And then, there was 1…

Ladies, I can’t even believe we’ve made it to this point, but we are finally to the point of the year where after Sunday, there will only be one football game left to suffer through!  Now, obviously that game is pretty big, and I’ll have lots to write about the many subplots in the coming weeks, but can you believe we made it?!?!  That being said, Sunday’s two conference championship games, which decide who gets to play in the Super Bowl, will be opportunities for many of you to gather with friends or family and watch the games, relaxing and basking in the anticipation of a well-deserved day off on Monday.  Here’s some good info that will help keep you up to speed, making you that all-knowing sports fan in the eyes of your friends and family:

Philadelphia at Arizona (3:00 EST, FOX)

• The Eagles have now made it to the NFC Championship game five times in the past eight years… pretty impressive in itself, but when you consider that they are 1-3 in the first 4 appearances and haven’t brought an elusive Super Bowl championship back to Philadelphia, the Philly fans are still a little bit restless.  
• This will be the second road NFC championship game in that span for the Eagles, the last time they were the visitor in this game was when they lost to St. Louis after the 2001 season.
• The Cardinals play their games at the University of Phoenix, in Glendale, AZ…now the cool thing about this stadium is that the field is fully removable…since the stadium is in a dome with a retractable roof, the field crew put the turf out in a secure field to get sun and then put the turf back into the stadium before the game….I just say…keep the roof open during the week…seems like a lot of work.
• The Cardinals have never (that’s right, NEVER) made it to the NFC Championship game before… they are hoping to keep their hot streak going with a win at home on Sunday over the Eagles.
• Last week the Eagles beat the defending Super Bowl Champion NY Giants (sorry Christine)… did you know that in the history of the conference playoffs, teams that beat the defending Super Bowl champs are 0-11 in their next games?  Not a good sign for Eagles fans, but as I usually say…there is a first time for everything…Philly is hot right now after a World Series Win in October!
• Eagles fullback Dan Klecko will be trying to advance to the Super Bowl with his third different team, after having played in previous Super Bowls for the Colts and Patriots… his team has never lost a playoff game when he is active (Eagles fans are hoping he is active tomorrow!)

Now if you are going to a Cardinals vs Eagles party….it would be smart to dress appropriately…Cardinals are red & white and Eagles are green & black…my theory is…”green” is all the rage…so if you can’t decide…you can at least say that you are being “green!”

Baltimore at Pittsburgh (6:30 EST, CBS)

• The Ravens and their outstanding defense will visit the cold in Pittsburgh on Sunday, in what could be a fun game to watch since there is a chance of snow.  These two teams have had slightly more historical success in their histories than the teams on the NFC side… The Steelers (5) and the Ravens (1) have combined for six Super Bowl titles in the 42 years since Super Bowl I.  The Eagles and Cardinals have combined for…. zero..again, there is a first for everything.
• These two teams have already played twice this season, and the Steelers won both times, but both were close games:  one was decided by 4 points, the other by 3 points.
• This is the fifth time in history that two divisional foes will meet in a conference championship game after one team swept the season series… 3 out of the past 4 times the team that was victorious during the regular season completed the sweep in the conference championship game (the 1982 Dolphins over the Jets, the 1986 Giants over the Redskins, and the 1999 Titans over the Jaguars… the only team that lost in that situation was the 1983 Seahawks, who lost to the Raiders in the AFC Championship.)

If you are going to a party to watch this game…and want to dress appropriately, the Steelers are black and yellow and the Ravens are black and purple…unless you are a huge Steelers fan (sorry friends)…root for the Ravens…you don’t want to be at a party looking like a bumble bee, now do you?

So, hopefully you will be enjoying the games on Sunday in a nice warm place… speaking of warm places, although the Cardinals stadium is a retractable dome and the weather will be great in Phoenix, look for the roof to be closed so the crowd noise echoes and affects the Eagles (at least thats what the Cardinals are hoping… should we remind them about that game on Thanksgiving night?)  Enjoy the games!

-sportsgirl

January Madness

Hey ladies… now that college football season is over and there are only a few NFL playoff games left, I figured I’d give you a quick post on some of the big college basketball games that are coming up on Saturday.  The guys in your life will probably be tuned in to these battles, so maybe having some good info to chat about will help you fit right in to those conversations about different teams that may end up “on the bubble” when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.  Why January madness, you ask?  Well, the tournament is only two months away, and there are some great matchups on Saturday that could help sort out who some of the better teams in the country are.  Here’s some info for you:

#10 Clemson at #2 Wake Forest (3:30 EST, ABC)

-  This is a matchup of two of the last three unbeaten teams in the country.  A classic ACC battle, college basketball is always big on Tobacco Row in North Carolina, and this game should have a raucus crowd.

-  Wake Forest is in its second year under coach Dino Gaudio, a longtime assistant who replaced the legendary Skip Prosser when Prosser died of a heart attack two summers ago after going for a jog.  Its a pretty heartwarming story, and the team is constantly bringing up reminders or Prosser’s legacy and keeping his memory alive.  This is the kind of stuff that makes me watch sports…tears ladies, tears….

#13  Georgetown at #3 Duke (1:30PM CBS)

-  Duke has a 67 game non-conference home winning streak, and they will be putting that on the line Saturday against the Hoyas in front of the Cameron Crazies (aka Duke fans…who knew…apparently the Duke stadium is called Cameron Indoor Stadium).  Have you seen the environment for  a game at Duke?  Apparently its one of those things that every sports fan needs to experience in their lives… personally I’d rather experience a great sale at Nordstrom, but unfortunately they are only semi-annually…

#16 Arizona State at #9 UCLA (3:45 PM)

-  The Pacific Ten conference, which both of these teams are members of, is apparently having  a “down year”.  The Pac-10 has an interesting scheduling system for basketball:  there are 10 teams in the conference, made up of 5 logical pairs of 2 (UCLA and USC, Arizona State and Arizona, Washington State and Washington, Oregon and Oregon State, Stanford and Cal).  Each weekend during the conference season these pairs rotate to play every other team twice, with games being held on Thursday through Sunday.  For example, this weekend Arizona State played at USC on Thursday night, while Arizona played at UCLA.  On the weekend they switch, so Arizona State is playing at UCLA in the big matchup on Saturday, while Arizona plays at USC.  Impress your friends with that knowledge!

So those are a few tidbits for the big day of college basketball, I’ll be back tomorrow with some interesting info for the NFL conference championship games, but until then enjoy the long weekend!

-sportsgirl