Football Fever...

I must admit, although I've always been a big football fan, I can't remember a football seaon that I've been more emotionally involved in than this year's playoffs and bowl season (and those who know me well know that I don't get emotional about many things, especially disney movies). Since we got back to the Rockies after Christmas, I actually watched most of over 10 games in the past few weeks:

First the Bowl Season
1) Virginia/Minnesota - Even though I can't remember the name of the bowl, it was still nice to see UVA win
2) Virginia Tech/Louisville - Missed the Vick cheap shot, which would have been the highlight for me :(
3) Notre Dame/Ohio State - Its just fun to watch Notre Dame lose, since they were given a BCS slot just because they are Notre Dame
3) Penn State/Florida State - How is it that Flordia State can never recruit a decent kicker? 3 missed FGs and an extra point!?!
4) Texas/USC - One of the greatest college football games I've ever seen. And it was really nice to see Texas pull it out in the end. It was certainly obvious that USC hadn't lost in years by the post-game comments: "We are the better team, they just made a few more plays than us" - Matt Leinert

And then I get hit with the NFL playoffs, which have had my two teams (Washington and Denver), and a surprising number of exciting games. Although the Redskins are my original team, I have to admit that they haven't provided much in terms of excitement (I mean that offense is painful to watch), and I've been really jumping on the Broncos bandwagon. Denver is certainly more of a sports town than DC, and with all the excitement around here I'm certainly coming down with some Broncos fever (luckily no rash yet)

Here's my playoff watch list:
5) Washington/Tampa Bay - An ugly game, but the 'skins do have a good defense
6) Pittsburg/Cincinnati - Sans Carson Palmer (out on the second play), Cinci had no chance
7) Washington/Seattle - I thought the Redskins may pull out another ugly one, but man that offense sucks
8) Denver/New England - What a game, the world champs get shut down by 5 turnovers
9) Pittsburg/Indy - So I only heard this one on the radio on the way back from the slopes (more on this later)
10) Carolina/Chicago - The Thomas Jones UVA connection had me rooting for Da'Bears, but alas there defense fell apart

To illustrate my emotional attachment this year, I'll recount two plays that were so incredibly bizarre and stupid, I was stupified.

#1 - Denver leading 10-6 over the Pats in the 3rd quarter, its 3rd and goal from about the 10. Brady is pressured, throws to the end zone, and CHAMP BAILEY INTERCEPTS THE BALL. He takes off, dodges a few tacklers, and races past everyone with a pack with blockers. But WAIT, after running 90 yards he pulls up to a slow jog and then BAM he is pumeled by a Pats player at the one yard line. There are two things that annoyed the f--- out of me on this play. Although Champ said he ran out of gas, he is an all-pro NFL cornerback. Are you telling me that he can't run a 100 yard dash without pulling up!?! The New England TIGHT END who weighs 60 pounds more than you ran the whole length of the field just fine! Secondly, what the f--- were the blockers doing, one of which was looking at the sideline (did he think a fan was going to jump out and tackle Champ)? This was not a pacing exercise, you're supposed to see the opposing team members and BLOCK THEM.

#2 - Pittsburg is leading Indy by 3 with just over 1 minute left (Denver would get another home playoff game if Pittsburg wins). The Steelers just sacked Manning on 4th down on their own 2 yard line. Indy still had all their time outs left, so I agree they had to run a play to try and get the touchdown. They hand the ball off to Jerome Bettis, and instead of perhaps holding two hands over the ball, OR even holding the ball close to your body, I'll just leave my right arm hanging out there in front of someone else's helment and BAM...fumble and Indy's running it back. Good think Big Ben R, made an incredible tackle, and the Indy kicker choked on the field goal. Sarah was having a relaxing nap on our way home from the ski slopes when suddenly she is rudely awakened to my screams of agony when I hear that Bettis fumbles.

OK, I've calmed down now...thanks for letting me get that off my chest ;)

I'm looking foward to the games this weekend and I've even got a few picks for my faithful readers:

AFC/NFC Championship Games:
Broncos 27 - Steelers 17
Carolina 30 - Seattle 21

Super Bowl :
Broncos 33 - Carolina - 31

We'll check back next week to see how I did...