A Championship Season for Champs

Yes, my friends. I am a long-suffering New York Jets football fan. My highlight was when I was 17, when my Jets surprised the world by following through on Broadway Joe's guarantee, that he would lead the underdog Jets on a cold and rainy January Sunday afternoon to a stunning 16-7 unbelievable win over the Don Shula-coached mighty Baltimore Colts.

Since then... a tease here and there, most recently, five Januarys ago when Mark Sanchez took the Jets into the third quarter of the AFC Championship game, trailing the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 24-0 and outscored the Steelers 19-0 from the middle of the third quarter on. But, Mark forgot, and so did the defense, that it is a 60 minute game, not 23 minutes.

I bring this up because the Jets' arch - rival New England Patriots are in the AFC Championship game this year and I am pulling for them to win. Yes, you read that right... I WANT THE PATRIOTS TO WIN.

I also am pulling for the legendary Green Bay Packers to beat the Seahawks. Why? Well, I think this would be the best Super Bowl ever played (since, of course, 1969) because in my view, the two best quarterbacks leading the two best teams would be playing each other.

After last year's debacle where Peyton Manning looked at the Seattle defense with the fear of God in his eyes, I think football fans deserve a classic game for the ages. Don't you?

Over the years, there have been surprises, games which went in a whole other way, where horrible offenses beat great defenses, where favorites were humiliated, where underdogs proved why they were, where an undefeated team lost to a wild card qualifier and in one magical year, a team went 17-0.

I have faith that two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks will give us a great Super Bowl. And that is my fervent hope in this NFC and AFC Championship games, that the end will be exactly that: Rodgers vs Brady.

I am pulling for you Tom, even as I know you have, since 2000, been a destroyer of my dreams. And, I am pulling for you Aaron because I think you are really a much better quarterback, and person, than your predecessor.

Then, in two weeks, at least for this football fan, there will be a great game played by two great teams, led by two of the greatest.

That would be Super!