More Playoff Ramblings

-In the normal stages of dealing with a loss in your life, there are said to be five step: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, depression and eventually acceptance. What I have discovered since watching the Patriots fall to the Jets last night is that in dealing with a sports loss, there are only four different steps: anger, more anger, bargaining and then acceptance. The anger mostly comes out during the game and in the few minutes after the final whistle. ("What the hell kind of call was that?!?") Then comes the bargaining. ("You know what? This probably for the better. I didn't want to host a Super Bowl party anyway. And, at least now my weekends are free again.") I'll let you know when I reach acceptance.

-I'll give the Jets all the credit: they talked a lot of crap, but at least they backed it up. They out-played the Patriots from start to finish and it was a great win by them. Can't say much more than that. The team I'm kind of sick of hearing from are the Baltimore Ravens. They talk an awful lot considering 98% of their roster has never won a single thing. They keep getting credit as a Super Bowl-winning defense, but that was over a decade ago and the majority of that crew has long since passed. Until this current group at least make it through to a Super Bowl they need to stop talking.

-While we're on the subject of people who have not earned the praise they have been getting: Atlanta's Matt Ryan needs to stop being referred to as 'Matty Ice' until he at least wins a playoff game. I know it is not really his fault, as that nickname has been largely pumped up by the media, but he could easily go to people and ask them to stop calling him that. However, he hasn't and as such he's earning all the ridicule today. Until he find another nickname (I recommend a simple 'Matt' until he wins), he's just going to have to keep reading variations on the "he melts in the playoffs" headlines that have been all over the place since Saturday night's loss.

-I can not, in good conscious, start rooting for either Pittsburgh or the Jets going forward. Therefore, I think what I'm actually going to do is focus on the NFC and just watch Bears/Packers. Since I don't have a horse in that race I figure I won't get too bothered by the outcome either way. Still, given that he led my team to a Fantasy Football Championship this year, I'll be pulling for Aaron Rodgers to win for real next month. Seems only fair, and I apologize to the fans of Green Bay in advance.

-The Packers/Falcons game was so out of hand Saturday night that I actually flipped around in the second half. At one point we landed on the Miss America pageant during the talent competition, pausing just in time to watch Miss Arkansas perform her skill: dueling, yodelling ventriloquist dummies. Yeah. Let that sink in. Not surprisingly, she did not win.