Why I'm rooting for the Bears

Ok, it's been two weeks since the painful Colts-Patriots AFC championship game. Dave and I agreed that it probably ranks up there as the second most disappointing game we've seen, behind the Aaron Boone game (which, I hope for the sake of my health, will never be topped). This post couldn't have been written in the first week, but I have to write something now, before the Super Bowl this afternoon.

My father's theory is that one should root for the team that beat your team. Then, if they win the championship, you know that your team lost to the best team. I personally rarely abide to this theory. I prefer to hold grudges, and watch the team that beat my team go down in flames. But hey, that's just me.

Going into the AFC/NFC championship games, I found it interesting that I had no one in particular to root against. I was for the Pats, of course, and the Saints for obvious New Orleans heart warming implications. I've never disliked the Colts, and am somewhat sympathetic to Peyton Manning's potential Dan Marino situation. I have no feeling whatsoever towards the Bears. They're just there and I could go either way. So, given that, I briefly entertained the thought of possibly rooting for the Colts if they beat the Pats. Then they did beat the Pats.

Then I came to my senses.

Let me first say that if the Colts win today, I win $167.50 in Mike's playoff pool and a rather neat distinction of taking two of the top four places. In the interests of winning money and my competitive spirit, I love this idea. But today, I'm rooting for the Bears, because I realized rooting for the Colts in this game is like rooting against the Patriots. Two major reasons:

1) The Brady/Manning debate. It's the classic championships vs statistics debate. Brady has the three titles, Manning is shooting for probably every QB record ever created. Up to this point, most "experts" still pick Brady as the guy they would start a team with, because of the championships. If Manning ever does win one, Brady still has three to his one, but realistically he basically has nothing on Peyton anymore. Manning will have the stats AND a championship. Rooting for the Colts in this game is rooting against the Brady legacy. It's like Montana/Marino - but Marino wins a championship.

2) This years AFC championship game takes on hugely different complexions based on the outcome of the Super Bowl. If the Colts win, the game becomes Manning's "I finally took down my archrival with a huge comeback and went on to win the Super Bowl" game. It becomes a historic game that everyone remembers - not a good thing for the Pats, since they lost (blew) that game. If the Colts lose the Super Bowl, it becomes a top 5 pick on some future ESPN show called "Top 10 greates playoff games or comebacks." I can deal with that. Especially since it could (hopefully not) mark the end of the Pats dominance, that's a huge, HUGE difference. So rooting for the Colts in this game is also like rooting against the Patriots legacy.

Thus: Go Bears. PS - It's supposed to be windy and chilly with scattered showers today in Miami. Perfect Bear weather.