Just call it the Syracuse Bowl

The No.1 sporting event in American athletics should be re-named this season. Rather than the call it fancy-old Super Bowl XLIV, it should be the Syracuse Bowl.

The top NFL story over the last two weeks started with the new Pro Bowl date (all-star games for warrior sports makes little sense) and then quickly changed hands to the torn right ankle of SU alum Dwight Freeney. Freeney, an All-American defensive lineman for the Orange in 2001, is now an All-Pro pass rusher for the Indianapolis Colts and suffered a nasty sprain  (called a ‘basketball sprain’) in the AFC Championship game against the New York Jets. Questions about his availability, and potential impact, have even affected the gambling.

Without Freeney at the point of attack for the speedy Colts defense, Saints quarterback Drew Brees will have the time he needs to match an opponent seeking to become the benchmark for great quarterbacks (as put by The New York Times on Sunday), Peyton Manning, point for point.

Nonetheless, Manning and the Colts win second championship in five years as Reggie Wayne wins MVP after catching three touchdowns. Colts 39, Saints 35.

Do you want more Syracuse Bowl connections?

Read Jared Diamond’s story in The Daily Orange about the SU employee with a special bond with a Saint.

Post-Standard columnist Bud Pollequin dug into the archives for an unlikely Super Bowl connection between former Syracuse high school footballers.