Unrelated And Yet Connected

The pinnacle of professional football, the Super Bowl, is just around the corner and this year it will be between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. The Colts have been to and won the Super Bowl, but the Saints never have. You would think that simple fact would be enough for a good number of folks to pull for the Saints, but I am already seeing something else looming larger.

Everyone knows that New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and that the Super Dome, the home field of the Saints, was used as a disaster relief center. Some are suggesting that the Saints "deserve" to win the Super Bowl because it would be such a psychological lift to the city that has been down for so long. I don't doubt that New Orleans feels down or that winning the Super Bowl would be a big emotional boost, but what do either of those facts have to do with the game of football? All of this reminds me of my childhood when my Mother would instruct me to let my little brother win at basketball!

New Orleans may very well win the Super Bowl this year, but I think it will have a lot more to do with the play on the field than some sort of cosmic karma that determines the final score. What's more, I cannot imagine Peyton Manning, the coaching staff, or the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, giving such thoughts a moments notice.