Championship Picks, Final 4 Favoritism, Bulls Link

After going 4-0 over wild card weekend, the divisional playoffs iceberg-ed my spread picks. My perfect start is now a much more mediocre 5-3. Still, it's a better pace than where I'm usually at at this time of year, and I think if I finish strong, it could be my best playoff finish ever. Let's get to the games.

(Home team in caps)

CARDINALS (+4) over Eagles

It's so hard to not 'feel' either team when you take a look at both sides individually. Arizona has the home field thing going. They also have the "we've stuck it to anyone who picked against us" thing that makes you want to ride them until they're beheaded. That's not to discount the Eagles' mojo, which is clearly present, too.

I'll take the points and clearly clicking Cardinals.

PITTSBURGH (-6) over Baltimore

Pittsburgh is so bogus. I've learned to just accept it. Baltimore can't score like the Steelers can, so six points isn't really a huge deal. I hope Ray Lewis kills people.

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One of my favorite things to figure out when I have no legitimate rooting interests are who I'm going to root for once the final four of a playoff field is set up. This year, I think there's a clear-cut bottom one: Pittsburgh.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers - As a fan of sustained success, I'm not docking the Steelers because they've won the Super Bowl most recently. I think it's the fact that Roethlisberger is incredibly bro-ish, mixed with them winning a ton of games they had no business winning, mixed with the always stupid terrible towels. BDD actually touched on those in his Deadspin column this week:

This is, by no means, a defense of The Terrible Towel. I fucking hate those things too. You're in the stands, having a beer, and some asshole won't stop waving his goddamn arm around you. You know what, people? JUST FUCKING YELL. Yelling works best. Twirling a fucking washcloth, or banging a couple of inflatable dildos together, does not.

Eloquent.

Redeeming: Mike Tomlin's coolness. Plus, the Steelers probably do have the most passionate fans in the NFL.

From here, it's a tossup between three pretty likeable teams.

3. Baltimore Ravens - They're so one dimensional (sure, sure, we can all pretend to buy into the "we're finally a balanced team!" quotes that we keep hearing from the Baltimore players) that it's hard to get behind such a boring offense. Joe Flacco shows flashes, but he's so inconsistent. Plus, seeing them defeat the Cardinals or Eagles in the Super Bowl really wouldn't be fun. Oh, and I hate Todd Heap for ruining many fantasy seasons of mine. He drops everything.

Redeeming: Anything Ed Reed does.

2. Philadelphia Eagles - For making so many NFC Championships, Andy Reid sure has taken a lot of crap this season. Philly fans are crazy. Bears fans, who have seen their fair share of awful QB play, don't understand why they've never, ever been able to fully back McNabb. But wouldn't it be awesome to see McNabb throw up a middle finger at anyone who ever doubted his ability to succeed by nabbing a ring? I've got some interest because McNabb winning a Super Bowl puts some serious validity into putting him over Peyton Manning in the 'Best QBs of this era' list, which right now looks like...

1) Brady
2) Peyton
3) McNabb

A switcheroo in the 2/3 spots would be pretty great.

Pushing it further: Brian Dawkins' emotional post-game interview following the Giants victory... the guy looks more invested in his team than any athlete I've seen in a long time.

1) Arizona Cardinals - Wow, they've got everything: the general support of the American public, one of the best WRs in the game, novelty, Kurt Warner wears a glove on his throwing hand, the small possibility of Matt Leinart being involved with the outcome of the NFC Championship or -- oh boy -- the Super Bowl. There's too much here.

Seeing them in the Super Bowl would just be unreal. It'd be like the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA Finals. Or the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.

Cementing It: All that, and A.J. Daulerio is getting a buzzsaw tattoo on his ass if the Eagles lose. "Let it be known," he writes, "I currently have no tattoos on any part of my body, have never had any desire to get one, nor would I even take this bet unless I was 100 percent convinced there would be no possibility of me losing. So there. Shock me, Buzzsaw."

Who could possibly root against that?

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Bulls: Chicago's Two-Headed Monster

Anything to continue talking about the Cavs upset, right? Kevin Arnovitz at TrueHoop has an in-depth analysis of how Hinrich and Rose work off of each other in the backcourt. Totally worth checking out.