0-10.

He deserves better than this.

With your help, he might get it.

It has to be killing Jeff Saturday to endure this season. In what could well be his final season in blue and white, he's played some of his finest football and shown why his name will be enshrined in Lucas Oil Stadium's Ring of Honor one day. Saturday has anchored the line and played at his typical Pro Bowl level all season. He has been the voice of the Colts both inside and outside the locker room.

He is a man who saved football, and football has repayed him cruelly.

In the dark days of the Curtis Painter era, Jeff Saturday has received recognition from his peers, and if the fans see fit, he could be named The Heart of the Game.

The NFLPA Pulse of the Fans award nominations have been announced, and Saturday has been named one of the five finalists for the Heart of the Game Award, given to the player who personifies determination, enthusiasm and passion for the game.

They should rename it the Jeff Saturday Award.

Saturday has led the Colts and inspired us all. It's time to pay him back by voting for him.

Saturday is up against fierce competition for the title. Brees, Ed Reed, London Fletcher, and Matt Light are his competition.

He deserves this honor in a way no one else does.

If you vote, you can win prizes, but don't click for that reason.

Vote for Saturday as a way to say thanks.

He's the heart of the Colts. He's the heart of the game.

Vote now.

This is the Wednesday Open thread.

Starter topics:

• We've developed a reliable rotation of TV shows this season. There's a lot of ok, but replaceable TV on right now, as I'm mostly just running out the clock on old favorites like Chuck, Burn Notice, HIMYM, the Office, House and Fringe. There are only three shows I actually love right now: Homeland, Packs and Rec and Community.  Now, NBC has shelved one of them. Community has by far been the smartest, funniest, most brilliant show on for the last two and a half seasons. Why would they let train-wrecks like Whitney and Up All Night stay on while shelving Community? Up All Night is unwatchable. I tried twice to get through full episodes and found it so utterly banal that I couldn't continue...this coming from a guy who watches The Office still! I love Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett, and just...couldn't. As for Whitney...no. Nononononoononoo. No. So seriously NBC...grow a clue. We deserve our #sixseasonsandamovie. Community is the best comedy since Arrested Development, and NBC will look just as ridiculous for canceling it as Fox did. These are the decisions that get networks mocked for decades.

• The Colts...raise your hand if you want to talk about how they've drafted the past six years! (Crickets chirp, then pull out machine guns and go Scarface on this thread). Yeah, me either. We can talk about ANYTHING in the world today but this.

• Serious question: if the Colts were 3-7 right now, would you feel better or worse about the season? 

• Orlovsky or Painter? Cyanide or strychnine? Would you rather gouge out your eyes with a spoon or a thumb? Discuss.

• Still looking for input on a Fort Wayne signing on December 3.

• Finally, one more Invincible plug. If you don't care about basketball, you'll still enjoy the book. I tried to follow the mantra of Angelo Pizzo when writing Hoosiers. He sat at his desk and hung the words "this is not a sports movie" up. Invincible, Indiana is really about culture and a clash of values. Yes, there is basketball, but you'll enjoy it even if you aren't a hoops fan.

Have at it.

Here's today's open thread.

Possible topics of discussion:

• Polian says the Colts have talked with Manning about drafting a QB. I thought I had read quotes a couple of weeks ago about Manning understanding if the Colts have to take Luck, so I didn't really think this was news. Does anyone know the quote I'm referring to?

• I did a quick down and dirty look at the idea of NOT taking Luck in favor of the second best QB. Going back to 1990, the first overall QB was a clear winner 6 times, the second one 4 times, 4 times it is a toss up, and 4 times they both ended up sucking horribly. Half of the time the second guy ended up better he was drafted significantly later than the first guy (Rodgers/Smith and Brees/Vick). Two other times the 2nd guy was better it was Dilfer over Shuler and McNabb over Couch. There were a few Ryan/Flacco, Stafford/Sanchez, McNair/Collins, Manning/Rivers/Roethlisberger pairings out there that were just too close to call.  After looking at it, I can basically say I'd rather not go the '2nd best QB' route.

• Anyone care to discuss the Mike Smith Fourth Down call? Here's a good place to start the conversation.

• Schaub is on IR. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? No sane person can aruge the 2011 Colts don't make the playoffs if Peyton had been healthy. If you think you can, please do so here. It's an open thread after all.

• Readers in Fort Wayne: I want to have a book signing on December 3rd. Give me times and places that you think would work, please!  Thanks to everyone who came out last night to the Colts Grille! It was a lot of fun.

Have at it.

There's a huge, gaping hole in the roof of my house.

I mean huge.

It's like 6' by 10' wide. Practically speaking, the roof is missing.

Yes, we've duct taped a garbage bag to it, but come on. THERE'S STILL A HOLE IN THE ROOF.

So yesterday, my wife says to me, "Nate, the carpet in here is awful. And the there isn't any thing on most of the walls. It's all white. Plus, this house is freezing! We need new insulation. And there are water stains all over everything! This just won't do."

I tried to point out to her that we didn't have the money for new paint and carpet. We had spent a crapload adding a new roof, and when that tree branch fell on the house it really set us back. I pointed out that pretty soon the roof will be fixed. The insurance promised either to repair the roof we had just spent so much on, or if necessary, they'll rip off the roof entirely and replace it. That will take care of the most of the problems with the cold and the water damage can be repaired...but not until we actually fix the roof.

She was pissed at me.

"Nate, how come you are still talking about the roof! Sure, there's a massive gaping hole in it, and that garbage bag wasn't even heavy duty, but you cannot deny that it's cold in here and we need new insulation!  You cannot possibly expect me to believe that all this water damage is caused by the huge gaping hole in the roof! Fixated much?"

I love my wife, and tried to calmly explain that statistically speaking, huge gaping holes in the roof of your house lead to elevated levels of heat loss and water entrance.

She scoffed.

"You are in denial!" she said. "This house is freezing and that means we clearly picked the wrong insulation! Insulation keeps a house warm and if the house is cold, the insulation is bad!".

The conversation was starting to get on my nerves. I showed her charts indicating that we had chosen a high quality insulation, but after all, it IS cold in the house, and insulation does keep the house warm.

She continued, growing increasingly angry, "The roof issue aside, and I admit there is a giant hole, you haven't begun to address how we have no pictures on the wall! That's the real problem with this house! A lack of pictures!"

She's not entirely wrong, of course. We had some pictures, but they blew off (you know, because of the giant hole in the roof), got wet, and now we'll have to replace them. It's no big deal really. We've taken scores of great pictures over the years, and pictures are reasonably replaceable in a digital world. Again, I tried to calm her down. The roof will be fixed soon. There will be some clean up, but it won't be that bad. These things happen to everyone eventually and there's no reason to tear down the whole house (not that we could afford it), just to get some new carpet and photos. Once we fix the roof, the rest of the house will seem much nicer and warmer. Yes, I am miserable, MISERABLE about the giant hole, but it is what it is. Things happen. We just had that tree trimmed the year before, and again a few months before the storm. There was every reason to believe it was going to be strong and healthy for years to come...right up until it crashed into our living room. I don't like it any more than anyone else, but at least I was smart enough to realize that life with a hole in the roof was going to suck until it got fixed.

"Roof, roof, roof! She said. "To hear you talk you'd think that all we need is a new roof! That trash bag is perfectly acceptable replacement roof. Don't blame the trash bag that it's cold in here! That's a quality replacement level roof, right there. I'm bored to death of hearing about the roof!"

There was no point. She was unwilling to accept that the trash bag, was in fact, the worst roof in the neighborhood. It was actually worse than our neighbor who tacked a ratty tarp to the roof. When it comes to a roof, it gets no worse than a thin trash bag. And no, swapping out a bunch of glued together grocery bags isn't going to be an improvement.

"Well if the roof is the problem, why didn't we spend money on a second, back-up roof!"

I tried to explain that we live on a budget. A second roof beneath the first roof might have kept us a little warmer right now, maybe, but that tree was huge and there was no keeping it from causing damage. If we had spent money on a second roof (an idea that frankly makes no sense), then we could not have afforded any insulation for the house. We'd have been a little warmer now, but a lot colder in the previous years.

There was nothing left to say. We just don't see the problem in the same way. After a few hours of debate, she threw her hands up in disgust. She futilely waved at the pails of water we had set up to collect the rain that came in around the edges of our garbage bag stop gap roof.

"Go carry those water buckets outside and empty them. They are getting full!"

Game notes after the jump

...in the 2012 NFL draft.

Jaguars 17 Colts 3

Here's today's Open Thread for the Colts Jags game game.

I'll be at the game, so if you are near section 616, head up to row 8, seat 1 and say hi. I'll check in on Twitter if I can, but the network is often poor.

Be sure to check out our Gameday Follow List for the other 18to88.com writers, as well as the best local and national voices.

Go Horse!

Andrew Aziz of Everything Colts checks in with his weekly preview

What the Colts Need To Do To Win

The Colts need to play turnover-free football. Curtis Painter can't make stupid decisions and must limit the bad passes. Now, a quarterback is not the only person can turnover the ball, the running back can too. Delone Carter and fellow running backs need to hang on to the ball. They have fumbled at least once in the last 4 weeks. With a bad offense in Jacksonville, the Colts need to take advantage of all the possesions they can have, and that means not turning the ball over.

On offense, Curtis Painter needs to be accurate and make smart throws. He needs to get good positive yards on first down, so that 2nd and 3rd downs are easier. Dallas Clark is out, but Jacob Tamme is the perfect replacement, as he was the best tight end (in the NFL) in the 2nd half of the season last year. He has the weapons, but the question is, will he hook up with them. He has to to win. The running back, whether it be Delone Carter, Joseph Addai or Donald Brown need to run hard. If Painter has an off-game, the running game will need to bail him out. That means making key first down runs on 3rd down, getting good yards on 1st down, and catching the ball if needed too. Donald Brown dropped some passes last week, and it hurt us. The protection is not that much of a worry, but Matt Roth is pretty good so stopping him should be the main priority.

On defense, they need to shut down MJD (Maurice Jones-Drew). If they shut him down, I'm nearly 100% sure the Colts can shut down their offense. The Colts may have a bad pass defense, but the Jaguars do not attempt the long bomb that often (2 or 3 times a game on average) and they do not have any threats at receiver, as Mike Thomas is their best receiver. If MJD gets over 4.5 yards a carry, this game is hopeless. Pat Angerer needs to come through, and the Antoine Bethea needs to be there before MJD gets a huge run off. Blaine Gabbert, their quarterback, is a rookie and has not played well against pressure. With that being said, Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney need to wake up from their nap. They have not gotten a sack since Week 5. They showed signs of life last week, but they need to wake up this week, and with an ailing Jags line, here's their shot! So, shut down MJD and pressure Blaine Gabbert to halt their offense. no comments

Before I get to the big announcement, let me remind you all to tune into 93.1 WIBC at 3:45 today to hear my interview with Jersey Johnny.

On Wednesday, I announced a contest to 'name' this Colts season in case I ever update Blue Blood.

First prize this week is a Indianapolis Colts wall banner!

CVS Flags has a great selection of flags and accessories out right now. I got one in the mail yesterday, and I have to tell that it's gorgeous. It's high quality and subtitle for indoor or outdoor use. I'm super stoked about it. The winner of this contest is getting a great prize this week!

Before I get to the winner, here are some of my favorites:

nkmanahan  "Thank God we didn't sign Haynesworth and Ochocinco"

kc662  A play on Lebron's "Witness"  I see a picture of Jim Caldwell with his hands in the air, not in celebration, but in frustration, with a shredded up playbook replacing the powder, and just one word... "Witless".  (ouch man, a little harsh...but I laughed). He also had "Cluster-Luck" and "The seasons that shall not be named".

jado825 To steal one of Nate's Favorite sayings: "Regression to the Mean"

serutan "The Mayans Were A Year Off."

Blue North "Winter Dance Party 2011" (This one is my second favorite. Very sneaky and funny. Google Winter Dance Party or American Pie (the song) if you are too young to get this).

MrNFL "Oh no, we suck again!"

mattshedd Toxic Shock

There were more than 100 total comments, and most had multiple entries. So, when I say that that this one is the best, it's both a serious accomplishment, but also a matter of taste.

THE WINNER IS:

theinfelix

Watching Paint' Try

For book purposes, I would probably change it to: Caught Watching the Paint' Try.

It's an outstanding job.

Theinfelix, send me an email to claim your prize!

The Colts now have a one game lead over the Rams and Dolphins in the race for the #1 overall pick.

The first tie-breaker is strength of schedule, and the Colts have seen their once comfortable lead shrink.

Total 16 Game Strength of Schedule:

Indy: 71-61 .538

Miami: 71-60 .542

Saint Louis: 73-56 .566

Here's who to root for this weekend.

Easy Calls:

Redskins at Dolphins

Rams at Browns

Obviously, another win for the 'Phins and Rams would go a long way to helping Indy.

Bills at Cowboys

Titans at Panthers

Texans at Bucs

Root against the AFC South, and for the AFC East and NFC West

Broncos at Chiefs

Colts played the Chiefs, but not the Broncos.

Ravens at Seahawks

Vikings at Packers

Patriots at Jets

Indy plays NE, but not NY.

Tough Calls:

Cardinals at Eagles

This depends on who you fear more. A win by Arizona hurts the Rams but helps the Dolphins AND removes another 2 win team. Pull for the Cards.

Giants at 49ers

A Giants win hurts Miami. A 49ers win hurts Saint Louis, but they play the Giants too. Root for the Giants as it doesn't help Saint Louis much and does hurt Miami.

I'll be on 1260 WNDE with Derek Schultz and Jake Query today at 5 PM.

We'll be talking about Invincible, Indiana .

I'll also be talking about the book release party and signing at the Colts Grille, Monday at 6 PM. 

Tune in!