1st weekend in September keeps the avid sports fan happy...

If you're a sports nut, then you're probably a happy camper this weekend.

There's always plenty to read about when you open up the sports pages this time of year. College football is in full swing, the NFL is primed for action, and the pennant races in baseball are winding down (although I must admit there is very few of those to read about).

Of course, you have Tiger Woods and the PGA, the U.S Open in tennis, and if you're a car racing fan, you have the Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup. All in all, the first Sunday morning in September should be worth an extra cup of coffee or two as you grab the paper, find a comfortable seat in your patio and enjoy yourself...with the birds chirping in the background, of course...and maybe, if you're lucky, a cool breeze, signaling the fact that fall is not too far away.

If you're an Arizona football fan, well you're on the final countdown to the Wildcats' home opener on Saturday against The Citidel. By the way, The Citidel scored 56 points in its win over Chowan yesterday. Now, Chowan, which managed to score 14 points, is not from a suburb of Taiwan, but they do hail from somewhere in North Carolina. It was the second loss of the season for Chowan. They lost to Lenior-Rhyne University, 59-10, back on August 28th.

As for the Bulldogs from South Carolina, they used a triple option to gather up their 56 points. I'm going to go out on a limp and say the Bulldogs will be lucky to pick up 100 yards of total offense on our Wildcats' defense on Saturday. All kidding aside, our two patsies, Toledo and The Citidel, will be a distant blur when the Wildcats suit up for the Iowa Hawkeyes in two weeks. Iowa cruised in its opener yesterday as they manhandled Eastern Illinois, 37-7.

Now on to the NFL as action begins on Thursday as Minnesota plays host to New Orleans. The Saints are favored by 4 1/2 points. It should be a Brees for the Super Bowl champs. As for me, I can rest easy as far as Fantasy Football goes. I do not have one player on my roster involved in Thursday's game. How did that happen? The luck of the draw, I guess, but come Sunday it should be fun. Playing in a Fantasy Football league has spurred my interest.

Now, about those San Diego Padres. It looks like the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Padres have decided to make a switch -- the Padres lost their ninth in a row yesterday, while the Diamondbacks, even though they lost yesterday to the Astros, 6-5, are winners of 7 of their last 10 games. The Padres lead in the NL West has dwindled to just two games. As for the Yankees, they keep on rolling. The Yankees have won eight in a row with the best record in baseball at 86-50.

Now, about Tiger. Nah, let's leave the poor guy alone. It' time for another cup of coffee.