I could almost hear the higher-ups in the NFL cringe as the Carolina Panthers ran the clock out to seal their victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game on Sunday, 14-3. See, the Carolina Panthers were the last team in the world the NFL wanted to make it to the Super Bowl. It's a small market team, they want a big market team. There's not one player that stands way out, they want a marquee name to focus on. It was all wrong in the eyes of the NFL and I'm sure it just wasn't in the script. It was supposed to be Green Bay, everybody's sentimental favorites, or St. Louis, with their high-powered offense, or Philly even, with their "We finally made it" storyline. Nope. They got the Panthers, a team that wins with, of all things, a good defense. They run the ball for crying out loud! How can you sell that?

But it was a sweet victory. A somewhat anticlimactic victory, given the Cardiac Cats ability to make fans sprout gray hairs in the last two minutes of games, as evidenced by their 8 or 9 last minute comebacks this season. I told Erin I didn't know if Jake Delhomme knew how to kneel on the ball, because we've never really been in a position where we had to do it. We're usually running our two minute offense with two minutes left! To crown it all off, the cover of Sports Illustrated this week is a great testament to what the Panthers have done this season. Finally, a little respect: