A conference divide?
An funny thing happened to this week's NFL picks at ESPN.com.

I got really bored, so I decided to take a look at the 8 expert picks for the Bengals-Ravens game (Ok, I wasn't bored, I'm a Bengal fan, which is infinitely worse)...and here's the thing:
ESPN has 8 experts who regularly pick game winners. four spent the single defining moment of their careers in the NFC, and three spent that defining moment in the AFC. Chris Mortensen, who has no pro football experience , is the eighth man.

What's strange, though, is that each of the players whose defining moment was with an NFC team picked the Ravens to win. Each of the players whose defining moment was in the AFC picked the Bengals to win. I can't explain why that would be. The Ravens and Bengals are both AFC North teams - before that, they were both AFC Central teams. Before that, they were the Bengals and the original Cleveland Browns, both AFC Central teams. So there's not really any conference loyalty that could be going on there.

To muddy the water even further, Merril Hoge actually spent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, another AFC North (formerly in the AFC Central) team. His defining moments as a player, though, were the two concussions that he earned in a Bears uniform which ultimately ended his career. So anyway: Here's the pick breakdown:
NFC
Ron Jaworski (Blew the Super Bowl for the Eagles): Ravens
Merril Hoge (Bears, suffered two concussions which rendered him stupid): Ravens
Joe Theismann (Redskins, had his leg snapped by Lawrence Taylor): Ravens
Sean Salisbury (Vikings, didn't do anything, really): Ravens
AFC
Mike Golic (Raiders his whole career): Bengals
Mark Schlereth (Broncos): Bengals
Eric Allen (Raiders): Bengals

Chris Mortensen (Sportswriter): Bengals

I wish I knew what was up with that, but I'm at least heartened that the Bengals are being given a 50-50 shot to win this week. Who knows? Maybe they'll actually do just that.