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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

I did pretty good this weekend, going 4-0 straight up and 3-1 against the spread (I thought for sure the Saints would cover). Two intriguing matchups set for next week. The unquestioned top two teams in the NFC and the Pats and Colts in the AFC.

It's games like the ones we had this weekend - three 3-point wins and one by 9 - that prove how much better the NFL is than college football. Teams with plenty to play for and games that come right down to the wire. Until college gets a valid playoff system, it will always be this way. Sure, Boise State's win was exciting, but two months from now nobody will care since it was merely an exhibition game.

I'm predicting a Saints-Patriots Super Bowl. Might as well stick with what I thought from the beginning of the playoffs. One final thought from today: I would have liked to have seen Marty get to the Super Bowl. I hate having to see a successful guy get crucified for things beyond his control (The Drive and Earnest Byner's fumble were not results of anything Marty did). But he cost the Chargers today. The idiotic challenge on the fumble that had no chance of being overturned and the timeout coming right after an injury timeout. Those two timeouts would have certainly helped San Diego set up a better field goal opportunity than the 54-yarder Kaeding had to attempt. Now he'll probably get fired and have that hanging around his neck forever. Oh well, he had his shot.

I know I said I'm not a betting man, but I thought I would provide a service to those that read this who are.

Colts (+4) over Ravens
Saints (-5) over Eagles
Seahawks (+8.5) over Bears
Patriots (+5) over Chargers

I'm really looking forward to all these games this weekend. Especially now that I can watch them in glorious high definition. I bought an HD antenna a couple weeks ago with some Christmas money just for the playoffs and the Super Bowl, among other things (at least to get the okay from Mercedes). I can't watch sports in anything else anymore.

After the surprising box office take last weekend and the near unanimous critic approval, I decided to see Children of Men tonight. It's not too often futuristic thrillers are met with this kind of acclaim. But while it is a serviceable film, it certainly does not live up to the expectations.

The film takes place in London in 2027 and begins with the news of the assassination of the world's youngest person, 18-year-old Diego something. The government is exiling all illegal immigrants, there are various factions of people fighting for some cause or another, and there's Theo (Clive Owen), our hero, who must safely transport a pregnant woman, Kee, to a safe haven known as The Human Project.

Kee eventually gives birth while Theo leads them past one dangerous episode after another. So while this post-apocalyptic nativity scene is playing out at the end of the movie, we're still left wondering why and for what.

A lot of critics are falling all over themselves, but they are admittedly overlooking serious flaws in order to praise director Alfonso Cuaron's vision. It's all style over substance. There are no questions answered, no thoughts provoked, and just the occasional wink at the current state of world affairs ("Homeland Security" deporting all illegal immigrants).

I agree - I think it is a great vision of a harrowing future, where technology is advanced more for entertainment and death (a suicide drug called Quietus) than anything truly important. But if that's all that we as moviegoers are going to be able to take away from this film - then it's a massive waste and missed on some wonderful opportunities to present a compelling story.

Michael Caine in a supporting role as a friend of Theo's is fantastic, and there is a nice homage to the album cover for Pink Floyd's Animals. But neither of these things can save Children of Men from being merely average.

It's a disappointment from a director who did a great job with the Harry Potter franchise and directed one of my favorite movies of the decade, Y tu mama tambien.

Wild Card Weekend:

• How is Herm Edwards still an NFL coach? That had to be the worst offensive gameplan in the playoffs I have ever seen. The Colts defense is awful against the run and Larry Johnson is one of the best backs in the league. Everybody knows the Chiefs can run the ball effectively. So they decide to come right out and run it up the middle into the teeth of a defense prepared to just stop the run. Then when forced into obvious passing situations, they couldn't do anything either. Just awful.
• Tony Romo dropped the snap. Big deal. The Cowboys weren't going to win the Super Bowl this year anyway. And for the record, I hope Terrell Owens comes back. This year had to be a little humbling for him. At least, enough to want to come back strong with something to prove next year.
• I'm calling for a New England upset of San Diego next week.
• While I'm at it, Indianapolis will beat Baltimore and Peyton Manning will have a home game against his nemesis for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

My new favorite show this TV season is Heroes. I just started watching all the episodes I had Tivoed and I am officially hooked. It's spooky, well written, well acted, suspenseful, and everything that Lost hasn't been this year. The surprises are more jarring and you have a sense that this show knows where it is actually going as opposed to the afore-mentioned Lost. I've always said it is never too late to jump in on a show in its first or second season, and I highly recommend this one. If you choose one new show to start watching right now, forget that overblown crapfest 24 and start watching Heroes.

It has been over three weeks since my last post, and I can only say one thing -- man are the holidays a busy time. Between decorating the house, christmas shopping, throwing a party, out-of-town trips, etc., there is hardly any time to sit down and catch your breath. I love it, though. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is always my favorite. January is not so bad either, though. You get to play with all your new toys you got for Christmas, you get the house back in order (and a little cleaner), and you have the NFL playoffs to look forward to every weekend. Add in the cold, rainy weather and it just doesn't get any better than this.

I hope I still have some readers left after the long sabbatical, and for those few still with me, I am working on a site redesign. I am just in the beginning stages, but I am trying to come up with a way to streamline everything on one page - all centered around the blog. My vast array of content will also be streamlined and everything will be centrally located on the journal. It simply became a case of too much for me to try to keep up with.

Don't worry, I'm still obsessed with lists and will be constantly making them, as well as other things that are probably only interesting to me. And everything will show up here, rather than on other pages of the website. It might be a slow process, but you'll know when everything is up and running the way I want it. As for now, stay with this page, because the journal will be the only thing being updated for awhile.

thanks,
jason