Columnist Calls 2006 Super Bowl 'Worst Ever'

In a column this week, ESPN's Sal Paolantonio describes the 2006 Super Bowl as a "washed out disappointment" between two teams that failed to live up to their high expectations. He argues that it is Rex Grossman's horrible performance that's most responsible for Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning securing their place in NFL history.

It was a washed-out disappointment between two football teams that came into the game with very high expectations and -- in most cases on both sides of the ball -- could not have lived them down any worse.

The conventional wisdom is that the Colts of Super Bowl XLI were not the worst Colts team in a Super Bowl, that the Colts of the 1970 season were much worse. Well, that's exactly the point. Not much was expected from the 1970 team. Not true of Manning's Colts. Not true of Manning.

The full column is here. Thoughts?

Budweiser and its Clydesdales Have a Lock on Super Bowl Ads Through 2012 in Indy

The iconic Budweiser Clydesdales are slated to appear in three of the brewer's seven Super Bowl ads this year, as the company continues its lock on alcoholic-beverage advertising during the Super Bowl, the Associated Press reports. Budweiser has exclusive rights to the ads through 2012, when the Super Bowl makes its stop in Indianapolis.

Ads from Anheuser-Busch are among the most anticipated during the Super Bowl, an event watched as much for the ads during the commercial breaks as for the sport. The company has a lock on the ads, with exclusive rights in the alcoholic beverage segment through 2012.
This year's slate includes seven spots — two lasting 60 seconds and five that will be 30 seconds long. That's a total of 4.5 minutes of advertising, up from last year's 4 minutes.
Although Anheuser-Busch is under new ownership, its beloved Super Bowl advertising — which dates back three decades — hasn't changed.
The ads feature the Clydesdales in several situations: a romance with a circus horse, a particularly competitive game of fetch and a portrayal of the history of Clydesdales and how they came to the U.S.

The full story is available here.

Dungy Retirement Announcement Expected

Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy is expected to announce his retirement this evening after seven years as the head coach of the Colts. A press conference has been scheduled for 5 p.m. and several media outlets are reporting he will announce he is leaving. Assistant Coach Jim Caldwell is expected to be named as Dungy's replacement. You can read more at IBJ's The Score blog here. Here's a taste:

Caldwell, who has been an assistant with Indianapolis for seven seasons, started his coaching career in the college ranks. He spent seven seasons under Joe Paterno at Penn State, where he was credited for making Kerry Collins NFL-ready. Caldwell has shown he can work with players—even when they’re not destined for the Hall of Fame. As a Tampa Bay assistant, Caldwell was credited for revving the QB-receiver tandem of Brad Johnson and Keyshawn Johnson.

Your Take: Time for Dungy to Go?

In his column, the Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz says its time for Tony Dungy to move on. The full column is here.

Listen, nobody is kicking Dungy's backside out the door. Nobody is packing his bags for him. But sometimes, well, you just know it's time. And the Colts have reached a point where they need to know that their coach is in it for the long run and is not an eternal year-by-year proposition.

Do you agree?