Colts overcome rain, Bears, lame pregame to win title

	What says playing physical football in the rain more than a Gloria Estefan/Cirque du Soleil pregame performance? Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
	Colts 29, Bears 17 Not to be denied By Don Banks Peyton Manning and Indy refused to believe they couldn't win the big one. • 2007 lookahead | Snap Judgments Making the grade By Jeffri Chadiha Dungy, Manning and the Colts' RBs get high marks, while Grossman fails. • The 10 reasons why the Colts won A long night By Arash Markazi Despite a shaky performance in the Bears' loss, Grossman continues to take a grin-and-bear-it approach. Huddle Up By Andrew Perloff Why Manning deserved MVP and other notes, observations and analysis from throughout a soggy Super Bowl XLI. Passing grades By Richard Deitsch Grading out CBS Sports' coverage, from Jim Nantz to Prince and more. • WHITAKER: Ranking the best ads Other stories Manning's elusive ring comes with an MVP award Dungy gets the best of his friend, protégé Smith Grossman falters when the Bears need him most Colts fans hit blustery Indy streets to celebrate Rain falls on the Super Bowl for the first time ever Prince pours on the 'Purple Rain' in halftime show More from SI.com HOFSTETTER: Live commentary from my couch PHOTOS: SI's best shots | Celebrities | Headlines Complete Super Bowl play-by-play | Box Score SI's COLTS Championship Package FREE! Complete SI.com Super Bowl Coverage

12:54 p.m. - As much as I wanted to write about Henrik Stenson's come-from-behind victory in the Dubai Desert Classic, I figured I'd make my Super Bowl Blog an annual thing. This year I'm writing from my apartment in L.A., the first year I'm not watching the game from a party. Fewer nachos, sure -- but fewer people who don't know football pretending to know football. (I told my sister that I was rooting for Milwaukee this year). I predict the Colts will win, 29-17.

1:03 - This is also the first time I'm watching the Super Bowl from the West Coast. I'd say it's odd to be able to watch the pregame this early, but the pregame has been going on for the last two weeks. Gee, I hope they show a heartwarming story about a player overcoming adversity.

2:01 - Kanye West and Common just rapped in support of their hometown Bears. I'm looking forward to David Lee Roth and John Mellencamp's tribute to the Colts.

2:43 - The goodness of commercials during the Super Bowl is directly proportional to the badness of commercials before the Super Bowl.

2:48 - Gloria Estefan just said "One day, one game, one dream" before Cirque du Soleil flooded the field with a surreal art exhibit. I can only imagine how well this is going over with the average Midwestern football fan.

2:56 - Is this artsy thing still going on? Know your audience. Maybe they can have a commercial for a "Murder, She Wrote" reunion during the break.

3:27 - D-Fense! D-Fense! 92-yard, unimpeded touchdown run. D-Fense! At this pace, the Bears will win 1800-0.

3:41 - SalesGenie.com's cheesy ad would be embarrassing even if it wasn't bookended by two brilliant Jim Gaffigan/ Michael Ian Black Sierra Mist spots.

3:52 - Three turnovers and several missed tackles in nine minutes. This game is as ugly as a Sales Genie ad.

4:04 - Another turnover. Super Bowl XLI brought to you by Pam No-Stick Spray.

4:35 - It's 16-14 already! I heard a commentator predict a 10-7 score this weekend. I wonder if he'll be right.

4:50 - Two more turnovers. That's six mistakes, not including the pregame show.

5:01 - Allegedly, someone in America buys a Chevy every 12 seconds. I know this because I've been told it every 12 seconds.

5:13 - The halftime show features fake lightning during a rainstorm and Prince playing other people's songs nearly half as well as they could. I'd happily trade this in for Janet Jackson's half-cleavage. I'm sorry, I'm assuming anyone is even watching this.

5:47 - The Bears are falling apart. It's nacho time! I may not have many, but I will eat what I have. This is hard to do without humming "Nacho, nacho man..."

6:18 - Do you ever notice that no matter how good the game, your interest wanes in the second half? That must be what happened to the Bears. I know it's only a five-point game, but it feels like the Colts are up by 20.

6:21 - Remember that thing I said about it being a five-point game? Whoops.

6:30 - And another turnover in favor of the Colts. You know who else is turning over? George Halas, in his grave.

6:52 - Brett Favre making fun of how he cannot retire was almost as good as Kevin Federline making fun of how he cannot afford lunch.

6:58 - The Colts win, 29-17, and people can finally shut up about Peyton Manning not being able to win the big one. Oh, remind me to go back to the first paragraph and edit the score so I'm right.

Steve Hofstetter is a nationally touring comedian whose column appears every Monday on SI.com. Tell him how you actually predicted the score at minuteorso.com.