Two weeks ago my worst fears--and a typical pattern--were both being realized in my football leagues as my main three squads, after starting hot, were in a free fall.

The worst was my inability to ovecome a 12-point deficit a couple of Mondays ago despite having three Ravens--Matt Stover, Ed Reed, and Jamal Lewis--all playing, unfortunately against Denver.

Since then, thanks to solid starts by Vince Young and Michael Vick, my guys have rebounded. In fact the one game I have lost over the past two weeks and six match-ups was on my team when I feared Vick and Young coming off bye weeks, and started an inept Jake Plummer while Vick was tossing four TD passes (who knew?).

But, we are, if nothing else, getting respectable.

We are also getting some breaks to even out those misearble games of Stover and company.

Last Saturday was the night when all my buds decided to howl at the moon in preparation for All Saints Eve. The night before I was out late at a concert, and Saturday night I first sat in with one of my friends, Copper Dome Bodhi, for part of one a benefit set, then a full second.

Then I went to see my friend/guitar teacher/mentor/producer/collaborator, Steve Gibson and his band, Phatlip, play another benefit, this year doing a Motown revue featuring a lot of Michael Jackson  tunes, with a lot of single gloves, flood pants, gaucho hats and camp. Plus Phatlip is just a great band of great musicians.

It was a long night, wherein I did not get to bed till 3 a.m., but since daylight savings time ended, it was really just 2 a.m.

But, the extra hour did not matter because by the time I got up it was 9 a.m., and I needed to take a shower and make some breakfast before I could think about setting my roster.

So, with a plate of pancakes and a couple of eggs over-easy, and large cup of tea to fill me, I sat down to set all my rosters around 9:40. Of course, I forgot I needed to make a couple of tweaks dropping kickers and while I was able to drop Jason Hanson for another Jason, that being Elam.

But, in my NAIFL I just spaced on my defense as I was in a hurry, and played the off-Lions defense instead of my regular Ravens D, and damn if the Ravens did not rack up 26 points.

But, the football gods were watching out for me as my opponents spaced and let Joey Harrington and Randy McMichael start, so I squeaked by, no thanks to a lame Corey Dillon performance.

Is this game really that much more luck than anything else? It does make you wonder, but, as long as I get the breaks like this, I don't plan on wondering too much.