Blasts from past at Super Bowl, plus Earl Thomas challenges Manning

Got mired in a traffic jam in New York while hearing that Fred Smoot is trying to organized a Love Boat party and the Twins have signed Matt Guerrier.

In other news from the mid-2000s: Don't worry, Kevin McHale just assured me that the Timberwolves would never consider trading Kevin Garnett.

Even with a police escort, traffic in Manhattan is terrible. Not a complaint. I love New York. Just a fact.

What is surprising is how nice Jersey City is. We were in the refurbished Newport area, and it sparkles.

Anyway, after talking to a bunch of Seahawks with Minnesota connections, I dropped in to talk with Seahawks star safety Earl Thomas.

He was not shy. ``This matchup is everything that I want."

Meaning?

Then he paused, and said, deadpan, ``Omaha," a reference to Manning's most-used signal at the line of scrimmage.

This is classic NFL behavior: A player working himself into a lather for no particular reason. There's no reason to hate Manning. There's no reason to dismiss his accomplishments. So Thomas is making himself believe that Manning is getting too much credit or attention.

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I'll be on 1500ESPN all week from New York, and will be doing Sunday Sports Talk, 10-noon on Sunday, from here as well. Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.