SUPER THOUGHTS by ST

Are we getting to the point where the game has become an afterthought? Seriously, every national sports show along with bloggers, entertainment websites and gossip columnist is in Miami. Lot of talk about the commercials, a possible labor problem but eventually, the Colts & Saints will kick it off. Obviously, front and center is the betting line and the various wagers one can make from the over/under to length of the national anthem to the halftime playlist of songs performed by The Who.
The consensus seems to be Indy winning and covering the spread in a shootout meaning the teams will combine for more than 57 points. I think many are underestimating the wisdom of new Orleans head coach Sean Payton who really runs this offense. Despite not having a big yard back, the Saints can really run the football behind their 2 Pro Bowl lineman, Jahri Evans and Jonathan Stinchcomb. Tennessee's Chris Johnson topped the league in rushing yards with just over 2-thousand. Pierre Thomas piled up the most yards of any Saint's back with 793 yet as a team they were 6th best in the entire NFL. The Colt run defense was 24th of the 32 teams. Certainly you have to gauge that by the fact they had a lot of leads and teams had to pass, but I believe you'll see New Orleans commit to incorporating that ground attack to keep Peyton Manning on the sidelines. Let's do a contest. Give me your final score.
At stake is our final Par 4 golf card. It's a $120 value giving you 18 holes of free golf at a quartet of courses, Middlefield, Springfield CC, Elkhorn Valley and Hidden Valley Golf Course, plus I'll throw in a copy of Rob Mosely's book about the history of Oregon football. In the case of a tie, we'll go to total points. If it's still tied, we'll flip a coin. Good luck, e-mail your guess to stevetannen@live.com