Bent Notes

In San Diego.  Adam Vinatieri pulls them through once again.  He knew his field goal was the deal-closer even while the ball was still in mid-sail.

Playoff hopes remain alive.

Classic Colts way of winning - coming back from a ten-point trailing - and historic - the first Colts victory in Pittsburgh in forty years - but Coach Dungy and the squad are still facing a four-game deficit in the contest for top position in the AFC South.

May the lack of a margin for error be the spark of intensified focus.

Important victory for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the well-established rivalry between the Pats and Indy.  In classic Colts fashion, its’ an Adam Vinatieri field goal that puts them over the line.

First time the Indianapolis Colts have ever played at home with sunlight beaming onto their helmets.

The game was a classic example of what early momentum can do for your attitude.  One kind of wonders the point at which Baltimore saw the writing on the wall.

A surprise-filled afternoon in Houston.  A blown Indy lead, a deficit that looked insurmountable by the beginning of the fourth quarter, and then the climb back, culminating in the Payton Manning-to-Reggie Wayne air attack with 1:54 left to go.  And another interception after that, with less than a minute left.

That’s the way this team does it.

And the Colts’ points all happened in the fourth quarter.  That’s the way they’ve won the games that have been the most satisfying to watch since the Dungy - Manning era got underway.

Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen says he had great fun keeping Peyton off-stride, but also says, “I’ve got a ton of respect for him.”

Not the way to start a new season in a new stadium, but it’s not the end of the world.  Bob Sanders, Peyton Manning, Coach Dungy et al all concurred that Chicago just outplayed them. 

Makes me not feel so bad about my off-nights as a musician.

A confirmed playoff berth.  Four record-setting touchdown passes by Manning.  Grreat interceptions.

Looks like a fifth straight AFC South title is in the offing.  It was one of those wacky games so characteristic of Colts wins in this current dynasty.  Full of challenges and other surprises.  Sure want to see Manning get some of his fave receivers back in shape, though.

It was a wild one. San Diego running back Darren Sproles’s touchdown on the kickoff return may have thrown our guys off-kilter a bit.  In true Colts fashion, they came back mightily early in the fourth quarter with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, but Vinatieri’s missed field goal kept them from fully turning things around.

It was a characteristically Colts way to win - rallying from an iffy start to beat Carolina.  Next week’s face-off against New England should be tumultuous.

They did it without Harrison, Addai, or several other key personnel.  Kenton Keith more than stepped up to the task of filling the bill. 

Once again, Tony’s boys don’t let a few points scored by the opponents early in the first quarter set the tone for the game.

Kudos to tight end Dallas Clark for his 76 receiving yards.

And may Marvin Harrison, Joseph Addai and Rob Morris have a restful, recovery-intensive week.

A productive afternoon in Houston.   The Texans were still impressive, even without Andre Johnson and Ahmad Green, but the Colts’ Joseph Addai was more so.

Great season opener against New Orleans in the RCA Dome.  Dwight Freeney didn’t accomplish any sacks, but made solid contributions nonetheless.

Defensive end Dwight Freeney will be a Colt for six more years - thanks to a record-setting $72-million deal.

I’ve been thinking about what I’d put on a list of Top Five Quintessential Indy tunes.  They wouldn’t necessarily have to be tracks recorded in Indianapolis, but there would have to be a strong Naptown connection. Here’s what I come up with.

1.) “Say What?! (Don’t Even Try It)” - The Jimmy Coe Big Band (1993) - It’s big and urban, it struts, it features great solos from many band members.  Jimmy dedicated it to his longtime drummer who had recently passed away.  When Jimmy would hand him a particularly challenging chart, he would say that.  I gotta imagine Marvin Harrison has said that to Peyton Manning at some point.

 2.) “Bending Moment” - High Ground (1981) - This was a sprawling neo-bluegrass band that was an Indy fave.  Title cut from an album on the Bloomington-based Redbud label.  Recorded live at the Hummingbird, a wonderful club that was situated at 71st and Keystone for many years.  (I saw McCoy Tyner, Mose Allison, John Sebastian, Chris Hillman and many others there.)  It’s a rollicking thing that kind of presages Jerry Douglas and Bela Fleck in its mountain-music instrumentation embrace of jazz arrangements.

3.) “Caravan” - Wes Montgomery (1964) Right after he signed to Verve.  Super-purist Wes aficionadoes might holler, “This is when he began his smooth-jazz sellout!”, but if you really listen, his chops are on as glorious a display as ever.  Horn charts by the great Chicago (that city that is tonight licking its wounds) arranger Johnny Pate.  I often put this on jazz guitar primer CDs to introduce Wes to guitar students who don’t know much about him.

4.) “After Hours Joint” - Jimmy Coe (1953) On  the Chicago blues label State.  The banter back and forth between the two vocalists, as well as Jimmy’s sassy blowing, perfectly captures the Indiana Avenue club scene in its glory days.

5.) “How Long, How Long Blues” - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell (1928) Carr & Blackwell were on the Vocalion label for their entire career, which ended when Carr drank himself to death in 1935.  Mostly recorded in Chicago and New York, but this early offering was recorded in Indy.  This was their base of operations.  They had a long residency at Dee’s Paradise on Indiana Avenue.  Kind of melancholy for this festive night, but it’s great American blues contributed by the city we love.

The glorious pinnacle of Indianapolis Colts history happened in relentless, torrential rain, as the clock ran out the undramatic seconds during which the world could see that the Bears wouldn’t be able to surmount a twelve-point deficit.  But the work had already been done.  When Kelvin Hayden intercepted that shaky pass by Rex Grossman with eleven-plus minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the dealed was sealed.

Chicago will always rightfully be able to treasure the memory of Devin Hester running the ball all the way back up the field for a touchdown on the game’s very first play.  And it still looked like on of those classic Colts squeakers was in the offing at halftime, when Adam Vinaiteri got off his stride for some reason and missed a field goal.

But we got our game goin’ on after Prince’s rockin’ show (aren’t all three of those great guitars he played totally ruined from being in that downpour?) and now that mighty city rising from the fields of plenty is the home to a true legend in American sports: the Indianapolis Colts.

It’s gonna be a great year in Naptown.  Has anybody heard anything about the lineup for Jazzfest yet?

UPDATE: It’s late afternoon on Monday.  Local TV stations are showing second-by-second coverage of the plane landing, the team getting on a bus and heading into the city.  There will be a parade down Meridian Street as the bus heads downtown.  (It’s real flippin’ cold here.  No one expects them to ride in convertibles.)  The RCA Dome is already packed.  It’s gonna be thunderous when they arrive.

Looks like it’s party time in Miami.  Indy TV stations showing parties at clubs and on yachts hosted by Circle City glitterati and much festivity by more earthbound fans as well. 

Here in my town, about 40 miles south of the epicenter of Coltsland, there’s sort of a Christmas-Eve feel to it all.  Packed stores, everyone in full regalia.

They’re prepared and healthy, their chops are in order, they have heart like no athletic team I’ve ever seen.

This one’s going to be memorable, just like the whole season so far.

A great game from any angle - statistics, heart, strategy.  New England deserves respect as a kick-ass opponent.  I mean, we were behind 21 - 3.  (That Samuel knows how to mess up an otherwise glorious touchdown pass.)  Jackson’s exquisite interception -the kind of class move I’d been hoping for the entire game - of course sealed the deal with sixteen seconds to go.

So the Indianapolis Colts are headed to the Super Bowl.

Now, excuse me while I put “Say What (Don’t Even Try It)” by the Jimmy Coe Big Band on the stereo.