Game one for the Bolts' 2008/2009 (hopefully 2009) campaign is now in the books, as it were, and I have to say that I'm pleased. Before I get into a brief review of the game, though, I should note the sad loss of comedian Bernie Mac today. Seemed like as he approached 50 in the past five years, his career just kept getting better and better, and in my humble opinion, deservedly so. The guy was hilarious, and as George Clooney so aptly said this afternoon, "The world just got a little less funny." R.I.P., Bernie. Your humor will be sorely missed in a world that is far to serious these days.

As for the game involving an oblong ball, a bunch of big men wearing, white/gray and blue/white/yellow at "The Murph" (I hate calling that place "The Q" or "Qualcomm Stadium", damnit!) tonight, I'm pretty pleased. If the first defensive series didn't have me remembering the Bolts' D that parted like the Red Sea in Foxboro last January, I'd be even more excited.

For two defensive series, the Cowboys o-line pushed us around, and Jason Witten was made to look like mothereffin' Kellen Winslow, circa 1983. I know he's one of the best around, but he ain't that good....damnit. Sorry. Just makes me mad to see anyone get so wide open against a defense that has the talent and athleticism to shut anyone down. I guess that's why they play pre-season games. No, not for teams to sharpen up before the real season begins, but to keep high strung fans like your humble author from having a heart attack from anger and frustration.

Now that I've gotten the bad stuff out of the way, let's go over a few bright spots, of which there were plenty. Darren Sproles looked great, especially when Norvbert wasn't running him up the middle in short yardage situations (Norv, please don't ever do that again). Chris Chambers looks set to continue his excellent performance for us over the second half of last season and the playoffs. The o-line acquitted themselves well after a disastrous first series in which they got pushed around like punks, especially Jeremy Newburry who fit in better than Cory Withrow did last year when Nicky Hardwick was out.

As for the newbies, Jacob Hester looks like a gamer; period. You take that guy out of pads and he looks like he has no business in The League, but he can flat out play. I look forward to seeing him add new dimensions to this already potent strike force. Mark Jones was excellent returning punts. The beer might have blurred my vision, but I'll be damned if he can't match Sproles stride for stride when he turns a corner. Finally, our number one draft pick Antoine Cason looks to be a shutdown corner to match the talents of Antonio Cromartie. True, he got beat a few times and made a rookie mistake or two by not looking for the ball, but overall he was all over his man like white on rice. And the boy has closing speed. He's going to add some serious talent and speed to our nickel package this year, and in another few years when he and Cro are on opposite corners with Hart and Weddle in the middle, well, good luck throwing on the Bolts.

One last thing to note before I watch the replay of the game: our depth is freakin' scary. Really scary. Marques Harris, at last check a third stringer, came in and looked like he could start on about 30 of the 32 NFL teams, which is exactly how he looked last year in spot duty. Anthony Waters looks to have regained his speed and agressiveness after a year on the sidelines, which is great news since we're going to be missing Steven Cooper for the first 4 games. Finally, Paul Oliver looks as though he'll make a solid contribution this year, even if it's only on special teams (just can't see him beating out Cason at this point, unless he wins the back-up Free Safety role, which is quite possible).

All in all it was a great night in San Diego. Just being able to forget about the traveling calamity that is the Padres is good enough, but getting to watch a great football team, that I happen to love dearly, was icing on the cake. Can't wait to see how this team improves as the season goes on. With any luck, we'll be 4-0 heading into the week five home match-up with those punks from New England and ready to avenge the last two losses to them. NFL Football: You've gotta love it.

TWF