Bill Simmons has a very funny column on the upcoming NFL season. If you like the NFL and Bill Simmons, you should read it.

The Florida Gators face their first "test" of the season on Saturday after being 73 point favorites in the first game (they did not cover, only winning by 59), facing Troy. They are only 36 point favorites this week. If this trend continues, Florida will only be favored by 18 over Tennessee in week 3. I think that's low - Florida probably will be a 25 point favorite over Tennessee. More on college football Saturday morning, where I'll start making picks this year (my goal is to become the new Greg Easterbrook, a guy who once wrote BS about politics and now writes BS about football.)

This is an Open Thread.

Ezra Klein is on the teevee (MSNBC) saying that the public option is not important to health care reform. Good to see him finally admit he does not care about the public option.

Additional classic moment - insurance industry hack cites Ezra Klein's defense of insurance industry on show with Ezra on it. Perfect!

This is an Open Thread.

The Citizens United case will be reargued today before the Supreme Court, which now includes Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. I will crib something from someone who knows more about the issues than I do later.

I understand some irrelevant and impotent person is giving a speech tonight on health care reform. Based on what some centrist bloggers have told us, I am not sure why we should watch it. It's not President Snowe, but we'll give it a shot tonight anyway, Jeralyn and I.

This is an Open Thread.

Here's Markos of Daily Kos with a message to President Obama on the public option and health care legislation:

We're not talking what we really wanted - we really wanted single payer - so we already compromised from our position. I think the public option at this point is sort of our Waterloo, This is where we stand and fight.

I'm watching Big Brother 11 (seems all but certain Michelle will be leaving tonight) and America's Got Talent. What's got your attention, on TV or elsewhere? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Your turn.

This is an Open Thread.

I am in a NFL fantasy football league. After the draft, I have tried to acquire Percy Harvin. Regular readers know that Harvin was a Gator and I love him. Apparently, the person I am trying to deal with knows this also as he asked for Andre Johnson in return. Well, I love Percy Harvin, but I can't do that deal.

Similarly, no matter how much Progressives want to do health care reform, there is no way they can do a deal that hands over a huge giveaway to the insurance industry through mandates without a public option. The price is just too high for what the insurance industry will get. Like my desire to have Percy Harvin on my team, there has to be a limit to the price progressives will pay for "health care reform."

This is an Open Thread.

New from Bon Jovi, Work for The Working Man.

Who's got the day off tomorrow? Who's got something to say? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Super filly Rachel Alexandra won the Woodward Stakes this afternoon at Saratoga.

Spartacus (Fabian Cancellara) won the time trial Stage 7 of the Vuelta de Espana.

The USA national soccer team plays El Salvador tonight in a World Cup qualifying match.

And in a man bites dog story, Michigan won a football game today.

This is an Open Thread.

First Saturday in September means college football. The Florida Gators are 73 point favorites over Charleston Southern. It is embarrassing that Florida is playing this game, but at least Charleston Southern is getting a good paycheck. Alabama-Virginia Tech looks to be the best game of the weekend.

Other sporting events to follow this weekend include the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga (where super filly Rachel Alexandra runs against older colts), and the US Open in Flushing Meadow. The Yankees lead the Red Sox by 7.5 games. A topsy turvy race for the NL wild card slot looks to be the most compelling ongoing storyline in baseball. The US national soccer team plays El Salvador tonight in Utah. Jozy Altidore may become a household nmae in the US if the national team does well in South Africa at the 2010 World Cup. But first, the US has to qualify. They have to win tonight to feel comfortable about their position. Finally, the Vuelta de Espana cycling race continues with Stage 7 today being a time trial in Valencia.

This is an Open Thread.

The eagle flies on a Friday.

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone.

The Rolling Stones and Guns 'N Roses singing "Salt of the Earth."

Here's one of my favorite statue/sculptures, in downtown Omaha, at the Lewis & Clark landing, along Omaha's Missouri River Walkway. If you're ever there, it's well worth a visit. It's the second-largest labor monument in the U.S. Two-hundred-fifty tons of cement and 39,000 pounds of steel were used in its construction. It's by Matthew Placzek.

Larger version here. I'm not starting my weekend until after a visit to the gym and then the jail. What are your plans?

To get this out of the way, I do not know how Hillary Clinton would have handled health care reform if she had become President. I DO know Barack Obama had much more of a mandate than Bill Clinton (or George W. Bush, Ezra) ever had. There was a reason I was talking him up as a potential FDR for our time (something I do not believe Hillary could have been, the Media hated her too much.)

So now, back to the actual reality we are living, Obama has done a poor job of playing a strong political hand so far. Let's all of us (ObamaBots, PUMAs and the rest of us) hope that changes.

This is an Open Thread.