I finished the weekend .500 in my NFL picks. I had the Colts beating the New England Patriots and what a great finish it was. Indianapolis scored 32 second half points to come from 18 down and win 38-34.
I also picked the Saints to beat the Bears. Perhaps it was wishful thinking. The Bears won it going away 39-14. Although four turnovers by the Saints turned out to be much of the problem there. I thought the Saints had the Bears on the ropes, in Chicago, when they had the ball, down just 16-14 in the 3rd quarter. But New Orleans didn't handle things well and like the Chicago weather, the game snowballed on them.
The result has the Bears facing the Colts in two weeks and it has both head coaches, longtime friends Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy squaring off. They're the first black head coaches to lead there teams to the Super Bowl and it assures that a black head coach will win a Super Bowl for the first time.
I've always been a Tony Dungy fan and despite my natural dislike for the Bears, I have great admiration for Lovie Smith as well. Because of the lack of African-American head coaches in the NFL, you're going to hear about this story repeatedly over the next two weeks.
Hopefully it'll draw attention to the fact that African-American's are still in the minority in the NFL and perhaps owners will get out of the dark ages and give deserving black coaches a chance.
It's hard to blame the African-American community for getting on their pulpit and making this an issue for the next two weeks. They have the floor and you can bet they'll take advantage of it. In a perfect world, we're talking about the Colts and the Bears for the next two weeks. I'm certain there'll be some time for that discussion too. But let me make this prediction. You're going to hear more about Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy because of the color of their skin than anything else. And that will be too bad, because they're both great football coaches inspite of their heritage and should be touted for their accomplishments on the field!