Catching up

I’m back, and the net is burning with Colts articles. Instead of posting a bunch in the “Daily Links” sidebar, I’ll catch them all up right here.  By the way, if you don’t read the daily links, you should.  We often (though not always) offer commentary to go along with the link, so even if you know you’ve already read the article just by reading the ‘headline’, give it a click anyway to see what we think about it.

We’ll get started with Phil B’s rewatch of the game.  It’s always my favorite thing he does.  We’ve said it before, but if you want to take a serious jump in your football IQ, just rewatch the game.  It’s a simple way to get a second look at key plays.  The broadcast tape doesn’t show all, but it shows more than just the clips you’d catch on ESPN. I swear if they ever offer some kind of special deal where you can pay crazy money for the coach’s tapes, I’ll do it.  I’d pay $350 for the coaches tapes over the same money for the Sunday Ticket in a heart beat.

Oehser has some unhappy quotes by the line after Friday’s game.  He also did a nice game recap.  He also says that Caldwell is forging his own identity.

Kuharsky says don’t get too high about McAfee or too low about the line.  Good advice.  In other words, it’s just one preseason game.

Oehser has the piece of the day.  He says not to give up on Ugoh. This is a great read and dead on.  It’s a shame Hillard was such a mess Friday night, because it was tough to get any feel for Ugoh’s play. I thought he looked ok, but Manning was running for his life half the time so it’s not like there was ample time to see how the pocket formed.

Kuharksy gives wonderful insights into the Colts camp with his Camp Confidential.

King interviews Manning and asks him about sunscreen? So very very weird.  I’m not making this up:

Me: “Jim Johnson died of melanoma. You’re pretty fair-skinned. You take precautions against skin cancer?”

Manning: “I do. My dad always worried about it

He also has a nice graph showing the Colts beef-up on the line.

Jason David was cut. Thanks for helping us win that ring, JD.  NO never knew what to do with you.  David is now most famous in Colts country for getting abused by Manning in the season opener in ’07, which served to mock everyone who thought he was irreplaceable.  Still, we should be generous and remember him for starting on the defense that brought us a ring.  I hope he finds another job.

Finally, Simmons is one lucky bastard.  If you love the idea of sport, you have to love his column about his trip to Mexico to see USA Mexico in the World Cup Qualifier.

Thanks for letting me cheat today, folks.  I’m still getting caught up from being gone all weekend.  Old Manning will return tomorrow with a look at QB rating.  On Wednesday, we’ll cover wins, and on Thursday, I’ll compile the whole thing and offer up my projections and thoughts.