Troy Aikman endured a long day before he got the thumbs-up to take the podium for his Hall of Fame speech. AP

6. I think this may not be quite the Roger Goodell coronation in Chicago that everyone thinks it's going to be. The anti-Goodell forces (which, I should say, are not really anti-Goodell the man but anti-status quo, because the small-market teams think the last CBA negotiations put them squarely behind the financial eight ball) will line up behind NFL attorney Gregg Levy, some participants are telling me. The owners gather in suburban Chicago on Monday to start the whittling-down process, and the most interesting sessions should come Tuesday, when four groups of eight owners will spend an hour apiece with the five candidates. By the end of the day Tuesday we should get a good indication whether Goodell will sail in or whether any of the other candidates (I'm guessing it would be Levy) will be a roadblock for him. It takes 22 votes out of 32 teams to approve a new commissioner.

7. I think these are my Hall of Fame thoughts of the weekend:

a. Petty and sportswriterish, yes, but when I finished listening to all the speeches (during which I aged about 17 years), my first thought was, Warren Moon made a mistake in not crediting John McClain, the Houston Chronicle sportswriter who made one of the best cases I've ever heard for a candidate in February in presenting Moon's case to the 39 selectors. Quite frankly, I wasn't voting for Moon before McClain spoke that day, but afterward I was a Moon man. Very powerful. I just think Moon would not have been standing there Saturday with a pedestrian presentation, and he should have thanked McClain in front of the world.

b. That ceremony is just too darn long. There's Troy Aikman, waiting for three hours and 50 minutes to make his talk as the sixth and final enshrinee to speak, and by the time he gets up there a good chunk of the parched and exhausted crowd, sitting in the northeast Ohio sun all afternoon, is filing out. Something's got to be done to make this a shorter afternoon.

c. Great job by Harry Carson using his time to draw attention to the plight of old players.

d. Al Davis looked and sounded very good, didn't he?

e. The Raiders' first drive under Aaron Brooks on Sunday night: three plays, minus-two yards. Second drive under Brooks: three plays, minus-one yard. Third drive under Brooks: three plays, 12 yards, then an interception ... with the Eagles' second defensive unit on the field. Nice debut in silver-and-black.

f. Donovan McNabb moved nimbly and threw accurately, the same things I'd seen in three practices at Eagles camp.

8. I think we might be witnessing the ruination of an extraordinarily promising career, almost before it got started. Linebacker Odell Thurman, who had a very good rookie season in the middle for the resurgent Bengals last year, has already been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy, and he's struggling mightily to turn his life around, from what I heard around the team on Friday night. Linebackers coach Ricky Hunley has openly challenged Thurman to be a man and to get the bad influences out of his life, and now we'll see if he is able to do it.

9. I think the Saints' Bush is just like the other gazillion rookies in the NFL: He had to sing his college fight song in the cafeteria the other day. Joe Horn made him do it. Had to stand on his chair and belt out the Trojans' ditty.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. The American League East race is looking pretty darn over.

b. Coffeenerdness: You've got to examine what it is that you do, The Coffee Beanery. Because making lattes is just not your forte, if the semi-coffee-flavored espresso I had at Houston Intercontinental Airport is any indication. Thin and weak is no way to go through life, Mr. Blutarsky.

c. I honestly think Jason Varitek is a bigger loss to the Red Sox than Manny Ramirez would be.

d. When you go to Titans camp in the Tennessee town of Clarksville, it is very, very hard to get Last Train to Clarksville out of your head.

e. Nancy Gay, an NFL writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, told me this extraordinary story last night: She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in June. Some people drink a lot of beer on their vacation. Nancy Gay climbed a 19,340-foot mountain in Africa. "I wanted to see the glaciers before they're gone,'' she said. Much admiration is due, Ms. Gay.

f. I am in Canton as I write this. I have driven 789 miles in the last three days. There might be something wrong with me. I actually like the driving.

Top Photo Galleries Rafael Nadal Through Time Did You See That? 100 Memorable Olympic Moments The NHL's Great Game 7s Best Players Without An NBA Title

Most Popular Stories Jessica Rafalowski; Snoop Dogg Tebowed after throwing first pitch: Hot Clicks Expert: DNA on evidence matches Clemens' Ex-Penn State president Spanier sues, eyes Sandusky emails Experience faces youth in Celtics-Sixers Game 7 Brodeur, Devils write up alternate ending to 1994 script