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When the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson killed himself almost exactly five years ago (February 20, 2005), he entitled his suicide note, "Football Season is Over."   Although the famed writer was obviously in an extremely depressed state that led him to end his life at the age of 67, the fact that the hardcore football enthusiast had mentioned in his last written statement that there would be no more games for 8 more months was not insignificant, as Rolling Stone magazine noted when they published the note later that year:

February was always the cruelest month for Hunter S. Thompson. An avid NFL fan, Hunter traditionally embraced the Super Bowl in January as the high-water mark of his year. February, by contrast, was doldrums time. Nothing but monstrous blizzards, bad colds and the lackluster Denver Nuggets. This past February, with his health failing, Hunter was even more glum than usual. "This child's getting old," he muttered with stark regularity, an old-timey refrain that mountainmen used to utter when their trailblazing days were over. Depressed and in physical pain from hip-replacement surgery, he started talking openly about suicide, polishing his .45-caliber pistol, his weapon of choice. He was trying to muster the courage to end it all.

Then, on February 16th, Hunter decided to leave a goodbye note. Scrawled in black marker, it was appropriately titled "Football Season Is Over."

Well, for hardcore fans, the fact is that football lasted later into the year than ever, with the February 7th date.

People today of course will be chatting about the game and the television commercials, and I think it's fair to say that, with the exception of Colts Nation, most of the country is thrilled for the city of New Orleans, and their Saints.

Football fans in these neck of the woods used to whine about the dark days, and when the Bucs defeated the Oakland Raiders seven years ago, it was a historic moment in the history of this region.  The Bucs took 27 years before getting their chance on the big stage, and they made the most of it in their one and only opportunity in the big game, in San Diego.

However, the New Orleans Saints had been in existence a decade longer than the Bucs, and went 7 more years than Tampa in finally getting to the Super Bowl (only the cities of Cleveland and Detroit have now gone longer without a pro football championship).

And the Peyton Manning led Indianapolis Colts?  Well, they remain like Tampa and the Baltimore Ravens, in being a team that has still only won one NFL championship, despite the fact that they competed closely with the New England Patriots for being considered the Team of the Decade.

But instead, there will be lots of recriminations and reflections about what went wrong with Indy and Coach Jim Caldwell, a man ignored virtually all year long, as if the Colts had somehow coached themselves.

If Caldwell receives criticism today (which would not be surprising, nor necessarily inappropriate), it will prove New York Times writer Bill Rhoden's column from yesterday was prescient.   Rhoden wrote that one reason that nobody was talking or writing about the rookie coach was that in addition to his low key personality, the Colts are dominated by the larger than life presence that Peyton Manning has.  But he also hinted that "the unconscious racism coming from the broadcast booth that diminishes and overlooks the accomplishments of a black N.F.L. coach who has taken his team to the Super Bowl in his rookie season. "  And as he concluded his piece:

Having said that, the Colts have a Super Bowl game to play. And they had better win. When Caldwell went for a championship over perfection, winning the Super Bowl was no longer an option. It became a must.

Caldwell knows that if he comes home with anything less than the Lombardi Trophy, he will go right back behind the shadows.

We'll wait and see if that's the situation.  But the fact is, whether you're a Colts or Saints or Bucs or Raiders or Niners fan, it's all over.  Football that is.  Until September. Writing for all football fans around the country, let's take it one Sunday at a time.  Personally, I'm an NBA fan.  Unfortunately, next Sunday there' s no regular games on television, as the All-Star game takes place later on prime time.  And no, I won't be getting into the Daytona 500!  Best of luck to the rest of you.  Spring training does begin in a few weeks, however.