Last modified: Sunday, January 21, 2007 12:05 AM EST Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning gets a tap on the helmet after losing to the Patriots in 2004. (Staff photo by KEITH NORDSTROM) FARINELLA: Easy to pull for Manning, just not today BY MARK FARINELLA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Well, here we are again. Championship-level football. Strange it is that in the five times I've reached this point along with the New England Patriots, on each occasion there's been a lot of football left in the season afterward. Yes, even in the "bad old days" of Billy Sullivan, the Patriots made the most of their opportunity once they got to the AFC Championship Game. Squishing the Fish had to suffice in 1985, but at least it was a start. I'd like to think they'll be playing a lot more this year, too. But there will be 53 guys wearing their home uniforms today that are going to do their level best to stop them in their tracks. At the forefront of that stalwart group of men known as the Indianapolis Colts is a fellow whom you know almost as well, if not better, than your own Tom Brady. Peyton Manning is a heck of a quarterback, destined for sure for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He's almost as accomplished as a commercial spokesman. A day doesn't pass when you turn on your TV and you don't see Manning selling the merits of MasterCard, satellite television or something from the NFL's own treasure trove of collectible goodies. And he's good at it. By comparison, Brady's experience in the commercial world has been less than pleasant. He sued Cadillac and Yahoo! respectively for using his likeness beyond the length of a contract and for using it without permission. About all that Brady does in the supplemental income department are magazine ads for Movado watches in which he can sit there and look the part of a Gentleman's Quarterly model, which doesn't take too much effort from him. OK, we all know that Brady leads in the Super Bowl Ring race, 3-0. And yes, he hosted Saturday Night Live, and had the courage to lend his voice and likeness (including animated rear-view nudity) to an episode of "Family Guy." Haven't seen that from Manning yet, nor am I sure I want to. But let's face it. People like Peyton Manning. He comes off as friendly and accessible in his commercials, and people who know him say that it's not too far from the truth. As a result, it's difficult to paint Manning as the leader of an evil force that wants to cause harm and suffering to your beloved Patriots. I just can't do it. I enjoy watching Manning play, I like listening to his answers in press conferences, I get a giggle or two out of his commercials, and I wish more people in the NFL would take a lesson from him and lighten up a little when they're not trying to beat each other's brains in. It's almost a shame that Manning, for all of his statistics and passing records, has had such trouble succeeding on the playoff stage. He has another opportunity tonight to take the Colts to the Promised Land (if you can call Miami that), but as usual, the road goes through a Bill Belichick-authored defense. There's a very good chance that, despite having won the last two regular-season games against the Patriots in convincing fashion, Manning will see something tonight at the RCA Dome that he's either never seen before, or can't figure out, and he'll end up watching yet another Super Bowl on TV - complete with several of his own commercials, no doubt. The sad thing is that Manning is heading down the path of becoming the next Dan Marino - incredible stats, no championships. Marino went to one Super Bowl as a mere pup and didn't win it. Manning's in Year Nine of his career, hasn't been yet, and as he admitted Friday in Indianapolis, "Yeah, I hear the clock ticking." Along the way to his enshrinement in Canton, Ohio, Marino became one of the more disagreeable human beings in football, always calling out his teammates and passing the blame for his failings on to others. He had a right to be bitter - the Dolphins' front office never built a complete championship-capable team around him - but I cringe when I see the "new," gregarious Marino on HBO or in NutraSystem commercials because I and anyone else who covered football during his career know it's an act. Sadly, Peyton Manning is more likely to be heading down the Ernie Banks path - the good guy who never got to the Big One. Across the nation, football fans are probably pulling for Manning to get the job done today, and then to go on to play the team his father quarterbacked, the New Orleans Saints, in Super Bowl XLI. There is no shortage of feel-good storylines there. Instead, people are probably going to have to put up with another two weeks of the "boring" Patriots. They've been there before, they know how to win, and that's more important than anyone on either side of the line of scrimmage will admit. The clock is ticking on the Patriots, too. There are a lot of aging players on the roster at key positions, and at some point, the natural attrition of age, free agency and so on is going to set them just far enough back on their heels that they won't be able to recover. At that time, I wouldn't mind seeing Peyton Manning get his ring. Tony Dungy, too. There isn't a classier head coach in the NFL, and he deserves a reward. Just not tonight, that's all. MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com