How would Peyton Manning look in a Redskins uniform?

In 1998, first round draft pick Peyton Manning became the new quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. Team owner Jim Irsay opened that door for the former Vol great by first firing the general manager Bill Tobin, then coach Lindy Infante, and finally quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Fastforward to the present, 14 years later.

This month, Irsay started the deja vu train by firing vice-chairman Bill Polian and his son, Chris Polian, the general manager. Yesterday, head coach Jim Caldwell was fired. Big questions are obvious. Will Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck be the first pick in the NFL draft, currently held (unless part of a trade) by Indianapolis? And what of Peyton Manning, 36 years old, having recently had his third neck surgery since March 2010?

Traditionalists aside, this was great college football

Some people like their football in certain ways. Just like they like their grits, iced tea, and, well anything else that folks are particular about. Traditionalists, and there are many, eschew games like we saw today — the Rose Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. Those same people are the ones who get downright giddy over a 9-to-6-in-overtime game of the century, and at the same time find absolutely no joy in the recent Alamo Bowl that featured 1,397 yards of total offense, 123 points scored, 17 touchdowns, and a newly-crowned Heisman Trophy winner. Two ends of a very long spectrum, no doubt. But it is hard to understand how college football fans could not be enamored with the drama of this evening’s double-header of New Years Day (plus one) bowl games.

A memorable last afternoon of the NFL season

The last day of any NFL season can bring a lot of drama as playoff qualifications and seeds are sorted out. This season’s finale gave us a lot of notable bullet points. The following are those I collected throughout the afternoon based on a variety of Twitter entries and announcements on Fox, CBS, and the NFL Network.

The Pretenders

Teddy Karwacki had just sat down in one of those comfy chairs at Remedy Coffee in The Old City district of downtown Knoxville early Sunday afternoon when he saw Mortimer Weinstein walk in. Teddy knew what was waiting as soon as Mort had gotten his mid-afternoon latte. “I suppose you want to give me a verbal dissertation about last night’s Heisman Trophy presentation?” Teddy said it loud enough over the music so that Mort could hear.