I mean, lol Chicago bears clutch factor and all, but we have to be looking mighty scary to folks headed into the playoffs

Looking at the futures odds, I'd much sooner bet the Bears at 11/2 to win the NFC than the Rams at 5/2 to win it. I give the Eagles very little chance of winning at Soldier Field next week, and I like the Bears' chances at upsetting the Rams.

Whats your take on the Rose Bowl today LKJ?

I mean, as much as you dislike WA, I doubt you can root for OSU in good concience

I'm unapologetically rooting my balls off for the Buckeyes, as I did with the Tide a couple of years ago.

Obviously I wish this was just about anyone else as UW's opponent, but I can only play the hand I'm dealt.

Good, good. The further ahead Ohio State got, the more imperative it became that they complete the win, as UW's insufferableness would have broken the charts if they won the Rose Bowl on some sort of historic comeback.

The comeback attempt unfortunately did give UW fans a few moments of hope and fleeting happiness when of course the optimal number of said moments would be zero, but I'll take it.

It's weird that I, in the past a daily gambler and in the present a still-occasional gambler, feel inconvenienced by this, but:

New colleague in my office is a Cowboys fan. I was horrified to walk by his office the other day and find its wall populated by Cowboys, Lakers, and Blackhawks pennants all lined up next to each other. He's native to Indiana, so the Blackhawks part is the only forgivable one. Anyway, he comes by my office and, knowing that I'm a Seahawks fan, says, "So, should we be placing a friendly wager on this game?"

I feel like I'm essentially not allowed to say, "Nah I don't really feel like it, the fact that our season might end is enough of an emotional gamble," so I know I'm on the hook to say yes to a wager. I'll be less than thrilled if I'm buying this dude lunch on Monday.

Why would you feel obligated to bet with him? Because you're known as a betting man in the office?

Nah, because of some misguided Puddyesque “it’s the playoffs, gotta support the team” ego thing.

"I'll pass, it's stressful enough without having money on the line" is a perfectly fine response and if they have a problem with it then **** em

Oh I know, I fully admit it's a silly thing for me to impose an obligation on myself for.

Anyway, game seems a coin flip, gun to my head I actually feel like a win is slightly more likely than a loss. I think we get kicked around next week if we end up playing New Orleans, but still hoping to find out.

I think most of America is rooting for you buddy.

Betting on playoffs sucks when it's your team. When the Blackhawks were in game 7 against the ducks a few years ago I was in Vegas and put a couple hundred on the ducks as a happiness hedge lol.

Yeah, I mean the cost is nominal, I can absorb it if we lose. As much as anything, it just feels like a waste because I bet sports seldom enough that a lot of the value in occasionally doing it is giving me a reason to care about a game, and obviously your own team's playoff game never needs that incentive.

I guess I would assume that this is a game where a big chunk of the viewers don't like either team, but it's probably true that the Seahawks are a bit less hated than the Cowboys. Although I don't gather that there's a strong consensus opinion about the Seahawks in Indy anyway, I do try to embrace the heel role by having this book propped up on the front of my desk at work:



My boss was confused because I didn't seem like the type to be championing a motivational book, but it made more sense to her when I explained, "Oh, I haven't even read it. It's just there to troll people."

Perhaps my view is skewed, but I feel like the pats and dallas hold a lock on the most anti sweated teams in the NFL

I'm sure you're right about the Pats. Guess my suspicion is that the Steelers might draw more hate than Dallas.

I can never really be bothered to particularly hate Dallas. I don't like them, but they wouldn't get a second thought from me when asked to name the teams I hate the most. Like, yeah, Jerry Jones is particularly unlikable, but for me he's probably not even my most hated owner just in the NFC East given that Daniel Snyder is still a thing. Aside from Terrell Owens, I've never felt much animosity toward their marquee players (dating back to the Aikman/Emmitt/Irvin teams). To me they're just another NFC East team, a division where none of the teams are likable.

It probably helps that we've gotten the better of them in more big moments than they've ever gotten the better of us, but that's also true of Green Bay, and most of this thread is just me spamming Packer hate.

Colts looking scary these days

They do look good, but I still don't see them winning at Arrowhead.

Im not high on the chiefs. They lost to 4/5 playoff teams they played (NE, Rams, Chargers, Seahawks) and their one win was home vs Balt in OT. They have no defense.

I think we're in for the standard Chiefs Divisional Round playoff loss

I would second that but we will get the chance to see. Momentum is pretty huge in playoffs and chiefs don't have that and colts do.

Whatever happens, hopefully the other games are more interesting than this one

While I believe in in-game momentum, I really don't think game-to-game momentum is much of a thing.

I think game to game momentum can be a thing during the season but once you hit the finals it's a totally different proposition.

Momentum isn't really meant as some hippy thing. It's a combo of confidence and figuring out stuff that works

Only could watch the 2nd half, but they looked downright awful in that time. KC should absolutely mop the floor with them. Also they lucked out not getting the Ravens/Chargers winner.

Yikes, poor hurns

Yeah, that was the grossest sports injury I've seen in quite some time.