Factoid That May Interest Only Me

	New England Home Away Buffalo N.Y. Jets Miami Tennessee Houston Jacksonville Denver Cincinnati Indianapolis Buffalo Chicago Green Bay Detroit Minnesota N.Y. Jets Miami
	Indianapolis Home Away Buffalo N.Y. Jets Miami Tennessee Houston Jacksonville Cincinnati Denver Jacksonville New England Philadelphia Dallas Washington N.Y. Giants Tennessee Houston

Trying to glean an edge for the 2006 pennant race? Well, my guess is we'll be talking about the Colts and Patriots as the strongest contenders to win next year's Super Bowl. Examining each team's 2006 schedule:

Neither team goes to the West Coast ... New England plays only three games outside the Eastern time zone (Tennessee, Minnesota, Green Bay) ... Road games vs. 2005 playoff teams: Pats 2, Colts 4. That's an edge for New England right there ... All told, the Colts have seven games against teams that made the playoffs in 2005, New England five ... Pats play one dome game ... Colts have tougher NFC road, versus strong NFC East. Pats get weaker NFC North.

And of course, for the sixth time in seven seasons, the Colts will journey to Foxboro.

It seems the Patriots have the schedule advantage.

Looking for the first game of next year's regular season, the Thursday-nighter that will be hosted by the Super Bowl winner? If it's New England, it'll be Indy, Denver or Chicago; if Indy, then probably Cincinnati, Washington or Philadelphia.

Aggravating/Enjoyable Travel Note of the Week

Why cell phones are as maddeningly annoying as they are good for society:

Last Tuesday, taxiing to the gate in Newark after a Continental flight from Tampa, the man seated next to me whipped out his cell phone. In not a loud voice, but a voice loud enough for the person two rows ahead of him to hear every syllable, he said:

"Hey, we just landed ... Yeah ... Yeah ... We should be at the gate in three or four minutes ... Pretty good ... I left about 2:30, drove to the airport, got there about 10 to 3, checked in, and I wasn't sure whether to check the bag or not. I figure, yeah, go ahead, check it ... figured it wouldn't take that much time to pick it up in Newark, you know ... Yeah. So I headed to the gate. Got to the gate. Should I get a coffee, should I not get a coffee? Just got a bottle of water ... Yeah ... That was maybe 3:20, 3:25. Then I sat and waited. Just sat there, watched CNN on the airport TV. Long line for boarding. Long line. Just gotta wait your turn. Got to the seat. Tried to sleep, maybe got 15, 20 minutes. Sleeping on planes. You know, just ... Yeah, yeah. Right ... ''

"Ladies and gentlemen,'' the captain announced, "because we made such good time coming up to Newark, our gate is still occupied, so we'll have to sit out here for a few moments.''

"DAMN IT!'' the guy said into his cell. Now people craned their necks. "You hear that? ... Yeah, we're out here on the runway! Idiots can't get anything right ... Now I don't know when we'll be at the gate. You'll just have to wait for me. You're right outside security, right? ... I don't know, five minutes? Maybe five minutes, 10. Look, I'll call you AS SOON as I know ANYTHING.''

Remember the good old days of air travel? When you landed, sat in your seat, got up when the flight was over, walked off the plane, kissed your wife or just walked to the car? And the person waiting for you looked at the monitor, saw that the plane landed and figured you'd be out in a few minutes? The way I see it, this man just spent five minutes of his life in the most needless communication exercise anyone could imagine -- and I'm sure he, along with millions of others, will do the exact same thing every day they travel with these little phones.

Stat of the Week

Funny. I've thought for a while that Thurman Thomas was a certain Hall-of-Famer, at least in my book. I'll vote that way this year at the Hall selection meeting on Feb. 4.

I'm not saying that Tiki Barber will someday be enshrined, but after the incredible year he's had -- his 2,390 rushing-receiving yards are the second-most by a player in a season in NFL history --  he is rapidly approaching Thomas' statistical neighborhood. Comparing the two:

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