it's putting a little too much pressure on your external "my psyche is defined by the teams I love, my manhood is directly linked to the success of my team" ego...
If you can't handle a discussion about football maybe you shouldn't read the thread.
That's funny, but I don't recall calling any of the opposing players crybabies and spouting about shoe shining.
That's what's called an emotional response.
So far you're the only individual in this entire discussion who has seen fit to launch into a diatribe based not on factual information, but heartfelt emotional investment -- not uncommon among sports fans.
We're discussing football. You're not. You're ranting.
IF you want to join the discussion, go here and review the stats for Tom Brady and compare them to Peyton Manning:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics?stat=pass&sort=rat&league=nfl&season=2&year=2006You'll see that it matches up with what has been said -- Brady is a good quarterback with a very solid, very deep team around him; Manning is a serious offense producer who hasn't been the beneficiary of the kind of depth that the Patriots have assembled, and been able to maintain, over the past several years.
Manning's the kind of quarterback who, because of his skills, can force a less capable team like the Colts into the win column month after month (Donovan McNabb of the Eagles is the same kind of QB on the same kind of team) where Tom Brady's skills complement an already exceptional team.
It would be a really interesting exercise to see what would happen were Manning and Brady to change teams and everything else remain the same. I think the Patriots would remain a top notch team, and become even more explosive, but the Colts would, I think, take a step back.