I'm down with that.  I'm certainly not gonna give up on Monday like some people have suggested.  There's still SOME time to get things accomplished.  Give them another month or so, then we repeat the cycle for 2009.  Hopefully not though.

See I don't share that view.  I do believe it'll come out someday before Axl passes.  I really don't think Axl is blocking the release, or that whatever legal battles they're fighting can't be overcome SOMEDAY.

I  hope to hell it's released this year but it'd be tough to bet on it when we haven't really heard anything to make us believe that.  I mean, the Rock Band thing is great, the Best Buy thing is great, the possible aim for a November release is great.  But right now "Shackler's Revenge" is the only guarantee for this year.  And we've only got 3 1/2 months left.  I'd have to assume we'd need to get an announcement sometime soon.  Axl did say there would be promotion and it wouldn't just show up in music stores one Tuesday, so I would think the promotional vehicle would have to start pretty soon if 2008 is the plan.

Yeah, I tell ya.  It was so weird.  I was at the game and I was behind the opposite endzone so I didn't have a great view of the play, plus I was focussed on Randy Moss catching the ball and then fumbling it.  Then I realized the fumble was the least of our problems.  But it's just strange the course of events that led up to it.  He didn't play at all in the pre-season due to a minor foot injury, but more due to the fact that they didn't start their usual offensive line and he probably would've gotten injured then anyway.  But then he's taken off the injury report altogether for the first time in 2 years.  It's been a running joke that he's been "probable" with a "shoulder" injury for the last 2 years.  All of a sudden they take him off the list and he gets knocked out for the season.  He had started like 128 straight games or something ridiculous.  Plus in the pre-season Matt Cassel looked so bad behind a second rate offensive line, mostly made up of backups, that Patriot fans were calling for him to be cut and for us to go out and get a veteran backup "just in case".  Then somehow Cassel doesn't get cut, Brady gets hurt, and Matt is now our starter.  And the craziest thing of all is, I now have confidence in Cassel and the Patriots to still make the playoffs, win the AFC East, tally double digit victories.  My worst nightmare came true last Sunday, but I'm not giving up hope.  In fact, now that just about everybody is doubting the Patriots I would love nothing more than to prove them all wrong.  I could go into specifics but I'll spare you for now.  Let's just say, take a close look at the 2001 Patriots when Tom Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe after Mo Lewis knocked him on his ass.  THIS team is a LOT better than that one, and they won the Super Bowl.  And before you say, well they had Tom Brady, look at his stats for that year.  Far from impressive if I do say so myself, aside from the completion percentage.  Patriot fans, and NFL fans alike were spoiled with insane offensive production last year that they forget you don't need a record setting offense to win the Super Bowl.  The Patriots had the best offense in the league last year to say the least, the Cowboys and Packers were great offenses in the NFC.  But it was the Giants who won it all with solid defense and a great game plan that they executed to perfection.  It can be done.  I'm not making any so called predictions here, I'm just saying, don't be so quick to count out the New England Patriots.  I do think they will be heard from this season.

Funny, we just had the same thought, 20 seconds apart.  After 9+ years of waiting I wouldn't be surprised to get a firm release date and then have something happen to push that back, and back, and back some more.

I'm not so sure how much I buy the rust factor for the Colts.  It's not like Manning isn't very familiar with the system they run and the guys on the team.  How much practice does he really need?  I honestly don't know, maybe a lot.  Did he not practice at all this summer?  I didn't even realize that was a home game, opening a new stadium to boot.  I just assumed it was at Chicago when I saw they were winning.  Maybe the Bears are better than I thought, or maybe the Colts are worse.  Everyone seems to want to give them a pass though.