Notes from the resident AD Colts fan

First of all, great game. Pretty clean, good schemes for both teams, and some dramatic lead changes. As a fan, it always sucks when the team you've been watching since you were a kid loses, but honestly, this is the best of possible losses. The storybook ending is pretty cool, and New Orleans must be a madhouse right now. Wish I could have done the live blog.

My notes:

1) I have to respect the stones of Sean Payton-- the onside kick to start the second half was very cool.

2) Brees was amazing, and the coaching staff did a fantastic job preparing and cleaning up what was a terribly sloppy performance in the NFC championship game.

3) The Colts have nothing to be ashamed of-- they played a good game and just came up a little short on a few plays. I'm damned excited to see Garcon and Collie next year with all this experience under their belt; adding Gonzo back to the fold will be fierce.

4) The shots of Brees and Fujita with their kids after the game was pretty cool, too (I'm not usually such a sucker for that kind of stuff, but it was strangely affecting tonight).

5) There's always a kind of hangover after the Superbowl; the prospect of no meaningful football until September is a drag.

6) My dislike for the politics of the guy aside, the Tebow ad was more tasteful than I thought it would be. I still question the appropriateness of an ad like that running on the Superbowl, but it could have been a lot worse.

7) The Denny's chickens were my favorite ad trope, though I kind of liked the Mark Sanchez ad, strangely enough.

8) Superbowl menu at the Dean's house: Smoked and sauced chicken wings, Indiana-style fried pork tenderloin sandwiches, guacamole with locally grown avocados, homemade potato chips smothered in Maytag blue cheese crumbles, and sliders (you know, for good measure), plus liberal amounts of our local craft brew. All awesome.

9) I'd like to point out that my Superbowl "best bets" I posted in some comment thread (Indy +3 first half and the game total under 57) both cashed.