Playoffs?!

It's been a long time since I've cared about the NFL playoffs mainly because my team (the 49ers) hasn't made the postseason in quite some time. That's not to say I haven't followed or enjoyed the games from the past years (the New York Giants and the 18-1 New England Patriots made for probably one of the best Super Bowls I've ever seen). But for the most part, I've had close to zero vested interest in the NFL after December.

Nonetheless, I will do my due diligence as a football fan and watch this weekend's championship games. Here's my personal, indepth analysis of the matchups and sure-to-be-wrong picks.

AFC Championship

Okay, on the one side you have the Indy Colts who seem to be the favorite of the four remaining teams. And why not? They're quick on defense, force turnovers, manage the game at their own pace, and, oh yeah, that Peyton Manning guy is pretty good.

On the other side, you have the obligatory "team that's hot at the right time" in the New York Jets and you can never underestimate the power of this distinction (i.e. last year's Cardinals). It's not that they do any one thing amazingly well; things just seem to come together when they need to for the Jets.

All that said, the Jets got bailed out last week largely thanks to Nate Kaeding. The Sanchize was good, but not overwhelming (100 yards passing, 1 TD), and while Shonn Greene had 128 yards rushing, 53 came on one play. And here's the biggest thing that should worry Jets fans: Philip "I'm a Douche Bag" Rivers passed for 298 yards which would have been more had it not been for those dumb back-to-back interceptions. So basically, New York, watch out for Peyton.

By the way, I always enjoy watching the Chargers lose. I don't hate the team or anything, but I think I'm just tired of hearing Chargers fans talk big when they have more or less nothing to show for it. Five playoff trips since 2004, including three with a three-seed or higher, and zero Super Bowl appearances. So, yeah, let's just slow the Charger bandwagon down.

Anyway, Colts 24, Jets 13

NFC Championship

An intriguing game, to say the least. We all know what the Saints are about: score, score, and score some more. After three pretty embarrassing losses to end the season, Drew Brees decided to play like Drew Brees and lit the Cards up for 247 and 3 TDs. As a bonus for Saints fans, there was also a Reggie Bush sighting last week too. And not a Reggie Bush as Mr. Kim Kardashian sighting, but a Reggie Bush as a decent football player sighting. Incredible.

Let's move on to Minnesota. The Vikings are good, no doubt about it. And, as much as I hate to admit it, Old Man Favre is the biggest reason why. The guy has been playing out of his mind and I'm pretty sure he's set the record for "most consecutive fist pumps after a touchdown." We just need to see him come through on the road. In their own dome, Favre and the Vikes dominate. But in someone else's dome, especially the Superdome where it gets louder than a late night fight between Whitney and Bobby? We don't know yet. Still, Favre will have to keep Who Dat out of his mental dome in order to be successful. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself. But that's the last time I'll use the word "dome" for the rest of this entry.)

By the way, if there's one thing I enjoy more than a Chargers loss, it's a beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys. This was made even better by the Vikings running up the score at the end of the game, and then the Cowboys getting butt hurt about it.

(And since I didn't write anything about last week's playoffs, the only thing better than a Chargers loss or a Cowboys beatdown is a massacre of the Patriots. This game started at 10 am on the west coast so by the time I woke up and turned the TV on, the Ravens were already up 21-0. This game was made even better by the shots of a completely empty Gillette Stadium in the fourth quarter. Seriously, you could have counted the number of people still watching the game. It was awesome.)

Anyway, I'm taking N'awlins.

Saints 34, Vikings 24

In a non-NFL related thought, how in the hell is Allen Iverson starting in the All-Star game? Look, when Tracy McGrady was nearly voted in as a starter, at least it made some sense. With Yao Ming injured, Chinese people basically decided to start voting for his most high-profile teammate. Personally, I think it would have been hilarious to see him get voted in. Part of me actually thinks it happened, but the NBA put all their computers on auto-vote the last 48 hours to get Steve Nash in ahead of T-Mac.

But A.I.? Really? Who's voting for him? For sure not Nuggets fans, or Pistons fans, or Grizzlies fans. Plus, I was under the impression that NBA fan s in general were over this guy. He's over the hill and his career is in obvious decline. Plus, he's a team cancer (Exhibit A: refusing to come off the bench). Wherever he goes, his teams always stall (Exhibit B: Denver and Detroit). Look, I like Allen Iverson. I really do. His attitude isn't always the greatest (Exhibit C: the infamous rant about practice), but he plays hard and he has a passion for the game.

In the end, though, it doesn't even matter because no one is going to remember the All-Star Game by February 15th. (FYI, the game is on the 14th). Yes, it's probably the most entertaining to watch of all the All-Star games, but it's just a huge exhibition game with the NBA guys goofing around like the Globetrotters.

Speaking of All-Star games, let's close with my All-Star game power rankings for the four major sports.

1. NBA All-Star Game (The end of these games always seemingly turn into an impromptu slam dunk contest with both teams agreeing to stop playing defense and instead just throw alley-oops every possession.)

2. NHL All-Star Game (My hockey knowledge is limited at best, but the skills competition is actually a lot of fun to watch.)

3. MLB All-Star Game (I still can't believe they decide homefield advantage in the World Series based on the outcome of this game. Absolutely ridiculous.)

4256. NFL Pro Bowl (Guys not caring + guys not wanting to hurt each other = probably the worst football game you could ever watch.)