Who dat?  Who dat?  Who dat think they gonna beat them Saints?

Or so the Saints cheer used to go.  At least for now, it certainly isn't the Buffalo Bills.  I know, a win over the Bills isn't anything to get all that excited about, but when you've faced the dearth of wins that The Average Joe has so far this season, every little bit helps.

Saturday, it took Ole Miss all of about five minutes to remove themselves from contention at Tennessee, and the Titans got destroyed by the Colts, so it was good for at least one of my teams to come up with a win.  

Aaron Brooks didn't create any turnovers (gasp!) and the Saints let Deuce McAllister roll through the Bills defense for 130 yards.  That's what I like to see.

Another stadium down
So Sunday was OK with a Saints victory.  Saturday was less OK.  I took my lady friend over to Knoxville for our first trip to Tennessee's Neyland Stadium.  Given how things have gone for Ole Miss this year, we didn't expect the Rebels to beat the Vols, but I like to experience new stadiums, so we hit the road.  I've got to say I was a little disappointed.

I had heard that Neyland was less impressive than its 107,000 capacity might indicate, and the reports were true.  Sure, there were a ton of orange-clad people there.  But Neyland isn't appreciably bigger than the stadiums at Alabama or Auburn, which both seat about 85,000.  The seats are just a whole lot smaller in Knoxville.  

They've got people packed in there like sardines.  You had better go with people you like, because you're going to spend three hours pressed up against them like it's 40 below zero.  That's fine if you're surrounded by hot ladies, but it pretty much sucks when you've got old people who are pissed that there are opposing fans in their midst.  And the Tennessee fans were just boring.  They all sat down as soon as the kickoff ended, and before the first play was over I had old people tapping me on the shoulder and telling me to sit down.  Being a visitor and way outnumbered, I didn't argue or complain, and I spent the first half crammed up against some dude I don't know.  I also had to do my best to see through the spirit fingers of the 16-year old boy in front of me.  

Don't ask me why a teenage boy was waving his fingers around like a cheerleader, but he was, on pretty much every play.  I hope for that kid's sake that he finds a new way of cheering for his Vols before he graduates to the UT student section, because that spirit fingers move is going to face some serious scorn over there.

So Neyland is not as big as you'd imagine, nor as loud, though I'm sure the crapiness of the opponent and the 12:30 kickoff had something to do with that.  But it has other drawbacks too.  The concourse under the stadium and the portals into the stands are both way too narrow, creating huge traffic jams of people.  
Even UT fans who were used to it complained about the human crush.  Somewhere along the line in the biggest-stadium rat race with Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State, Tennessee threw fan comfort straight out the window.  Maybe that's the case at those other stadiums too, but it makes for a rather uncomfortable experience.  

Also, they place speakers throughout the stadium so all the fans can hear when the band plays Rocky Top.  That's just weak, if you ask me, amplifying the band.  But to each his own.  If you dig dressing up in hunter orange to get pressed up against strangers for three hours in a stadium full of people who will inevitably find something to complain about, even in wins, then more power to you.  You'll fit right in at Tennessee.

Bets come through
Also on the good front for last weekend was my betting outlook.  Ole Miss covered and Mississippi State got crushed at home by LSU, so I got a couple of wins there.  Kansas City let me down with that collapse Sunday, but I still came out ahead.  I'll probably ride the "teams in line to kill State" bandwagon with Florida this weekend.

Arizona kicker kills me in fantasy
Neil Rackers has been added to my list of players I dislike because they killed me in fantasy football.  Finish a freaking drive, Arizona!  I turned off the TV at halftime of the Arizona-San Francisco game last week in a comfortable lead in my fantasy matchup.  I wake up Monday morning to find that Rackers hit six field goals and posted 29 fantasy points.  You're killing me, Rackers.  Boo to you and all your thin-air success.