5 Reasons to watch the NFL Playoffs...(by Diego)

Ok people, with another weekend of football on the horizon, us Pittsburghers are left with an indifferent feeling as our Steelers have already been eliminated from competition. The questions remains how are we supposed to get excited to watch football now that the Lers have finished their season prematurely. Don’t sweat it, Diego’s got 5 reasons to give you so you can still get pumped to watch some football this weekend…

5. The Bucco’s season is coming sooner then you think.

You better believe that before you know it there will be 6 long months of baseball ahead of us. That means a whole lot of Bob Walk, bobble heads, fireworks nights, and pierogi races...and losing. Oh ya, and also not a whole lot of gridiron action going on except when you're playing Madden. Essentially what I am saying here is enjoy America’s true past time while you can. Of course I’m referring to football, not baseball. And remember the Steelers may not have lived up to expectations this year, but at least people actually have expectations for them… the Bucco’s just plain old stink.

4. It gives you an excuse to ignore responsibilities.

All you guys out there now exactly what I’m talking about... Instead of making a trip to Ikea and Home Depot this weekend, you can tell the wife to call her sister and go out with her because you’ll be glued to the tube watching the pigskin fly. Football gives you the excuse to have a guy’s night out, drink beer, eat chicken wings, fart, and act belligerent. (who really needs an excuse for that anyway but its always good to have one I suppose) Oh ya, and the most important thing, you can put off doing the chores around the house for another weekend so you can sit in front of that 100-inch wide screen plasma TV you bought your wife as a Christmas present and watch the NFL playoffs in crispy 1080i high definition.

3. You can root against the Patriots.

Lets face it, everyone in America hates the Patriots, except those idiots on our message board and the whole town of Boston, which can burn to the ground as far as I’m concerned. In fact, when I make it rich off of PNA, I am going to buy the town of Boston and promptly burn it to a crisp, using the warm ashes to cook Smores. Seriously though, it gets old hearing about these cheating bastards everyday day for the last 4 months. And honestly, I enjoy riling up the Bostonians, as they get overly emotional and defensive when you talk smack on their precious lil' team. I can only hope that they feel the pain that I felt when the Jags kicker booted that game winner on Saturday night. Let the hatred guide you, and watch the Pats get smacked down in the playoffs.

(Pic from wickedlocal.com)

The mean streets of Boston!

2. Mike McCarthy

This guy is the man - not only did he come out of nowhere to become what I believe is the coach of the year in the NFL, (screw you Bellichicken) but he is also a transplanted Pittsburgher! McCarthy is from Greenfield, just like yours truly, so you know I am going to be rooting on his Pack now that the Lers have bowed out. What is not to like about him? He got Favre to first come back, second to calm down and stop making all those bad decisions he was making last season, and lastly he has a team that’s 2nd in the NFC with no real big name stars besides Favre. The man didn’t even have a decent running back until November and he still kicked ass all the while taking little to no credit for it! No one saw the Packers doing what they did this year in the NFC, winning all those games and getting a bye week in the playoffs. So cheers to you Mike McCarthy, make us Greenfielder’s and Pittsburgher’s proud this weekend!

1. Gambling

Why is the NFL so successful and a billion dollar industry? That’s right, its gambling… it makes the world go round. Without gambling football would be screwed, but luckily for us that’s not a problem cuz every Joe Schmo knows at least one bookie, and even if you don’t you can still bet with a buddy, or gamble online. One sure fire way to make sure you're paying close attention to a game is to throw some cheddar on it, then you won’t even blink in fear of missing a game changing play. (but you may also have a minor heart attack) Either way its going to make the game WAY more exciting… just try not to get in over your head - you wouldn’t wanna have these guys below showing up at your door to collect…

(Pic from jonespc.com)

At least your kneecaps had a good year in 2007...

Until lata...

Diego's Monday Morning Hangover...

We were treated to a pretty good weekend of sports, especially when you consider the fact that this was our first true Steelers-less weekend in quite some time. The NFL games were all entertaining, and definitely not as lopsided as the spreads for the game made them out to be.

In the AFC, the Pats handled business and simply outplayed the Jags, winning 31-20. The Jags gave 'em a decent game, but Brady and Moss proved to be too much for the Jagoffs to handle. At least you had a thrilling win against us, Garrard...better luck next year.

In the Sunday game, the Chargers held off the Colts, 28-24. Peyton had a hell of a day, but it wasn’t enough as the Chargers seem to have the Colts number. The Bolts held strong in this one after losing star running back LT and hot-head Phillip “Whiskey” Rivers to injury. See Steelers, whenever you actually have capable backups at running back you can actually still make progress in the run game whenever your star goes down. I am pretty sure there isn’t one team in the league that would rather have Dookie Davenport over either Michael Turner or Darren Sproles… (ya I’m kinda bitter)

So that leaves the Pats and Chargers in the AFC title game. The Chargers haven’t faired to well in this game in the past. (They are 1-3 in AFC Championships with the one win coming against the Steelers in 1994...) And only time will tell which players will return from injury to play next weekend.

That game at Lambeau was probably the most fun to watch because of the snow that was constantly coming down throughout the entire game. I was working during this one though, so I didn’t get to pay close attention, but the game was on a nearby TV. I swear that every time I looked up there were more points on the board. It was ridiculous… hope you gamblers out there bet the over in that one. Good to see Mike McCarthy leading his boys to a NFC Championship in his second year as coach. And screw the Seahawks anyway those bunch of whining little girls.

In other NFC action, the G-Men outlasted the Cowboys, 21-7, Sunday afternoon in Dallas. This proved to be the most entertaining game of the weekend due to all the extracurricular activity that was happening. With all the hoopla over Tony Romo and Yoko-Romo (Jessica Simpson), was there any surprise that Jessica wasn’t watching from inside the stadium this time? Or was she? The NY Post, those sly bastards, hired a Jessica Simpson look-a-like and stuck her three rows behind Dallas’ bench. Although I am pretty sure this crosses over the journalist boundary from appropriate to inappropriate, it is still funny as hell and a pretty harmless idea. They even decked her out in the now infamous pink and white Tony Romo jersey, and it actually worked...well done NY Post. That Jessica Simpson may be dumb as a rock, but she is the best type of distraction that I can think of.

(Pic from nypost.com)

I guess Romo never heard of keeping it on the down low...

It just kept getting better after the game was over, as TO broke down in tears and the Giants defensive players took shots at the loud mouth receiver. While TO used his stunna shades to cover up the tears squirting from his eyes, Michael Strahan and Antonio Pierce talked some smack of their own. Strahan said that TO and Patrick Crayton could eat some of that popcorn in TO’s home movie studio while they watch him play in the NFC Championship next weekend, while Pierce also commented about the popcorn quote. As for TO, he was left looking like his dog just died… calm down buddy, there’s no crying in football (unless of course you're Hines Ward and your best friend is supposedly retiring after a heart breaking loss in the AFC Championship at home… that’s the only time its acceptable)...

A few things I think….

The Giants have actually won 8 games in a row on the road, which is an impressive feat in the NFL these days, but can they really go into the frozen tundra and win in what could be one of the coldest games in the history of the league?

TO - what is with this guy? I mean he called Jeff Garcia gay after the 49ers lost in the playoffs, but he gets all teary eyed and tries to defend his QB now? I think the only person crazier then this TO fella is Britney Spears… therefore I thought it would be interesting to imagine the two hooking up in 2008. Yup that’s right, I am calling it now, TO and Brit Brit will be the hot new couple this year… is there any doubt that this one will end in heart break? Either that or murder suicide. Keep these two on their meds and there shouldn’t be any problems.

Refs… These NFL refs are killing me in the playoffs this year. More bad calls this week including a phantom holding call on a 90+ yard INT return TD by Antonio Cromartie, and another BS pass interference call against the Chargers later in the game. I know the NFL wanted Colts-Pats in the AFC, but it is absurd the refs make calls to help them win…

Steelers… as I was discussing above, the Steelers depth at RB is sad at best. I guess that's what happens whenever you take a punter in the fourth round, only to have him shank the last and most important punt of the year against the Jags… find Christ Sepulveda, you waste of a 4th rounder. How about this year we take one of the 8,000 running backs that are declaring for the NFL draft? An extra running back would come in a lot handier then another special teamer. (Though lord knows we need help there too)

Until lata...