I was writing one of my former coworkers (and fellow sports enthusiast) today… and it struck me that I’ve been doing very little recreational writing lately (all that emailing at work is really sucking the joy out of those finger to key moments). I have therefore decided to share my keen football observations with the brave few who still visit – whoever and where ever you are.

On a somewhat shallow, sports related note… I’m a little thankful for a couple of Bucs wins these last couple weeks. I’m not sure I’m on the boy wonder’s bandwagon yet (Simms), but it’s nice (in a way) to see he’s been able to win a couple games with absolutely NO help from the defense. Well, I guess the fumbles gathered from the Falcon’s helped a wee bit. I haven’t looked at any numbers, nor have I had the opportunity to share ANYONE’S opinion on the matter, but it strikes me that the boy is still a little inconsistent. Though, considering he’s started less than half a dozen games he’s not doing bad. And the penchant for making the big play when the Bucs really need it? HOO WEE! If Simms and the rest of the offense can keep that up the Bucs could really have something special. I always thought that was what set Favre apart… not a particularly great completion percentage or a great TD to INT ratio (I could be wrong, I’m not a stats enthusiast) – but big plays at big play time and a hot streak when everyone else on the team is going cold. That’s what I saw a bit of in Simms these last two weeks. (Lord save me from my optimism.) Just tweak the offensive line and bring along another young receiver (are you listening Edel?), and the offense could be good for a long time. It goes without saying that I was glad to see a Cadillac back in the lineup, rather than your garden variety first round running back.

Then there’s special teams… I read where some sports writer, someplace, asked: “When did Matt Bryant turn into Adam Vinateri?” I couldn’t agree more. Surely he wasn’t kicking like this for the Giants? Bidwell is lights out (still), but I still don’t think we’ve found the answer for either return scenario (kickoffs or punts). Jones (et al) have been O.K. (at least they seem to keep the ball off the ground), but they almost make me wish for a 29 year old Karl Williams… and I don’t mean that in a good way.