Super Bowl Blues...

Did anyone see the NFL, Goodbye commercial toward the end of the Super Bowl? Fantastic shot of Brett Favre to close it out, fit perfectly with the mood of the segment, the music, great stuff--and truth be told, I do feel a little like those fans right about now. Football is done, it's over, it was a great season and at some point soon I hope to do a recap with some video clips... But it's over, another great season down for the books. What do we do? Shift focus to a different sport? Or...how about we start gearing up for next season, sure. Is there any potential controversy to tide us over until the draft?

Peyton Manning's press conference is currently being deconstructed, concerning when he asked reporters not to give him a free pass for winning the Super Bowl, meaning to remain as critical as ever. So obviously this shows just how much of a perfectionist Manning is, how much he needs to prove people wrong, to have that desire push him along--or, wait, is that a backhanded slight against Brett Favre? Apparently this is what a lot of people are saying, come on, be serious. Like Peyton Manning has nothing better to do with his post-Super Bowl conference except launch a verbal spear at Favre. Right. Listen, Manning doesn't study game film and criticisms of his performances to show up Brett Favre, he wants to be the best he can be, and if sports writers begin to gloss over his mistakes, well, Manning doesn't want that. He wants people to slam him, to slap him in the face, just so he can go out on the field and prove all his critics wrong. It helps him keep a chip on his shoulder. This is so far removed from Brett Favre it's not even funny--this is all about Peyton Manning, and no one else. This is Peyton saying, hey, I'm not through just yet. I'll be back. And if you guys say otherwise, well then, I'll just have to prove you wrong again.

Or we have Tony Dungy demystifying the historical importance of two black coaches squaring off in America's Sport Spectacle Championship, by saying the true import rests on the fact that there are two Christians squaring off against one another. Look, I know Tony Dungy stands by his faith, everyone who knows anything about football knows that, but there is a time and a place to say these types of things. What happened to simply saying, "This feels incredible," or even "Thank God for this..." How can the race issue be trumped with Christianity? As if there are nothing but heathens in America...

Or wait, are there?

Well, in the end, I have no problem with what Tony Dungy said. True I would prefer all the politics of the scene laid out once the dust settles and sobriety returns, but hey--he just became Super Bowl champ, let him say what he wants, its not as if anyone is listening at that point anyway, which to me cheapens it a bit. But hey, that's just my opinion. There is no doubting the historical significance of the fact, and the NFL has made tremendous gains in aspects of equality on the management level. Though it has to be cause of concern when the amount of black coaches in the NFL (7) matches the number in college...

I'm reminded of what James Baldwin said, after the granting of civil rights in the 1960's. He said, to paraphrase, that blacks and other minorities should wait 100 years before there was true cause to celebrate equality...and well, we are halfway there.

Watch that commercial again, now. Isn't it perfect?

And we never do say good-bye, do we? Post-Super Bowl, the machine gears up for the draft, then training camps, then pre-season, and away we go...

Revel in the afterglow, though, get back on those exercise bikes, read online blogs, watch replay and NFL live, realize the positive impact of sports in bring various backgrounds and people together, head off to work and to sleep knowing that there's no real good-bye, not in the sporting world...

Just see you later.