Apropos of nothing, my rooting interest for the eight remaining teams in the NFL playoffs.

8. New York Jets I still can't even fathom that the Jets won the AFC East. Kudos to Herman Edwards there. But they're still a team I really don't care for (probably more for their fans than the actual players), so they get the bottom rung.

7. Tennessee Titans There is nothing about this team that elicits emotion in me, good or bad. So I'm not so much rooting against them as find that my level of indifference puts them here. I kind of like watching Steve McNair play, but he's now an older, less exciting version of Michael Vick. So meh.

6. Oakland Raiders I should really have more interest in a team that features Jerry Rice, a Yankee Conference product at the helm in Rich Gannon, and a Golden Domer in Tim Brown. But then I remember that the racist, drug-abusing Bill Romanowski plays there. And Al Davis is still the owner. I suppose I want them to beat the Jets, but after that they can feel free to mail it in.

5. Pittsburg Steelers The magic act against the Browns notwithstanding, I also find myself hard-pressed to find something to get interested in with the Steelers. I suppose the possibility of Tommy Maddox bringing his XFL Million Dollar Game MVP status to the Super Bowl is good for irony's sake. I don't dislike the Steelers, and would be fine if they won the whole thing. It's just that I find myself more interested in the NFC teams. Which is very strange, given that I'm enough of an AFC homer that I rooted for the Bills all four times they made the big game.

4.Atlanta Falcons Yes, this is very much Michael Vick-fueled. And while part of my interest here is good-natured, wanting to see this kid blow up the league, there's also the darker side, where I want to see if success can spoil him.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers I like Brad Johnson. I don't care for Keyshawn Johnson. I like Mike Alstott. I don't care for Warren Sapp. I do like Simeon Rice, Derrick Brooks, Ronde Barber, and John Lynch. I don't care so much for Jon Gruden. I wish that the team was back in their orange and white unis. I always had a soft spot for them.

Inasmuch as I don't really like Keyshawn or Sapp, I do respect their abilities and would like to see what they can do in the Super Bowl. I just won't be too upset if they don't.

2. San Francisco 49ers As a young Boy Scout, I went on a cross country skiing weekend during my second year with the troop. After spending a fair amount of time enjoying nature's beauty I returned to the lodge in time to see Joe Montana roll out, throw up a prayer, and have Dwight Clark materialize out of seemingly nowhere to make the grab and defeat the Cowboys. I've always liked the Niners since then.

Continued success can get old. The Atlanta Braves can lose the NL East any time now. I long for the day when the top five in major college football is Rutgers, SMU, Colorado State, Central Florida, and Rice. Michael Schumacher can forget how to shift gears ASAP. But I don't get tired of seeing the Niners up there and in the playoffs.

I should hold the Jerry Rice thing against them, too, but the emergence of Terrell Owens called for a move, as unpopular as it may be. Jeff Garcia has also been fun to watch and to have as a fantasy owner. Yeah, they had Romanowski for a while, too, and I had to grit my teeth, but those days are past.

Plus, the red and gold unis are sharp.

Even so, my top rooting interest for the playoffs are:

1. Philadelphia Eagles They really shouldn't be. I usually have no more than a mild interest in this team, but I think the way they got stronger while playing with their third string QB intrigued me. Their defense is fun to watch, too. The only problem with them doing well is that I'd lose a teammate for Ann B. Davis, as he may get hooked up with NFC title game tickets.

I will say that any of the top 5 or 6 teams could win it all and I'd be fine with it. The only team I really don't want to see win is the Jets, just for all the insufferable woofing from New York types who are up here. Bad enough we have to deal with them during baseball season.

In non-playoff football news, I still can't wrap my head around Bill Parcells as the head coach in Dallas. I'm thinking that some point around week 3 Parcells will have a sideline altercation with Jerry Jones during a game that sees the owner stuffed into a Gatorade cooler. I just don't think there's enough football team to go around with these two guys.