It's the best American football wknd of the year. The four still-standing franchises slug it out for a slot in the Super Bowl. Awesome.

Oh sure, that whole Super Bowl thing is great too, what with its championship bestowing and all -- but the culmination of the playoffs leading up to the Super Bowl's spectacle seems somehow sweeter. Everything is heightened, and the promise of fulfilling dreams drives each team's every action.

Instead of weight of finality that soaks through each Super Bowl, Conference final games are about taking that next step, getting the final stage.

Ahh, American football, your spectacle mercifully distracts from the intractable pain of the everyday.

* New Orleans vs. Chicago
Sunday, January 21, 2007. Noon, PST.
2007 Divisional Playoffs
The One-Sided Battle

At last check Chicago had a 90% chance of snow for Sunday.

Excellent.

All the better to set up this epic battle between the NFL's #1 offense against one of the league's very best defenses.

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