Isiah Thomas was a phenomenal basketball player with an engaging personality. But his post-NBA career has been an example of living above your competency. He hasn’t shown success in anything he’s done–a couple GM positions, a couple coaching position. He killed an entire basketball league when he helped buy it (the Continental league, which had a team here in Fort Wayne). And now his stupidity has cost his employer $12 million. And he’s still young, with many years in which to wreak further havoc.

Indiana is, of course, rejoicing over the Colts victory in the Super Bowl last night. We got off to a very depressing start with those runs by Devin Hester and Thomas Smith, not to mention the rain. But since God is sovereign and was on the side of the Colts, things worked out.

Yesterday, Super Bowl Sunday, lots of people followed Pastor Tim’s instructions to come to church clad in Colts gear (like Mary, Rozal, Russ, and Pat). That included the entire worship team (except for Marsha Biard, a Chargers fan, who abstained). Pastor Tim, here with Allen Gibbs, preached in a Colts sweatshirt.

Pam got a cute outfit for Connor at Target (right), even though Connor’s Mom, Carolyn, came to church wearing a Bears hoody, that being her favorite team. Perhaps the bravest soul was RJ, who came wearing a bright orange Bears jersey. RJ and Dan came to our house for our Super Bowl party. RJ picked up Dan for the party. I suggested that on the way home, he drop Dan off in the middle of nowhere, but RJ’s not the type of person who would do that.

Connor slept through the second half of the Super Bowl. But in the first half, Mark helped Connor practice his refereeing in a pose I call Touchdown Connor.

A few other observations from the Super Bowl:

• The opening extravaganza, with all the acrobats and colorful inflatable animals and such, was tedious. Five minutes of watching cheerleaders launch into the air? Okay, I got the idea after the first few, and it was nothing I hadn’t seen before.
• That was a sorry bunch of commercials. A huge disappointment. The Snickers and the mouse ads were among the very few that were truly Super Bowl-worthy.
• Prince was quite good. I liked how he did several different song styles. And he avoided launching into his falsetto, which is always annoying. I’ve never been a Prince fan, but he done good last night.
• Hey Adam–what’s with missing a field goal? We hired you to be perfect.
• Now, will everybody please get off Peyton Manning’s back? And onto Eli’s back?
• Poor, poor Rex Grossman. Nuff said.
• I think the Super Bowl should always be played in a dome. Maybe that’s just me. If the Colts had lost, I would have blamed it on the rain. A convenient excuse, I realize. But still.

Pastor Tim told us in church this morning that if the Colts make it to the Super Bowl, we are all supposed to come to church on Super Bowl Sunday clad in Colts garb. So…looks like that’s what we’ll be doing.

Both owner Jim Irsay and Coach Tony Dungy, in the post-game interviews, gave God credit for the win. I’m glad God is so deeply interested in football that he would engineer a victory for the Colts. I would hate to require that the Colts win on talent alone, without divine help. It’s also reassuring that God is discerning enough to know that he should get behind the Colts, and that he should make sure the Patriots (despite their Religious Right approved name) don’t win. Indiana is, after all, a solid Republican state, and a stark contrast to those liberals in Massachusetts. Football is one of the few things in the world that is so important that it requires divine intervention. We should all give it more prayer attention.

I’m wondering who God will favor in the Super Bowl. Will he once again intervene on behalf of the Colts, or will he allow evil to prevail in this fallen world? We’ll know in two weeks.

Wow, am I ever glad I stayed up to see the end of the Fiesta Bowl! How could you not cheer for an underdog from Idaho of all places, unless you are from, uh, Oklahoma. I’ve always hated Oklahoma, going back to their great rivalry with Nebraska in the 1970s (Nebraska was the Good Guys, especially when they had Johnny Rogers).

You also have to like Boise State because they have a blue field. Yes, blue. They’re just downright interesting.

That Fiesta Bowl is among the best games I’ve ever seen. When Boise threw that interception with a minute left, and it was run in for a touchdown, I thought, “Well, they played their hearts out. It was a great season for them.” But with a minute left, they came back with that hook & ladder play, executed to perfection, to tie it up. And then the similarly perfect Statue of Liberty play to win the game.

And then the guy who ran it in immediately proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend. He had the ring in his room, but got caught up in the moment and proposed on the field. For the rest of his life, when he’s with friends and they’re swapping “How’d you propose?” stories, he’ll win hands-down.

Perfect in every way.