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July 29, 2008

MIKE BEAS: Preseason opener important to some after all

Not far from where the Canton Bulldogs intimidated NFL franchises during the early 1920s, the Indianapolis Colts attempt to live up to that lofty standard Sunday.

They’ll fail. Miserably. Not from lack of effort, mind you, but the unavoidable fact that exhibition openers normally pack an excitement level on par with a four-hour visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Some guy you think you’ve heard of throwing passes to a receiver you’ve never heard of and ultimately being tackled by a guy you thought retired two years ago doesn’t necessarily qualify as must-see TV.

These first couple weeks of preseason tussles, regardless of the competing franchises, are going to be painful to watch and first-degree eardrum assault.

If nothing else, it means professional football is back. Thank heavens.

Speaking of bad preseason moments, I remember the time in the 1990s when the sideline reporter from one of the Indianapolis television stations by halftime had exhausted every decent interview option. Then, in the fourth quarter, he was chatting up the person inside the blue horse costume worn by the Colts mascot.

A new low had been achieved. Worse, he didn’t even have the decency to remove his face. The horse, that is. The guy with the microphone probably wanted to hide his.

With any luck, there won’t be a repeat when Indianapolis faces Washington in the annual Hall of Fame Game at Canton’s 22,000-seat Fawcett Stadium.

NBC is handling the national broadcast, which means we’ll be treated to the broadcast team of Al Michaels and John Madden. If you find yourself bored, count how many times Madden mentions the Brett Favre soap opera (the over/under is 329 times).

Or just the name Brett Favre (over/under: 616).

As for the game itself, there are a few Colts rookies I am looking forward to watching as their services might be required sooner rather than later.

Let’s start with Marcus Howard. Last we saw the 6-2, 235-pound defensive end out of Georgia, he was chasing Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan out of the Superdome and back to Honolulu during an embarrassingly lopsided Sugar Bowl.

Now Howard is a Colt. And wouldn’t you know, Brennan is a Washington Redskin. Uh-oh.

Howard is undersized by NFL standards in the mold of Indianapolis pass-rushing bookends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, not bad blueprints to copy.

The Colts ‘D’s’ trademark is quickness, not bulk, and Howard certainly is quick. With Freeney iffy as he comes back from a fractured foot that forced him to miss the team’s final eight games, Howard would be wise not to settle in on the bench.

Center-turned-guard Mike Pollak out of Arizona State could wind up a starter on the right side, which is important in that he’ll be assisting in keeping some guy named Peyton Manning vertical in ’08.

Lastly, running back Mike Hart intrigues in that he’s the University of Michigan’s all-time leading ground gainer, yet dropped all the way to the sixth round.

Can Hart make enough of an impact these next few weeks to bump Kenton Keith from the backup tailback spot? Howard and Pollak are locks for the regular-season roster. Hart isn’t.

There. Now you have things to watch when you didn’t think you would have a thing to watch. Just go left with the television volume switch and it’s a victory no matter how the Colts fare.

Mike Beas is a sportswriter / columnist for The Herald Bulletin. He can be reached at mike.beas@heraldbulletin.com.

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