Like seemingly everyone else in Indianapolis, I'll watch the Colts and Pats play today. I'm still stunned not to have heard from my friend Peter the Pats Fan. Anyway, in a town that couldn't sell out the smallest stadium in the NFL early this season and really doesn't seem to care that the Colts keep threatening to leave, now everyone has the fever. In baseball, sure, people get jacked up for the playoffs - seeing 100,000 people standing around Wrigley was an amazing sight. Football's a whole different thing and it borders on the annoying.

Bill Simmons is one of the most consistent comedy writers there is and his recent Page 2 column on the playoffs is no exception. While he can be formulaic, he'll always - ALWAYS - say something so funny you're thinking about it later that day, hoping to spring the line on a buddy and hoping he won't realize it's not your own. Still, this column is also why I have such a problem with football. When's the last baseball column - or even hoops - where gambling and painkillers were big parts of the story and there wasn't even a hint of outrage? Every time someone brings up the 'steroids are ruining baseball' argument, I want to remind them that the NFL is still pretty popular, even thought there's more steroids there than the average meat packing firm and the league has an institutional policy of mediocrity.

The conference championship games should be great, especially the Colts-Pats, but I'm still counting down the days to pitchers and catchers reporting. Opening Day? That should be a national holiday.

By the way, Simmons is one of my dream BPR guests, so if he happens to read this or someone knows how to get in touch with him, my email is wcarroll@baseballprospectus.com.