It seemed for a stretch Thursday night that the Colts were on a mission. It might have been only their own mission — that whole wanting-to-win and perfect-season thing is rather big with competitive people — but it was also a bigger lesson about why we watch and why we care. On the day that Bengals receiver Chris Henry died a senseless death and the sports world sank under another day of endless Tiger fallout, the Colts went out and tried.
They didn’t need to win the game, and so much supposed N.F.L. wisdom — including that spouted by the team’s own general manger last week — told them to rest, to take it easy, to not hurt themselves before the playoffs. And the Colts, who are now 14-0, tried anyway. Someone once called sports’ universal appeal as “the dignity in effort.” Even if they hadn’t won, their effort carried that dignity
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