In favor of Flutie, football and fun

It's playoff time in the NFL, and as we build up to Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 5, it is worth remembering that football is a game first, and a national mania second.

To that effect, we would like to thank Doug Flutie of the Boston Patriots for reminding everyone that there's more to the game than big contracts and big egos.

On the last weekend of the regular season, at the age of 43, Flutie showed that he still has the same passion for the game that he had in 1984, when he tossed his famous Hail Mary pass into the arms of Gerard Phelan and led Boston College to victory over the Miami Hurricanes as time expired in the Orange Bowl.

Flutie's storied football career, in fact, probably deserves some sort of special place in the Hall of Fame. Considered "too short" to be an NFL quarterback, Flutie took his Heisman Trophy to the USFL where he again proved his arm with the New Jersey Generals. When the USFL folded, Flutie did get a shot in the NFL, first with the Chicago Bears and then the New England Patriots. There was always some hesitation about committing to him as a starter, however, so Flutie headed north for an illustrious seven years in the Canadian Football League, where he is considered one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game.

He came back to the states in 1998, when he signed with the Buffalo Bills, where he had an 18-8 record as a starter before being benched in a controversial decision. He has since played with the San Diego Chargers and is now back with the Patriots at what is possibly the end of his 21-year pro career. He has had his ups and downs, but one thing Doug Flutie never had was an attitude. He's been a true professional football player in a profession with more than a few slobs.

It is only fitting that he gets to enjoy the spotlight for perhaps one last time with his drop-kick conversion that took the Miami Dolphins and the rest of the country by surprise.

The last time the drop kick was used to put points on the board was in 1941, when Ray McLean of the Chicago Bears kicked an extra point in the NFL championship game.

"I was pretty fired up that we did it in the game," Flutie said of the conversion. "It was fun, like football's supposed to be."

Amen to that, and pass the peanuts.

Welcome home to Sue Snyder, the Somers artist who survived a Thanksgiving Day fire in her house. She was recently released from the burn center at a Seattle hospital. If love and concern have healing powers, Snyder's recovery will be swift and complete. Her plight prompted an outpouring of support and affection from Somers, where her spirit and contributions to the community have been appreciated.

The state parole board was correct in denying Jake Woods' release from prison last week.

Woods was convicted of the 1978 murders of two young Kalispell men. According to witnesses, Woods, then 16, drove around town, looking for his victims, who allegedly owed him money for drugs he had given them to sell. When he found them riding a bicycle on the south side of Kalispell, he ran them over, reportedly leaving at least one to die slowly on the side of the road from his injuries.

There is no hurry now to release Woods from prison. His sentence will be considered satisfied under Montana law in 2008. His debt to society, however, may never be considered completely satisfied by those who believe prison is the appropriate place for someone who committed the atrocity that Woods did.