On Monday March 7, Peyton Manning, he of the Colts and Broncos who holds nearly all the NFL career passing records. He who has two Super Bowl Championship rings on his fingers. He who has a record five times as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. He who sells Papa John’s Pizzas. The Peyton Manning who began his storied career in the NFL 18 years ago, has officially announced his retirement as an active player in that league. In an emotionally charged speech he thanked everyone who had a hand in his career and friends and family who gave him the encouragement to persevere. Peyton had a difficult time keeping himself together as you would expect but he got through it. He even mentioned his favorite restaurant, St. Elmo’s. His boss John Elway said “what do you say about someone who has done everything a player can do at the position of quarterback?” Patriot Coach Bill Belichick simply said “Peyton raised the bar for everyone.”
It doesn’t seem that long ago that the 1998 draft was held and the Colts’ had the first pick. There was a big debate over who was going to be the better quarterback: Peyton or Ryan Leaf? There were experts who said Leaf was the better choice. We all know how that went down. Over the years, Peyton Manning has become one of the world’s most famous celebrities. Here in Indianapolis he became the the face of Indianapolis sports. He turned the city from a basketball town into a football town. Peyton said #18 is a good number and he should know. The number 18 became so associated with Peyton, that it wasn’t necessary to say Payton’s name — just #18 and everyone knew who you meant. His career duel with Tom Brady is the stuff that legends are made of. Even so, they remain good friends
I don’t believe for a moment that Peyton Manning is done with football — just the part where he runs and throws the brown orb and gets tackled by mean nasty men. The best years of his football career may be ahead of him, but for the Peyton Manning who brought us all the thrills and excitement on the playing field, who made us proud of our sports heritage, and helped the city get a Super Bowl. . . all I can say is OMAHA!
Indy Cars Start Your Engines
The first race of the 2016 Indy Car season will be run this Sunday, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The usual suspects will be there to get the party started. It will be hard to say what teams will get out of the box the quickest, but look for the same people who dominated last season to dominate again this season. There isn’t much in the way of driver changes — James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin are healed up from their 2015 injuries and are driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, replacing Ryan Brisco and James Jakes who drove the majority of the races last season. Gabby Chavez, who was the 500 Rookie of the Year and the only rookie to compete in every race of the series won’t be there. His team, Brian Herta Racing has merged with Andretti Autosports and rookie Alexander Rossi of California will be in the cockpit. With the exception of Sage Karam, none of the rookies who competed in any of the 2015 Indy Car events will be back in 2016. Right now Karam is scheduled to drive for Dreyer and Reinbold at the Indy 500. Katherine Legge is driving for Grace Autosports. If the team is successful they will be the first all female race car team to compete in the Indy 500. Rookie driver Max Childon from Great Britain will drive for Chip Gnassi Racing. He will drive the complete series for the team.
This year the 100th Indianapolis 500 mile race will be run. There’s been talk that more than the usual 34 cars will be entered. This could create a real problem, because both Chevy and Honda claim that they may not have enough engines in their holding pool to lease to all the interested parties that are hoping to be a part of the history making event. Let’s hope that they are wrong. There is no truth to the rumor that A. J. Foyt will attempt to qualify for the race.
The green flag is being waved and the roar of the engines is sweeping the crowd! Let the games begin.
snicewanger@yahoo.com