The Post Mortem

If you don�t want to read the words of a grown man�s irrational love of a sports figure, then you might want to stay away from The Hater Nation for the next couple of weeks.

And really, don�t try to figure it out, either.

But as stated before the game, when you looked at this thing rationally, who would you want as your quarterback � Kurt Warner or Donovan McNabb? Of course, Larry Fitzgerald doesn�t hurt, either. But the bottom line, do you go with one of the great winners of all-time, or the fifth Manning brother (did you forget about J.J?)? The choice was pretty simple.

When the game was on the line, KWM was driving his team to the Super Bowl. McManning was throwing the ball about 10 feet behind Kevin Curtis.

Warner cemented his Hall of Fame status. His story will seem fake in 20 years. When you watch that inevitable NFL Films retrospective of his career, it won�t seem real. And thinking of things that are not real, the Cardinals are in the Super Bowl. Two playoff wins in 61 years, and now one win away from the NFL�s ultimate prize. Truly unbelievable.

Although, this was the Cardinals and you knew they weren�t going to make things easy. Even with all of the good fortune in the first half, you knew that the Birds were going to have to score at least one touchdown in the second half. Even with the offense shuttered in the third quarter. And really, the old Cardinals would have folded. They would have found a way to lose. But Cardinals are not who we thought they were and rallied for the win with a touchdown drive that was very machine-like.

• Unbelievable scene for the game, our bar was all-Cardinals. If there were any Eagles fans there, they were pretty silent. The only cheering you heard during an Eagles� score was from the guy who had �the cup.� Great atmosphere and great time at Benny's Bullpen.
  

• The NFL dodged another referee blunder as the Birds were robbed on a pooch kick. Another whistle blowing the play dead, and an �unreviewable� play. The NFL is really lucky that is being swept under the rug. I don�t know what the solution is, but this situation is getting out of hand.
  

• Seriously, who are the Birds playing in the Super Bowl? The Steelers. Awesome.
  

• Next time Eagles, maybe you should win the game before you do all of your mugging. Good lord, Eagles. You've lost three of these things before. Maybe you shouldn't celebrate early. Honestly, it was hard to believe that the Eagles were acting like that. Makes it even sweeter that they lost.
  

• That late hit on Warner by that Eagles jackass illustrated the frustration that Philly must have been feeling. Though, he was hitting the wrong quarterback. Again, Karma is a female dog.

AND FINALLY
Bad news for the NFL. Looks like Pat Tillman is going to be a topic of conversation for a couple of weeks. That�s unfortunate. Hopefully Cris Collinsworth will hit them over the head with the Tillman story.