Football Tittle Tattle With little happening in the world of the Buccaneers at present, I’ve been forced to look at other NFL news this past week. Though it’s still over a week away I am already tediously bored with the build-up to The Superbowl, and after only four days of media hype, America is now suddenly aware of these 4 inescapable truths: - The Steelers were a number six seed and have reinvented the wheel by getting to the Superbowl – after going 11-5 they aren’t exactly sisters of the poor are they? Jerome Bettis is from Detroit – this mantra is to be battered into your skull for the next 10 days, and will stop only if he plays crap or the Steelers lose. A few things I think 1. I think if we allow Chris Simms to hit the open market, his price tag will go off the radar when he corners an offer from a QB hungry team like the NY Jets. If at all possible we need to get Mr Simms signed before this event; I know the restrictions and uncertainty of the 2007 cap situation but we need to find a way to keep him on board. 2. I think I’m still waiting to see Nathan Wonsley’s name in the top 20 Running Back’s feature – come on Paul, you know it makes sense, get No. 46 in there. (Ed - Wonsley would have been 21st in our list if we'd expanded it!) 3. Looking at our early needs for the 2006 draft and free agency I’d list them as Wide Receiver, Wide Receiver, Wide Receiver, Wide Receiver, and not forgetting that we are also short of numbers at the Wide Receiver position. 4. Good to see your still aboard Mr Kiffin, it just wouldn’t be the same at One Buc or The Ray Jay without you prowling the sideline. 5. I think for those of you with any knowledge of which team I hate, I haven’t quite yet stopped laughing at the Panthers getting battered last Sunday. Great game, and lovely to watch. 6. Looking at the NFC as a whole this season, if we had beaten The Skins I really now think on reflection we also could have got by Chicago, judging by the way they played against the Twits. However there’s just no way in the world we’d have won in Seattle last Sunday, that would have been a game too far for us as it also so proved for the Twits. 7. Speaking of which the Seattle defense decided to cover Steve Smith limiting him to less than 50 receiving yards, and hey presto look what happened? 8. I think, thanks to the presence of JJ in the Seahawks receiving corps, I have a team to root for in Detroit. Shaun Alexander is underappreciated – not by any real fans with football knowledge he isn’t. Nobody in the football world was apparently aware of The Seahawks existence until last Sunday, because they play in the Pacific North-west – absolute tosh. Mike Holmgren is a genius football tactician (again) – he was also referred to as this in his time in Green Bay, though for the past 4 years in Seattle his gone by the title of “over-zealous control freak who won’t listen to reason.” I concur with our Editor on the UK coverage of this game, and fully expect a Sun expose of “20 things you didn’t know about Cheerleaders “ within the next few days. I’ll also offer a spot prize to the first UK journalist who asks an expert or player “Why do you wear all those pads.” However it has been noticeable how the American media are slowly drifting into the same dire quality of reporting over the past few years; naturally this isn’t helped by the ridiculous two week wait for the game, and the column spaces they have to fill but please spare me any more pictures or film of Jerome Bettis’s poor, parents who now have more screen time and publicity than George Bush and Condoleeza Rice combined. The safest thing to do is to avoid the sports news for the next week and tune in again on Saturday night to see if anybody has done a Barrett Robbins or Eugene Robinson on the eve of the game. Otherwise wait until 11pm on the 5th February and that will sort it. Buccaneer wise apart from the snippets of gossip on Chris Simms contract, or assistant coaching staff movements there’s little to report, nor will there be until the free agency period start and things start going nuts again. If by any chance anybody of importance in the Buccaneer organisation is reading this rant, please please pleeeeeeeeese don’t touch Terrell Owens with a shitty stick – thank you. Here’s hoping for some interesting Buccaneer topics to discuss by next Friday otherwise I may really lose my sanity in ranting at the Superbowl media circus! Until then, for Christ’s sake don’t believe anything you read in the British tabloid papers with regards to NFL Football – no David James will not be joining the league next year, and no Jonny Wilkinson could not kick for any NFL team either. Nod of Acknowledgement to……… The Seattle Seahawks. Thanks for sparing me the affront of having to watch those bozos from Carolina next week. Get in the Real World Award….. Al Davis. I’m no Raiders fan but just what the hell is going on with that organisation? Dennis Rodman has a better level of stability than them.