Home State 76 Or Hometown 1

That's the debate around here...who to root for in the Super Bowl? With yesterday's impressive come-from-behind thriller, Indiana's beloved Colts have finally exorcised the "can't beat the Patriots-can't advance to the big stage"
demons that have been nagging them for years. Peyton Manning is nearly a god around here, and that's saying a lot for a basketball obsessed state! The hype in recent years has been paralleled only by the the disappointment at repeatedly having a fabulous season with a flop of a post-season. All that is past now, and it's time to take a deep breath and get ready to don the royal blue and white on February 4th. Or is it?

Here in Bloomington there is a bit of a dilemma. The quarterback for the opposition in the Super Bowl, the Chicago Bears, is none other than hometown legend Rex Grossman. A stand-out in high school for Bloomington South, Rex's following has intensified each year of his stellar rise from local hero to college phenom at Florida to N.F.L. darling and now Super Bowl dynamo. I strolled down Kirkwood Ave. recently and saw a sign promoting calling early to the bar/eatery to snag seats to watch the big Bears game! What? We're less than an hour from the RCA dome. A short drive from the haunts of Peyton and Marvin and Tony, last names not needed around here. I admit I'm proud of Rex and his accomplishments, but I would feel like a traitor to root against the Colts now! Besides, no one ever posts placards about rooting for the Chiefs, and Trent Green played QB right here at I.U.! That is a classic double standard if you ask me;)

My latest check showed 76 players on the Colts roster. I'm sure the Super Bowl will be awesome, and I wouldn't miss it for the world, even if I'll be watching it in the only town in America where 1 is greater than 76.