'Tis the Season

As Phil Collins and Genesis once sang: "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"...

Tonight marks one of the best events of the entire year. As both of you know, I am a huge sports fan. Last Saturday saw the kickoff of the College Football season (which I enjoy immensly). But, tonight...

That's right. Patriots-Raiduhs. The NFL is back. I can breathe again.

Don't get me wrong. I like baseball a lot. Even enjoy a good Mavs game every once in a while. But for my money, football is the one sport I would take to a desert island.

So, in honor of the greatest sports season around. I give you my fearless NFL predictions for 2005. (If you remember, and I know you don't, I'm terrible at this. I picked the Twins to go to the World Series for crying out loud.) Here we go:

NFC East - Eagles
NFC North - Vikings
NFC South - Panthers
NFC West - Rams
NFC Wildcards - Seahawks, Cowboys

AFC East - Patriots
AFC North - Ravens
AFC South - Colts
AFC West - Chiefs
AFC Wildcards - Jets, Steelers

NFC Championship - Vikings over Rams
AFC Championship - Patriots over Colts

Super Bowl XL - Patriots over Vikings (by three of course)

Everyone on the planet (that cares) is picking the Eagles or Colts. You keep doing that...Belichick will just keep winning Super Bowls.

Let the season begin.

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On a sadder note. I found the following story on the internet and I learned that Monday's retirement of Jerry Rice really only means one thing to my college buddies and I...

We have reached the end of an era. There is no longer anyone on an NFL roster was on Nintendo's Super Tecmo Bowl.

Here is that clip...

It looked like Jerry Rice would be the one, and perhaps he still will be, but as of Monday he officially relinquished control of deciding the age-old question: "Who will be the last Tecmo Bowl player remaining in the National Football League?" There had been only a handful of candidates on the table for a number of years, including such notable mainstays as Lee Johnson, former punter for the Cleveland Browns, and Rice's one-time teammate, Tim Brown. But in the end, it all happened rather quickly:

• July 18, 2005 - Tim Brown signs a one-day contract to retire as an Oakland Raider
• August 23, 2005 - Sean Landeta, seemingly out of the running, is signed by the Eagles
• September 3, 2005 - Eagles activate Dirk Johnson and release Landeta
• September 6, 2005 - Jerry Rice announces his retirement from the NFL

So Jerry wins right? Not so fast. The Eagles picked up Landeta because their starting punter, Dirk Johnson, had undergone surgery for a hernia and was a question mark for the regular season. When it became clear that Johnson would be able to play, Landeta was released. However, might another NFL team find themselves in a situation this year (or next...) where they could use the services of the NFL's all-time leading punter? A roughing the kicker here or a strained hamstring there could strip Mr. Rice of the one record Randy Moss can't audaciously claim he will take. Jerry will undoubtedly suffer through many a sleepless night until his claim to the title can finally be sealed, but...at least for now...he is offically pencilled in the books as The Last Tecmo Bowl Player in the NFL.

So here's to you Mike and Chris Shanks. Here's to you Steve Crockett, Jim Brown and Jim Newhouse. Here's to you David Hancock and Scott Hinshaw. Our tributes to players like Bo Jackson, Bernie Kosar and Gil Fenerty have come to a close. The era has ended. Yes, we were addicted and sad in college...but the memories were greatness. It is time to put this portion of our lives behind us forever...there is nothing on Sundays to harken us back to wasting many, many hours in front of a stupid video game.

Now...if only they would put Christian Okoye in Madden '06.