Just heard an articulate debate between Condors writer Mike Griffith and Web junkie Steve Swenson discussing the merits of soccer and hockey.

I can't repeat the banter verbatim but it was something like: "Soccer is for 5 and 6 years that haven't devoloped the ability to use their arms and hands.  ... Hockey is for goons that haven't evolved past the neanderthalic period." I'm paraphrasing. Well, actually ad-libbing to stoke the fire.

So what's your take on the overall athleticism of soccer and hockey?

Here's mine, but it's not important. I'd rather have a hockey player beside me in a bar-room brawl, and if I need to run a top secret document through the Greecian countryside, say 26.1 miles, I'll take a soccer player.

As for Mike and Steve, no dueling pistols at 10 paces yet, but I'll keep you posted.

The national media, ... errr just more East Coast bias, has suggested that Kevin Harvick didn't win the Daytona 500. Mark Martin was robbed of the victory by NASCAR.

Here are just a few examples of what I'm talking about:

Only the record books will say this was the Daytona 500 Kevin Harvick won. History and lore will resonate with the one Mark Martin lost—or had taken away from him on a blown call, or was robbed of, depending on your point of view. -- Ed Hinton, Orlando Sentinel

And this clever play ...

I watched the Daytona 500 on TV Sunday for four or five hours. Wish I knew who won.
They say Kevin Harvick did, but I don’t think he did. I think Mark Martin won that race.
Martin got robbed. He should call State Farm and file a claim. -- Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune

OK, so it's just not an East Coast bias.

NASCAR officials spent the better part of a week at Daytona International Speedway hunting down cheats, suspending crew chiefs and stamping their feet while publicly demanding credibility from their race teams. But when the season-opening Daytona 500 was over Sunday night, it was NASCAR’s credibility that was under scrutiny. A chain reaction of crashes and a late yellow flag after the race had been decided left questions about why NASCAR officials ignored protocol at the most crucial moment of the most prestigious race of the season. And in the process, victory slipped through the grasp of the veteran driver Mark Martin. -- Viv Bernstein, Los Angeles Times

Did the writers see the same race that I did? The lead changed three times before the wreck occurred on the last lap. Harvick nosed Martin twice. So to suggest that Martin would have won had NASCAR thrown the yellow flag is a clearly a matter of perception.

When NASCAR instituted the "green-white-checkered flag" in 2004, they did it to keep fans from throwing empty ice chests, full beer cans and everything else that wasn't bolted down onto the asphalt as race-after-race ended under yellow flags in 2003. Now, the fans get what they want but still the media is clamoring, "Mark Martin was robbed."

Would the media be crying foul if it was Jeff Green? Boris Said? Or how about known cheater Michael Waltrip? Highly unlikely. But because its's the ageless and omnipotent veteran Mark Martin, NASCAR owes him a win.

You don't get trips to victory lane by being the guy that's run more laps than any other driver not to have won the Daytona 500. You do it by being the first to cross the finish line.

That's what Harvick did.

John Amaechi isn't courageous.
The former NBA player hid.
He hid behind closed doors, in lockerrooms, in hotel rooms. He waited until he believed it was safe to come out.
That isn't a show of courage in this day in age -- that's taking the easy way out.
What Amaechi did was open the door for a more courageous man to admit he's gay in the NBA or in any professional sport.
I don't have a problem with Amaechi's announcement and ultimate promotion of his upcoming book, "Man in the Middle." The problem lies in the fact that he wasn't the first male athlete to do that.
In fact, he’s the sixth professional male athlete from one of the four major U.S. team sports to openly discuss his homosexuality.
It's not news anymore. It's buried inside the sports pages across the country.
Ignorance will continue to deepen in the sports world and the entire nation until a male athlete admits he's gay while still playing the sport.
And when that day occurs then you'll have a courageous man. Then, I believe the sports world will talk about acceptance instead of tolerance.

With five minutes remaining in the Super Bowl, I picked up my cell phone and started to dial a phone number.
My wife asks, "Who you calling?"
"Tim!"
"You better wait, the Bears still have the ball!"
So I a few minutes and few plays later, (after tight end Desmond Clark dropped a sure first-down catch after getting rocked by a Colts defender) I made the call.
See Tim was my college roommate for three years. A longtime Bears fan and of course, the same guy that sent me an invitation to his Super Bowl party in Illinois last week, followed up that by sending me a photo of him and a few of our college buddies at said party all wearing Bears jerseys before the kickoff.
So I dialed the number and it rang two times. On the third rang it picked up and I heard, "F - - - You.!"
Click.
Dialtone.
The sad part, that's what I expected.

Bears fan and anyone from Chicago or ties to the city in general have this "Blame someone else because the truth hurts too much" mentality. Bartman, a black cat, a Billy Goat, an Irishman's cow, etc.
It's not the fault of their beloved Bears or Cubs, or it's definitely not the simple fact that the opposing team was, "BETTER," ...it's rain, it's Grossman sucks, it's the safe offense they run. (The same one that got them to the Super Bowl!)
I'm tired of excuses. Why can't you say, "The Indianapolis Colts were the better team."
Why do you have to have disclaimers: If Brian Griese was quarterback or they played in the snow or if....blah, blah, blah....SHUT UP.

I've heard Bears fan say that Rex Grossman had the worst performance of any quarterback in Super Bowl history. Let's see, he threw a touchdown pass that gave the Bears a 14-6 lead. He was 20-of-28 passing and had a 105.6 passer rating through 3 quarters. Jim Kelly (4 INTs), Rich Gannon (SB-record 5 INTs) and Kerry Collins all had worse SBs.
Grossman made two poor throws that were picked off but Colts defenders. (Both Sanders and Hayden made leaping catches and Hayden returned his for the game-sealing touchdown). So while Grossman was bad in the fourth, he managed the game in the first 3 quarters and put the Bears in position to still win.
So why didn't Thomas Jones or Cedric Benson bust through the Colts defense like every team in the regular season? Well, Colts safety Bob Sanders lit up Benson like a Fourth of July fireworks display (causing a fumble) and then Benson had to be helped off the field and was out of the game. Jones managed 100-plus yards but 52 came on one play. Could it have been the Colts defense was better than anyone in Chicago will ever give them credit for. I know that was the reason but you'll never hear someone from Chicago say that.
How about rain. Colts are an indoor team, Bears played the previous week in snowy conditions at Soldier Field. Advantage should have been Bears but ...oops that's just NOW another excuse for the Bears fan. Could it have been the Colts offense/defense/coaching staff was better prepared than anyone in Chicago will ever give them credit for.
Or here's a new one and one that is absolutely laughable (written by co-worker and Bears fan Andy Kehe) "Not to devalue the kind of game Peyton Manning had, but George Blanda, no ... worse yet, Rex Grossman, could have guided the Colts through the Munchkins of the Midway, so fatigued were they and weighed down by drenched uniforms."
No more than 48 hours early, I heard about the "second-coming of the '85 Bears" and how they would disrupt Peyton Manning and the Colts offense. Well, Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes gashed the Bears defensive line and had "the second coming of Dick Butkus/Mike Singletary" ...err, Brian Urlacher on his rear end for most of the game. Urlacher made some solid hits but the guy was picking up his jock on more than a few runs by the Colts RBs.
Seriously, could it have been the Colts offense was better than anyone in Chicago will ever give them credit for. I know that was the reason but you'll never hear someone from Chicago say that.

So enough with the excuses. Give credit to where credit is due. The Colts were the better team, better prepared, better coached and beat you at your own game -- POWER FOOTBALL.

Twenty-three years ... I've waited 23 years to type these words: Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts.

God it feels great. The last two hours have been surreal. I practically left a path from the kitchen to my living room as I paced the floor watching the entire game. Tough to do on ceramic tile but I did it.

For two weeks, I heard about how the Bears defense would tear Peyton Manning a new one, how Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson would run through the Colts defense, how the Colts couldn't win outside of the RCA Dome.

Well, the Colts are the champions and the Bears fan will have to pay up Wednesday.

It's been an amazing season for me and my family. My son was born on Sept. 10, 2006, the Colts played their season opener against the N.Y. Giants that night.. Now, he's not even five months old and he's already experienced something that I've waited for for 23 years. I hope we don't have to wait another 23 years.

Thank you Tony Dungy. Thank you Peyton Manning. You did it and we enjoyed the journey.