Boy am I in a lousy mood today. To read King's column I had to violate my personal rule against reading anything football related on the day after an awful Giants' loss, and this was unquestionably an awful loss.

When the Giants got Jay Feeley all I could remember about him was that every time I saw him on Sportscenter he was missing a critical kick late in a game. I figured that must have been just coincidental and he really was a good kicker like his numbers say. Then he started off the year well and I forgot about those old sportscenter highlights. Now it's all coming back. He really is that same guy who couldn't make a big kick.

Missing the one at the end of the fourth quarter was forgivable I thought, every kicker misses one sometimes. The 53 yarder was a decent kick, can't blame him for that. But how does an NFL kicker come up short from 45 yards. That I cannot forgive. 45 Yards and you come up short! Not quite as bad as the two most famous Giants faux pas like whiffing on a punt or not running the clock out and fumbling the handoff to lose a game, but still its only 45 yards. Pathetic. Feeley has lost credibility with Giants fans. Only something heroic will win it back.

Anyway, I agree kicking should go. It's bad for the sport. I would abolish punting also. Then I would make all touchdowns worth one point (or goals or some other snappy name). Not sure how to deal with safeties, but there are ways to deal with that, give the team the ball at the opposing 20 or something like that.

For all those Patriots fans out there who talk about how exciting kicking is you're missing the point. The issue is whether it is more exciting than what is being lost, which is more smashmouth football. That is a no-brainer.

Abolish false start penalties too. they ruin the flow of the game and they too are stupid. Why not let the offensive lineman flinch? If the D-lineman is relly fooled and crosses the line then consider it offsetting penalties and no one gains. the rules should be the same for the offense and defense. You can't cross the neutral zone. anything else is OK. It's a ridiculous penalty, especially the way it is enforced, which gives the defense an incentive to make the O-lineman flinch, kind of like making a subtle face during a staring contest, which I think is what the Seahawks were doing all game yesterday.

And while we're in the abolitionist mode, let's abolish soccer too and make the world a friendlier place for real sports. I am just sick of soccer fans who try to make everyone else feel inferior because they don't appreciate their totally boring sport. My favorite sport, baseball, is boring as hell sometimes, but I love it anyway. partly because it is so laid back and for the exciting moments which are always lurking. But if you don't like it I don't care. Go enjoy your lousy soccer game.

King, another excellent column today.

Two other factors make going for 2 an even better percentage play than you identify. First, the kick can be missed. I would give that about a 2% chance. Second even if you miss the 2-point conversion you can still try an onside kick. The game is not irretrievably lost even if you miss the conversion. The chance of recovering the kick and then scoring is probably around 4 or 5%. Also, I am almost certain that Mike Tice tried this successfully a couple of years ago in a late season meaningless game for the Vikings. He may not be the only one and we know that college coaches have been doing this for years.

Thanks for noting the utter ridiculousness of Aikman's point about time being left on the clock. Because of the onside kick possibility that actually factored in the Bucs favor in calculating which option was superior.

There are some things here that just make no sense. First of all, you don't need an injection to take B-12. This is a vitamin. They sell it at the drugstore. Millions of people take it in the form of a pill. My mother took it every day for years. Why is Tejada taking it through an injection. Is there something I'm not aware of. is this a special form of B-12? Is there an advantage to taking it through an injection?

Second, is Palmeiro saying that someone tampered with his B-12 shot or is he saying that the B-12 morphed into the illegal substance. I guess it's that his injection was tampered with, in which case he was accusing Tejada of doping him, which seems unthinkable without his consent.

And I second the comment about why are players giving each other injections. Just a curiousity, but does anyone else out there do this at their job?

Lastly, this probably doesn't need to be clarified, but the House Committee's decision not to press charges is in no way an exoneration of Palmeiro. It indicates either a lack of proof that he intentionally lied about using steroids or more likely, a lack of a desire on Congress's part to pursue the matter any further.

The colts were up by 19 when they went for two, they were trying to make it a 21 point lead rather than 20, which any coach who was on the ball would have tried to do in that situation. The sportsmanship issue there only enters the discussion when the lead is so big that a team cannot possibly come back. The game was not over at that point, as teams have scored 3 touchdowns in much less time. how can you fault a coach for trying to maximize his team's chances to win