NFL Conference Championship Games This Sunday

Well, time for another of my vicarious sports ramblings...

It is once again the weekend for the National Football League conference championship games. The surprises are that teams like New England, Indianapolis, and last year's Super Bowl champion New Orleans are absent this year. Instead, we see the New York Jets on the road, "pitted" against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the American Conference final, while in the National Conference the Green Bay Packers will play in Chicago against the Bears. These will be cold, northern winter games played out in the open in domeless stadiums. Just thinking of that game in Chicago makes me want to shiver!

I like the swagger and showmanship of the Jets, even though they are bitter divisional rivals of "my" team, the eternally-disappointing Miami Dolphins. Couple this with the fact that they are playing the Steelers, a franchise that I have generally loathed since the mid-1970's, and you have in me an ardent New York supporter, at least for this game.

As for Green Bay vs. Chicago, I happen to like both teams. But I REALLY like the Packers with their premium quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It's fun to root for a team every now and then that doesn't act as if it is hellbent on self-destruction every time its offense is out on the field (a dig at the Dolphins' play for the last few years, except for 2008). I also like Jay Cutler, the Bears' quarterback, although he sometimes seems to forget which team he is supposed to throw the ball to!

The sports media pundits are split on who will win the Steelers/Jets game, but they generally agree that the Packers will beat the Bears. Which probably means that the former game, predicted to be close, will be a blowout and that the latter will be won by Chicago!