For just a little while, there there be kickoffs and touchdowns and the illusion of a level playing field.

Tonight, it's time for the National Football League's 2007 regular season to begin. ful.

So, here's how we think it'll go.

In this preview, each division's teams are ranked in order of their predicted finish from first to last. Then, musical acts from each NFL team's area are presented in the same order. Read that over again before reacting: we're not ranking the music, just the NFL teams.

And you? Agree? Disagree? Confused? That's what the comment section is for. Let's talk. We can suss this out.

Please note, there will only be bands from New Jersey representing the "New York" franchises due to the NJ location of Giants Stadium at The Meadowlands. Simple as that.

Image of wintry goalposts via NFL.com: "General view of goal posts during a snowy Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 2006. Photo by Kirby Lee /WireImage"

As always, all predictions are guaranteed by American Football Spectacular to have been made with the best of intentions, and no real surety.

O, football; we're glad that you're back. The predictions commence after the jump.

-- The 2007 Bay Area Rhythm Exchange: Stepology (which we can only hope is very much like "Vibeology") presents tap stars Channing Cook-Holmes (Riverdance, Gangs of New York, Bojangles), John Kloss (Tap Heat), Deborah Mitchell (The Cotton Club, Black and Blue), Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, Bamboozled), Sam Weber (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood). 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre (SF War Memorial and Performing Arts Center), 401 Van Ness; $19-$22.

-- Chrome: Head over to le Tenderloin for le punk rock faggotry. DJ Dirty Knees spins aforementioned punk as well as electro and alterna beats. Music starts at 9 p.m. at The Gangway, 841 Larkin (at Polk); $3.

-- H.M.S. Pinafore: Gilbert and Sullivan's sometimes brilliant/sometimes has you reaching for the Head-On. Curtain goes up at 8 p.m at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard (at Third Street); $11-$44.

-- Drag King Contest: Go here to read more about it.

Channing Cook-Holmes image: Stepology

Last night out in the center-left bleachers, each time Barry Bonds came to bat, the crowd rose giddily to their feet. The stands brimmed with grins and shouts of encouragement and nervous energy. Mitts were pulled on and pounded in anticipation. With each pitch thrown to him, photoflashes flared all about the stadium like Chinese New Year firecrackers.

In his first two at-bats Bonds hit a double and a single. The crowd applauded appreciatively after each. It was far better than seeing the oh-fer-three Barry of the night before. The lead flipped back-and-forth between the Giants and the Washington Nationals as the two pitchers had their offerings slopped all around (and out of) the park.

Then: Bottom of the fifth, one out, no one on, everyone on their feet, all eyes on one man.

Three separate sounds essayed from the crowd when it happened.

At the crack of the bat, there was a beat of silence. A collective breath drawn in. Could it be?

Yesterday, the gentleman who came to be called The Genius passed away from leukemia at the age of 75.

The importance of Bill Walsh to San Francisco sports, and the whole of the National Football League, cannot be overstated. He changed the game. He changed the sports landscape of the Bay Area. And he did it in a way that no one had ever done before: the philosophy of attack that became known as the West Coast Offense.

An innovator, a brilliant motivator, a ferociously-focused competitor with a sly sense of humor, Walsh was the man who rebuilt the San Francisco 49ers into the greatest American football organization that the NFL had yet seen.

Rare is the man who can outpace his own disappointment. Walsh chafed at being an NFL assistant for more years than he expected. He wanted to run his own squad. When he finally got his shot as a head coach in 1979 with the sad-sack 49ers, he was 47. It was later in the day than he'd expected to run a team.

Submit your Bay Area finds to found [at] sfist [dot] com or tag them as sfist and found on Flickr! Let us know where and when you found the item and any other helpful info.

Here is another cat sidewalk drawing, presumably from the same artist who chalked Sr. Kitty Hitler. We're not sure what's up with the scarf on George Cat's head. Could it represent the chains that bind him to his cronies, or is it "air" coming out of his head? It kind of makes George Cat look like a hippie.

President George Cat
The first one to
loose [sic] a election
still be president.

Found by SFist Christopher Rogers in Emeryville in early June

--Whoa, Ed Jew! See below. Aaron Peskin told the I-Team that the FBI was searching Jew's City Hall office for "$100 bills with specific serial numbers listed." That does not sound good at all. Jew told the Chron he's being investigated for accepting $40,000 from businessmen needing permit approvals. The businessmen were trying to open Quickly stores.

--Also, there's going to be massive layoffs at the Chron. Oh, we hope they're not going to start charging for their links -- what would SFist do?

--Carole Migden was in a minor fender-bender this afternoon too. Oh no, her new hybrid! Totally her fault -- she was lost and reaching for her cell phone. Ironically, Migden voted just last year to fine people talking on cell phones in their cars without headsets.

Everything else in light of these three items is anticlimactic:
--Baby falcons born at San Jose City Hall.
--Anti-nuke protests at the UC Regents' meeting.
--Did you know they have a $35 Muni Fast Pass for low-income San Francisco residents?