Football follies

Well it was another ugly week of football picks. I didn't do so badly in the college games - going 4/5 - missing on the Ohio St./NC St. game. Bad news for Nathan's Tide, with the loss of Brody Croyle for the season.

The mighty Vols, however, pulled it out in the last second - what a story of sports-related redemption! Wilhoit misses an extra point, leaving the score 28-27 Gators with 3 minutes left. The Vol defense gave Wilhoit another chance by stopping Florida and forcing a punt. Freshman QB Eric Ainge got the Vols down to the 33 yard line, setting up a 50-yard field goal to win it and Wilhoit splits the uprights. From goat to hero in no time flat. What a sweet win - and even sweeter because it happened to the Gators.

I couldn't have done worse in the pros. I went 0/4, and I'm now confident that Minnesota will win tonight's game at Philadelphia. That will leave me an abysmal 0/5 on the weekend. I am ashamed of my picks and of my Titans' poor performance against the Colts.

In other NFL news, Mrs. Holmes astutely pointed out that every team had a 40 decal on their helmets and asked me what that might mean. As I suspected, according to NFL.Com, it was a weekend-long tribute to former Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman, who was killed in action in Afghanistan earlier this year. There was a tribute to Tillman at this weekend's Cardinals/Patriots game - including video messages from President Bush & John McCain.

You may remember how Marxist cartoonist Ted Rall thought Tillman's death was amusing.