Thursday Grab Bag: Super Bowl Story Lines

My 14ers season is less than four months away.

I need to get back into some semblance of shape.

Not that I'm going to attain my Samford University track fitness, but it would be nice to get the six pack to return and be able to do some things athletically.

So I signed up at Defined Fitness today, the Four Corners monopoly of a gym.

I can see how they've kept the monopoly status. They seemed efficient and professional.

I've decided that chains sometimes are bad for food but good for gyms. There's more ideas and feedback.

I was impressed with the size of their facilities and the range of equipment.

*****

Rankings: Kirtland Central coach Charles Kromer has wondered publically about the coaches' association poll this year.

I won't criticize an organization that puts out a ranking, as it's not an easy thing to do. It's impossible to force every coach to vote every week, and that fluctuation leads to some changes throughout the season.

Also, it's fun to talk about and it serves as a nice starting point.

But this week's poll does confuse me and I can understand Kromer's assertion that it influences state seeding at the end of the year and allows politics to play too big a role.

How is KC, which beat No. 2 Shiprock and No. 6 Piedra Vista by double digits last week, just one point ahead of the Lady Chieftains in the 4A rankings?

They got 11 of the 13 first place votes. I'll excuse the other two, but if first place is 10 points, they got eight points total from the other two coaches. Who put the Lady Broncos at No. 7 or lower? Does that make any sense? They're 16-2 and haven't lost to a 4A school.

4A Girls

1. Kirtland Central (11), 118 points
2. Shiprock (2), 117
3. Espanola Valley, 100
4. Roswell, 85
5. Los Alamos, 56
6. Piedra Vista, 50
7. Del Norte, 45
8. Volcano Vista, 37
9. St. Pius, 29
10. Artesia, 13

4A Boys

1. Roswell (10), 118
2. Espanola Valley (2), 109
3. Albuquerque Academy, 96
4. Volcano Vista, 62
5. Belen, 57
6. Los Alamos, 55
7. Grants, 41
8. Santa Teresa, 38
9. Piedra Vista, 30
10. St. Pius, 24

3A Boys

1. Hope Christian (12), 120
2. Sandia Prep, 107
3. Lovington, 79
4. St. Michael's, 74
5. Santa Fe Indian, 73
6. Robertson, 54
7. Pojoaque, 43
8. Wingate, 34
9. Bloomfield, 28
10. NMMI, 14

2A Girls

1. Santa Rosa (8), 97
2. Texico (1), 87
3. Navajo Pine, 69
4. Clayton, 47
5. Rehoboth, 45
6. Navajo Prep, 42
7. Penasco, 40
8. Tularosa, 34
9. Mora, 31
10. Mesa Vista (1), 29

*****

Super Bowl story lines: I won't inundate you with analysis (unless you heard me on 1620 AM this week). There's plenty available.

My prediction: Indianapolis 34, New Orleans 24.

Here are the top five story lines of Super Bowl XLIV, in my mind:

5. Collie/Garcon combo: How good are the receivers in this game?

It doesn't hurt that the NFL has made touching quarterbacks a wallet-reducing offense or jamming receivers tough to do under the current rules that prohibit physicality and promote a passing league.

But do Drew Brees and Peyton Manning need such an advantage?

Brees has Marques Colston, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson.

Manning has Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark. Both had more than 100 catches and 10 touchdowns during the regular season.

The postseason, though, has belonged to Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon.

The BYU rookie and second-year sixth rounder out of Mount Union have combined for... well, you decide which duo is Wayne/Clark and Garcon/Collie in the playoffs:

Combo A: 27 catches, 360 yards, 3 TDs
Combo B: 22, 212 yards, 2 TDs

Yep, that's right, Garcon/Collie are Combo A. With two weeks to study for the second-biggest game of his career (behind the 2006-07 Super Bowl), Peyton Manning will be ready to exploit the Saints' secondary with his third and fourth options.

4. Garcon's Haiti connection: How cool would it be for him to win the Super Bowl MVP?

Lots of celebrities and athletes have latched themselves to the earthquake relief.

Not that it's a bad thing. The motivation to appear genial and caring may be self-serving, but as long as the money ends up helping someone, why criticize? But Garcon, who has family in the country, has a direct reason to care (and plans to visit in the coming weeks).

3. Black coaches dominate: First-year Colts coach Jim Caldwell has a chance to become the third black head coach to win a Super Bowl.

Three years ago today, there were none.

That's before the Colts (coached by Tony Dungy) beat the Bears (coached by Lovie Smith) in an all-African American championship.

Last year, Mike Tomlin led the Steelers to their sixth Super Bowl.

Caldwell could make it three black coaches in four years to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

2. Peyton Manning's career: The debate of best all-time NFL quarterback is muddled.

Do you give it to Dan Marino, perhaps the best professional athlete never to win a title? How about Joe Montana, who won four Super Bowls? John Elway with great stats and two championships?

Manning has a chance to become the Jerry Rice of NFL QBs. He needs at least two more titles in my mind. Here's his chance to cut the number to one.

1. City of New Orleans: Enough said. If the Saints win, look for the biggest sports-related parade in history, bigger than any Mardi Gras celebration on Bourbon Street.

Anyone that saw Hurricane Katrina damage firsthand knows what a revelation the city's revival represents.

*****

Lobos thrive: UNM moved to No. 15 in this week's AP poll, No. 23 in the coaches' poll and No. 13 in the RPI.

They've beaten all five ranked opponents they've faced.

In the latest bracketology, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Lobos as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament next month.

It will be interesting to see how this next week goes. If UNM can beat San Diego State at home and UNLV on the road, two of the top Mountain West teams, they'll be on track to chase down BYU for the regular season conference title on Feb. 27 in Provo, Utah.

They're one loss behind right now.

*****

If you don't like Monday's B1, blame me. I'll be designing the sports front for Super Bowl Sunday in three days.

Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher