The NFL released the 2006 Regular Season schedule earlier today which included a full slate of exciting Monday Night Football games. A few matchups are generating loads of excitement, led by the September 10th Manning Bowl at Giants Stadium and Terrell Owens return to Philly on October 8th. Fans for Cincinnati and the Giants received the worst news with their teams facing the toughest schedules in the league. On the other end of the spectrum, the reigning NFC North champion Chicago Bears have the weakest opponents. As it has been pointed out by analysts throughout the day, it is tough to put too much weight in to the schedule at this point. Injuries and record turnovers make the NFL the toughest league to predict. A 6-10 team can become division champs the next year (ie '04-'05 Giants), and just as easily a conference champion can find itself in the division cellar (ie '04-'05 Eagles). A key injury or two could force a Super Bowl contender out of the playoff picture.
The Monday Night schedule looks very promising with key divisional matchups scattered throughout. On September 25th, the Superdome re-opens as the Saints face Mike Vick and the Falcons. In week seven the Giants head to Dallas for what should be a very important NFC East matchup. The Giants are 0-4 on Monday Nights in Dallas, but will need that to change to hang around arguably the toughest division in football. Cincinnati travels to Indy in week 15 for the most highly anticipated game on ESPN's debut season of Monday Night Football. Last year's regular season matchup may have been the best game of the year with both offenses scoring at will for a 45-38 shootout. Three other games really catch my attention but have received little publicity so far. The first of which takes place in week two with defending Super Bowl Champions taking on Jacksonville, who finished with twelve wins a season ago. In week six Chicago travels to the desert to face Arizona. Some people may be wondering why this game is intriguing, but this is not the same old Cardinals team. With Edgerrin James and two of the game's top young receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, this Cardinals team could challenge last season's top defense. Finally, in week ten Tampa Bay travels to Carolina in a matchup of two division rivals and NFC playoff teams from a year ago. This game could be crucial in determining the NFC South Champion.
Switching to a different gear, today Golf's most exciting major kicked off in sunny Augusta, Georgia. On a side note, USA made a brilliant programming move by airing Happy Gilmore on the channel in the two hours leading to its four o'clock coverage. No golf movie can generate as much buzz for the tournament among younger viewers than this comedic masterpiece. Getting back to the tournament, Vijay Singh played a very clean round, topping the leaderboard at five under. He is joined atop the leaderboard by Rocco Mediate (-4) and Aaron Oberholser (-3), the latter aced a hole during Wednesday's par 3 challenge. Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson are among a hanful of golfers sitting behind them at two under. Mickelson missed a very makeable, below the hole straight in birdie putt on 18 which prevented him from cracking 70. Tournament favorite and four time Masters champion Tiger Woods shot an even par 72 in a shaky first day. Tiger has said often that the first couple rounds do not make your tournament, but they certainly can broke you. Despite dealing with his father's illness, I expect Tiger to hang around. If he does, the leaders better beware on Sunday.
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