Colts relish Super Bowl celebration as they try to focus on work

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Tony Dungy couldn't sleep. Team president Bill Polian met with Indiana's governor. Colts owner Jim Irsay simply had a mid-morning meal with an unusual dining partner _ the AFC

Tuesday, January 23rd 2007, 6:40 am

By: News On 6

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Tony Dungy couldn't sleep. Team president Bill Polian met with Indiana's governor. Colts owner Jim Irsay simply had a mid-morning meal with an unusual dining partner _ the AFC championship trophy.

Yes, Monday was a day to revel in Indianapolis.

The town that has hosted everything from Final Fours to national gymnastics championships finally earned its own banner by claiming the first AFC championship in the Indy era.

``I hung around the stadium for a long time just to soak up the atmosphere,'' Dungy said. ``Then we went out to eat and they kept the place open late for us. I think we left there about 4 o'clock in the morning.''

Late hours for a coach who encourages players to go home early so they stay out of trouble, and then he couldn't even sleep because of the surging adrenaline.

Then again, who could blame Dungy?

Now in his 26th season as an NFL coach, the last 11 as one of the league's most successful head coaches in Tampa Bay and Indianapolis, Dungy is going to his first Super Bowl since the 1978 season when he won a ring while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Somehow, Dungy intends to treat this as a business-as-usual week when players return to practice Wednesday.

``We're using this week as a normal week, to put in our game plan and those types of things,'' he said, grinning. ``What we have do next week is handle the sideshow that goes on with the Super Bowl. I've not been there since '78 and it's a lot more of a sideshow now than it was then.''

Outside the locker room, the environment is anything but typical.

The team's receptionist answered the phones Monday with a new greeting: ``Hello, AFC champion Indianapolis Colts.''

And the outer decor of the complex got a facelift, too. Team officials placed two giant inflatable Colts players at the driveway entrance, one of which had a Super Bowl logo. There was also an inflatable arch across the front doors that read ``Colts city.''

For a state that treats basketball like a religion, football has taken the city by storm. Last week, downtown buildings were lit up in the shape of the Colts horseshoe and even the Indiana Hoosiers' first appearance in the Top 25 this season was overshadowed by the continuing celebration.

Though Sunday's 38-34 victory over New England cost Colts officials and fans created many sleepless hours, nobody was complaining.

``I haven't slept but that's OK, we can rest in two weeks,'' Polian said on his weekly radio show. ``That's why we do these things, starting with the offseason programs to the organized team activities and the minicamps, training camp and everything we do to get to the pinnacle. We can rest later.''

Irsay, whose father was vilified for moving the Colts to Indianapolis in 1984, celebrated the elusive conference title victory his own way. He hugged players in the locker room, spoke directly to the fans at the trophy presentation and then spent Monday chatting with old friends.

The man who replaced his late father, Robert, as team owner in 1997, called this the sweetest day-after party he could ever remember.

``I was exhausted last night, but I got my second wind about 2:30 a.m., went home, ate a little something with the trophy and put the trophy beside my bed,'' Irsay said.

The toughest task belongs to Dungy, who now must find a way to ratchet down the festive atmosphere and get coaches and players to start working on the Chicago Bears.

It won't be easy amid the honking horns and screaming fans, the radio shows and precious television news minutes devoted to travel, party plans and the constant debate about how this Colts team will be remembered _ win or lose in Miami.

But for one day, Dungy simply wanted to savor the feeling.

``This has been one of the most fun days of my life,'' Dungy said on Polian's radio show.

Irsay couldn't agree more.

After decades of futile seasons, close calls and the rollercoaster emotional ride, all Irsay wanted to do was soak up the aura and prepare for his first Super Bowl trip as team owner.

``The trophy we want is the one waiting in Miami, the Lombardi Trophy,'' Irsay said. ``But this one was the ticket we needed to get there.''