Kenneth Sothman, Bears Superfan

I may not be in Miami, and I can't enjoy the presence not being in a five-foot radius of a Colts fan no matter where I go, so here's the bottled up emotions (in random order) from over the past two weeks:

- But before I get into anything, we should probably give our boy Rex a round of applause for throwing the New Years Eve game against the Packers on purpose so Brett Favre would return, thus putting the Packers in a good chance of not being in contention next year. Rex, I apologize for ever doubting you, especially since I'm convinced my blogs gave you this sneaky sneaky idea...

- First of all, having the Bears in the Superbowl for the first time in my life is a very odd feeling, it's as if this upcoming game is still just the regular season. I mean, are we sure the Bears are suppose to be playing in this important magnitude of a game? In February? Shouldn't I be preparing for spring training by now?

- I can't help but brag though, for the Bears/Saints game proved what I was saying when the media used complete lack of common sense when looking into the game. I love how three hours after the game Gene W. from espn.com was already pointing out how the weather had effected the Saints... (Really? He didn't see that coming at all?)

In fact, I'm 2 for 2 for the playoffs so far, for I completely nailed the Seahawks game, right down to Matt Hasselback's stat-line. Trust me Bears fan, this is a good thing for us.

- Going into this game, I can't help but love the fact that supposedly Manning had gotten the monkey off the back by defeating a depleted Patriots team that had no reason in being in the AFC Championship in the first place. Sure, the Colts made a nice comeback. But isn't it a bad thing the Colts were in that situation in the first place? What were they doing being down that many points at half? And not only that, but it took the worse half of Tom Brady's life, some very questionable officiating (Manning barely got touched on the "roughing the passer"), and Reche Caldwell dropping a complete wide-open pass, yet we were still a mis-communicated 5-yard slant from Troy Brown from considering Manning a choke artist. By the way, HE STILL HASN'T WON ANYTHING YET.

- Like I said on my radio show the other night here at Ball State, I would never bet on the Boston Red Sox during the post-season to win even though they've won a World Series. There's just a complete history that defies the logic of betting on them, so why would I do the same with Peyton?

By the way Indy fans, I have to throw this out there since I was at the Pacers/Lakers game last night, how did Reggie Miller do in his first game in the NBA Finals when he finally made it? Ooops, that's right, he finished with one of the worst shooting performances in finals history...

- And doesn't that scare Colts fans a bit that the Colts are celebrating about how Manning has released the pressure (besides the fact he's played incredibly poor during the playoffs as a whole) while the Bears are talking about how they don't get any respect? Honestly, who's the hungrier team right now?

- I'm happy for the fact Tank Johnson was allowed to go to Miami not only for the fact so he can help the Bears, but in fear of what could've happened if he was forced to miss the biggest game of his life. Though I will say, it's unfair how athletes get special treatment.

(Let's put it this way, if Marcus Riley had the same charges of possession that Tank Johnson had, would a judge allow him to cover the game for NBC down in a city full of parties, mojitos, strip clubs, and trouble around every corner? Something makes me doubt that...)

- If Rex Grossman only plays poorly in games in which he fails to prepare for, then shouldn't our boy come out firing tomorrow since he's had a two-week break? I mean, this is the same guy in which we were TOO WORRIED that he was focused too much on football during the first month of the season.

On a side note, Rex has a cousin that goes to Ball State, which I've never met her personally, but a friend of mine knows her and it sounds like Rex was more then ecstatic about this game. Trust me, he's going to be ready.

- Speaking of Rex, don't be surprised when he raises the SuperBowl MVP trophy above his head. Even if he were to have just an average game, I feel as if we all owe him one big group hug though. How could not a single one of us praise him for leading us here up to this point? He brought the Bears to the Super Bowl!!! That's been my boy since like 7th/8th grade, and he's taken us to the Super Bowl!!!!!!!!

- The Patriots put up 34 points on the Colts defense. Now for what reason shouldn't the Bears, who have just as good as a passing/receiving game, running game, and special teams, do the same? I've asked many Colts fans this during the past week, yet they can only tell me Rex will choke. Well, what if he doesn't?

- By the way, I've never seen so many people buy conference championship shirts such as Colts fans have. It's as if they knew this was the pinnacle for them...

On a side note, I on a personal level don't believe in buying these shirts until after the team's season is over. It just doesn't seem right settling for something small (a division championship, a conference championship) when something bigger is still out there (a world championship).

- Speaking of shirts, I can't believe ESPN.Com was already allowing people to pre-order the Super Bowl championship gear for their teams. I would never, and I mean never, get over how I jinxed my team by buying this stuff a week in advance.

- Trust me when I say this, because I've watched all the Colts games this season. They have not met a team this season that's as aggressive on defense as the Bears are when they play "Lovie-Ball!". Both Harrison and Wayne are soft receivers who like to fall to the ground and run out of bounds rather then taking the hit. That won't happen with the speed of this defense, and when they do get hit, heads and footballs will roll.

And I completely hate the fact that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman completely failed to bring up the fact how the Bears have played this style of play of strip the ball, pick it up, and head towards the end zone all season long. It's really unfair we only got one Pat Summerall game the whole year!

- Sportscenter just showed Alysa Milano wearing a "I love the Colts" shirt. Now for what reason is Milano a Colts fan? Is she even from anywhere in Indiana? I bring this up because the other day I had a shouting match in my personal finance class from a kid, we'll just call him Mr. Smart Colts fan, who claimed that Bears fans were all bandwagon fans, and that the team finished with an 8-8 record last year.

After I corrected him, I obviously pointed out how the Colts have the smallest fan base in the three major sports, and that most Colts fans have both a lack of knowlegde of their own team and of the NFL as a whole. Mr. Smart Colts fan then followed that up by telling me the Bears only have fans because Chicago is the biggest city in America.

Now I admit, I'm just as biased against Colts fans as I am Cubs fans, but I do respect the fact that they have the right to be so happy their team is in the playoffs. I'd probably be at ease alot more if I wasn't 40 minutes away from Indy...

- Just a reminder, I hope you've all enjoyed the complete Bears coverage in Chicago that it seems you guys have received. Because here, the Colts have already won the Superbowl according to the media. I'm scared to death of what Monday could be like if the Bears were to lose...

Now can you guys understand why I seem so bitter though? If I was 40 minutes from Chicago instead, I may just be the happiest person in the world right now! Instead, I'm only number four in that category.

A quick random side note, on Monday night I anchor sports for "NewsWatch", a student-run news broadcast that shows througout Delaware county. Can you guys even imagine how much it would devestate me to talk about the Colts winning the Superbowl while acting like I'm happy for it? It'd be torture I tell you, pure torture.

- I will admit though, during the past week whenever my chemistry class (full of about 150-200 people I would guess) got quiet, I'd let out a nice "BEARS!" yell to keep everyone on their toes. Ok, so I've played the role of the obnoxious Bears fan this week also...

- With everything I've said, I can't help but say I'm a complete nervous wreck when it comes to this game. I feel so confident that the Bears can win, I'm so scared they could lose, and I'm so dissapointed that no matter what happens, the greatest Chicago Bears season I've ever seen ends tomorrow.

- Since I'm keeping my playoff superstitions alive (two posts a week, one the night before a game, one the day of, no jinxing anything in the middle) my official Chicago Bears Superbowl prediction comes tomorrow.

And just as I typed that, I just got goosebumps.