Hell just froze over. The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl.

After last week's awful, uninspiring 10-3 loss to the Redskins, it seemed the Eagles were knocked from the playoff chase. Too many outcomes had to fall in line on the season's last day for the Eagles to get back into the playoffs: losses by Tampa and Chicago or Minnesota, then a win over the Cowboys.

But around 4 p.m. Sunday, the holiday miracle began to take shape:

Raiders 31, Tampa 24

Houston 31, Chicago 24

So when the Eagles took the field against the hated Cowboys, they knew a win would get them in the playoffs. And win they did.

EAGLES 44, COWBOYS 6

Don't know if it was the emotion on which the Eagles played, or the lack of intensity from the Cowboys, but after a 3-3 first quarter, the Cowboys imploded, turning the ball over 5 straight times which led to 27 Eagles points. But who cares, we beat the stinkin' Cowboys to get into the playoffs. I watched the game at a little holiday gathering at my house. My dad and uncle and cousin from York and I were all going crazy as each Cowboys' fumble led to an Eagle defender running in for a score.

So now the Eagles will visit Minnesota to play the Vikings in a game at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

GO EAGLES!!!

Even the money-making machine known as the National Football League isn't immune to the recession.

The league announced Tuesday that it is cutting more than 10 percent of its staff as it deals with the nation's economic downturn.

According to the Associated Press, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the cuts in a memo to league employees. The NFL is eliminating about 150 of its staff of 1,100 in New York, NFL Films in New Jersey and television and Internet production facilities in Los Angeles.

In September, Forbes called the NFL "the richest game" and the "the strongest sport in the world." The league has revenues of approximately $6.5 billion of which an estimated $4.5 billion goes to players.

A blown call by the referees at the end of the Pittsburgh-San Diego game had quite the effect on gamblers.

The Steelers won the game 11-10, but a late touchdown that would have made the final score 17-10 or 18-10 was nullified after an officiating mistake. The Steelers were favored by 4 points, so that blown call kept the Steelers from covering the spread and cost gamblers millions of dollars.

"Anyone who had a bet on the Pittsburgh side and thought they had won weren't too happy," said John Avello, director of the race and sports book at the Wynn resort.

Avello said there might have been $10 million bet on the game statewide, and many times more than that in illegal bets around the country and in offshore Internet betting sites. There was more money bet on Pittsburgh, he said, especially in parlay bets.

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After the Eagles' awful 13-13 tie with the now 1-8-1 Cincinnati Bengals, head coach and vice president of player personnel Andy Reid should be fired when the plane lands in Philly...if not over Pittsburgh!!!

It's obvious he is clueless as to what the problems are, let alone be able to fix them. He and quarterback Donovan McNabb have run their course with the Eagles. It's time for them both to go.

Jason Whitlock, a columnist for the Kansas City Star and contributor to foxsports.com, has ranked the best and worst coaches in the NFL.

His worst coach for 2008? None other than the Eagles' Andy Reid. And that's saying a lot since the Detroit Lions are 0-9 and the Cincinnati Bengals 1-8.

Here are the rankings.

Eagles fans received some bad news Tuesday. No, Brian Westbook isn't holding out, nor did Donovan McNabb get injured at training camp.

This time, the bad news came from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has instituted a new fan code of conduct. The new code is aimed at
conduct that the league said "detracts from the gameday experience."

It includes bans on:
* Behavior that is unruly, disruptive, or illegal.
* Drunkenness and signs of alcohol impairment that result in irresponsible behavior.
* Foul or abusive language or obscene gestures.
* Interference with the progress of the game, including throwing objects onto the field.
* Failing to follow instructions of stadium personnel.
* Verbal or physical harassment of fans from the opposing team.

Spectators who violate the code of conduct will be ejected from stadiums and barred from coming back -- meaning Lincoln Financial Field could get pretty empty.

Here is one sports star you can actually call a hero.

Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez, shown at right, recently made a life-saving play when he kept a man from choking to death in a California restaurant.


"Tony saved my life. There's no doubt," Ken Hunter, a shipping company manager, told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Tony came up behind me and gave me the Heimlich maneuver. Thank God he was there."


According to the Associated Press story, Gonzalez, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection who has set numerous NFL records, was having dinner with family at a restaurant in Huntington Beach. Hunter, 45, was dining with his girlfriend at the next table when suddenly a piece of meat stuck in his throat.

"I tried to take a drink of water, but I couldn't swallow," Hunter told The AP. "Then I couldn't breathe. That's a terrible feeling. I couldn't breathe. Then I guess I started to panic."

Gonzalez, sitting with his back to Hunter's table, looked around when he heard Hunter's companion yelling.

"She was screaming, 'He can't breathe, he can't breathe,'" Gonzalez said by phone from California, where he lives in the offseason. "The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything.

"Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed."

The 6-foot-5 Gonzalez, about a foot taller than Hunter, jumped out of his chair and came up behind the stricken man and began to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"After just a few seconds, the piece of meat popped out," Hunter said. "I could breathe again. It's a good thing Tony is so tall because I had stood up — I think."

Hunter went into the restroom to clean up and didn't realize he'd been saved by a famous athlete until he came out.

"I'm a big NFL fan and I recognized him right away. I was still kind of dazed when I went over and thanked him and said, 'What can I do for you?' I guess I said it about 1,000 times."

One of the most productive receivers in pro football history, Gonzalez holds the NFL record for tight ends with 820 career receptions and 102 catches in a season. He needs only 79 more yards receiving to become the career leader among tight ends.

He has never received any formal instruction in the Heimlich maneuver.

"I had seen it done, so I just did it," Gonzalez said. "When you find yourself in those situations where you have to take action in a crucial situation, you just do it. I got the same feeling I get when I go on a hospital visit.'"

Hunter is a lifelong fan of the San Diego Chargers, one of Kansas City's key rivals in the AFC West, and plans to be at the game when the Chiefs visit the Chargers on Nov. 9.

"I'm Tony's No. 1 fan now," he said.

A cook at a fast-food restaurant in Washington state apparently can't get over the Seattle Seahawks' loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL.

According to the Associated Press, the cook near Port Orchard, Wash., has
been accused of spitting on a hamburger ordered by a man wearing Pittsburgh Steelers clothing.

Sheriff's deputies say the 37-year-old customer was with his daughters at a Port Orchard-area eatery. He reportedly traded remarks with an employee about Super Bowl XL in which the Seahawks lost to the Steelers.

When the customer opened his food container, he says there was spittle on the burger. He demanded a refund and called the fast-food outlet's district manager.

The manager told deputies a 24-year-old man might be responsible. The next day, deputies went to the man's house and smelled marijuana. The man was released after being booked for investigation of fourth-degree assault and possession of marijuana.

So heed this warning New York Giants followers: you better hope an Eagles fan who works in food service doesn't know about this.