Four days until Superbowl Sunday. I still need a ticket, wish me luck.

Here's a fun picture for you:

Local Indy hip hop act Mudkids have written what might be the best song ever. I've put it on my Myspace profile.

Click here to dig.

This day is known in the sports world as Championship Sunday, the day when four football teams play for a chance to go to the Superbowl. The dust has settled and the games have been decided so I'm going to take a minute and blog about SueAnne.

Most of you know SueAnne, but just in case you don't she's a good friend of our family's; a high school friend of my mom's and her neighbor as well. SueAnne was a single mom and raised her son Jimmy on her own. Being a single mom is tough, I have first-hand experience with this. I'm sure their family had their share of hardships like all families do as it can be hard for adolescent boys and their mothers to find common ground (again, first-hand experience). Since 1983, the year then infamous Mr. Irsay moved the Colts franchise from Baltimore to Indianpolis in the middle of the night, SueAnne and her son have had season tickets to the Indianapolis Colts. Why would a single mom spend a good chunk of change on season tickets? Fun way to spend Sundays in the winter? Love of the sport? Quality time with her son? Maybe a little of each. Maybe more of one than the others. I can only speculate.

It wasn't easy to be a Colts fan back then. Save for a division championship during the strike-shortened '86 season (where most of the games were played by scabs), the Colts stunk. Really stunk. SueAnne and her son were there through it all; seeing Jeff George sacked every other play, watching Hall-of-Fame bound players like Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk come and go without success, agonizing through 3-13 seasons, endless coaching changes, watching Jim Harbaugh's last-second 'hail mary' fall to the ground in the 'Comeback Kid's' AFC Championship game in '95, and after the Colts finally got a successful and winning team, witnessing playoff defeat after playoff defeat. Even after Jimmy moved to St. Louis he and his mom kept their season tickets, Jimmy making the drive up to watch the team. I've been lucky enough to catch a few games with SueAnne when they've been generous enough to give me a ticket. I have to say she is as good and as faithful a sports fan as you'll ever meet (and her seats are fantastic!).

After watching the Colts play so terribly at the end of this season, Jimmy talked SueAnne into selling her playoff tickets. The Colts shut down the Chiefs in the Wildcard game and already SueAnne was regretting her decision. After a tough, hard-nosed victory in Baltimore (the very city the Colts matriculated from) the team was headed back to Indy to play for a chance to go to the Superbowl. They were to play the New England Patriots, the team that had been their nemesis in recent history. The Colts have been victim to crushing defeats by the Patriots including two playoff games, each time New England went on to win the Superbowl. It was only right that they had to beat their rival for their chance at a championship. Through some serendipitous luck SueAnne was able to go to the game today.

And she got to see one of the best games in the history of the NFL Playoffs, the greatest come-from-behind win in the history of the Conference Championships, and perhaps the greatest win in the history of pro sports in Indianapolis. All of the demons were excorised, all of the bad teams, all of the bad draft picks, all of the bad playoff performances ... Peyton Manning was redeemed. Tony Dungy finally won the game he could never win.

The Indianapolis Colts are going to the Superbowl.

This is why we love sports people. It's not just an excuse to drink beer and shout at the television. It's not just a means of escape for family men across the country. Personally, I love the artistry of the athlete, the drama of human competition and after witnessing the World Cup finals in Italy I have a greater appreciation for how a sports team can bring a sense of accomplishment and pride to their community. But what really summarizes why sports is special to me is a mother and son falling in love with the hard-luck, hometown team and watching that team finally reach the pinnacle of their sport.

Congratulations SueAnne. Congratulations to all of us Colts fans. We finally did it.

Only one game left to win.

And there's not much more to say about it.

Do you all know who Doc Severinsen is? He is a famous trumpeter and big band leader most popularly known as leader of the Tonight Show Orchestra when Johnny Carson was the host.

I got a call from Doc's tour manager last night. Doc's doing one last big band tour. It's going to be a historic event as Doc will probably retire soon. He asked me if I would play bass for the tour.

You see what's coming, right?

The tour starts squarely the week of Porkchop's due date. I explained the situationh, thanked him for the offer and declined. I don't regret the decision one iota but doing the tour would've been great for me and my career. I'll just chalk it up to bad timing.

In related news Carrie had another ultrasound and doctor's appointment today and Porkchop is doing great. He weighs 5.5 lbs and we're right on track for the Feb. 23rd due date.

I leave tomorrow for another quick tour to Long Island and Connecticut. I'll be back Sunday just in time for the EPIC COLTS GAME!

Last night was our second childbirth class. We were shown a film of women in intense labor and a couple of deliveries.

The nurse teaching the class told us we have an option to put a mirror between Carrie's legs so we can watch the little guy come out.

We both agreed to decline the mirror option.

Florida was nice. We played Friday night in Miami and Saturday night in Key Largo. For whatever reason I'm not a huge fan of Florida. Young people seem a bit superficial there to me (this coming from the guy who lives in L.A., oh the irony!). But I was ready to come home. Between the last looong tour, my CD release show, then this past weekend, I feel like I haven't had very much time off at all, if any. But I'm breathing easier now. Time to get back in to a routine at home. Granted I leave again on Thursday for a quick trip to the east coast, but I'll be back on Sunday. Carrie and I saw 'Children of Men' last night. It is a fantastic movie, highly recommended.

And HOW 'BOUT THOSE MUDDAF**KIN' COLTS!!!!!!!!!!!?

What a run they are having right now. I'm glad that the Patriots are in the AFC Championship against them, it's only right. I could've gone to the game if they had come to San Diego, but its better they play their long-time nemesis at home.

And check this out--I'm going to be in Miami for another gig with Steve the weekend of the Super Bowl ...

GO HORSE!

What drug is Paula Abdul is on in this clip? Booze? Pot? Valium? Ludes? Methodone?

Let us know what your guess is!?

I'm sitting in the bossman's condo in Miami at the moment. There wasn't much time to decompress and reflect (and party) after last night's show. This morning I was up early to drive Jeff (my funky drummer from Michigan) and myself to the airport, Jeff to catch a plane home, me off to another gig.

The gig was great. It really was. So many of my friends showed up to support me (and many did not, but that's to be expected), the band played their asses off, everything ran smoothly, and most importantly everyone dug the show. At the end of the night I was happy and relieved and glad I'd been through the experience. Hopefully it is the first of many successful shows in SoCal. I hope to have pics up soon.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well from afar who couldn't be there especially the Grishams and Aunt Kathy who sent me well-wishes in the mail.

I'm currently hoping to book a tour of the midwest this fall including Indy, Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit. But I'm going to let myself relax for a while before worrying about that.

The rehearsal could not have gone better. Stress relieved.

The big CD Release Show is fast approaching. My drummer Jeff flies in tomorrow and we'll rehearse immediately after his flight lands, I'm making phone calls getting the band together, trying to get my office ready for the rehearsal, scheduling a recording session for Tuesday and worrying how I'm going to get a bunch of people out for my show. I also have a lot of practicing to do. Plenty of stress at the moment.

God bless the Colts for winning today! Their D played off of their asses, best performance of the season.

One victory down, three to go.

... Porkchop (more pics on the baby blog)