Playoffs or madness?

Last week, before both of our teams met with a painful elimination from the NFL playoffs, Scott and I had a short debate about which is the more wonderful time of year: NFL postseason or March Madness.

For me, it's football, and if the Green Bay Packers are participating, it's not close. Even with the depressing demise of the Packers in the wildest of this year's wild-card game in Arizona, I'm still excited to see how the rest of the playoffs play out.

Regardless of who's in and how good or bad certain teams appear, there is always some unexpected drama and excitement.

Almost every year, wild-card teams get hot and, against all odds, make a Super Bowl run.

Just about every team has one or more superstar players, whom you either love, or love to hate (i.e. Peyton Manning, Brett Favre), giving fans a rooting interest even if their team isn't involved. Rare is the game when I think, "I don't really care who wins." Although a Dallas-Baltimore Super Bowl certainly would produce such indifference.

Working against March Madness is that, after the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the level of intrigue plummets. That's when the Cinderellas tend to start losing and the fantastic finishes become less frequent. Games turn into foul-shooting contests in the closing minutes as teams try, usually without success, to overcome deficits.

Eventually, UConn, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke or some other big-time program cuts down the nets after a championship game that too often is not competitive. Five of the last 10 were decided by 10 points or more.

In the NFL playoffs, though, the underdogs have a legitimate shot to win it all, and some do. Three wild-card teams have won the Super Bowl in the last 10 years.

And recent Super Bowls are worth mentioning among the best of all-time. Santonio Holmes' toe-tapping touchdown grab for the Steelers last February. David Tyree's ridiculous helmet catch against the Patriots two years ago. Adam Vinatieri making himself a household name with two game-winning field goals in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII.

There aren't many finishes like that in the NCAA final, and as awesome as the tournament is, it doesn't compare to the NFL's version.