Football Season is here!

Anybody else besides me a professional or college football fan?

Personally, I put more into the professional games than the college, if for no other reason than only having to keep up with 32 teams (as opposed to over 130). I'm a HUGE Tennessee Titans fan... and, if anybody knows anybody with season tickets...

While the opener was on Thursday, this is the opening weekend for the NFL. A couple of friends and I will be at the Cincinatti game against the visiting Denver Broncos, so I won't be able to talk any trash this week with other football fans on the site... but I am curious to hear about any favorite teams, football stories, whatever.

Hopefully I'm not the only football fan around and we'll have something to talk about. And while we can still disagree about the teams and players, we can probably all agree (those fans) on the love of the sport.

*We go to Cincinatti games not because we like the Bungles, but because it's a mere hour and a half drive away with great seats -- they don't have much of a fan base left!
*Seriously... if anybody knows anybody with Tennessee Titans tickets, we should talk. They have a three year waiting list or longer and their other tickets are completely sold out for the season...

Much of a fan base??

I'm a Cincinnati Bungles fan which means, technically speaking, I'm 2 beers away from a gun in my mouth. They expect big things from Marvin Lewis, but I expect the typical low things from Mike "Hey, a guy's gotta make money" Brown. In fact, Im a proud member of the Mike Brown Sucks website.

All this of course means, I'm a big professonal football fan (or I wouldn't care enough to expound on all of this), but really don't care for college football unless it involves Ohio State. Hey?? Who's calling who a fair weather fan??

But I'd probably see the Bungs given half a chance. My band played a show in Greenville, Ohio this winter and had Justin Smith of the Bengals and Matt Light of the New England Patriots show up at the club to party with us. They both wore out t-shirts and hats all night so we could shamelessly exploit them on our website. I felt sorry for Justin though because he did get a lot of "He's not a professional football player, he plays for the Bengals" shots behind his back. Matt Light's superbowl ring was huge. It felt like it weighed about 14 pounds. But now I feel like I know 'em, so I'll root for 'em.

Anyhow, I'm looking for the Bungs to get decimated as usual, but I'm not picking the game to be as close as currently predicted. I'm guessing they'll lose by two touchdowns.

I'm looking for the Titans to win - just barely - against Oakland. Tennesse has the best pass rush in the league, but Oakland has Jerry Rice. He might be old, but he's still better than most. But I hear that guy Porter is more dangerous than anybody is giving him credit for. But if George and McNair keep up with what they are capable of and keep the lid on the passing game, they should come out ahead..

Hanging my Denver Bronco banner in front of my house as we speak. Thanks to Direct TV's Sunday Ticket, we get to watch our Broncos every week on TV and we'll sure be tuning in to watch them beat up on the Bengals today.

GO BRONCOS!!

GOOOOOOOOO COWBOYS!!!!

Other picks for today:

Minnesota Vikings At Green Bay Packers

I'll take a hunky viking over a meat packer any day.

Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans

I have to go with the Raiders - first because the Raiders beat the Titans twice in 2002 (sowwwwy Abs ), second because I love to hear Chris Berman say "tha RAAAaaadas" and what girl doesn't understand that silver and black make a fabulous fashion statement.

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs - because they do the war chant - which as we know originated at Florida State University - the home of the Seminoles!!! Besides, what the heck is a charger anyway???

We should do a football pool. Name the top 4 games of the weekend. Participants pick their fav. At the end of the season we could tally the votes and - I win ROFL

Anyone wanna?!?!?

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL

Ohhhhhhh Yeah Abs. I have been ready since the superbowl ended.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it. September and October are my two favorite months for sports. Baseball starts to wind down and football gets started. Can't beat it. Anyway, I'm with you Abs. Being as I live about 20 minutes from Nashville, I'm a Tennessee Titans fan. However, that being said I must also make known the fact that I have been a San Francisco 49ers fan since I was a little kid. Were these two teams to ever meet in a Super Bowl, I'd be completely torn. Hate to even think about it.

Yay! It's football season!

I'm a San Francisco 49ers fan too NuMarx, even though I'm sandwiched between the Browns and Dayton Rocker's Bengals (see you in December when the Niners invade the jungle!) and I'm looking for them to make one last push to the playoffs before I think they will fall back into mediocrity next season.

I think a Titans/49ers match in the Super Bowl would be great, but I have my doubts the Niners defense has improved enough to get past the Rams, Bucs and Eagles. Oh well...

If there's any fantasy league players out there, you know they are a great tool to keep you interested in games you normally could care less about. I've got Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James going against the Browns this afternoon, so I'm pumped for another season of slobber knockin'.

Football...it's a GOOD thing.

I'm a huge fan of the Giants, especially Tiki Barber and Shockey.

Sure

4 teams
St. Louis at NY Giants: New York Giants win by 13
New Orleans at Seattle: New Orleans wins
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia: Tampa Bay wins
Pats at Buffalo: Pats win

All of them
Minnesota Vikings At Green Bay Packers: Minnesota wins
Cardinals at Detroit: Detroit wins
Houston at Miami: Miami wins
St. Louis at NY Giants: New York Giants win by 13
Denver at Cincinnati: Denver wins
Baltimore at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh wins
Pats at Buffalo: Pats wins
SD at KC: Kansas City wins
Jacksonville at Carolina: Carolina wins
Indianapolis at Cleveland: Indianapolis wins
Atlanta at Dallas: Atlanta wins
Chicago at SF: SF wins
New Orleans at Seattle: New Orleans wins
Oakland at Tennessee: Tennessee wins
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia: Tampa Bay wins

The college football team I root for (Arizona) has already won all the games they have a chance to win, 1. They just lost last night 59 to 13 against LSU.

Let's go E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

I am a HUGE sports nut, most especially b-ball and football (prefer college football to NFL, but I do love both). My favorite NFL team is the Eagles, but I root for the Giants, Steelers, and Falcons (Vick!). DH is a HUGE Giants fan, so we're always yelling at each other a couple of times a year when the Eagles and Giants meet up - just as I root FOR a few teams, I despise a few teams as well (I despise more teams than I love, go figure): Redskins, Chiefs, Cowboys, Bucs, 49ers, Packers (don't like the fact that the announcers worship and DROOL all over Favre - UGH).

I made my picks on another message board I frequent on Wednesday night...here they are:

N.Y. Jets at Washington
Arizona at Detroit - can we say LOTS of empty seats?
Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Denver at Cincinnati
Houston at Miami
Indianapolis at Cleveland
Jacksonville at Carolina
Minnesota at Green Bay
New England at Buffalo
San Diego at Kansas City
St. Louis at N.Y. Giants
Atlanta at Dallas - poor Atlanta
Chicago at San Francisco
New Orleans at Seattle
Oakland at Tennessee
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia

College football........grrrr I did TERRIBLE in my picks (we had to choose the winner of I think 15 games and I think I only got 6 or 7! YIKES - but almost all were good matchups).

As a U of Arizona alum, I most certainly root for Arizona ('specially in b-ball where we actually HAVE a program ), but most agree with RU that we've already won all of the games we'll be winning this year. It's a shame, too - one of our DBs, Farmer, is REALLY talented and its his senior year. I was hoping for a major upset against LSU last night (hoping beyond all hope, of course) and that we'd pull a 1998-style "out-of-nowhere" 12-1 season - yeah....ummm....that's not happening.

Your not a TRUE fan of the eagles.

I just created a yahoo pool for us. Here are the details:

You have been invited to join kmsouthern's Private Group in Yahoo! Sports Pro Football Pick'em.
In order to join the group, just go to http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/pickem, click the Sign Up Now! button and choose to Join a Private Group. Then, when prompted, enter the following information...

Group ID#: 41078
Password: debatable

We will send you a confirmation with further details once you have completed the registration process.


Scoring won't start until week 2 since we missed the first week

Cool - km! We can offer that the winner will get a cool title under their member name (like 'Best Picker' ) and some free bumperstickers (ooh boy )

Oh boy, football season!

As many of you know by now, Jaim and I are from the 'burbs of Chicago. As a result, we cheer for da Bears (and whoever is playing the Packers). So, we're set for another failure of a season.

In watching some pregame shows, 5 of 5 "experts" picked the Bears to lose today. Maybe we'll get lucky, but I'm not counting on it.

College football is really big down here. I hate college football. So, if you can't say anything nice...

Mike

wow someone from LA tht likes the donkeys!

I personally like the denver broncos myself. grew with them, been a lifelong fan. they better beat the bungles. (I think if you lose to them you are required to leave the NFL ) let's just hope plummer is as good as everyone thinks (my theory is this: the cardinals team was SOOOOO bad, that jake the snake managed to look like a good QB )

anyway, go donkeys

You have one problem, NO ONE THINK'S HE'S GOOD!

I think the Cardinals just don't know what to do with the talent they have. Plummer is no John Elway, but he's also not Ryan Leaf (hey, he was good in college or *insert your choice for "bust" QB here*). There are a lot of people (Bradshaw is the first who comes to mind) who like Plummer and give him a lot of credit. The military network only shows games with playoff contenders after the first few weeks each season, so I don't get to see much of Jake the Snake's actual "ability"...but he's not talentless.

J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets! I've been a Jet fan since I was yay high [holds hand at hips]. I've got season tickets and am trying to shake off our loss to the 'skins thursday, perhaps a few more anti-depressants. I'll have to decline to the pool offer, there's something wrong with my comp. can't enter yahoogames. Is it possible to open up a "Pool thread" in causual conversation? I'm already in two. Defending Champ in one, thank you very much. So right now I'm rooting for the Broncos to hold on and win.

CP

apparently shannahan does

I personally don't think he's that good. I watched every preseason game, and he trough at least 10 interceptions! we should have given beurlein the starting posistion (of course this is the same coaching staff that cut cecil sapp, even though he lead the pre-season with the most rushing yards!!!)

I spent a fair number of years in Florida, and Illinois both, so I root for two pro teams: Tampa Bay and Da Bears. Seems like whenever one does well, the other is in the tank, so it's like good news/bad news at my place on Sundays.

Since Chicago was refurbing Soldier Field last season, and I live in Champaign IL, I actually got to see a couple of Bears games in person last year.

Actually, football and basketball are the only two sports I like, and I don't mind college or high school games, even. I go to see several Illinois games (both sports) each season, and my daughter and I go to three or four high school games at her school each year.

By the way, I'm watching the Bears get turned into hash while I'm writing this

km,

I joined! Thank you SO much for setting that up.

Edited after seeing unabomber's post: I'm listed under Bela's_Boys.

KM, I joined as well. I am under "trenchcoat"

Kmsouthern, I'm in the house as "Night Train." It's a James Brown thing, ya know.

OW! Good God! Doin' it to death (like the way the 49ers are doing da' Bears today)!

Hope I do better in my picks than I did in my fantasy league today. Sheesh.

I plan on joining soon, KM

For those who don't know, the Broncos/Bengals game I went to was a slaughter on the half of Denver... no thanks to Jake "The Snake" Plummer.

Clinton Portis saved the day with approx. 120 rushing yards and another 30+ receiving, two rushing TDs.

Plummer, who has never had a 20 TD season, has had four 20 INT seasons, never thrown more TD passes than INTs... well, he threw for 0 TDs and 3 INTs today. Way to kick off the season Jake!

Unabomber mentioned Shanahan thinking Plummer was worth the $7 million plus he convinced Denver to pay for him. He isn't. While Mike Shanahan (the Denver coach for those who don't know) is a brilliant offensive mind, he is not the quarterback coach he thinks he is. Including todays performance, he's now only 43-42 since Elway split, and he inherited Elway.

The way Plummer played today made the recently departed Brian Griese look like a good alternative. Luckily they didn't need any big pass plays with Marvin Lewis (Bengal coach) refusing to take out Jon Kitna.

Don't be surprised to see Steve Beurlein at the helm in Denver before the season is over. Likewise, don't be surprised to see Shane Matthews working the offense in Cincinatti either.

From what I've had a chance to catch up on there were some really great games today. Sorry to the Bears fans who had the misfortune of landing the mistake that is Kordell Stewart. 49er fans... remember that the defense did well against Kordell Stewart. They still need to prove themselves against a respectable offense.

I'm heading out to a sports bar for the Tennessee/Oakland game tonight, but I look forward to another great game to round out the day. I'll take Tennessee by a slim margin in a game that won't see either team score more than 27 pts.

More specifically:
The Tennessee secondary is much improved bringing Jevon Kearse back to increase the pass rush. Don't look for the big 300-400 yard games Gannon routinely produced last year. If he does get up to 300, it will be because they're playing catch up. Gannon might get two touchdown passes, but I look for him to have two interceptions as well.

Steve McNair will benefit from the loss of Raider linebacker Bill Romanowski, who demonstrated his fanatical love for the position by breaking the face of a teammate. He should have a fair passing day with receivers Mason, McCaerins and Bennet. Look for two touchdown passes and an interception.

Tennessee has ranked in the top 10 in rushing defense the last eight seasons. Charlie Garner will find out they're ready to make it nine.

Eddie George isn't the playmaker he used to be, but he can beat up a defense like no other. Look for him to average 3 yards per carry for somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 or 70 yards. Robert Holcombe, his younger and speedier backup will make for a good change of pace turning in a 50 yard performance for a solid ground game from the Titans.

While Eddie won't eat up the yards, look for a strong performance from him near the Raider goal line. At least one plunging touchdown.

Tennessee has a good field goal kicker, who may turn in one. Oakland should have no difficult getting at least some points on the board with ol' Seabass (aka Sabastian Janakowski).

I look for something in the neighborhood of 27-24 in the Titans' favor.

The game is in Tennessee and they've been burning for this rematch since Oakland denied them the Super Bowl. I know. I tried to get tickets but they were gone within five minutes.

Finally, to finish the excessive football post, I'm glad so many of you have found a topic we can agree and disagree on so pleasantly. Congratulations to all those whose teams performed well, and sorry for those of you whose teams have some work left to do. In particular, Bears fans at least have Rex Grossman waiting in the wing. I expect big things from him when he's ready.

Being from Missouri, and now living in Houston, Tx, I root for the Chiefs, the Texans (the only NFL team that has yet to lose a season opener) and the Titans. Have not paid much attention for some reason this preseason. I see KC and Houston both won today.

College teams I root for the Missouri Tigers and my alumni U of Houston, though Houston has been in the dumps for the last decade.

I forgot tp mention college: the only team I care about right now are the CSU rams. if I live like a mile from campus. that's the only reason otherwise, I could care less. at least the college team I like is the best in their division (mountain west) have won it like every year since it began

and ABS is right, shannahan is an awesome offensive coach. he can pick some the best running backs, (davis, anderson, portis, and this year at the draft CSU's sapp) he can even pick decent defense, and decent receivers, he just can't pick ANY good QBs!(and QB is THE most important posistion)

I live in the South Burbs of Chicago so of course I am a Bears fan. Unfortunenalty I watched them cremated today against SF. Oh I have the feeling this is going to be a long season. But then I am a huge White Sox fan and they won again today. GO SOX!!!!!!!!

The only team I've ever really backed was Manchester United. Oh, wait - wrong football. You mean the kind in which they don't actually use their feet.

In college football, I kinda half-heartedly support my alma mater, Penn State. Otherwise, I don't have any overwhelming team loyalties. Does this make me unAmerican?

if you don't have any overwhelming team loyalties the terrorists will have won!!!!!

Oooh... I was close.

Titans won it 25-20 with tough defense and a solid performance from their punter-turned-place kicker.

McNair did indeed finish with 2 TDs and 1 INT.
(He also lost a fumble)

Mason and McCareins both had a good night receiving, somehow weaving between the Woodson tandem of the Raider secondary.

While Charlie Garner turned on the jets for an impressive TD, he had a rough night trying to rush the ball. Props to Gannon for evading the pressure of the Tennessee D to squeak out 2 TDs without an INT.

Eddie didn't hit the 60 or 70 mark but he was in the neighborhood of 3 yards per carry I think. No TDs.

And, of course, ol' Seabass knocked home a pair of beautiful 47 yard field goals straight down the middle.

I'm a happy Titans fan.

Team to watch out for: Seattle Seahawks?

Qouted from CBS Sportsline Fantasy Football website:



Great. So, as a Bears fan, do I kill myself now, or wait for those thousands of self inflicted wounds that are sure to come through the rest of the season?

Well, I root for Tampa Bay, too, so maybe tonights game will help me forget about yesterday. Nah........

Oh, and for you Tenessee fans, the Titans played a great game last night. It's too bad that the refs kinda spoiled it for both sides, those flag happy idiots. Almost 300 yards in assessed penalties? Let 'em play!

Niteguy - you're not alone. There's at least 4 of us loser Bears fans here at AD. Maybe we should start a support group?

I guess the fact that I haven't heard of half these teams says something about MY level of football fandom... though I am with Wertz in supporting Manchester United as the the most exciting football team in the world. I only like REAL football.

The last time I watched the Superbowl, it was when the Bears were there with that big dude named "Refridgerator" or "Freezer" or whatever it was. In the '80s, I think. I saw a few college basketball games back when Ralph Sampson and Othell Wilson were kicking butt for the University of Virginia.

Weee, I'm a sports fan!

Ahhh....yes...both my teams won yesterday. The 49ers crushed the Bears and the Titans won the rematch of last year's AFC Championship. I wish I could watch the game tonight as it is sure to be a good rematch of last year's NFC Championship. Unfortunately, I'll be at work, but I should be able to catch most if not all of the second half.

The Giants won by 10 (off by 3 from my prediction). They're definitely superbowl contenders this year. Tonight I'm thinking the Bucs will win by 3, 10 to 7.

ther ewill be more scoring than that. eagles Defense is not that good this year. Plus Mcnabb is better than the Bucs Defense.

The Giants may be contenders, but I wouldn't be too quick to judge their abilities on the basis of Sunday's game against the Rams. While Warner threw the pick and fumbled six times, I think it's also important to take into account that the Rams only ran the ball thirteen times. Only nine of those were taken by Marshall Faulk.

Besides the fact that Marshall should have been run more in the first half, a 10-point deficit in the second half is still no reason to stop trying to pound the ball. I can't help but wonder what Mike Martz was thinking when he gave up on the run. Warner might not have had to contend with such a fierce pass rush if the Giants D had to try and adjust to a St. Louis ground game.

I'll give the Giants another playoff appearance, but I don't think they'll be Super Bowl material with all the other talent in the NFC. The Rams depend on whether or not they can remember who their running back is.

Tonight's game between the Bucs and the Eagles should be a pretty good one. I agree that the Eagle defense won't be as good this year, but they'll still be pretty fierce with all the schemes their D-coordinator throws at opposing offenses. It's still a well oiled machine even without some of the former talent.

That being said, I think the Tampa Bay offense will be much improved from last season, making plays more similar to their playoff run than where they started the season last year. Whether it's the jail bound Michael Pittman or the former Cardinal, Thomas Jones, I think they'll surprise people with a more effective (if not spectacular) ground game.

*Whether Pittman goes to jail or not, I expect good contributions from Thomas Jones this year. He struggled at Arizona, but he's in incredible shape this year with a much better supporting cast than he's used to.

For any of you doing KM's fantasy football picks (in the first group of postings), I'm now a member as "Sunday Savior" and look forward to the upcoming weeks of predictions.

Might have to go that route, Jaime, although it's been scientifically proven that sports addicts devotion to their teams are harder to break than heroin or cigarettes

The new 12 step program:
"Hello, my name is David, and I'm a Chicago Bears fan"

When the Rams did run they got nowhere. That's not just because the Rams had bad play calling but also the Giants great defense. Martz's game plan could have worked if Giants didn't have such a complete defense. With Omar Stoutmyre playing so well the Giants are hard to beat on defense. If the Giants have any major injuries (Barber) they could run into trouble though.

Oh, I'm not suggesting an attempt to break us, just support. A place to come up with better ways to say mundane phrases like, "Da Bears aren't known for dere passing game" and "if dem McCaskeys weren't so cheap..."

I could NEVER give up my Bears. In fact, it's sort of analogous to my being a Libertarian. I like losing causes. I know my side won't win, but it'll give me something to complain about for the next year.

I am a big fan of the Forty-niners having been so rewarded for them for rooting for them beginning in 1978 when I moved out there.

I live in Nashville in a town that takes to the sport as if it is a religion or a SEC team because it doesn't know any other way to watch football. (Vanderbilt is seen as a way to get everybody's favorite SEC team to town every other year for an away "home" game.

HAving lived and worked around the Alabama football stadium in Tuscaloosa for six years I take my annual lumps there. And I cheer for the California Pac 10 teams, which win big all over the country every september and lose big in December and January.

This town is absolutely thrilled about last night's victory over the Raiders. As we speak, the best Raider coach is on the sidelines on Monday Football waiting for the arrival of his super bowl ring. Gruden--TB Bucs.

Bucs-17 - Eagles-NADA

The Bucs sent a message to the rest of the NFL tonight. The road to the Super Bowl still goes through Tampa Bay and if they avoid injuries they are going to be just as tough as they were last season.

The Eagles have waited since January for another chance at Warren Sapp and the boys and they got punked in their own crib on national television! OUCH!

Ah, it's good to have the NFL back. Takes my mind off of Dubya for a few hours.

They just need time to get used to their new digs, is all

Ugh, I had to wake up to that ugly score on my screen this morning. So sad. Down with the Bucs!

Geeeze... was the off season the same length of time down in Tampa Bay? They don't look like they've missed a single step!

I love strong defensive plays, but they are scary. They play Tennessee in the last game of the season in Nashville... I'm hoping the Titans are already playoff bound so they don't have to worry about placing any starters in harm's way.

While Jurevicius had those amazing TD catches in the second half, I think the best had to be the 14-yarder to Warren Sapp lined up at tight end. Talk about an insult. Heads may roll in Philly if they don't rebound quick from such an embarassing opener. That is not the way you open up a new stadium.

The sad thing is that they play the Patriots next week. Two teams in the second week of the season who have yet to score a single point. Not only that, but both teams were inside the two yard line of their respective opponents and still couldn't score.

Hopefully both teams find an offensive pulse before Sunday. I'll take Donovan McNabb and the Eagles over Brady and the Pats, personally.

I signed up for the pool, KM!

Being a life-long Clevelander, the Browns are my team. Too bad their offensive play-calling didn't show up on Sunday (First and Goal from both the 1 and the 3 resulting in 2 FGs ) and they lose 9 to 6.

Browns games are always fun to watch. They don't blow anybody out, and they usually don't get blown out, so the the game is exciting at the end. Their offense WILL be much improved with Holcombe this year (Tim Couch )

This is the first year I have not signed up for a Fantasy Football team in the past 6 or 7 years... The pool should be fun, though...

EDIT: College Football, the Buckeyes are my team, of course . Maurice Clarett may transfer to Grambling so he can play this year, though. I also root for my alma mater the University of Toledo when I can catch their games...

I'm glad someone finally mentioned college ball!

I'm a huge OREGON fan. I don't typically watch pro ball, the players just don't seem as 'hungry' as the young guys.

I'm more of a rugby fan...but I do follow football some. The ravens got their *** NOTICE: THIS WORD IS AGAINST THE RULES. FAILURE TO REMOVE IT WILL RESULT IN A STRIKE. *** kicked this weekend.

Unfortunately I spent most of the weekend in the hospital with my boyfriend who's leg was broken into 3 pieces during his rugby game. They did surgery and put a metal rod in his thigh and some pins. He is/was in excruciating pain, tho he says its a little bit better now. I know the ravens lost because I was in Baltimore during their game time (at Hopkins). Maryland (my college) also isnt doing so hot this season thus far. I might work one of the beer stands a few times this fall at the skin's games as a rugby fundraiser.

On a tour of Florida, the Pope took a couple of days off to visit the coast for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the beach in the Pope-Mobile when there was a frantic commotion just off shore. A helpless man, wearing a Black & Silver RAIDER'S jersey, was struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25-foot shark.

As the Pope watched, horrified, a speedboat came racing up with three men wearing Denver Bronco's jerseys. One quickly fired a harpoon into the sharks' side. The other two reached out and pulled the bleeding, semi-conscious Raider fan from the water.

Then using long clubs, the three beat the shark to death and hauled it, too, into the boat.

Immediately, the Pope shouted and summoned them to the beach.

"I give you my blessing for your brave actions," he said. "I have been told about there being bad blood between Broncos and Raider's but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not true."

As the Pope drove off, the harpooner asked his buddies "Who was that?"

"It was the Pope," one replied. "He is in direct contact with God and has access to all of God's wisdom."

"Well," the harpooner said, "he may have access to God's wisdom, but he doesn't know jack about shark fishing. Is the bait holding up O.K., or do we need to get another one?"

Been a niners fan since I can remember. Loved Montana, got Steve Young's autograph when he was still playing college ball in Utah when I lived there, and Garcia is showing some good stuff so far.

Hearst is an animal, the guy just keeps moving, I swear he's a gauranteed 4 yards or more per carry. Streets and Owens are catching some good passes too. Gonna love this season.

An Duck fan, eh? Maybe you can explain those jerseys! I almost got a seziure just looking at them BTW, I'm a UF Gator college f'ball fan.

CP