So the burning question of the day in the NFL is not whether the Bucs can win the Super Bowl with that offense but whether Packers coach Mike Sherman is a hypocrite.

Why? Well, because Sherman didn't react with the same vitriol when his guys cheap-shotted the Vikings as he did when Warren Sapp cheap-shotted his guy. This has caused some serious third-grade "See? See? See?" from the central Florida precincts, who seem to be missing the point entirely.

	There isn't much difference between Sapp and his critics.

You see, the NFL has always had a sliding moral scale. It goes something like this: What we do is born of competitive fire, and what you do is disrespectful and corrupt.

Which is a fancy way of saying, in Gen. Sherman's world, Warren Sapp's hit on Chad Clifton was illicit and cheap, while Antuan Edwards' hit on Chris Walsh -- after Walsh had pleaded nolo contendere with a clearly defined taking-of-the-knee -- was simply a case of a overzealous selflessness.

You can argue that Sapp's hit on Clifton was legal but cheap, and that Edwards' hit was illegal but not as cheap, but those are nits best left unpicked.

The truth is, the Packers play the same way the Bucs do, which is the same way every other team does -- with anger, emotion and violence.

Sapp's attitude is one of extreme aggression and very little in the way of conscience. Presumably, Edwards plays under the same rules.

It would be nice if Sapp would drop a line to Clifton -- at least before he learns to walk again -- but those are just details.

The NFL isn't a place for the big conscience, anyway. Never has been, never will be.

Mike Sherman no doubt understands this. And given the proximity of events, if he didn't before, he probably does now.

This Week's List:

I didn't see it all, but I came away with one distinct impression from LeBron James' national-television debut: Dick Vitale? He likes the kid.

And what, pray tell, would Andy Rooney have to say about this?: During 49ers-Cowboys game, color commentator Brian Baldinger said, "You need to get your best players on the field, because your best players make plays."

The lowdown on the Pete Rose situation: If he says he did what they say he did, they'll forget he did it.

Two weeks after he's in the Hall, he'll be just another guy hocking memorabilia on television: If Bud Selig allows Rose back into baseball, Rose will discover he was better off cultivating the image of Public Martyr No. 1.

It works this way -- you say you're leaving, get all the parties and honors and accolades, then you go right on doing what you did before: Officials in the Bush administration are reportedly pushing the "Pat Summerall-Keith Jackson Retirement Plan" to keep Social Security costs down.

It's sort of postmodern in its ironic minimalism: The arm-crossing post-touchdown celebration by the Saints is an interesting variation on the theme.

Like they say, it ain't bragging if you … well, actually, it's still bragging, but: Twenty years from now, when someone asks how good Terrell Owens was, just describe the catch he made in the back of the end zone against the Cowboys on Sunday.

As they say in baseball, it's a line drive in the scorebook: David Carr threw for 10 yards against the Steelers, leading his team to a 24-6 win.

The best argument for NFL "flexible scheduling" for prime-time games: The Bears.

Just for the heck of it: Paul Lindblad.

He knows the 4-1-1, and that's what I'm talking about: This week the Raiders signed cornerback Tony Lukins, who had been working as a telephone operator.

Someone's trying to get some attention, in that Kyle Turley sort of way: Chris Hovan, Vikings.

Unsolicited view of what ails the Lakers most: Overall slow feet, in a league that seems to be getting faster.

Middle of the lineup -- Tejada, Guerrero, Chavez: Wouldn't it be just like Billy Beane to end up with one of the Expos' expendable stars?

And finally, in a related study, some folks at Yale have concluded that people who attend one or more movies per week tend to eat more movie-theater popcorn than those who don't: The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study revealed this week that sports fans binge drink at a much higher rate than non-sports fans.

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tim.keown@espnmag.com.