My quest to find tickets to the game Sunday led me to this Craigslist entry:

Mallards tickets for Packer Tickets – $1

Reply to: sale-538606796@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-01-14, 9:10AM CST

I will trade two Mallards tickets for Pack/Giants tickets this Sunday. I am a huge packer fan so please make me happy.

He then finished the ad off with this touch of irony:

\”Only serious inquiries please.\”

And they say there\’s no drug problem in Madison.

I\’m not sure how I missed this story about Greg Jennings\’ relationship with Brett Favre, but it\’s an outstanding read.

If you\’re looking for a read that is somewhat less outstanding, feel free to peruse Peter King\’s appalling, bloated \”Monday Morning Quarterback\” feature at Sports Illustrated. If you enjoy hearing this \”insider\” make the most obvious statements imaginable, feel free to peruse insight like this:

\”Atari Bigby. Great name. Played a great game for the Packers.\”

\”The Patriots\’ Josh McDaniels calls a good game.\” (Really? Was it the 17-0 record that led you to go out on a limb like that?)

\”I don\’t know how many more injuries the Giants secondary can take, but that is a physical and confident unit, whoever plays.\”

\”Eli Manning has played three straight games without making a game-killing mistake.\” (Is that why they\’re in the NFC Championship?)

\”Bob Sanders is a great player, and my choice for defensive player of the year, but that was a bush league thing he did after Nate Kaeding missed a second-quarter field goal try, putting his arm around Kaeding and tapping him on the helmet.\” (Incidentally, Sanders and Kaeding both went to Iowa at the same time, so they could be friends. It is entirely possible Sanders was encouraging him. Somehow I know this, but not the \”insider.\”)

\”Patrick Crayton, you\’ve got to be kidding me. That third-quarter drop just might have been the biggest play of the game.\”

Okay, that\’s enough. I can\’t take any more.

I have to admit that I think this week is the Packers\’ Super Bowl. The Patriots are unbeatable. They\’re just an absolute machine. So fans should live in the moment, enjoy winning the NFC, and bask in the Favre mediagasm the two subsequent weeks. Because the Super Bowl isn\’t going to be pretty.