And now for something from the sports desk

Let's title this post "Your Corn-Fed Guide to the NFL Playoffs, or How to still care after your team goes 5-11 and the coach quits in disgust."

I admit it. I like it when historically crappy teams somehow manage to pull their way over the top and win it all. We've seen this frequently in recent years, especially in baseball, with historic losing streaks coming to an end. But even in football we've had celebrations in oft-forgotten places recently - St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and though they were the big boys for a while, New England. This explains why I had been pulling for the Colts this playoff season. I also admit to always being a Peyton Manning fan. But the poor golden boy still can't get to the promised land. So....

Who's left to cheer for? Seeing as I used to live in Illinois, I could have pulled for the Bears, but they yet agains squandered one of their few great regular season runs with a pitiful playoff performance (man, this stuff just writes itself!). I also used to live in North Carolina, so perhaps the Panthers can be my new dream team. However, I lived in NC during the season when the Panthers were unquestionably the worst team in the league, managing to win only one game. So in my eyes, they'll always be kittens (born to be a sports writer, I tell you!).

No, the team that ought to get it's due this year - the Seattle Seahawks. Think about it! Seattle has had little to celebrate in terms of sports victories (one NBA championship back in the late '70s is about it). The Seahawks were for years the very definition of mediocrity - never cringingly bad, never stunningly good. So here's to hoping that the sodden citizens of Seattle can watch their boys with the sea-toned uniforms hoist the trophy this year.