Sports Weekend

We’re going to give you preposterous extremes in this weekend’s TV Six-Pack. The ridiculous and sublime. Wonders and wind chill.

The NFL will dominate the weekend, with the four first-round playoff games. Pay particular attention to the Seattle Seahawks-Minnesota Vikings matchup on Sunday.

The game will be played outdoors, as Minnesota’s new domed facility is still under construction. Game-time temperatures could reach a high of 3 degrees under sunny skies. Gah! Those bone-crunching runs by Adrian Peterson crunch just a little more in such frigid conditions. This will bring back memories of the Vikings at the old Metropolitan Stadium – Fran Tarkenton scrambling, the Purple People Eaters on the attack.

Sunday’s other game has the slumping Green Bay Packers visiting the hot Washington Redskins. The Redskins won the NFC East, ripping off four straight victories to close the regular season, and seek their first playoff victory since 2006. Weird stat: The Redskins went 9-7 and did not beat a team that made the playoffs (0-2 in that category).

As you’ll no doubt be chilled by Minnesota’s deep freeze, we’ll advise you to watch the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions from Kapalua, Hawaii. No one cares who’s in it, no one cares who wins it. But that lush scenery, the picturesque views, the Pacific Ocean … hey, it beats downtown Minneapolis. Sunday’s rounds will be a delight, under mostly clear skies with temps in the lows 80s.

Two NFL playoff games on Saturday: The streaking Kansas City Chiefs, winners of 10 straight, visit the Houston Texans. The injury-clobbered Pittsburgh Steelers take a trip to Cincinnati to play the Bengals, who are without quarterback Andy Dalton. The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game in 22 years; the Bengals have lost six consecutive postseason games, last winning one in 1991. That’s not an impressive streak, it’s a depressive streak.

The well-rounded viewer will also want to see some college basketball. We’ll suggest Sunday night’s meeting of No. 11 Villanova at No. 18 Butler. Two ranked teams go at it. Can’t ask for much more. Indoor temperature: 68.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman