SoCal

Ho-hum, the Patriots win again. Tom Brady was nearly perfect, completing 26-28 passes with three TDs. In his career, Brady has a 13-2 postseason record.

It's going to be up to the Colts offensive line to keep the Chargers aggressive defense off of Peyton Manning. It's going to be up to Manning to find ways to get receivers Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Dallas Clark the football in the face of a solid San Diego secondary.

Why They Might Be Good: Attitudinal off-guard Kobe Bryant has made a promise to Lakers fans: "We're going back to the Finals. How? By me taking zero shots a game. If I get my teammates involved—teammates like [streaky guard] Sasha Vujacic, [streaky guard] Maurice Evans, and [streaky guard] Jimmy Jackson—there's no stopping us."

Why They Might Be Good: It's still difficult to accept the fact that last season—when they were healthy—these perpetual doormats sported one of the most reliable starting lineups in the league, led by rock Elton Brand. But as solid as they were in '06, they shored up their roster with the signings of professionally-diagnosed depressive forward Vin Baker and hilariously named center Boniface Ndong.

Real estate developer and attorney Donald Sterling today committed to purchase the San Diego Clippers for nearly $13 million, an astronomical amount of money for a ball club with a dwindling fan base and only three winning seasons since its 1970 inception.