NLF CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY 2026

 Good Sunday morning. There's a lot going on in the world and the sporting world, so let's get to it. 

A massive winter ❆storm is hitting the middle section of the country and the president has squarely laid the blame on the small Caribbean island of Antigua, demanding they surrender their island for reparations. "No one has ever seen anything like this storm, and the democrats and Antigua are to blame" said the president on his social media platform bullshit for beanbrains. 

China's dictator Xi Jinping eviscerated the top leadership of the People's Liberation Army, announcing investigations into China's top generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli.  Zhang's removal is the most shocking, as he and Xi are childhood friends and he was one of only a few PLA generals who had combat experience, leading a division in the lengthy boarder war with Vietnam that started in 1979. Investigations in China are similar to those announced by US Attorney General Pam Bondi- closed minded affairs with the filing of charges a forgone conclusion. The difference is that in the US we have a (semi for now) independent judiciary, but Bondi and the president are doing their level best to change that.   

As for the NFL we have two intriguing games on tap.  First up is the Cheaters at Denver who lost their star QB on a freak play at the end of the game. We are betting with our heart, not our head and taking the Broncos at home +4.5. Fun fact. Cheaters have never won a playoff game in the Mile High stadium. They are an 0-4.  The weather is a chilly 10 degrees with mild wind that will make it feel like 0. If you want to have some fun, bet Bronco QB Jarret Stidham to have over 209 passing yards. 

The best game of the day is LA at Seattle. Defense wins championships. Period. End of story. And the Seahawks have quietly built the best defense in the NFL. That D will be up against arguably the best player in the NFL this year- the fun-name-to-say Puka Nakua.  The Seahawks are a paltry -2.5 favorite mostly because Vegas books see a big chance for Seahawks QB Sam Darnold to screw is up, while Rams QB Matthew Stafford has been there (and NFC championship game) and done that (won).  It is really hard for us to pick against a great D. Steelers. Ravens. 85 Bears.  86 and 90 Giants with Lawrence Taylor.  

The totals in both games are tough as well. 43 in Denver (weather related) and 46 in Seattle (will the D hold up against Stafford and Nakua?)

We may just sit this one out and enjoy the game for its entertainment value, as hard as that seems to believe.  But if you are not suffering like us through the last week of Dry January and will be enjoying a few 🍺 watching the games and eating 🐔wings and pizza 🍕, then you have to take the Seahawks -2.5. 

This is the last NFL football Sunday of 2025, and it has been a fun one. It may also be our last blogging about it.  And if that is the case, we truly thank you for tuning in and reading all these years. It has been fun. As championship Golfer Gary Player wisely says about his rules of life, change is the price of survival. 

NFL 2024 CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY

 Two great games today will choose your 2024 super bowl teams. 

First up are the upstart DC Commanders at Philly.  

DC has a rookie QB. (We like to rhyme...all the time). 

Has a rookie QB ever started a championship game with the right to go to the super bowl? 

Yes. Five times. 

How many times has the rookie QB won the game and taken his team to the super bowl? Let us count. There  was....and then ...and of course that game....so....adding them up the answer is ZERO! Not once has a rookie won a championship game and taken his team to the super bowl. 

Can DC QB Daniels do it today? Probably not, but that has not stopped Rumpole from getting +225 for his $100 bet and take DC and the money line, eschewing (we would bet that no other sports tout has used the word "eschewing" today) the six points. 

Should you follow us? Better to take the six points as DC keeps it close. 

But if, as Karl Wallenda said "life is on the wire", then eschew the points and take next month's mortgage/rent payment and put in on DC to go to the super bowl. 

Buffalo plays at KC today in the evening game at 6:30. The Chiefs returning to the super bowl is about as welcome as a former president winning an election and regaining the presidency. Except here most of the nation is united in wanting to see KC lose. We have Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes/Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift fatigue. The Chiefs going back to the super bowl is as annoying as those 1-800-Kars-4-kids radio spots. 

(Query? If you have Sirius Satellite radio, what is more annoying? The 1-800-Kars-4-Kids ad, or that annoying Wilfred Brimley type guy who hates lawyers and wants to get you out of your timeshare?  Both of those drive us nuts!) 

The plays here are player props. Josh Allen to throw over 225 yards? We are in. Bills WR Khalil Shakir over 5 receptions and 55 yards as a parlay? You betcha (pun intended).  

Who do we like? Bills to win. But because they are playing Nosferatu who was seemingly dead with 13 seconds left the last time these two teams met in the AFC championship game only to rise from the dead and beat the Bills, we are taking the two points as well. Bills +2 over KC. 

This has been a great NFL season and the playoffs have not disappointed. Todays games will be great. 

Enjoy. 

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND

BREAKING: TRUMP RESPONDS TO THE BLOG*. SEE BELOW. 
Three games, four teams, one president, one speaker, one team  on the path to immortality. 

Cheaters at K.C. We may have another "frozen tundra" classic (check out the Vince Lombardi ice bowl clip below).  The O/U is 56 and because of the weather, take the Under. The Cheaters are getting 3 on the road. K.C has one of the best home crowds- loud and involved. Brady is the old. Mahomes is the new. More importantly, the Cheaters improved secondary still cannot keep up with K.C.'s speed.  Andy Reid takes a team back to the Super Bowl for a second time, and this time he wins.  Chiefs -3, under 56. 

Rams at Saints. This is a tough one. Rams are getting 3.5. Saints may be the most complete team in the NFL, and Drew Brees wants another shot at the big one. While we will be rooting for the Rams, we cannot advise betting against the Saints at home. Give the 3.5 and take the under. 57 is too much in a championship game. 

Trump v. Pelosi. 
Pelosi has the home field advantage, having played in DC for a few decades, while POTUS is the new comer. POTUS has some built in advantages (controls military transport planes) but the speaker controls the money and money makes the world go-round. 
Trump is the rookie, while Pelosi is the wily veteran who knows the rule book inside out. Take the Speaker not to cave, while POTUS is looking for a way out of the mess he created. Never bet on someone who doesn't have an exit strategy before he starts the crisis. In other words, don't bet on a moron who has no idea what he is doing. 

The Over-Under is February 10. Take the over and buckle up. This is going to be a while. 
TRUMP RESPONDS TO THE BLOG: Shortly after posting our over/under, POTUS held a news conference with an offer to break the logjam. The proposal included money for the humanitarian crisis at the border (extra shipments of King Crab legs for the restaurants which are running short, as well as more California Chardonnays for thirsty immigrants who secure a table at a Mortons on the border)  an offer to extend DACA (an acronym of which we know nothing about), and a provision to extend capital gains tax breaks for immigrants who post stock trading gains over $750,000.00 in any one year, excluding (of course) 503 exchange gains reportable under section 63 (duh). In other words, in Trump's view, everything necessary to help immigrants at our border. 

In the real world POTUS still wants to deport everyone with an accent (except Mrs. Trump) or whose skin is not lily white (like maybe Rumpole's? WOW there's a thought you have to admit you-loyal reader-never ever had, did ya? Psych!). He still sees a world where people with brown skin stand with their noses pressed to the gaps in the steel slats watching enviously while Americans are eating McDonalds and sipping diet cokes while zipping around on their scooters because they are too obese to walk. 

And check out Mr. Markus's blog where the rumors of an FDC sick-out-slow-down are being explored. First a "possible" TB scare shit down FDC. Before that attorneys were told the elevators weren't working and it would take four hours. When the clients showed up, they said the elevators were working fine. 
What's next? Ebola? Blue-flu? Poltergeists? Communist infiltration of the email system? North Korean hackers shutting down FDC? It happened to Sony.  




*Possibly, but probably not. 

IF

It's Championship Sunday for the REGJB Fantasy Football league. After part one last week, Rumpole (Boo! Hiss) magnificently managed his injured underdogs to squeak out a 135-124 lead. But that lead didn't materialize until the final quarter of the Sunday night game, and for most of the day the teams battled to an even draw.  
So don't count Judge De La O out yet. He's even headed when all those around him are losing theirs. He needs a big game from his up again/down again TE Gronkowski, while Rumpole needs his RBs who let him down last week to return to their former greatness. It will all be over by the end of Sunday's night game. 
Will the Judge strike a blow for all robed readers who have silently suffered the slings and arrows of Rumpolian abuse, mock, and scorn all these years? 
Or will Rumpole prove what he has always said? The judiciary cannot hold a candle to a good lawyer who is well prepared and motivated to prevail? 


IF You can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters the same....

Our Millennials, our robed readers, and even worse- our robed readers who are Millennials- probably have not perused poetry and Rudyard Kipling's poem IF. So to assuage their short-comings and communicate with them in their preferred medium (You-Tube Videos) and in keeping with Championship Sunday, we present the following by John Facenda who was...never mind, it takes too long to tell. Just enjoy.  And although it is quite out of character for us to say it, we wish our worthy opponent the best of luck on the field of battle today. 







(He's going to need it. You didn't really  think we could end this without a cheap shot, did you?)