The Post-Super Bowl Andy Barch Interview
A chat with my good friend, NFL expert Andy Barch.

1. Will the pick-6 Peyton Manning threw have a lasting negative impact on his legacy as one of the greats?

AB:Not in my mind. Manning's pick-6 will be looked at as the icing on the cake, the final straw that broke the camel's back, but it was the onside kick that really turned the game around. That was one of the gutsiest (if thats actually a word) calls I've seen in a long time, and it lit a fire under the Saints. I can't say enough about that call, and how Sean Payton really changed the game by pulling the trigger on it. It was also very well executed. Manning will always be viewed as one of the best, I'll never see him as anything different. Just because he was on the losing team in a Super Bowl, and threw a pick-6 in the fourth quarter, doesn't mean he's any less immortal than he was before.

2. Where do you rank the Saints among the teams that won Super Bowls this decade?

AB: This has been an unusual decade for Super Bowl teams, with so many underdogs and wild card teams emerging. I'd say they are right up there with some of the best, only because they could score with anybody, and while their defense wasn't the best, they were very opportunistic, and they made some HUGE plays. I think that this is the best STORY of any Super Bowl Champion this decade. It's not as big of an upset as the Giants-Patriots, but the fact that the Saints, and that entire city that was destroyed four and a half years ago has something to celebrate again, is what makes this such an incredibly uplifting story. Unless you live in Indy, or if you root for another team in the NFC South, there has to be at least a small part of you that is happy for a city like that, which now has something to celebrate, after rebuilding from the ground up after Katrina.

3. Where will Donte Stallworth go from here?
Who knows? He's extremely overrated, he always has been. For some reason, teams keep throwing money at him. Not only does he have this legal issue, but the guy ALWAYS seems to be hurt. He's made little to no impact ANYWHERE along the way in his NFL career. As far as I'm concerned, he's no longer relevant in the NFL.

4. Right now, do you see a lockout in the near future?
It's really hard for me to see that happening. The players union, the owners, and the other parties involved need to understand that the appetite for this league is at an all-time high, and it could really come crashing down if there is some sort of work stoppage. This kind of work stoppage could be as destructive to this league, as the '94 strike was to baseball. It took a while for baseball to get back, and even when it did, the NFL had taken over as the "Don Mega" in the realm of sports in american enterprise. Take the Super Bowl for example..it was the HIGHEST RATED TELEVISION PROGRAM OF ALL TIME!!! These guys couldn't possibly be that stupid. This league is a goldmine right now, and you're an idiot if you own one of these teams and you lose money. Owners have the fans on their side, in that, people dont care how much these players make, until they start to complain about how much they make, especially when their paychecks dwarf that of the average american. Something will be done, even though right now, people are panicking and they are saying it won't happen.

5. Favorite SB commercial?
I didnt find the commercials to be all that entertaining. There were two that stood out to me. The first was the Doritos one where the little kid says "Two things, first, don't touch my mama, and second, keep your hands of my doritos!!" The second was that Budweiser commercial where the folks in the bar had to lay down and build a bridge so that the Bud truck could get across. Perhaps I could get with you next year, and we can put together the best 3.5 million dollar commercial in the history of the Super Bowl for the blog???

Z: At this point I'm lucky if I get 3.5 readers a day.