See, I Was Mostly Kidding About That SI Cover Jinx Thing

But maybe I should have thought about it a bit more closely. See, I don't really believe in curses. I think they're silly. Unless you happen to referring to the Chicago Cubs. But given that Sports Illustrated's cover jinx strikes as frequently as it does, a statistically significant percentage of the time, perhaps I should be thinking differently. I had often assumed there were inherent biases in the original study, such as the fact that teams featured on the cover are often more likely than not to be playing a major elimination game immediately afterward which they only hold a 50/50 shot at winning anyway. And when all else fails, I would always rely on the fact that after knocking off Green Bay in a thrilling 2007 NFC Championship Game at bitter Lambeau Field, Eli Manning was thrust onto the cover inviting certain doom.

But we all know what happened then.

So of course, the Giants' Super Bowl XLII victory was irrefutable proof that the cover jinx was just a silly joke to bring up from time to time and not something to fear perpetually. But this year may have changed my tune. After seeing both the Jets and Bears turn in performances that left them shy of reaching the big game, I started to wonder if this year's covers, and last year's covers, might be indicative of a trend. And sure enough, if you really want to search back through the seasons there are even more examples of the eventual Championship Sunday losers getting tossed on their hides one game short of the Super Bowl.

After years of only bringing up the SI Cover Curse for purposes of mock humor, perhaps it's finally time to start taking it seriously, or at least to campaign for the Giants, Mets, Devils, Knicks or Northwestern to never ever appear on the cover again unless it is immediately following a championship victory. Fortunately, I know I'll never have to worry about that happening with Southampton FC (who happens to be facing off with Manchester United in the FA Cup this weekend) or the Geelong Cats. Probably not the Devils or Northwestern either, who have all of three cover appearances between them.

That said, with the cover now laying both individuals, teams and even whole leagues in its wake, it could finally be time to give it real credence.

Unless, of course, you're rational.

I never claimed to be that, but there are probably several decent reasons as to why the Bears and Jets lost this past weekend beyond some slips of paper. After all, the Bears were never quite as good as their record this season while the Packers, who finished a respectable 10-6, were generally thought to be not nearly as bad as theirs. It didn't take a football savant to realize that Green Bay was playing better than, well, anyone in the League heading into the NFC Championship Game, and the fact that this season the Pack were simply better than the Bears is likely what accounted for their victory Sunday.

One could just as easily have made the same arguments for the Steelers topping the Jets right afterward, but that game is a horse of a different color. For one, the teams were far more evenly matched. For another, the Jets, who cordially spotted Pittsburgh a 24-0 lead in the first half, very nearly capped a comeback for the ages and only failed to do so by shooting themselves in the foot. That is not to say the Steelers didn't play well enough to win the game -- clearly they did -- but New York, which displayed frightful ineptitude for the first 29 minutes or so played an absolutely dominant second half on both sides of the ball.

However, this game wound up resting on a very delicate precipice in the middle of the fourth quarter which saw New York make two very crucial errors. The Jets were at the tail end of what had the makings of being an absolutely legendary postseason drive. After pulling it to within 24-10, New York embarked on a massive 80-yard, 17-play drive that brought them down to the Pittsburgh goal line with four chances to punch it in and make it a one-score game with plenty of time remaining. I am of the opinion that had New York scored here and had seven minutes to work with against a Pittsburgh offense that had shown no ability to move the ball in the second half on a revitalized Jets defense and a Pittsburgh defense that had been unable to slow anything down over the previous quarter an a half, that the Jets would be in Super Bowl XLV.

But there were two crucial mistakes. One can be shouldered squarely by Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who instead of simply ramming the ball in four times -- you're bound to get one whole yard if you just keep pushing -- decided to get too cute. Now Schottenheimer can't simply be blamed without being praised. Had it not been for a gutsy deep throw on one of the Jets' early possessions in the second half, New York wouldn't have been in a position to swing the momentum so dramatically. But by calling complex, long-developing plays near the goal line instead of just ramming his running backs at the box, Schottenheimer dropped the ball.

However, the biggest mistake may have been on third down, when Schottenheimer called a quick inside slant that was immediately knocked down and nearly intercepted by Lamarr Woodley. Why that play was called to begin with I won't quite understand, but this truly is an error by quarterback Mark Sanchez, who needs to recognize that Woodley is in the likely path of the pass he needs to throw and immediately audible out of that play -- something he failed to do. The Jets not scoring here caused a fatal turning point, if for no other reason than that they were unable to get the ball back after finally making it a one-score game because there simply wasn't enough time on the clock. And that was the end of New York's second straight postseason heartbreak. Somehow, this wound up being just the second-most offensive thing to happen to New Yorkers this weekend.

That said -- and what I'm about to say is entirely facetious because of course the Jets would rather have won the game -- perhaps it's better that the Jets wound up not winning because the NFL made the absolutely bizarre decision this year to take the George S. Halas Trophy given to the NFC Champion and the Lamar Hunt Trophy, given to the AFC Champion, and turn what were two of the classiest, stateliest trophies in sports and turn them into a bizarre minimalist art exhibit.

Really. It begs the question of, uh, why was this at all necessary?

Fortunately for us, we've got the always reliable Uniwatch to break down the specific changes for us, and less importantly, how he feels about them. Still, this just wreaks of rebranding run amok. Not only was the change unnecessary and were the old trophies, at least in my opinion, incredibly stately, but the new ones kind of look chintzy, cheap and, well lame. Just take one look at how the dinky miniature of Jodie Foster's space travel machine in Contact looks in Steelers owner Art Rooney's hand and compare it with the expressions on Santanio Holmes and Mike Tomlin's faces from two years ago when the won the AFC and were rewarded with a trophy that had some heft to it. It's nearly impossible to hold the damn thing without looking like you're afraid of breaking it. I'm highly skeptical that they would, but here's hoping the NFL realizes the error of its ways.

If not, well, that'll just be par for the course. There are bigger concerns like, say, having to move home games because of a U2 concert. Who knows how the Marlins would respond to, you know, having people in the stands. Could be awkward.

In any event, what's done is done. Now we just have that eternal two-week wait for Super Bowl XLV to kick off between the Steelers and Packers before that even longer winter of our discontent -- which actually happens in summer -- until the next football season. I'll have a whole preview written for next week -- or at least a prediction. I'm not going to explicitly say who I'm picking now, but let's just say there are some outside forces that could give you some idea of where I'm going.

Those Bastards At Sports Illustrated Have Done It Again

Well, I'm sorry, Jets fans. Just when you thought your team was cresting at the right time and finally going to break through in their third AFC Championship Game appearance in the last 13 years, Sports Illustrated, for the second straight year, decided to take a big ol' cutlass and slice your dreams to pieces. How'd they pull that off, you say? Well, my worries regarding the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx are well documented in multiple posts on this here blog, and like any smart, rational person, I immediately assume that must be the reason things have not gone according to plan. If any of you remember, last year's Divisional playoffs spawned two regional covers, which featured both the Jets and the Vikings. In the case of Minnesota, the cover even proclaimed "Favre on Fire" just days before his foolish across the body pass would be intercepted by Terry Porter when the Vikes were driving for a game-winning field goal against New Orleans.

While the Jets also lost, one could easily argue that this was due not just to the editorial decisions in the Time Inc. offices, but also because they tried as hard as possible to jinx themselves. But that doesn't leave much of an excuse for what happened this time around. After publishing regional covers last year that resulted in both cover teams losing their respective conference championship games, you'd think the brilliant minds at SI would remember that unless we're entering a bizarre period of gonzo journalism, they're supposed to stay out of the way and leave the outcome unaffected by their presence.

Well they didn't learn their goddamn lesson.

Much as America must love seeing Tom Brady look like a five-year-old who just saw his prized blankey and teddy bear make like Steve Buscemi in Fargo, and as awesome a photograph as that picture of Jay Cutler approaching the line in snowy Chicago is, something about this just seems plain wrong -- as if Sports Illustrated, knowing its curse-wreaking power, has consciously selected whom it wants to play in Super Bowl XLV. It just ain't right, or at least it won't be if the anticipated effect takes place.

Granted, with four classic franchises like Green Bay, Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh making up the Final Four, we're pretty much guaranteed a great, traditional matchup no matter what happens. And more over, with Green Bay title-less for 14 years now, Chicago in the midst of a 25-year drought and the Jets now a stunning 42 years removed from their last Super Bowl appearance, we've got a 75% chance of seeing a Champion we haven't seen an a long while. All of these things bode well for an end to the season that will seem both classic and refreshing all at once.

But given Sports Illustrated's dirty tricks, we're pretty much guaranteed a Packers-Steelers matchup in Super Bowl XLV, right?


NOT SO FAST.

Yes, the Sports Illustrated curse may be accurate roughly a third of the time, but there is another powerful sports trend that in the last half decade has had a startling 100% accuracy rate, and like the answers to most things, this lies, draped in purple, on the shores of Lake Michigan at Northwestern University. The city of Chicago will be having a particularly big sports day this Sunday, as the Blackhawks will host the Flyers in a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Final before the major event of the day when the Bears and Packers face off in the postseason for the first time in seven decades and then, of course, Northwestern's men's hoops game against Wisconsin -- a double dip of Chicago-Wisconsin blood feuding. But Chicago's greatest influence in sports may come from its Big Ten team, which has recently provided us with the anticurse of professional football: The Power of Willie.

The Power of Willie

Unbeknownst to most of you, Northwestern has a decent number of players in the NFL, but the quantity is hardly remarkable. What is remarkable, however, is that the last five teams to win the Super Bowl have all had a Northwestern grad on their roster. To wit:

Super Bowl XL: Trai Essex, Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl XLI: Matt Ulrich, Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl XLII: Barry Coefield, New York Giants
Super Bowl XLIII: Trai Essex, Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl XLIV: Zach Strief, New Orleans Saints

So, obviously, you're thinking, "Gee Dave, since this is clearly an irrefutable rule, who still stands a chance this season?" Well, I'll tell you. Just about everyone. Except for one awfully big green and gold outlier.

Pittsburgh
Trai Essex

New York
Marquice Cole

Chicago
Nick Roach
Corey Wootton

Green Bay
None

So there you have it. The Green Bay Packers, who just might look the best of any of the remaining four teams right now, have virtually no shot to take home their fourth Lombardi Trophy this season. Willie has decreed it.

But don't worry, Packer Backers. While this means you won't win the Super Bowl, it doesn't mean you won't win this week. And frankly, I think you will. So let's get to these picks here.

NFC Championship
(6) Green Bay over (2) Chicago
Yes, the Bears are certainly playing much better right now than I would have anticipated, and of course they are the home team in what will certainly be frigid weather and crummy footing, but frankly, I have a hard time imagining anything cooling down Aaron Rodgers right now. Much as I'd like to see the chance of two Wildcats taking home hardware, I just can't see the Packers, at the level they're currently playing at, not pulling this out either by blowout or nailbiter. But then again, I've been wrong before.

AFC Championship
(6) NY Jets over (2) Pittsburgh
What? Again? I'm taking the Jets again? Well, yeah, I am. I think. I have no real rational reason to believe the Jets are going to beat the Steelers this weekend -- frankly, I'm pretty certain Pittsburgh is the better team -- but there just looks to be something about this team and how it's playing now that makes me think they're going to accomplish some bigger things, particularly with last year's conference title game experience in their memory bank. Besides, I'm still flying high after correctly calling their upset last week, even if some people are too petty to let it go. Why not see the ride continue?

So yes, I know this seems unusual, after all, pitting two six seeds against each other in a Super Bowl is an odd choice considering only one six seed has ever appeared in the NFL's title game, but this doesn't seem like your typical playoff tournament, and these don't seem like your typical six seeds. I feel like I'm on pretty steady ground. And given the Power of Willie and perhaps some additional inspiration, does this mean I think when all is said and done on February 6th that the Jets will have won the Super Bowl?

Well, yes it does. But don't get too excited just yet, Jets nation. I have been wrong before. But hey, my picks are 6-2 so far this postseason. Let's just say I like my chances.

Why, Yes, I Will Make A Point About Picking The Jets Rather Obnoxiously

Some of you, that is to say my close friends I was watching the first round of the playoffs with, gave me a rather hard time for insisting the Seahawks would get absolutely pasted by the Saints in the first round nine days ago. My reasoning for making this bold, bold proclamation was because Seattle, based on some rather compelling empirical evidence, were terrible this year. Well, as some of you saw I ate my fair share of craw last weekend, when the Seahawks somehow toppled New Orleans, but I suppose I got a measure of vindication yesterday afternoon when Seattle revealed its true High School caliber selves after a loss to the Bears that was about 50 times worse than the score would indicate. My true vindication came about three hours later, however, when those pesky, bizarrely arrogant Jets pulled off an upset win over the dominant New England Patriots that just about no one expected.

Well, except me. Duh.

That's right, while most people had the Patriots not just advancing to this coming Sunday's AFC Championship Game, but to win the whole shabang, I stood strong, and boldly, confidently and fearlessly picked the Jets to topple their division rivals and make a second consecutive AFC Championship Game appearance. If "So yeah, let's go with the Jets, I guess. Why not?" doesn't sound like steadfast belief to you, I'm not sure what does.

Now, I have made it more than abundantly clear that I'm a Giants fan, first and foremost, but the Jets are a peculiar case for me. I wouldn't say I'm a Jets fan, obviously, but the Giants and Jets play once every four years, making a rivalry somewhat hard to maintain. Really, I have no actual distaste for the Gang Green. Frankly, I actually like to see them win and find myself rooting for them more often than not. Granted, if they lose next Sunday it won't kill me, whereas if the Giants were to make the NFC Championship Game and lose I'd be utterly devastated, but it's still nice to see the Jets succeed, which really may have accounted why I picked them as opposed to football acumen or reason. And if they should actually reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 42 years, well, it'll basically seem like one of those wild events that you just never thought you'd live to see.

I suppose my only hope at this point is that the Jets have learned from last year. In his postgame press conference, head coach Rex Ryan said the only difference between this year's AFC Championship Game and last year's is that they plan to win this time. I find that kind of statement a little odd considering they clearly planned on winning last year, too.

You have to give Rex Ryan a little bit of a breather for being unable to think clearly though. Anyone who saw his press conference could notice that his eyes were bloodshot and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he might have teared up during his speech in the locker room. This was obviously an emotional win for the Jets, who, you get the impression, actually believe it's them against the world. To them, unlike with most teams, this isn't bullshit. They really wanted to come out and prove they were better than New England's comic foil. The Jets were no Falstaff. They're the team to beat. At least in their minds. Anyone who doubts they feel that way should take a look at Bart Scott's on-field interview after the game, which left me convinced Scott would have killed a baby at that moment if it was wearing a Patriots jersey.



Of course, while it was clearly the play of the Jets, both on defense and on offense when necessary, that carried the day, I think what we saw was another case of Bill Belichick's arrogance getting the best of him. I do want to make this much clear. I am not going to criticize Belichick as a coach as far as his greatness and legacy are concerned. Winning three Super Bowls ain't easy, let alone winning three in four years. Belichick's place in NFL history as one of the game's great, innovative coaches in clear. But he does, on occasion, have a tendency to let his own high opinion of himself get in the way.

For no better example of why, simply take a look at the early fourth quarter when New England had an opportunity to hit a 52-yard field goal to tie the game, which, while never a given in this weather, is well within the range of most NFL kickers. Instead, the Pats opted to go for it on 4th and 13, and predictably the drive stalled there. Moments like that one have, on more than one occasion, been Belichick's undoing.

The one that comes most notably to mind, at least to me, was in the waning seconds of Super Bowl XLII, when the Patriots, with some 80 yards to go and a three-point deficit, simply threw deep fade routes four straight times, all of them falling incomplete, in hopes of making a quick strike to win the game with a long, low-percentage touchdown pass. What was so bizarre to me about that particular incident was that, with 29 seconds left and a full assortment of time outs, it would have been perfectly feasible for New England to drive for a game-tying field goal and take its chances in overtime. Not that I minded.

Indeed there were many similarities between this game and that one, with one obvious example being the difficulty with which Tom Brady was unable to handle New York's pass rush. Brady was knocked around and sacked five times by a relentless Jets front four. Even on the plays when the Patriots' offensive line was able to hold the fort, New York's secondary -- and Ryan's decision to drop his linebackers into coverage rather than blitz the pocket -- kept New England's receivers covered and left few openings. This defense not only put Brady on the ground, but also led to him throwing an interception on the first drive, his first in an utterly mind-boggling 340 pass attempts.

Of course, some of this also reminded me of my Giants and their frustratingly difficult loss to the Eagles in the 2008 Divisional round. Both the Giants and Patriots were top seeds, both had defeated all four of the teams that reached the conference title games during the season, and both were felled by a division rival with whom they had split the season series. On an afternoon where things just simply didn't click for those Giants or these Patriots, they made the case of a great team that chose a bad day to have a bad day.

But there are only so many explanations you can make in an attempt to soften the blow. In the end, what's happened has happened and if you're  Jets fan little can dull the excitement and if you're a Pats fan, not even today's totally awesome Sharks-Coyotes Preview can help. But that's life. as a relatively removed observer, I just can't help but be excited about what looks like a tremendous Conference Title Weekend. While the Jets and Steelers should be a great matchup, something about the Packers and Bears facing off with everything on the line and those classic uniforms on the field makes me giddy.

This week has barely started, but I'm ready for it to be over. I wish it were Sunday.

So I Guess I Was Wrong Again

I neglected to mention on Wednesday that January 12 was my first Blogversary for this all-too-heavily trafficked site. It's ok if you forgot to buy me a present. I can't blame you for perhaps getting distracted by what was, perhaps, one of my more depressing entries, but the good news is that since today happens to be my half-birthday -- at 25 1/2 I'm pretty ancient now -- you still have the time to buy me a present. It's the least you can do after all the trouble I've gone to to bore all of you for the past 12 months.

One might say I already got a present yesterday when Cam Newton announced he was entering the NFL Draft (what, he didn't think he'd be eligible at Auburn next year?), but if none of you can find it in your hearts to be so generous, however, I'll manage to be ok because I got a gift of sorts already this week in the form of my tickets to next month's Knicks-76ers game in Philadelphia, a venture that will knock Team No. 38 off the list and get me one step closer to that ultimate goal of way too many stadiums than the average person should see -- though considering the Sixers and Flyers both play at the Wells Fargo Center, I guess I've actually seen this arena already.

Regardless, Feb. 4th in Philadelphia should be an exciting day, if for no other reason than the fact that the Knicks, by some remarkable mystery, continue to to be good and this will mark the third city I've seen them in outside of New York. And considering how mediocre the Sixers have been this season, I've managed to snag rather decent seats at a stiff discount from the face value price.

Go me.

Of course, I've had some difficulty actually seeing the new tickets with all of the egg on my face from last Saturday, and if you're wondering what egg I'm talking about you either didn't read my entry on picks last week (extremely likely) or didn't watch the Seahawks stunning upset win over the Saints last weekend (let's be honest, you just didn't read my blog entry). But the long and short of it was, I think the Seahawks are a terrible football team. Still do, actually. And yet they knocked off the defending-champion New Orleans Saints in a first-round playoff upset that is, well, really pretty damn remarkable.

How remarkable?

Well, suffice it to say, and I know Giants fans will consider this blasphemy, trust me, I am one of them after all, but I might go so far as to say this might be the biggest postseason upset of the last decade if not ever. Yes, I know the Giants were up against what was probably the greatest football team I ever saw in Super Bowl XLII, and pulled out a dramatic victory if there ever was one, but let's remember a few things. For one, the Giants were pretty damn good that season. They were 10-6 that season, which most years is at the very least decent enough to get you into the postseason if not a respectable showing. In addition New York had had some dominant performances that season and at one point won six games in a row, which is nearly as many as Seattle won the entire regular season. Lastly, it is hard to ignore that the Giants nearly beat the Patriots in the final week of the regular season.

While the Seahawks were home and the Saints were flying across the country and were battling injuries, there was never an indication that Seattle with its 28th-ranked offense was capable of outscoring one of the top offenses in the League. And that's because, and last Saturday aside, I will stand by this, the Seattle Seahawks are a terrible football team. Seriously. They are terrible.

How terrible are we talking? Well, according the editor of FiveThirtyEight.com and general statistics wiz Nate Silver, the Seahawks are the worst NFL team to ever make the postseason in a non-strike year, and might possibly be the second worst playoff team in the history of professional sports. God bless the 1952-53 Baltimore Bullets. To put an even finer point on it -- possibly the finest point -- one analysis in Silver's article showed these Seahawks would be just three-point favorites over the 2008 Detroit Lions. And if you need any refresher on that team, they were pretty horrendous.

Of course, given all that, I'm sure they're going to whoop the Bears in Chicago this weekend -- they beat them there once already -- just to make me look like a fool again, though if you go back and look, I did, in fact, say the Seahawks would win against New Orleans last week. The details beneath the heading are just fine print. You don't need to read those.

Besides, y'all can give me credit for correctly tabbing the other three games last weekend, including wins by two six-seeds, right? Or at least I can distract you with this excellent representation of Marshawn Lynch's game-sealing touchdown run, which just might be the greatest in NFL postseason history.



In any event, you're not here to read my rambles. You're here to see some picks. Picks that will probably be wrong. Heaven forbid I keep you from that. So here we go.

NFC
(1) Atlanta over (6) Green Bay
Does anyone else think it's almost unfair that these two teams have to face each other while the Bears and Seahawks try not to cross swords in the powder puff bowl? Probably. I really won't be surprised if either team wins this game, but the Falcons and Matty Ice are nearly unbeatable at the Georgia Dome so I'll give them the nod. Either way, I expect whomever takes this one to be representing the NFC in Dallas next month.

(2) Chicago over (4) Seattle
This just has disaster written all over it, doesn't it? I could feel like I'm falling into the trap on this one by relying on the truth that the Seahawks are not good at football. After all, who else could inspire multiple Mario Bros.-themed Youtube mashups? But come on. I'm not stupid. The Bears may be one of the weaker No. 2 seeds we've seen in a while, but they're better than Seattle. Go ahead. Prove me wrong again.

AFC

(6) NY Jets over (1) New England
Yeah, I know, this one is ballsy. But have you seen today's New York Post? Really. Have you seen it? These people have outdone themselves in a way I never thought possible. And if this brilliant piece of, yes, art, doesn't tell you that the force is, in fact, with the Jets, then you either don't have faith in upsets or haven't noticed how amazingly close this back page comes to duplicating all three Star Wars special edition movie posters while taking in elements from nearly each film. Seriously. Somehow this has topped both Hothlanta, and the latest Death Star trench run. Somehow this has actually made me almost forget about Antonio Cromartie's all-too-honest assessment of Tom Brady, or Wes Welker's rather clever press conference from earlier this week. So yeah, let's go with the Jets, I guess. Why not?

(2) Pittsburgh over (5) Baltimore
It's kind of remarkable that with two great teams facing off who also happen to hate each other, no one really seems to have noticed that this game is being played. Sure Sportscenter gives it five or so minutes every hour, but come on. This is probably the best matchup of the weekend and it's almost as if it isn't happening. Well, maybe that's an exagerration, but it is happening, and I really have no idea who'll win, but I'm still bitter at Baltimore for some football game that happened like a decade ago, so... I'll go with the Stillers.

I bet five people at most got through that whole screed. No matter. The fewer of you that know I was wrong on Monday morning the better. Happy football everyone.

The Playoffs Start This Weekend? Who Knew?

Ok, that's a lie. I knew. Still more than a little bummed about the tragic second annual collapse of my Giants, I've done a fair bit of ignoring the passage of time and the football games it will bring tomorrow afternoon, but who am I kidding. I love football. I love the playoffs. I'm not actually going to miss any of it. That would be silly.

Unfortunately, with the Giants out I'm kind of stuck in a malaise with no team to root for or care about -- an unusual place for me considering that at least one of my teams is usually competitive at any given time. But here we are. The Giants' place is obvious. The Devils are in the midst, unexpectedly, of the worst season they've had in my lifetime. Pitchers and catchers don't report for the Mets for five weeks, and I'm not sure that'll even be a good thing. Northwestern just lost its eighth bowl game in a row in heartbreaking fashion. Northwestern Basketball is slowly starting to fritter away a promising season due to an injury to John Shurna and general ineptitude. And the Knicks are, well, the Knicks.

Wait, what's that? The Knicks are suddenly awesome?

Yes, I was shocked, too, but on Tuesday night I decided to go to my first Knicks game in at least two years, and I experienced something unlike anything I had ever seen before in the Garden. That'll happen with a decade that makes mediocrity seem palatable. But here I was, watching the 'Bockers put up 72 first-half points against the League's premiere defensive team of the past decade and seeing MSG rock in a way I had yet to really experience. It was exciting. It was intense. It was fun.

Apparently, this is what Knicks basketball is supposed to be like.

Now, I obviously don't harbor any silly beliefs that New York is destined to hoist its first Larry O'Brien Trophy in almost 40 years this June, but for the first time in a long time, there's hope that it might at some point in the plausible future before I die. And it's fun to watch along the way. I will say that while I expected Donnie Walsh to help turn the Knicks' fortunes around, I didn't expect them to be competitive this quickly, nor did I have any idea what it would seem like. This is a team that has seemed almost a nonentity for a decade. Now they're worth watching and I don't quite know what to do, but I do know that it's a refreshing distraction from the fact that, sports-wise, nothing else really seems to be going right for me these days.

Of course, while the Knicks may give me some joy it is, of course, foolish to think that I will actually not watch the NFL playoffs when they kick off in Seattle tomorrow afternoon. And even more foolish to think  won't try some ridiculous prediction of the postseason's outcome. I will be honest and admit that, no, I don't actually think the Chiefs and Seahawks will be meeting in the Super Bowl like I predicted last week. Nor will it be the Colts-Packers matchup I predicted in my NFL season preview, though I am proud that those two teams are in the mix considering I only got one of the eight teams playing on Wild Card weekend right and only two of my Wild Card weekend teams made the playoffs at all. Ironically, I got the Giants' record exactly right, though I also had them making the playoffs. I also expect I will get some of these games wrong so I will readjust my picks next week. Some of you might find this to be a cop out.

Oh well. Let's make some predictions.

NFC
(4) Seattle over (5) New Orleans - Saturday, 4:30
Haha, just kidding. Caught you confused for a second didn't I? No, don't worry, the undeserving 7-9 Seahawks are going get waxed pretty thoroughly by the Aints tomorrow afternoon, to the point that it's almost not fair. Frankly, regardless of where the game is being played, I'm kind of shocked New Orleans is only an 11-point favorite.

(6) Green Bay over (3) Philadelphia - Sunday, 4:30
I get the feeling Michael Vick is beat up, the Packers' defense is playing well and that Green Bay is about to crest in a big way. Call it a hunch, or maybe wishful thinking, but Green Bay is a lot better than its No. 6 seed, and I think there will be a lot of disappointed people in Philadelphia at the end of this weekend.

AFC
(5) Baltimore over (4) Kansas City - Sunday, 1:00
I actually think the Chiefs are an underrated team with a fairly decent chance of defending their home field, but when you get down to brass tacks, K.C. is young and inexperienced and Baltimore just might be the best Wild Card team we've seen in a long while. Put this team in any division in the League other than the AFC East and its own and they're probably winning it in a walk.

(6) NY Jets over (3) Indianapolis - Saturday, 8:00
One could fall on the trite idea that there's a revenge factor at play and the the Jets are going to take care of business left unsettled since their loss to the Colts in last season's AFC Championship Game, but that seems silly to me. Really it's a case of the Jets playing well and the Colts being so injured that they're a shell of their defending conference champion selves, even with Peyton Manning.

And now for the resultant later round matchups which are sure to change once this week proves me wrong:

NFC
(1) Atlanta over (6) Green Bay
(5) New Orleans over (2) Chicago

NFC Championship
(1) Atlanta over (5) New Orleans

AFC
(6) NY Jets over (1) New England
(2) Pittsburgh over (5) Baltimore

AFC Championship
(6) NY Jets over (2) Pittsburgh

Super Bowl XLV
(1) Atlanta over (6) NY Jets

And there you have it! I guarantee you 100% no frills that the Falcons will defeat the Jets in Super Bowl XLV. No way is that prediction not coming true. NO WAY.

Get your ass to Vegas. You've got money to win.

Lightning Strikes In The Meadowlands

Alright kids, if you can pull yourselves away from that awesome Blackhawks-Predators preview you're reading, I've got two things I'd like to talk to you about. The first one has to deal with that oh so irritating presence of thunder and lightning at the Meadowlands. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the Jets have been on national TV twice this year and both times they had to put off their start times because of weather.

Now, for a sport that prides itself on playing in the elements this has raised some irritation both over the decision not to build a roof at the New Meadowlands Stadium and the concern over lightning. These complaints are silly. Lets point out a few things.

A) Retractable roofs are nice, but watching football outside is nicer. As someone who has seen football under a retractable roof just one month ago in Indianapolis, I can attest to the fact that the feeling of being connected to the elements simply isn't there even with the roof open. Also, weren't those images of the Vikings and Jets playing through a rainstorm totally awesome to see in HD?

B) You may want to go to bed and the fans may have places to go so they can be at work in the morning hours, but you can't play through lightning. Why? Well, it's pretty damn dangerous. No that's not a joke. An entire soccer team was killed by lightning in a match in the Congo 12 years ago.

I think it's ok to delay the kickoff. You'll all be a little tired in the morning, but that's the price you pay for being a fan sometimes.

Elsewhere some of you might have noticed this baseball game last night. I was always aware of the fact that the Texas Rangers were one of only three teams to have never appeared in the World Series, along with Washington/Montreal and Seattle, but until last night I hadn't realized that Texas was the only franchise to never even win a postseason series.

In a 40-year history that has included Nolan Ryan, Rafael Palmiero, Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez, you've got to wonder how on Earth that happened. Particularly since the franchise has been run by such able people for large swaths of its history. Apparently all the team really needed was other-worldly ace Cliff Lee and a delightful curly-haired Jewish boy named Ian Kinsler to finally pull off the task against a Rays team that I had winning the World Series until Sports Illustrated got their messy hands involved.

Not that I'm bitter.

It should be interesting to see if Lee can repeat his magic in the next round against his maybe-future teammates in the ALCS, but considering Texas has been to the postseason three times before this year and lost each time -- to the Yankees -- the fates may be against them. The bigger question is just who am I going to be rooting for for the rest of the postseason. And since I've been looking for ways to ignore the Devils' poor start, I've been spending a lot of my free time pondering just that. Though I should note, the Giants and their No. 1-ranked defense have been helping with that.

Well, I will obviously be rooting for the Giants over the Phillies in the NLCS, with little hesitation. As for the AL, I'm pretty ambivalent about this one after discarding my Yankee hatred for a girlfriend five years ago. Let's say I'm rotting for Texas for variety's sake, though I'm sure the Yankees will find some way to win, since they always do. Everyone seems to think we're headed for a Yankees-Phillies World Series again -- and they're probably right, but I'm holding out hope.

Giants-Rangers it is. Oh and hell, let's say the Giants take it in six. At least then I'll have gotten one of my pennant winners right.

It's a Great Time For All My Teams

When I perused my twitter feed this morning an interesting thought came to mind when I saw this tweet from @TheHappyRecap noting that of the four New York sports teams he follows, the one that had a starting wide receiver accidentally shoot himself in the leg while wearing sweatpants was probably the least embarrassing. Because I went to sleep fairly early last night, it was after this that I saw that Francisco Rodriguez had gotten himself arrested last night after apparently taking a swipe at his father-in-law at Citi Field following the Mets 6-2 loss to Colorado.

Man, I love this team.

With the Mets set to conclude their three-game set with the Rockies this afternoon, reports are coming out that K-Rod is still being held in police custody at Citi Field, and while I'm sure, in the long run, this incident will start to fade from memory, it brings up an interesting question of which team I follow, or perhaps in a larger context, which team in general, has had the most embarrassing history. The Mets are making themselves strong contenders with this latest dust-up piled on top of a litany of others -- The Wilpon-Madoff Connection, The Adam Rubin Incident, The Midnight Massacre of Willie Randolph, The Mo-Licious, Mark Corey being unable to handle his Pot, the Vince Coleman Firecracker Affair, that whole massive collapse in consecutive seasons thing, just to name a few -- but why stop there when I have plenty of other reasons to be embarrassed by the teams I dedicate so much of my time to?

Because make no mistake, the Mets have some strong competition.

No discussion can really start in this without the Knicks, who have put their fans through what might be the most embarrassing five years of sports mismanagement any organization has ever endured with the circus that was the Isiah Thomas era. Sexual harrassment scandals, players trading sex for influence and dealing two unprotected first round picks for career-long lazy wastes with a known heart condition are just a few of the highlights. It is not unusual for a sports franchise to suffer one or two black eyes, particularly ones that get magnified in the media spotlight of New York City, but few are so dramatic that they actually inspire fans to rally outside the team's arena in support of firing the man in question.

The only way to understand how Isiah Thomas could have been in charge of the Knicks for so long is to assume that he must have had some sort of dirt on completely inept Knicks owner James Dolan. How else could we explain the recently embarrassing news that New York was bringing Thomas back into the fold as a consultant just two years after he completed running the 'Bockers into the ground? Naturally this didn't go over well with most of the fan base, and fortunately for all of us, NBA bylines deeming the deal a conflict of interest with Thomas' day job as the head coach at FIU have saved us all from those best laid plans.

By comparison, the Giants' struggles with Burress and their stunning loss to close out Giants Stadium last season, or the Devils having the largest move in team history blow up in their faces are downright positive developments.

But, like I said, this isn't just about the joke-a-thons that are my favorite teams. The Jets, Rangers, Nets and Islanders, a team once nearly purchased by a man with no money, have all had more than their fair share of misery both on the field and off over the past few decades.

So as I sit here, I'm going to make a rare plea to my four readers and ask you to submit some comments and ideas. Of all the teams, not necessarily in New York, which has had it the worst?

If you're a pained, suffering fan, you'll know what to do.

The SI Cover Jinx Lives

I think it's hard to be surprised by the fact that the Saints and Colts will be facing off in the Super Bowl. And no, that's not because both the Jets and Vikings were on the cover of Sports Illustrated in their respective regions this week -- though I wouldn't entirely discount that I suppose.

New Orleans and Indianapolis were simply the best teams in the league for most of the year, even if both slowed down near the end of the season. Regardless, I do have some sympathy for the Jets, who, after they had taken a 17-6 lead late in the first half, I really started to believe they were going to win the game. But in an eerie similarity to their last AFC Championship appearance in 1998, one big pass play by a future Hall of Fame quarterback turned the tide for good.

As for the NFC, this was a great game marred by a drawn-out, booth-review and penalty-flag filled overtime that was fairly unsatisfying. For me, however, the highlight -- beyond Brett Favre throwing another pick on a potential conference-winning drive -- was when Joe Buck pointed out that the Vikings hadn't won an NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl appearance.

Keen insight.

So who's going to win Super Bowl XLIV? Hell, I don't know. Give me 13 days to think about it.

In the meantime, I hope you all can stand the wait. I'll have a full-fledged story up for you all tomorrow.

It's Championship Sunday

As the Jets and Colts battle for AFC Supremacy, and the Saints and Vikings do likewise in the NFC, it is important that we remember and honor something that football simply wouldn't be the same without.

That's right.

Today is the 75th anniversary of the beer can. Few things have changed humanity quite so profoundly.

Oh, and I'm taking the Jets and the Saints. Everyone enjoy your football.

When You Desperately Want to One-Up SI

I'm not a particularly superstitious man, but my first thought when I saw this week's Sports Illustrated with a screaming Mark Sanchez on the cover was, "The Jets are not winning the Super Bowl."

Though it should be noted that Sports Illustrated released regional covers this week, the SI cover jinx is a long-known old wives tale, and as the Jets shoot for an unlikely berth in their first Super Bowl since the last days of the Johnson administration, this could factor into their heads. Well, actually, the likelihood of that is pretty slim. But either way, for a group of fans as anxious as Jets fans are, it was just about the worst thing they could have seen ahead of this week's AFC Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Just about.

At least that's what I thought until my buddy Bert, who had been trying to convince me to take a spur of the moment trip to Indy this Sunday, showed me an e-mail that was sent to him and, presumably, other Jets fans today containing the image to the right. Now depending on what you read both teams have done this, and yes they are actually selling this already, but how on Earth could any of them feel comfortable tempting fate this way?

I know I wouldn't.

This is just asking for trouble, and with the second-biggest game in franchise history fast approaching, I think most Jets fans wish the NFL Shop could show a little less hubris. If Rex Ryan and company can't knock off the Colts on Sunday, I think they know where to place the blame.

I guess what we can assume from this is the Colts and Saints will probably be facing off in Miami on Feb. 7th.