Afternoon Baseball

I've been terribly neglectful of this space. My apologies. But with the NFL game starting in about 5 minutes, I have to sneak in picks.

Seattle is dominant at home. The Giants found this out early in the year. So is Denver -- they've won something like 80 percent of their home games over a 20-plus year span.

So they are obvious favorites. They are for other reasons, too. Seattle has been the best team in the NFC all season, and they have a good team around Shaun Alexander, at once the most-overrated and underrated running back ever. Denver has been in a "we can beat anyone but the Colts" mode for two years now (similar to the Mets' jubilation in 2000 when the Cardinals beat the Braves in the NLDS), so they are actually excited to play the Steelers.

But here's the catch: Carolina and Pittsburgh are good. Carolina is a clutch team -- the New Orleans without Jim Haslett and Aaron Brooks tanking each December for the past 4-5 years -- and while Pittsburgh has lost many AFC championships over the years, most have actually been at home. The Steel Curtain doesn't like the hometown pressure.
And while Jerome Bettis may resemble that whale that was swimming up the River Thames, he's still symbolizes the toughness of that team. Even with that terrible fumble.

So...I'm picking the road teams. Carolina and Pittsburgh to win. It's just a feeling, no stats or philosophy behind this one.