The Bears fail to convert on fourth down, and the Colts take control of the ball. The stadium empties out. A sad night for Bears fans. Adande tells me to look at the Bears mascot on the sidelines. It looks distraught.
Meanwhile, the score is 29-17. Not that I'm into these kind of things, but the Vegas over/under minutes before kickoff was 47. Amazing.
Grossman hits Jones for a screen pass, he stays in bounds, and the clock ticks, ticks, ticks away.
Jeff Saturday and co. get Tony Dungy on the Gatorade shower. Peyton Manning's got his Super Bowl ring. I look for the 300-pound woman in the Reggie Wayne jersey. She's hugging her bearded husband in the Harrison jersey. They are happy. The Bears fan giving them the middle finger in front of them is not.
My Super Bowl MVP? I'm fine with Peyton winning it, but think Addai and Rhodes should share the award. This entire season's been about these two. When Edgerrin James left, people wondered how the Colts would ever recover. What they got was one of the league's best running back tandems in years. Two modest men, each one willing to share the carries with the other, who came a long way to get where they are right now.
Their final stat lines?
Joseph Addai: 19 carries, 77 yards; 10 receptions, 66 yards.
The Bears knock through a field goal and it's 22-17. Strange box pool score, to be certain. How many guys got the old "2, 7" and clapped their hands saying, "Yes!" About as many who had money on John Gilmore returning more kicks than Devin Hester. I ask a friend back home how the Super Bowl ads have been thus far. "Not sure. Still reeling from that Prince halftime show." Wow. Was it that bad?
Joseph Addai's stat line is pretty impressive right now. At the end of three quarters, he's got 17 carries for 63 yards, and 10 receptions for 66 yards. That's 27 touches out of a rookie running back. He's gotta be the MVP at this point. Long ways away from being a backup running back much of last year at LSU.
The Bears begin a march that could very well become the defining drive of Rex Grossman's career. He hits Mushin Muhammad for 22 yards and the place is rocking. Somehow, some way, the Bears are only down 5 points, with the ball, in the fourth quarter of a game they've been absolutely outplayed in.
And just as I type those words, Grossman throws a pick six. Devastating. How about that play for Kelvin Hayden. Nick Harper gets replaced, and here comes Hayden-a guy who no one even bothered interviewing on Media Day-intercepting a ball and running it back 56 yards for a back-breaking score.
And just as everyone in the press area is whispering, "Bench Rex?" "Griese time?" Grossman goes out and throws another pick, this one intercepted by Bob Sanders.
And as everyone in Colts blue and white are going wild in the stadium, the Bears fans fall silent. No more "Ditka", no more "Da Bears" at every swivel of the head. Rather, just a soaking wet fan base, collectively shaking their heads in confusion.
The scoreboard shows John Travolta up in a luxury suite. He's smiling and waving. Apparently, he's not much of a Bears fan.
After the smoke clears and a flood of text messages come in about what was apparently a really bizarre halftime show for those watching at home, the Colts take control of the ball. Manning leads the Colts down the field, and Vinatieri nails a field goal.
The Colts continue going with the squib kick, which, if your friend did in a game of "Madden" you'd likely never speak to him again. This #85, John Gilmore, is suddenly the most valuable player on the Bears special teams unit. The Bears go from a 2nd and 1 to a 4th and 23 in no time, being forced to punt the ball away yet again. Grossman fumbles on third down. His numbers right now? 8-10, 55 yards, 1 TD, 0 Interceptions, and a pair of bobbled snaps.
The Colts march right down again, and Vinatieri puts another field goal through the uprights. Somehow, this game is still a one-possession game. The Colts can't seem to put the Bears away. A TD there likely would have done the job.
Well, that was interesting. Prince did a set consisting of "Let's Go Crazy", "Best of You" by the Foo Fighters, and "Purple Rain".
The "Best of You" cover elicits a ton of responses amongst the press box. Former FOXSports.com editor Andy Nesbitt, says "I want to hear Prince do a version of Metallica's "One". Just would love hearing Prince start a song with, "Darkness Imprisoning Me...Is All That I See." Meanwhile, I've got my buddy Berman texting me, "Can't they just re-play the highlights from the Jacksonville Jaguars 2006 team video or something?"
I'm actually enjoying the performance. Maybe it's like hockey. Much better live than on TV. Adande and I are rocking to "Purple Rain". Everyone's getting drenched. No one's been electrocuted yet. All in all, pretty fun little performance here out of Prince. Still would have rather heard Billy Joel do "Miami 2017".
I look towards Peter King. He's nowhere to be seen. I wanted to see him singing along, too. Sipping on a Starbucks double mocha venti latte, just taking it in. Nope. No such luck. Oh well.
End of quarter 1, and the Bears lead 14-6. If the game were to end now, Hester would be my MVP. Second place? The woman in the Wayne jersey below us.
After a Vinatieri field goal, fireworks go off. I'm not against fireworks displays, in fact, I enjoy July 4th a whole lot. But do we really need fireworks after a 29-yard chip shot field goal? Is that not a bit "Boy Cried Wolf"? If you're going to light up a tremendous aerial display of magic and wonder for a gimme field goal-what do you have in store for the game-winner with no time left on the clock? Hey, just throwing that out there for the pyrotechnics crew. Then again, this is probably the same bunch that green-lighted a referee on an ostrich and called it "pre-game entertainment".
Bears go three and out and you can feel the momentum shifting. The Colts answer with one of those no-huddle/not enough time to get a replay in/CBS misses the start of the play marches down the field. Is anyone better at these than Peyton Manning? Dominic Rhodes plunges into the end zone. Fireworks! Wow. They'll give 'em for anything these days. I just saw a guy take a sip out of his soda. Cue the works!
Meanwhile, the PA System plays "Bang the Drum All Day", and the Colts fans go wild. One guy, wearing an Addai jersey, has an actual drum. He's banging it. All day. Hey, he doesn't want to work. Just wants to bang that drum.
Bears go three and out.
If Indy drives, scores a touchdown, and gets the ball back at the start of the half-this can get out of control.
Of course, as I type that, the Colts fumble the ball. What a wacky game. Next play? Grossman fumbles the ball to the Colts.
In between all this madness, the PA guy-along with help from the scoreboard-is teaching the crowd how they can join in and help participate with the halftime show. They introduce Queen's "We Will Rock You", and urge the crowd to "Stomp", "Stomp", "Clap", then sing the words "We Will, We Will Rock this joint till the wheels come off!". Yes-"Rock this joint till the wheels fall off!". There are flashlights and stuff too. After a test run, I realize that I want to rock this joint till the wheels fall off. I really do.
The NFL is so hip!
Vinatieri then misses a chippy field goal to end the half, finishing up officially the weirdest first half in Super Bowl history.
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