The Win List

NFL

• 2006 AFC Championship Game vs. Pats - Nearing the end of the second quarter the Colts were down by a score of 21-3. Then the Colts managed to march 80 yards down the field to make the game 21-6 with 11 seconds left before halftime. After living through two playoff losses to the Pats in 2003 and 2004... I really can't say how high my hopes were that the Colts could mount a comeback. But they did. Maybe that eighty yard drive before the half is what did it. Before I knew it the Colts were closing the gap. Then they tied the game at 21-21 with four minutes to go in the third quarter. From then on Pats would take a lead only to have the Colts would match the score. This kept happening until the Colts were down 34-31 with a minute to go. The Colts were three yards away from the end zone and Joseph Addai punched the ball in to the end zone to give the Colts their first and only lead of the game. The Patriots had a minute to put together a winning drive. It was the typical Tom Brady situation that had haunted me ever since the Pats beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. I prayed to the gods of football and my prayers were answered. Brady was intercepted with twenty seconds left in the game! The Colts had finally ousted the Pats in the postseason and made it to the Super Bowl! Final score: 38-34 
• 2009 Week 10 vs. Pats - With 4:14 to go in the football game, the Indianapolis Colts were down 34-21. It was up to Manning to mount another comeback against the Pats. With 2:23 left on the clock the Colts got in the end zone on a Joseph Addai run to make it a six point game. The Colts had all of their time outs and the Pats had only two. It was up to the Colts defense to stop Tom Brady to give Manning a shot at winning the game. Well, the Colts defense gets a stop. It's 4 & 2 and the Pats are at their own twenty-eight yard line. The Pats are going to punt the ball, right? Wrong! Belichick sends his offense back on the field! And then they don't get convert! With two minutes to go the Colts have the ball on the Patriots twenty-nine and Manning makes Belichick and the Pats pay. A throw to Reggie Wayne ties the game with thirteen seconds left and then the extra point wins it. Thanks for the help, Bill! Final score: 35-34
• Super Bowl XLII (Giants/Pats) - The Pats were 18-0. Perfection was within their grasp when Eli Manning came of age in the final minutes of the game. On 3 & 5 with 1:15 to go in the game, Eli Manning evaded what should have been a sack and hurled the ball down the field where David Tyree made one the most legendary catches in Super Bowl history. The touchdown catch by Plaxico Burress to win the game is almost a mere footnote by comparison. Final score: 17-14 
• Super Bowl XLI (Colts/Bears) - To be honest, I thought that the 2006 AFC Championship game was the real Super Bowl. There isn't much I remember from this game, but what happened at the end is why this game is on the list. I remember Devin Hester returning the opening kickoff for a TD. I remember it raining. I also remember the Colts being down 14-6 at the end of the first quarter. But after that the Bears were outscored 23-3 and Peyton Manning was left hoisting his first and only Lombardi trophy into the air. Maybe not the most exciting Super Bowl ever, but it was one that gave the Colts their first Super Bowl victory since Super Bowl V. It also cemented Peyton Manning's status as one of the all-time greats. Final score: 29-17
• Super Bowl XLVI (Giants/Pats) - After going 5-5 in the final 10 games of the regular season and ending up with a record of 9-7, the Giants became the new hot team all the way to a Super Bowl rematch with the Pats. This sequel was not as good as the first one. I'd say it wasn't even as good as the 2011 week 9 game between the two teams, but this game was the Super Bowl and the week 9 game wasn't. After allowing the Pats to score 17 unanswered points, the Giants scored 12 unanswered points and won the game on Ahmad Bradshaw's peculiar ass-first touchdown. Eli gets his second ring in Peyton's house and Tom Brady's shot at a fourth ring gets taken away by the same team twice. It may not be 2007 again, but it would be tough to tell that to the New York Giants or the New England Patriots. Final score: 21-17   

NOTE: I chose not to include the 2011 Week 9 match-up between the Giants and Pats because there are already too many Pats games on this list. Damn Pats. 

NCAA

It would appear that there have been some stadium renovations
in Baton Rouge.

• 2012 BCS National Championship Game - You should never piss off Nick Saban. You know why? Because he is great in revenge games. LSU got thoroughly trounced 21-0 on their own turf with 15 of those points coming from the kicking game. Of course that kicking game had been the biggest punchline in college football after Alabama lost their regular season match-up because of missed field goals. Ironic, right? The touchdown scored by Trent Richardson was icing on the cake. LSU only passed the fifty yard line once the entire game. Roll tide. Final score: 21-0
• Iron Bowl 2011- A year after watching the dreadful "Comeback" by $cam Newton, Alabama settled the score with the "Never Again" game. It began with eerie shades of 2010, but that soon vanished and Alabama blew out the Tigers for the second time in four years. Final score: 42-14
• 2009 SEC Championship Game - After losing the previous year in the 2008 SEC Championship game to Florida, Nick Saban and the Tide were out for blood. Tim Tebow and the Gators didn't have a prayer in this rematch because Saban doesn't lose revenge games. At the end of the game Tim Tebow was reduced to tears and I was jumping for joy. Sports is a cruel thing, but if Tebow couldn't take the pain of losing then he wouldn't be in the NFL right now. Because he'll be doing a lot more losing if he doesn't learn how to throw the ball with better accuracy. Final score: 32-13
• Iron Bowl 2009 - This game was a dogfight. Auburn scored 14 unanswered points in the first quarter followed by Alabama scoring 14 unanswered points in the second quarter. Auburn answered the call with a TD in the third quarter to put them up 21-14. After settling for two field goals, Alabama trimmed Auburn's lead to just one point. With 8:27 left in the game, the Tide got the ball at their own 21 yard line and went on a drive that would stun the Auburn crowd. Alabama ended the drive when they finally punched the ball into the end zone with 1:24 left to go in the game. Saban decided to go for two to make it a one score game, but the conversion failed. Auburn got the ball back and managed to march from their own 25 to Alabama's 37 and then the ball was spiked with just under ten seconds to go in the game. The Iron Bowl outcome would come down to one last throw. Chris Todd's last pass of the game was incomplete and the game was over. Final score: 26-21
• Iron Bowl 2008 - This game was a blow out. It marked the first time that Alabama had gotten a win over the Tigers after losing six consecutive Iron Bowls. Final score: 34-0