Well, in a word – no.

However, the compelling saga of the re-birth of one-time #1 overall pick Alex Smith with the San Francisco 49ers does have the potential to get very interesting if his start in Indianapolis this Sunday comes anywhere near replicating his second half performance in last Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.

Don Banks of SI.com calls it “Week 8’s most intriguing storyline shy of you-know-who’s return to Lambeau Field” and, fact is, this Smith tale is about as unique as they come for football fans.  Remember that Smith did not see the field for even a snap last season.

As Banks point out: “Talking to sources within the league this week, I found no one who could really come up with a similar situation from the recent NFL past, where a failed former first-round quarterback receives an unexpected second chance — without having to change teams and start over in a new town.”

Clark Judge of CBSSports.com notes that Smith’s resurgence for the 49ers coincides perfectly with the introduction of former holdout receiver Michael Crabtree into the offense, providing a spark that has been absent in San Francisco for years.

The future is unwritten for this kid, and though there are no guarantees, Smith is still just 25 years old.  Whether or not you have a rooting interest in the 49ers, stories like this are why we follow the game.

Stay tuned.

Remember the Detroit Lions?  Rumor has it that they maintain status as one of the top 32 franchises engaged in staging professional American football.  I’m fairly certain that they are still members of the National Football League, even if just one playoff victory in over 50 years helps keep their profile fairly anonymous outside of the greater Detroit area.

So, you may have missed the news that their one-time home, the Pontiac Silverdome, is being sold through auction to the highest bidder.  Yes, even you (if you can come up with the $250,000 deposit) can make a bid.  All the details of the auction (conducted by Williams & Williams) can be found here.

The Pontiac Silverdome

The city of Pontiac is looking to rid themselves of $1.5 million in annual upkeep costs and will be accepting sealed bids through November 12th.  You still have time to put your offer together and, if chosen as one of the top five bidders, may have the opportunity to participate in a live auction on November 16th.

Ray Ratto of cbssports.com (with tongue firmly in-cheek) suggests that the San Francisco 49ers make a bid to help solve their current stadium woes by arguing that the “socially responsible” thing to do with the Silverdome would be to ”strip it down, put it in boxes and rebuild it like it was some galactic-sized Lego project.”

Fantastic call – and probably at least as likely as the recent failed effort to redevelop the 127 acre parcel into a horse racetrack, hotel and conference center.

There’s a moral to this story somewhere – though since it involves Detroit, it’s certainly not pretty.  But Michiganders have taken enough hits lately and I’m not about to pile on.

I am, however, looking for the funds to make a bid.  Interested in partnering up?  I’ve got the first $62.73.  By my calculations, that leaves us about  $249,937.27 short for the initial deposit.  Whad’ya think?  Seems like a great investment.  What could possibly go wrong?

Go ahead – keep summer alive as long as you can.  Sure, the days are getting noticeably shorter, and even with fantasy football draft previews and back-to-school sales prevalent and Halloween pop-up stores invading the local malls, you can still click on weather.com and see temps in the 80s and 90s across the United States.

But consider this as a reminder that fall and winter are knocking at the door.  Loudly.  In five weeks and one day, the NBA kicks off its preseason schedule when the Denver Nuggets visit the Utah Jazz on October 1st.

Hard to believe that camps are nearly ready to open – at least for everyone but the unlucky free agents like Allen Iverson (will he wind up in Memphis?) or Ramon Sessions (still waiting on the Knicks or Clippers) and a few others asking their agents to find them a job before rosters are set for the 2009-10 season.

So, while the news out of the NBA has slowed considerably recently, it is still worth checking out the musings of Ken Berger, Senior Writer for CBSSports.com.  In today’s column, for example, he provides his list of breakout players for the upcoming season.

Click that link for all of the details, but remember that Berger (along with a few other notable columnists) fed you the name of Anthony Randolph now and not after the rest of the world takes notice.

Sure, it’s easy to get lost when you are toiling away for a franchise as miserable as the Golden State Warriors have been for a generation, but Randolph is an All-Star in the making.

The second-year stud out of LSU, all of 20 years old, will see considerably more playing time than the 18 minutes a game that Coach Don Nelson allowed him last season.  Expect big, big things – of course, the Warriors will still struggle but the NBA will be better off for the development of Randolph and sportwriters can start projecting for the next “big free agency class” of 2013 or whenever Randolph hits the open market.

Expect a lot of this from Anthony Randolph during the 2009-10 NBA season

The other four breakout candidates are interesting choices as well, but you’ll have to read Berger’s column for more details. 

Yes, folks, it’s almost that time of year.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  If the NBA is not your thing come October, the sports world offers an amazing smorgasbord of options and a never-ending buffet of action.  And it’s all just 36 days away.  Enjoy those late-summer barbecues while you still can.

Extreme Reach Raises More Than $3M; company allows advertising across TV, mobile and broadband using one platform. (paidContent)

Xbox Getting Twitter and Facebook Before X-mas; social apps will be added separately rather than as part of a broader update. (Eurogamer)

Chuck Adds Web Video to Prop Up Off-Season Interest; ChuckMeOut.com features webisodes and other social features. (InteractiveTV Today)

CBSSports.com Embeds Reporters for Bite-Sized Stories; the RapidReports program will spread out 32 correspondents across every NFL team for multiple stories each day. (release)

HBO Sports Punches Up Web Series; Got No Game with Paul Mercurio will focus on boxing, football and “race in sports.” (Broadcasting & Cable)

Sonic to Use Blu-ray Tech for Streaming; Roxio CinemaNow to offer 1080p video streaming. (Video Business)