MMQB (cont.)

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

Spurred by its rabid supporters, Manchester City defeated Blackburn on Saturday night. AFP/Getty Images Peter King's Mailbag Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Peter King on Twitter

I got away with my wife to visit my brother and his family in England over the weekend, and we took in a Barclay's Premier League soccer game between Manchester City and the Blackburn Rovers. City won 3-1 in a thoroughly entertaining 90 minutes of sport -- my first big-league soccer game in England.

Lots of interesting things. No drinking in the stands (but a ton of it outside, and underneath the stands), and no constant getting up and down to go get pizza and beer and whatever. I've never seen so many suits and women in fine dresses at a sports event, except maybe for the Kentucky Derby; the sidelines and club seats were thick with fashion plates.

The enthusiasm of the crowd, particularly the end-zone nutjobs, never wavered. From the opening kick to the end of the game to the walk back to Manchester Piccadilly station to the train from Manchester back to my brother's train stop 80 minutes south, the chanting and drunken (I'm assuming) exuberance never stopped. Some of the chants were silly -- "We got Keith Andrews, who needs Robinho?'' was one of the Rovers fans' favorites, referring to their star and the one from Manchester City they hated -- and most I couldn't comprehend, but they never, ever stopped. Yellow-coated police formed a barrier in the end zone between the Blackburn and Manchester City supporters, but the cops never had to lift a finger from what I saw.

I walked away wondering if there's anything in America like the constant hum of a 90-minute match with the kind of tradition football in Britain has. I'm not sure there is. Maybe a big college-football rivalry or a Red Sox-Yankees playoff game, or Canadiens-Leafs when both are hot. I don't know. I doubt it. And I wondered: Could an NFL team in London ever hope to generate the kind of fervor this does? I don't see how.

Now, the Patriots and Bucs will have a spirited crowd for their game in October at Wembley Stadium, but as my brother points out, that's one game, and this country by and large still has no idea who Tom Brady is. It'd take a generation of building to get the NFL to have a chance to make some impact here. I'm not saying it shouldn't be tried, but it'd be an awfully long road for the NFL to compete in England.

Dr. Z/Nothing Is Impossible Event Update

Well, the Paul Zimmerman dinner/auction is two weeks from tonight, and I'm here today to ask for a little help. (Which is unfair, because so far you've bought more than 130 tickets and made significant donations of money and auction items. Your generosity is humbling, and Paul and Linda will never be able to repay you.) Still, I'd like to ask one favor.

The big-ticket auction items -- the Super Bowl trip for two, and trips to see the Cowboys, Vikings and Broncos -- are not moving. I'm aware that it's a lot in this economy to ask someone to pay $9,000 for anything, never mind a weekend in Dallas to see the Cowboys at their spanking new stadium. Or $10,000 to have a Super Bowl getaway to Miami in February. Or $6,000 to jet away to Denver or Minneapolis to see your team. But what I'd like you to do, if you can and if you know someone who might be interested, is to pass this chunk of the column along to them via e-mail. A boss, a rich uncle, an Arab sheik, Prince Bandar ... anyone who wants to have an experience they wouldn't be able to have without the kindness of those in the NFL who care about Dr. Z. Send them this column chunk, or the link to the auction site (www.DrZ.cmarket.com) and let's see if we can get some bids on those items.

There's also a great opportunity, for a real Eagles fan: four tickets to the Eagles-Giants game at Lincoln Financial Field in November, four pregame field passes, four Eagles training-camp sideline passes ... and lunch for four while at camp in Bethlehem, Pa., at the best sandwich shop on my annual camp tour: Deja Brew, just down the hill from the pretty Lehigh University campus. Yo, Eagle Nation: Where else can you experience something as good as this for $2,000?

The other day, I was on the phone with Indianapolis GM Bill Polian, who asked, "What can I do for Dr. Z?'' He was thinking of something autographed, or some football item. And I said, "What if you have a couple of fans out to your camp one day this summer, and between sessions, you have lunch with them at the training table, where the players eat?''

"Done,'' said Polian. Because I make an annual trek to Colts camp, I'll join the lunch if at all possible -- providing that doesn't devalue the experience.

A couple of other auction-item notes. I love the Peyton Manning autographed jersey because you can actually read his name, unlike other autographs that appear to be scratched out by a chicken. Good friend Ron Borges has checked in with an offer Don King-signed boxing gloves; thanks a lot, Ron. And thanks to Sal Paolantonio, Dan Shaughnessy and Steve Buckley for donating signed copies of their books to the cause.

And thanks to the auctioneers, CMarket, of Cambridge, Mass., for doing all of this gratis. This is their business, and Stu Kirsch and the folks at CMarket have never met Paul Zimmerman, and they've spent hours getting the site up and running. It'll be impossible to repay their kindness.

If you've not read about the cause, this is all for Paul Zimmerman, the best football writer of our time, who suffered three strokes in late November and is currently unable to read, write or speak coherently, though he is making good progress. We're trying to jump-start his therapy and road back to writing one day by raising money to allow him to undergo some aggressive therapy in Michigan and New Jersey. Giants coach Tom Coughlin and Jets coach Rex Ryan have been generous enough with their time to join me to host a fundraising Pro Football 2009 preview dinner/roundtable/auction May 18 (open bar 6:15 p.m., dinner 7 p.m.) at Mayfair Farms in West Orange, N.J. I'll quiz Coughlin and Ryan, and a few of you in the audience will be able to throw questions their way. Then, when we dismiss the coaches, I'll host a second football panel, with TV football insiders Adam Schefter and Paolantonio, plus Football Outsiders and Pro Football Prospectus writer and football authority Aaron Schatz.

Let's make this the football dinner of the year. Tickets are $225 apiece, or $1,500 for a table of eight, and are available by sending a check, payable to "Dr. Z/Nothing is Impossible Foundation'' to:

Dr. Z/Nothing is Impossible Foundation
21 Pine St.
Suite 202
Rockaway, N.J. 07866

All tickets are tax-deductible. Donations may be sent to that address as well. For further information, please e-mail me in the box that comes with this column, or send an e-mail to Barbara Neibart, at bneibart@yahoo.com.