From Greenfield Daily Reporter writer Sam Jackson:

Only in the mind of the modern sports fan can a team that is still vital and only two years removed from a championship need to change gears. That’s the problem with the flood of instant, nationwide sports coverage. We’re all so inundated with the Yankees, Patriots, North Carolinas, Dukes or anyone from a Bowl Championship Series conference that fans everywhere expect a dynasty. Why be happy with one championship if you have the talent to win several?

Fail to do so and you’re labeled a "choker." Ask Dungy and Peyton Manning about that.

A ridiculous headline on the Deadspin, one of the most popular of the litany of sports blogs, asked the question Sunday, "Is Peyton Manning still a choker?"

The author, Dashiell Bennett, put the loss to the Charges squarely on Manning, who he said was "merely good" against San Diego (25-of-42, 310 yards, TD). No matter that Manning didn’t even get the ball in overtime.

"He won the big one once," the post read, "and has promptly gone back to losing them. So has anything really changed?"

A minor point here: If you had to win the big one more than once to shed the choker label, wouldn’t it be called the "big many?"

Let's first of all applaud Sam for a great article. Second, he should make a habit of not ever quoting Dashiell Bennett at Deadspin. I like Deadspin. I think AJ has done a great job since taking over for Will. But Dashiell Bennett is a complete schmuck, and the next competent comment he makes about football will be his first. As far as Deadspin commenters go, if raving stupidity had a Mecca, it's the Deadspin comments section.

Third, as we have long said, people can oftentimes be very stubbornly stupid. Certain people simply can't let go of the always false myth that "Peyton Manning can't win." And like all hacks who subscribe to this nonsense, whenever Peyton and the Colts prove them wrong, they move the goal posts. Now, in order for Peyton to prove he isn't a "choker" again, he has to win another Super Bowl.

Huh?

I look at sports fans, and football fans in particular, in two factions: Those that have brains (like us), and those that are clueless idiots (like Deadspin commentators). Guess which faction the Manning haters fall into. If you actually believe Peyton Manning is a choker in the playoffs, you need to seek professional help. You are so completely separated from reality that is almost makes me want to cry for you. You're like those Nazis in Hitler's bunker in April 1945, still clinging to the desperate hope that Der Fuhrer will save the Fatherland despite the fact that Russian soldiers are drinking schnapps and dancing on your roof.

Yes, I just compared Manning Haters to Nazis. Both are dumb, fanatical, and spew nothing but hate. They also like lederhosen and have only one testicle.

And for all you Colts fans out there, you really need to stop listening to the Colin Cowherds, Jason Whitlocks, and Bob Kravitzs of this world. All three think Peyton is a playoff choker, which means all three are frantically stupid. You simply cannot let yourself get worked up when these jokers spew their hate. If you want a good defense against it, make fun of them. I mean, Colin Cowherd is a skinny bitch who steals content from bloggers, Jason Whitlock is a fat bastard who thinks Jeff George was a great QB, and Bob Kravitz is the laughing stock of Indy local media. At what point did the opinions of these silly schmucks become relevant? Seriously, if three MVPs, a Super Bowl ring, and a Super Bowl MVP are not enough to convince certain people that Peyton Manning is one of the best QBs ever, then nothing will ever appease them. Nothing!

Thus, they simply must be ignored and, if possible, made fun of.

And for any Colts fans screaming that "change" is needed, sorry but you need to be ignored too. No offense, but if you are mad about six seasons of 12 wins, a Super Bowl, a new stadium, three NFL MVPs for your QB, and an 7-6 playoff record since Tony Dungy arrived (0-2 prior) then you are never going to be satisfied and you need to get off the bandwagon. Being frustrated about losing to the Chargers for the second year is natural, and expected. But you have to let that go, dust yourself off, and move forward. I had a blogger friend ask me the other night if the Colts had a down year in 2008. The answer is yes, but look at the facts: 12 wins, no division title, a playoff birth, and a MVP award for our QB.

That's a "down" year for Indy.

Give that year to 30 other NFL teams and they'd throw a parade. The only exceptions are New England and Pittsburgh (both considered our rivals, not our betters). Again, as Sam states, only the modern sports fan would be pissed at a team like the Colts right now. I love sports, but there are a lot of modern sports fans who are very, very stupid. They are wrapped up in their own little reality where only multiple Super Bowls will make them feel complete. We call these people losers.

So please, gain some friggin' perspective. I do not want our fanbase to develop into the most fickle in pro sports, but I see us headed down that road. I see us headed down the road of the "modern sports fan." We have people actually mad about the direction this franchise is going in. I have no understanding for the mindset of such people, and the best reason I can come to for how they think is to just say they are idiots who lack perspective. There is simply no other rational way to explain their line of thinking. None.

Sorry if this comes off as harsh, but I'm sick of the BS. I'm sick of the whining. I am proud of how this team fought in 2008 despite the tremendous obstacles, and if others out there are mad or disappointed that this team didn't win another Super Bowl in 2008, they need to step back and chill for a bit. If they can't do that, they need to stop rooting for an NFL team. This is life as an NFL fan folks, and the Colts are as good as it gets. If you cannot be satisfied by what they have accomplished, here's the door. By all means, let it hit you on the way out, because you need a good smack upside the head.

For the majority of you who are sane and rational, Go Colts!

The Bill Polian Show is highly entertaining, especially if you like to hear Bill Polian talk about football philosophy, strategy, and history. He really is a fountain of football knowledge, and while he likes to pontificate a bit on certain things, he keeps his knowledge (and his cards) very close to the vest. Someone once called into his show and asked him if he planned to write a book when he retired. Polian laughed and said no because he has family and friends still in the business. He doesn't want to give away his secrets.

Subtle hint folks: Never play poker with Bill Polian. He will clean you out, George C. Scott style.

Never play poker with Bill Polian or The Hustler's Burt Gordon.

Photo: www.susangreen.org.uk

Some Colts fans get annoyed with Polian and his show, claiming he does nothing but spin, spin, spin. Even some media people, like former Raiders GM Mike Lombardi, who now works for National Football Post, think GM radio shows do nothing but cause problems.

On this point, I disagree. And Bill Polian's show proves it can work. The benefit of a show featuring your team's GM is it can give the fans insight into the kind of person running the team. In the case of now former Cleveland GM Phil Savage, his show proved he was a clueless idiot with no business running an NFL franchise. This was made even more abundantly clear with his now infamous F&*k You email to a fan. If I'm an NFL owner, I would insight my GM have a local radio show. If you cannot field calls or questions from fans, how the hell are you going to deal with the stress of working a high level NFL personnel job?

In Polian's case, he does a great job answering (sometimes moronically stupid) fan questions. It is particulary enjoyable to read his responses after a loss. With this, you have to give him credit. Very few people will put themselves out there after a heart-breaking loss. Bill does it each and every week, win or lose. That should offer you some small insight into Polian's character. Like him or not, he will not back down from his responsibilities. He will own any problem, stand up for anyone on his team.

That said, here are the highlights from the last Bill Polian Show of the 2008 season:

• With all the injuries and rotten luck the Colts went through in 2008, Polian is surprised the team got as far as it did.
• The loss to San Diego was not the fault of the defense. They just wore down in OT. Indy's inability to run the ball cost them the game.
• Kelvin Hayden will get re-signed.

To think you could go into that game without Marlin Jackson and without Gary Brackett against that high-powered offense and essentially hold them to 17 points in regulation – which should be enough to win in every National Football League game; that’s the blueprint – that’s an incredible performance by our defense. As I say, they were from the Cleveland game on among the best defenses in the National Football League. To not have their performance rewarded really hurt. It hurts badly

This was the most difficult season of all the playoff seasons we’ve had. You’re going to lose some games like this. Every year, everybody except the Super Bowl champion goes home a ‘loser.’ In every city, there are calls for everyone’s head. There are calls for change in direction. Over time, that has proven not to be the correct approach. If you look at the teams in the National Football League who habitually win, they are the ones who do the right things and stay the course. The teams that habitually give in to the short-term frustration of losing are the ones that continue to lose.

Again, I love Bill Polian. It takes a no-nonsense guy to handle Hoosier fans sometimes.

It was pretty obvious that the 2008 season featured some of the worst officiating in recent memory. From Ed Hochuli's blowing the call on the Jay Cutler fumble in Week 2 to Ron Winter's crew embarrassing the NFL in OT by handing first downs to the Chargers; all around, a horrible officiating year. I focus on officials today because, some five days after the Colts lost to the Chargers, media are still complaining about Ron Winter's crew and how the called the OT period.

For the Colts in particular, officials have really screwed them out of a couple of victories this year. Against the Jaguars in Week 3, Freddie Keiaho was called for a bogus pass interference call that helped the Jaguars win in Indy. Now, after the fallout of the Chargers loss, I think it is pretty safe to say the Colts were screwed by the refs this year.

Look, I have no problem with Winter and his crew calling the Clint Session facemask, the Eric Foster hold, or the Tim Jennings hold in OT. No problem at all. However, that kind of stuff was going on ALL. NIGHT. LONG. And much of the facemasking and holding was being done by the Chargers. Even PhilB saw it. On the now infamous 3rd and 2, Dallas Clark was held. Manning had to pull down the ball, and the result was a sack. Holding like this was routine for the Chargers. Yet, for the game, they had 3 flags called against them.

3 friggin flags.

And if Winters is going to call the Clint Session facemask (which was a correct call, imho), then he should have thrown the flag on #61 of the Chargers. Why? Because he was grabbing Clint's facemask as well.

As you can see, either no flag should have been thrown, or two facemask penalties thrown, and have them off-set.

And while we are on the subject of facemask, Chargers offensive linemen where grabbing and pulling on Dwight Freeney's all night. They couldn't block him. So, they did anything and everything to slow him down. Sadly, the refs decided to be selective with enforcing the rules:

Under the new NFL rules, that's a 15 yard facemask right there. Sadly, no call. in fact, no calls all night long. Ron Winter = douchebag

The Jennings hold is the one Winters and the NFL are getting roasted on, but as you can see there were plenty of blown calls all throughout the game.

Listen, I have absolutely no problem with refs calling penalties like the ones Winters and his crew called in OT. Holding is holding, whether in the first minute of a game, or in OT. My beef is the refs were not calling these things all evening. Then in OT, for seemingly no reason whatever, they are throwing flags.

Why?

The answer is simple: The NFL and NBC wanted the game over with. The game was approaching midnight Eastern time, and if San Diego hadn't won it on the first drive, NBC would have had to shell out more money to continue broadcasting the game. It would have likely meant free commercial time, and additional pay for the TV crew. So, Winters and his gang decided to, essentially, end the game by throwing flags. I have no proof that this was the reasoning. It is the only logical sense I can make out of Winters deciding to get flag happy in OT.

Where the calls legit? Yes. Where they appropriate? Absolutely not. This isn't about calling the game correctly. This was about:

Photo: blog.bioethics.net

By the way, this game was officiated by the same Ron Winters who was banned from officiating Giants games for his screw-up in the 2003 playoffs. Why this asshead is still officiating, let alone still officiating playoff games, I don't know.

I don't blame the rules for the Colts losing in OT to the Chargers. I don't blame the OT rules or the way the NFL does "sudden death "scoring. What I do blame is incompetence and plain and simple greed. That, I blame. And that's what happened here. I simply cannot help but feel my team got hosed. I cannot remember any other game where the refs did such a screw job to a team our guys were facing.

I guess the game was good in that it highlighted the incompetence of several NFL refs. Mike Pereira has tried all season to explain his officials' screw-ups, and just like every other week, he comes off looking like a douche when explaining the abortion that was the Colts v. Chargers game. The league needs to ditch these lawyers who do this as a part-time job and hire real, professional referees who do this year round.

I don't want to take anything away from the Chargers. They played well enough to win. But, then again, so did the Colts. The difference was the officiating. And that really, really sucks.

[UPDATE] This is from an article by Rick Gosselin, one of the more respected national media writers out there. He wrote this back on December 16th:

The TV networks, who bankroll the NFL, don't like it when the games spill over that three-hour time slot they are allotted in the schedule. And if the networks don't like something, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't like something.

...

How do the officials speed up games, you ask? Simple: Don't call penalties. Keep those yellow hankies in your pocket. Thirteen of the 16 games last weekend had 10 penalties or fewer assessed, another season low. Five teams were flagged for a single penalty.

Gosselin goes on to say that Winter and his crew threw the most flags of any group of officials in the league. Prior to overtime against the Chargers, only nine penalties were called in four quarters of play. In overtime, with the prime time game spilling over past three hours, Winters and his crew threw three flags. Each flag thrown awarded SD with a new set of downs, with two thrown on key 3rd down plays. These flags kept SD's drive going, and ultimately helped them win.

Again, I'm not writing this to churn up some "grand conspiracy." This isn't a conspiracy at all. Al NFL people know that refs do things to end games. I just don't think they feel comfortable letting the fans know this, even though it happens pretty regularly.

Also, Dwight Freeney was pissed as hell at the officiating. Yahoo's Mike Silver thinks he has a point:

As one of the NFL’s best pass rushers of his generation, the Colts’ Dwight Freeney believes that he is held by opposing pass blockers "every single damn play." Let that serve as a backdrop to the utter disgust the Pro Bowl defensive end displayed as we walked to Indy’s team bus outside Qualcomm on Saturday night over the trio of penalties called against the Colts’ defense that helped facilitate San Diego’s winning touchdown drive in overtime. The rundown: Second-and-4 from the San Diego 43 – Sproles is stopped for no gain, but Eric Foster is called for defensive holding. Third-and-8 from the Indy 40 – Rivers throws incomplete to Chris Chambers, but cornerback Tim Jennings, who helped break up the pass, is called for defensive holding. Next play, first-and-10 at the Colts’ 35 – Sproles is stopped for no gain, but Session, who made the tackle, is whistled for a 15-yard facemask penalty. In my opinion it could be argued that any of the three penalties was justified, and a case could be made that each was unwarranted. But to have all three of them called in that context was regrettable, and the fact that the Chargers were only penalized three times all game (and only once on offense, for an ineligible man downfield) makes it even worse. In Freeney’s opinion, the flurry of calls that helped end his season was flat-out unconscionable. "Those were the worst [expletive] calls I’ve seen in a long time," he said. "To have a game of that magnitude taken out of your hands, it’s just disgusting. It’s not like they made one [expletive] bad call – it’s three calls, in overtime. On one the ball’s 50 feet over [Chambers’] head. And they have the nerve to call defensive holding? When they can’t even call one friggin’ offensive holding the whole game? What’s going on? They need to start investigating some other [expletive]."

For those of you wondering what the Colts cap situation is, take a look at Colts Cap and feel better about your team. The Colts should have roughly $6,000,000 in cap space entering 2009 with the bloated specter that was Corey Simon finally coming off the books. That's right folks! Even though corey Simon hasn't played a lick of football since 2005, he has been roughly a $6,000,000 hit againt Indy's cap. Now, he's gone. Finally, finally gone.

The downside to the 2009 cap is Peyton Manning will currently count $21 milion against it, and Marvin Harrison $13 million. The $21 million Manning hit is the highest Peyton's cap gets under his current contract, which he signed in 2004. His number drops down to $19 million in 2010 and finally $15 million 2012. Likely, Indy will re-negotiate Peyton's contract to spread out roughly $5 million over the next few years.

Harrison's contract is different. He is scheduled to get paid $13 million for the next three years. The Colts simply are not going to do that. They will ask Marvin to re-structure, and if he refuses they will release him. Either way, the Colts will have significant cap room to re-sign key free agents like OC Jeff Saturday, CB Kelvin Hayden, RB Dominic Rhodes, and DT Darrell Reid.

As we have reported here since last May, despite what ESPN, Fanhouse, Philly's WIP Radio, and several other news outlets have tried to fabricate, Marvin Harrison did not shoot anyone and isn't going to be charged with any crime:

Philadelphia district attorney Lynne Abraham said today she will not charge Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison with weapons charges stemming from an April 29 shooting near a car wash he owns.

It is important to note that yesterday ESPN's Sal Paolantonio supposedly had sources suggesting that charges against Harrison would be filed today. They weren't, and the Philly DA pretty much threw Sal Pal under the bus (which is where the hack belongs, in our humble opinion). Now, since yesterday, Sal Pal and his ESPN cronies have updated (aka, altered) their original online report so they don't look as stupid. From KFFL:

As you may recall, Sal Pal attacked Harrison for having friends and family members who were poor and living in rough Philly neighborhoods. classy guy that Sal. We also shouldn't forget Mike Florio's "stellar" legal advice for Harrison.

Also, it is 12:16pm Eastern time, and Florio still has not updated PFT with the Harrison news. Oh my God, what a douchebag.

So, just like the 2008 regular season, the Marvin Harrison non-shooting media fiasco is over. Again, this was never really a story. There were no charges and Marvin Harrison was never a suspect. All this circus did was drag a great player's reputation through the mud. The sorry, sad state of sports journalism was fully on display with the Marvin Harrison "incident." For Marvin, we hope this recent news gives him some vindication.

For Sal Paolantonio and ESPN, we hope they choke on it.

As shake n bake does his player by player reviews for the 2008 roster, I'm going to focus more on the general team, coaches, and management areas as we review 2008 and look ahead. To be honest, it was impossible for me to start writing this one or two days after the playoff loss. So much of this season has been like having my brains sizzled on a skillet and served up with hash browns and toast. Emotionally, there was nothing left, and I needed a few days to reflect, collect myself, and move on. Bob Kravitz should have taken that advice before he made an ass of himself. Now, most local Indiana media is making fun of him openly. Once again, 18 to 88 is at the forefront of beating Bob Kravitz to death with his own words.

One thing I want to place emphasis on as we review the season and look ahead is that Colts fans should not expect drastic changes to this team, coaching staff, or management philosophy. Recall way back to Dungy's first season. After a 41-0 destruction at the hands of the NY Jets, everyone and their mother called Peyton a choker, Dungy a fraud, and the Colts a joke. The Colts ignored all of it, and have gone on to win 12 or more games for six straight years. So, after a thrilling game in SD, don't expect much change.

Even if Tony Dungy retires, don't expect much change.

Bill Polian will continue to mold and shape his roster as he sees fit. He is the best personnel man in football for a reason: He delivers. With the injuries and bad luck this team had in 2008, no other GM could have guided his team to 12 wins. Not even the great Scott Pioli could overcome New England's injuries and guide them to post-season play.

For the coaches, maybe the Colts will bring in someone like Rod Marinelli as a consultant or specail assistant, like they did Leslie Frazier in 2006. If Dungy retires and Ron Meeks goes elsewhere, someone like Marinelli will likely be a top candidate for defensive coordinator. But even changes like that are not the kinds of wholesale changes that every fan screams for after a playoff loss. What we all have to accept is the philosophy of this team, the culture, will not change anytime soon. Even if Dungy leaves, the way this team does business will not change.

This is, of course, a good thing.

Terms like "winning culture" are defined by franchises like the Colts. Loser fans whose teams have never won anything will disagree, but who cares what they think? Since 1999, no team has won more than the Colts. Only one team has won more Super Bowls, but those accomplishments are clouded by the spectre of cheating. Other sports organizations model themselves after Indy. They want to be the Colts.

So, to expect change when your team is the gold standard is silly.

As with all Colts loses, I've learned to let my anger subside for a day before I regain my perspective. Our team, currently, has the best personnel man of his time, the best head coach of his time, and the best QB of his time. While teams with "fiery" or "genius" head coaches (like in Tampa Bay and Denver) truly do "choke" down the stretch, the tried and true method the Colts use is proven and effective. While tweaks and adjustments are always part of the plan, wholesale change is simply not going to happen.