Since the engaging, articulate Mary Katharine Ham is not scheduled to appear on Michelle Malkin's Vent this weekend, I do believe I'll go ahead with plan B and sit down and watch me some football.
In the college ranks, it's a huge Saturday.
Florida visits Tennessee, Michigan heads to Notre Dame, Nebraska plays at USC, and in the game of the day, Auburn hosts LSU.
There are also some good match-ups in the NFL, though, after seeing the surprising results in Week 1 where visiting teams won an amazing 11 of the 16 games, I'm pretty certain I won't successfully pick another winner before Columbus Day.
In the morally-equivalent-parallel-universe of Rosie O'Donnell where no idea is any more or less than any other, I'm sure that Rosie would blow a gasket if she hears I'm making value judgements by characterizing some games as potentially 'better' than others.
For instance, how dare I make an innocuous statemtn that the Indianapolis Colts are among the favorites to make the Super Bowl.
"Those radical Houston Texans are just as dangerous to the rest of the NFL as the Indianapolis Colts !", Rosie the Riveter would exclaim.
Barbara Walters wouldn't sit silently for something as ludicrous as that---would she ?
Rosie might continue, "And ladies, I have to say that those Oakland Raiders fans are just as tough as Baltimore Ravens fans. I know my share of tough bikers, and they all support the Raiders."
Hmmm...I think Barbara might let such a comment slide unchallenged.
If Rosie claims to know rough bikers, then c'mon, y'all---Rosie knows bikers.
On to the games....
I went 9-7 in Week 1, despite picking six visiting teams to win.
My only problem is that an incredible eleven teams won on the road---the most for an NFL opening weekend since 1983.
Week 1 generally runs the risk of being a little shaky for teams in terms of execution, as head coaches throughout the league increasingly shelter their starters from playing too many minutes in pre-season games in an effort to avoid any unnecessary injuries to key players---that, of course, is as opposed to any necessary injuries.
As a result, many of the offensive lines were a little off in their timing, and that was reflected in a number of false start penalties---but that's something which will correct itself as the starting lines get more hikes under their belts.
I'm concerned by the thirst for blood by many of the 'experts' among the mainstream media who, after one week of play, are already calling for the head of Denver Broncos starting quarterback Jake Plummer, on account of a sub-par opening game.
Certainly, the Broncos used a first-round draft pick on rookie Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt, who is waiting in the wings as the future star QB of the organization.
But the Broncos under-performed at many positions on the field, and to single out Plummer is premature, especially as well as he played last season in leading the Broncos deep into the playoffs.
One game does not make a season, nor does should it break it---nor should it elicit a solid veteran quarterback to be banished to the bench.
Remember, the Broncos looked awful in losing their opening game last season at Miami, then were nearly unbeatable the rest of the season.
Speaking of QBs, San Diego's Phillip Rivers had a sharp debut in the Chargers' road win at Oakland. Coach Marty Schottenheimer executed a smart game plan of not asking too much of Rivers in the passing game in his very first NFL start, and such a strategy is ideal in grooming a young quarterback's confidence, as well as the confidence in him by his teammates.
We'll see if Rivers is asked to execute the passing game in Sunday's game vs. the Titans.
By the way, am I the only one to comment on the new zebra stripes worn by the officiating crews ?
Why did the league ditch the classic pinstripe style ?
These new ones are reminiscent of the vertical stripes (often two or three-tone color) which were popular on mens knit shirts in the early-'90's.
I may have to go over to YouTube to see if there's an early-'90's Garth Brooks or Color Me Badd video to prove my point.
For curiosity's sake, I'm providing the point spread from Friday morning's newspaper, though I'm not picking the spread, I'm picking straight 'win' or 'lose.'
My picks to win are in bold.
at Baltimore 12 Oakland
at Indianapolis 13 1/2 Houston
at Cincinnati 10 Cleveland
at Miami 6 1/2 Buffalo
at Chicago 8 1/2 Detroit
Carolina 1 1/2 at Minnesota
at Philadelphia 3 N.Y. Giants
at Atlanta 5 1/2 Tampa Bay
New Orleans 2 at Green Bay
St. Louis 3 at San Francisco
at Seattle 7 Arizona
New England 6 at N.Y. Jets
at San Diego 11 1/2 Tennessee
at Denver 10 1/2 Kansas City
at Dallas 6 Washington
Monday nite
Pittsburgh 1 1/2 at Jacksonville