1. The National Football League season usually starts on a Thursday night, but it's a day early this year to accommodate President Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention. Two premier teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, go head to head at 8:30 p.m. at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The hourlong pregame show on NBC starts at 7:30 and features two marquee pop singers - Maria Carey and Gwen Stefani, performing with her group, No Doubt.

2. Another free summer outdoor concert series finishes its season tonight as Jack Civiletto performs his tribute to Frank Sinatra at 7 on the deck of the USS Little Rock at Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park at Erie Canal Harbor. Still going strong for a few more weeks is the Live at Larkin series, which brings two top local bands, Aqueous and Free Henry, to the Larkin Square stage at Seneca and Swan streets at 5 p.m.
3. The Working for Downtown group's Brown Bag Lunch Series starts a new season at noon in the second-floor meeting room of the Central Library in Lafayette Square in downtown Buffalo. First speaker is Althea Luehrsen, executive director of Leadership Buffalo, which trains future community leaders. It's free and open to the public. Seats must be reserved, however, by emailing Lynn Waclawek at lwaclawek@mtb.com.
4. The Guinness Stout flows no more at WJ Morrissey's Irish Pub, 30 Mississippi St., in the heart of the downtown Cobblestone District. Opened for St. Patrick's Day 2007 by local restaurateur Dennis Brinkworth III and outfitted by Dublin-based pub designer Gemmel, Griffin & Dunbar, it's gone the way of Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy. Cash Realty & Auctions will sell the furnishings and equipment to the highest bidders at 10 a.m. Morrissey's and Benchwarmers Sports Bar and Grille next door are being replaced by the Helium comedy club and a restaurant called Elements.

5. Bouncing back from the throes of bankruptcy is Buffalo's oldest tavern, Ulrich's at 674 Ellicott St., which was seized for unpaid taxes and padlocked a month ago. Owner James Daley has come up with a better business plan for the place, which involves a smaller menu, not as many specials and fewer workers. The beer began flowing Tuesday night with a reopening party. Lunches resume today. Dinners return Thursday.

6. Lockport residents soon will have the option of saying, "Charge it," when they get a bill from the city if the Common Council approves a credit card payment plan when it meets tonight. The Council also will decide whether to begin accepting plastic for all types of bills or if the new system should be phased in. There's a good chance that credit cards will be accepted first for the payment of parking tickets before moving on to larger bills such as water and sewer fees, refuse charges or property taxes.

7. Fredonia State College's first female president, Virginia Schaefer Horvath, Ph.D., will go back to where her academic career began this morning. She's the keynote speaker at the fall convocation that officially starts the new school year at Buffalo Seminary, the private girls school on Bidwell Parkway, where she graduated in 1975. Horvath, who attended Sem on scholarship, went on to become the first in her family to attend college, earning her bachelor's degree in English from the University at Buffalo and her master's and doctoral degrees from Kent State University.