New Orleans and Indy in Super Bowl XLIV

No more Rex Ryan. No more Brett Favre. Won't Media Day be boring during the festivities that surround Super Bowl XLIV.

The Indianapolis Colts trailed the New York Jets, 17-6, with 2:11 remaining in the first half. Indy scored 24 unanswerd points and proceded to shatter ESPN's Mike Greenberg's dreams of the Jets going to the Super Bowl.

The New Orleans Saints survived two 10-play, first quarter TD drives by Minnesota and forced five Minnesota turnovers to crush the thoughts of Brett Favre playing in another Super Bowl. New Orleans is used to survival. It's become part of the city's culture.

Many storylines surrounding Super Bowl XLIV will be presented and shared over the next two weeks.

For the Colts QB Peyton Manning, it will be a return to home, sort of. Peyton faces the franchise he grew up cheering. At one time, his father, Archie, was the franchise. Peyton knows all too well how that feels.

In the process of yesterday's 30-17 win, the Colts avenged a loss to a Jets franchise that was a long time coming. A 16-7 loss to the hands of the Jets in Super Bowl III on the heels of a guarantee by Joe Namath. Namath had stated of the similiarities between his Jets and this edition of the Jets. Manning viewed one big similiarity between his Colts and the big prize, another Super Bowl in Miami.

For the Saints QB Drew Brees, it the continuation of one of the greatest modern day sagas. A saga that began almost four years ago. A saga that will be told for generations in Louisiana.

One of the first things the newly hired Saints head coach Sean Payton did was call Brees when Brees was a free agent. Brees chose the Saints after the Miami Dolphins showed concerns about his shoulder, another ironic twist. Brees' selection of New Orleans delivered a two-fold deal. The most obvious was to present the city a Super Bowl. The second, and actually most impressive, was to give aid for the city in the post Katrina era.

Sports discovers a way to meld itself into everyday culture. Just a couple of examples, if I may.

The 1980 U.S. Olympic mens hockey team. Many view this team accomplishing the greatest upset of all-time by winning the gold and defeating the USSR along the way. A bunch of college kids had no chance against the Soviet machine, let alone attempting to win a gold medal. Tell me how that works out.

The sight of President George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch for Game 3 in Yankee Stadium of the 2001 World Series. With emotions still running high after the events of 9/11, the Prez strode to the pitcher's mound and delivered a strike. Many events after 9/11 are still in my memory bank. The sight of all the pro leagues showing their patriotism, escpecially in the NFL, by taking the field and carrying the American flag. This one of the President stands out the most to me.

And we now have the NFC Champions, the New Orleans Saints. A city still in rebuilding mode after Katrina. Brees has openly told everyone that the Saints thrive off the fans and it works the other way, too. It's a unique situation as the Saints players have immersed themselves into the city and its efforts. There's another process still going here, too. Healing.

Maybe it's about something called destiny. If you didn't believe in it before, you have to now.