Better than the Super Bowl?

It's better than Super Bowl Sunday; it always has been.

There are two championships and they both have longer histories than the Super Bowl.

On top of that, we got an overtime game in the NFL's third-coldest contest? Does it get any better?

For the Giants and Packers, it wasn't either of their most famous cold-weather games. Heck, the last time they played each other for the championship, a major rule change in the game was the facemask penalty.

That was in 1962. That year the Packers went 14-1 in winning the championship.

Their only loss came on Thanksgiving to the Lions.

Although the end of the NFC chipper was disappointing, it was exciting. The Packers should have tried to get the ball to their special young running back, Ryan Grant, more. From 200 yards rushing last week to 13 carries this week? It didn't make sense. Then the game had to be decided on a poor decision and poor throw by Brett Favre at the end - bummer.

HOW ABOUT the Patriots and their pursuit of perfection? That was a close game, too, until the Pats scored their final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Too bad the Chargers didn't have a healthy LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates, their two best players. We got spoiled, unless you're a fan of the Packers or Chargers.

Nonetheless, it was a good Sunday for me as a fan after a long and grueling season. I'm a Miami Dolphins fan, dating back to Dan Marino's rookie season - when I was 9-years-old. Not only did the Dolphins go 1-15, Tom Brady broke a hallowed record held by Marino until a couple of years ago - the most touchdown passes in a season - and Favre broke Marino's record of career touchdown passes.

… The closest thing I had to pride on Sunday was the two best receivers in the AFC Championship were from the Dolphins: Chris Chambers and Wes Welker.

Ugh.

TO GET prepared to support Favre on Sunday, my wife went outside in her jersey (and no undershirt) to play with our dog in the foot of fresh powder that fell Saturday night here in Kalispell. It was 11 degrees with a negative-8 degree wind chill here. That wasn't as cold as the minus-24 degree wind chill in Green Bay.

… Yeah, she didn't last long - but it gave her some perspective.

And although she doesn't get to see Favre in another Super Bowl, she did get to watch him set another record. His 90-yard touchdown to Donald Driver broke the Drew Brees-to-Reggie Bush 88-yard touchdown in last year's chipper as the longest scoring play in NFC Championship Game history. (Too bad it didn't provide much consolation when I reminded her after the game.)

SO HERE we are now, hoping the Giants can put up a good fight against the Patriots - like they did on the Saturday night game three weeks ago - in a Super Bowl with another Manning.

My vote for the No. 1 commercial Sunday: The Bud Light one where the narrator says you will be able to understand animals after drinking the beer and all his dog says is "sausage."

Carl Hennell is a sports reporter for the Daily Inter

Lake. He can be reached by e-mail at

chennell@dailyinterlake.com or by calling 758-4446.