Finally!!!

Football season is here! Yay!! I'm flipping between the Cincy/KC and Seattle/Detroit games right now.

I didn't realize that James Brown had left the Fox NFL pre-game show to move to the same position at CBS, but Joe Buck was named to replace him so I think it will all work out OK. (Now if we could just get Joe Theismann off ESPN's new Monday Night Football, NFL TV coverage would be just about perfect.)

Anyway, the point of this blog entry isn't specifically about the start of the NFL season. It's about the kick-off of the FFL season! This my tenth year participating in ESPN's online Fantasy Football League (FFL). For those of you who aren't familiar with fantasy football, owners like me draft actual NFL players to play on our teams. The stats that each of those players earn equate to points for the FFL team. For example, quarterbacks earn 6 points for a touchdown, but also receive 1 point for every 10 yards passing. Head-to-head match-ups between FFL teams determine overall win-loss records, and the best teams make it to the play-offs. Games might be a blowout, or they might come down to one NFL player gaining one extra yard that puts his FFL team over the top. FFL certainly makes watching football on Sundays more interesting, because an otherwise boring game might feature players from your FFL team, or even your opponent's.

My teams over the years have taken on a few different names, but for the past two seasons I've been managing the Spooky Boogeymen (helmet design pictured above) of the Red Zone keeper league. What makes it even more fun is that the other league teams are owned by friends and family. Good luck to all my opposing FFL owners/managers (except Alan ).

Unfortunately in my decade of competition, I've never been FFL league champion. Two seasons ago, I made it to the championship game, but couldn't quite win it. Last year, I started off pretty strong but faded badly when my franchise players were out because of injuries and suspension. Clearly, I'm due.

I'll keep you updated as the season's progresses...