Game 3: Big Dead 24, Raiders 18

This has literally been my first chance to resume the Preseason Challenge since last weekend, making the possibility very real that this will be the lamest P.C. EVER.

With an eye simply toward watching the preseason games of just the Rams' divisional rivals, let's fondly slip back in time to preseason week 1 for the contest between the Big Dead and the Raiders. Our first look at Kevin Kolb in “real” game conditions.

FIRST QUARTER
Sebastian Janikowski, who had 29 touchbacks last season, unsurprisingly banks the opening kickoff off the wall behind the end zone. This year's kickoff rule is going to turn out to be the dumbest rule change in NFL history. Kolb scrambles 15 for a first down after he and Larry Fitzgerald completely cross their wires adjusting to a Raider safety blitz on 2nd down. Kolb, already repeatedly having trouble finding open receivers, is hauled down after a second 3rd-down scramble to force the punt. Big Dead tackles look awful. Raiders DE Matt Shaughnessy pwning Arizona thus far. He's stuffed Beanie Wells for a loss, flushed Kolb to the sidelines and nearly intercepted a tipped pass.

50-yard DPI call on Jerod Johnson on a pass to the TE that was arguably not catchable in bounds puts Oakland in business at Arizona's 30. Darnell Dockett and Samson Satele start a fight after the next play. Dockett wins this possession. They've stuffed the Raider running game up the middle, and Dockett himself bats down Jason Campbell's 3rd down pass, forcing Oakland to settle for a 39-yard splash from SeaBass. Raiders 3, Big Dead 0

Next kickoff surprisingly only comes down at the goal line. Even more surprisingly, Larod Stevens-Howling only returns it out to the 13. Play-action bootleg pass to Todd Heap for 8 is followed by a stupefying 1-handed catch of a sideline bomb by Larry Fitzgerald for 43, beating tight coverage by rookie Demarcus Van Dyke. Somebody tell the Oakland announcers to watch the game on their monitors and they might see details like that. Unshaken, Van Dyke blankets Fitzgerald deep the next play. 17 more to Fitzgerald on a sideline hitch. Wells stiffarms, make that bitcharms, Van Dyke to the ground and gets inside the 10. Oakland announcers taking great pains to point out Oakland's twos are already in the game on defense. Fine, but what the blue hell are the Raiders doing taking their defensive starters out before the first quarter's even half over?

The second string proves to be more than enough for the Big Dead anyway. The Raiders stop Wells three times inside the three and get the ball back on downs. Tommie Hill and Derrick Hill, definitely not related, deliver key stops.

The Raiders get off their 1-yard line with aplomb. Michael Bush plows up the middle twice for 15, and Campbell hits Darius Hayward-Bey on the sideline for 15 more. TE Marcel Reece does his best Fitzgerald impression with a 1-handed catch of a screen pass for 5. Another first down after Campbell beats a blitz and hits Nick Miller for 5. Rookie A.J. Jefferson – hey, where's Patrick Peterson? - breaks up a sideline bomb for DH-B.

SECOND QUARTER
Campbell starts the 2nd hitting Denarius Moore, who RamView appears to have been completely right about heading into the draft, on a deep cross for 26. Seventh-round pick Moore, whom RamView lobbied for, has been the sensation of Raiders camp. He's doing just a little more than Austin Pettis so far, for instance. With Alex Barron apparently out for the season in New Orleans, Khalif Barnes decides to assume his role as False Start King. He's jumped twice already. Oakland follows that with a Chaz Schilens end-around that Arizona is all over. After a dumpoff to Bush sets SeaBass up for a 52-yard FG attempt, Barnes' THIRD false start sends Shane Lechler in for a splashback. Man, does the top of the 2005 draft class at tackle suck today, or what?

John Skelton now in to try to make his bones for Arizona. After a false start, Oakland blows the Big Dead offense up in the launching pad with a safety blitz and a corner blitz. Skelton lucky to chuck the ball away wildly twice without a turnover.

KYLE BOLLER actually leads a competent drive next for the Raiders. After Rock Cartwright cuts back for 10, Boller hits Miller for 10, the TE for 10 and Moore a couple of times, with a roughing the passer flag moving the ball down to the 12. Sam Acho let up on his rush and still got called for roughing. Knowing referee Ron Winter, if he had just sacked Boller, he would have avoided the flag. Arizona D stiffens up at the 10 and Oakland settles for another dish of SeaBass. Raiders 6, Big Dead 0

Hey, there's Peterson, the league's highest-paid kick returner. He brings a deep kick out to the 25. A juggling catch by Heap and a DPI get the Big Dead across midfield before a hold redacts a nice outside run by LS-H. Oakland announcers report Deuce Lutui is tipping the scales right now at 380. He's getting knocked backward at the line, though, like he's 280. Walter McFadden draws his THIRD DPI of the game to give Arizona a first down at the Raider 25.

Final 2:00 before halftime. Skelton to Early Freaking Doucet inside the 15. Cards actually overcome a false start and Skelton hits Steven Williams, beating Van Dyke for an over-exuberantly-celebrated TD with 0:25 left. Big Dead 7, Raiders 6

THIRD QUARTER
Ryan Williams opens the second half with a 12-yard run off the right side. Oakland safety Hiram Eugene has to be carted off after the play.

20-plus-yard back-shoulder throw to Steven Williams continues Walter McFadden's terrible night. Skelton buys time in the pocket very nicely the next play, gets forever to throw and hits Ryan Williams out of the backfield for 20-25 more. Draw to Ryan Williams down to the 20. Skelton settles for a dumpoff on 3rd-and-5 that's incomplete and would have been five yards short anyway. Jay Feely extends their lead from 42. Big Dead 10, Raiders 6

Failing to follow the time-honored “high and tight!”, Shaun Bodiford is stripped on the kick return but lucks out and recovers. Trent Edwards is the new Oakland QB. Thought you had to be able to throw farther than 10 yards downfield to be a Raider QB. Just when I say that, he hits Bodiford near the sideline for 14. Edwards completes a pass for four yards to... Edwards. Vonnie Holliday spiked the ball right back to him. Moore makes me look bad with a terrible drop. 15 more to Bodiford, and suddenly Trent Edwards can QB in the NFL again. Just when I say that, he fumbles the snap for a loss. Edwards goes up top for Derek Hagan, who's beaten free agent signing Richard Marshall downfield by 5 yards. Would have been a TD if Edwards could throw the ball over 30 yards; Hagan has to fair-catch it at the 5-yard line instead.

And the underthrow costs them. Louis Rankin does nothing on two handoffs and Moore can't do anything against Marshall on a fade route. Raiders settle for a little more SeaBass. Big Dead 10, Raiders 9

New Arizona QB is Richard Bartel – what happened to Max Hall? Possession goes throwaway, stuffed run, sideline pass three yards short of receiver. Viva preseason!

Moore loses a 68-yard punt return to a blatant block in the back, which is what sprung him. Cards get away with 3rd-and-long blitz to force a dumpoff and a punt. Somebody whose name is pronounced JawJew strips Andre Roberts on the return almost simultaneously to his knee hitting the ground. Good challenge, difficult call for the ref on the field. Oh, and JawJew is spelled Gbadyu.

Challenge succeeds for Oakland, and they now have the ball on the Big Dead 18. Tom Flores calls for a play-action pass from the TV booth, and he's still got it, as Edwards hits David Ausberry, who appears to do a fine tightrope act to stay in bounds for the TD. Right foot in, drug the left toe, should count.

The mandatory booth review of the score costs the Raiders a point. They decide to go for two during the official break, and Hamza Abdullah blitzes in and blows the hell out of the play. Raiders 15, Big Dead 10

Kickoffs are suddenly short here after halftime; Arizona's been getting out to the 25-30. Sam Williams hauls Alfonso Smith down a mile out of bounds to quickly put the Cards at midfield. Oh, you Raiders. Bartel fires deep for Demarco Sampson, who beats Jerome Boyd on a corner route for 38. Not a great sequence for Alf Smith after that: stuffed for 2 yards, lets ball soap through his hands at the 2 yard line. Rookie TE Rob Housler bails him out with a TD catch. Cards TD play there looked like Josh McDaniels drew it up. Big Dead 17, Raiders 15

Illegal wedge on the kickoff backs the Raiders up on their 9. Michael Bennett jostles his way out to the 18.

FOURTH QUARTER
Bennett goes up the middle for 11 on 3rd-and-2, then stutter-steps for 5 more. He was a free agent this offseason; I'm surprised he didn't get more action. Edwards misses a receiver by a mile on 2nd down and gets sacked by Brandon Sharpe while trying to flee the pocket on 3rd down.

Marshay Green loses a 25-yard punt return due to penalty. They still start at their 30, and move easily across midfield on a pass to Isaiah Williams and two Alf Smith runs. Hee, Al Saunders is the Oakland offensive coordinator? Where the hell have the 12,000 smoke routes been tonight? Doesn't look like Saunders brought his son along with him to Oakland, either. Rollout pass to Housler, who's looked quite good tonight, gets Arizona to the 30 before Sterling Moore breaks up a lollipop pass from Bartel. A good CB would have been closer to the receiver on that play and picked it off. Perhaps sensing that, Moore buries Bartel on a blitz to make it 3rd-and-22. Bartel one-hops one to I. Williams to bring in the punt team.

8:28 left, Raiders at their 10. They almost 3-and-out, but Edwards hits Kevin Brock to steal a first down, then scrambles out to the 40. Another completion to Brock gets them to midfield, and a defensive holding call puts them at the Arizona 25 with 3:23 to go. Oakland capitalizes on that flag with a delay-of-game. Viva preseason! Rankin continues a miserable night – why did Oakland take Bennett out? - by dropping a pitchout for a 7-yard loss. NOW Bennett's back in. 3rd-and-22, Edwards ends up throwing a bubble screen into the ground. BRILLIANT CALL, SAUNDERS!

Oakland brings SeaBass in for a 58-yard attempt, and he drills it, as NFL kickers' summer of domination continues. Josh Brown scoffs at Janikowsi's FG. 58 yards is a chip shot! Raiders 18, Big Dead 17

Cards at their 32 with 2:32 left, but I'm not sure how determined they are to actually win since they have Max Hall at QB. Hall gets Arizona quickly to the Oakland 40, though, thanks largely to a missed tackle that gives up a big gain to Chansi Stuckey. Completion to Sampson at the 30, then a short pass to I. Williams on a crossing pattern, and he has the whole right side of the field to himself, and a good block downfield from Sampson, for an apparent TD. Replay shows he stepped out at the 4, though. Booth review somehow does not agree, and Arizona gets the TD. Actually, the correct call would have benefited Arizona – Oakland still gets about 40 seconds to score. Big Dead 24, Raiders 18.

Full credit to Ken Whisenhunt for not going for two here and setting up a potential preseason tie, btw. And a surprisingly nice drive for Max Hall.

Raiders will have to travel 83 yards in 35 seconds for the win. Not like he's going to get cut, but it's odd that Patrick Peterson is still on the field. Green breaks up a Hail Mary to force 4th-and-2, and one Ryan Nnabuife breaks up the final attempt. Win for Arizona.

Final score: Big Dead 24, Raiders 18.

Player of the game: I'll give the game ball to Skelton, but it's meant for all of the Big Dead QBs, who I thought fared surprisingly well. Kolb and Fitzpatrick have already started to click, and all the backups looked capable, leading Arizona to two TDs in two-minute drills.

What have we learned: There's a clause in the last paragraph Rams Nation really does not want to hear: Kolb and Fitzpatrick have already started to click. That's enough to revive division title hopes in the land of the Pink Taco Dome. Big Dead do still keep some of their glaring weaknesses from last year. Their offensive line looks bad, especially the tackles, and their running game was epic fail close to the goal line. Hate to do it, but I'm going to have to put Arizona back on the radar. As for Oakland? Same old Raiders. A lot of talent they can never quite put all together, and a lot of dumb penalties. They bear watching because they showed signs of breaking out last season, but tonight didn't tell us a whole lot positive beyond SeaBass' gigantic leg. (Josh Brown still scoffs.)

Up next: need to scout the Eggles for Opening Day, so I'm jumping to their third preseason game, where they'll face the Browns and Pat Shurmur's Million-Dumpoff March.

Game 2: Seahawks 24, Chargers 17

Onward to our first look at the rebuilt Seattle offense. The Seahawks made a lot of solid free agency moves, signing Sidney Rice, Zack Miller and Robert Gallery, and re-signing Brandon Mebane. They're pretty much re-constructing their offensive line, using their top two draft picks on linemen, adding Gallery at guard, making Max Unger the starting center, and Russell Okung was hurt often enough last year that he's still pretty new, too. The key to whether all this change will be effective, though, is new starting QB Tarvaris Jackson. Let's see if Seattle's big gamble at QB pays off.

As for San Diego, have I ever mentioned they have really, really hot cheerleaders?

FIRST QUARTER
San Diego puts the opening kickoff out the back of the end zone. We're going to need a nickname for that because we're going to see it a lot this year. After Takeo Spikes stops Marshawn Lynch twice, Jackson hits Doug Baldwin over the middle for a first down at the 31. Seattle's without Rice tonight, who's hurt ALREADY – shoulder – and Mike Williams. And now Okung has already limped off. Leon Washington gets them another first down on 3rd-and-1. After a penalty, Okung's replacement, Tyler Polumbus, gets absolutely whipped by Shaun Phillips, forcing Jackson into a goofy scramble that Luis Castillo ends in a sack. Feel free to attempt that stupid throwaway all season long, T.J.

Okung's being hauled off on the cart now - want to tell me again how Seattle's going to repeat as NFC West champion this year, national media? After the first STUPID FREAKING DRAW PLAY of preseason 2011 fails on 3rd-and-12 – Horrors! - Seattle punts from near midfield.

Unfuckingbelievably, after a 10-minute delay TO REBOOT MY FUCKING FROZEN COMPUTER, we're back. Does my shitty computer equipment just inherently know it's the Preseason Challenge, and therefore time to go haywire? Christ.

Seattle forces San Diego into 3rd-and-long inside their 10, but Vincent Jackson scorches Kelly Jennings for a 47-yard bomb. Philip Rivers beats a 2-blitz with a cross to TE Kory Sperry for 12. File that play away, Sam and Lance. A swing pass to Ryan Matthews for 10 more puts them inside the 10. Rivers finishes the 95-yard drive with a short pass to Mike Tolbert, who hurdles Jennings and on into the end zone. Safety Kam Chancellor made a couple of very nice run stops that last drive, but Jennings didn't hold up his end in the secondary, with Keystone Kops-quality play. Chargers 7, Seahawks 0.

Commercial break, touchback, commercial break. Football is back!

Jackson scrambles around for like nine minutes before making a first down on 3rd-and-3. San Diego jumps offsides on 3rd-and-2 to give them another first down near midfield. Back-to-back sacks take care of that, though, to close out the quarter. Darryl Gamble ran right through Michael Robinson for one and Ogemdi Nwagbuo got a coverage sack off just a 3-man rush. Gotta get rid of the ball eventually, T.J. Leon Washington's running well, but the passing game's not getting untracked at all. Jackson's tried for Miller twice but he's been blanketed.

SECOND QUARTER
Billy Volek at the switch now for the Chargers. Jimmy Wilkerson whips former Rams camper Dennis Morris – really? - for a sack to force useless draw play #2 of the night. Decent punt return by Golden Tate brought back by a hold.

Jesus Whitehurst takes charge of the Seahawk flock, but Nwagbuo strikes again on 3rd-and-1, stuffing Thomas Clayton to force a three-and-out.

Volek finds Seiji Ajirotutu for 15 at midfield for a 1st down. A bomb for him is well overthrown the next play, though, as is a 3rd-down bomb for LAURENT ROBINSON, who you'll not be surprised to hear was well-covered on the route. Punt time.

Seattle continues to have troubles getting receivers open. Whitehurst scrambles successfully on an initial 3rd down but is stopped for a loss the next series of downs. Punt away.

Gruden, it's Corey “Legit”, not LEE-Jet. Criminy. San Diego starts at midfield and moves into FG position after K.J. Wright gets called for horse-collaring Jordan Todman. Todman, btw, hasn't been too bad tonight in the Darren Sproles role. They nibble their way inside the 20 before throwing twice immediately after Gruden proclaims they're going to be physical and bash away now that they're in the red zone. Brandon Browner pwns Robinson at the goal line to force a Nate Kaeding FG. Chargers 10, Seahawks 0.

Mike Tirico insists on mispronouncing Robinson's first name, making it sound like the Chargers have a wideout named “Warren Robinson”. Whitehurst will see if he can move the Seahawks 81 yards in 2:00. It takes a weird defensive holding call on Vaughn Martin on a run play to get the drive moving. They dink and dunk out to midfield before Gamble, who's had a very active first half, trips Whitehurst up on a scramble. A deep corner route to Isaiah Stanback comes up short to finish the half.

THIRD QUARTER
Scott Tolzein leads the Chargers to a half-opening 3-and-out, with a false start by Steven Schilling and a deflected pass on 3rd down.

Pete Carroll leaves Whitehurst in the game, and he hits, for crying out loud, DOMINIQUE FREAKING BYRD for 30 yards to get Seattle into the red zone. A short completion to Tate, who they're really trying to get the ball to tonight, gets them inside the 10. An illegal contact, and Gamble jumping offsides by five yards, get Seattle most of the rest of their yards before Washington plunges in from the 1. Chargers 10, Seahawks 7.

Another three-and-out for San Diego. Jeron Johnson breaks up a pass to Sperry after Robinson brutally drops a pass behind him over the middle on 2nd down. He is who we thought he was!

Seattle appears to have finally pulled their offensive line starters, but Whitehurst is still dealing. Pat Williams makes a juggling catch for 8 inside the 20, but the most productive player this drive is Carl Ihenacho. Don't look for him in your Seahawks program; he's a Charger who's been offsides twice this drive to keep Seattle moving. The Seahawks hunt and peck forever before getting inside the 10 for a chip FG. Tre Simmons shuts down a swing pass in the flat nicely to force the attempt. Chargers 10, Seahawks 10

San Diego answers immediately, with a 103-yard kickoff return TD by Brian Walters from – Cornell. Superbly-blocked return; only one Seahawk, Josh Pinkard, had much of a shot at him, and he slipped off a high tackle. So much for the kickoff rule change killing the return game, eh? Chargers 17, Seahawks 10

Dueling banjos now, as Baldwin gets his kickoff return out to the 40 for Seattle. Josh Portis of California, Pennsylvania the new Seattle QB, badly overthrows his first out pass.

Disappointingly little cheerleader footage tonight, btw, ESPN. Tonight's game produced by a woman or something?

FOURTH QUARTER
Portis finishes his first professional three-and-out with another terrible sideline throw.

Tolzein continues his perfect professional record with his third straight three-and-out. No open receivers on 2nd or 3rd down lead to a short scramble and a sack, respectively. So many Seahawks hit Tolzein on 3rd down, I think they're going to each get credited with a fifth of a sack.

Thomas Clayton gets 16 yards on 2 rushes, just enough to ruin Portis' perfect career 3-and-out record. Portis re-asserts his lack of offensive ability with another bad overthrow before coming up short on scrambles on 3rd AND 4th down.

FOUR FOR FOUR! Jeron Johnson keeps Tolzein's perfect 3-and-out record clean by dropping Isaac Odim for a loss on 3rd-and-1. Whew, that was a close one!

THIS JUST IN: JOSH PORTIS HAS COMPLETED A PASS. He follows that with a nice completion to FREAKING BYRD for 23 off a nice play-action fake. Byrd, btw, has more yards tonight than he did his whole Rams career. Portis has got some confidence now. He hits Ricardo Lockette for 16 on a deep dig and just barely misses Anthony McCoy for a big gain up the seam. He steps up on 3rd-and-long and hits McCoy over the middle for 20, though. Sweet pancake on blitz pickup by Breno Giacomini kept that play alive. Clayton bolts off right tackle – Giacomini again – for 10 more, inside the 5. What's this? Excitement in a preseason game? Hee, two seconds after I typed that, Seattle called timeout. Too much excitement!

NICE blitz pickup by Clayton gives Portis time to sprint out and hit McCoy in the back of the end zone for a TD. Pete Carroll inexplicably calls for the EXTRA POINT, TYING THE GAME WITH 4:00 LEFT. YOU DO NOT, EVER, UNDER ANY CONDITIONS, PLAY FOR THE FREAKING TIE IN POSTSEASON, YOU JACKWAGON. Chargers 17, Seahawks 17

Oh for Christ's sake, Gruden is now talking up Portis as a threat to Jackson's starting job. “Jackson should be asking to go back in the game!” Idiot.

Never mind the criticism of Carroll playing for the tie. It was actually a brilliant call, knowing Tolzein would give the ball right back to Seattle. Didn't even take three downs this time, he holds the ball forever on a first down pass attempt and gets splattered by Pierre Allen, who forces a fumble and gets Seattle the ball back.

Though he deserved to be cut on the spot after holding the ball out and dancing with it the last 10 yards (which Gruden IDIOTICALLY describes as “a nice finish”), Clayton cruises for about 25 and a TD, making a sweet cutback off a drive block by Giacomini to break the run open. Seahawks 24, Chargers 17

The way Tolzein's playing, San Diego's only chance is to return the kickoff for a TD, three-and-out the Seahawks, then return the punt for a TD. Tolzein looks deep – ha! - then pulls the ball down and scrambles for 5. A.J. Schable smashes down Tolzein's 2nd down pass at the line.

OH MY GOD ALERT THE HALL OF FAME – Scott Tolzein has thrown for a first down. There goes the perfect record! Complete to Travon Patterson at midfield at the 2:00 warning.

Tolzein hits Walters now on the sideline for 24 more, then Patterson for 14 down to the 12. What does prevent defense prevent? Quick slant to Walters down to the 5. Jesse Hoffman breaks up a pass at the goal line to force 3rd-and-3, on which Tolzein rolls out and has to throw it out the back of the end zone. 4th-and-3, for all the marbles. Tolzein fires for Patterson in the back of the end zone, but Jeron Johnson breaks it up. Ball game.

Final score: Seahawks 24, Chargers 17.

Player of the game: I disqualified Clayton for hot-dogging on his TD run, thought about Portis, but gave it to Seahawk CB Jeron Johnson. He had a couple of nice pass breakups in the second half along with a big tackle-for-loss. Scott Tolzein the first clear winner of game LVP, which puts him in contention for the 2011 CPOP (Crappiest Player of Preseason) Award.

What did we learn: Again, despite the ridiculous amount of writing I did, not a lot. Seattle's offense is impossible to project with Rice and Williams on the bench. That's not to say Whitehurst still couldn't take the starting job from Jackson. Jackson's the starter for now because he's supposed to be most familiar with their new offense. Looked pretty bad tonight, though. Lots of offseason change by both teams, but I'd say the Rams are ahead of Seattle on both sides of the ball at this point. Jordan Todman's a player to keep an eye on for San Diego; looks like he can be an effective third-down back.

Up next: Big Dead @ Oakland, probably in less ridiculous detail than this. Still trying to figure out what my style needs to be for this.

Game 1: Rams 33, Colts 10

We'll start Preseason Challenge 2011 off the right way, with a RamView.

The Rams cashed in early interceptions and short fields into a big lead and never looked back, winning 33-10. The defense recorded three interceptions and Josh Brown ended halftime with a 60-yard FG.

Player of the game: Rams rookie TE Lance Kendricks, who caught 5 passes for 47 yards and a TD, and looked for all the world like the most potent weapon the Rams have had at TE in at least the past 10 years.

What did we learn: Honestly, not a lot. We already knew the Colts could give a crap about preseason games, and it showed. That's also a team that desperately needs to stay healthy this season, based on the poor depth they showed last night. The Rams scored 33, but we still know squat about the offense, because the QBs checked down all night.

I guess we know the Rams have taken a successful first step toward implementing Josh McDaniels' offense, and the Colts really, really, really need Peyton Manning healthy.

Up next: If I get nothing else accomplished in this year's challenge, it'll be to make sure I get the Rams' NFC West opponents scouted. So I'll next move back to Thursday night's Seahawks-Chargers game.

-$-

Announcing the 2011 Preseason Challenge

Oh, yes, we're back at it again. Even though NFL Network has seen fit to hide its broadcast schedule for all of this year's preseason games for the SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR, I've located one and am gearing up to take my annual run at the Preseason Challenge, which is to watch all of the games.

Last year's "run" was a feeble effort of about nine games, but I can't resist another try this year. One, I'm a glutton for punishment, and two, the lockout made it easier this year! The owners and players couldn't settle in time to save the Hall of Fame Game, which would have been between the Rams and Bears, so there are only 64 games this year.

If I do get through the whole challenge this year, will I have to list it with an asterisk? Not to worry, it's hardly likely I'll get anywhere near that far. I completed the Preseason Challenge the first time I tried it in 2004 but haven't come close since.

To try to speed things up this year, I'm not going to attempt any live blogging in Blogger, which I swear causes two-thirds of my problems. I'll write games up somewhere else and then drag the text into Blogger after the game. Also, I think I'm going to keep this year's game accounts a lot shorter, but don't count on Mr. Long-Winded here sticking to that.

So, let's all do some stretching, clear off our TiVos, warm up our DVD burners, and make a run at it, shall we? The challenge kicks off with the Seahawks at the Chargers on ESPN August 11.

Yes! The Chargers cheerleaders the very first game!

-$-