Jim Caldwell can talk all he wants about how the Indianapolis Colts have bigger goals than perfection.
I just want to ask him one question: Does practice make perfect? Does it really?
I wouldn’t know from watching the Colts’ 29-15 loss to the New York Jets.
What’s the point of working hard, if you’re not going to go all out, all the time?
This whole business of sitting players, resting players, cheapens the game of football. Woe unto the fan who paid the absorbent prices to see the best of the best, Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne, sit the second half against the hapless Jets. You couldn’t pay me to watch a game like that.
It was painful — even for the non-enthusiast of Indy sports.
Here, the Colts had a legitimate shot at 16-0 — and the ultimate goal of 19-0 with Buffalo on the schedule next. Instead, they decide to rest the stars on a fractured principle. One which is based on fear and is comforted by weakness of character.
So what if the New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl in 2007!! They’ve gotten over it. Every team in the NFL needs to get over it too. This silly mindset that injuries could sideline Peyton, Reggie, Dwight Freeney or any other major player who hope to win the Super Bowl, is bullshit.
As Herm Edwards once said: “You play to win the game.”
Every coach-ism I’ve ever heard goes against this rest-my-stars crap. “Go all out.” “Play 60 minutes.” “Go hard all four quarters.” “Play hard to the finish.”
How many principles did the Colts break Sunday night? Just one. And they have only one reason to fall back on for doing so: Fear.
Cowards, I say. Cowards.
At least, by the look of Manning, we know it wasn’t a decision that started on the field. The players wanted to feel that 1972 greatness. They wanted to outdo that 2007 skid mark. It’s the coaches who were scared shitless in the face of glory.
I’ll finish with some words from Marianne Williamson’s “A Return to Love,” who articulately and positively summed this up in one of my all-time favorite quotes:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
I understand what you’re saying, but scared shitless? I wouldn’t go that far. There’s been too many freak accidents to not consider injuries late in the season. And losing a game is good for a team so they know how to handle the advesity. There’s a another name for the fear. It’s called caution.
Did you see the press conference? Man, if that was Caldwell explaining away his sins, I don’t know what is.
Only two teams have gotten this close and only one of them has gone all the way. That’s a 50% chance to go all the way. Can you blame Caldwell for being cautious? I’ll take the ring any day over a perfect season. There’s no way I’d want to be like the 07 pats.
C’mon ZB, this is controversy for the sake of controversy.
I don’t know about that. Are you a Colts fan? If so, it’s pretty sad that you’d feel that way. Otherwise, I can understand your disposition.
Nah, not a Colts fan, nor a fantasy football player, so the resting of players makes sense to me.
Does it go against those coachspeak cliches? Sure, but winning in January is a bit more important than the pursuit of perfection. I’d rather be 12-4 and win a Super Bowl than be 19-1 (or whatever the Pats were) and lose in the Super Bowl.
I love that passage from Marianne Williamson. It’s too bad it had to be wasted on such a non-story. Something tells me if she became aware it was used to “summed up” such a frivolous sports happening, she may very well succumb to a coronary.
Touche.
I think you nailed it. They played it safe. They didn’t want the pressure of an undefeated season. I think the Giants (and Patriots, really) showed everyone in 2007 that it’s best to go all out in every game. Karma. I respect both of those teams a lot. A challenge was laid out for the Colts and they chose not to accept it. They chose not to try. That’s not the right attitude in sports. They’re trying to settle for good enough.
Not sure about the “scared shitless” comment but thought the quote from Williamson fit just right.
The Pats 18-1 season is far more historic that a 16-2 SB win. Do you remember who won the 05 SB? Who lost? But the perfect season is in the books to be beat. I agree with the story – it’s a cop-out that stalls momentum. At the very least they should have kept the starters out of the first half and let them go back in and win
Maybe to fans, media – basically anyone who hasn’t/didn’t win one – it’s more significant. But if you were a player, which would you rather have that no-name ‘05 ring or just the one loss?
Good post. Can’t believe they did this, either.