It's coming ...

There's this one scene in the awesome, colossal dumbass movie Independence Day in which the filthy mad scientist played by the tragic robot from one of the Star Treks is talking about the alien spaceship that crashed at Area 51 in the Eisenhower years. He says that ever since the mother ship showed up in Earth orbit, "all the gizmos inside turned on. The last twenty four hours have been really exciting!" At which point the president yells at him to wipe that smile off his face because "people are dying out there!" As if anyone in the movie cares.

I mention this because today Gene, my occasionally inscrutable but always cheerful postman, delivered my copy of Pro Football Prospectus 2006 by the staff of Football Outsiders. As I cut open the Amazon box and brought that bad boy out into the world, I could ... feel it. Just as if the great Mother Ship Tagliabue were approaching our Big Blue Marble, the little lights and gizmos are coming on again. Football season is approaching. Training camps are opening. Channel 215 on DirecTV -- the NFL Sunday Ticket sign-up channel -- says "You are authorized for this program." They're using our own satellites against us! The countdown has started.

I can only hope the arrival of my firstborn son brings me as much joy.