■"The NFL's Smartest Team," by Sam Walker, Wall Street Journal, 30 September 2005, p. W1.

Decent article on the Wonderlic test given to college players as they approach the NFL draft: a basic sort of IQ test that the NFL favors, to go along with times in the 40-yard dash, etc. Twelve minutes long and 50 questions. Average score is 21, and smartest team in NFL (Rams) clock in at 21.

Strangely enough, it's the offensive line that tends to be smartest. They tend to score around 30, which is what your average lawyer scores.

The point? Smartest teams (ranking in top third) tend to be the ones that go to Super Bowls.

The dumbest team in the NFL right now? The Packers at just under a 20 average, which puts them in the range of hospital orderlies. I'm sure the Pack was in the league's top third during its Super Bowls years in the late 1990s, which means there has been a progressive dumbing down of the team in drafts.

Ay carumba!

Sad to say, but the Wisconsin Badgers are #8 in America, right about where they rank in national polls right now. Sad, because the Pack could be one of the smartest teams if they just drafted Badgers regularly-and they don't seem to do enough of that.