I'll let them lead me on again.

The finest example of sports-related hubris that I've been exposed to personally came in December 2005, when the Indianapolis Colts were steamrolling to a 14-win season and were a mortal lock to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since their move to Indiana.

I was in Anderson, northeast of Indianapolis, en route to my graduation ceremony in Marion. Our small two-vehicle caravan had stopped off for a bathroom break and some munchies. While in the convenience store, I saw in the rack with the road atlases and other paper goods some Colts car window decals for sale.

These decals were special. They didn't just have the Colts helmet or logo on them, with an admonition for the Colts to "go." Instead, they pictured the helmet in front of the logo for Super Bowl XL.

"Uh-oh," I thought. "Pride goeth before a fall and all that."

I didn't like it at all. (The Colts were, at the time, still undefeated.) And I couldn't believe that such a product would have been created, given the team's historically spotty record in Indianapolis, as well as recent playoff history.

As hindsight tells us, the odds-on favorites to reach the Super Bowl instead fell to Pittsburgh in the divisional round of the playoffs - ultimately, you have to play the games. Nick Harper got stabbed in the leg, which surely hindered his ability to run back that interception of Ben Roethlisberger. The otherwise accurate-to-within-one-thousandth-of-a-second Mike Vanderjagt shanked a field goal attempt that was so wide right they still haven't recovered the ball yet.

And the Colts went home with their collective tails between their legs. Again.

I won't delve into today's dynamic; if you don't know the storyline of the Colts-Patriots AFC Championship Game today, then you've either not been paying attention or simply don't like football. Suffice it to say that I don't know that I'm prepared for the Colts to break my heart again ... but I'll give them the opportunity anyway.

There's a feeling across the country, once you get out of the Northeast, that the Colts really, really, really, reeeeeeeally need to win today's game to spare the country another Patriots Super Bowl appearance. That the Patriots have become as hated as the New York Yankees in baseball, or Duke in college basketball.

I don't care about any of that. And I don't hate the Patriots - I appreciate a good dynasty, which is becoming more and more rare this days thanks to across-the-board "parity" in most sports. I guess it'd be one thing if the Patriots played dirty or just outspent all of their opponents on their way to three Super Bowl wins in five years. But they don't; they're a class act, and they've got the best coach in football and probably the most clutch quarterback this side of Joe Montana. It's just Indianapolis' plain bad luck that the Patriots' rise coincided with the Colts' hitting their stride as one of football's most exciting teams. And I don't begrudge New England that at all.

But I would appreciate having a rooting interest in the Super Bowl for once. Go Colts.