The View From Wisconsin

When you sit down to think about it, it's rather obvious that there's an odd-man out in the two conference championship games in the NFL on Sunday.

Consider this - the four teams in the NFC and AFC Championships are:

• The NFL's winningest franchise (704 wins), formed, owned and coached by the man whose name adorns the NFC championship trophy;
• The oldest franchise in the NFL, with more NFL championships (12) than any other team, and a long and storied tradition (including the head coach whose name adorns the Super Bowl trophy) - and a great rivalry with that first mentioned team;
• The winningest franchise in the NFL, in terms of Super Bowls won - six championships all in the last 40 years, and the same family owning it through it all; and...
• ...The New York Jets.
  

The only thing the Jets have going for them is their large fan base and their reputation as an upstart, underdog franchise. That's about it.

As much as I'd think Fox would love to see the Bears-Packers winner take on the J-E-T-S (at least, from a viewership standpoint), I don't think they'll shed a tear if any combination of these teams makes it to Dallas.

Still - I'm thinking the winner of the game in Chicago is probably going to face the Steelers in the Super Bowl. I can only imagine the delicious irony if it were the Pack and the Steelers - both have historic rivalries with the Cowboys, both in championship games.

First things first: The senseless shootings in both Omaha and Tucson this week were mind numbing to hear of. The second one, of course, is going to be political fodder for probably the next two years or so, simply because of the intended target. However, that won't bring back the life of the assistant principal at Millard South, nor the little girl who was at the Safeway to meet a congresswoman. They were both tragedies, yes; they both, however, probably could (and would) have happened no matter the safeguards in place.

On to other things...

• That the Nashville Predators have won their sixth consecutive game is not amazing (though they are turning into Team Streak - 10 game point streak followed by five game losing streak followed by 6 straight wins). No, what is astounding is that the two-headed Nordic monster in net have yet to surrender the team's 100th goal against on the season. It was a mere four years prior that the Preds took 40 games to allow the 100th goal against; it is a major, major kudo to our two Blocks of Ice (Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback) that they are, indeed, doing something right in net.
  
• I do like the Predator Guardian from the mind of Stan Lee. However, "Matter Intake"? C'mon, Stan. Call "gaping jaws of death" what they are.
  
• The Twitter Statement of the Day that I can get behind: "To all my non-Christian friends: Westboro is neither Baptist nor Church, they are a hate group." (J.J. Merrick, @jeremiahx on Twitter)
• Speaking of Twitter: I've been reading an old book that I got when I was still a member of SABR - Ward's Base Ball Book. I noticed that the Dapper Pitching Deity @OldHossRadbourn was not mentioned at all in said book. I wonder why...
• Not sure if it's a problem on my end or on TWC's, but my LCD TV's reception of basic cable channels has not been very good. Haven't noticed any issues with my 'net connection as of late (knock, knock).
• Deep down, I think I prefer the owners of my favorite NFL team over that of the Falcons. Of course, I have to say that, since I see many of them on a daily basis...
  
• Trevor Hoffman has retired. That means that he can start planning his 2016 Hall of Fame induction ceremony speech.
  
• If you didn't catch it, I did alter my previous post apologizing to Bert Blyleven for not thinking he was a Hall of Famer. I still have my doubts, but once you're in the doors, you're in for life (and death, in most cases).
  

Ever wonder what the NFL's standings would look like if they used the NHL's points system? (2 points for a win, 1 for a tie or an overtime loss.)

Well, the AFC standings for 2010 would look like this:

American	TM	CN	DV	GP	W	L	T	Pct	OW	OL	OT	PTS	PT%	CSD
New England Patriots	NEW	AFC	AE	16	14	2	0	.875	1	0	0	28	.875	1
Baltimore Ravens	BAL	AFC	AN	16	12	4	0	.750	2	1	0	25	.781	2
Indianapolis Colts	IND	AFC	AS	16	10	6	0	.625	0	1	0	21	.656	3
Kansas City Chiefs	KCC	AFC	AW	16	10	6	0	.625	1	1	0	21	.656	4
New York Jets	NYJ	AFC	AE	16	11	5	0	.688	2	0	0	22	.688	5
Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	AFC	AN	16	12	4	0	.750	2	0	0	24	.750	6
San Diego Chargers	SDC	AFC	AW	16	9	7	0	.563	0	0	0	18	.563	7
Jacksonville Jaguars	JAX	AFC	AS	16	8	8	0	.500	0	1	0	17	.531	8
Oakland Raiders	OAK	AFC	AW	16	8	8	0	.500	1	0	0	16	.500	9
Miami Dolphins	MIA	AFC	AE	16	7	9	0	.438	1	0	0	14	.438	10
Houston Texans	HOU	AFC	AS	16	6	10	0	.375	1	1	0	13	.406	11
Tennessee Titans	TEN	AFC	AS	16	6	10	0	.375	0	1	0	13	.406	12
Cleveland Browns	CLE	AFC	AN	16	5	11	0	.313	0	1	0	11	.344	13
Buffalo Bills	BUF	AFC	AE	16	4	12	0	.250	0	3	0	11	.344	14
Cincinnati Bengals	CIN	AFC	AN	16	4	12	0	.250	0	0	0	8	.250	15
Denver Broncos	DEN	AFC	AW	16	4	12	0	.250	0	0	0	8	.250	16

Basically, only difference would be that the Jets would face the Chiefs and Indy would host the Steelers next week.

The NFC playoff picture, which is still to be determined as I post this, would be already set under the point system. Why? Because Saint Louis lost to the 49ers in overtime week 10. That would give the Rams 15 points through 16 weeks of play, whereas Seattle only had 12 points (since none of their losses were in OT).

I'll post the final NFC standings after tonight's game.

I think I've figured it out: Bowl games don't make the NCAA Division I-FBS's regular season more important. Instead, they actually make it less important. We don't get to see games between quality teams - Boise State vs. Auburn, or Oregon vs. TCU - until after the regular season. And then, it's a cabal of bowl committees, choosing teams via pecking order, that determine who will play whom and where.