It was wet. It was ugly. It was sloppy. And, finally, it was boring, as the NFL’s biggest game once again failed to live up to its big hype.

There was a positive side, though. Folks in Indianapolis finally got to truly celebrate the excellence of their coach/QB combo. And Jay Mariotti got the chance to get vitriolic and fire back at a certain quarterback who dared to insult his prescience.

Colts 29, Bears 17
After spending much of the season acting like angst-ridden yahoos, the Indianapolis media checked in with a surprisingly restrained celebration of the city’s first Super Bowl championship, mirroring the class of their team’s coach and star.

Phillip Wilson’s game story celebrated the process of “Shedding Labels:” “No more suggestions of’’soft.’ No more snide ‘dome’ team references. No more finesse label. No more playoff questions. The Indianapolis Colts smashed every stereotype Sunday evening while they were smashing the big, bad, bruising Chicago Bears 29-17 to win Super Bowl XLI at rainy, soggy Dolphin Stadium.”

Kravitz focused on the two most obvious subjects, Dungy and Manning, noting clumsily that Dungy “is a credit to his race — the human race.” Perhaps he’s been writing speeches for George W. on the side.

Super Bowl XLI Colts 29, Bears 17 It's not Super, but Colts prevail |   Images Borges: Dungy leads way | Tops his protégé Celizic: Manning now among all-time greats Opinion: Peyton ditches curse | Legacy? Grossman fails | Buzz: Who's 'ignorant' now? Celizic: Bears lick wounds; future bright Super diary: Minute-by-minute commentary Opinion: Chargers next year? | Your vote   Discuss the game | MORE COVERAGE

He then drew the obvious conclusion that the Colts playoff success was due to their stereotype-busting ability to run and stop the run. Gosh, the level of insight just makes you gasp.Actually, the most entertaining story out of Indy was a piece by Phillip B. Wilson, who tracked down Edgerrin James partying like a Super Bowl MVP at a Miami club at 5 a.m. the day before the game.

When asked about how much he’d like to be in the actual contest itself, James flashed a gold-tooth smile and quipped, “I’m having more fun than the players. They have to be back for curfew. As for his Arizona experience, James added, “I’m loving every day in Phoenix except for Sunday.”

This is the part where we pause for a moment to pay our respects and wish Ken Whisenhunt all the luck in the world.

As for the Chicago folks working for the Sun Times, they definitely weren’t loving Sunday, although Jay Mariotti certainly did seem to enjoy firing back at a certain Bears quarterback who called the analysts and pundits “ignorant.”

“So, who’s ignorant now?” Mariotti responded. “Rex Grossman called out the analysts who wondered why he throws hideous interceptions and fumbles simple snaps, then responded in his defining game by throwing hideous interceptions and fumbling simple snaps. When challenged to win a sterling silver trophy in the fourth quarter, Bad Rex played like he didn’t belong. And if that’s harsh, let me remind him it was the Super Bowl and that he may never return again.”

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Mariotti did pile on a bit, though, when he observed that Grossman offered no excuses, “Because he would have misfired on those, too.”

Perhaps the most telling comment on Grossman’s meltdown came from wideout Muhsin Muhammad, who stopped just short of throwing his guy under the bus. “The quarterback has a lot of influence on a football game,” said Muhammad, who caught an early TD flip from Grossman but had only two more catches. “His decision-making, his ballhandling — all those things factored in the game.”

The post-mortem, though, was delivered by Mariotti, who succinctly offered up a self-congratulatory summary of the strengths and weaknesses: “The good news: A talented nucleus remains in place.The bad news: Rex is an enigma. You hope he’ll spend the offseason studying Peyton Manning tapes and not moping about critics who, it seems, weren’t so ignorant after all.”

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