From farce to the most important event in the history of the Republic - Saturday night's Florida-LSU game.

Tebow remains a game time decision but I get the feeling he is going to play. I think he should sit. Easy for me to say.

This is an Open Thread.

The big story of the week remains 'will Tim Tebow play?' in Florida's game at Baton Rouge on Saturday night. Florida coach Urban Meyer says it will be a game time decision. I think Tebow should sit this one out myself, but that's easy for me to say.

On a related note, excessive celebration penalties have been rampant in the SEC. The rule is ridiculous - something about not calling attention to yourself. Absurd. That said, coaches must have been briefed on the fact that this penalty would be called. Tebow, the most excessive celebrator in all of college football certainly has toned it down this year. So apparently he got the memo. This is a coaching issue as well as a ridiculous rule issue.

This is an Open Thread.

The Yankees play the Twins tonight (6:07 ET) in the Bronx. I think the 5 game series format is awful. Baseball, where GREAT teams lose 1 out of 3 games, should not shorten the test period. In football, the best team wins 3 out of 4 at least. In the playoffs, it is 4 out of 5. All MLB playoff series should be 4 out of 7.

In the big news of the day, Tim Tebow practiced again today, but Florida coach Urban Meyer said Tebow's participation in Saturday night's game at Baton Rouge will be a gametime decision. I won't lie to you, I'm nervous about this one. More on Saturday about Florida-LSU, Bama-Ole Miss and all the big games this weekend in the Saturday Football Thread.

This is an Open Thread.

Busy day ahead.

What's going on?

This is an Open Thread.

Tom DeLay's rump-shaking days are over on DWTS -- with stress fractures in both feet, he calls it quits tonight. I actually enjoyed watching him.

Also on, The Biggest Loser, a very depressing season so far. The Good Wife....I really dislike the show and all the characters. It's unoriginal and boring.

What's on your agenda tonight, TV or otherwise? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I just got back from court. Anything interesting going on?

BREAKING!! Tebow Practices.

This is an Open Thread.

So the Brett Favre led Vikings face Favre's old team the Packers tonight in Minneapolis. This should be fun. But how much of the result will depend on Favre?

Last week Favre threw a game winning touchdown with 2 seconds left so it is never wise to underestimate his importance. But let's face it, if the Pack can't stop Adrian Peterson (here's saying they can't, he's gone for over 100 yards in 3 of 4 against the Pack), then Favre is somewhat incidental to the Viking offense. The real question will be can Aaron Rodgers do damage to the Viking defense? I think not enough. I like the Vikes tonight (with Percy Harvin scoring a TD.)

This is an Open Thread.

The FTC has changed its rules for the first time since 1980. Indpeendent bloggers who fail to disclose paid reviews or freebies will be fined up to $11,000.

From the FTC press release today:

"The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that 'material connections' (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers--connections that consumers would not expect--must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other 'word-of-mouth' marketers.

[More...]

UPDATE: Tebow misses Mon. practice, still not cleared to play. I guarantee you this is the biggest story in Florida this week.

Could Max Baucus look any more like a bumbling fool? Apparently, yes:

The Senate Finance Committee was supposed to convene for a vote on its controversial health care bill tomorrow. Now, that's looking doubtful.

A cynic might think Baucus' overlords, the insurance industry, do not like the way this is going. I am more a believer in the "Baucus is an idiot" theory. YMMV.

This is an Open Thread.

Some may be watching football, I'm waiting for Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters.

The Forbes list of the wealthiest 400 Americans came out last week. Bill Gates is still number 1, Michael Bloomberg is at 37, and so on.

For those of you with more important things on your mind, here's an open thread. All topics welcome.

Another beautiful fall day here. It's my last one for three weeks, as I'm leaving next Sunday for a week-long trip to my favorite health spa in California, returning late the following Sunday.

Here's Padma Lakshmi, talking about how she wakes up every day in New York, hits the gym for a few hours and returns to have tea and breakfast in bed. For me, it will be waking up at 6am for a five mile mountain hike, followed by a very healthy and elegant breakfast brought to my room. (Then the gyms for flexibility, cardio and strength training, yoga, pilates, etc, interspersed with massages, herbal wraps, facials, etc.)

It will also be the first time since I started TalkLeft in 2002 that I won't blog or be online for an entire week.

What are you doing to stay healthy and reduce the future cost of your health care? And how many of you are spending less time online these days and more attention to your own lives?

The game garnering the most attention is Monday night when Brett Favre faces the Packers. I'll talk about that game tomorrow (hint - Percy Harvin comes up.) Today I am picking 5 games, trying to bounce back from my miserable 1-4 week (now 10-10 for the season.) So I am looking for 5 sure winners, and I found them.

Cincinnati travels to Cleveland. The Browns are terrible. Cincy is only a 6.5 point favorite. I think bettors have not yet absorbed just how bad the Browns are. I like the Bengals (-6.5).

When was the last time an 0-3 team was favored on the road? Well Tennessee is a 3 point favorite at Jacksonville. I like the Titans (-3). More . . .