Playoff picks and potpourri

Wow. Is it Saturday night already? I lose track sometimes. Well, it’s time to get tomorrow’s picks on the record. I’m feeling a lot of pressure sitting here 4-0 after last week.

I just love the idea of the Packers and Bears facing off to get into the Super Bowl on a torn up field in sub-freezing temperatures on a Sunday afternoon in late January; especially since I’ll be watching it from my couch in Florida. I’m going with the Bears at home in a very close and low-scoring game.

There is no way the Jets can beat the Stillers twice in Pittsburgh in the same year. There’s no way Troy Palamaulou allows that to happen. And yet, I’m going with the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS all the way this year. However I do hope Braylon knocks himself out on a failed, post-game back flip.

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I’m very curious to know the story behind Keith Olbermann’s sudden and mysterious departure from MSNBC. I’ve never liked him even a little, but I hope there isn’t some unseemly scandal behind it. He was the only talking head the liberals had on TV with any real following.

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Ben Stiller has more Twitter followers than Sarah Palin.

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It was kind of a lost week for me so you may well have read both David Brooks and Paul Krugman in the Times last Friday the 21^st. Each addressed the apparently uncrossable divide separating the political left and right in the country today. Krugman’s “A Tale of Two Moralities” explained the gap from a structural standpoint while Brooks’ “Tree of Failure” looked at from the perspective of the current social atmosphere. Both are interesting in their own right but together they are fascinating.

NFL playoff picks

Time again for the annual Daily Blank NFL playoff picks. I strongly urge you to liquidate all your assets, fly to Vegas, and put it all on my picks this year. Don’t let the following facts deter you in the slightest.

1. I have watched exactly two NFL games from start to finish this year. The first was the Browns-Jets game which I had to watch with no sound in some dumpy sports bar in Florida.
   
2. The second was the Browns-Dolphins game live in Miami. You will note that neither the Browns nor the Dolphins will be competing in the playoffs this year.
3. During several years of participation in my office fantasy football league I was routinely beaten by at least half of the women and both gay guys.

So, that said, I predict the following with complete confidence:

• Ravens @ Steelers. I won’t be watching this one. For me it’s like watching the Taliban v. the Nazis knowing not only that one team will win but that it is also unlikely that a Tsunami will hit the stadium during the game wiping out both teams and their revolting fans. Ray Lewis is the devil. Stillers by 3.
• Packers @ Falcons. Don’t hate either team. Used to be mildly anti-Packers due to their having too much success, but I’m over that now and like their small town roots and old school unis. Packers by 3.
• Seahawks @ Bears. I saw much of their improbable win over NO, but can’t believe the ‘Hawks are for real. We’re looking at a high of 22° in Shacaga Sunday. I say the dome-boys fold. Bears by 10.
• Jets @ Pats. Hate Bellychuck. Hate Braylon. Brady played for Michigan. Santonio and Mangold were both Buckeyes. My upset special: Jets by 1.