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I'm bringing a .702 winning percentage into Week 6, ignoring point spreads as always and picking straight up. The easy way out, some might say, but I like to keep things simple. Here's Week 6:

Atlanta 27, NY Giants 17 - The Dirty Birds host the G-Men, who are coming off a big win over the Skins. The Falcons do Eagles fans a favor and claw the Giants.

Dallas 31, Houston 10 - There used to be a team called the Dallas Texans. They became the Kansas City Chiefs. There was also a team called the Houston Oilers, who later became the Tennessee Titans. The NFL then put another team in Houston, which must visit Dallas this week to play the Cowboys. By the way, there used to be a team called the New York Titans, which later became the Jets.

Baltimore 13, Carolina 10 - There is a team called the Cleveland Browns. But there used to be another Cleveland Browns that moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens. The NFL then placed a new team in Cleveland.

Detroit 27, Buffalo 21 - Two teams that appear headed nowhere, one run by a family with a failing automotive company that hired a General Manager with no prior experience, the other run by a really old owner that hired a really old General Manager, a job for which he had no prior experience either.

Philadelphia 31, New Orleans 24 - The Eagles travel to the RKH (Refurbished Katrina Hellhole) Dome to face the United Saints of America.. People who pointed to a weak early schedule for the Eagles were not counting on the Saints being 4-1. The Saints will give the Birds problems, but the Eagles should prevail.

Seattle 24, St.Louis 17 - The Hawks are without Shaun Madden Curse Alexander, and Bobby Engram is out due to an illness. Nevertheless, the Blue Men Group win a game that could go either way.

Cincinnati 34, Tampa Bay 17 - Imagine how dysfunctional the Bengals would be if they weren't winning. This team has more off-field issues than any team in the league, taking the notion of dysfunction away from Minnesota, which cornered the market on it last year.

Washington 17, Tennessee 10 - Yawn. The Snyderskins should be careful, what with the Titans giving the vaunted Colts a scare last week.

NY Jets 20, Miami 17 - An AFC East rivalry that has lost some of its lustre. Name change suggestion: Joey Harrington should change his name to Joe. Joe Harrington. It won't help any, but what the heck.

Pittsburgh 27, Kansas City 24 - The Steelers are officially on the ropes if they don't win this. I'm tired of picking this team to win only to see opposite results.

San Diego 31, San Francisco 27 - Marty Ball took a hiatus in the second half last week. Memo to Marty: Keep it that way, and maybe you'll actually win a playoff game or two this year.

Denver 30, Oakland 0 - Nobody has been scoring much on Denver, so why should the pathetic Raiders score at all?

Chicago 27, Arizona 17 - Monday Night Football gives a national audience its first look at the Cards' new stadium and their new QB Matt Leinart. Same old results.

Cloudy High 65

- After five weeks of the NFL season, I'd list Donovan McNabb as the front-runner for league MVP and/or Offensive Player Of The Year.

 - My tongue-in-cheek MVP choice is Ricky Williams, who is not even in the NFL this year. Looking at the past 21 games, Miami hasn't won much without him.

- New QB, same old struggles, for the Baltimore Ravens. This offense just doesn't go under Brian Billick, a supposed offensive guru.

- In the parity-minded NFL, there's already ten teams that have little or no hope of making the playoffs.

- My early choice for Coach Of The Year is Sean Payton of the United Saints of America.

Sunny High 80

Clouds and Sun, High 63

Okay, I'm no Nostradamus, though my .630 percentage of correct guesses so far this season, while nothing to brag about, is probably as good as his precentage of correct guesses. Anyway, my "Focus" picks, then the rest of the lot:

Baltimore 16, San Diego 13 - This should be a defensive struggle. I think the defenses are pretty much even, so in a tough game like this I look for Quarterback play to be a determining factor. I'll take the experience of Steve McNair.

Cincinnati 31, New England 17 - The big question is: Has New England lost too many quality players and has that finally caught up with them? Okay, that's two questions. My answer is yes to both.

Chicago 17, Seattle 14 - With Shaun Madden Curse Alexander out, I'll go with the Bears. Seattle is a fine team and I respect them, but they depend a lot on home field advantage. On the road, they were 5-3 last year. I can see this game going the other way though if the Bears have trouble covering Seattle's underrated receivers. Two years ago, these guys were overrated; what a difference a Super Bowl season makes.

The rest: Jacksonville over Washington, Cleveland over Oakland (how bad is Oakland? They're at home against a winless team and still a 3-point dog), St. Louis over Detroit in a typical 'do we have to watch this?' game, Carolina over the United States Saints, Buffalo over Minnesota in a mild upset, Kansas City over San Francisco in the 'too bad it's not Steve Young vs Joe Montana' game, Atlanta over Arizona, Indianapolis over NY Jets, Miami over Houston, and Dallas over Tennesseee in the 'doesn't matter whether T.O. plays' game.

I'll make my Monday Night Packers vs Eagles pick later.

Sunny High 70   Daylight 11:54

Going 8-6 with picks is not especially impressive. That's what I was in week 3, for a 29-17 record thus far, a .630 percentage. I got off to a better start last year, and ended with a near 70% win percentage.

So last night the Saints blocked a punt! Yes, in the usually risk-averse NFL, a coach actually ordered a punt-block. It worked for a TD, and the Saints smacked Michael/Mike/Michael Vick's Falcons 23-3. The whole return to the Superdome affair reminded me of my trip to Jamaica three years ago - I stayed in a nice resort in a lush, lovely tropical setting, but the poverty and squalor of the rest of the island that I observed while being shuttled from the airport made me feel guilty for being there. So last night the Superdome looked all nice and refurbished, while whole wards of New Orleans remain devastated. Watching the game made me feel guilty yet again.

I guess Steve "Monkey Off My Back" Young needs to reassess his opinion on the toughness of Tampa Bay QB Chris Simms, who did nothing but lose an internal organ during Sunday's game. This guy got royally crushed and yet kept coming back for more and almost directed his team to a win. Meanwhile Carolina kicker John Kasay set an NFL record by kicking four figgies from 46 yards or more in one game (51, 50, 49, 46). Holy long-jump, Batman.

The overrated and overpublicized Giants went into Seattle to play the team that nobody knows about even though they are the NFC Champions. It must be deeply satisfying to be on a no-name team when you obliterate a big-name team. The rest of the time, it must be frustrating. No wonder they embrace that 12th Man thing. They get no love outside Seattle, even though they deserve lots of it.

Dennis Yank 'Em Out Green has apparently pulled Kurt Warner in favor of Matt Leinart for this week's Arizona game vs Atlanta. Here's the deal - new home, new QB, new uniforms...it makes no difference. The Cardinals are still the Cardinals.

Ben Roethlisberger is pulling down a QB rating of about 30 right now as the Steelers seem determined to get him playing his way back to form. But he simply hasn't seen enough repetition, and while he's playing his way back, he's made costly errors. Memo to Bill Cowher - run the ball more. Isn't that what you're supposed to be known for?

New England can't seem to beat Denver. Homeless Bill Belichick is 1-5 against Mike Shanahan. He's 69-17 against everbody else. This was the Battle Of Two Teams I Dislike. I can't warm to Denver, and I'm sick and tired of New England. Too bad one had to win.

Mark Brunell shut everbody up this week by completing 22 straight passes, a new NFL single-game record. But he did it against the Texans. I think that a win over the Texans should count as just a half-win. So the Skins are .5-2 right now. Of course, that makes the Eagles 1.5-1. Okay, bad idea.

Brett Favre became the only QB besides Dan Marino to reach the 400 TD plateau in passing. Is it me or does it seem like Favre has also thrown 400 career INTs?

The Colts deal with tragedy again as Reggie Wayne's brother is killed in an accident. They didn't get to savor a tough win over a good opponent.

The Jets-Bills game looked like it was played in the 1960s. I love both uniforms. The Jets went back to their 60s look back in 1999 and Buffalo wore their throwbacks, which beat the pants off their new uniforms, which are clearly the NFL's most ghastly.

Chicago outmuscled Minnesota and gets Seattle this Sunday night. But the 'Hawks will be without Shaun Alexander, who has now fully confirmed the existence of the Madden Curse.

And last, and least, the Browns beat the Browns (2.0) 15-14. The Ravens, who used to be the Browns (well, kind of), beat the Browns Version 2.0 on a late interception. Yeah, it's confusing.

Mixed Sun and Clouds, High 70

One thing I've noticed about football fans and talking heads (commentators) alike is how they seem ready to make grand pronouncements about the fate of some football teams after only one game of the season is played.

You must wait at least four to six weeks for delivery, as they say in the shipping business. It takes that long to find out if a team is going to be good, bad, or whatever. It often takes longer. So don't hurry to bury Tampa Bay, Carolina, Dallas, and other clubs who lost. Or elevate Philadelphia, Arizona (okay, nobody's really elevating the Cardinals to contender status, at least not yet, I hope), or Atlanta and other winners to Super Bowl contention.

I was impressed, for instance, with the Eagles 24-10 win over Houston. But it was against the Texans - one of the league's worst teams last year. Atlanta's win was also impressive, coming on the road against what is supposed to be a solid Carolina squad. But there's just too much football that needs to be played before indications one way or another can be stated definitively.

But the pundits need something to discuss, so off they will go on musings about who's good and who's not. Smart folks will just watch and wait.

Partly Sunny High 74

Since June 2004, it became obvious to me that Maria Sharapova was a good tennis player. In the past two years, I've heard several people compare her to Anna Kournikova, another young tennis beauty that has made a considerable fortune from endorsements. But besides the fact that they're both blonde Russians who play tennis, they couldn't be more different in one vital area - quality of play.

Sharapova won the 2006 Women's Final at the U.S. Open last night, beating Justine Hennin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 to win her second Grand Slam title. It seems that despite routine advancement to the semifinals in major tournaments since her Wimbledon win in 2004, Sharapova needed this win to finally prove her abilties to those who think she's nothing more than a pretty face, and a wealthy pretty one at that.

Now there should be no doubt that this 19 year-old can play. Any comparisons to Kournikova should be a thing of the past, though people who know tennis, even a little, should not have made the comparisons in the first place, because the girl can play.

Maria Sharapova exults after her U.S.Open victory. In the semifinals, she defeated the world's number one female player Amelie Mauresmo, and then captured the title with a straight-set win over number two Justine Hennin-Hardenne.

Sunny High 82  Daylight Hrs 12:51

A few days ago I made my predictions for the upcoming NFL season - always a quixotic attempt to foresee the unforseeable.

Anyway, absent from my playoff-bound NFL final 12 are my three favorite teams, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Tennessee (I like the AFC as a conference but I am not as drawn to the teams individually). Between the three, do I have any hope of rooting a team toward the Super Bowl?

Well, the Eagles are the best bet, looking at things from here. They should bounce back to some degree after their Terrell Owens-inspired disaster of 2005. But my feeling is that they'll finish 9-7, which won't be enough to make the playoffs.

The 49ers won four games last year even though they had the league's worst offense and defense, so one would think that the only way they can go is up. But they are still shaky in many areas, including quarterback, so I'll give them five, maybe six wins at best.

Tennessee drafted Vince Young but he's too young (pun intended) to help right now. I have doubts that he was even their best choice (I think Matt Leinart would have been a better fit). Their running game is still suspect too, despite drafting Lendale White (who I'm not sold on either). The Titans finish around 6-10.

So I'm expecting a blah year, with perhaps a bit of excitement from time to time. But I'm a football fan overall, so even if my hopeful expectations don't seem likely to be met, I'm still glad that football season is upon us.

Partly Cloudy  High 72  Sunrise 6:27  Sunset 7:35  Daylight 13:08

Making predictions for the upcoming NFL season before the season even begins is an exercise in pure folly. Hence, my predictions:

AFC East Champion - New England       NFC East Champion -  Dallas

AFC North Champion - Pittsburgh          NFC North Champion - Minnesota

AFC South Champion - Indianapolis       NFC South Champion - Tampa Bay

AFC West Champion - Kansas City       NFC West Champion - Seattle

AFC Wild Cards - Denver, Miami          NFC Wild Cards - Carolina, NY Giants

AFC Champion  - New England             NFC Champion - Dallas

                           Super Bowl Champion - Dallas Cowboys

Good lord willing, I'll refer back to this entry in February 2007 to see how wrong I was.

Predicting results before the season is a quixotic attempt to somehow peer into the future. Especially in a league as competetive as the NFL and as physical as football, I fully expect many of the above projections to be totally, incontrovertably,....wrong.

By the way, Sports Illustrated magazine has issued their Super Bowl pairing - Miami vs Carolina. It'll be interesting to check again in February to see how wrong that pick is.

Meanwhile, Miami Dolphins' fans must be thrilled, since the Super Bowl will be played in Miami. No NFL team has ever played a Super Bowl in its home city - the closest any came was the San Francisco 49ers after the 1984 season; they played the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. That was the Dolphins' most recent Super Bowl appearance. Maybe they're due for another one, but in my opinion they'll have to wait.

Partly Cloudy High 85  Sunrise 6:19  Sunset 7:48  Daylight 13:29

When it comes to athletes who are accused of using performance-enhancing substances, I've come to believe that those who most strongly deny using them are also most likely to be guilty.

The latest accusations against sprinter Marion Jones, who has for years vehemently denied using performance enhancers, seem to finally stand a chance of sticking. Jones has tested positive for EPO, which boosts the user's red-blood cell count, enhancing oxygenation. The "B" sample that Jones submitted is currently being tested, but it's been my guess for quite a long time that she's been guilty of doping.

It's not just Jones, but Justin Gatlin (who championed himself as the leader of a new generation of  "clean" athletes and who Tuesday accepted an eight-year ban for doping), Floyd Landis, and baseball's Rafael Palmeiro who are among those who have issued strong denials only to test positive for banned substances or unnaturally elevated levels of testosterone.

So I'm not surprised at all about Jones, who for years associated closely with those who used and distributed performance enhancing substances. She's been adamant in her denials - which just made me believe in the veracity of the allegations all the more.