Celebrating the championship

Since I was in flight from Miami yesterday, I didn't get to witness the Colts' Indy celebration first hand, but saw some of the highlights and heard from a number of people about it. Fortunately, Pete DiPrimio was there, capturing the moment for The News-Sentinel. Marvin Harrison (pictured) and his teammates basked in the love. This is a tremendous deal for Indianapolis, helping to validate the city as a real pro town.

It's going to be fascinating to see what happens with the Colts from here on out. Will they be a one-title wonder? Will they win another one next year or the year after? Winning that first championship changes everything. There will be some changes in personnel next season, that's inevitable. The offense, with the possible exception of Dominic Rhodes, should remain intact. Securing Dwight Freeney will be a priority. His sack numbers weren't as huge as he's had in the past, but his presence makes an impact regardless. Robert Mathis benefits immensely from Freeney on the other end. If the Colts don't reach an agreement with Freeney, the can keep him by making him a "franchise" player, where he'd remain in a one-year, $8 million-plus deal.

Peyton Manning ought to be freed from some pressure, but that won't slow him down. Tony Dungy hinted he'll be back next year, and that would be the best news the Colts could have to start the off season.

The Champion Colts

The Colts are Super Bowl champions. It's hard to say which players seemed the most excited. I'd put Dwight Freeney high on the list. Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark (photo by Chad Ryan) were pretty happy, too. Coach Tony Dungy couldn't seem to quit talking. He came to the interview room with his son, Eric. It was a touching scene, considering the rough year the Dungy family had last season.

Reporters in attendance seemed to expect a little more excitement in Peyton Manning's face for finally winning a Super Bowl. He was happy, but not jumping around like Steve Young or John Elway. Maybe that's because the game was sealed with about five or six minutes to go, so it lacked any final suspense. More likely, this game couldn't reach the emotional high of knocking off the Patriots in the AFC Championship game.

At any rate, Manning's performance should grow in stature as the days go by. It's very impressive what he was able to do in the pouring rain. Other than a couple of special teams botches -- the Hester return, obviously -- the Colts played a thoroughly strong game. They're the Champs. That'll take some time to sink in. I'm a journalist, not a fan, but seeing a great guy like Dungy win was fun to watch.

Rain won't go away

Forget that post about the rain slowing down. It just drenched Billy Joel in his strong rendition of the National Anthem as kickoff nears. It's going to be a wet one. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes better be ready to work.

And this stadium is definitely pro-Bears. I'd say it's 70-30 in favor of the Bears. But I could be wrong. It might be 68-32.

Rain ending as fans enter

I arrived at Dolphin Stadium about 3 p.m. today after a 90-minute bus ride over, and stadium workers were in the midst of using push lawnmower-style dryers on the field to combat the rain and drizzle that hit overnight. The rain has stopped for now, and fans have begun to enter the stadium.

The weather, a big topic down here, hasn't been nearly as beautiful as the last few days, but if rain doesn't start up again, it shouldn't be that much of a factor. I expect the Bears have every intention of running the ball extensively whether it's semi-sloppy or not. However, it wouldn't surprise me to see Rex Grossman go deep early just to keep the Colts honest. As for the Colts, they'll stick with their usual game plan. If we've learned anything this week, it's that coach Tony Dungy believes in sticking with his routine and his regular approach.

Bears fans not hibernating at South Beach

I had the chance to stroll down to South Beach in the sun this afternoon with N-S photographer Chad Ryan. As his photos show in his Super Bowl blog, there are some sights you don't see every day in Fort Wayne. We made sure to attend the sporting event, Volleypalooza. I'm sure you've heard of it.

This is highly unscientific, but Bears fans seem to greatly outnumber Colts fans, judging from the jerseys around the beach. Maybe the Colts fans are at some other locales, however. I'm expecting the Super Bowl crowd to lean toward the Bears, but probably not to the degree that the Steelers fans swarmed Detroit last season. It was like a Pittsburgh home game that day.

The Colts were scheduled to move from their week-long hotel in Fort Lauderdale to an undisclosed location tonight, the better to focus in on the game. It's a tactic common to Super Bowl teams.

The hype here has been everything you would expect, and if I had an extra $2,000, I'd check out Jennifer Lopez's party tonight. It can still be wired to me if anyone's interested. I'm at the downtown Radisson. I'll check the front desk periodically, just in case.

By the way, I' m ready for kickoff already...

Castroneves to deliver pep talk

Colts coach Tony Dungy met with the media today for the last time prior to kickoff and says he plans to bring in a special guest speaker for the team today: Indy Car driver Helio Castroneves.

"Helio and I have gotten to become good friends," Dungy said. "He actually let me in his pit getting ready for the (Indy) 500. It's the same type of thing. That's the big stage, the Super Bowl of their sport. He' s won a couple of them, and I want him to address the team a little bit about what it means to win the biggest game in your sport. He's also a big Colts fan, so it'll be a win-win situation for us."

Dungy was also asked, in deference to his Christian faith, what his prayer will be on Super Bowl Sunday.

"My prayer on game day will really be that it remains a positive experience, that the country can see a great football game and that both sides play their best. As Lovie (Smith) says, (pray) that all the key players get to play and do their best. If we do that, it'll be a great game and a great day."

Prince, Billy Joel and a bomb to Aaron Moorehead

If you've got NFL Network, you can catch Prince's Super Bowl news conference, where he declined to take questions but gave a three-song performance. The place was rocking. I saw several sportswriters slightly tapping their toes to the beat. That's wild, man.

I loved Billy Joel, too. He's singing the national anthem, and took several questions about it, including how difficult it is to sing.

"It’s not the greatest song ever written," Joel said. "What it represents is a terrific thing, but 'America the Beautiful' is actually a better song. It was written in the 19th century vernacular so nobody remembers the lyrics because they don't know what they mean. The melody's difficult, so they drop out on the high notes. It's kind of a slog, actually."

As for the Colts, everyone practiced today except Nick Harper, who's still holding out hope he'll be able to play on Sunday. Dan Marino watched practice. Peyton Manning ended practice with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Moorehead.

"This is about our 20th week of practice, and I think the defense stopped the offense once or twice all year," coach Tony Dungy said. "When they stop them, we give out game balls."

Dungy was being playful. The Colts are loose, and that should be a good sign.