Peyton Manning isn’t going to retire.  He is going to be playing next year to see how things go.  This isn’t the kind of guy who is just going to retire without at least trying to see what he can or can’t do on the field.

If I’m the Colts I keep Manning and draft Luck.  Give Luck at least one season to really learn under Peyton.  Let him see how he does things and how he goes about his preparation and business.  Luck needs to learn from someone and they don’t get better than Peyton.  Peyton is a Colt in the same way that Walter Payton was a Bear.  He came in that way and needs to go out that way and he deserves to go out on his terms.  Give him his last year letting him know that he is done after the season. 

If the Colts let Peyton walk they can or they can deal him.  They have a number of teams who would be willing to pick him up.  I want him to retire a Colt but if not I’d love to see him as a Cardinal or a Redskin specifically because I think he’d really help those teams quickly.  IN Arizona Peyton would put up some crazy numbers with those receivers and that weather.

As it sits I should be talking about the Super Bowl but Peyton is on everyone’s mind wondering what or where he will do or go next.

Joe Paterno passed away last week at the age of 85.  Many people throughout the country, including myself, predicted it would happen soon after he left the game of football.  I believe that everyone close to Joe believed this to be the case but I didn’t think it would happen as soon as it did.  Did the investigation play a role in the quicker process?  I think it did without a doubt.

Let me make something clear, I believe Joe Paterno is a coaching legend who did so many incredible things for that community.  He goes down as one of the best coaches ever who led a ‘clean’ program in regards to the dealings with the NCAA.  He produced numerous pros and professionals in other areas who can’t say enough good things about him.  Those things need to be kept separate from the Sandusky scandal that rocked the sports world.  Can we separate them?

I think you have to.  None of us are perfect and none of us were in his situation.  Should he have done more, YES.  He didn’t and we are left how we are left but as bad as that is, and it is horrible, we have to still look at the entire body of work.  None of the good or the bad cross each other out, they just exist and give us with what we are left with.  Joe Paterno passed away at the age of 85 as one of the best and most controversial coaches in the history of a great sport.  He will be missed and i wish his family the best.

The NFL is down to the FINAL 4 and we have San Francisco playing at home against the Giants for the NFC with the Patriots playing the Ravens in the AFC.

When it comes down to this type of scenario you can’t help but think of the quarterbacks.  Clearly you have Tom Brady and Eli Manning as the two best quarterbacks left.  Sure some could argue that Alex Smith is catching up but he isn’t really.  He had a good season but the 49ers are a lot more than Smith.  Just by having Brady on their roster the Patriots are always a threat but Smith isn’t that way.  I see the Giants winning this one on the road because their defense is playing great right now and Eli does wonders when not playing at home.  I think ELI has a strong game and gets the Giants to the Super Bowl.

In the AFC you can’t pick against Tom Brady.  Brady is an elite quarterback who is playing incredibly well.  The Ravens are led by Joe Flacco who will really have to play a great game to give the Ravens a chance at a super bowl and i don’t see it.  Unless the Ravens can control the ball and have long sustained drives they just won’t be able to score enough to stay in this game.  I see the Pats winning by 10-14 points on a late touchdown that puts the game out of reach.

That gives me the Giants vs Pats in the Super bowl and it would be a good one.  Sure we’d miss out on Ravens vs Niners with the 2 brothers coaching against each other but i just can’t see that happening.

Is it just me or has bowl season gone downhill?  it used to be that the good games were played on New Years’ day and you could just sit at home and watch several games at once if you wanted to.  I even remember a year that we had a few tv’s going at once just so we could see as many games as possible.  It was great.

With the sponsorships now it seems that each BCS game needs to have no competition for viewers.  I get it but that doesn’t mean i have to like it.  Money seems to control these things and it makes sense in some ways and in others not.  Do I just need to adjust?  I guess so because the fans sure don’t count much in the process.  Give me the days when I could wake up and watch the cotton bowl and the gator bowl at the same time.  Let me watch the Rose or the Fiesta bowl if I want and then the Sugar bowl at night.  Don’t make all the games that mean something be on a separate day and think that it builds up to the National title because it doesn’t. 

The title game is a whole other story.  I won’t be watching it much on Monday unless it is on commercials from NBA games or college basketball games.  I’ve never been a giant fan of re runs.