The Colts just couldn’t do it. I was sure this was “their year.” Lots of people thought that. Everything was clicking, everyone was healthy. But against the Patriots, Peyton Manning just couldn’t find anybody open.

Now I don’t know who I’m going to root for. My backup team, the Minnesota Vikings, lost too. They are the first team I remember really liking, going back to my elementary school days. I liked Fran Tarkenton. But although they’ve made it to the Super Bowl, they’ve not been able to pull it off, and I’m beyond letting them get my hopes up.

It would be interesting to see a rookie, Big Ben in Pittsburgh, win the Big One. But I say that without passion. It would just be interesting.

I still somewhat like the Rams, because of our shared California heritage, but they’re out. They were lucky to even make the playoffs. When I was in high school, living in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., several of us went to a big Christian rally in Phoenix. Tom Wilson, Tim Armour, and me, with Graham Something-or-Other driving (a real adult). We had a great time. Jack Youngblood, a star defensive player for the Rams, gave his testimony. That was very cool. And there was Christian rock music. I remember that we were seated almost in the back, singing our lungs out, fingers held high in the then-popular “One Way” sign. I’m not one to raise my hands in worship–wish I did, but I’m too inhibited, and I would feel too fakey doing it. But back then, I guess I was doing it. In the anonymity of that huge crowd. I need to get over this.