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Bill Simmons has a great column on Page 2 of ESPN.com where he talks about the current state of sports fans around this country. He is mainly relating it to the Patriots and how their success has turned them from "underdog to root for" into "favorite to hate" in a mere six years. This paragraph sums up my feelings on the matter perfectly:

Now we're on six years of football euphoria. And I get the part where the
outside world is ready for another team, because that's the way our society
works now: We embrace something new, digest it, beat it into the ground and move
on to something else. One minute, "Borat" is the greatest comedy of all-time;
the next minute, it's overrated. One minute, everyone loves "Lost"; the next
minute, we're wondering if it jumped the shark. One minute, everyone loves The
Killers; the next minute, they're self-important sellouts. It's the Everything
Sucks Era. We spend an inordinate amount of time bitching about everyone else.
Nobody's good, nobody's worthwhile and everybody needs to go away. That's the
prevailing theme.

It's a way of thinking that I just can't get behind nor can I understand it. But it's the same way I can never understand how anyone can hate Peyton Manning. I've never seen the need to vilify an opposing team or player. It just isn't necessary.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a true believer in rivalries and want nothing more than to destroy Oklahoma and Texas A&M whenever Texas plays them. But I think throwing hate around for no good reason is counter-productive and a little stupid. Anyway, the entore column is great and made me laugh out loud more than a few times. And don't forget to read his wife's sidebar, either.

As for my picks in the two championship games, I see both road teams winning, which makes it easy to take the points in both games.

Saints (+2.5) over Bears
Patriots (+3) over Colts