who they played. Might have been the Patriots. All I remember is their swagger. Does anyone else remember that? It was a time when the media was changing. MTV was still in its infancy, and they still played videos!
In fact, 'Da Bears made their own music video, called The Super Bowl Shuffle. If you missed it, here it is:
I Can Bearly Stand It.
I only bring this up, because today the Colts have made their own fan spirit inspiring music video. It's actually better than expected:
Good Luck Sunday
Alright, we've reached the halftime of The Tuckgraph Show Super Bowl (Feud) Spectacular! We'll be back in a couple of days for more insights and analysis! :)
Tonight's halftime entertainment features the same halftime entertainment for this year's actual Super Bowl!:
:) After your bathroom break, I'd like for you to check out a couple of links.
The first is a brief commentary by LeCharles Bentley. He was a Pro Bowl (meaning he was good) center for the Saints. He now lives in Cleveland (he's an Ohio native), and wrote a piece about the relationship between New Orleans and the Saints, for the local paper up there:
The second is a link to a mashup of the last game the Saints played, against the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC Championship. Whether you saw The Game or not, I think you'll appreciate this most excellent video:
This is the way that we live.
Okay! We'll be back with the second half of The Tuckgraph Show Super Bowl (Feud) Spectacular in a few days (before the game).
And major props to Indymom, a real clas$ act!
:)
TG