my evil plan is falling into place

i would like to thank Igor Olshansky for being the Chargers' spokesman leading into Sunday's AFC Championship game:

“Who? New England? Seriously, they’re more worried than we are.”

now i feel like i can really start looking forward to think game. between frigid temperatures & a decently gusty wind predicted for Sunday afternoon, i am hoping that Rivers, Tomlinson & Gates (if they play at all) are feeling creaky in all their aching & injured body parts. i find it interesting to note that their last five games were all played either in Southern California or in the climate-controlled environment of the RCA Dome. welcome to New England in January boys. bring those heated pants! about the only place that would be colder to play in right now would be Green Bay -- and Eli himself has declared that he just doesn't play well in the cold weather. (hmmm... maybe should have thought about that before you whined about not wanting to play in San Diego huh?)

oh & Igor? the Patriots take every team seriously. i'm glad you're not worried though. i can see why you wouldn't be. i mean, playing a 17-0 team is a piece of cake, right?

and now for a couple bits of the blogosphere that have entertained me immensely.

PAPEL-BLOG takes a brief pause in Red Sox talking to bring us:

Bummed about that loss? Wish you were going to the AFC Championship Game next week? Look, I'm gonna be honest. Last year appears to have been the exception that proves the rule. You choke in big games. If I were you, I'd start figuring out some kind of hobby that'll keep you busy every February.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
and an excerpt from the ever-brilliant Kristen at Basegirl:
Colts fans seem to be salivating over the possibility of a rematch, apparently unconcerned with the ways of karma and counting their chickens. Plus they're already blabbering on about the Colts being "classier" than the Patriots or something because I guess they've appointed themselves the moral arbiters of the NFL. I must have missed that memo. Also? Spare me. And so, despite the fact that I am no big fan of Phillip Rivers and Shawn Merriman, I hope they run all over the Colts today and send them packing. It seems unlikely but in what Amy has dubbed "The Bitch Bowl" for the frequent bitch-faces so often employed by Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers alike, I suppose anything is possible.

For now, I'm going to be thankful that I can continue watching football for at least another week, and I'll spend the downtime creating elaborate scenarios wherein Bill Parcells becomes puppetmaster coach of the Dolphins by mid-season next year "Dance for me, Cleo Lemon, dance!" and what it was, exactly, that Bill Belichick said to Josh McDaniels to get him to refuse all offers of interviews by other teams interested in him as a head-coaching prospect.

Amy: Probably he just wordlessly handed him a picture of Eric Mangini.

oh & just in case *that* didn't prove her utter brilliance to you, the fact that she coined this little bit is the icing on the cake:
of the season it's been Wes Welker who has, in my opinion, allowed Randy Moss to be as deadly as he's been. (And who also looks amusingly like Mr. Incredible at times).


good times, my friends. good times. i'm nervous about the upcoming games. i'm nervous that the Chargers are the best at getting teams to cough up the ball a lot (at a disturbing rate averaging *three* per game!) -- and we all know that the team who wins the turnover differential is often the victor. i realize that Tom Terrific had about as close to a perfect game as one can have, but... we all know how quickly the tides can turn. i also cannot stomach Favre losing to a Manning. but it all stands to reason. if my two teams can pull off wins this week, the ulcers end here. this could possibly be the last week i need to worry about who is the last man standing...