1-19

This Weekend we have the NFL's Conference Championship Games where the winners will play in the Super BOWL in Miami 2 weeks later. I would make my blog look more official with the actual Roman numerals of the game but I feel using Roman numerals lost it's dramatic appeal sometime after XXXIV. Or perhaps XXXVIII? Anyhew, if society, let alone pro football makes at another 100 years, won't it sound kinda lame with Fox trying to Hype "THE BIGGEST GAME EVER! THE 143rd Super BOWL"?

Before I get too off the beaten path let's take a quick look at the matchups:

NFC- Vikings at Saints: Perhaps never before have we seen a bigger pairing of historic have-nots. New Orleans began playing in 1967 and promptly took 21 seasons before posting their first winning season in 1987 and waited another 13 years until winning their first playoff game in 2000. Long before Drew Brees came around the Saints' first franchise quarterback was the first in a family line of class guys: Archie Manning. Archie considered it nothing short of a Greek tragedy that such a superb QB should have to waste his talents by playing for what was long known as the 'AINTS'. As far as the rigors of being forced to be make a living by playing NFL QB for a bad team, Archie once went as far as to say "You know i have a friend who doesn't even talk football around me because he knows what a negative thing it is for me . That's a terrible thing to have to live with!" I guess those parents of terminally-ill children will never know a pain like Archie was forced to carry. And you wonder why son Eli threw a fit on Draft Day 2004 because he didn't like being picked #1 by the Chargers? I mean what good is $100 million if you have to play for a team you don't want to? That's near slavery!!!!

Minnesota began playing in 1961 and while they aren't quite the NFL's Chicago Cubs like the Saints, they do display a likeness for imploding akin to the pre-bandwagon Red Sox. The Vikings became the first team to lose 4 super bowls, doing so in a period from 1969 to 1976. In 1989 the Vikings became famous for making the most one-sided trade in NFL history when they traded for overrated Cowboys' running back Herschel Walker in exchange for a plethora of draft picks that eventually produced the Cowboys' core to win 3 Super Bowls. The Vikings' didn't come out completely empty-handed in the deal, Walker gave them 3 seasons of mediocrity before being released following the 1991 season. This is the closest the Vikings have come to a Super Bowl since the 2000 season when they received a 41-0 ass-kicking in the NFC Championship to a powerhouse Giants led by journeyman QB Kerry Collins, who at the time was already on his 3rd NFL team in only 6 seasons.

Stop by tomorrow and I'll take a look at the AFC Matchup that is far from a must-see: Jets at Colts.


THE SPORTS INSURGENT