Let's talk about football.

With the close of the NFL season comes a good party, tons of calories, and another week closer to baseball season.

I will be honest in saying that I paid much more attention to football this year than last. Although the Jets struggled to barely make it through their regular season games, I found some fun in post-season football without them. With New York out of the running, I paired up with some of my Seattle mates to watch the Seahawks. The games were neck and neck. Full on nail biters. Right until the heartbreaking end.

From there, I had to turn south. To San Francisco. The 49ers fought their way through some tough teams. First, they tore through Green Bay. For me, it was like watching my first live football game all over again (see post in years past regarding my first game, many, many moons ago). Only this time, they took the win. I still think there was a lot of luck involved.

Next, they took on the Atlanta Falcons. Watching the first quarter of this game was pretty abysmal. From the way they were playing, there was no way they were going to make it past these birds. Somehow, they managed to recover, and the game remained tight until the last couple of minutes. I wasn't even sure they had the win at the 2:00 warning.

But they did.

And then I got to thinking. How much of this is rigged? How badly did the NFL want to see the Harbaugh brothers battle it out against each other? What a great marketing tool! What a great story for the books! I'm sure their parents are so proud! Which one will root for which team?

I'll be honest, I think the Ravens fought the good fight to earn their place in Super Bowl XLVII. But I really thought the game was going to be bird on bird. A fight for the south and the east. As much as the 49ers played hard, they made critical mistakes that were magically erased by many strokes of good luck in the divisional and conference games.

That being said, I'm turning my back on my third-string team and rooting for the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday. I look good in purple anyway.

So, let's play ball...and figure out the menu....may the best team win.

Rookie vs. Ravens

Former USC Trojan quarterback is moving on up, and is being thrown up against some major competition. Now throwing for the New York Jets, Mark Sanchez will face Ray Lewis and the rest of the Baltimore Ravens in a preseason game of Monday Night Football on August 24th.

Having been a Cal student, and having an aversion to schools that I could never afford to go to, I've never been a Trojans fan. I know what the kid can do, but now he's playing for my pro team. This is no joke.

While his future for the full season is still up in the air with Kellen Clemens still in the running for that favored QB spot, Sanchez really showed some stuff in his first start against the St. Louis rams on Friday, and his efforts did not go unnoticed. Sanchez remains calm and cool about the decision for him to start over Clemens, and is said to be excited.

I'm undoubtedly glad to have some fresh blood in my favored NFL squad. Although his career started with one of my least favorite college teams, I'm going to accept Sanchez with open arms in hopes that the Jets can actually do something relatively exciting this year. I won't be rocking a #6 jersey, but I'll certainly be cheering him on.

J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!