With the NFL's conference championship games in the books and Super
Bowl XLI less than two weeks away, thoughts of Spring Training have
begun creeping into the minds of baseball and football fans alike --
and not just because the big game will be played at Miami's Dolphin
Stadium, home of the Florida Marlins.
Though football and baseball might seem miles apart, history -- and
the universal parallels that create common ground across the sports
world -- argues otherwise. In fact, the impending showdown between the
Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears calls to mind a number of
striking, even eerie similarities between the two sports as we prepare
for the end of the football season and the rebirth of our national
pastime.
After the Bears dispatched the New Orleans Saints, 39-14, in the
National Football Conference championship and the Colts bested the
Patriots, 38-34, in the American Football Conference title game,
Chicago's Lovie Smith and Indy's Tony Dungy have the chance to become
the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl. Regardless, both
men have already made history in becoming the first minority mentors
to lead their squads to the big game.
In the fall of 1992, Cito Gaston became the first African-American
manager to win the World Series when his Toronto Blue Jays downed the
Atlanta Braves in six games. Of course, history repeated itself the
following year, as Gaston's Jays toppled the Philadelphia Phillies,
also in six games.
Making it to the Super Bowl is one thing, but Colts quarterback Peyton
Manning -- a two-time NFL MVP -- won't silence his critics until he
wins the big one. Just ask famed Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, San
Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds and New York Yankees third
baseman Alex Rodriguez. They'll tell you that they'd trade all 10 of
their regular-season MVPs for a championship.
Like St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, Manning has
dominated his sport offensively over the last six years. Pujols won
his first World Series title last October, and Manning will try to
make a victory in Super Bowl XLI his defining moment.
Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is Chicago's latest favorite son, the
2005 Defensive Player of the Year, the leader of the new-age Monsters
of the Midway. But many pundits believe that his resume will remain
incomplete without a Super Bowl championship.
The legendary Michael Jordan faced similarly grand expectations in the
Windy City before leading the Bulls to their first NBA championship in
June 1991. Whereas Jordan captured five more titles in the next seven
seasons, solidifying his status as perhaps the greatest athlete of his
generation, Urlacher will surely be happy just to get off the schneid.
Ironically enough, the Colts are the NFL's version of the 2004 Red
Sox, having staged a historic comeback in their third postseason try
against an archnemesis to finally reach the big one. The Pats had
Indy's number in the 2004 and 2005 postseasons, and the Yankees topped
Boston in the 1999 and 2003 American League Championship Series.
>From 1941 to 1953, the Yankees beat the Dodgers in all five of their
World Series showdowns before Brooklyn turned the tables in the 1955
Fall Classic. And from 1976 to 1978, the Bronx Bombers bested the
Royals in three straight ALCS before Kansas City exacted revenge in
1980.
Diehard Cardinals fans endured 24 years -- and three unsuccessful
World Series appearances -- for their latest taste of championship
glory. It's been 21 years since the Bears last captured a Super Bowl,
as the Windy City faithful have been yearning for an excuse to dust
off their "Super Bowl Shuffle" records in preparation for the big
dance.
With the World Series won by the White Sox in 2005, the city of
Chicago is on the verge of capturing its second major professional
sports title in as many years. Boston sports fans recently celebrated
championships in back-to-back years, as the 2003 Patriots and 2004 Red
Sox gave the city plenty to cheer about.
The Colts will be making their first appearance in the Super Bowl
since leaving Baltimore in 1984. It took the Braves 30 years (and 31
seasons) to reach a championship game after leaving Milwaukee. And it
took the Twins 26 years (27 seasons) to win it all after relocating
from Washington, where the franchise began as the Senators.
His first full season under center was nothing short of a
roller-coaster ride, but Rex Grossman persevered, stepping up his game
in the playoffs and quarterbacking the Bears to the NFC crown (426
yards, two touchdowns, one interception in two postseason games). Much
like Grossman, the Cardinals' arms struggled in the regular season
before coming up aces in the 2006 playoffs (2.68 ERA). Can Grossman
continue to defy the naysayers and finish the job, as the Redbirds did
in October?
Boston fans feared the worst when Adam Vinatieri -- the most prolific
kicker in NFL history, with a pair of Super Bowl-winning kicks to boot
-- left Foxborough to sign with the Colts last offseason. Though the
Colts didn't do in the Pats with Vinatieri's foot, New England fans
can't be too pleased to see their former savior in the big game.
Red Sox fans, meanwhile, are crossing their fingers that Johnny Damon
-- who kick-started Boston's Game 7 victory over the Bronx Bombers in
the 2004 ALCS with a second-inning grand slam -- doesn't lead the
hated Yankees to a World Series title.
As we close in on Super Bowl XLI, the gridiron truly is looking a lot
like the baseball diamond. After all, "hit and run" isn't just a
tactic. It's the name of the game.
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