Dallas vs. Minnesota

The Cowboys are a two-and-a-half point underdog in Sunday's playoff matchup with the Minnesota Vikings and NFL minds I respect, including Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News, are picking the Vikings to win this game.

I dunno. Vikings quarterback Brett Favre usually has one simply horrendous game every season, one where it seems he throws almost as many interceptions as he does completions. He hasn't had one of those games this year -- yet. And if you look at the last four weekends of professional football, no one -- and I mean, NO ONE -- has been playing better than the Cowboys (with the possible exception of the San Diego Chargers). The Cowboys seem to be on a roll right now.

I just have a feeling that the Cowboys are going to win this one and win it big -- like by three touchdowns or more.

I remember spending one very cold (wind chill was -85 degrees) weekend in Minneapolis in January 1982. I was there to attend a birthday celebration for Rod Stewart. It was Jan. 10 of that year and I was sitting in the hotel bar watching a playoff game between the Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers -- the game in which San Francisco tight end Dwight Clark made what became known as "The Catch," a touchdown reception from quarterback Joe Montana with 51 seconds left to play in the game, that gave the 49ers a 28-27 victory. All the patrons in the bar erupted into deafening cheers. I thought I was in the middle of some convention of San Francisco fanatics or something, so I turned to the bartender and asked him what the deal was. He said the people of Minneapolis, and Minnesota in general, simply hated the Cowboys, holding a grudge because of the "Hail Mary pass" six years earlier, a 50-yard TD pass from Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson that gave Dallas a 17-14 victory over Minnesota, knocking the Vikings out of the playoffs that year.

I felt terribly alone in that Minnesota bar that afternoon. Sometimes I am a "get-even guy" and I would like nothing more than to have the Cowboys add even more sorrow to those Minneapolis patrons who were not cheering because one team won, but because the other team lost.