NFL fans, freak 'em with knowledge this Sunday. Just offer up this wisdom before the game and during commercials to provide your friends with their very own John Madden:
ALL TIED UP: Expect feathers to be flying in Glendale, Arizona, when the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals match up for the NFC Championship. In their 111 all-time meetings, the Eagles and Cards have each won 53 times with five ties.
BACK IN THE DAY: Sunday's NFL title tilt marks the third all-time playoff contest between the E's and the C's. They did battle for the NFL Championship in 1947 and 1948, splitting the series. (And don't be a bird brain and say the Cards were in Arizona at the time. They weren't. Think Windy City.)
'MEMBER THE NINERS?: Before the Eagles, the last team to qualify for five NFC title games in an eight-year span were the San Francisco 49ers between 1990 and 1997. You know the group: Montana, Young, Watters, Deion, and the rest here on Gilligan's Isle.
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NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Now over in AFC land, we have the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting their friends (not so much), the Baltimore Ravens. When last they met at Heinz Field in September, it was a hard-hitting Monday nighter, but in the end, it was the Ironmen from Steel City emerging from the cloud of dust in a 23-20 overtime win. It was the Steelers' sixth win in their last seven home games vs. Baltimore.
ROOKIE THIS: Baltimore set an NFL record this year for the most wins (11) by a team that was guided by a rookie head coach (John Harbaugh) and rookie quarterback (Joe Flacco).
NO OFF WEEKS: The Ravens will be playing for the 18th consecutive weekend, after having moved up their bye week from Week 10 to Week 2 and rescheduling their Sept. 14 game at Houston to Nov. 9 due to Hurricane Ike.
IMAGINE THAT: NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison was once property of the Ravens. Signed after the 2003 season, the team allocated him to the NFL Europe League in 2004. He re-signed with the Steelers in 2004, returning to the team that originally signed him in 2002.
PASS THE HINES: Just 88 more yards. That's all Hines Ward needs in pass receiving real estate to become Pittsburgh's all-time postseason leader. If gets it, he'll pass John Stallworth (1,054 yards), a four-time Super Bowl winner and now a Hall of Famer. And one more TD catch by Hines means he ties 1975 NFL MVP Lynn Swann (9) for second-best among all Steelers in postseason receiving touchdowns. Mr. Stallworth leads the pack with 12.
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