'This football is screwing me up,'' Doug Buffone said. ''It drives me nuts.''

FISH OF THE WEEK: Celebrate the catfishing days of summer and a newspaper-reading kid. Here's 13-year-old Richard Huber with a 30-inch, 10-pound channel catfish he caught at his "grandpa Kearns house" on Channel Lake in September. ''This was the largest of eight that were caught today,'' he e-mailed. ''This one put up a good fight! I caught this on my baitcaster with a bluegill as bait. I like to check out the other catches you put in the paper of the week!''

Quirks of the calendar make the opening of gun hunting around Lake Michigan unusual.

Capt. Chuck Weis leaned over and eyed the water with satisfaction, then said, ''48 degrees, water looks pretty clear.''