A Reason to Root Against...

I'm more into the NFL this year than I have in the past, I thank Madden 07. Right now I am watching the Saints and Bears in the NFC Championship and I find myself rooting for the Bears even though I don't really like them. The fact is, I'm not a huge fan of any of the remaining teams. The main thing is that there are teams I like a little bit more than the team they are facing, the main thing is, I just want to see some good games. Here is what I dislike about each team:

New Orleans Saints: I am so sick of the "America's Team" crap. Is this their consolation prize for living in poverty and thousands more still living in other states? I'll ignore the political angle of this whole thing because this is a sports page. The key to my dislike here is in the media. If the Saints win today then there will be two weeks straight of "heart-warming" stories on Sports Center and every sports website, radio show, TV show, etc. about how much the city of New Orleans has overcome to get to this point. These will include stories about a 90 year old man who has been a Saints fan since the team started and this year is very special to him. Or a puff piece on how Reggie Bush gave "x" amount of dollars in an attempt to help the city rebuild, I guarantee you it would be awful. Plus, I really don't think they are all that good.

Chicago Bears: Their quarterback sucks. Their defensive tackle is a danger to society. Their defense actually wasn't that great the second half of the season. They have lots of guys out with injuries. The only plus here would be a possible "Super Bowl Shuffle" part 2.

New England Patriots: Bill Belichick (left) is jerk, a real huge jerk. Tom Brady, though a Michigan guy is way over-hyped. Lack of star power on the team. There would be lots of dynasty talk if they win. That'd be four Super Bowls for them since 2001. Pretty serious stuff, any team that wins that much is no fun to root for.

Indianapolis Colts: If you think you've seen too much of Peyton Manning of TV this year (he's in at least 259 commercials right now) then it would be killer for the next two weeks. I guess the bottom line is that every story line gets completely overblown for the two weeks prior to every Super Bowl, it's the nature of the beast.

Finally, my number one complaint about the playoffs in the NFL is that the Super Bowl is always in a dome or outside in Florida. I think the home field advantage should just carry over to the Super Bowl. I'd love to see the game played in Chicago or Foxboro in February. But hey, that's not where the advertising dollars are.

Picks:

Chicago 27 New Orleans 24

New England 23 Indianapolis 17