Redemption for the Indianapolis Colts at Super Bowl XLI
Finally Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy make it to the big game and come away big winners! Congratulations to the entire Colts team and the wonderful city of Indianapolis.
Having grown up in India my sports roots are in Cricket and Soccer. But I have grown to love American Football in my years of living here in the US (probably has something to do with going to Ohio State for MBA school and OSU having such a strong college football team).
My MBA internship was at Delco (General Motors) in Kokomo, Indiana and since then I have followed the Colts and like the rest of their fans have grown used to hopes raising through the regular season only to be bitterly dashed during the NFL playoffs. Not this year!
I am happy for Peyton and his coach, without a doubt two of the most deserving winners. It was truly team work that triumphed with every part of the team delivering the goods when push came to shove (not just today but through the playoffs as well).
I want to touch on one aspect of all this. If nothing else Indy’s win today proves that you can be nice and win. There is no humbler person than Coach Dungy, he does not bark, he does not scowl, he does not swear at the officials, he is not aggressive. He is calm, he is focussed, he inspires his team, he is very competitive, he wants to win.
Nice guys can win, being nice and competitive can work together, life is not a zero sum game.
PS: This is a web analytics blog and this is a rare off-topic post.
But if you are visiting for web analytics content, here are the top five posts on this blog in the last eight months of its existence (measured simply by number of page views):
# 1: Seven Steps to Creating a Data Driven Decision Making Culture.
# 2: The 10 / 90 Rule for Magnificent Web Analytics Success.
# 3: How to Choose a Web Analytics Tool: A Radical Alternative.
As always please share your feedback via comments.
February 5th, 2007 at 20:27
Avinash,
Always great to get to know you better as a person. Thanks for sharing something about yourself.
-Jeb
February 6th, 2007 at 00:15
Avinash,
It may have been off topic but it was a nice thing to read at the start of a new day.
Thanks, Hugh
February 6th, 2007 at 09:42
I hope there is an American expat in India writing on his blog about the results of a cricket match.
-Shane
February 6th, 2007 at 13:01
As a Patriots fan, and a graduate of the biz school at the Univ. of Texas at Austin (who lost to Ohio State at the beginning of this past season)…. I’m liking you less and less everyday, Avinash.
:)
February 7th, 2007 at 14:58
I have several Indian friends who like you grew up with British sports and still import some British beers. It’s not hard to believe with you being a Buckeye that you would soon get into Football. I was also hoping that the Colts would win, simply because it was nice to see Payton finally get past Tom Brady after so many years of trying. Congrats on the win Peyton!
February 7th, 2007 at 20:38
Go PATS!
February 9th, 2007 at 01:10
[...]
My reassurance lies in 2 things:
1. Even though (short term) objectives are not identical, long term ones are;
2. the market is big enough for all parties involved.
As Avinash stated on his post about Indianapolis’ redemption, this is not a zero sum game.
One vendor has understood that their business is to build tools. They leave the usage of the tool and it’s potential upgrades to it’s partners and clients. In the form of a collaborative network.
[...]
December 14th, 2007 at 07:29
Maybe too late comment for the Colts’ winning on Super Bowl…
Nowadays I’m reading the book “Quiet Strength” by Tony Dungy. He is really humble but really strong. Truly impressive book by truly impressive coach.