More Quick Hits

Now that they can't do the "Indianapolis can't get past the Patriots" storyline anymore, do you think the sports media is going to wring everything it can out of "Peyton still hasn't won the big one yet?" for the next two weeks? After all, it might be their last chance.

Your Super Bowl MVP, Bob Sanders. Seriously. Watch for it.

So the Big Tuna has spit the bit in Big D. Dan Patrick spent about ten minutes today trying to get Terry Glenn to blame Terrell Owens and Jerry Jones for it, and Glenn, wisely, kept his mouth shut. In fact, he actually praised Owens for becoming more of a team player, and Parcells for encouraging that change. In reality, Owens had already started to chug into the next phase of his public career - misunderstood underdog trying for redemption. Bits and pieces of it had popped up here and there - "Hey, the guy played eight weeks with a busted finger! He's really a team player!" - and I had no doubts that by the end of the NFL offseason, we'd have gotten a full-on blitz as to how he's just misunderstood after all. Now, however, he'll be labeled a coachkiller forever. Right or wrong, Owens will be seen as the guy who finally drove Parcells into retirement, and don't think he won't be made aware of that in every interview. God help the next coach to take the Dallas job, because I've got a funny feeling Owens is going to decide if he can't beat the rep, he might as well live up to it.

On the other hand, Patrick did have a great bit of conspiracy theory to share - that Parcells wanted to quit weeks ago, and that Jones made him hold out until the day after the conference championship games in order to dominate the news for the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. It's so grade-school Machiavellian, it might be true.

Not much to say about Chicago's vivisection of the Saints, except that it's a lot easier to win if you hang onto the ball once in a while. That, and Rex Grossman must be doing something right if his team's in the Super Bowl. For all the hype, the Bears' depleted defense isn't that good.