***TOP FIVE***My All Time Favorite NFL Playoff Games***

*Note... I originally posted this to my facebook timeline... it has been copied/pasted to here... Okay, so... I don't post to facebook these days nearly as often as I used to. But, here's one that's just in time for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. I've rated my own top five, my favorite playoff games of all time. Here they are, starting with #5... 5. Super Bowl XXII (22) January 31st 1988 (1987 Season) Though I did not really take a full time interest in professional football until midway through the 1990 season, this was the first Super Bowl and also the first playoff game I ever remember watching. I was only in 4th grade at the time and being as it was a school night, I was unable to stay up and watch the whole game... but the first half was sufficent and certainly exciting enough. The hometown Washington Redskins had scored 35 points in a brief time period during the second quarter to take a 35-10 halftime lead and then went on to win it, 42-10. Later that night, still in bed but unable to sleep... 90 minutes later to be precise, I distinctly recall hearing the neighbors outside singing the "Hail To The Redskins" fight song. 4. 1998 NFC Wildcard, January 3rd 1999 at Candlestick Park, home of the San Francisco 49ers. When I took up a full time interest in professional football during the 1990 season, I originally adopted the San Francisco 49ers as my favorite NFL team. Being in 7th grade at the time, they were considered by many of my peers to be the most popular team and of course, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were amongst the best players in the league as well. Montana and Rice were eventually replaced by Steve Young and Terrell Owens and this particular game ended with Young's touchdown pass to Owens with less than 10 seconds on the clock to give the 49ers a 30-27 win, a dramatic finish to a very exciting, back and forth, high-scoring game. It was the first time, and to this day (as of this morning anyway), is the only time the 49ers have ever beaten Green Bay in the playoffs. Also, it pretty much marked the end of the 49ers glory days, the last season in their streak of consective winning seasons which went on for nearly two decades. 3. 1999 AFC WIldcard, January 8th 2000. The Music City Miracle. The Tennesse Titans defeated the Buffalo Bills in front of their home crowd in Nashville, by a score of 22-16... on the last play of the game, a kick return. Though these are two teams I really have no interest either way in... this was the most exciting finish to a playoff game, maybe even any game, I've ever watched. Buffalo took the lead on a last minute field goal, 16-15, with just a few seconds remaining... really, just enough time for the ensuing kickoff and nothing else. Tennessee Titans player Lorenzo Neal received the kickoff and almost immediately handed to ball off to team mate, tight end Frank Wycheck. Wycheck then lateraled the ball all the way across the field to team mate Kevin Dyson, a throw that appeared to be very close to an illegal forward pass, and Dyson took it to the end zone for a touchdown. Instant replay revealed it was not a forward pass, and so the touchdown stood. Tennessee advanced to their only ever Super Bowl appearance that year, Buffalo has not returned to the postseason since then. 2. Super Bowl XXXVI (36), February 3rd 2002. (2001 Season) The St Louis Rams seemingly came out of nowhere in the 1999 season to put up a 13-3 regular season record and win their first ever Super Bowl. Two seasons later, quarterback Kurt Warner and the "Greatest Show On Turf" appeared to be an even better team... posting a league best 14-2 regular season record with an explosive offense that seemed "unstoppable" They entered the Super Bowl after the 2001 season as heavy favorites to defeat the New England Patriots and earn their 2nd Super Bowl title. New England had appeared in two Super Bowls previously, losing both in '85 and '96... but were riding an 8-game win streak (including the playoffs) and one of the top-rated defenses in the league that year. Now as an aside, here's a little known fact about me. Though the 49ers were the 1st team I ever adopted as my favorite, I quickly switched loyalties to the Redskins in 1991... however, I took a secret interest in the Patriots as well in the early 90s... this was information I HAD to keep from my peers in middle school at the time, because the Patriots were one of the worst teams in all of football during this era and I'd be ridiculed and mocked if it was revealed that I was a Pats fan. But I liked New England in general (I, at least, enjoyed childhood vacations in Maine)... and quite simply, the old Patriots uniforms were, I thought, the coolest looking uniforms in the NFL. Now, fast forward back to SB XXXVI... New England took advantage of 3 Rams turnovers early in the game to take a 17-3 lead. The Rams offense finally came to life in the 4th, coming back to tie the game late... but 2nd year quarterback Tom Brady woud lead the Patriots on one last drive down the field and Adam Vinatieri kicked the game winning field goal with no time remaining to give New England their first ever Super Bowl title. Now, here's another little known fact about me... excited as I was over the Pats' run to the Super Bowl, I still downplayed my enthusiasm as I did in my middle school years. The feeling then was that I'd be looked at as a "bandwagon fan", particularly since the Pats would then go on to win two more Super Bowls within the next three seasons. As much NFL merchandise as I had purchased or acquired over the years, I never actually owned any New England Patriots gear and never admitted to being a fan until AFTER they lost the Super Bowl to the Giants following the 2007 season. And now, finally... my favorite all time playoff game... 1. 2001 AFC Divisional, January 19th 2002. This game could have probably won the award on its own even without the controversial call... of course, then again, without the tuck rule, the Patriots would not have won. This was an absolutely historic game. The Patriots' last home game played in the old Foxboro stadium before they moved to their new home, Gillete Stadium. Classic January playoff football atmosphere in New England, the snow came down hard all through the game and never really let up at all that Saturday night. It was one of those games where I truly wish that I could have been there in person to see it. I still get chills watching the highlights. Everyone who follows football knows what happened in the 4th quarter and overtime... so I'll skip the details here. The instant replay reversal of Brady's apparent fumble late in the 4th quarter was crucial to the Pats' run to the Super Bowl that year, and the start of their glory days, but it was just one of the many elements that combined to make this playoff game, in my opinion, epic. It goes down as being my favorite NFL game ever, postseason or regular season.

(In Tribute To Aunt Louise) Over The River And Through The Woods...

"Over the river and through the woods." These words were used to open that old song which is ordinarily heard at Thanksgiving time. This opening line of that song seemed a perfect title to begin what I intend to be a short tribute to my great-aunt Louise.

Many, perhaps even most of, my memories of Aunt Louise are centered around family trips to her home in Baltimore... every year at Thanksgiving while growing up as a child.

Memories still very clear and vivid even now in my 30s. The big old wooden swing at the edge of her driveway. The pond in her front yard that had the small island... with the little bridge leading up to it. The little playhouse which sat farther back from the driveway and up against the trees... which I always used to enjoy playing hide and seek in with my cousins Kelli and Andy... and somehow or another managed to get locked in there on more than one occasion!

Our last trip as a family there for the Thanksgiving holiday... well, our last overnight trip anyway... came in 1989, just a few days short of my 12th birthday. We had some snow earlier in the week and my cousins had built a snowman in the yard prior to our arrival. My younger cousin Andy, he was 7 years old at the time, knocked the snowman over and then blamed it on me. And Aunt Louise believed him! I remember being so mad over it then... but it's one of those memories I look back on now and can't help but chuckle a little. Kids being kids.

Aunt Louise loved children. She loved people in general anyway... but specifically as a child, I remember her home as being a very welcoming place for children of all ages. She had a very kind personality and a seemingly endless amount of patience. I never once heard her yell or raise her voice... ever!

Aunt Louise was a happy person. She loved to smile, and could truly light up a whole room... and always gave the greatest hugs too.

My visits with her and my great-uncle Bill were not as frequent during my teen and adult years, but we still kept in touch as often as was possible. When I lived in New Jersey from 2002-03, I used to enjoy stopping by to see them while traveling back and forth to/from Virginia... and will always treasure the hand-written letters I've received from her in the mail in more recent years.

Aunt Louise passed away on Monday morning... August 29th 2011, following a brief illness. It makes me sad that she is gone but I am thankful and very blessed to have so many wonderful memories of her.

New Profile Picture and Some More Things...

Updated my blog with a new picture on the front. This is actually one from my father's collection of old photos. His parents, my grandparents Daniel & Muriel Kinnaly are featured here in this photograph on their wedding day. It was June 17th 1941... which would make it 70 years ago to this very day. Grampa and Nana are at center with both sets of my great grandparents on either side.

I'm very blessed to have this nice piece of genealogy in my collection. 1941 was actually a significant year for family history in a couple of different ways. Grampa and Nana's first child, my father's oldest sister and my Aunt Mary (born the year after in 1942) was married to a very good man who happened to be born in 1941. Patrick Francis ("Frank") Lavigne... my uncle Frank.

I lost my uncle Frank this past winter. He passed away on December 31st... nine months after having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Frank did rather well... he was given 3 to 6 months to live and actually seemed to be improving in health through the aggressive treatments he was offered. That six month mark came and went and I think we all were pretty confident that he would beat the odds and live for several more years.

But cancer is a wild beast, too unpredictable it seems. Evidently, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Frank took a very quick turn for the worse. I will never forget that morning... December 31st... I was off work for a long holiday weekend... sitting in my room, relaxing with a cup of coffee... my dad knocked on the door, came in and told me... "Just got a call from Eileen." He didn't need to say any more. Eileen is the middle sibling in my dad's family. Uncle Frank had passed... and less than two months away from his 70th birthday.

I will always miss Uncle Frank. I knew him well when I was a child growing up, saw him often on trips to New England with the family... even tipped him over in a rowboat on a lake in Maine one time when I was 6 years old (a story we laughed about often over the years). We grew slightly apart later as I did not see him or Aunt Mary at all for several years between 1995 and 2006... but in those last few years between '06 and 2010, I made it a point to go and re-visit with my New England-dwelling part of the family more and more often and we got to know each other again. And he is still probably one of my favorite relatives outside of my immediate family.

Alright, this went on for a little bit longer than I intended it to. Storms outside so I should close down the laptop for now...

Week 17 Of The 2009-10 NFL Season Is Here

Week 17... final week of the regular season. Over these past few weeks, I have generally been up and down with my predictions... going 12-4 in week 14, dropping to 7-9 in week 15, then rebounding for another 12-4 week in the 16th week of the season. My record for the season to date for all of the first 16 weeks is 154-86... slightly better than where I was at this time last year (150-89-1).

Picking games in the last week of the regular season is always, I've found, the most complicated. Not knowing for sure which teams will rest their starters and even then, how exactly that will effect the outcome of their games. But, last year I was 9-7 in the final week... overall, not too bad all things considering.

Here are my picks for each of the week 17 games...

Buffalo over Indianapolis

Minnesota over New York Giants

Tampa Bay over Atlanta

San Francisco over St Louis

Pittsburgh over Miami

Carolina over New Orleans

Chicago over Detroit

New England over Houston

Cleveland over Jacksonville

Dallas over Philadelphia

Tennessee over Seattle

San Diego over Washington

Oakland over Baltimore (Major Upset Alert!)

Denver over Kansas City

Green Bay over Arizona

New York Jets over Cincinnati

Happy New Year!

Super Bowl

Finally tomorrow on Sunday February 1st, the Pittsburgh Steelers will play against the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

My final prediction for the NFL 2008-09 season...

Pittsburgh Steelers will win their sixth Super Bowl all time by a final score of 20-14.

Should be a great game. I am also very much looking forward to seeing Bruce Springsteen perform at the halftime intermission.

NFC/AFC Championship Games

Only four teams left in the race to the Vince Lombardi trophy. My picks for tomorrow's games between the remaining two NFC teams and the remaining two AFC teams:

Philadelphia Eagles over Arizona Cardinals (although if Arizona plays the way they did against Carolina, I wouldn't be surprised if this one went the other way)

Pittsburgh Steelers over Baltimore Ravens (Baltimore is a good team, but I think Pittsburgh is a better team and they will get their 3rd win over the Ravens this season)

Football Picks... Divisional Playoffs

Just for fun, I enjoy predicting which NFL teams will win every week during pro football season. My win/loss/tie record to date for the 2008-09 season (including last week's wildcard playoffs) is 160-99-1

An additional side note... since 2005, the home teams' winning percentage in the divisional round is only 50%

Now to my picks...

Baltimore Ravens over Tennessee Titans in an upset

Carolina Panthers over Arizona Cardinals (practically the lock of the week... Arizona hasn't won a game on the east coast all year, Carolina is 8-0 at home)

Philadelphia Eagles over New York Giants (my bold upset pick of the week... Eagles are on a roll)

Pittsburgh Steelers over San Diego Chargers