Hey did ya miss me? I knew you all did. Here I go with a quick installment before the real hectic part of the season begins..........

--So I am back and I'll start with baseball, of course. I love baseball and I'd probably consider it my favorite sport. But with college football and pro football being back, I'm starting to doubt that.

--I don't know what the Cowboys are going to do this season. We are banking our hopes on a 50-year-old QB, a RB who carried for 27 yards on 24 carries (if you take away his one big run of 24 yards) in hte preseason, and a rookie RB who is already injured. This could be a longer wait for the Super Bowl than I had imagined.

--It's too bad we had to let the Marlins and Astros back into the race. I've been more worried about the Marlins this whole time. I just hope our shitty schedule will be a blessing as well as our mini four game vacation thanks to Hurricane Frances.

--Once again, I'll give out a pick for this week. The Dolphins are only 3 point underdogs to the Titans this week. This is a sure thing, although I'm sure I've just jinxed it.

--With the presidential "race" winding down, it seems as if both parties are in the exact same situation. If Kerry wins, it will be a major shock as Bush is lucky to be facing someone that seems an easy win. But if Bush wins, it will be a major shock because Bush's mistakes left it there for Kerry to take.

--It turns out that terrorism just keeps grabbing headlines around the world. With the situation that just wound down in Russia, it's odd to know that whether we like it or not, it's here to stay. As Bush himself said, it's not a war that we can win.

--Who the hell is going to move the ball in San Francisco? They just blew the whole thing up out of nowhere. As happy as I was when I drafted Brandon Lloyd, it is not a situation that makes me very excited. Especially considering I have to start the guy.

--Unfortunately, I have almost little doubt that once again, we will be talking about three teams in the Halas division making the playoffs. I wish we could balance this league out but with the keepers being as they are, it will take a while.

--Why did Noodles take Ricky Williams in the SIXTH ROUND??? I want to say that I considered him in the late rounds, but the sixth round is a major reach. It was almost as if he had run out of players that early in the draft!

--I talked to Sam and he should be back online within a couple of weeks. It'll be good to see him back online starting trouble and talking trash (by the way, I kept this entry from last season because it seems as if we're in the same boat).

--Speaking of the draft, as much as I didn't want to do it, I was ready to give Noodles' team to Steve. There were many factors in this. I remind everyone as late as possible as to the time that we want to start. This is precisely the reason. I'm glad that all ended well. The prospect of Steve getting a team.....well, let's just say I won't go there again.

--I'm hoping you all get used to the Submit LineUp option on your team page. I think that is one of the coolest features of the FFLM software. As I mentioned on the message board, my anxiety of past years is back. But I'm certain, that as in past years, you all won't disappoint.

--Anybody have any good suggestions of movies with spousal abuse scenes? Don't ask. How's that for bringing down the mood?

--I was watching ESPN's top 25 blunders of the ESPN era. I had never seen the play where Paul O'Neill kicked the ball in from right field! He was charging the ball on a base hit to right field and booted it. In disgust, he kicked at it. And his foot just happened to be at the right angle that got the ball into the cutoff man and prevented a run from scoring! It was pretty amazing.

--The last word is this: I don't really care how good the Cardinals are. If we can make the postseason and we have to face them in the playoffs, I truly believe two things. The first is that our pitching staff can beat anybody and the second is that we played the Cardinals as good as any team out there this season. We lost the season series 11-8 but we outscored them and were just 2-6 in one run games against them. I know the good teams win the close games. But that many close games shows that there were two good teams on the field when they met. Now if we can just get by the 4-headed Giants/Padres/Marlins/Astros monster!

--OK. That'll do it for this week. Good luck to everybody except the Fightin' Antz this week. I'm not sure when I'll be updating this again, but I'll try to make it more frequent (broken record, I know).