It's here. The day when the biggest story may actually be an ad about abortion, the biggest athlete is playing his hometown team and Chris Rock went against his personal stance ("I usually go for the black coach") to pick New Orleans.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like everything I do these days is more hyped than anything I've ever done before. This particular event might be because everyone has known Indy and New Orleans would play in this game since about October.

I said I'd do a preview/pick, so I am. Then I have to go dig out the front door.

Indianapolis comes into this game as the winningest team in the last decade. Read that again. No team won more games from 2000-2009 that the Peyton Manning-led Colts. Not even the three-time champion New England Patriots. Indy won 122 games during that time span and two more this January, while Manning was busy winning four MVP awards and possibly cementing his status as the greatest quarterback of all time.

This morning, as Suzy Kolber did her pregame talk about Manning, she quoted a Jets defensive player, who said that he'd never in his life seen someone like Manning, who calls his own plays, never misses anything, and is in control of the game when he is on the field.

There are other things one could say when talking about the Indianapolis Colts, but in reality, none are even close to the level of Manning. Bill Simmons wrote last week that, when you look at Manning's face these days, he has the look like, "I'm not worried. You will not beat me. Period." That's scary.

Look at this team. It isn't the star-studded one he had in the past. There's no Marvin Harrison. No Edgerrin James. And yet they were two games away from perfection. That, is Peyton Manning. And it's Manning back in New Orleans, where he grew up.

New Orleans, on the other hand, is the story in itself. Sure there is the revival of Drew Brees, or meteoric rise. There's Reggie Bush, the USC star turned so-so tailback, who now has a chance to win the SuperBowl.

None of that can even be said in the same breath as the revival of New Orleans.

This ravaged city, which still has neighborhoods that resemble ghost towns, has rallied around this team. As cliche as it may be, the New Orleans Saints are the pulse of the city. We remember the images of that stadium, both inside and out, as the real evidence of the destruction.

So, the revival of the Saints, in their first SuperBowl ever, back in New Orleans and the rebuilt Super Dome, symbolizes that of the town.

Which is why I look at it like this: New Orleans isn't there yet. Neither are the Saints. The city of New Orleans, like I mentioned, is still empty, destroyed in some places. Bringing the town back to its pre-Katrina level will probably never happen. But it will return to a glory that only New Orleans can ever have.

Just not today. Not with one of its favorite sons on the other team. Not yet.

Call it Colts 31, Saints 28. But don't worry, the party never ends on Bourbon Street. And the rebuilding is unfinished.