Who Dat! From Manning to Kim Kardashian, Wrapping Up Super Bowl XLIV

Last night, as I predicted, a city visited by tragedy was given reason to flood the streets in celebration when their beloved New Orleans Saints took out the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, one of those scored that doesn't give an accurate reflection of how close the game was. While Super Bowl XLIV fell just shy of going down as one of the all-time great games (it was a Manning interception away from the first Super Bowl overtime win), it did feature more twists and turns than Kanye's career. Here's a final look back at the night that was.

The Winner: New Orleans Saints
Unless you were born and raised a Colts fan, and even if you were, I find it hard to believe you're not overjoyed for the Saints. No city deserved a championship more than New Orleans (sit down Cubs fans) and it was great to see the previously devastated city back on top, if only for one glorious night. This victory also means a lot to some individal Saints: Brees now has to be automatically included in any "best NFL quarterback" conversation. Reggie Bush goes from draft bust to legit NFL player and Jeremy Shockey goes from wildly overrated tight end to wildly overrated tight end who won a Super Bowl. So everyone's a winner.

The Loser: Indianapolis Colts
Indy put up a hell of a fight, but in the end there were a lot of Colts in the loss column. Peyton missed out on his chance to instantly become a top-five all-time quarterback (multiple Super Bowl wins is the only thing keeping him out), Pierre Garcon missed out on a Super Bowl MVP, and his chance to become the only guy named Pierre to do something badass, and Matt Stover blew his shot at actually picking up a groupie (doesn't happen a lot for kickers). Oh, and I also gathered more evidence for my "Jim Caldwell is actually an avatar being controlled by Peyton" after we learned that his "I just lost the Super Bowl" face is the exact same as his "I'm coaching a meaningless game in December" face and his "This burger is delicious" face. I'm not sure the man has facial muscles. Definitely something for Peyton to improve when he rolls out Jim Caldwell Avatar 2.0.

Play of the Game: Saints in the 2nd
I know most people would go with Peyton's devastating pick six, and for a minute there it looked like Moore's twisting catch for the two point conversion would be the difference maker, but in the end the game turned on a Saints second quarter offensive performance that, while it only netted 10 points, kept the Colts offense off the field for all but two minutes. Brilliant.

By the way, do you realize that two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks threw game-ending interceptions in consecutive Saints victories (Farve than Manning)? You've gotta believe God was a Saints fan this season, right?

Secret Factor: Kim Kardashian
Reggie Bush was well on his way to being a draft bust, or at least a draft "not nearly as good as everyone predicted", but then he got backed with the always lovely Kim Kardashian mid-season and suddenly morphed into the player we've been waiting to see for the last four seasons. Coincidence? Consider this: Karsashian sister Khloe married Lamar Odom this season and the Lakers responded with a huge win streak and definitive best in the west status. If the Lakers win another championship this season I think we have to take a serious look at some sort of "Kardashian blessing" phenomenon, kind of like the opposite of the Madden curse.

Hip-Hop Equivalent:
Hmmmm....really enjoyable, ultimately a success, for a minute there it looked like it'd be a classic but it didn't quite come together, I'm going to have to go with The Clipse's "Till the Casket Drops", an album you're definitely glad you took the time to listen to but is a few songs away from the classic. And if Jeremy Shockey ends up using his Super Bowl victory bonus to buy enough coke to kill a blue whale this is going to look like a brilliant call.