Gotta Love Fantasy Football

Fantasy football is the greatest! Especially when your team is doing well. In my league, I have scored the most points and am 4 - 2. In our waiver draft this week, needed a kicker, so dropped QB Vince Young, who god only knows if he'll ever play again, and picked up Kicker Matt Bryant, only to discover after getting him that he's injured and questionable this week. So, in turn, dropped him and picked convict Sebastian Janikowski. With my luck, Bryant will play, kick 6 field goals and Janikowski will probably slip in the shower before Sunday and break his leg. Would just be my luck.

Bears Give It Away!

After the Bears come back and take the lead with 11 seconds to go, all they have to do is kick the ball DEEP, pin the Falcons back and game is OVER! So what do they do? Squib kick the ball to the Falcons who return it somewhere around their 40 or 45 or whatever. Brainy move. Fire the Special Teams Coach, I say. So now, all they have to do is stop them on ONE play! Just don't let them get out of bounds. So what do they do? Let the Falcons complete a pass, get out of bounds and kick the game winning field goal. Now fire the Defensive Coordinator. GEEZ! Cubs. Bears. What a coincidence.

Bears Win!

With the Cubs pulling their usual CHOKE, we can strictly concentrate on our beloved Bears. What a game today! Had everything going; Offense, Defense, Special Teams. Could very easily be 5 - 0 now; or 4 - 1 at the least. The Division is ours for the taking! GO BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Patriots Get Their Butts Kicked!

Way to be! Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys!

Bears Lose!

For the second week in a row, the Bears lost a game that they should have won. Leading by 10 with about 3 - 4 minutes to go and can't hold the lead. Nice catch there, Rasheed; ball goes right through your hands; hold onto it at the end and we are in good shape to maybe kick a field goal and win. Nice personal foul there penalty, Peanut. Defense stops 'em and you give Tampa new life. And last, but not least, great job there Lovey. I know you aren't out there on the field, but maybe if your team shows a little more discipline, we win. Maybe if your players are a little better conditioned, the Defensive players aren't out of breath at the end and we win. Funny, Tampa didn't seem winded like our guys. Win as a team, lose as a team, right?

Hope For Football Widows Everywhere

With the NFL football season under way, football "widows" everywhere will be ignored and / or cast aside, while their significant others turn into football "zombies". You've no doubt hear the old expression, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?"

And why not? With the millions of fans (women included) that football already has, there must be something to this game, right? Don't understand the game? Let's face it, if you don't understand something, you're probably not going to enjoy it very much, and football is no exception. Bottom line....football really isn't that complicated. Sure, it does have its own "lingo". But learning football is no different than learning a new language and it takes time to learn. Tried asking your significant other questions about football? Forget it. Particularly when the game is on; you may as well be talking to the wall.

How about forming a "football club"? Women only, of course. You can watch the games together and pick each other's brains. Remember, there's safety in numbers. Read whatever you can, i.e., on the internet, books, magazines, newspapers, etc. Most of all, be patient! It's not going to happen overnight. Trust me, in the end it will all be worth it.

The Who, What, Where, When and Why of watching professional football

With the professional football season, or, NFL (National Football League) as we know it as officially upon us, I've got my remote in one hand, beer in the other and I'm ready to rock and roll.

Who watches professional football?
That's easy. Just about everyone. Or, at least almost everyone. Men, women, children. Young people, old people. Teachers, doctors, lawyers, the family priest. People of all races and religions watch football. People of all sizes and shapes. Even the family pet has been known to watch a game or two. Each and every Sunday during football season, stadiums across the country are filled to capacity with thousands of people. Each and every Sunday, millions of TV viewers are tuned to the games.

What is professional football?
For those of you unfamiliar with the game, professional football is not just a bunch of grown men running back and forth down a field knocking the stuffing out of each other. Professional football is a game played by athletes who possess an unusual combination of both strength and speed. In what other sport do you see men weighing over 300 lbs. that run like the wind? Professional football is a game played with 11 players per side who move at tremendous speed, all working in sync with one another, unlike anything you will see in any other sport.

When do people watch professional football?
The NFL season actually starts in early August with Preseason games. These are games that teams play to get themselves ready for the Regular Season which begins in early September. During the Regular Season, games are played every week, with the majority of the games played Sunday afternoon. There is also a game played on Sunday night, as well as Monday night. In addition, later in the season, there are a few Thursday night games and a Saturday game. Lest we forget, Thanksgiving Day, where you now get to see, not one, not two, but three games! The Regular Season culminates with playoff games beginning in January which are played on Saturdays and Sundays and finally topped off with the Super Bowl Sunday.

Where do people watch professional football?
Anywhere there is a TV. At home, at a friend's house, at a restaurant, at a bar, at the health club, etc. Even your local Sears. Trust me, I know. And I guarantee, wherever there is a TV, there will be a crowd.
If you're really lucky, you'll get to go to the stadium and see the game in person. Depending on where you live, if you are in a cold weather city, better bundle up! But, it's all worth it. Why else would you see 60,000 fans doing it?

Why watch professional football?
Only because it's the greatest game ever! Think about it - why else would millions of fans tune their dials to the game every Sunday? And why would thousands upon thousands fill up stadiums across the U.S.? There must be something to this game, right?
I'm convinced that there are two kinds of people. Those that are already fans and those that want to be fans, but aren't yet because they don't understand football. And the reason they don't understand it, is because they've had nobody (or nothing) to really explain football to them. Granted, it does have a "lingo" all its own, but I guarantee, once you've come to learn it, you won't look back.

What kind of call was that?

The Bears really blew one last week against Carolina. Dominated the first half and looked like a bunch of sick pups the second half. Late in the game when they were down 3, they have the ball 3rd & 1 somewhere around midfield. They had been running the ball all day long and all of a sudden, Orton decides to get cute and throw a pass? What kind of call was that???? Then on 4th & 1, Carolina stacks the line and stuffs us. Should be 2 - 0 right now.

Super Bowl Fun Facts

Bet you didn't know:

The Super Bowl is the second largest day of food consumption behind Thanksgiving, and the sales of antacid increase 20% the following day

Sales of big screen TVs show a fivefold increase during Super Bowl week

Super Bowl is the top at-home party event of the year, ahead of New Year’s Eve

The average number of attendees for a Super Bowl party is 17

An estimated 14,500 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn are eaten on Super Bowl Sunday

Football 101

Don't understand football? No worry!

Don't have anyone (or anything) to explain football to you? No problem!

For those of you who want to learn football and join this craze called the NFL (National Football League), this is for you. Here are some football basics to get you started:

• An NFL team has 53 players; some play on Offense (unit that possession of the ball and is trying to score); some play on Defense (unit that attempts to stop its opponent’s Offense from scoring) and some play on Special Teams (units that are on the field for kickoffs, punts and field goals)


• At any given time, a team has 11 players on the field


• The Offense attempts to advance the ball past its opponent's goal line and score touchdowns (worth 6 points) or move it into field goal range for its Kicker to attempt a field goal (worth 3 points)


• There are two type of plays - passing and rushing (running)


• An Offense has four plays (downs) to advance the ball at least 10 yards; if it does so, it maintain possession of the ball; if it doesn’t, it may have to give up possession to its opponent


• The amount of time a team has possession of the ball throughout the game is called its “Time of possession”; the longer, the better. This is critical, because if you don’t have the ball, you can’t score!


• When a team loses possession of the ball to its opponent, through an interception (throwing a forward pass that an opponent catches) or fumble (when the ball carrier loses possession), it commits a “turnover”. Turnovers can be the difference between winning and losing. Each time a team commits a turnover, it gives itself one less and its opponent one more opportunity to score


• Finally, when someone asks you the score of the game, remember to always say the name of the team that is winning or that has won first. For example, if the Bears are leading the Lions 14 - 10, say something like “The Bears are up fourteen to ten”, NOT “The Bears are winning ten to fourteen”. If the score is 10 - 0, say “It’s ten oh, Bears.” Notice the use of the word “oh”? If its 17 - 17, say “It’s seventeen all.” Notice the use of the word “all”? Get the idea?