Post
by Murfreesboro » Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:43 am
Peyton Manning fan here, so I was disappointed with the big game's outcome.
I am not really a huge football fan (for many years I never even knew when the Super Bowl happened). That changed when Nashville got the Titans, and (a few years later) our middle son astonished us by going out for football in 8th & 9th grades.
When I was a teenager in Mississippi, Archie Manning was the great football hero at Ole Miss. Now, I didn't follow the sport, but everyone in the state was excited about Archie. There was even a song on the radio about him--The Ballad of Archie Who. I kept a soft spot for him throughout the years, including the many years when he was QB for the Saints, a team which was not so successful in those days.
I grew up, got married, moved around the country, and finally moved back to Tennessee in the mid-'90s, when Archie's son Peyton was the star QB at UT. The whole state was enthralled by him. For me, it was like that old French saying--The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I love Peyton. As far as I can tell, he is a person of good character. He stayed on at UT for his last year of eligibility even though he'd graduated in three (he took an MBA the fourth year). When he was hired by the Colts in what was then the highest bid ever made for a rookie, the news reporters asked him what he intended to do with all that money. He said, "I intend to earn it." I love Peyton.
My affection for the Manning clan even extends to younger brother Eli. I was thrilled for him when he so improbably won the Super Bowl the year after his big brother.
I have to say that I thought all last week the news media was pulling for the Saints. All those stories about how symbolic a victory would be for NO, all the talk about how the Saints had never been to the Super Bowl before. It was clear that they were laying the groundwork for a "root for the underdog" spirit throughout the U.S. I was slightly irked that it seemed to me the media was taking sides.
Now, I grew up 150 miles north of New Orleans, so I am not against that city, not at all. In a way I am happy for them. I just wish their big victory hadn't come at Peyton's expense. And of course, it is very ironic for him, since he is himself a NO native and grew up cheering his dad with the Saints.
Anyway, congrats to NO. But I can't watch any of the celebrations on TV, just can't.
