This week, the real games start in the NFL. As I was looking over last year's standings, I was taken by how many changes there have been....

Let's see:

In the AFC East, we have the New England Patriots, formerly the Boston Patriots. And, we have the Indianapolis Colts, formerly the Baltimore Colts.

In the AFC Central, there are the Tennessee Oilers, formerly the Houston Oilers, and the Baltimore Ravens, formerly the Cleveland Browns. Ted Marchibroda, head coach of the Ravens, holds a unique distinction, since he once coached the Indianapolis Colts.

Marchibroda is the only man who has coached a team that left a city (Baltimore) to enter a new market (Indianapolis), and also coached a team that left a city (Cleveland) to re-start an old market (Baltimore). This feat is made all the more amazing since he started and ended in Baltimore.

In the AFC West, we have the San Diego Chargers, formerly the Los Angeles Chargers. And, don't forget the Oakland Raiders, formerly the Los Angeles Raiders, formerly the Oakland Raiders.

In the NFC East, we have the Arizona Cardinals, formerly the Phoenix Cardinals, formerly the St. Louis Cardinals, formerly the Chicago Cardinals.

No recent changes in the NFC Central!!

Finishing off with the NFC West, we have the St. Louis Rams, formerly the Los Angeles Rams, formerly the Cleveland Rams.

Once upon a time, you could root for your home team. The players stayed reasonably constant. Then came free agency. Now, we seem to have free agency for the franchises, as well.

Tell me this: Which team am I supposed to identify with? Or does it matter? Has football become the ultimate impersonal TV sport?

What constitutes a fan anymore? Most of us in LA saw the loss of the Raiders and Rams as a method of obtaining more televised games, without cable.

Keep in mind, though, that this entire sports thing could collapse like a house of cards, the day that the beer companies decide they have better things to do with their ad dollars. That day may be fast approaching, since the demographics of heavy beer drinkers are getting to be younger than the demographics of heavy football watchers.

Stay tuned.