Heading into the 2010-2011 NFL season the media had already predetermined which teams would be running the table in the NFC. You couldn't turn on the television without hearing about the Cowboys being the first team to win a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Every newspaper you flipped through had pictures of Grandpa Favre coming back in order to win a Super Bowl ring in Minnesota. Now, the Cowboys are sitting at the bottom of the NFC East with an abysmal 1-7 record and Favre might as well have stayed home and played backyard football with the Wrangler boys instead of witnessing the Vikings crumble to a 3-5 record.

Although the 6-3 New Orleans Saints are proving that they're just as good as last year, several other teams have emerged as top contenders for the NFC title this year. The red-hot New York Giants and Green Bay Packers are my top picks to take the NFC this year and prove that, despite little depth, the NFC is capable of playing some outstanding football. The Giants emerged from the dungeons of the NFC East to boast a 6-2 record despite some sportswriters predicting a last place finish in lieu of Washington's acquisition of Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick's resurgence in Philadelphia and the development of a phenomenal receiving corps in Dallas. The Packers battled back from devastating injuries to star running back Ryan Grant and wide receiver Donald Driver to sit atop the NFC North with a 6-3 record. Although it isn't certain which team will be heading to Dallas this February, it's quite clear that the road will either pass through the New

Meadowlands or Lambeau Field.

After starting off the season 1-3 the New York Giants had to address a plethora of questions from the media as the Jets jumped out to a 3-1 start. Would the Giants defense be able to recover from an abhorrent season last year? Was the tandem of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs effective anymore after the Giants running game was stopped in its tracks? The Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans defeated the Giants by an aggregate of 43 points in consecutive games. Brandon Jacobs was furious at his new role of being the second-string running back and went as far as launching his helmet ten rows into the stands during the Indianapolis game. However, after the defeat at the hands of the Titans, the Giants caught fire. The defense roared to life against the Chicago Bears as the defensive line racked up ten sacks en route to a 17-3 victory. Over the course of the next three games, the superhuman Giants defense knocked five quarterbacks out of games. The most notable of the bone-crunching hits occurred during a 41-35 victory over the Dallas Cowboys when quarterback Tony Romo was pasted into the turf by linebacker Michael Boley.

Although the Giants are historically known as defensive stalwarts and running specialists, the emergence of a talented group of core receivers has accounted for much of the Giants success. The deceptively fast Steve Smith nicely complements physical receivers Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. The Giants possess a multi-faceted offense and impregnable defense that

should catapult the G-Men to the NFC

Championship game.

While the Giants were getting blown out against the Colts and Titans, the Packers were losing nail-biters week after week. The Packers stumbled to a 1-3 record losing the combined three games by a total of 9 points while two of the games were decided in overtime. The success of the Packers can be attributed to two talented players who both have been objects of criticism over the course of their athletic careers. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was drafted as the heir to the throne during the Brett Favre years and after enduring criticism over his athletic capabilities to step in for the future hall-of-famer, Rodgers has thrown for 4000 yards in his two seasons as a starter. Rodgers has figured out how to distribute the ball effectively in the absence of running back Ryan Grant.

On the other side of the ball is a defensive wrecking ball by the name of Clay Matthews. Coming from a lineage of NFL players, Clay walked onto the USC football team as a freshman weighing in at a measly 166 lbs. He then became a part of one of the best linebacking corps in college history during his senior season as he played alongside Brian Cushing (Houston Texans) and Rey Maualuga (Bengals). Through nine games, Matthews has racked up 9.5 sacks and alongside linebacker teammate A.J. Hawk the Packers have emerged as one of the most terrifying defenses in the NFL. The unassailable Packers defense is largely the reason that the Packers possess the greatest point differential in the NFL with a

victory margin of +78 points.

Football is a prime example of a sport where nothing truly is what it seems. All it takes is a one season-ending injury of a star player for a team's championship aspirations to be dashed to pieces. Although the NFC East has proven itself again as one of the preeminent conferences in NFL football, the New York Giants possess the rare combination of a solid ground attack and robust defense that willed them to a Super Bowl victory in 2007. The matured receiving corps provides Eli Manning with three venerable players who are as well acquainted with the Giants offensive schemes as he is. In order for the Green Bay Packers to make a run at an NFC title, Aaron Rodgers will have to keep up his solid play and spread defenses apart in order for his mediocre backfield to contribute to the Packers offense. The Packers defense, which largely relies on the pressure generated by its front seven, will benefit from corner Charles Woodson and safety Nick Collins returning to full health. Clearly, the football gods favor cohesive and disciplined teams, not flashy and capricious ones.

Passion can grip, paralyze and even kill. Believe it or not, this is even true in the world of sports, particularly soccer. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and many of its fanatics treat it as a matter of life or death. To take it to the very extreme, one just has to look at the example of the Colombian national football team at the 1994 World Cup that was held in the United States. Having beaten Argentina by a dominant score of 5-0 in the qualifying round, the Colombians were declared by Pele and many other experts as the favorites to hoist the trophy in America. The national media as well as the entire world had great expectations of the squad. In a game against the hosts, Andres Escobar, a Colombian defender scored an own goal that eventually led to the team's premature elimination from the tournament. A few days after their return home, Escobar was shot dead in a Bogota bar.

There is no better example of the passion soccer creates, however, than what is seen in Argentina between Club Atlético Boca Juniors and Club Atlético River Plate. The match between Boca and River is known all over the world and the continent, simply as the Superclásico. The rivalry is considered nearly worldwide as the fiercest in the sport. To put it in terms of American sports, think of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, but multiplied by 100. The match is number one on the list of, "50 Sporting Things You Must Do Before You Die," compiled by the British

tabloid, The Observer.

The animosity between coaching staffs and players is easily noticeable. In the week leading up to the game, players from both teams will traditionally comment on the other team's scandals or internal problems. There have been incidents on the field between players. It is also considered a surprise bordering on a miracle when both teams finish the game without suffering red cards. The passion and animosity surrounding the contest, however, is most deeply felt among and between the fan bases. When River travels to Boca and vice versa, the Argentine police forces close off a street that is set up entirely so fans from the visiting teams can access the stadium safely and without any incidents. Constant battles between each team's barrabrava, the Latin American counterpart to European hooligans, have forced this preventive measure. There have been incidents in the past in which supporters from both teams have died in fights between the fan bases.

The moment one enters the stadium, that person enters a different world. The color, the music and the overall atmosphere is impressive. Both supporters groups arrive early and start singing the team's songs and chants hours before the match begins. When the squads take the field, the noise brought forth by the fan bases is overwhelming. Having been witness to this matchup in early 2004, I can confirm that I have never seen anything like it.

Since Boca Juniors holds the overall advantage in victories, the Xeneizes, as Boca's fan base is known, have taken to calling the Millonarios, River's fan base, and River itself, as their sons. The games are almost always held on Sunday afternoons, so on Monday and throughout the week, following a victory by either team, Buenos Aires is inundated with posters and banners put up by fans of the victorious team, taunting their opponents and celebrating the win.

During the game itself, other than singing in support of the teams, the fan bases also sing insulting songs about the other team. Songs ranging from insulting the other's mother to expressing a desire of burning the rival's stadium fill the vast repertoire displayed by the supporting groups. The atmosphere surrounding the game itself is extremely tense. If one or both teams are not doing well in the league, as is the case before this tournament's game, a victory over the other is thought of as a way to salvage a season, treating a victory over the archrival as if it were the same as winning the championship. An added incentive is simply bragging rights. Fans from each team have close friends and family members who support the other team, meaning a victory will grant them the privilege to flaunt their superiority in the others' faces.

Boca Juniors and River Plate will face each other for the 327th time in their rich history this upcoming Tuesday when they take the field at River's Estadio Monumental. The two teams have suffered through a mediocre campaign, which could only be salvaged by a victory in the Superclásico, giving the contest an extra layer of with passion, emotion and tension. As a faithful and passionate Boca Juniors fan, I can definitely say that I will be watching and supporting my team. At the same time I recommend that anyone who calls him or herself a soccer fan should watch the game, because it is an event that is bigger than life itself for everyone who is fortunate enough to be a part of it.