Week One

While millions lament the end of summer, there is one significant cause for rejoice: the start of the new NFL season. It kicked into gear today, and I couldn't be happier. Hockey is definitely my favourite sport, but I hold an unwavering passion for NFL football that no lockout could ever shake. That first Sunday in September is like my second birthday - I'm tuned in, online; soaking up every minute detail of every single game.

Why does football take such hold? Well, the fact that it happens only once a week might have something to do with it. And that each team plays only 16 (16!) games a season (excluding the intensely amazing playoffs). As a fan, you have a week to gather your thoughts, strategize, and breathe and bleed your favourite team. For me, that's the tragic Buffalo Bills - the only team in NFL history to make four straight Superbowls, and subsequently lose them all. The Bills got off to a pretty decent start today, but couldn't step up when they needed to and lost to Jacksonville on the last play of the game. But where last season started with a bang and ended with a fizzle for the Bills, hopefully 2004 will have an opposite effect on this immensely-talented-but-underachieving team.

But I will say this now - they may as well give the Lombardi Trophy to the Philadelphia Eagles. This is the team that will dominate the 2004 season and win the Superbowl next January. I guarantee it. If they fail, I will eat fresh horse dung. Donovan McNabb threw three touchdowns to the overly eccentric but immensely talented Terrell Owens in their rout of the lame Giants. This trend will continue, sports fans. That is a grotesquely lethal combination that any offensive coordinator would love to have at his disposal. Who will they meet in the Big Dance? The Patriots. As much as I despise that team, Bill Belichick is a football genius, and could lead any squad to glory. But not this year, Bill. The Eagles will finally beat that monkey called the NFC Championship off their back, and arise victorious.

Tennessee and Indy will rule also rule the AFC. But those are teams that are destined for heartbreak, just like my beloved Bills. McNair and Manning are the two best quarterbacks in the game (and will be of all time), but fate just doesn't like them. Look for Seattle and Minnesota to make strong charges in the NFC as well.

And so begins another year of pigskin. I love it. I'll be sad come December when the Bills miss the playoffs again, but I take solace in the fact that this will be a season for ages. The talent pool is unprecedented - and who benefits? We, the loyal, die-hard fans of the most exciting league in pro sports - the NFL.