OK, I've given up on getting American football off ROFF, so bear with
me, or skip this post.

I went to the gym this morning and inadvertently stole a parking place
from the the guy in the SUV in front of me -- kind of a Larry David
moment -- I pulled up right behind him not realizing he wanted to back
in. The guy parked in another spot and got out, I went to apologize, and
I recognized him as Jim Plunkett, the great quarterback for Stanford,
the Patriots, the 49ers, and, most memorably, the Raiders. He was cool,
not angry at all, thank God. Maybe slightly annoyed that I recognized
him. We talked about the Raiders great win against the Eagles, 27-10, in
Super Bowl XV. This was maybe the best pro game I've ever seen, the
first wildcard team to win a Super Bowl. It was an amazing comeback for
Plunkett, whom everyone thought was washed up. He went on to win Super
Bowl XVIII (love those Roman numerals) over the Redskins, 38-9 -- the
most one-sided game in Super Bowl history to that point (according to
Wikipedia). Plunkett is a legend.

In the gym I nodded hello to Roger Craig, the great running back from
the 49ers' glory days. He's a sight to see on the treadmill, and
probably the most popular person in the gym. He's nice to everyone.

I stopped following football after the 49ers started sucking, about the
same time I moved to Idaho. In case you haven't guessed, I'm not in
Idaho at the moment. In Idaho they're crazy about BSU, but I just can't
get into it.

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Cut "to the chase" for my email address.