I've stopped trying to guess the outcomes of pro football games on Sunday. Betting those state-sponsored sports book tickets here in Oregon just became too much of a losing proposition. As lamented in this weblog previously, it's darned tough to call the point-spread winners in the NFL these days, and if you do get lucky, the lottery folks don't pay good odds.

One nice byproduct of having wasted a few dollars on this over the early weeks of the season, however, is a renewed interest in the sport. How else would I have discovered that the Atlanta Falcons have a young quarterback named Michael Vick who is revolutionizing the game? I neglected football all of last year, and so I had never heard of the guy. Meanwhile, Vick's cousin Aaron Brooks is piloting the Saints to a nice year. And how would I have noticed that Portland's own Joey Harrington is keeping the Detroit Lions close in every game, although they're having trouble winning? But now that they've gotten my attention, I can follow along without wagering on the games.

College football is fun right now, too. Is Notre Dame No. 1? Shouldn't they be? I go with the New York Times computer and say yes, but what else would you expect from an East Coast transplant blogger?