More from Tom Starner

It's getting closer. Super Bowl XLI, that is.

But before many of us shift into the mindset of "Let's play the freaking game already!" (remember, they are using the two-week gap again), we need to find out who gets to play in the world's biggest single televised sporting event, HD or otherwise (with all due respect to the World Cup).

It's the weekend we football fanboys (and girls) get to soak in all the HD glory of...

When it comes to HD, this is about as good as it gets on the pro football front. The Divisional playoffs, with four more NFL games and another level deeper into the "tournament" (to quote Cowboy coach Bill Parcells, who no doubt will be watching all the NFL action on his massive HDTV). My only fear is one of the networks, in search of even higher ratings, will use T.O. as guest color commentator on a pre-game show, or worse, as a sideline reporter. Ahhhhh!

Anyway, another feast of NFL playoffs in HD...

As I write this, the negative/problem posts continue to stack up on DBSTalk.com, a Web forum devoted to satellite TV and its users. Since late summer, that particular forum has been ground zero for a major "debate" of sorts, one that, in essence, separated DIRECTV defenders from detractors (though to be fair, not everyone who posts is firmly on one side or the other).

Only one thing to say about this weekend when it comes to HD sports: NFL playoffs. After all, this is why many of us went out and bought those big screen HDTVs. For football freaks, it's time for four weekends (remember the week off before the Super Bowl) of total football immersion, where every game counts. And all in glorious HD (if the networks do their jobs right).

And this weekend, there is a special cherry on the top of our football phantasmagoria. On Monday night...