…are very much on our minds these days now that the NFL and our fantasy football season are in full swing. Some of you may remember that our team, the Bling Bling, prevailed over all pretenders last season to claim the championship of the Big A League, where “A” stands for attitude.  We’re back and badder than ever this year. In honor of the littlest Bling, we’ve renamed our team of destiny We Three Blings. Catch the Christmas reference? Wish us luck. We’ll need it to overcome the loss we’ve already logged as well as the one we seem to be working on.

As the title of this post suggests, ornithology and professional football go hand in hand in the National Football League. Five pro teams are named after birds, most of which are fierce, predatory birds. The one exception, the Cardinals, is a team as innocuous as its namesake.

The NFL can be a good place for an organization with an avian-inspired appellation. This weekend, three out of four teams named for birds won. The loser, Cards naturally, didn’t get beaten up too badly, and that counts for a lot. Last year, bird teams won two of the eight divisions and a third also made it to the playoffs. For the 2004 season, both the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks are favored for a run to division titles and perhaps the Super Bowl.

Despite the excellence of our feathered football friends, the Core Team supports teams without bird names. Sara is a faithful fan of the Buffalo Bills, a true testament to her loyalty and endurance. I back Big Blue, the New York Giants. Admittedly, this will not be a good year for either of our teams. However, I was at the Giants game yesterday and was much pleased by our victory over the ‘Skins. At least one of our teams won’t be shut out for the year!