Tick tock, fish stock, cake icing and port, I smell a talent show worth a hundred crowns. Translation: the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings took turns pinning the tail on the donkey for a seat at the NFC Championship game. Broadcast on Fox, with commentary by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, the first quarter started with the Cowboys on offense. Five minutes into the quarter, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo got sacked and Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams jumped on the ball. Minnesota didn’t do much with the turnover, though. The Cowboys elected to go with a forty-eight yard field goal, but the ball didn’t sail through the uprights. I believe it went wide-left. In the middle of the first quarter, neither team scored yet. With four minutes left, though, Vikings quarterback Brett Favre threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Sidney Rice. Minnesota 7 and Dallas 0.
The second quarter brought the Cowboys offense down the field and into the red zone. Romo made an excellent connection with tight end Martellus Bennett. I’m talking two line segments traveling to a right angle, where the catch is the right angle. Kicker Shaun Suisam didn’t miss the second FG. Minnesota 7 and Dallas 3. The middle of the quarter saw Brett Favre and Sidney Rice connecting again for a TD. Minnesota 14 and Dallas 3. A faked hand-off by Tony Romo failed as Vikings defensive end Jared Allen compelled the ball to get loose. Linebacker Ben Leber scooped up the ball for Minnesota. This turnover resulted in a field goal. Minnesota 17 and Dallas 3.
The third quarter rocked down eight minutes and Shaun Suisam missed a field goal. Jubilation filled the air as Brian Leber intercepted Tony Romo with sixty seconds left in the quarter. A Vikings field goal commenced the fourth quarter. Halfway through the quarter, Brett Favre and Sidney Rice got together a third time for a TD. When there was just under two minutes left on the clock, Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe made a TD catch in the end zone. Minnesota 34 and Dallas 3. Final score. The Minnesota Vikings are going to play the New Orleans Saints next week in the NFC Championship game.
Observations & Miscellania:
1. Joe Buck wore a grayish-green/brown suit, a white button-down shirt, and a peculiar tie–it looked like flayed flesh. Troy Aikman wore a navy suit, a white button-down shirt, and a humdrum burgundy tie. They’re like Sunday’s Best Ken and Corporate Meeting Ken.
2. The Vikings wore purple jerseys, the Cowboys white.
3. The momentum of Sidney Rice’s first quarter TD brought him close to colliding with the Minnesota mascot. If it was not the official mascot, then it was some middle-aged white dude in Nordic cosplay.
4. Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards’s right knee appeared to be causing him pain in the play preceding the Cowboys’ punting the ball away just before four minutes left in the third quarter. In a subsequent slow-motion replay, where the camera was focused on Tony Romo post-snap, one could see Ray Edwards in the fetus position, in the foreground screen-right, with a Cowboys player looking down and reaching and arm towards him.
6. SMOOTHIE SUDDENLY SUSAN?! Prince, looking as lithe as ever, up in a box on the Vikings side of things?! The telecast had side-by-side windows of him with Bud Grant.
7. Dallas linebacker Keith Brooking went over to the Minnesota sidelines and barked some unkind things after the Visanthe Shiancoe TD. This footage captured him in longshot with his back facing the camera.
8. Post-game interview of Brett Favre in close-up made his face look like a piece of honey-baked ham. “I’m kind of worn out, but it is, emotional for me…” he remarked regarding the feeling of having won.
9. Sleep in heavenly peace, Gaines Adams.
Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.
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Tiffany’s Umbrella. Mon dieu, my good man. Ce n’est pas foir. Elle est tres 
. And I thought I liked Marie Digby’s cover of it.
Sitting Pugs: Sports Movies 