Hey Colts fans, it's not the end of the world

This was not your decision to make.

Last week, I blogged regarding the Indianapolis Colts and their "pursuit" of perfection.

Heading into Sunday's game at home against the New York Jets, the Colts were 14-0, with only two games remaining in the regular season and a very good chance of finishing the season unblemished.

All season long, first-year coach Jim Caldwell has reminded media and fans that the ultimate goal was not to finish undefeated, but to have a chance to win the Super Bowl.

I have never been a Colts fan. But as a former sports writer, it would have been really cool to witness history.

Chasing history can be a daunting task. It is difficult.

Ask the New England Patriots. Only a couple of years ago, they chased history, only to lose in the Super Bowl. At the time, most everyone on the planet believed the Patriots couldn't lose.

But they did.

Heading into Sunday's game, most believed the same of the Colts.

But that's what makes the NFL fantastic.

On any given day, any team can win. That's the beauty of the game. The competition.

Consider this: Since 1960, there have only been four winless teams in any NFL season.

In 1960, the Dallas Cowboys went 0-11-1. In 1976, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 0-14. In 1982, the Baltimore Colts were 0-8-1 (strike shortened season). And in 2008, the Detroit Lions went 0-16.

In those 49 years, only one team has finished a season undefeated. The 1972 Miami Dolphins.

That Dolphins team has become the benchmark for perfection.

The Patriots chased history and did not succeed. Now, the Colts have chased history and also missed the mark.

But to Caldwell and the Colts' organization as a whole, an undefeated season clearly isn't the ultimate goal.

But, on Sunday, some fans reared their ugly head and proved why the word fan is short for fanatic.

When Caldwell made the decision to pull Peyton Manning from the game in the third quarter Sunday, the Colts had a 15-10 lead.

Caldwell went to backup quarterback and Vincennes native Curtis Painter.

And the "fans" booed.

What is wrong with all of you?

Again, I have never been a Colts fan, but I will root for them if my favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings, bow out of the postseason.

I have been a Vikings fan through thick and thin. I remember when long-time Vikings coach Bud Grant retired in 1983 and was replaced by Les Steckel. The Vikings finished 3-13.

But I rooted for my team.

I didn't boo them.

Last year, I was sitting at home watching the Vikings play the Colts in Minnesota. As the game progressed, fans in Minnesota began booing then-starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson.

My fiancee looked at me in disbelief. Fans don't boo their own team, right?

But they did. And I was not pleased.

As a fan of anything, you stand with your team, whether they are losing or winning. Don't boo them.

Which makes the "fans'" transgressions Sunday all the more interesting. I was told just a year ago that Colts' fans would never boo their own team.

Yet they did.

As a fan, you are simply that. A fan. You are not part of the team. You are a fan and should stick with that team no matter what is happening.

Don't boo. It just seems silly.

Be a fan, not a fanatic.