Searching for glory but finding disappointment...

So... The NFL season is officially over and I will be very honest, I am glad the NO Saints won their first Super Bowl ever. I congratulate Drew Brees and the entire team for a job well done.
That being said I cannot help but feel that this NFL season AND Super Bowl XLIV was a little lackluster.
A season full of records and milestones, highlighted by the return of Brett Favre (yet again!) this time choosing the Minnesota Vikings as his team, the reinstatement AND signing of Michael Vick with the Philadelphia Eagles (SERIOUSLY???), and a season that for the first time two teams go undefeated late into the season (Indianapolis Colts 14-0 and New Orleans Saint 13-0) and let's face it, at this point we all knew that both of the team would be the ones in the Super Bowl. Not to mention that the Indianapolis Colts won 23 consecutive regular season games breaking the 21 game winning streak held by the New England Patriots, the Cleveland Browns' Joshua Cribbs set two records in a day, one by returning two kickoffs for touchdowns, giving him eight for his career and the second by becoming one of only two players to score two 100-plus yard touchdowns in the same game, and Super Bowl XLIV broke rating records by becoming the most viewed TV event in history surpassing the 1983 M.A.S.H. series finale.
Even with all these amazing events I still found the 2009 season a little dim. Of course there are many contributing factors for this...
1. My team's - the New York Giants - lack of consistency and mediocre defense cost them all chances (if any) to make it to the post season. They started the season 5-0 only to lose the following 4, meanwhile Eli Manning improved his passing game and played with foot injuries was left to fend for himself in many occasions. There is only so much the man can do!
2. I AM SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING THE NAME BRETT FAVRE! It is time for the 'Favre Era' to come to an end. I mean, I will admit that he is an amazing player and that he did quite well this season (except for that last game against the Saints...yikes!) but the man has been playing football since the invention of the light switch! It is time for him to step aside, hang his jersey, pack up his ego (along with his shortcomings) and retire once and for all. It is time for other quarterbacks to take the spotlight and to thrive. How much more does the man want?
3. Two words... Michael Vick... Need I say more?
4. The Indianapolis Colts...the favorite to win SB XLIV were defeated by the New Orleans Saints! I am honestly happy for the Saints but my anger for the Colts losing surpasses it. The Colts had many things going against them; the referees seemed to be a bit one-sided favoring the Saints, that TERRIBLE onside kick, the SHOCKING officials review AND converted score of a (CLEARLY INCOMPLETE) two-point conversion by the Saints' WR Lance Moore and of course, the game's defining moment... On 3rd & 5 with 3:12 remaining in the 4th quarter Peyton Manning's short pass was intercepted by Saints CB Tracy Porter and returned 74 yards... Needless to say that the Saints got the best of the Colts, and NOT in a good way, but to me what made it worse was when Peyton Manning fell apart completely. I AM SURE that it is not easy and I know for a fact that I would not do it any better or even differently but in my opinion Mr. Manning has always had the ability to maintain his composure and confidence even when things gets tough, in fact I believe he thrives on it! So, what went wrong in this game? It felt like he had given up, something that coming from him is not only unusual but seems unlikely (I distinctly remember that at one point he even threw a towel... SERIOUSLY!).
So I guess the question remains, had he been the Peyton Manning we all know and love would the outcome of the game had been different? And even if it had not, would people and the Colts so called 'fans' be bashing him (and the team) as unfairly as they are now? Or would they have supported their team no matter what as true fans do?
Whatever the answers are one thing is certain, we all better watch out next season (even my NY Giants :-!) because I believe that the Indianapolis Colts will come back with a vengeance and like a bad out of hell!

So, until next season my fellow fans and thank you for waiting so diligently for me to finish my somewhat entertaining yet slightly nonsensical but definitely insightful rantings.

Stay tuned because I'll be back soon with more...