So Peyon Manning may indeed miss the 2011 season

The reports were not quite accurate, but they are almost accurate.

1. Peyton didn't have a 3rd surgery Sunday
2. Peyton didn't have a 3rd surgery Monday
3. Peyton had a 3rd surgery today.
4. Jason La Canfora was far too conservative when he said Manning wouldn't play in the month of September.
5. According to Peter King, highly esteemed NFL expert from Sports Illustrated, Peyton is going to miss a couple of months, and maybe the year.
6. However, President Bill Polian did not place Peyton on Injured Reserve, a move that would officially have ended his 2011 season.
7. This indicates Bill Polian does hope to activate Peyton at some point this season.
8. Peter King says the Colts medical staff will evaluate Peyton's progress for at least one month before any decision about the IR list is made.

I had a sense there was some real fire behind this smoke. Local sport talk guys with a good reps don't trash their careers with bogus reports like this. It means a life of flipping burgers if you do.

This is bad, bad, bad, bad stuff. A third neck surgery is rotten news for anybody, much less a world-class athlete. Ed Reed spoke about his own pinched nerve and how much he feared neck surgery. He said he will not undergo surgery until his playing career comes to an end. His research indicates that it just too iffy a procedure, with too much margin for error.

Let's hope three is a charm, but... Folks, let's put it this way: Third time is seldom a charm when it comes to surgery.

Tony Dungy was putting on a brave front this evening, saying the Colts will play through this and win games. Rodney Harrison stated the facts as I know them:

1. The Colts are team built around their offense, and not their defense
2. The Colt offense is built around Peyton Manning
3. Ergo the Colts are built around Peyton
4. Ergo Sum, without Peyton, the scheme falls apart.

You loose more than your All-Pro Quarterback when you loose Peyton Manning. You loose your offensive coordinator, your on-the-field tactician, and you loose your confidence. I don't care who the official offensive coordinator of the Colts happens to be. You know damn well the OC is Peyton Manning.