Indianapolis Colts and Rivalries

Now that Peyton Manning has gone and left town, I got to thinking what becomes of that huge match up with the New England Patriots.  Is this considered a rivalry anymore? And even looking further into those games, is it a full fledged rivalry?

I’ve written up before about the idea of NFL Rivals and how things just seem too love filled in the world of sports.  You look at the NBA, and guys are fist bumping, hugging, laughing with each other before a game.  Then after the game, they’re back to the same things.  What happened to those days of Bird and Magic, where there was that bit of animosity in those players?  Do you think after a game that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson would be all friendly with each other?  I am sure there was that bit of respect there, but you wanted to beat the heck out of each other.

That’s where I am going with this thought about Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.  Can you imagine how much better those games would have been if Manning came out and said I want to beat that team and get the better out of the match up between him and Brady?  But he really played up that respect factor, and sure those games would be good, but I do think they lost something after the Colts won a few times, and last year’s game really seemed to mean nothing when it came around.

If there was really a sign that this game means not much this year, the game is played at 1:00, which is not a prime time game or even the late afternoon game when most people are watching games.

I will say as well this just seemed to be a rivalry in fans’ minds, and mostly the Indianapolis side because we wanted to beat that team so badly.  We wanted to show them we’re the better team.  And we got to prove it many times in the regular season and times in the playoffs.  But is that enough to create a rivalry?

I’ll throw out these questions:  Do you think the Colts and Patriots had a full fledged rivalry?  What makes a good rivalry in your mind?  Do both teams have to be going strong to make it a rivalry?  What’s the best ones in football today?