Super Bowl XLI news, blogs, event schedule

Indianapolis Colts Headlines

• EYE ON THE PRIZE

  The Colts, who had led or shared the lead in the AFC South for 60 consecutive weeks, lost their 2008 regular-season opener to the Chicago Bears, 29-13, Sunday night. The loss put the Colts in a three-way tie for second place in the division with Jacksonville and Houston. - 1 second ago

• BILL POLIAN SHOW DEBUT

  The Bill Polian Radio Show debuts tonight on 97.1 Hank FM. Call in to have your question answered by Colts President Bill Polian at 6pm. The call-in number is 317-239-9797. - 1 second ago

• DISAPPOINTING DEBUT

  The Colts opened the last three regular seasons with extended, historic winning streaks. On Sunday night, they fell behind early en route to a 29-13 loss to the Chicago Bears in the first regular-season game at Lucas Oil Stadium. - 8 hours ago

• A SIMPLE EXPLANATION

  The Colts did what they don't normally do in the 2008 season opener, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said. They made costly mistakes, one of which turned into a crucial Chicago Bears defensive touchdown in a 29-13 season-opening loss at Lucas Oil Stadium. - 8 hours ago

• VERY IMPRESSED

  NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attended the Colts' game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday night - the first regular-season season game in the new, state-of-the-art, retractable-roof facility in downtown Indianapolis. The facility, the NFL's newest, was impressive, Goodell said. - 14 hours ago

Chicago Bears Headlines

• Tillman displays his knack for stripping ball in win

  INDIANAPOLIS – In 13 seasons as an NFL coach, Lovie Smith has never seen a player who's more adept at stripping the ball from opponents than Bears cornerback Charles Tillman.

• Inspired team effort lifts Bears to stunning victory

  INDIANAPOLIS – After insisting that the preseason had no bearing on how they would play when the games started to count in the standings, the Bears went out and proved it Sunday night in Indianapolis.

• Bears face tough road test in season opener

  INDIANAPOLIS – Determined to rebound from last year's first-to-worst descent, the Bears will open the 2008 season tonight on the road against one of the NFL's premier teams.

• Trio of defenders glad to be back in action

  LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek had high expectations a year ago after earning a starting job, but his season ended after just three quarters when he tore his ACL in the opener at San Diego.

• Bears to unveil revamped offense in opener

  LAKE FOREST, Ill. – After ranking 27th in the NFL in total yards last season, the Bears offense will kick off the 2008 campaign Sunday night in Indianapolis with more than just a clean slate.

Super Bowl XLI Headlines from MSNBC.com

• The Biggest Super Bowl upsets

  Special feature: Where does Giants' win against Patriots rank among other legendary games? - 7 months ago

• Vote: Biggest upset in Super Bowl history?

  Vote: Biggest upset in Super Bowl history? - 7 months ago

• Celizic: This was greatest Super Bowl of all-time

  Celizic: There have been bigger Super Bowl upsets, but for sure greatness, the Giants' 17-14 victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII on Sunday is the greatest ever. - 7 months ago

• NBC Sports: 5 reasons behind Giants’ victory

  - 7 months ago

• Ventre: Pats can be super again, if they make changes

  Ventre: D is too old, Moss must be re-signed, Belichick should upgrade his image - 7 months ago

The Road To Super Sunday

• Giant Upset!

  Despite giving the New England Patriots perhaps their toughest test of the regular season during week 17, heading into Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants were given little-to-no chance...

• NFL Title Would Make Pats Best Ever

  This weekend the New England Patriots will attempt to cap off their quest to match the unbeaten mark set by the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who not only ran the table...

• First Injury Report Released

  The first injury report for Super Bowl XLII was released Wednesday, and although New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is on the list for an unspecified shoulder injury (as he...

Stampede Blue Blog

• One of the few bright spots from last night. Enjoy!

  One of the few bright spots from last night. Enjoy! - 89 minutes ago

• So that's what it's like...

  Justin Snow has the same expression we all did last night via d.yimg.com It's been a while since I've felt like this after a Colts game.  Come to think of it, I would have felt this way had I watched one of our 5 preseason games, because that is what last night felt like.  Everyone was getting their bearings, trying things out, etc.  Unfortunately for the Colts, and us, the Bears did all of this in their Preseason games, and they knocked us around.  I guess this is the feeling almost every other team has felt sometime in the past 3 seasons. I've read through most of the comments this morning from everyone, and I mostly agree with everything.  The one thing I haven't seen is a good explanation of why the Bears moved the ball very effectively on offense, even without major weapons, and I think the answer is a simple one: They took what our defense gave them, and did not get impatient one time in the game.  They were very content to gain 4 yards on every play, and keep moving the chains.  Very few teams (read: coaches) have the discipline to not go for more than what the Tampa 2 gives you.  It will give you 4 yards a play, even when the defense is playing decent.  The Tampa 2 takes advantage when an offense starts to take risks down the field, or they need more than 8+ yards on one play.  The Bears, consistently, had 3rd and shorts, which is why they were 10-16 on 3rd downs.  Having 16 3rd down plays also shows how they kept taking 4 yards and moving on. Other than the one big run by Forte, I don't think the defense played bad.  As BBS said below, taking that run out they only managed 3.4/carry.  Unfortunately, 3.4 x 3 > 10 yards, so they kept making first downs.  Plus they had some really good play-action calls and completions on 3rd downs as well. As far as the offense goes, numerous things were going against us.  One, the Bears, and Urlacher confirmed after the game, wanted to stop the run on every play.  There were times they had 8 guys on the line of scrimmage, with 5 of them lined up over the middle of our line, which had a combined 12 starts (all by Johnson, at another position).  While I think we should have tried to run a little more, they never stopped daring Manning to throw the ball.  I liked the running of the slants, as they are quick passes that are great against a blitz.  But where were the variation plays off of them?  Why no slant-pump fake-go route, especially when there was no safety help?  The corners obviously knew they were blitzing, so they started to jump the slants.  Why not more screen passes, or draw plays?  I'm wondering if the inexperienced middle of the line played a part in that. Every season, the biggest improvement comes from Game 1 to Game 2, especially with a lot of young guys.  It's still too early to start panicking about Peterson next week.  He still hasn't played a down yet this season.  I feel confident that the coaches know they've screwed up, and will right the ship.  I just wish they would have done this in the preseason, rather than on National TV, opening up a brand new stadium. While this game was a kick in the nuts, it's still a better feeling than what they must be feeling in New England.  We all know how we'd feel if Manning was done for the year.  I really hope Brady can come back from this injury, as the entire NFL will suffer without him playing this season.  It really is the Bizarro NFL already, and we aren't even a week in. - 2 hours ago

• 2008 Kickoff Weekend a disaster for NFL

  One could not script a more devastating Kickoff Weekend for the NFL and their marketing folks. Look at this laundry list of disasters from yesterday’s games: Tom Brady. Torn ACL. Season over. Patriots season in jeopardy. Vince Young. Strained MCL. Out 4-6 weeks. I know the story says 2-4, but Jeff Saturday has a similar injury. It will be 4-6 weeks. Oh, and Vince continued his sidelining putting and general douchebaggery. Chargers lay an egg against the Panthers. Colts lay an egg against the Bears during the opening of their new stadium. Peyton Manning clearly not ready to play. Seattle, a team expected by many to win their division, gets mauled by Buffalo. Jacksonville, the anointed favorite among ESPN, gets beaten up by the Titans. Much of what the NFL markets itself around (big name QBs and marquee teams) looked like utter garbage on Sunday. Thankfully, it is only Week One, and for many of the teams and players on this list there is hope for a rebound. On the flip side, maybe this is exactly what the NFL is all about: Unpredictability. Media people hate that because they get proven wrong a lot and it makes them look like the idiots they usually are. But for fans, it is gold. The motto of pro football is anyone can beat anyone, anywhere. And that’s what makes it great. - 3 hours ago

Monsters of the Midway Blog

• The Morning After: Week One at Indianapolis - A star is born?

   The enduring image from last night’s season opener at Indianapolis will be Matt Forte pulling away from 2007 Defensive Player of the Year Bob Sanders on a 50-yard touchdown run to give the Bears a lead they would never relinquish en route to a 29-13 victory over the Colts.  As far as I am concerned though, [...] - 88 minutes ago

• What just happened in Indianapolis?

  Whoa. Did that really just happen? Did the Bears REALLY just knock off the Colts, in their shiny new stadium, in front of a national audience? A quick pinch of my arm confirms I’m not dreaming and that 29-13 beatdown I just witnessed was no hallucination. Maybe in retrospect this wasn’t such a huge surprise after all. [...] - 13 hours ago

• Live blog: Bears at Colts on Sunday Night Football

  From the Midway’s Ryan Tennant and NFL Outsider’s Patrick Patterson and Anthony Hall blog live as the Chicago Bears face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. - 19 hours ago

The FanHouse Super Bowl Blog

Adam Schein's (Fox Sports) Super Bowl Blog

• Playing catch-up

  So I didn’t have a free minute to blog on Thursday. We have a lot to catch up on. My friend Stone back in New York is killing me for not blogging often. And as he bellowed to me on the phone this morning, and he’s a busy lawyer: "Schein, it’s freezing in New York, I’m working to midnight, I need some stories," he said. OK. First of all — our boy Peter Schrager killing me in his blog for liking Grey’s Anatomy. Let’s go over this. We are at dinner on Tuesday night. Charissa Thompson says she likes the show. I say I’m a huge fan, my fiancée got me into it, and now I really like it. My fiancée Katie and I watch it together Yes, that’s two fiancée references in the same sentence since I think we talked for a total of 3 minutes on Wednesday. Uh, Schrager, let me give you some advice: When a beautiful woman says she likes a show, you say you love it. (And by the way, as good as Charissa looks on our FOXSports.com video, she is even better looking in person. And she is a sweetheart). Schrager is totally lost. You don’t debate the show. You lie and embrace it. Wednesday was a great day. Sirius dinner at Johnny V’s at the Hotel Astor. Dave Hagen, producer/night life coordinator/out- till-the-sun comes-up legend, set the dinner up. Hagen used to work in Miami and raved about it. Food was fantastic. Crab cake appetizer. Mahi Mahi for dinner was amazing. (I couldn’t go steak three nights in a row.) Mac and Cheese and creamed spinach sides. Banana something or other after dinner. And Bob Papa picked out a great wine. It was Hagen, Papa, Jim Miller, Solomon Wilcots, Pat Kirwan, Nick Pavlatos, Doug Mortman, Dave LaGreca and the Sirius NFL Radio big cheese Stevie Cohen making up the crew. Solomon drew the short end of the stick. Literally. First, he had to sit next to Adam Caplan who wouldn’t stop chewing his ear off. Then, he ordered the short ribs. And it was the smallest meal ever. And my guy Solly is in playing shape. He needed a big steak! Other than that — it all worked. Then it was off to the Clevelander again. The Sirius crew followed. Lotta good off the record NFL rumor and chatter going on. Though I got stuck in a terrible conversation with a PR guy who works for a company in Chicago who roomed with my friend Andrew Catalon in Syracuse. Now I like this guy Chad, but not for the 30 minutes I wasted with him. That was my latest night of the week so far as I stayed out till 2:15 a.m. I can’t do that too often and do a radio show. I’m relatively young, but I just can’t do it. But with Jim Miller out and running things, I couldn’t resist. Taped that FOXSports.com round table on Thursday. Finally met Kevin Hench. Good guy. Acts like he writes. Producer Nick Neves’ fiancé came to town. And Neves is a good guy — quiet guy. He out-kicked his coverage with his bride to be, Nicole. And Schrager actually didn’t screw up the taping! That’s a bigger upset than Bears over Indy! Also got to see Laura Okmin from Totally Football, who I used to work with. We had great chemistry back in the day on FSN. DeAngelo Hall was with her following a taping. He’s one of my favorite guys in this league to interview. Then it was radio row for the show. We had an unreal Q&A with Troy Vincent about what the players association isn’t doing for retired players. If you missed it, listen to the 15 minutes segment on NFL.com this weekend on Chalk Talk. It was a great spot. Also great stuff with Trent Dilfer, Jim Kelly, and others. One of my great callers, Mike in Chicago, came to radio row (security wouldn’t let him in, but he was recognized by Nick due to his screaming). Mike bought me a Bears NFC shirt that said “SCHEIN LOVES THE BEARS” on the back. Then he begged me to pick Indy so Chicago would win. Charles Tillman was on in his daily spot. Wale Ogunleye took him to this bad barbecue joint. He wasn’t happy. I told him to go to Tuscan Steak. Hopefully he listens. Then it was off to the PLAYERS INC party. My night was made. My trip was made. Jack Del Rio is a big fan of the show. But his wife Linda, likes it even more. And she busted out into a dead on Adam Schein impersonation. She apparently gets a kick out of how I say SOLLY! Nick Pavlatos and I did the usual schmoozing and networking. We got to spend time with old radio partner John Riggins and his lovely wife Lisa Marie. I don’t think Andrew Siciliano has missed a party. EVER. Then it was off to the Madden party. Speaking of Adam Schein impersonations, nobody does it better than Broncos fullback Kyle Johnson. He is laughing at me, not with me. Mega TV agent Gideon Cohen was there as was Miami NBC-TV heartthrob Adam Kuperstein, who once dated my friend Stone’s sister for a night or so. It’s 1 p.m. now on Friday. I need my second Starbucks. Commissioner’s party on tap tonight. 1 Comment - 2 years ago

• Good times had by all

  Greetings from South Florida.  So I finally relented and had dinner with our own Peter Schrager.  I was describing my dinner the night before to Schrager and he started drooling.  So to avoid further embarrassment, we opted to go back to Tuscan Steak.  I mean, it’s a joke that I went to the same restaurant back to back nights, but Schrager just had that ravaged dog look on his face.  Once again, the food was delicious.  And it was a totally different order than the night before.  It was Schrager, FOXSports.com video producers Christian Anderson and Nick Neves, and our lovely FOXSports.com roving reporter Christa Thompson.  Once again, the food was outstanding.   Though I wasn’t happy when Neves inadvertently dropped pepper in my Peroni.  Not a good move.  And I hate to admit it, but we had a good time.  Then it was off to the Clevelander again, which was packed.  FOXSports.com video head Jed Pearson was in full effect, charming every lady within 50 feet.  All the stars seemed to be out there.  Chris Rose…Stu Scott…Michael Irvin…Bears sideline reporter and Syracuse grad Zach Zaidman.  And I think I scored points with the Sirius crew by introducing Ms. Thompson.  Good times had by all.  The lovely Hooters girls made an appearance on the radio row.  Better to look at than some on our specific show.  Though I have to say I have never seen girls look like that in the actual restaurant.  Great day on radio row.  Jimmy Johnson, and his hair, got the party started on the show.  I have to tell you — I think he’s outstanding.  He’s great on FOX, was a fantastic coach, and he just has a great personality.  And he never gets enough for credit for building those Cowboy Super Bowl teams, not just coaching them.  Johnson told us that Norv Turner called him to talk about the Cowboys gig.  And I asked Johnson if he advised his good friend to work for the now omnipresent Jones.  While Johnson has major, and rightful, concerns about it, he advised Turner to take the gig if offered and thinks his former offensive coordinator is the best fit for the Dallas vacancy.  Hines Ward revealed that he wished Bill Cowher would’ve told the team in the preseason he was leaving since, “Everyone knew it the minute he moved his family to North Carolina.”  Matt Hasselbeck is still sick that Seattle lost to the Bears, and sick about what he called, “three major mistakes that cost the team.”  And he’s not wrong about either point.  Hasselbeck had surgery on his non throwing shoulder and is expected to be ready for training camp.  That Seahawks team is going to be dangerous next year.  Mike McCarthy, the Packers coach, had the quote of the day when he said, “You just can’t kick the damn ball to Devin Hester”.  Texans guard Eric Winston was a great spot.  The former Miami star was part of the running attack that dismantled the Colts on Christmas Eve.  What does he see as the big difference now?  Winston said, ‘The Colts are tackling.’  In his daily spot, Charles Tillman reported he enjoyed a half price lunch (seriously) with his wife, the Grossmans, and Todd Johnson.  He then proceeded to miss his exit for the team hotel while talking to us live on the line.  After sounding a bit aggravated, Tillman got back on track, and we were able to report the breaking news he made it back to the team complex.  This morning — sat outside in the beautiful sun and penned Scheintology, prepped for the show, and worked out.8 Comments - 2 years ago

• Another day in paradise

  Greeting from South Florida. It was a great first day on radio row.  Show guests included Rex Grossman, Charles Tillman, Rashied Davis, Dolphins defensive end Kevin Carter, Giants kicker Jay Feely, and former Bear now Chicago TV personality Tom Waddle. The fine folks at Sirius did a wonderful job with our gigantic set, which is the first thing you see when you walk into the Miami Convention Center. Nice to see Jim Miller.  He’s my co-host, but he works out of Detroit while I’m in New York.  And here’s the beauty of Miller before the show -- the guy is the king of radio since he played for seemingly every team in the NFL.  I mean, it was a scene.  Every producer running up saying, "Miller played in our city!"  We are talking the Pittsburgh stations, the Chicago stations, the Detroit stations, Tampa, Boston, everyone.  I think Miller still has outstanding bar tabs in every town. A phenomenal dinner at Tuscan Steak House.  Family style portions.  It was unreal.  Gnoochi the size of my fist.  A great steak.  Garlic bread.  This banana pudding desert.  (I’m officially off the wedding diet). It was a great time with producer Nick Pavlatos and Sirius insider Adam Caplan.  I highly recommend it.  Tell Bradford we sent you.  Good guy.  After dinner it was the Clevelander with the Sirius crew -- drinks with Steve Cohen, Tim Ryan, Bruce Murray, Bob Papa, Dave Hagen, Dave Lagreca, and WFAN producers Marc Malusis and Ed Erickson. In attendance enjoying the nice scenery was Packers receiver Donald Driver.  Now the wideout was on the show Hagen produces on Monday.  Hagen thought it would be funny to stand behind Driver and bellow, "You know, thank goodness the Packers have Greg Jennings.  He is clearly the best receiver on that team." All in good fun. Not quite sure Driver was pleased. Up at 8:45 today.  Internet reading, venti vanilla skim latte, and I jogged in the 65 degree weather.  I went the other direction, jogging on Ocean Drive instead of Collins.  We passed the ESPN broadcast set.  There appeared to be a live broadcast.  As it turned out, it was.  Apparently Cold Pizza is still on the air.  Who knew?  The live audience of five seemed happy. Special start for the radio show at 2 today -- then another FOXSports.com video hit with Christian Anderson, Nick Neves and the crew at 7 after the radio. Got some quality conversation in with our Peter Schrager last night in between the radio show and the FOXSports.com video hit.Though I am not quite sure he heard anything I was saying as he was gawking at FOXSports.com roving reporter Charissa Thompson.   4 Comments - 2 years ago

Peter Schrager's (Fox Sports) Super Bowl Blog

• Tailback tandem deserves MVP

  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. Dominic Rhodes: 21 carries, 113 yards, 1 TD; 1 reception, 8 yards. Give it to ‘em both.  They’ve shared the load all year. Why not share the glory? 25 Comments - 2 years ago

• Un-Bearable

  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. 8 Comments - 2 years ago

• Still a tight one

  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. 2 Comments - 2 years ago