By now we all know that the Bears and Colts are going to meet in the Super Bowl. I'm a Bears fan, so that should give you a pretty good hint about who I'm rooting for in the big game. This is exactly the matchup I wanted when we got down to the final four teams, so I'm pretty darn excited.

I was extremely nervous in the last minute of yesterday's Colts-Patriots game. We've been bombarded for years with the message that Tom Brady always comes through when the Patriots need to win, so I knew exactly how Peyton Manning felt while he was sitting on the bench face down. I had a knot in my stomach, and I'm not even a fan of either team. I can't imagine how the players and the fans of the teams felt. I'm just glad it turned out the way I wanted it to.

Though I'm (obviously) rooting for the Bears, I'm one of many who thinks the Colts are the clear favorite. I'd love to be wrong, though I'll be happy for the Colts if they do win. I'm really looking forward to the game, and it'll feel kind of weird to experience the "two weeks of hype" with my own team involved. I was too young to remember the 1985 team, though I know they were much better than this 2006 team. Whether the Bears win or lose though, I'm proud of them. I've followed them all season, and stayed loyal to them even when my co-workers teased me about being a Bears fan. They can talk about their NFC East teams, but I'm the one whose team is going to the Super Bowl. They told me that the Bears wouldn't win in the Playoffs with Rex Grossman at quarterback (and I'll even admit that I had my doubts), but my team proved the critics wrong. My biggest regret this season was not staying up to watch the Bears' comeback against Arizona on Monday Night Football. I had work the next day and needed some extra sleep, but if I'd known that something that big was going to happen I probably could've done without it for one more day. I'll never live that one down. The Bears have been doing unexpected things all year, so while my official prediction is that the Colts will win, I'm in no way ruling out the possibility of a Bears victory. Whatever happens though, it's been a great season, and I'll probably look back on it with fond memories in the future.

To conclude this post, I have a useless tidbit I'd like to share. Peyton Manning is about to do something that's never been done before. He'll be the first starting quarterback in Super Bowl history to wear #18. You can look it up. Of the available numbers for a quarterback (1-19), 1, 2 and 6 have never been worn either. Warren Moon and Jeff George are the only quarterbacks I can think of offhand who wore number 1, so it might be some time before the number loses that distinction. We've got a few 2's and 6's (Aaron Brooks, Chris Simms and Jay Cutler come immediately to mind), so perhaps one day those will be taken off the list too. Does information get any more meaningless?