It didn’t used to be that way, you understand. Growing up in Boston when the fall came around, I was still looking at the Red Sox and their attempt (usually in vain) to reach the World Series. On top of that, with the exception of the 1985 season, the Patriots were a far cry from what they’ve been in the 21st Century.

And while Boston is one of the great sports cities in America, it hasn’t had a college football powerhouse since the beginning of the 20th Century.

So I didn’t have much incentive growing up to wait for the leaves to turn so football was in the air. That’s not to say I didn’t watch it, but it just didn’t mean anything to see other teams in other cities do better than my guys did, more often than not.

But having been on the Left Coast for 20 years now has opened my eyes to the anticipation for this time of the year. Oregon, while being one of the most backwards place to live in the world, has not one but now two teams which are in the national consciousness seemingly every year.

While the NFL continues to brilliantly foster demand while not overwhelming the supply to its most rabid fans. You may hate the fact the NFL is finally expanding the schedule, but it’s taken them nearly 25 years to do it. That’s the classic way of building a business, which ticks off the modern fan who wants his cake until he realizes too much of a good thing is a waste.

Working in the media for the last 3 years has taught me the dog days of summer are exactly that and the year finally starts when the teams arrive, the practices start, and the nation gets ready for 6 months of high-pressure excitement.

Football’s here. It’s about damn time too…

Today’s music is “Technoir” by Spitlips.

Today’s music is “Invitation” by Kom’ah (I wanted to use “The Neverending Story” theme, but got shot down by some lawyers about halfway in)

Roger Clemens

There was a time when I wanted to be Roger Clemens. As a kid growing up in Boston in the 1980′s, Clemens represented everything a little leaguer could hope to be in a pitcher, especially after mowing down 20 hopeless Mariners in 1986. When Red Sox GM Dan Duquette let Clemens go at “the twilight of his career”, I echoed the disgust with how easily the finest pitcher of his era was so easily dispatched.

I certainly don’t envy him now, 20 years later, and I’m glad I’m not him right now either.

After being indicted yesterday for six counts of obstruction and perjury, Clemens faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty on all of them. Let’s be clear here, he won’t get a tenth of that. Clemens has money, influence, and a reputedly great lawyer in Rusty Hardin.

If he pursues a trial and is found guilty, based on the fact that Clemens doesn’t have a prior conviction he’ll likely get a reduced sentence equal to a slap on the wrist, and that’ll be it.

The question is how long can Clemens go without admitting the truth that he refuses to accept?

There’s a nobility in being defiant of the law when you think they have an ulterior motive. But as their history has shown, the United States Attorney’s Office doesn’t decide to prosecute unless it’s certain it has a shot to convict.

That’s bad news for both Clemens and Barry Bonds (who also faces trial in March), especially if they remain as obstinate as they’ve been since coming under this scrutiny.

Some pundits have stated that it’s not too late for Clemens to come clean, be contrite and not be ostracized by Baseball. I am not one of them.

Clemens has been no different than Pete Rose was in the wake of his own investigation 20 years ago, and I believe he’ll follow Rose’s lead until the day he either wakes up to reality or he finds a way to profit like Rose did.

However it ends up, though, Roger Clemens will never be the envy of anyone ever again. At least, I hope not.

Every NFL fan outside the Land of 10,000 Lakes just screamed, “STOP!!”

Guess who’s back for one more go-round?

Brett Favre at his press conference yesterday

I hate to say it, but I called this happening over 2 years ago when last I was on the air. Brett Favre can’t go out gracefully and even though he said his 20th season will be his last, excuse me if I’m not taking it with a grain of salt the size of a salt lick.

Is this the same as Michael Jordan or Ken Griffey Jr. when they retired? Not quite. Those two were shells of their past glory, while Favre was a bum ankle and a bad pass away from going to his third Super Bowl at 40 years old.

But then the NFL is a different animal, where you can go to a team at an elder age can fill a niche, especially at quarterback.

Do the Vikings need Favre this season? They’re not getting to Dallas with Tavaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels, that’s certain. But I don’t know if I can handle another three months of soap opera histrionics as we watch #4 finally, FINALLY go of into the Mississippi sunset…we hope.

Today’s music is “Coastal Violence” by Mentz.

In just under 9 months, Tiger Woods went from the most untouchable athlete on the planet to a primetime TV joke and the whipping boy of the talking head brigade everywhere.

Now, that’s not to say I feel sorry for Tiger. He brought everything he’s suffered upon himself and he will have to live with the stupidity of thinking he was beyond such scrutiny. But I must admit it’s sad to see him playing this weekend at Whistling Straits in the 92nd PGA Championship, knowing that what he may have lost more than anything is the expectations he set to create history as we watched.

If Tiger were to stop playing now, his career would be considered a disappointment by many. Only one other man won more than 14 majors in his career, Jack Nicklaus, and yet if Tiger doesn’t surpass the Bear’s 18 majors, it’ll be branded a failure.

And that also will have been of Tiger’s own making. After all, he made it clear when he entered the PGA Tour, his goal was to break Jack’s record. We’ve followed him all this way, but his arrogance turned the envy we have for his skill into outrage at his character.

The year was considered tailor-made for Tiger to get at least one major, with Augusta, Pebble Beach, and St. Andrews courses he’s ruled over the last decade. Now with the PGA soon to be over and with him out of the hunt for the Wannamaker Trophy, it’s once again become not a question of “when?” but “if?” he can catch Jack.

The other question now is, even if Tiger builds himself back into the premier golfer of our time and arguably the greatest ever, will any of us care enough to applaud him if he does make history?