Yet another Superbowl Sunday is upon us… may you all eat, drink, and be merry.  Enjoy the game, enjoy the commercials, enjoy the halftime show (yeah, right), and above all, BE SAFE.  Especially if you’re going out to watch the game.

It’s also yet another year that neither one of my teams (Bills, 49ers) has made the big dance.  So, I needed to come up with a couple lists to help me determine my rooting interest.

Reasons to root for Green Bay:

• Starting running back James Starks is a hometown kid, representing both Niagara Falls and the University at Buffalo
• The Packers have a long and storied history, and are proof that a small market can be a success in a big-time sports league
• Green Bay’s starting quarterback isn’t a rapist
• Green Bay fans aren’t bandwagon jumpers (See: Penguins, Pittsburgh)
• Aaron Rodgers is possibly the best QB in the league right now (and it kills me that the 49ers picked Alex Smith over him in ’05)
• Clay Matthews is a scary talent and is probably the best new linebacker in the league since Patrick Willis

Reasons to root for Pittsburgh:

• Pitt is a blue-collar city just like Buffalo, and is easy to identify with
• The Steelers have just as much tradition as Green Bay
• Troy Polamalu’s hair

So based on that, I’m going with Green Bay.  Go Packers!

The inevitable has finally happened, and Dick Jauron is (mercifully) no longer the head football coach of the Buffalo Bills.  Bills fans are most certainly starting fires and overturning cars in celebration as we speak.

My quick take on what led to Jauron’s downfall:

- Injury mismanagement.  Every team has injuries, but the Bills’ injury problems always seemed worse.  Why?  Because Jauron mismanaged the IR, in part by putting injured players on it in September who were ready to play by November (Crowell last year, Posluszny in his rookie year).  Also, too many non-contact practices leave the team in poor shape to withstand the season.

- Clock mismanagement and bad play-calling.  Jauron simply gave away several games off the top of my head: Denver, season opener ’07; Dallas, MNF ’07; Cleveland, MNF ’08; and the second Jets game last year.  No clock awareness and no ability to make the correct decision at the right time.

- The complete and utter absence of anything resembling a clue on the offensive side of the ball, which in turn led to the inability to develop a quarterback.

- What kind of coach seriously says that  “You better have guys that are self-motivated, because if you have to motivate them, the odds are it’s not going to happen for you”?  A LOSING coach.

Add all this up, and you’ve got a guy who has a 60-82 lifetime coaching record.

Dick Jauron may be a nice person – heck, Chris Berman once said you won’t find a better human being – but he is not a good football coach.  And fortunately, as of now, he’s no longer OUR football coach.

Oh goody!  It’s January, and that can mean only one thing – Brett Favre drama queen season!  I can hardly wait.  This year, I’m setting the over/under on how many times he changes his mind on retirement at five.

Brett Favre to wait several weeks before decision about 2009 – ESPN

Seriously ESPN, isn’t there a cup stacking tournament going on or something?

I missed last year, but this year I’m back with a vengeance.  Here are my predicted records for the 2008 NFL season:

I feel like I should be writing something more profound here, but all I can say is:  Thank you for your many contributions to the game of football.  You will be missed.

My condolences to the Walsh family.
ESPN – Former 49ers head coach Bill Walsh dies – NFL

When NFL players change teams, they often want to wear the numbers they’ve been using. The standard practice is for one player to pay money to the current owner of the number for its rights. As if it doesn’t already sound petty that multi-million dollar athletes extort money from one another for such a thing, there was actually a dispute over a number a couple years ago involving current Redskin Clinton Portis and former Redskin Ifeanyi Ohalete. Portis wanted Ohalete’s #26 and they agreed to a certain sum of money, but when Ohalete was cut by the Redskins, Portis stopped paying. (They eventually came to an agreement).

Ahman Green and Jason Simmons of the Houston Texans are apparently above such petty behavior. Green signed with Houston during the current offseason, but his #30 that he’d worn with the Packers for many seasons was already taken by Simmons. When he approached Simmons about a deal for the number, Simmons had a plan. Instead of accepting money, Simmons asked Green to make a $25,000 down payment on a home for a deserving single mom. A search was conducted, a single mother with a 7-year-old autistic son was chosen, and the checks (including a matching $25,000 from Texans owner Bob McNair, one of the classier owners in sports) were presented yesterday in an emotional ceremony.

In a sports world where athletes are routinely involved in criminal activities, such a story makes me happy to be an NFL fan. If only there were more players like Simmons, Green and Warrick Dunn of the Falcons (whose charity work Simmons’ idea just might have been inspired by).

“I was surprised to see that they were killing dogs by hanging them and one dog was killed by slamming it to the ground. Those are extremely violent methods of execution — they’re unnecessary and just sick.” – John Goodwin of the Humane Society on the allegations against Michael Vick and friends

The quote above is intended to illustrate exactly how serious this situation is. No, Mr. Clinton Portis, it’s not simply a bunch of guys who choose to have a little fun by getting their dogs together for a little playtime. These people are loathsome creatures who murder dogs for profit in vile and gruesome ways.

If Michael Vick is proven to be involved in this dogfighting ring, I hope he’s banned from the NFL for life. He won’t be, of course, but I’d be happy with a year’s suspension. Anything less indicates the NFL treats marquee players differently than the rank-and-file. Time to put your money where your mouth is, Roger.

The full story, including more of the grisly details is right here.

On the eve of the NFL draft, I thought I’d offer my teams a little advice:

San Francisco: You need a wide receiver.  Desperately.  Oakland will probably take JaMarcus Russell, so trade up with Detroit to get Calvin Johnson with the #2 pick.  You have like 4 million picks in the fourth round – package one of them with the #11 overall pick and take advantage of the fact that Matt Millen is a moron.  Please, for the love of all that is holy, give Alex Smith someone to throw the ball to.

Buffalo: Marv, if you manage to pull off the Michael Turner trade, this is easy. His name is Patrick Willis.  If the Turner trade doesn’t happen, then I’m happy with Marshawn Lynch here. Not getting a linebacker or a running back at this spot is criminal.  Please don’t draft a thousand defensive backs like you did last year.