In 2004, the Colts were red hot but I watched them to the New England Patriots (after a long, cold drive home after the heater in my car quit.) It was a long, cold, miserable terrible night.

In 2005, the Colts were on fire but I watched them lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Colts were rusty and disappointing.

Before each of these post seasons, my wife and I agreed that we’d get a flat screen TV in our family room (in addition to the front projector in the home theater room) to watch the Super Bowl if the Colts made it. But they didn’t.

In 2006, the Colts got off to a great start but sputtered later in the regular season, losing to weak teams. I thought they’d missed their chance. At our house, there was no talk of getting that new TV. That is, until the Colts won the AFC championship in spectacular fashion. We hadn’t talked about it in over a year and I somewhat jokingly I asked Nicole “Can I go get that new TV now?” I was expecting at least a little debate, but really wasn’t all that surprised by her too-good-to-be-true Super Wife response: “Yep.” End of discussion!

It was a somewhat unlikely year for the Colts to make it to and win the Super Bowl, but I’m glad they did and I’m glad I’m in Indianapolis to experience it. It’s been an interesting few years since 1999 when I started dating and eventually married a Colts fan. I think back to those Sunday afternoon I spent watching football with my wife-to-be. I was an instant convert (because there are no NFL team in Kentucky). I was worried they’d never make it to the Super Bowl and that Nicole and I would never be able to celebrate such a victory together. They did and we did. Go Colts!!!