Tom of Tucson wants to know just how good is the training that coaches get to be coaches if they get any at all, that is. I'll let a fellow Arizonan answer this one. A red-headed one. "How much training do people get to be parents?" (Now isn't that better than trying to wade through my blundering, labored attempts to find some meaning in something I don't understand?).

From Al of NYC: Why hasn't ex-Bear LB Wilber Marshall received more consideration for the Hall of Fame? Personally, I'll think about him once Harry Carson and Chuck Howley and Lee Roy Jordan are in. And maybe two or three more.

Noah of Chicago is not impressed with what he considers the Seahawks' easy schedule. You know something? I'm not going to get into that now, after the way the Jaguars fans blistered me for pointing out the same thing. I mean after getting my left cheek roasted, do I want to hold my right one to the fire? But if the Skins upset Seattle, you bet I'll be leading the parade of, "You could see it coming ... I mean who did they play?" (Journalists, as you know, are America's greatest front-runners).

Raphe, also of Chicago, wonders why coaches don't make better use of their challenges, and then points out some very good examples of screw-ups. I believe that during the course of the game, with so much pressure working at once, coaches tend to fog up and neglect decisions that they'd make if they had time for reflection. Clock screw-ups, which drive me absolutely nuts, are even worse. Last year Jets coach Herman Edwards appointed a clockologist to handle that aspect of the game. He fouled it up just as badly. Sometime in the near future I'll be doing a column in which I asked Jimmy Johnson questions exactly like yours. And thank you for your comments about my work.

Mike of Mission Beach, Calif., asks how I can leave Brian Urlacher off my all-pro team when the rest of the world gave him every honor they could think of. They're wrong. They didn't get seven separate looks at him. Or 10 looks at Jeremiah Trotter or seven looks at Zach Thomas or nine looks at Shelton Quarles, the three middle backers I graded higher than Urlacher. If I wanted to run with the herd I'd simply fill in the Pro Bowl roster and call it my own all-pro ... then I'd take poison and go to bed.

Jeremy of St. Louis is a "huge Steelers fan" (6-8, 6-9, seven feet, what?) and it pains him to say there's no way his team will score 24 against the Colts. Jason of Dallas wants an apology after his Steelers beat the Colts by double digits. Andrew, can we figure out a way these two birds can meet each other, and then watch while they fight it out? Boys, call your bookies because here's what's gonna happen. Indy will beat Pittsburgh by 10 and barely cover the spread. They'll be up by more, but coasting, and the Steelers will put garbage points on the board, late.

Brian of Waldorf, Md., points out that in the pre-season I picked a Colts-Panthers Super Bowl and he wonders if I got anything down on it. Nope, we're not allowed to bet, nor associate with known gamblers, either, and you sure sound like one. Emily Michael of Grosse Pointe, Mich., is another one, and if you're reading this, Emily, you know what I'm talking about. Final question from Brian: What about Big Ben's statement about the Steelers' A+ game vs. the Colts' B- game? About 80 years ago, Brian, when I got my first pair of long pants, I learned to pay no attention to anything said before a football game or any other kind of sporting contest, for that matter. The only exception is the phrase, "I quit."