Admin Steve
02-04-2012, 04:50 PM
Well, it’s that time of the year again. Super Bowl week. The pinnacle of the NFL season. A time where the majority of football fans (approximately 30 out of every 32) are trying to pretend they’re still excited while the majority of non-football fans are trying to pretend they know something about the sport. Every year there seems to be a dominant story that the media latches onto. The key to determining what story they’ll grab is this; it has to be about a single player, that player has to be a national name, and preferably there has to be some type of presumed conflict.
It’s no real surprise that they’ve latched on to the will-he-or-won’t-he Peyton Manning story. Sure, traditionally during the week leading up to the Super Bowl you’d think people would want to hear about the teams who are in it. However, fans are getting sick of having the idea that Belichick is a football genius who can do no wrong shoved down their throats, Brady being a pretty-boy is great for pictures, but boring for stories, and Eli Manning… well he can’t even inspire me to write an analogy about how uninspiring he is. So the possible ousting of a great quarterback, and one that has more commercials than Geico has spokesmen, is a perfect fit. Add to that the fact that Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck at this point look less like two men wanting the same job, and more like two women waiting for a rose on the bachelor, and you have the perfect story for fans, and non-fans alike. So, since it’s playing out like a reality show, let’s take a look at how our contestants are doing…
Previously on SURVIVOR: Indianapolis
In case you did everything you could to avoid finding out what happened during the Colts season this year, I’ll recap it for you. Manning had surgery on his neck, an area he’s been having with for a long time. The Colts set out to cement his legacy by showing exactly how bad they were without number 18 under center. The offense was miserable, the defense was overwhelmed, even the special teams seemed lost. As for Peyton’s friend and back-up Curtis Painter, well, apparently it’s true that Indy pays him $425K a year so that Manning has someone to joke with on the sidelines. With a season reminiscent of the 08 Lions, (complete with appearances by Dan Orlovsky) they earned a 2-14 record, and first pick in the upcoming draft. The drama started almost immediately, with everyone wondering what was going to happen with Peyton after the season was complete. It was obvious that the Colts were going to snatch up promising Stanford QB Andrew Luck. But what would that mean for Manning? Would he be cast out in anticipation of the new kid? Would he insist they trade away the top pick to keep his spot secure? Would he demand to be traded? Would his neck problems make the entire argument moot?
And now… The most recent episode “Twitter War”
This is when the drama really started. Most of the news came from social media, specifically twitter. Yes, the same media tool that has played a part in taking down dictatorships, and celebrity marriages alike has now made its biggest impact on the sports world. We were even treated in this episode to a mainstay of reality TV, the minor-celebrity cameo appearance.
It all started when Irsay made a few ambiguous comments on his twitter feed about Peyton’s future with the team. As I said, they were ambiguous, they meant nothing, and in the days before tweets were more than the sound a songbird made, they would have been ignored by serious reporters as the ramblings of an owner speaking his mind about being frustrated with the state of his business. However, these are not those days, and the comments were picked up by everyone in the need to feed the 24-hour sports news cycle. Peyton, in response, took to twitter himself, releasing more ambiguous statements that meant nothing. These too were picked up and spread like wildfire. And then the twist. Of all the “who really cares what he has to say” people in the world, actor Rob Lowe joined in and tweeted that he had learned Manning would not be back next season. Given that Lowe and Irsay are actually friends, reporters jumped on the tweet, making it the leading story on just about every major sports page, network and website. Obviously surprised, both the Indy and Manning camps did their best to quell rumors with varying levels of success. During this time, the Colts’ front office did some post-season cleaning, firing their head coach and defensive coordinator. Again, just when we thought maybe, the two of them had learned their lesson and were going to remain quiet, Peyton started releasing statements that he was “disappointed” in the “dour” attitude in the organization. Not to be outdone, Irsay responded like a husband who found out his wife was telling the whole neighborhood he leaves the seat up all the time. He did so by accusing his quarterback of being too much of a “politician” and all but telling him, in public mind you, not in private, to shut up. Now with the hiring of a new head coach, Chuck Pagano former DC for the Ravens, Indy is obviously preparing for rebuilding mode, leaving many veteran players in the air wondering if they’ll have a horseshoe on their helmets next year.
Next on SURVIVOR: Indianapolis “The 28 Million Dollar March”
Thursday night, Peyton’s agent released a statement that he has been cleared by his doctor to play. Not long later, the he-said he-said continued with Irsay saying that though he may have been cleared by his personal surgeon, team doctors have yet to clear him. Friday, the team released an official statement that Manning and Irsay are “unified”. Looking at their individual statements, it’s obvious that this isn’t the case. Frankly, everything being said on both sides, mean absolutely nothing. The real test is going to be in March, when the time runs out, and Indy has to put up a 28 million dollar bonus or release him. Though everyone seems to have an opinion about what will happen at that point, it’s likely to be a decision that will be made at the last moment. The team’s doctors will look at Peyton, the team’s marketers will get together with the accountants and crunch the numbers, and a consensus will be reached. This is the type of thing that happens every year in the NFL, but this year, because of twitter and a bored sports reporting industry, we got to watch the drama unfold step by step.
More... (http://ravens24x7.com/columns/NFL-News-and-Notes/SURVIVOR-Indianapolis)
It’s no real surprise that they’ve latched on to the will-he-or-won’t-he Peyton Manning story. Sure, traditionally during the week leading up to the Super Bowl you’d think people would want to hear about the teams who are in it. However, fans are getting sick of having the idea that Belichick is a football genius who can do no wrong shoved down their throats, Brady being a pretty-boy is great for pictures, but boring for stories, and Eli Manning… well he can’t even inspire me to write an analogy about how uninspiring he is. So the possible ousting of a great quarterback, and one that has more commercials than Geico has spokesmen, is a perfect fit. Add to that the fact that Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck at this point look less like two men wanting the same job, and more like two women waiting for a rose on the bachelor, and you have the perfect story for fans, and non-fans alike. So, since it’s playing out like a reality show, let’s take a look at how our contestants are doing…
Previously on SURVIVOR: Indianapolis
In case you did everything you could to avoid finding out what happened during the Colts season this year, I’ll recap it for you. Manning had surgery on his neck, an area he’s been having with for a long time. The Colts set out to cement his legacy by showing exactly how bad they were without number 18 under center. The offense was miserable, the defense was overwhelmed, even the special teams seemed lost. As for Peyton’s friend and back-up Curtis Painter, well, apparently it’s true that Indy pays him $425K a year so that Manning has someone to joke with on the sidelines. With a season reminiscent of the 08 Lions, (complete with appearances by Dan Orlovsky) they earned a 2-14 record, and first pick in the upcoming draft. The drama started almost immediately, with everyone wondering what was going to happen with Peyton after the season was complete. It was obvious that the Colts were going to snatch up promising Stanford QB Andrew Luck. But what would that mean for Manning? Would he be cast out in anticipation of the new kid? Would he insist they trade away the top pick to keep his spot secure? Would he demand to be traded? Would his neck problems make the entire argument moot?
And now… The most recent episode “Twitter War”
This is when the drama really started. Most of the news came from social media, specifically twitter. Yes, the same media tool that has played a part in taking down dictatorships, and celebrity marriages alike has now made its biggest impact on the sports world. We were even treated in this episode to a mainstay of reality TV, the minor-celebrity cameo appearance.
It all started when Irsay made a few ambiguous comments on his twitter feed about Peyton’s future with the team. As I said, they were ambiguous, they meant nothing, and in the days before tweets were more than the sound a songbird made, they would have been ignored by serious reporters as the ramblings of an owner speaking his mind about being frustrated with the state of his business. However, these are not those days, and the comments were picked up by everyone in the need to feed the 24-hour sports news cycle. Peyton, in response, took to twitter himself, releasing more ambiguous statements that meant nothing. These too were picked up and spread like wildfire. And then the twist. Of all the “who really cares what he has to say” people in the world, actor Rob Lowe joined in and tweeted that he had learned Manning would not be back next season. Given that Lowe and Irsay are actually friends, reporters jumped on the tweet, making it the leading story on just about every major sports page, network and website. Obviously surprised, both the Indy and Manning camps did their best to quell rumors with varying levels of success. During this time, the Colts’ front office did some post-season cleaning, firing their head coach and defensive coordinator. Again, just when we thought maybe, the two of them had learned their lesson and were going to remain quiet, Peyton started releasing statements that he was “disappointed” in the “dour” attitude in the organization. Not to be outdone, Irsay responded like a husband who found out his wife was telling the whole neighborhood he leaves the seat up all the time. He did so by accusing his quarterback of being too much of a “politician” and all but telling him, in public mind you, not in private, to shut up. Now with the hiring of a new head coach, Chuck Pagano former DC for the Ravens, Indy is obviously preparing for rebuilding mode, leaving many veteran players in the air wondering if they’ll have a horseshoe on their helmets next year.
Next on SURVIVOR: Indianapolis “The 28 Million Dollar March”
Thursday night, Peyton’s agent released a statement that he has been cleared by his doctor to play. Not long later, the he-said he-said continued with Irsay saying that though he may have been cleared by his personal surgeon, team doctors have yet to clear him. Friday, the team released an official statement that Manning and Irsay are “unified”. Looking at their individual statements, it’s obvious that this isn’t the case. Frankly, everything being said on both sides, mean absolutely nothing. The real test is going to be in March, when the time runs out, and Indy has to put up a 28 million dollar bonus or release him. Though everyone seems to have an opinion about what will happen at that point, it’s likely to be a decision that will be made at the last moment. The team’s doctors will look at Peyton, the team’s marketers will get together with the accountants and crunch the numbers, and a consensus will be reached. This is the type of thing that happens every year in the NFL, but this year, because of twitter and a bored sports reporting industry, we got to watch the drama unfold step by step.
More... (http://ravens24x7.com/columns/NFL-News-and-Notes/SURVIVOR-Indianapolis)