I must confess to you, my faithful readers, that it has been quite a long time since I watched an entire ABC Monday Night Football Game from start to finish.

Usually when Monday night rolls around in the fall, I'll tune in at the show's beginning, listen to Hank Williams Jr. ask if I'm ready for some football, and perhaps watch the first quarter. Later I'll probably drop in to check out the score. In most cases I will review the recap the next morning either in print or on-line.

But Labor Day evening, 2000 was different. That rich and arrogant cartel better known as the National Football League's Big Show came to the Gateway City. Al, Dan and Dennis (who really set the tone wearing the legendary canary yellow ABC network blazer) plus Hall of Fame Running Back Eric Dickerson and current Sports InfoBabe of choice Melissa Stark brought the carnival to the big tent at the Trans World Dome.

The St. Louis Rams and Denver Broncos provided the actors for an ABC-TV prime time event. This is almost as big as the Regis Philbin Millionaire show. No lifelines needed here. The Super Bowl Champs of the past three seasons were both on stage for all my rowdy friends to observe and appreciate.

Our town jumped at opportunity to strut its stuff. It's a Gateway City infomercial for the entire nation to view. There was the hoisting of the Super Bowl XXXIV. and Best Sport City in North America banners for all to see. With Mark Mc Gwire, Jim Edmonds, Chris Pronger, Archbishop Rigali and other notable locals in the house, the sellout crowd at the Dome was both raucous and primed for action.

So after a long weekend of covering baseball and opting off the Monday football game, curiosity got the better of me. I watched the entire MNF production from wire to wire.

And I'm glad that I did.

This was the first time since the early 1990's that our Male Sheep were invited to Paul Tagiliabue's Monday Night party. Monday marked the return of the big show to our town since Bill Bidwill maintained a St. Louis home address.

At the end of the night, football fans from coast to coast got to see the good (the Rams' Offense) the bad (the Rams' Defense) and the ugly (the silly and immature Duck Down touchdown dance) of professional football, St. Louis style. First: the good.

Quarterback Kurt Warner continued where he left off last season completing 25 of 35 passes for 441 Yards. Warner threw one more touchdown and three more interceptions than his young Denver cohort did. Three different St. Louis receivers collected over 100 yards passing. Az Hakim electrified the crowd with a first half touchdown kick off return.

When you score forty-one points you should win. Conversely, if your defense allows 36 points, you should lose. Fortunately, the Rams had the ball last at the end of the night.

The Rams defense was the hot topic last night on my WGNU Talk Show. My callers fell in one of two camps: either the Rams did allow 36 points but responded when they had to: OR, it's time to panic. Let's fire the Defensive Coordinator and bring in Buddy Ryan or General Norman Schwarzkopf.

Actually, both schools of thought are somewhat correct.

Late in the game, after second year quarterback Brian Griese had his way with the Rams Defense. But our Navy and Gold heroes held strong with the game on the line: stopping the Broncos on their final drive of the night.

Still this is Brian (not Bob) Griese. #14 had a terrific night completing 19 of 29 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns. The Broncos rolled up 424 total yards: mostly with Terrell Davis watching from the sidelines and Olandis Gary hobbling most of the night.

As shown from the pre-season game against Buffalo, Martz has to be concerned with his defensive secondary. Second year QB Griese picked apart the Ram defense: particularly adequate-at-best cornerback Dexter McCleon and millionaire-wannabe Todd Lyght.

When a team appears on Monday Night Football, that team's strong and weak points are exposed for all to see. Viewers throughout the fruited plain not only saw a high powered Rams' offense, but an inconsistent Rams' defense with a questionable deep secondary.

Finally the ugly: can someone tell me the attraction of watching professional football players squat down and point?

The bottom line, though, is that St. Louis won the football game on Monday night. Game One was the most important game of the Rams' young season. If Denver won at the Dome, our Male Sheep would have one less day to prepare before traveling with their 0-1 record to the Great Northwest. That would have not been a good thing as no NFL team ever won the Super Bowl after losing their first two games of the season.

The Rams entered the Monday night event wanting to make a statement. The team senses a lack of respect. They are considered a fluke by some while others still are skeptical. Monday marked the coming out party for Mike Martz as a NFL Head Coach. The Rams had to win this game if they wanted to return to the big game with Roman Numerals.

With the 41-36 victory, St. Louis can travel to Seattle with a victory under its belt and one less day of practice. I'm sure Mike Holmgren turned the Husky Stadium sprinklers on going full blast since about 11:30PM Central Time Monday night to moisten the playing field into a quagmire. The Rams' team speed on Monday was nothing short of amazing.

With their Week One victory, the Rams earned something in common with the Baseball Cardinals: at this writing, both enjoy a magic number of fifteen.

On Monday night November 20, Al, Dan, Dennis and the gang will return to the Gateway City when the Rams host the Washington Redskins. This should be a pivotal game for both teams. Time will tell what each team's record will be at the pre-Thanksgiving feast.

Time will also tell if that will be another Monday Night Game I'll watch wire to wire.