There has long been a theory among conspiracy theorists that NBA Commissioner David Stern would manipulate the NBA draft to make sure the right team got the right player and the NBA playoffs for the league to get the best match up.   That is, the one most appealing to fans and the networks.  There was always the thought that the Bulls won not just because of the greatness of Michael Jordan but because of the kindness of officials who were told by Stern to lay off the ticky tack fouls and to "let them play".  No proof of this actually exists, but let's pretend for a minute there was a basis for it.

If a commissioner of a sport can manipulate results to determine the outcome for the best appeal for the playoffs and the championship game, then NFL commish Roger Goodell must have hired Stern as a consultant.  Yesterday, two teams that weren't supposed to win beat two teams that were.  Even bigger, these two teams that won will have to play their third game of the playoffs on the road and are expected, by most experts at this point to lose.  This theoretically sets up the match up the NFL wanted all along for the Super Bowl: The Green Bay Packers vs. the New England Patriots.

Hear me out for a second.  Can you just see the promos now on FOX?  "Tom Brady and the Patriots are one game away from perfection.  The only man standing in their way is a 38 year-old gunslinger who doesn't care about perfection, just about winning."  Brady vs. Favre.  Can you see the headlines?  The columns?  The unabashed man crushes?  The feel good Green Bay Packers, a team that won only four games two years ago against the evil empire, a team that cheats if necessary, to win.  America's heartland and the good ol' boy who is considered a state treasure against the scoring machine that is Tom Brady.  An upstart young coach, a new guru, who revived a franchise on the skids in just two seasons vs. the sullen, morose genius that is Bill Belichick.  Brats and beer vs. clam chowder.

Besides, the Giants are led by Eli Manning, not Peyton Manning and Tom Coughlin, everyone's favorite drunk uncle. The Chargers are led by the foul and loud mouthed Phillip Rivers, who taunted fans in Indy yesterday despite not having a whole lot to do with the outcome.  What kinds of compelling stories can be derived from these characters?

But add the Packers, America's feel good story and the Patriots, the perfect team to the mix and it becomes something of legend.  And top it all off with if the Packers should win, will the gunslinger holster his weapon permanently and ride off into the sunset? 

Sure, the Giants and Chargers will have something to say about it, but come on, the Giants have to play at Lambeau in the cold while the Chargers have their star running back and starting quarterback out with leg injuries.  The only story line that would be even remotely as compelling is the Giants getting a second crack at New England, but odds are that's not going to happen.  It's not what the football gods or Roger Goodell want.  David Stern would heartily agree.

Hey, I'm just saying. . .