We have endured another Super Bowl Hype fortnight. True to form, the biggest stories so far have been journeys into the respective pasts of the head coaches of the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts. They are, in case you missed it, the first two African Americans … some interviewees use the term Black American … to coach in the Super Bowl.

We have been taken to Tony Dungy's hometown in relatively nearby Jackson, MI and Lovie Smith's hometown in remote Big Sandy, TX. We have learned that both men are kind, hardworking types with difficult childhoods who are respected by their relatives and old friends.

We now know how Smith got his first name.

That's fine. Actually, the backgrounds of the two coaches really are more significant in Super Bowl XLI than they have been in the previous XL. Hopefully, the next time an African/Black American coach, or an Hispanic/Brown American coach or a female coach reaches the Super Bowl, the "hometown values" stories will be kept in perspective.

Speaking of perspective, we couldn't help but begin to find a bit odd the outpouring of grief over a dead horse this past week. But, I suppose that, for those directly involved in working to save the horse's life, the project became a cause celebre, or, at least a raison d'etre.

Barbaro, who won the 2006 Kentucky Derby last spring, seemed to be a legitimate candidate for a Triple Crown but broke down at the start of the second race of the series, The Preakness Stakes.

Normally, a horse that suffers such a catastrophe is immediately euthanized. But heroic attempts were made to find a way to allow Barbaro to heal. In the end, though, complications developed that simply made it plain that the horse's survival without constant pain was not possible.

Humans, having traditional domain over the animals, finally determined that the animal faced a future of only suffering and decided to end it.

It's understandable to any of us who have had to put down a pet.

Anyone who follows NASCAR may be starting to wonder this season if the racing supergroup has gone a little too far in spreading its product to all of American society.

The latest stories about the strife between Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his stepmother, Theresa Earnhardt, are starting to sound less like sports and more like a soap opera.

It would be too easy to call it, "As the Wheel Turns."