Wednesday morning I'll head to Canton, Ohio to serve as meet director for the upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. But before I make that trip, I took a little side trip this weekend to watch someone else who's headed to Canton --- Peyton Manning --- and the rest of his teammates win Super Bowl XLI.

I've been fortunate to serve as a statistician for the Indianapolis Colts for the past few seasons. When the Colts made the Super Bowl, I was given the opportunity to purchase a ticket to the Super Bowl. So Sunday morning I headed to Indianapolis, headed to the championship game.

What I didn't know was how much fun my transportation to the game would be.

I arrived in Atlanta 20 minutes early since all of the Colts fans making the trip had packed the plane in Indy well before our planned departure. Heading to the gate for my final plane to Miami, I boarded and prepared to sneak a quick nap during the quick flight. Before I could enjoy my quick rest, the pilot informed us that weather conditions and "a heavy amount of air traffic at Miami International Airport"  had shut down the airport. We were stuck at the jetway for over an hour before finally getting airborne.

Being a big believer in backup plans, I spent the entire flight planning alternative routes to get to Dolphin Stadium before kickoff. Long story short --- a quick drop of the bags with a friend I'm staying with, a cab from the airport to the stadium, and the next thing I knew I was settling into my seat shortly after Billy Joel finished the National Anthem.

The game was incredible. I'm still drying out clothes (try riding a bus and the Tri-Rail at 12:30 a.m. with 200 other soaked Colts and Bears fans), and I'm headed for another nap after getting home at 2 a.m. (and that's without a single celebratory moment --- just straight to the bus, the train, and the car!).

But it was worth it all.

Now off to Canton, where a talented Wabash swimming and diving team will attempt to make its mark against some of the best competition in the nation.

More on that later this week.