Things I Learned This Weekend...

1. A true shutdown corner is the rarest player in the NFL, and goes a long way to helping his team win. See - Nate Clements, SF 49ers. Clements essentially single covered Larry Fitzgerald all day. Fitzy did catch for 71 yards and a touchdown, but that is an off day in his world. San Fran left Clements on an island with Fitzgerald, Clements slowed him down, got a pick, and San Francisco won the game. See also, Antoine Winfield, Minn.

2. Good teams play well, great teams know how to finish. See - Buffalo vs. New England on MNF. Buffalo was playing a great game, especially on defense. They were shutting down Tom Brady and the Pats, and moving the ball even with T.O. being almost non-existent. Buffalo had the lead for the first 58 minutes of the game. But in the 4th quarter you could see the Pats picking up steam. In the final two minutes Tom Terrific threw 2 TD passes which sandwiched a Leodis McKelvin fumble on a kick-off. Final score, Pats 25 - Bills 24. The Bills are young and need to learn how to win. See also - Oakland vs. San Diego

3. Buffalo has a decent defense, and will get better with experience. Aaron Schobel is great. Paul Posluszny is great when he isn't injured. The defensive backfield could be amazing, in time, with McKelvin, Terrance McGee, and Donte Whitner. And to think, this team also used to have Nate Clements and Antoine Winfield (see no. 1).

4. Oakland will never learn to win as long as Al Davis is their owner. He is a crazy person.

5. Fantasy football almost made me forget that I have a first place fantasy baseball team to maintain.

6. A lot of my friends on Facebook care about their fantasy football teams and their favorite NFL teams.

7. Many more of my friends on Facebook care about Kanye West.

8. Having a sophisticated fan base leads to interesting things in the stands. See - UVA vs. TCU. I attended this game with my buddy Brad, a lifetime UVA fan and season ticket holder. With about six minutes to go UVA was down 30-0 because their we'll-tell-the-media-it's-a-spread-but-it's-really-a-bad-single-wing-offense could barely get into TCU territory, much less score. Then, they finally threw their first downfield pass of the game. The ball sailed over the receiver's head and landed about eight yards in front of him. Everyone in the stands stood, clapped, and gave what I can only describe as the loudest and most sarcastic, patronizing cheer I have ever heard at live sporting event. I have never heard such enthusiastic "it's about time" or "what good is that?" or "nice throw!" This bizarre cheering was topped on the next play when the UVA quarterback threw another deep pass, overthrew his intended receiver again, but had a different receiver catch the ball and take it in for a touchdown. See also - English soccer fans, who chant, "If you won the war, stand up.", when they play Germany.

9. ESPN's games that you allow to bet on games, i.e. Streak for the Cash, College Pick 'em, Pigskin Pick 'em, Eliminator Challenge etc., occupy too much of my thinking. See also - all of these same games on Yahoo.com, or Sportingnews.com, or Cbssports.com.....you get the idea.

10. I couldn't think of a tenth thing, so here is a tribute to two fallen legends.