The Final Four

Vikings-Saints & Colts-Jets. The Final Four.

Who's gonna go to the Stupor Bowl? Well, guess what? I have no clue.

Any of those four teams are capable of winning it all. A case could be made for each of them that they DESERVE to win it all. Deserving to win it all doesn't count for much in pro sports. Luck, timing and "being the best team on any given day" counts more. The story lines and plot lines for these matchups are the best they've been in years and years for the NFC and AFC Championships. I can't remember when there was so much of a "backstory" to each of the teams. Wow--where to begin to tell those stories?

The Bret Favre Story with the Vikings is pretty amazing. But the story is really about the team owner and coach. It's a deep story and it's really complicated. Obviously, it's been very effective. But Favre is the key that the media will turn to unlock public interest in the Vikings. He doesn't get much better than this!

The Saints? One word: Katrina. All of the baggage of that terrible chapter is wrapped up in The Saints. We could write chapters on what the Saints mean to a few million people there. It's possible they are a Team of Destiny. Only time will tell.

Colts? Gee, how could they be back here without Tom Dungy? Well, they are--get used to it. Peyton Manning is as close to a perfect quarterback as anyone has ever been in the history of football. It's difficult to think of anyone truly better than him. He is an eerie machine! Who else plays for the Colts? Gee, I can't remember a single name. One name says it all--Peyton Manning. As Peyton goes, so go the Colts.

Jets? What's not to like about the brash, outspoken coach Rex Ryan? What's not to like about Mark Sanchez? What's not to like about a team that's been success-starved since the Days of Broadway Joe Namath?

Imagine, the New York media gets to make fun of cow town Indianapolis ALL WEEK!
What a field day the New York media has with Naptown. There are fewer cool bars in the entire city of Indianapolis than there is on a single block in New York. Indianapolis doesn't even know how to spell gourmet, let alone go to a restaurant that serves such food. Cultural diversity in Indianapolis means your neighbor grew up in Illinois.

I spent our dinner tonight filling Susun full of football stories. Oddly, she likes my stories and she tells me so. I find it hard to believe but she says it's so. I like the whole "backstory" of football. I couldn't care less about the "front story."

Well, I am sure that all of my chatter about football has pretty much put you to sleep. That's OK, it's Playoff Season and I am fully engaged.