Colts reject what sports is all about

The decision of the Indianapolis Colts to rest important starters, particularly QB Peyton Manning, in the second half of yesterday’s home loss to a vastly inferior NY Jets team, is appalling. The Colts were leading when Manning was taken from the game and almost certainly the Colts would have gone on to win the game. But it never happened because Manning was on the bench, trying to hide his disgust as the lead disappeared and the loss became inevitable. Simply, this is a travesty.

Jeff Chadiha of ESPN defends this decision, writing that what Head Coach Jim Caldwell did in benching Manning gave the Colts “a better shot at pursuing the only goal that really matters: winning a championship.” The idea behind all this, of course, is to rest starters for the playoffs and protect them from injury.

Peyton's face says it all - AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Firstly, I completely disagree with Mr Chadiha’s contention that winning a championship is the only goal that matters. Surely, winning a championship is critical, but perfection is critical, too. It’s possible to do both — the Miami Dolphins did it — and it seems that doing both would be preferable to only doing one. Winning the Super Bowl is better than going perfect in the regular season and losing the Super Bowl, as the 2007 Patriots proved. But who says these Colts couldn’t do what the 1972 Dolphins did, only for two games more? It seems to me as if being perfect AND winning a championship should matter, too.

Secondly, let’s have a closer look at why the Colts did what they did against the Jets yesterday.  It’s a team-wide policy handed down from legendary General Manager Bill Polian, who said these things yesterday after the loss:

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“The perfect season was never an issue with us. We’ve said it time and time and time again. It is somebody else’s issue, not ours. That was of no concern.”

‘I think we’ve made it pretty clear how we felt about 16-0. That’s not a goal. It never was a goal. It isn’t a goal now.

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Polian’s words were echoed yesterday by  Jim Caldwell and former Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy: “It’s not a goal.” 16-0 is not a goal. Perfection is not a goal.

Read the full article at

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2009/12/28/colts-reject-what-sports-is-all-about.html