It's Thursday! So why is there a Monday Night Football game tonight (at 5PM!)? Because sports are played by a bunch of dumb jocks, so the people who organize the games have to be just as dumb, if not dumber. I'm joking of course, we all know all athletes are road scholars. Having Monday Night Football kick off on a Thursday was probably some last second decision made in order to celebrate the end (or beginning) of this huge Brett Favre story that has been plaguing us these last few weeks. That is, of course, what Jaws, Tony, and Mike will be focusing on tonight – Tony hates exhibition games, haha. I miss his completely obvious written routines he does, let's hope we get one tonight!

Anyway, there will be a perfectly dramatic game going on below, Sedrick Ellis (and Reggie Bush) versus Matt Leinart, but their topic of discussion will be Favre and the Jets. I, on the other hand, will be glued to the set watching my New Orleans Saints take on the Arizona Cardinals in one of the coolest-looking stadiums ever built (I should know, I was there last month!). While Drew, and his goatee, won't be out there for longer than a quarter (he's going to be great this season no matter what, he doesn't need too much exhibition game practice), let's hope Reggie, Pierre, and Meachem look good. I would add three more guys to that list, but a lot of starters won't play tonight due to injuries. Deuce, as we all know, is coming back from a torn ACL injury, so while he needs to get back on the field, he apparently needs a bit of rest tonight because he's out; Shockey has only been a Saint for two weeks and has recovered from a leg fracture, but he will also miss tonight (I'm most bummed about that one); Colston needs to prove to us that his second year was no fluke, that he's going to come back and be Drew's go-to-guy again, but he too will miss tonight because of a knee injury. But none of that is all too shocking, it's exhibition. The important thing is, Sean says these guys (and a small list of others) will all be ready to practice on Saturday. But tonight, let's hope Reggie, Pierre, and Meachem look good. Reggie needs to learn how to hold onto the ball and how to put his shoulder down and just bulldoze over those fat defenders (why else do you have those beautifully, huge muscles, Reginald?), Pierre looked good in the final games last year after taking over for Reggie and Deuce, he'll probably be the back-up to Deuce if they throw Reggie into the stuff they threw him into two years ago, and Meachem has to prove to us that he can be that great first-round wide reciever we drafted him for after missing his rookie season last year due to his knee surgery. We do have a lot of what-ifs, don't we?

The offense is all well and good, but the area that all Saints fans will be paying most attention to tonight is naturally going to be on the defensive side of the ball. After seemingly forgetting all about their defensive woes last year during the draft, the guys upstairs decided to do something about them this year and drafted Sedrick Ellis with their first pick. Not only that, they pushed annoying Jason David off the starting cornerback position and grabbed Gay England's Randall Gay (I hope they didn't turn him gay). And speaking of the Jets from earlier, Jonathan Vilma's in New Orleans now; he's going to definitely help Fujita and Shanle – and don't worry, Sean says he's all recovered from last year's season-ending knee injury, but he too will miss tonight.

No one really cares about what's going on with the Cardinals tonight, but I guess there's one thing that everyone should keep an eye out for, especially if you're a Southern California fan (I sure am!). Will Matt finally step up? He's reportedly going to start tonight, and these few preseason games may be the deciders of who will start come September, Matt or Warner. It's Matt's to lose. I've always liked Matt, but he's done nothing in the NFL so far, so let's hope all goes well this year – but not too well, because the Saints are going to the Super Bowl this year (in that ugly, beyond ugly Tampa Bay stadium).

That's really all I wanted to say this afternoon (Imadul will be mad). I wanted to put up a post last night about the Lakers' schedule (it's three months away!), but I got caught up in some new Arabic lessons from Rosetta Stone (my major at USC requires a foreign language, and I am not taking Spanish for a seventh year). I can say and read simple things now in Arabic, like, the boy eats bread, or, the man and woman run. It's pretty intense, Rosetta Stone is really good – but don't pay for it, it's not that good. So I'll dedicate a full post to the Lakers schedule later on because I want to do it some justice. I was also going to crack a few jokes about Favre and the Jets, and about the Madden cover, but those too will have to wait. I want to get to my TV so I can watch beautiful Reggie and facial-haired Drew (and let's not forget moderately-clean-shaven Matt!) in full HD. Dude, I can't wait to see Jaws, Tony, and Mike again. Just seeing Keyshawn and TJ made me so happy. And Emmitt! How long until he fumbles his words? But where's Boomer? WOOP! And Steve Young, man I love that guy, he doesn't get enough air time, hopefully he's in Arizona on the field or something. Man, I'm excited. Alright, I'm out! Take care everyone. GO SAINTS!