This will be an interesting year for me to watch the
playoffs – I have no team for which I have strong feelings for.
I have three teams I root for a lot (Bears, Giants, and the
Jets – I’ve tried to let them go, but their scrappy performance and Rex Ryan’s
coaching job have brought me back in) and three teams I passionately root again
(Dallas, which was due to growing up in the ‘70s and my father’s JFK
assassination-fueled dislike of the city; Oakland, because of Al Davis, and a
third team to come). So, in order of
least liked to most, here’s who I’m rooting for – and against:
12. New England Patriots:
the Jets’ arch-rivals, exacerbated by Bill Belichick, whose cowardly
departure from the Jets to coach the Patriots after one day to coach the Patriots (admittedly, Bill Parcells had
done something similar in reverse a few years before, but this was far more
blatant) was nauseating. Can’t stand
him, can’t stand the team. (My father,
on the other hand, was a big Patriots fan, but he died before Belichick took
over.)
11. Philadelphia Eagles:
Long-time irritating rival of the Giants.
10. Cincinnati Bengals:
The Browns have done such an awful job running this team. They’ve done better the last few years, but I
have a feeling what you’re now seeing is as good as it’s going to get.
9. Carolina Panthers:
More a geographical annoyance; I spent two years living and working in
North Carolina while my wife went to Duke, and they weren’t fun.
8. New Orleans Saints:
Don’t hate them – Drew Brees is a good guy, and the city’s been through
a lot – but don’t have any strong feeling for them, either.
7. Seattle Seahawks:
No strong feelings one way or another.
I’d probably like them more if they hadn’t had seven players suspended
over the course of this year for substance abuse.
6. San Francisco 49ers: Might rank a little higher if Jim
Harbaugh weren’t such a pain. On the
other hand, if Harbaugh weren’t the coach they probably wouldn’t be in the playoffs.
5. Kansas City Chiefs:
It’s been a long time since they were in a Super Bowl – the only teams
of the original NFL-AFL merger that have been out longer are the Jets (by a
year) and the Lions (never) – and KC is a nice town.
4. San Diego Chargers:
I have a lot of friends there.
Pittsburgh would have ranked higher; they’re an admirable organization
and I have relatives who are huge Steeler fans.
3. Indianapolis Colts:
Relatively local.
2. Denver Broncos:
Denver’s also a nice city, and Peyton Manning’s a good guy who deserves
a second Super Bowl win.
1. Green Bay Packers:
Surprise! Despite yesterday’s
loss and the rivalry, I like the Packers.
Locally owned by the city is a big reason, but they also have the
history (I’ve read Instant Replay
three or four times), and I liked them before moving out here. Yes, there will always be bitter feelings
between Green Bay fans and Chicago fans, but there’s also a ton of respect.
Now, onto today’s bowl games:
-
Armed
Forces Bowl (Middle Tennessee v. Navy) – this start in about fifteen
minutes, so I guess I ought to post this soon.
Navy’s had a pretty good record in bowl games, and I try to root for the
guys in the armed forces whenever I can, so it’s an easy call here. It’s about the lousiest of the games left to
play, however – the only one ranked lower is the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which is
inexplicably being played New Year’s Day opposite three other bowl games and
the Rose Bowl parade.
-
Music
City Bowl (Georgia Tech v. Ole Miss) – hard to get excited about this, but
it’s in Nashville, so the fan bases won’t have too far to travel.
-
Alamo
Bowl (Texas v. Oregon) – this should be a good game. Oregon had BCS hopes at the beginning of the
year, and then fell apart at the end.
Texas and Mack Brown are parting was, because once you’ve won a
championship, nothing less will do after that. I guess I’d like to see Oregon win.
-
Holiday
Bowl (Texas Tech v. Arizona State) –
almost always a good game, but it starts so late (9:15 PM Central?!?) that I
doubt I’ll watch much.
