A little perspective....

Yeah, I'm bummed Da Bears lost. Grossman was way responsible for the flubs, having a much poorer handle on the rainy turf than Manning. And the Colts are much better at protecting their quarterback on the rush. However, Grrrlacher tried his best on defense.

However all is moot after reading columns like this one and this one about openly gay high-school quarterback Anthony Castro, who died in a car accident in January. His story is really memorable. Able to step to the plate from fullback to quarterback while dealing with harrassment and being kicked out by his mother, this is a profile in courage.

"I was too scared to come out when I was in high school," says Mariscal, who was driving the truck in the accident. "There were no gay people when I was there, and it is very tough to be openly gay outside of school because we live in such a small town. But if there's one thing that Anthony taught me, it's to stop being afraid.

"I loved him very much. He changed my life, and I'll never be the same without him."

Neither will Banning High.

Takacs said that there are now 10 openly gay students at the school that he is aware of and that the community is a lot more tolerant.

"Anthony changed a lot of people's attitudes about gay people by simply having the strength to follow his heart," Takacs said.

May he always be remembered.

(hat tip to the venerable JoeMyGod for putting me on to this)