Sounds like a Colts fan wrote this
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle
By JASON GAY
Why is it suddenly so uncool to be perfect?
Of all the ridiculously contorted sports arguments we've heard over the past year—and keep in mind, we live in New York, surrounded by Mets fans who think they are one savvy trade for Albert Pujols and Christy Mathewson away from the World Series—the goofiest has to be that an NFL team shouldn't try for an undefeated season.
We heard that riff a lot last week, with the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts both parked at 13-0. The fashionable rationalization is that perfection shouldn't impede the ultimate goal—just look at the Patriots, who were 18-0 a couple seasons ago before they biffed the Super Bowl, bringing eternal shame to their families and fans. Now the gridiron cognoscenti think it's better to lose at least one game, massage your starters, unlock that pressure valve and (briefly) get in touch with your inner New Jersey Net.
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Saints quarterback Drew Brees walks off the field Saturday following the Dallas Cowboys' 24-17 win.
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This is a silly, overly considered position, proof that there are too many NFL analysts with too much air to fill. What legend ever strived for a tepid A-minus? Did Francis Ford Coppola botch the end of "The Godfather" just to take the pressure off Marlon Brando? Did a frazzled Stevie Wonder toss a garbage track onto "Songs in the Key of Life"? Does Jimmy Johnson let a couple cowlicks go in his hair to make Terry Bradshaw feel virile?
Perfection is supposed to be hard—that's the reason they call it perfection! Had the Patriots run the table in 2007-08, they wouldn't just have been Super Bowl champs; they'd have had a convincing case for Best Team Ever. Yes, they probably exhausted their starters by chasing greatness. But could you imagine the outcry if, sitting at 15-0, Bill Belichick had done what these brilliant gridiron counterintuitivists now command and said, "Hey, fellas, for this last regular-season game, I'm going to bench my starters and relax with this delicate glass of Cabernet." People too often take the other side of an argument just to take the other side.
The good news is that both sides of this inane debate now have their shoulder-padded lab rats. The Colts stopped the Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday—blech, Thursday football—35-31 to reach 14-0, and are surely so exhausted they can barely lift out of bed to play Xbox. The Saints, meanwhile, fell to the Dallas Cowboys 24-17 on Saturday night, dropping to 13-1 and immediately feeling invigorated, as if they'd gone for a full-body seaweed scrub in Big Sur.
We're not sure if perfection was ever in store for these Saints, who were Powerball-winner lucky to get past Washington a couple weeks ago. But this "Undefeated doesn't matter" chatter does speak to one of the football world's insidious, chronic tics: stiffing the Colts.
Why is it that the Colts don't ever really seem to get their due? Is it because they play in Indianapolis, away from the media's loving navel-gaze? Is it because the fashion magazines don't put the glamorous Ted Marchibroda on their covers? The Colts have won 23 consecutive regular-season games and need only to top the Jets and Bills—a/k/a "the Jells"—to reach the playoffs unblemished. But we hardly hear the hype. When those 2007 Patriots reached 14-0, the fuss was far greater. This year, even the predictable "As the Romo Throws" soap opera in Dallas gets more notice.
More on Twitter
Read dispatches from The Couch's Jason Gay all week long at Twitter.com/WSJCouch.
We hope the Colts stay strong and try to run it out. We're sure the players would like to do it—just to make their nemesis, Mr. Belichick, crawl deeper into his hoodie.
Why is it suddenly so uncool to be perfect?
Of all the ridiculously contorted sports arguments we've heard over the past year—and keep in mind, we live in New York, surrounded by Mets fans who think they are one savvy trade for Albert Pujols and Christy Mathewson away from the World Series—the goofiest has to be that an NFL team shouldn't try for an undefeated season.
We heard that riff a lot last week, with the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts both parked at 13-0. The fashionable rationalization is that perfection shouldn't impede the ultimate goal—just look at the Patriots, who were 18-0 a couple seasons ago before they biffed the Super Bowl, bringing eternal shame to their families and fans. Now the gridiron cognoscenti think it's better to lose at least one game, massage your starters, unlock that pressure valve and (briefly) get in touch with your inner New Jersey Net.
View Full Image
SP_FEATUREMK1
Reuters
Saints quarterback Drew Brees walks off the field Saturday following the Dallas Cowboys' 24-17 win.
SP_FEATUREMK1
SP_FEATUREMK1
This is a silly, overly considered position, proof that there are too many NFL analysts with too much air to fill. What legend ever strived for a tepid A-minus? Did Francis Ford Coppola botch the end of "The Godfather" just to take the pressure off Marlon Brando? Did a frazzled Stevie Wonder toss a garbage track onto "Songs in the Key of Life"? Does Jimmy Johnson let a couple cowlicks go in his hair to make Terry Bradshaw feel virile?
Perfection is supposed to be hard—that's the reason they call it perfection! Had the Patriots run the table in 2007-08, they wouldn't just have been Super Bowl champs; they'd have had a convincing case for Best Team Ever. Yes, they probably exhausted their starters by chasing greatness. But could you imagine the outcry if, sitting at 15-0, Bill Belichick had done what these brilliant gridiron counterintuitivists now command and said, "Hey, fellas, for this last regular-season game, I'm going to bench my starters and relax with this delicate glass of Cabernet." People too often take the other side of an argument just to take the other side.
The good news is that both sides of this inane debate now have their shoulder-padded lab rats. The Colts stopped the Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday—blech, Thursday football—35-31 to reach 14-0, and are surely so exhausted they can barely lift out of bed to play Xbox. The Saints, meanwhile, fell to the Dallas Cowboys 24-17 on Saturday night, dropping to 13-1 and immediately feeling invigorated, as if they'd gone for a full-body seaweed scrub in Big Sur.
We're not sure if perfection was ever in store for these Saints, who were Powerball-winner lucky to get past Washington a couple weeks ago. But this "Undefeated doesn't matter" chatter does speak to one of the football world's insidious, chronic tics: stiffing the Colts.
Why is it that the Colts don't ever really seem to get their due? Is it because they play in Indianapolis, away from the media's loving navel-gaze? Is it because the fashion magazines don't put the glamorous Ted Marchibroda on their covers? The Colts have won 23 consecutive regular-season games and need only to top the Jets and Bills—a/k/a "the Jells"—to reach the playoffs unblemished. But we hardly hear the hype. When those 2007 Patriots reached 14-0, the fuss was far greater. This year, even the predictable "As the Romo Throws" soap opera in Dallas gets more notice.
More on Twitter
Read dispatches from The Couch's Jason Gay all week long at Twitter.com/WSJCouch.
We hope the Colts stay strong and try to run it out. We're sure the players would like to do it—just to make their nemesis, Mr. Belichick, crawl deeper into his hoodie.
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