People who live elsewhere often make fun of where I live. I've had visitors who, upon arrivals, have been surprised that we have tall buildings in Kansas City and that there are no cows in my neighborhood. But in reality, KC is much like any other city. Office buildings, poor roads, a bad baseball team, nothing out of the ordinary here. Until today.

Today, Eileen and I attended the American Royal, which is a monthlong event that includes a barbecue contest, livestock judging, multiple rodeos, and horse shows. Today we saw a dog agility contest, where dogs run through an obstacle course and jump through hoops and such, but the arena itself (which was also hosting a horse show and a rodeo later this evening) was the most southern place I've ever been.

Every single person in the building was wearing blue jeans, and we were the only people without boots. About 60% of the crowd were wearing either cowboy hats or NASCAR hats, and more than a few were wearing t-shirts with confederate flags or sayings like "save a horse, ride a cowboy". And the belt buckles... I always thought that was a stereo type, but there were people with belt buckles bigger than their hands. Now I know what a gun and knife show is like. Or a NASCAR race.

GB at CIN: The Packers lost all respect when they could not beat the pathetic Vikings last week. If I were Lisa I'd put Lucas on suicide watch after that debacle. CIN

AZ at DAL: The Cowboys are by no means a great team, but the Cardinals are by no means an NFL team. DAL

CHI at DET: This one is tricky, since although the Lions are bad, they aren't so bad at home, while the Bears aren't so bad, but they are winless on the road. But it doesn't matter. CHI

OAK at TEN: Two teams going nowhere, my game I don't care about of the week unless a better one comes up. OAK

JAX at STL: Oh Rams, a loss and an Arizona win would put you in a tie with the pathetic Cardinals. The thing is, this is a talented team. I blame the coaching stff. JAX

WAS at NYG: Eli Manning got slurped all week by the media, much to my chagrin. Has everyone forgotten that the little baby cried and cried when it looked like he would be drafted by San Diego? Upset special, because I can't stand Eli. WAS

MIN at CAR: A clash of overhyped preseason teams, although one of them has at least been respectable. CAR

CLE at HOU: I retract my earlier statement, this is my game I don't care about of the week. If Indy didn't have a bye this week, I'm sure they'd be playing against one of these teams so that their defense could get a few more gimme sacks. Who cares...oh fine...CLE

MIA at NO: If the Dolphins didn't play in the Patriots' division, this would be another snoozer. Weren't the Saints supposed to play inspired football this year? Apparently Jim Haslett is that bad a motivator. NO

KC at SD: Marty Schottenheimer is the worst coach in the league if a team this talented is 3-4. Meanwhile, what the heck has happened to Tony Gonzalez? SD

PHI at DEN: I'm picking the Broncos here, but I think this will be their one of their last few wins. This will be their 5th home game of the year, so not only will they predictably collapse down the stretch, but the path will be made easier by having so many road games. DEN

TB at SF: Chris Simms against Ken Dorsey, aren't the college football games supposed to be on Saturdays? TB

BUF at NE: Unfortunately Tedy Bruschi doesn't play in the secondary, but fortunately Kelly Holcomb is one QB that won't be able to take advantage. NE

BAL at PIT: Anthony Wright on the road against a good team...I don't think so. PIT