Norm Van Brocklin. Drew Bledsoe. Phil Simms. Joe Kapp. Alex Smith.

I'm trying to run with this whole 11 thing. It's week 11. Alex Smith wears number 11. My Spinal Tap Fan Meter Rating sits at 11. Of course, that's on a scale of 1-16, so take it for what it's worth.

No, there's really nothing particularly good about 11. Not with quarterbacks anyway. Well, unless you have the soft and fuzzies for Norm Van Brocklin. But come on, the dude didn't even have a QB rating in the 80s. Hall of Fame LOSER, am I right?!

Yeah, so... did you know that 11 is the atomic number for sodium? That's something. Na keeps me alive.

Ummm... The Canadian one-dollar coin has 11 sides. And that helps keep the Loony strong. Canada is weird.

11 is the first of the master numbers in numerology. I don't know what the hell that means. But it sounds important.

Holy crap... 11 is a terrible number. It sucks. Sorry, Alex Smith. I guess your fate really is sealed.

49ers @ Green Bay:

1. gbears16 (6)
2. mpotter14, urnext (8)
3. ZeroIndulgence, wjackalope, Ninerfromacrossthepond (14)
4. YoungWillis (16)
5. leaping_larry (18)

Tennessee @ Houston:

1. nocal81, groug (6)
2. ro128487, rlott#42 (8)
3. 49erLou (10)
4. illini49er, Sol Dog, whobob, CB30, leaping_larry, Ninerfromacrossthepond (14)
5. Drew K, hudd07, dartdart (16)

Philadelphia @ Chicago:

1. howtheyscored, leaping_larry, bignerd (2)
2. wjackalope (4)
3. Drew K, hudd07, ro128487, sundaysfinest, gbears16, urnext, beecharmer, 5-0 (6)
4. Dub4lif3, shlecko, groug, snowweasel30, jtoj (8)
5. LASVEGASNINER (12)

Atlanta @ New York Giants:

1. etb2 (2)
2. 49erLou, urnext (8)
3. LASVEGASNINER (12)
4. YoungWillis, cassusriff, Mike Hawk (14)
5. mpotter14 (16)

Indianapolis @ Baltimore:

1. whobob (2)
2. PHUT! (4)
3. YoungWillis (6)
4. bronbrillio, JoeO (12)
5. sfgfan, jpgarfunkle, leaping_larry, Mike Hawk, beecharmer, jtoj (14)

San Diego @ Denver:

1. rlott#42 (6)
2. groug (10)
3. howtheyscored (12)
4. YoungWillis, ZeroIndulgence (14)
5. these3words, jpgarfunkle (16)

And that makes our week 11 leaderboard look like this:

DuikeBuike, grantmp, shlecko, wjackalope, and bignerd are all tied for eleventh right now. I'd say good job to you all, but based on my research I'm pretty sure that means you suck. Sorry. That's not me talking. That's numerology talking. And that's almost science.

The top looks like it's shaping up, as groug has begun to put a little bit of distance on the crowd. PHUT! and ro128487 are holding strong at the top as well, but they're all basically just hoping to hold off the handsome stranger who popped into fourth place this week. He's so handsome. And what a beard!

Let's see: each of those top four really had either a good week, or a good enough week. Then Ninerfromacrossthepond continues his onslaught. There are still six full weeks to play (almost half a season, to help put it in context), and he's been climbing these rankings like gangbusters. Man, what a nonsense word that is.

Another good week goes to gbears16, who I've had my eyes on for a while now. I've noticed this player's consistency, and I'm watching my back, that's for sure.

Then wjackalope did fairly well to climb into playoff contention. I know it's killing him that he's losing to me and groug, and while that does kind of suck for him, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

More kudos to leaping_larry, urnext, and rlott#42. Nice work!

If you're wondering about Fooch, he's right there at 38, straddling the line between possible contention and surefire futility. What can I say, he's a straddler.

And yes, please check your scores. The farther I get away from the production line, the less I function like an actual robot. You see, a robot does. You need a rock crushed? It does that. I used to do that. Back when I just came off the production line. Now I'm too lazy. You crush your own rock. Jerk.

In which Benny Profane, a schlemihl and human yo-yo, gets to an apocheir: Christmas Eve, 1955, Benny Profane, wearing black levis, suede jacket, sneakers and big cowboy hat, happened to pass through Norfolk, Virginia. Given to sentimental impulses, he thought he'd look in on the Sailor's Grave, his old tin can's tavern on East Main Street. He got there by way of the Arcade, at the East Main end of which sat an old street singer with a guitar and an empty Sterno can for donations. Out in the street a chief yeoman was trying to urinate in the gas tank of a '54 Packard Patrician and five or six seamen apprentice were standing around giving encouragement.