why two weeks is far too long between the championship game and the super bowl: as of 1045 super bowl morning, espn's headline article is "who is the key if the patriots want to win on sunday? it's kevin faulk, says espn's len pasquarelli."

when you start getting stories on a guy who'll be in for 15 plays or so, i think it's overkill. (of course, i stand corrected and place the genius stamp on mr. pasquarelli if faulk breaks a couple of long touchdown runs.)

my prediction: sadly, i don't think it'll be close. if i were a betting man, i'd take the patriots minus as much as ten points or so. new england 34, philadelphia 17.

of course, above all, i'm hoping for a good, interesting game. (and yes, i'll be at the boss' house...) if i had a choice, i'd cheer for mcnabb and the superfreak.

other things i hope happen:

- i hope the nfl would mandate that the patriots starters get announced individually. this 'we're a team...names don't matter' is cliched at this point, and also robs me of one of my favorite parts of the game.

- i hope t.o. makes six catches and scores a touchdown.

- i hope the boss orders dinner in advance. pizza takes far too long on super bowl sunday otherwise. (i know for a fact he hasn't.)

- i hope the other super bowl company (three of the top five coworkers, and perhaps that's it) makes for a good time.

- i hope chris berman somehow gets maimed by a sharp object.

in other news:

- the apartment has been tidied. i'm vacuuming within the next four minutes.

- the oldest rud kid celebrated a birthday on thursday. i called him during dinner...he said he'd call back when he was done. odds of actually receiving a callback: 14-1. (the odds of me calling him back in a similar situation would be better, although the odds of him knowing my birthday are far longer, hehee!)

- after much deliberation, i've determined that the greatest band recording today is ... ... ... the walkmen. if anybody has any jonathan fire*eater recommendations (nobody does), i'd like to hear them.

- after no deliberation, i've determined that 'the rat' is the greatest song in the world.