...the NFL Playoffs

Six months ago the NFL owners locked out all their players including, with all due respect Tim Tebow his lord and savior, in a dispute over how to fairly divide a $9 billion a year business and many wondered whether there would even be a football season. At that time we also wondered if Justin Bieber was a father, whether Bachmann, Perry, or Cain would win the GOP nomination and how long the Kardashian/Humphreys marriage would last. Of course six months is long enough to temper the spirits of political hopefuls, celebrity marriages, and teen heartthrob baby daddy rumors. Now that we're into week one of the NFL playoffs the cynicism and disillusionment we felt regarding the greed demonstrated by owners and players during the lockout has been replaced by spirited rivalries, athletic admiration, and an onslaught of beer ads and truck commercials. In the summer, the 99% of NFL fans was forced to occupy a position alongside billionaires or millionaires arguing over more money than even Exxon-Mobil possibly earns and absurd labor proposals such as being forced to work nearly eighteen weeks a year. Now millionaires mill around the field during extended TV timeouts while advertisers pay millions per minute to sell poor schleppers light beer, 4G phones, and 4x4s with the best towing capacity in their class. These same companies that hock us goods at halftime every Sunday pay billionaire NFL owners for the right to preside in luxury suites, preserve stadium naming rights for years, and receive free tickets to the Super Bowl, the biggest event of the year. This years game is being played in Indianapolis (Indianapolis in February anyone?) and tickets are said to have a face value comparable to the average Americans mortgage payment.The stories of the year in the NFL have been well chronicled. The failure of the Eagles dream team, the greatness of Aaron Rodgers during the first five months of the season then the greatness of Drew Brees during the last month, which team would truly suck for luck, and all the records broken during the year of the QB, with all due respect to Tim Tebow his lord and savior. Fantasy leagues are over and if fantasy owners were lucky they won their league because one of the elite quarterbacks, still playing well into January, threw for more yards this season alone than YA Tittle had in his entire forty seven year hall of fame career. in the reality that is the NFL, with all due respect to Tim Tebow his lord and savior it's an established fact that's it's a quarterback driven league. Several times this season both Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees threw for hundreds of yards and multiple touchdowns while simultaneously walking on water, with all due respect to Tim Tebow his lord and savior. Whether Rodgers or Brees wins the regular season MVP is of little consequence after they meet in the inevitable NFC championship game at Lambeau Field, although after todays game the Giants bandwagon is quickly filling up...again. The winner of the Packers vs Saints will earn a trip to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis (again, Indianapolis in February anyone?) thus laying claim to being the best quarterback in the league not married to a supermodel. Indianapolis, the site of this years big game and the city with the most Arbys per capita in the U.S.A. is of course looking forward to picking first in the NFL draft after winning the suck for luck sweepstakes. The Colts will most certainly select the can't miss quarterback out of Stanford Andrew Luck and begin the nonstop scrutiny and gradual mummification of legendary Colts QB Peyton Manning. Analysts are already looking forward to the soap opera in Indy tentatively titled As the QB Turns, a spinoff of the Favre/Rodgers Green Bay Packers saga The QBs of Our Lives. It may be the most intriguing storyline to watch in the NFL for years to come, with all due respect to Tim Tebow his lord and savior. Now with week one of the NFL playoffs in the books it has confirmed that the elite quarterback is essential to compete for a championship. Rookie Andy Dalton and the upstart Bengals, Matt Ryan and the underacieving Falcons, and Matthew Stafford and the celebrated Lions were unable to advance this weekend. Week two games include four former Super Bowl winning elite QBs in action including Rodgers, Brees, Tom Brady, and Eli Manning. Some other notable QBs in action are former overall number one pick and comeback player of the year candidate Alex Smith of the 49ers, Houston Texans third string QB and star of the CBS cop drama TJ Yates Texas Ranger and with all due respect Tim Tebow his lord and savior.