Austin Wranglers Host Nashville Kats Saturday

First off: "Kats," seriously? Not only are they apparently named after a Lovin' Spoonful song, but the "K" makes it sound like the team was named by the owner's preschool nephew.

If the Kats were going for a badass misspelling, they quite obviously would've been better off with "Catz" or even better "Xatz" or best of all "XXXatzzz." Now those are incorrectly spelled names that would put a shrivel in the other teams' jockstraps. The cutesy Kats spelling makes you think the team's mascot would look like a differently abled version of Snagglepuss ("I pooped the bed again – exit stage left, even.") You'd be wrong, of course. Their mascot is a special-needs top cat with Elvis hair and a guitar. Seriously. What were we talking about again?

Oh yeah, the Kats are playing the Wranglers 7pm Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center. Both teams are 1-2 this season, and both will no doubt be playing for a much-needed confidence boost and redemption from an early losing record. The Wranglers will need to look out for Kats FB Dan Alexander, who rushed for five touchdowns last week against the Utah Blaze. This is no small achievement in the Arena Football League, considering how ridiculously narrow the field is (with no out of bounds to retreat to) and how ridiculously wide some of the defenders are.

For the most part, though, look for Austin to stick to the air. New QB Adrian McPherson had a rough time last week against his old team, Orlando, but with freakishly talented Derrick Lewis and Otis Amey grabbing McPherson's passes, the Wranglers are favored to pull up to .500 this weekend.

Also, look for Lewis before the game – he'll be singing the national anthem. Maybe next week he'll do the game's play-by-play from an in-helmet microphone and man the T-shirt cannon at half time.

Also look for me in Section 47, Row 11, Seat 10. I'll be the one getting beat up by a giant Kat with a guitar.