The New Orleans Saints won their first Super Bowl Sunday.
(Creative Commons)

For those wondering why the column isn't running on Monday, its regular day, this writer took the holiday off. In fact, after learning that it wasn't an official holiday, I've decided to announce my candidacy for president in 2024. I'm running on a platform of "Make the Day After the Super Bowl an Official Holiday," and whatever other zany causes I decide deserve my attention between now and then.

And now on to the column.....

Big Easy Wins the Big One

Easy, Breeze, Beautiful

After a week of nothing but updates about Dwight Freeney's knee and adulation for Peyton Manning's quarterback abilities, Drew Brees was the story of the Super Bowl, leading the New Orleans Saints to a beautiful 31-17 win over the Colts Sunday night.

Things didn't look good for the Saints early on as they fell to a quick 10-point deficit in the first quarter, and it certainly didn't look like Brees was going to have an MVP-caliber day as the quarterback completed just three of his first seven passes. The second, third, and fourth quarters were a different story, though.

The Saints cooled the Colts in the second quarter, holding them to just 15 yards, six plays, and a meager two minutes and 34 seconds of possession time. Manning looked great in the first quarter, but he and the offensive unit were non-existent in the second. It was all Saints from there as they put up two field goals and perfectly executed a gameplan designed to keep Manning off the field.

After they prevented Indy from scoring just before halftime, I had a feeling New Orleans was going to win. In nearly every Colts game I've watched, Manning and his crew have managed to drive the ball down the field and score right as the first half ended, and in every one of these games they've won.

This time they weren't so lucky.

The shocking onside kick to start the second half was another indication that the Saints were going to win. If your head coach has the audacity to go for it on 4th-and-1 at the goal line, come up short, and STILL call for an onside kick a quarter later that even Nostradamus wouldn't have seen coming, your team is going win. Enough said.

That the Saints' kicker, Thomas Morstead, had never attempted an onside kick before was a minor detail as far as coach Sean Payton was concerned.

After the onside kick, the momentum belonged to the Saints. Brees rebounded from a rocky start to complete an astonishing 29 of his last 32 passes, including a Reggie Bush drop and a spike at the end of the game, on his way to 288 yards, two touchdowns, and a Super Bowl record-tying 32 completions.

His terrific performance was made all the more important by the Saints running game, or lack thereof. New Orleans finished with just 51 yards on the ground.

Leave it to defensive back Tracy Porter to save the day two games in a row for the Saints. Not only did Porter intercept Manning's pass in the fourth quarter for a pick-six Sunday, he also sealed the Vikings' fate two weeks ago by intercepting Brett Favre's pass at the end of the NFC Championship game.

That Manning cost his team the game with an interception made the Saints' victory all the sweeter.  It's funny how quickly the talk about Manning as quarterback of the decade changed to talk of him throwing one of the costliest picks in Super Bowl history, isn't it?

The fact that Manning not only avoided the post-game handshake, but also left before the game was even over speaks volumes about his character. When Bill Belichick or LeBron James does that in a big game, they get reamed for it. But when Manning does it? It's an expression of his intense passion for the game and dedication to winning.

Luckily I've avoided that chatter because I have a personal rule: every time I hear Pey-, Mann-, or anything even remotely resembling the phrase Colts quarter-, I immediately hit the mute button. I refuse to listen to the media fawn over he who must not be named. Unless the reference begins with something like "despicable egomaniac" or "attention whore," I'm not paying attention.

The Super Bowl was watched by a record-setting 106 million viewers, and finally knocked the series finale of "MASH" off its perch as the most-watched television program in history. The competition was outstanding and the commercials were hilarious, but the Super Bowl did have one flaw. It was all one gigantic "CSI" commercial.

Think about it. How many times did you see one of those annoying spots for "CSI" or its sister-shows? And, just in case that wasn't enough, the halftime show was a damn medley of their theme songs. I was waiting for the camera to zoom in on Pete Townsend whipping his sunglasses off like David Caruso the entire time.

The other thing that didn't live up to the hype was the Saints' championship hats. Those things looked like something even Lady Gaga would think twice about.

With that said, it was a great Super Bowl. I hope next year's game is just as good as this one was. 

Kiffin Has His Eye on the Class of 2015

As high school seniors across America anxiously search their mailboxes for letters of acceptance, 13-year old David Sills is already in. Sills hasn't graduated middle school yet, but he is already committed to play for the University of Southern California. Soon coaches are going to start calling Peyton Manning to get him to commit his unborn child to their school. After all, there aren't any playoffs in college football.

Go Daddy Girl, Go

When not appearing in risque commercials for a company that does who knows what, Danica Patrick actually races cars. She took to the stock car circuit this weekend, racing in ARCA competition. After she and her team reviewed the race, Patrick announced that she plans to make her NASCAR debut on Saturday at Daytona.

So Hard To Say You're Sorry

Steve Phillips appeared on the "Today Show" Monday to apologize for past transgressions. Phillips recently got out of the sex rehab facility he entered after being fired from ESPN for his affair with a production assistant. 

"What I want to do is take ownership," Phillips said in an interview with Matt Lauer. "I made some mistakes ... I'm fully responsible for what I did."

No, Mets fans, he's not talking to you. As much as you want him to ask forgiveness for firing manager Bobby Valentine and dismembering your franchise, this was a far more egregious mistake.

Which leads me to the fact of the day sure to make Mets fans cringe: before the 2003 season Phillips traded a young outfielder to the Padres for starting pitcher Jason Middlebrook. That outfielder was none other than Jason Bay. Middlebrook lasted all of three years in the bigs. Bay is the Mets' newest $60-million-dollar-man. Doesn't take long to figure out who walked away the winner in that one.

Cover Your Ears, Mickey

After the Super Bowl, New Orleans offensive lineman Carl Nicks went on the radio to announce where he was going after the Super Bowl. Clearly, Nicks never watched George Carlin while he was growing up, or else he would've known all about the Seven Deadly Words. Enjoy.