A fitting finale
Matt Hallahan
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Sports
It's not every season that two Super Bowl contenders seem fated to play each other. Not like the Cowboys/Steelers of '96 or the Broncos/Packers of '98. Sometimes you get a rare wild card with an obscure national following (recent examples - Seattle and Arizona) that deflates the ideal hype for sports' most beloved holiday. This year, after its all said and done, the Saints/Colts match up just seems right.
Each team could have (one of which should have) finished the season undefeated, a feat that would have made this week the most highly regarded in Super Bowl history. Nonetheless, CBS must be drooling over the fact that the league's two most efficient offenses will be playing in front of an American audience that feeds on immediate gratification - as only fate would have it.
It could be a fate fashioned for Pierre Garçon, the second-year wide out from Mount Union College. Balancing football with troubling family matters in his native country, Haiti, Garçon will have the opportunity to beatifically represent his distressed nation in a way that no number of Division III national championships could.
With each succeeding week, Garçon has written another page in the opening chapter of what looks to be his epic NFL biography. Last week, on the grandest stage of his career, Garçon reeled in 11 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown. Despite the undoubted progress of both Garçon and rookie slot receiver Austin Collie, defensive secondaries neglect to shift their priorities away from Reggie Wayne. And as Wayne played the role of silent hero in Indianapolis' 2007 Super Bowl run behind the shadow of Marvin Harrison, these rags-to-riches youngsters could also become the difference makers in this season's finale.
Super Bowl
On the other hand, it could also mean fate for New Orleans. Like the relief Garçon receives from playing football during these hard times back home, so too does the city of New Orleans seek reparation for half a decade of turmoil. The Saints had their shot at the Colts in 2007, but came up one game short in an NFC Championship loss to the Bears. Now given the opportunity three years later, the Saints will be damned if they let this one slip. Just a stone's throw across the gulf, the New Orleans faithful will move the party from Bourbon Street to Vice City - a dangerous mix for a crowd of Super Bowl virgins.
One Saints fanatic, however, will not be partying like its Mardi Gras. Archie Manning, who has endured 36 years of retirement to finally see his Saints reach the Super Bowl, must now watch his team stand opposite to his second-born son, Peyton. Whereas a week ago Archie demanded Favre's head on a plate, he certainly now prays for some saintly protection for his boy against that same New Orleans defense.
Peyton will get the protection he needs, and he will confidently produce his usual numbers. Naturally Brees will get his, too. With a hobbling Dwight Freeney on the Colt's pass rush, it is tough to imagine that either offense can be stopped. Since I cannot estimate a suitable champion, I'll call it a toss up - the team that wins the toss will win the game. Because, in a league epitomizes the "Any given Sunday" philosophy, there is no room to meddle with the dreamy façade of fate. I would rather leave it in the hands of pure luck.
Each team could have (one of which should have) finished the season undefeated, a feat that would have made this week the most highly regarded in Super Bowl history. Nonetheless, CBS must be drooling over the fact that the league's two most efficient offenses will be playing in front of an American audience that feeds on immediate gratification - as only fate would have it.
It could be a fate fashioned for Pierre Garçon, the second-year wide out from Mount Union College. Balancing football with troubling family matters in his native country, Haiti, Garçon will have the opportunity to beatifically represent his distressed nation in a way that no number of Division III national championships could.
With each succeeding week, Garçon has written another page in the opening chapter of what looks to be his epic NFL biography. Last week, on the grandest stage of his career, Garçon reeled in 11 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown. Despite the undoubted progress of both Garçon and rookie slot receiver Austin Collie, defensive secondaries neglect to shift their priorities away from Reggie Wayne. And as Wayne played the role of silent hero in Indianapolis' 2007 Super Bowl run behind the shadow of Marvin Harrison, these rags-to-riches youngsters could also become the difference makers in this season's finale.
Super Bowl
On the other hand, it could also mean fate for New Orleans. Like the relief Garçon receives from playing football during these hard times back home, so too does the city of New Orleans seek reparation for half a decade of turmoil. The Saints had their shot at the Colts in 2007, but came up one game short in an NFC Championship loss to the Bears. Now given the opportunity three years later, the Saints will be damned if they let this one slip. Just a stone's throw across the gulf, the New Orleans faithful will move the party from Bourbon Street to Vice City - a dangerous mix for a crowd of Super Bowl virgins.
One Saints fanatic, however, will not be partying like its Mardi Gras. Archie Manning, who has endured 36 years of retirement to finally see his Saints reach the Super Bowl, must now watch his team stand opposite to his second-born son, Peyton. Whereas a week ago Archie demanded Favre's head on a plate, he certainly now prays for some saintly protection for his boy against that same New Orleans defense.
Peyton will get the protection he needs, and he will confidently produce his usual numbers. Naturally Brees will get his, too. With a hobbling Dwight Freeney on the Colt's pass rush, it is tough to imagine that either offense can be stopped. Since I cannot estimate a suitable champion, I'll call it a toss up - the team that wins the toss will win the game. Because, in a league epitomizes the "Any given Sunday" philosophy, there is no room to meddle with the dreamy façade of fate. I would rather leave it in the hands of pure luck.
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