Week 1

We're off! The Friday shirt colors for the next 4 months (hopefully 5) will be black, gold, and occasionally white. Hypocycloids should be prominently displayed.

Hines got his new deal, keeping both him and me happy. Although, at 4 years, it's hard to believe he'll be retired by the end of it.

The Raiders opened at the Pats and the Pats looked OK. Watching Jordan run more than a few times for 7 yards up the middle, made me hopeful that they can be beaten this year. I'm still baffled that the Pats continue to use 4 and 5 WR formations in long yardage situations. That never works for anyone else.

And after a crappy preseason, the Steelers lit up the Titans. The offense that didn't score any TD's in the preseason scored on its first 6 possessions, until Cowher showed mercy and pulled Fast Willy at the end of the 3rd quarter. It's nice when you're 3rd string RB can go out and pick up 160+ yards as a starter. Of course, many predict the Titans to be one of the worst teams in the league this year, so no need to get too excited. The defense looked weak, but lucky, winning on turnovers and dropped passes rather than by preventing first downs.

Looking around the rest of the league, I think I'm going to have a tough time figuring out what was real and what was noise in fantasy. But then, that's what makes the game interesting/challenging.