A bit overboard

So, tell me: Are you fired up for the Super Bowl?
And if so, can you sustain it for the next 10 days?

I know I'm part of the media, but it's times like these when I kind of hate the media. Two weeks between championship games and the SB is just way too much time for everyone to belabor, well, everything.

Case in point: God bless Ron Jaworski. I have no problem with the man at all. BUT ... Tuesday night, there he was, in all sincerity and earnestness breaking down film of the five-step drop on which he guesses Tom Brady might have hurt his ankle. There were camera shots from every conceivable angle of Brady dropping back. And Jaworski, as though explicating nuclear fission, micro-analyzed those five steps with staggering gravitas.

Has it come to this? Really? Video of Brady carrying flowers to his girlfriend?!

Oh, kickoff cannot come soon enough!

Predictions

**Pats and Pack in the Super Bowl.

**Two solid weeks of Brett Favre hyperbole from the media. Followed by about four solid hours of Favre being outplayed by Tom Brady.

**The Titans will learn Norm Chow was not the problem.

**Ocho Cinco doesn't budge from BengalLand. And T.J. continues to find the end zone more often and with more class.

**At least one South Florida newspaper produces a "Sopranos"-themed Dolphins preview section focusing on new coach Tony Sparano.

**Cris Carter, undoubtedly going into the Hall of Fame next month, is part of the "Dancing with the Stars" cast in March. If Cincinnati's Drew Lachey can do it, why can't Middletown's finest?

Stinky cheese

And all this time, I thought Brett Favre was the worst thing about the Packers.
I was wrong. Read this AP report:

PORTAGE, Wis. – Upset that his 7-year-old son wouldn't wear a Green Bay Packers jersey during the team's playoff victory Saturday, a man restrained the boy for an hour with tape and taped the jersey onto him.

Mathew Kowald was cited for disorderly conduct in connection with the incident with his son at their home in Pardeeville, Lt. Wayne Smith of the Columbia County Sheriff's Department said. Pardeeville is about 30 miles north of Madison.

The 36-year-old Kowald was arrested Monday after his wife told authorities about the incident. Kowald was taken to the county jail and held until Wednesday, when he pleaded no contest, paid a fine of $186 and was released.

Kowald's wife filed a restraining order Wednesday, so Kowald will not be able to have contact with his family, Smith said. Smith said other domestic issues have surfaced, though he wouldn't elaborate.

The boy refused to wear the jersey Saturday, when the Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks in a playoff game, Smith said. Smith said the incident sounded strange when reported at first, but the mother took pictures with her cell phone and that type of evidence is difficult to dispute.

Random thoughts

Hi, friends!
A few thoughts on the past week and the coming weekend:

**I'm delighted LSU won Monday. I genuinely believe the SEC is America's finest athletic conference, and I never believed in OSU this season at all. That's the problem with college football: If you start off highly ranked, you just have to hang on. And it's easy to hang on against Youngstown State, Akron and Northwestern, you know?

**That said, I still believe USC was the best team this season.

**In the NFL, is anyone else beginning to wonder about Vince Young? At times, the Titans look better with Kerry Collins at the helm. That can't be good.

**What about Eli? Is he for real now?

**What about Tom Brady? Is he the best quarterback ever? Where do you rate him with the likes of Montana, Young, Unitas, etc.?

**If you're Pete Carroll, why would you go anywhere near the Falcons job? Isn't your life already pretty perfect?

**Picks this week: Mostly going with the chalk, save for one exception. I'll take Packers, Pats, Cowboys ... and Chargers. Just a feeling. Again this week, I think the AFC games look much more interesting.

What's on YOUR mind this week?

Now, for the REAL NFL

I'm kind of excited for the NFL playoffs. Maybe it's because the holidays are over, but I'm ready to focus on college basketball and "real" NFL now (they're two of my favorite things).

I think the Jags-Steelers game is a terrific first-round matchup, and I'm very curious how much the field will be a factor. Despite the bellyaching of teams throughout the league, to me, field conditions are just part of the game. If your team doesn't adjust, too bad! Go Steelers!

And I would think the Redskins might be able to use emotion to get past Seattle. For some reason, I'm just not a Seahawks believer. And the Skins make a nice story. For one round, anyway.

Sunday definitely got the weaker lineup. Giants-Bucs? Who cares?
Titans at Chargers? Would SEEM to be a Chargers win, setting up a nice game next week with the Colts.

Overall, I'm thinking the Pats beat Green Bay in the Super Bowl.
Bold prediction, eh?
Well, here's bold prediction II: After the game, Brett Favre still won't retire.

Just checking in

Hi, N, Jaybee.

You guys, or anyone else, still out there?

I know fantasy season's over, but we can keep talking football, or sports or ... anything, if there's anyone interested.

Let me know!

In the meantime, have a great 2008! Happy New Year!

Yippee!

I just called up my league home page and learned of my financial winnings. Wheee!

I also was reminded that my scrappy little club actually did close the season with six straight wins, which I don't think I'd realized.

What was funny about this week was that I was so pleased watching the Bengals-Browns game, thinking what a genius I was for benching Anderson and his endless INTs.
In the long run, though, his two TD passes actually had him outscoring Brees 9-3!
Our league truly is all about touchdowns.

Looking back over the season, a few thoughts:
**The team MVP is probably the Steelers defense, with Braylon Edwards a close second.
On draft day, I'd wanted no part of Edwards b/c I had such little confidence in either Charlie Frye or Brady Quinn. But my partner, Rob, liked Edwards on pure athleticism. And that was a great call.
**Kudos to me for suggesting Jamal Lewis, whom Rob did not want at all. It seems like that guy's been around forever, but he's only 26. I figured he had some games left in him, and by and large he did. And he certainly kicked Larry Johnson's butt!
**We shamelessly picked up Derek Anderson after that gaudy Bengals-Browns game. And it paid off! Two other solid free-agent pickups were the Jags D (on the Steelers bye week) and Reggie Williams for the last two games. Thanks, JAX!
**Along the way, we rallied from 2-5, lost our top pick for the year, upset the top seed in the playoffs and won the Super Bowl. This might be our most gratifying championship ever. (I think it's our fourth total in 11 seasons, not counting the year we won the regular season and lost the Super Bowl.)

So I'm pretty fired up right now!

You guys still have a Week 17 game?

Merry Christmas!

Good morning and Merry Christmas!

Good news, fantasy friends: I won! I won! I won!

More details later, but game balls go to Braylon Edwards and the Jags defense this week.

Also a game ball to the Bears, who punished my opponent's Packers D for a minus-1 showing.
Yes!

I'm off to my grandparents for a happy holiday. My wishes to all of you for a safe, happy day with your loved ones, too.