In Favre they trust

There's a playoff game in Green Bay? Heaven can wait.

With the Packers and Seahawks scheduled to kick off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Lambeau time, the Green Bay Community Church has scrapped its scheduled 5 p.m. service. As Joan Johnson, the church's community-events director, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette: "The last time we held a service during a Packers game, two people showed up."

Bowled over

"There's something wrong with the bowl system," noted David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "when four of the final six teams to play are Rutgers, Ball State, Tulsa and Bowling Green."

Paparazzi-free zone

He's not Tom Brady or Tony Romo when it comes to tabloid fodder, but Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck isn't complaining about being stashed away in the Northwest.

"I will say this: I'm international," Hasselbeck told The New York Times. "We can't go out in public in British Columbia. Victoria, B.C., forget about it. It's like Pavel Bure back in Russia.

"Plus, we take [in] Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Idaho."

Through the roof

Last week's Ice Bowl — the Penguins-Sabres game played outdoors in a Buffalo snowstorm — drew the league's best TV ratings in nearly 12 years.

So how long before we see the first NHL arena with a retractable roof?

The truth hurts

"Is there anything in sports that provokes more disbelief than an NFL injury report?" wrote Jim Alexander of the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise. "Well, maybe a baseball player's drug test. Or a college coach's assurances that he's staying put."

Talking the talk

• Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, to AP, after Hedo Turkoglu committed seven turnovers against the Bulls, then hit the winner in overtime: "Some of those passes ... we actually had point-shaving allegations in our locker room after the game."

• Comedian Argus Hamilton, on the PGA Tour's new drug tests this year: "There was a lot of concern when John Daly was tested and doctors found blood in his beer stream."

• Headline at CBSsportsline.com, on the Steelers' season-ending playoff loss to the Jaguars: "Jax all, folks!"

• Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post, on the Seahawks' 35-14 playoff victory over Washington: "Going into Saturday's game at Seattle, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren had more chins than wins (1) vs. the 'Skins."

Running on edge

Reza Baluchi's six-month quest ended where it started last Friday, in New York City, as the 36-year-old Iranian exile completed his 11,000-mile jog around the perimeter of the continental United States.

Or as it's now known in racing circles, a run for the borders.

Sideline Chatter appears Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com