Hold it. I've just been told that I've already written this saga. You get old, brain cells die. I'm used to it. The bottom line is that I've got 10 sandbags weighing 60 pounds each in the rear of my 1992 Honda Civic. The car looks like a bullfrog, with its ass dragging. I don't want to talk about this anymore.

Ross of Rosemount doesn't like "half the distance" penalties near the goal line. Well, the problem is that if you're on, say, your own eight, and you get a 15-yard penalty, under your system, you'd be backed up to the minus-seven. ("You know," the Redhead says, "some day you might learn the difference between being funny and being just plain stupid."). This is one rule I agree with. Every yard is more severe down near the goal line. Better not to cripple a team completely via penalty.

From Larry of St. Louis: Strong arm vs. weak arm on a QB. Can a weak arm get strong by pumping iron? I don't think so. Throwing an object far and fast, throwing a knockout punch, hitting a baseball a long way -- they're all based on speed of delivery, not muscle mass. Or, as Dr. Creighton Hale, who was the doctor of the Little League World Series, once explained to me, a lot of it is based on the length of the muscles in the back and how limber they are. I don't want to be accused of being a name-dropper, but (here it comes) I once had this argument with Sylvester Stallone when he was making one of the Rocky movies. He said he was trying to persuade fighters to lift weights to increase their punching power. I gave him the argument I just presented. Bottom line -- nobody convinced nobody of nuttin.'

From Matthew of Natick, Mass. -- What are the Hall of Fame chances for Marvin Harrison, T.O. and Randy Moss? Harrison? An 80 percent chance of getting in on the first ballot. T.O. and Moss? With their current numbers? No. Feeling in the room would be too strong against them as team guys, although T.O.'s latest antics probably would help Moss' chances, if Randy stays cool. But if they continue to put up numbers that are out of sight, I'd say they'd have around a 60 percent chance. The negative selectors would keep very quiet during the discussion period, but then, when it was secret ballot time, they'd cast their nay vote out of personal animosity.

Randy of Kansas City, noting the way the people of his city are being held hostage, i.e., fork over the dough for stadium renovations or you get no Super Bowl, wants my take on what he describes as "NFL front offices hijacking local governments." I am very dogmatic on the subject. Taxpayers' money should not, repeat not, be used for rich men's playthings. "Renovations," to me, mean one thing. Luxury boxes. Compare those to real needs, such as education or housing or hospital care.

Chris of Washington D.C. agrees with my doubts about the Seahawks. And he's a Hawks fan. Too many criticisms to name, but if the hard core fans are revolting ... no, I didn't mean that; they're not revolting at all, they're nice people ... if the hard core fans are in revolt, is anything safe?

Dan of Marshfield, Mass., wants to know if I read a "terrific book from the mid-70s" called I'd Rather be Wright -- Memoirs of an Itinerant Tackle, by Steve Wright. I did and I loved it. The best books seem to be written by the more obscure players. The trouble is that publishers don't leap at them because they're not money makers. But they'll always go for those canned bios of super-stars, which are dull as dishwater.

Tom, a Ravens fan from Baltimore, asks, "when do teams like the Ravens throw in the towel, blow the whole thing up and start from scratch?" Look at the history of dogs that became champions in a fairly short period. Not only did they get rid of the guys they considered dogs, but they had immediate rushes of great talent. The former will not work without the latter. Chuck Noll's 1-13 his first year in Pittsburgh was saved by Art Rooney, Jr., putting together the greatest drafts in history. The same with Bill Walsh in San Francisco and Jimmy Johnson in Dallas.