Tuesday 08/28 A.M. Quickie:Vick, Brohm, Utley, Virginia Tech, More!

Monday was the first day of the rest of Michael Vick's life. (Or lack of one.) He worked the contrition angle. He worked the "got religion" angle.

"Immature?" Please: Bankrolling an illegal-gambling operation and killing dogs is less immature than simply immoral. (Hmm: If he had led off with "I've been immoral," he might have made more headway.)

Here's the lingering question: In an Instant History world, can a multi-year Vick expulsion create enough of a buffer to get him back into the NFL eventually?

"I will redeem myself," he said. We'll see about that. But then he uttered the most honest and realistic analysis of this entire fiasco: "I have to."

Meanwhile, the Falcons played on MNF last night. I didn't watch more than 30 seconds (it happened to be Johnson's TD pass to Henry), but I was struck with a Master Plan for the Falcons:

As long as this is a lost season for the Falcons (sorry: "transition" year) that they might as well write off this season (OK: tank), then put themselves in a position to draft franchise QB Brian Brohm, who happened to have played for Falcons coach Bobby Petrino at Louisville.

Here's the reality: An offensive-minded coach needs a great QB to build the team around (one who already knows the system is just a bonus).

As long as the Falcons aren't going to make the playoffs this year (and they won't), why not put themselves in position to turn it around as soon as possible with a spectacularly talented stud QB perfect for the new coach's offensive system?

Falcons fans (or if you put yourself in the position of Falcons fans): Wouldn't you sacrifice one season now (especially if it's a lost season anyway) for a better chance at a string of great seasons down the road?

More NFL: Lovie Smith isn't happy with Lance Briggs? Well, duh!

Tarvaris Jackson named Vikings starting QB: Guess Kelly Holcomb is just insurance.

MLB Stud: Chase Utley, who returned to the Phillies lineup just in time to go 3/5 (with a HR) and lead his team over the Mets in a near-must-win series.

MLB Dud: Astros manager Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura, both fired. (Stud: Cecil Cooper, given Garner's job.)

Oh, and Mike Mussina was on the wrong end of a blowout loss to the Tigers (16-0!), calling into question whether he'll be of any value to the Yankees during the last month of the season.

Bonds 756: How much do you think the ball will go for when the auction sale starts today? The over/under is $500,000. I'll say "over."

USA Hoops: Team USA blew out Mexico in the second round, but "only" won by 27, with Carmelo leading the team with 28 points. (Best, if most overdone, story so far: Kobe the defensive demon.)

U.S. Open: On a night honoring the legendary Althea Gibson, it was nice to see her heirs, Venus and Serena, cruise to victories. (By the way, Serena was wearing the largest earrings I have ever seen on a tennis player. Didn't seem to stop her from powering her way to a win.)

CFB: If you didn't come around after noon yesterday, I revealed my pick to win the national championship: Virginia Tech.

Speaking of VA Tech, there's this interesting campaign to get Hokies fans to cheer opposing teams, to honor the support that opposing fans showed VA Tech after the shooting. I suspect that fans will welcome a team like East Carolina with support, then do what home fans are supposed to do: Root against them. It's not personal. And as long as ECU doesn't keep it close, they can expect to get an ovation as they leave the field, too. (Don't expect a similar treatment for, say, a tougher ACC rival.)

The preview continues today: Heismania. (No, Tim Tebow is not my pick to win the award. Maybe next year. For this year, all you have to do is look to my Heisman pick from last season.)

UPDATE: As you may have noticed, the Heisman list didn't go up. It'll go up tomorrow.

Tennis Gambling Scandal: Paul Goldstein says he was approached about throwing a match. I guarantee you this tennis scandal is so much worse than you can even imagine. Things like this usuall are.

Women's Hoops: Delle Donne is going to UConn.

Soccer: Could Chelsea poach Ronaldinho from Barca?

NBA Moves: The Suns signed second-round pick DJ Strawberry, notable only because Strawberry totally dominated the Vegas Summer League and looked entirely like the steal of the draft.

In Case You Missed It: My latest weekly guest-post for Deadspin on college football.

Fantasy Football: Tonight, I take part in my third draft of the month. Bragging rights are huge: It's the DS.com Commenters league.

Speaking of football prediction games, you only have a few days left to sign up for any of the four leagues (2 NFL, 2 CFB) I have set up. See the links on the right, group name: Daily Quickie Readers.

-- D.S.

College Football Preseason Top 25:Your National Champ: Virginia Tech

UPDATE! This week's edition of my Deadspin CFB guest-post is up.

Let's get right to it. Here's my preseason Top 25, with an emphasis on which team I think will win the national title.

1. Virginia Tech (BlogPoll: 8)
2. Florida (BP: 7)
3. West Virginia (BP: 5)
4. USC (BP: 1)
5. LSU (BP: 2)
6. Rutgers (BP: 21)
7. Michigan (BP: 3)
8. Texas (BP: 4)
9. Arkansas (BP: 20)
10. Louisville (BP: 10)
11. Wisconsin (BP: 9)
12. TCU (BP: 26)
13. Boise St (BP: 27)
14. Cal (BP: 12)
15. Penn St (BP: 13)
16. BC (BP: 33)
17. Tennessee (BP: 17)
18. Auburn (BP: 15)
19. Ohio St (BP: 11)
20. Oklahoma (BP: 6)
21. Hawaii (BP: 23)
22. Alabama (BP: 29)
23. Missouri (BP: 28)
24. Virginia (BP: 45)
25. Oregon (BP: 24)

BlogPoll Top 25 teams I had unranked:
Georgia (14)
UCLA (16)
Florida State (18)
Nebraska (19)
South Carolina (22)
Texas A&M (25)

Notes:

(1) This is how I predict the teams will finish the season, with my emphasis being on the Top 10 contenders. (20-25 was my guess at Top 25 sleepers.) As soon as there is actual 2007 performance on the field to account for, I'm sure this listing will change radically, particularly after Week 1.

(2) Yes, I am picking Virginia Tech to win the national title. Yes, that's driven in large part by the "it HAS to be the Hokies, this of all seasons" effect.

And, yes, this implies that I think that VA Tech will go down to Baton Rouge and upset LSU on 9/8, then -- using that as the springboard -- go unbeaten, with that win at LSU arguably the single-best win that any of the contenders will be able to point to.

And, in a CFB season likely to be defined by explosive offense, I love the Hokies' stifling D (not to mention returning experience on BOTH sides of the ball).

(3) I also think that it will be a moot point: VA Tech will be the only BCS team to go unbeaten. Of the rest of the contenders, I think Florida will take one loss at LSU, then beat LSU in the SEC title game on a neutral field. I think West Virginia will lose at Rutgers. I think crowd-consensus No. 1 pick USC will lose TWICE, at Oregon then at Cal. I think Rutgers will lose at Louisville. I think Michigan will beat Ohio State, but lose at Wisconsin. I think Texas will lose at Texas A&M, but not before they lose in a Week 3 shocker to TCU. (Of non-BCS teams, I think TCU and Boise State will BOTH go unbeaten, but only TCU will get to a BCS bowl game, on the strength of that win at Texas.)

(4) Yes, I recognize that I'm VERY down on Georgia, UCLA, Florida State and Nebraska. Probably too down.

(5) Here you go: Which team do YOU think will win the national title? Will they go unbeaten? Who will they be playing? If you foresee a messy ending, who will be involved and why will it be messy?

-- D.S.

Monday 08/27 A.M. Quickie:Vick, LLWS, Quinn, Twins, CFB, More!

Michael Vick to plead guilty today: It will be official, and then it's on to "How much time will he do?"

Not to mention: "How deep will Vick's snitchin' go?" (If nothing else, hopefully this episode puts to bed the myth of "stop snitchin'.")

And, finally, "What will the Falcons do about Vick and how quickly will they do it?"

Meanwhile, how surreal that on the day Vick pleads guilty, the Falcons play on national TV against the Bengals. Uh, think the topic will come up on MNF? They should just put Lester Munson in the booth as an extra analyst.

(Meanwhile, I wonder if Alberto Gonzalez timed his resignation to coincide with Vick's guilty plea, to take advantage of a news media pulled in several directions at once?)

MLB Stud: Georgia, which beat Japan for the LLWS title. (Yes, it's not an MLB Stud today, but a "Baseball Stud," and a nod to the kids.)

Name to Know: Dalton Carriker, who hit the game-winning home run in the 8th.

Meanwhile: I take back my mocking commentary of David Wells as the Dodgers' newest starting pitcher.

MLB Injury Watch: Chase Utley could come back tonight.

MLB Pennant Races: Suddenly, the Twins enter the picture. After (season) sweeping the Orioles, the Twins have won 5 in a row (9 of 12) and are only 5.5 GB the Indians, with a 3-game series in Cleveland coming up next. (Isn't it great that there is so much more playoff-race intrigue beyond the trite "Will the Yankees make it?")

NFL Preseason/Fantasy Watch: Wow, that Steelers offense looks a LOT more wide open in the Tomlin Era than the Cowher Era. There might not be a single WR star, fantasy-wise, but it should mean big numbers for Big Ben (and a lot of room for Willie Parker... IF he can keep that knee healthy).

NFL Dud: Lance Briggs. Is it now a "Lance-borghini?"

Meanwhile, Browns GM Phil Savage said that Brady Quinn won't start the team's opener. Not sure if he made any promises about whether (a) Quinn would play in the opener, or (b) Quinn would start Week 2. (And based on the way he played against the Broncos' first-team D, that could happen.)

U.S. Open: Predictions in tennis are even easier than golf. I'll take Roger Federer on the men's side, obviously. (On the women's side, I'll take Serena.)

CFB: Coming later this morning is the kickoff to our week-long College Football Preview discussion. Today: Top 25, with my pick for national champ. Teaser: It's not USC. And, no, it's not Florida, either. (Also: Keep an eye out on Deadspin this afternoon for my new weekly CFB guest-post.)

Intrigue: USC and Florida aren't really rivals, except that they now annually compete at the top of the recruiting and BCS standings. That's why it's slightly intriguing that USC won't allow WR Jamere Holland to transfer to Florida (That Holland's H.S. coach works at UF has something to do with it, but still: Seems like bad form.)

USA Hoops: US routs Brazil, which was widely considered the 3rd-best team in the field. All of these games are preliminary to a showdown with Argentina. (But even then, with the tournament's top 2 teams guaranteed a spot in the Olympics, what is the incentive – beyond pride – to win a game between them? Of course, the entire thing is an exercise in pride, so I suppose that's the motivation.)

More NBA: The Celtics really needed complementary "glue" players to go with their Big Three, and I think they got one in James Posey, a versatile defender who won't demand the shots that KG, Pierce and Allen will demand.

Golf "Playoffs": Part of the reason no one can take golf's "playoffs" seriously is because, by skipping this past weekend's events, Tiger Woods drops from 1st to 4th. Does anyone really believe he isn't still 1st? (This would be like USC going unbeaten, dropping out of the BCS system, then laughing as two other teams play for the "championship.")

Track: By this time next year, newly crowned World Champ sprinter Tyson Gay will be a household name, heading into the Olympics.

Mark Cuban to go on Dancing with the Stars: This is NOT the same as Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice. But, man, does that guy have a Hall of Fame flair for self-promotion. (That's said in admiration, not scorn.)

In Case You Missed It: Jamie Mottram delivers the final word on jean shorts.

-- D.S.

Sunday 08/26 (Very) Quickie

Tyson Gay: World's Fastest Man?

Damon Huard: Least-fantasy-owned NFL starting QB?

Rex Grossman: How many more bungled plays?

USA Hoops: Could Canada have done any better with Steve Nash?

Ken Griffey: Can he reach 600 HR this season? (591 Saturday)

Michael Vick: Will the Falcons get their money back?

Randy Myers: Will he get in trouble for mixing it up with a reporter?

Saturday 08/25 (Very) Quickie

Vick suspended indefinitely: Is that the same as a "lifetime ban?" Effectively.

Doing Vick in was his statement of facts to the court: Bankrolling a dog-fighting and -gambling operation and killing dogs.

As Roger Goodell noted, the involvement in the gambling operation sealed it. (Not that we all didn't know it was coming.)

As for Vick's future: Jail time and the end of his NFL career.

Just in time for fans to put this behind them and move on to the start of the season...

Maddux: "10/20" Milestone. In a season of MLB milestones, Greg Maddux may have presented the most impressive -- and untoppable -- one yet:

At least 10 wins for the 20th straight season.

When talking about MLB milestones, you know how some people say that there are some -- mostly pitching-related, like those held by Cy Young -- that simply can't be broken by today's players. Well, Maddux topped a Cy Young-held record.

Congrats to one of the all-time great pitchers (probably my favorite pitcher of all time) on another amazing bullet-point in his career.

Meanwhile...

Josh Beckett earns win No. 16. Pole position for AL Cy Young?

Brady Daddy throws 2 TDs for Pats. Fatherhood suits him.

Jimmy Clausen admits he had arm surgery: Will he be Weis' choice for ND QB?

Reggie Miller staying retired: As mentioned yesterday.

One week from today: College football. (Yes, I recognize that LSU kicks off on Thursday. I'm talking nationwide.)

-- D.S.

Friday 08/24 A.M. Quickie:Vick, PFT, Driver, Redd, BlogPoll, More!

Vick won't admit to killing dogs or gambling: I understand why he wouldn't want to, but as everyone believes he did (both), the rehabilitation of his image (not to mention his NFL career) can't (or won't) begin until he 'fesses up. See PFT for more/everything.

Related: Great piece in Slate on ProFootballTalk, confirming what I've been saying all year: That PFT is the most influential and must-read NFL voice found anywhere, online or off. Nice work, Florio.

More Vick Watch: Blessed comedy relief to this story. Vick football cards chewed by dogs are up for auction on eBay and currently being bid at $455.

MLB Pennant Races: The Indians beat the Tigers to go up 2.5 games in the AL Central. If I had to declare a rooting interest, it would be for the Indians, if only because the Tigers enjoyed their fun last year.

David Wells joins the Dodgers: Over/under until the inevitable playoff-crushing implosion? 4 weeks.

Curt Schilling backed off his talk about joining the Devil Rays, but it would be a terrific fit. He wouldn't be on a contender, but he would be a mentor to an exciting young staff, particularly future "Face of Baseball" contender David Price.

Jags beat Packers: More importantly, the Packers lost WR Donald Driver to a foot injury, for who knows how long. Also, David Garrard provoked the stirrings of a QB controversy (though consider he played against the Packers' 2nd-team D.)

Saints crush Chiefs: After seeing the stats, here's the fantasy implication – aside from Peyton Manning, I think Drew Brees is the clear No. 2 fantasy QB in the league (sorry, Carson Palmer fans), and – if you are the type to take QBs in round 2 – he seems to be worth it (I'm a believer in the ol' RB-RB-WR, with perfectly capable QBs to be found in Rounds 5-6.)

Andy Reid's sons are some effed up kids. Maybe the father should consider taking the year off to help take care of what is obviously an incredibly troubled situation in his family.

USA Hoops: Doubles up the Virgin Islands. The question is: If Tim Duncan played for the V.I., could he have made it remotely closer? (Meanwhile, Michael Redd's 3-point shooting was on display. The Redd Factor is the second-biggest reason that USA Hoops will break out of its slump, with Kobe being the No. 1 factor.)

NBA: Reggie Miller won't be making a comeback. That's too bad, because he would have been a welcome sideshow, particularly in Boston.

Beckham tackled: Here's the scoop, Chivas – don't poop where you eat, especially when your "meal-ticket" is the league's biggest/only attraction right now. Perhaps the players were trying to capture some of the Beckham Effect by fronting (everyone else is prostrating themselves), but all you'll do is earn the wrath of Becks' teammates... and the league.

CFB: As I head into my one-year anniversary of blogging, next week, I've been thinking about the individual moments that have really stood out. Near the top of the list was my inclusion in the Blog Poll weekly college football Top 25 ranking, managed by the supremely talented Brian Cook.

Not only did I feel like a bonafide CFB pollster for the first time ever (a dream of mine since I was a kid), but I sincerely felt honored to be in the company of a group of folks whose expertise and passion, I'd argue, is deeper than either the AP pollsters (who don't consume nearly the games or the media coverage of a typical CFB blogger) or the coaches' pollsters (who, when the bother to fill out the ballot themselves, which most don't, are saddled with ridiculous gamesmanship tactics that make standard fan biases seem petty by comparison).

Anyway, the preseason Blog Poll Top 25 is out. Unsurprisingly, USC and LSU are 1-2. Michigan, Texas and West Virginia round out the Top 5. For the record, out of the entire group, there were six other bloggers besides me who didn't vote USC as No. 1.

(Someone will find it anyway: If you follow the links to "individual ballots" you can get a sneak preview of my first Top 25. Full(er) explanation coming Monday.)

-- D.S.

Thursday 08/23 A.M. Quickie:30 Runs, Brady Daddy, Webb Watch, USA Hoops, More!

Oh, mercy! Rangers put up 30 runs: In this Worst Summer Ever for sports, there have been glimmers of glorious frivolity.

Isn't it nice to have a moment when we can all kick back, stare at the 30 runs -- 30! -- that the Rangers hung on the Orioles and enjoy the distraction that comes with something that hasn't happened in baseball since the 19th century.

And it begs a question of particular relevance given that we're in the middle of the Little League World Series:

Should Major League Baseball have a "mercy rule?"

The easy (and obvious) answer, of course, is "no." But maybe there's something to the idea. Aside from the novelty (and the impact on record-keeping), there was little point to continuing the game after the Rangers' lead reached, say, 20 runs. (The Little League mercy rule is triggered at 10.)

Would anyone have blamed the Orioles if newly "un-interimed" manager Dave Trembley had forfeited the game during the top of the 8th inning? (Especially considering they still had a second game of a double-header to play immediately afterward. With the idea of salvaging a split, it's not such a ludicrous idea. I would have given him huge credit if he did forfeit Game 1.)

Perhaps you believe that professional players should have to take their defeats in any and all forms. I was on a JetBlue flight and watched the highlights probably half-a-dozen times, unable to look away, even after multiple viewings. It's hard to feel mercy when you're laughing.

But -- if the (not unreasonable) clever gamesmanship implications of a "mercy"-driven forfeit don't do it for you -- maybe MLB can (or should) learn a little sportsmanship from their pre-pubescent peers.

Tom Brady joins the Varsity Dads: Congrats to Brady (and Bridget). Aside from Tiger, I can't imagine a more theoretically ideal father if you had to grow up the son of a sports star.

Reader E.F. quickly responds with an astute observation:

"How about any father that is married to the mother? What is the point of having Tom Brady as a dad if you don't ever seen him because he lives 2000 miles away from the mom who will be raising him?"

Brandon Webb Milestone Watch: Consecutive scoreless innings streak ends at 42 after Prince Fielder ruins it with an RBI single in the 1st.

MLB Stud: Albert Pujols, who homered for the 5th consecutive game. (In case you were, like me, too enthralled by the Rick Ankiel story to notice that Pujols is still the king of the Cards.)

MLB Dud: Cole Hamels, who went to the 15-day DL, temporarily tweaking the Phillies' postseason-race chances (and his own NL Cy campaign).

NFL: Jerome Bettis admits to faking an injury in Steelers camp in 2000 in order to avoid getting cut.

Rather than thinking of this as scandalous, I think it merely pulls back the curtain on what I can only imagine is an incredibly popular -- and widespread -- tactic among players, particularly aging stars.

(But nevertheless, anytime in sports – especially in the hyper-macho world of pro football – someone deploys the phrase "faked it," it doesn't sit well with most fans' ideas about sports and meritocracy.)

More NFL: Eli vs. Tiki. Seriously, do you really care? Here are two of the least likeable personalities in the NFL of the past year. If they want to feud, let 'em. Neither deserves the air time or attention.

USA Hoops: Thumps Venezuela 112-69, behind Carmelo Anthony and Michael Redd's 17 points. Kobe had only 14 points, but a team-high 5 assists.

Vick Watch: Why would Stephon Marbury defend Michael Vick? Marbury had built up an incredible amount of good-will from his populist sneaker line. Then he goes and erodes it by taking an insanely unpopular position.

Meanwhile, an NAACP leader wants the NFL and the Falcons to let Vick return after he does his jail time. I think that's the wrong battle to pick.

Meanwhile, 50 dogs found on Vick's property will be euthanized if they are not claimed by today. The problem is that the dogs are so brutalized that a domesticated life is probably unrealistic, with euthanization the only humane thing left for them.

Golf: FedEx Cup "Playoffs" and the question: Does anyone really care? Mainstream pundits have made a mistake trying to make this about casual fans.

(I'm not quite sure what a "casual" golf fan is: Someone who only watches the majors? Someone who only watches if Tiger is contending on Sunday?)

I think the PGA's "playoff" marketing is about keeping the more avid golf fans interested, using language (if not appeal) that casual fans can understand.

CFB: Did somebody mention Tim Tebow? (No? Just me wedging him into the discussion? Oh well.)

More CFB: I just filled out my first preseason ballot for the Blog Poll Top 25. The process (not the poll itself) affirmed how difficult (and ludicrous) it is to try to rank teams now. My guiding principle was to rank them based how I think they'll end the regular season (as opposed to my ballot after each week's games, when I'll rank them based on actual performance).

For an example of another BlogPollster, here's the entry from EDSBS. I'm not one to talk, but needless to say, I don't have South Carolina at No. 6. (But my list is so uninspired, so far, that I have to give him credit for taking a flying leap now, when the premium should be on clever choices.)

The real surprise (especially to me, as I realized what I was about to do) was which team I ended up ranking No. 1. (Hint: It was NOT USC.) I'll reveal that (plus the entire Top 25) next Monday to kick off the week-long college football preview coverage.

(Wow, between the CFB preview coverage and the celebration of the blog's one-year anniversary, next week's going to be a big week.)

-- D.S.

Wednesday 08/22 A.M. Quickie:Radomski, USA Hoops, 10 RBI, CFB, RIP SportsLine, More!

When I started writing the a.m. post today, I was wondering if there'd be all that much to write about. Turns out, there's a ton. Be sure to work your way through the whole thing for items on: Kirk Radomski! Garret Anderson! Brandon Webb! Larry Johnson! USA Basketball! Eddie Griffin! ESPN's 25-hour college football pre-game show! And…the death of CBS SportsLine! (No joke.) Tons more, too...

Kirk Radomski named names: He told the Mitchell Commission which MLB players bought steroids from him. Let the water-cooler guessing-game begin. It remains to be seen whether Mitchell will reveal the names – I wonder if MLB will see any particular big names on the list and tell him to keep it quiet. (Related: Why wouldn't Radomski steal Mitchell's thunder and reveal the list himself? He's already going to jail. Must have been part of his plea agreement. Not sure how that can possibly be legally binding.)

MLB Stud: Garret Anderson, for his 10 RBIs in last night's Angels route of the Yankees. 10!

MLB Must-Track: Brandon Webb puts his 42-inning scoreless streak on the line tonight.

Matt Murphy is going to sell Bonds' 756: Apparently, the tax burden was just too great to keep it. (Wouldn't it be cool if sports memorabilia wasn't taxed if you planned to keep it and never sell it, thus gaining financially from it?)

NFL Camping: Chiefs sign Larry Johnson to a 6-year extension with $19 million in guaranteed payments. The question is: After setting an NFL record with 416 carries a year ago, can he possibly keep up that pace? (He was my No. 1 draft pick in the Kissing Suzy Kolber keeper league, so I sure as hell hope so.)

Meanwhile, will Jeremiah Trotter (released by the Eagles) wind up elsewhere or call it a career? And who do you think Romeo Crennel will name as Browns starting QB in the week before their first game? It's like he and Charlie Weis are running the same playbook of "Don't name the starting QB until the last possible minute." Is Crennel leaving the door open for Brady Quinn to start in Week 1?

USA Basketball '07: Can the reconstituted team change the fortune of a franchise more accurately labeled "USA Oops" than "USA Hoops?" Winning the FIBA Americas tournament, which starts today, is no gimme.

(First things first: I refuse to use the label "Dream Team" – the only "Dream Team" was 1992. Everything since then was Team USA.)

Oh, sure, Team USA can capture one of the top two slots to get the Olympic bid (god, could you imagine if they couldn't?), but those of you expecting the team to steamroll to a title obviously have forgotten just how good Argentina is.

The biggest difference between this USA team and teams of recent past? This team has Kobe Bryant. And for all of the talk about "commitment" and "specialization," what Team USA really lacked was a go-to scorer with a killer instinct. Enter Kobe.

(And, yet, what does it say that I'm still not sure that even with Kobe, Team USA can beat Argentina to take the tournament?)

Do you want to buy David Ortiz' Mercedes? What if he'll personally deliver the keys to you? (Is this like the Seinfeld where George Costanza bought Jon Voight's car, only to find out that the car really belonged to John Voigt – NOT the actor?)

Vick Watch (begrudgingly): Vick's reps want a meeting with Roger Goodell before the Commish makes his final decision on Vick's fate. Not sure what good it'll do him. Goodell has no choice but to ban him for life. Or, perhaps, it's simply easier said: Vick will never play in the NFL again, regardless of whether he's banned or simply persona non grata.

(After Vick does his time in jail and after he's done a year of his NFL ban, if he's turned himself into a model citizen – no easy assumption, though it is obvious to the rest of us that that's what you need to do – I could see pitching Goodell on a reinstatement, perhaps after a second year's worth of banning.)

Meanwhile, how soon before Vick is charged in Virginia?

By the way, PFT remains your must-read source for all things Vick (in addition, of course, to all things NFL anyway).

NBA Gambling: Here's what the new NBA gambling-investigation czar Lawrence Pedowitz should recommend to the NBA – no players, coaches, refs, team employees or league employees should be allowed to gamble, even in Las Vegas.

(But gambling is legal in Vegas, you say? True enough, but it's WAY too easy for the legal gambling to turn into an illegal problem. The standard is easy enough: Just don't do it. Are players/employees so allured by gambling's pleasures that they couldn't stay away – what does that say about their potential for running into a problem in the long term?)

By the way, there's been one guy who has been (relatively) quiet throughout all of this: Charles Barkley (correct me if you've heard him speak out a lot about the subject of the NBA and gambling). Given that he's an admitted gambleholic, why hasn't anyone pointedly asked him the question: Have you ever bet on basketball, and did you ever bet on basketball as a player?

Eddie Griffin was killed in an accident, thus ending the life of one of the more cautionary tales in recent NBA history. Griffin was a prodigious talent – quite possibly one of the best prep power forwards in the last 20 years. He showed flashes of instability in college, when he (literally) fought with his teammates. He jumped from Seton Hall to the pros after one year, never really fulfilling his potential at the NBA level. Until last week's tragic ending, he was best-known for his most recent dust-up with the law, involving being caught in a self-gratifying moment in his car. He goes from throw-away punchline to cautionary tragedy.

CFB: The U. is leaving the Orange Bowl. It's a dump of a stadium, but Miami sure has a lot of great memories there of on-field success.

More CFB: ESPN is announcing a brilliant idea: A 25-hour pre-game show next week heading into the college football season opener. (Don't try to argue anymore that college football isn't our nation's No. 2 national pastime behind the NFL.) There are a couple of amazing details (via USAT), like what will they do overnight? Well, Hawaii has moved its practice just so it can have the 3 a.m. slot all to itself. Live-bloggers, you have been challenged.

By the way, Orson at EDSBS just put out his Week 1 viewing guide. Seriously: If you're not reading EDSBS every day (or multiple times a day), you're missing out on the single greatest college football blog experience.

CFB Preview: I know that my CFB ramp-up on the blog has been iffy (huge week next week, I swear), but here's today's question – which players aren't on the Heisman radar, but should be? I'm not saying they'll win (anyone – particularly a dark horse – will have a hard time eclipsing Arkansas' McFadden, and if not D-Mac then USC's Booty, and if not Booty then Louisville's Brohm). I'll have my Top 10 Heisman Watch List next week.

By the way, speaking of commenter response, that was an incredible discussion in the comments yesterday about which athlete is the biggest waste of talent of all time. If you haven't checked it out, click on the post below and scroll through the comments.

H.S. Football: USA Today's Top 25 came out and, unsurprisingly, Southlake (TX) Carroll is No. 1. Intriguingly, they have a game scheduled for mid-September against the team ranked No. 2: Controversial Miami Northwestern, which should feel lucky to even field a program this season. It's a de facto national championship game – in September!

Online Sports Media: RIP, "SportsLine." Buried at the end of Heistand's USAT column is the note that CBS is changing the name of its sports site from "SportsLine" to "CBSSports.com."

Thus ends a branding era in online sports that began in the mid-90s as an intriguing (if inferior) competitor to ESPN.com; signed one of the original "anchor" programming deals with AOL (back when AOL was everything), demanding my first company (acquired by AOL) be put out of business as part of the deal terms; enjoyed an IPO; got swallowed by CBS; went through a tailspin decline of relevancy; brought in non-talents like Gregg Doyel (but smartly developed the only columnist on the site worth reading, Clay Travis); went through even more of a precipitous decline of relevancy; and, now, finally, simply gives up on its old brand name and will likely slink even further from view, despite the monster presence of CBS Sports' TV engine behind it.

DS.com football predictions games: The clock is ticking down. Sign up using the links on the right. Group name: Daily Quickie Readers. (No password needed!)

-- D.S.

Tuesday 08/21 A.M. Quickie:Vick, Ankiel, Jenks, Grossman, Durant, More!

Michael Vick to plead guilty: Let the closure begin! But only after we speculate over...

How much prison time he'll do!
(Over/under: 12 months)...

When the Falcons will waive him!
(Not soon enough)...

And if his NFL career is over!
(Assumed jail time + NFL suspension afterward + radioactive reputation + the decline of age = all signs point to yes)...

Vick Fatigue? At this point, I think most fans are ready to put the whole thing behind us. We've all got fantasy teams to manage or real-life teams to obsess over.

But there's an interesting spin-off question, now that we're headed into the home stretch of Vick joining the Oz intramural team...

Biggest Waste of Talent Ever? Michael Vick will star in his own version of "The Longest Yard," while the rest of us consider – if we consider anything – what an epic waste of talent Vick has managed to pull off.

Depending on how you feel about Vick as a QB talent -- you can't deny what was his superstardom -- he might have finalized his status as the biggest waste of talent in modern sports history.

Commenter question: Who are the biggest wastes of talent in modern sports history. Consider an elastic definition of "waste," from "coulda-been" waste (Len Bias) to "never-was" waste (Tony Mandarich or Todd Marinovich). I contend Vick is the biggest waste of all.

Then thank the sports fates for perhaps the most classic antithesis of a waste of talent, featured in the next paragraph...

Cardinals within 3 games of NL East Central lead: That would be thanks to a win, led by yet another home run from Rick Ankiel (along with Albert Pujols... how amazing is it that Pujols takes a backseat on his own team, in terms of intriguing must-see player?) YES YES I AM A MORON FOR SAYING EAST. DAMN!

Jenks Watch: He wasn't able to break the MLB record of retiring consecutive batters (gee, thanks, Joey Gathright), but he still ties it at 41, in what could be the most remarkable "milestone" record in what feels like a season of them.

MLB Stud: Mark Teixeira, who hit 2 HR (for the 2nd straight game).

MLB Hot Waiver Action: Jeff Conine joins the Mets. Don't laugh: Jeff Conine has TWO rings. TWO. Say it again: TWO RINGS.

I'm late on this but...: Read this Slate column about MLB's Pitch f/x. I buy it: It's going to revolutionize statistical analysis. (The technology, not the column itself.)

NFL Camping: Trent Green was named Dolphins starting QB. Seriously, this was in doubt? Isn't this why they brought him in? (Is Cleo Lemon that good? He might be, yes. Just not yet. And by then, John Beck will be ready to step in. And Cleo gets the shaft... again.)

Bears 27, Colts 24: And that was DESPITE Rex Grossman, who provided a full game's worth of his personal brand of triple-threat (INT, fumble(s), sacks) -- in all of 26 snaps.

CFB: Jimmy Clausen cited for transporting alcohol. Actually, I didn't know either that transporting someone over 21 to get alcohol, if you're under 21, is illegal. It's not like he was boozing it up himself. No: A college freshman would NEVER drink alcohol. It's UNHEARD of.

More CFB: Sam Keller named starting QB at Nebraska. The Arizona State transfer seems like the best fit yet for Bill Callahan's "This Ain't Your Daddy's/Momma's Huskers" Offense (a.k.a. the West-Coast offense). Keller is thrown into a brutal situation immediately: After a opening-week warm-up vs. Nevada, Nebraska plays at Wake Forest, then hosts No. 1 USC, only the toughest defense in the country.

Uniform Watch: Iowa State is letting fans choose its football helmet design. Here's the link. I would personally prefer the one that says "Cyclones" in script over the "I State" and "ISU" versions. But I won't vote, because it should be left to Iowa State fans to decide. I'm an online populist, so I approve the tactic, but they don't need me skewing the results best left decided by real fans.

In case you missed it: Yesterday was the debut of my new weekly college football guest-post on Deadspin. I'm thrilled to be writing it, with a lofty bar already set by Deadspin weekly soccer correspondent David Hirshey, who – as one person astutely remarked to me yesterday – creates the single-best soccer column in America today.

USA Hoops: Kevin Durant was the last guy cut in order for the team to make the 12-man limit for the FIBA Americas tournament that starts tomorrow. Management has gone away from the "any-star-that-will-have-us" to not only demand a multi-year commitment from the superstars, but to fill out the roster with role players like Mike Miller and Tyson Chandler. (I still contend that the No. 1 difference-maker will be having Kobe Bryant, the unstoppable scoring threat.)

RIP, "Wild Bill" Hagy, the uber-Orioles fan who I remember so fondly from my childhood as the lunatic who stood up and led the crowd in a cheer of "O-R-I-O-L-E-S! Orioles!" by using his body to form the letters.

Name to Know: Sheila Drummond, the blind golfer who hit a hole in one. Feel-good story of the week.

You ARE smarter than me: Just a reminder to hit the links on the right and sign up for any/all of the four football prediction games that I created leagues for. Group name: Daily Quickie Readers.

-- D.S.

My New Weekly CFB Column Debuts on Deadspin!

Here's the link. Totally exciting. Running weekly, every Monday, on Deadspin. Sort of like David Hirshey's weekly soccer column -- eh, less brilliant.

Monday 08/20 A.M. Quickie:Vick, Santana, Quinn, Artest, HS Musical 2(?!)

OK, so why hasn't Michael Vick entered his negotiated guilty plea yet?

I ask because, reportedly, the Feds are set to create a "superseding" set of charges, including racketeering. That's the charge that serves as code to the NFL (and everyone else) of GAMBLING.

("Superseding" means that the new indictment takes over for the other one, and it means things get MUCH worse for Vick: Tougher plea bargain, longer jail time, the works.) It could happen as early as today.

Meanwhile, the judge wants to remind everyone that while Vick can negotiate a specific jail sentence, the judge isn't bound by that. He can (and should) use it as a guideline, but he has the discretion to do whatever he wants, in the event of a guilty plea (or verdict). Wouldn't that be crazy if Vick negotiated a 12-month sentence and the judge boosted it to, say, 48? It's not like it matters: By all accounts, Vick has seen his last game as an NFL player.

UPDATE: Jason from East Coast Bias actually talked with the local county prosecutor Poindexter, who rejected rumors that Vick's plea deal with the Feds will include dropping state charges. Poindexter, apparently, wants his own bite, too. (Kudos to Jason: Sports bloggers doing first-hand reporting... and investigative reporting, no less! A credit to all of us!)

MLB Stud: Johan Santana, who struck out 17 in a 2-hit, 8-inning masterpiece on Sunday. He might not win the AL Cy Young award this year, but it was a reminder who the best pitcher in baseball is.

(Milestone Watch: John Smoltz passed Phil Niekro as the Braves' all-time strikeout leader?)

CFB: AP Top 25 announced over the weekend, and unsurprisingly, USC is No. 1. Let's kick off our two weeks of college football preview coverage with this question: What did you think of the opening AP Top 25? Who is overrated and who is underrated? Which unranked team is most likely to surge into the top half of the polls by the end of the season? I'm so excited about the start of college football season.

NBA Scandal Watch: While it doesn't look like any other refs were involved in anything criminal, all signs point to more refs being involved in inappropriate behavior related to gambling. One official mentioned "football pools," which are benign enough in the abstract, but the league's prohibitions against refs getting involved in ANY type of gambling are there for a reason.

MLB Pennant Races: The Yankees are 4 GB the Red Sox in the AL East, but still .5 GB the Mariners for the Wild Card.

(I wonder if that rain-cancelled Cubs-Cards game will come back at the end of the season with huge playoff implications?)

Colts-Bears tonight: Please don't call it a Super Bowl rematch, except for the handful of plays where both teams' starters will be on the field facing each other. And, even then, it's a stretch...

NFL Weekend Review: Two words: Brady Quinn. Tough weekend for the Quinn-haters, because he came off the bench to win back Browns fans and amp up the pressure to get him in the lineup ASAP.

NFL Fantasy Watch: So what were the biggest revelations of the weekend, as they relate to fantasy drafts being held this week? Was it Quinn? I'd nominate the Travis Henry injury, which just affirms that you take ANY Broncos RB at your own risk. Looks like Brandon Jackson is going to be the Packers starting RB...hmm... Any others?

Have you signed up for any/all of the football-prediction leagues that I created? Check out the links on the right: Two for the NFL and two for college football. It's going to be a ton of fun. Sign up today!

NBA: Ron Artest to the Heat? That would continue the East's surge and effectively kill the mo that Boston has been enjoying. Start with this: Wade, Shaq and Artest is a better "Big Three" than Garnett, Pierce and Allen. (And, like the Bulls and Rodman in the late-90s, I think Wade and Shaq could keep Artest in check.)

Just because I'm always impressed by superlatives: "High School Musical 2" was the most-watched cable show ever. Wow. Take that, MNF. (Perhaps Jaworski and Kornheiser should sing their analysis?)

-- D.S.

Sunday 08/19 A.M. (Very) Quickie

Brady Quinn: All is forgiven, forgotten? After his stupid holdout, he's back in the good graces of Browns fans after getting into his first exhibition game and leading the team with two 4th quarter TD passes. It's exciting, to be sure, but Browns fans lose any future rights to mock other fans for being bandwagoneers. They earn the label "Flip-Flop of the Year."

More NFL Preseason: Matt Schaub: No, wait: He's good! (9/12 for 108)... Jay Cutler: No, wait: He might not be ready for prime time... Matt Leinart: No, wait: The breakout just might come this year after all... The Bengals Defense: Booed by the home crowd (Drew Brees and the Saints offense picked them apart).

Fantasy Football Injury Watch: Keep an eye on Travis Henry's knee...

Bonds: 760.

CFB AP Top 25: USC is No. 1, of course. Defending champ Florida -- No. 3 in the coaches' poll -- is No. 6, behind LSU, West Virginia, Texas and Michigan, in that order. (Man, that Florida-at-LSU game is already shaping up as a de facto national-championship semifinal.)

(Meanwhile, now that both major preseason polls are out, it reminds me of three ludicrous things: (1) That we put any cred in a poll before a game has been played. (2) That any sport has two recognized and competing standards -- that USA Today and ESPN will rank a team differently than an organization that follows the AP. (3) That the AP, which so high-mindedly yanked itself from the BCS formula because they insisted they didn't want to "make the news" continues to make the news by running and promoting a poll of its own.)

Beckham in NYC draws 66K in his first MLS start: At least MLS will realize that they need to import a European soccer star to the Red Bulls, like, NOW.

White Sox keep Jermaine Dye: 2Y/$22M. Given the rest of their roster, they were smart to make a move to try to win big (again) in a two-year window.

CFB: Notre Dame Watch. Even if ND *is* "rebuilding," as long as they hit that X-win BCS hurdle -- regardless of ranking or actual worthiness -- one of the BCS bowls will pick them, as they always have. (Now, whether ND can actually win 8 games is up for debate. Says here they will: With the usual BCS bowl blowout loss as a reward.)

43-year-old Vinny Testaverde -- the NFL's Julio Franco -- re-signed with the Pats.

-- D.S.

Saturday 08/18 A.M. (Very) Quickie

Vick Watch: Perhaps I was premature with "he'll cop a plea" talk from yesterday morning, but with two more co-defendants taking pleas (and implicating Vick even more), he'd be insane not to take a deal. Yes, it'll mean jail time (and probably a suspension from the NFL after jail), but it beats what looks like ugly alternatives if he chooses to scramble and take it head on.

It looks REALLY bad for Vick: Not only did the co-defendants affirm that Vick bank-rolled the operation (which we already knew), but they affirmed that Vick actually helped execute dogs, by hanging or drowning (also which we knew, but puts a grisly detail at the front of this).

If you're less concerned with Vick doing jail time and more interested if he'll have an NFL career when he eventually gets out of jail, all the details about gambling -- and his role in funding the gambling operation -- opens the door to a lifetime ban from the NFL.

MLB Stud: Brandon Webb, who ran his scoreless-innings streak to 42, the longest since Orel Hershiser's legendary streak in 1988. Webb is the 21st pitcher to reach 40-plus consecutive scoreless IP, making him part of a more exclusive club than the "500 HR" or "3,000 Hit" Clubs. Not bad.

NFL Preseason: Donovan McNabb looked really good. And, all of a sudden, questions about the Eagles (and about McNabb himself) are put aside for optimism, with good reason.

Meanwhile, I watched about 2 minutes of the locally broadcast Jets-Vikings game, and Adrian Peterson is going to be really good, if Minnesota makes him "1A" in their dual-RB mix with Chester Taylor. So good that I'd seriously consider taking him at the back end of the first round of a fantasy league, if I had that kind of pick. So good that, by next season, he'll be a Top 5 pick (a la Gore and Addai).

Vince Young: Sophomore slump? He was 5/17 for 102 yards and rushed 4 times for 9 yards -- and he was sacked four times -- in a Titans win over the Pats. I know it's only preseason; hopefully, he'll get himself together for the regular season. I still think he will.

Carlos Zambrano signs with the Cubs through 2012: As he's one of the Top 3 pitchers in the NL, this was a "must-do" for the Cubs -- of the spending spree over the last 10 months, this was by far the smartest payout (5Y/$91.5M). If the Cubs can get a new owner like, say, Mark Cuban, Z might anchor a World Series team.

Friday 08/17 A.M. Quickie:Vick Plea, MLB Pennant Races, CFB Mania, More!

Today's Names to Know: Michael Vick, Roger Goodell, A-Rod and Giambi, Cole Hamels, Emmanuel Moody, Ryan Seacrest and Dan Patrick. Let's get going...

Michael Vick's lawyers tell him to accept a plea deal, as early as this morning (there's reportedly a 9 a.m. deadline). (h/t NY Times)

The deal would include 12-18 months of jail time. Wow. I know that this has been coming, but now that it's here, it's pretty crazy: Michael Vick WILL be going to jail, and we're talking YEARS here.

What about the NFL's punishment? They're obviously most concerned with the gambling angle, but a Vick guilty plea would let Goodell off the hook:

He can keep Vick out of the league as long as he's in prison, and he can punt on the harder decision about whether to ban him further for either the crimes themselves or the non-legal "personal conduct" violations related to the gambling, which the league may or may not have evidence about.

That punishment can come later – when Goodell can read the public mood about Vick. Presumably, fans will be more forgiving (if not forgetting) about letting him back in the league after he's done two hard years in prison. But the Cellblock D intramural team just got a HELL of a lot better.

NFL Camping: Is the Vick scandal eclipsing the rest of the NFL? I'm a cynic/skeptic, but I'm with Roger Goodell when he insists that it isn't. And it says a hell of a lot about the power of the NFL that it can take a bodyblow like this one involving one of its signature players and still keep on clicking. (Goodell can thank fantasy football and that old standby, NFL gambling. I'm being totally serious.)

NFL this weekend: Drop your preferred storylines in the Comments.

NFL.com relaunches with a new design: Having used to work for NFL.com (about a half-dozen jobs and lifetimes ago), I'm intrigued. It's an improvement – a serious improvement.

I'm still not sold on the editorial content (it IS a league P.R. vehicle), but the video assets are unarguably fantastic... and that's the entire game right there for NFL.com. They should try to do two things really well: Video and Fantasy, which mostly means having an awesome Sunday scoreboard experience.

My biggest complaint about NFL.com video: Where is the ability to embed NFL videos on blogs? (Without that function, all that happens is that they have to upload their fun videos – like the Fantasy series, which is awesome – to YouTube. The league gets the promotion, sure, but they don't get the actual traffic to their site.)

Speaking of gambling: Looks like Rick Tocchet won't serve any jail time. What a reminder of NHL's mainstream irrelevancy that they can claim "Hey! We had a gambling scandal FIRST!" and not only has it been eclipsed by gambling scandals in the NBA and NFL, but its main gambling guy won't even see jail for it.

MLB Stud: Cole Hamels, the Phillies' young ace who earned his 14th win and has positioned himself as the NL's leading Cy candidate, particularly with the Phillies' surge into NL East contention.

More MLB Pennant Racing: The Cards are surging after sweeping the Brewers. In the AL, this weekend is pretty awesome: RedSox-Angels and Yankees-Tigers. That could be the four AL playoff teams. (If you're a Yankees fan, do you cheer for Sheffield? He's probably earned it.)

A-Rod in 2008: If A-Rod opts out of his contract, the Yankees are SAYING they won't try to re-sign him. That's quite the threat, given that A-Rod is the front-runner for AL MVP (and has reclaimed his title as the best player in baseball). Meanwhile, A-Rod can probably not only command more money, but find a more comfortable market to play in. (Though unless he signs with Boston – hardly a more comfortable market than New York – he won't be on a perennial contender as he is with the Yankees.)

Giambi won't be punished by MLB, a carrot for talking with the steroid commission: Bud Selig sends a signal here – cooperate and we'll go leniently on you. (But will EVERY player get the Giambi treatment, or does he catch a break because he got in line early?)

Julio Franco Watch: He's playing for the Braves' A-ball affiliate... and he turns 49 next week. (The Braves would rather keep him close to Atlanta than have him shuttling around the East in AAA.) Basically, the guy has to hang on one more year and make it back to the bigs: Who doesn't want to see him at 50 taking an MLB at-bat?

CFB: USC RB Emmanuel Moody is transferring from the program over playing time. This is kind of amusing because Moody was among the three USC RBs featured on the regionalized cover of SI's college football preview issue. (h/t Fanhouse)

Given my fandom for Darren McFadden (who, don't forget, earned my personal Heisman Trophy a year ago), I'm sort of comfortable with SI dubbing the season the "Year of the Running Back," but I wouldn't have showcased USC's RBs: The reason USC is a consensus No. 1 is because of defense first, then its offensive balance. Not its RBs.

This is hard to capture on a magazine cover, but I'd say the theme of the year is offensive innovation: LSU has a sick D, but the intrigue is new OC Gary Crowton's wild offense. Darren McFadden is spectacular, but the intrigue is how he has basically created an entire offensive scheme (if retro) around himself, including using him as a QB. Obviously, Urban Meyer turned conventional wisdom on its head by using two QBs with no classic running back. Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia has Steve Slaton, but it's QB Pat White who makes WVU's spread go.

(Back to Florida for a second: Isn't it a bit ludicrous that SI would dub this the "Year of the Running Back" when we're coming off a college season where the national champion didn't even HAVE a traditional running back? If anything, college coaches are adapting and adopting to that style, focusing on innovative scheming and getting the ball to their playmakers wherever they can.)

Ryan Seacrest to host Super Bowl pre-game and halftime: This isn't ludicrous. Both are entirely entertainment driven, and Seacrest is the face of Fox's entertainment wing. Does he command respect as a football guy? No: But since when are the Super Bowl pre-game or halftime shows about football? (Seacrest's biggest problem is helping Fox find an act that could compare to last season's Prince halftime, which was arguably the best and most credible halftime show in Super Bowl history.)

Happy trails to Dan Patrick, joining the elite group of folks (cough!) who formerly worked for ESPN. I wish him half as much success as I've had. (Kidding, of course... unlike Dan, I had no sweet syndicated radio show deal to jump over to... I did, however, have a sweet syndicated blog to jump over to... one-year anniversary in two weeks!) Anyway, DP, if you want any tips on blogging for your new site, give me a holler. Happy to help.

Bolt.com closes: Not sports-related, but I joined Bolt in 1999 as employee No. 30(-ish) to be their sports section producer (among other things) and rode the Silicon Alley dot-com bubble all the way to the point where we topped 200 employees a year later, pulled the planned IPO and began the slow descent. Before that happened, I bailed out for business school, but I've still got a pricey memento: A stock certificate. Sure, it cost me a couple hundred bucks of "real" money to claim at the time, but its sentimental value is priceless as an artifact of a long-gone era. (Wow, between the NFL.com and Bolt mentions, that's two of my many career stops and multiple lifetimes ago. In one blog post! At this rate, I'll have my full c.v. posted by the end of next week.)

Reminder: If you haven't signed up for any/all of the four exciting football-predictions leagues I have created, go to the upper-right corner and sign up. Group name for all of them: Daily Quickie Readers. Get in there!

-- D.S.

Thursday 08/16 A.M. Quickie:Donaghy, Offerman, Beckham, Pac-Man, Vick, More!

Tim Donaghy pleads guilty: He's looking at up to 25 years in prison. Gulp. Good luck reffing the games in Cell Block D, where "spreads" and the "over/under" have an entirely new meaning.

Is this scandal behind the NBA now? Hardly. The Donaghy part might be, but the aftershocks will linger, every time a fan screams at an official "What: Are you on the take or something?!?" Which will happen, oh, only 40-50 times PER GAME. (I wonder if NBA fans in the arena will create an unspoken, nationwide social compact NOT to do that, because everyone knows it would be so debilitating to the sport.)

Beckham Scores: Hmm...maybe there's something to his arrival. He scored his first MLS goal (and assisted on another) in a 2-0 Galaxy win over D.C. United. No one was paying attention, but still: Isn't this what MLS paid him all that money to do -- get MLS attention they otherwise wouldn't get?

Vick Watch: His lawyers want him to spend less than a year in jail in exchange for a guilty plea. Prosecutors have him so nailed that they can afford to hold out, but do they want to just get their guy now and be done with it? (The NFL's punishment, on the other hand, is another matter.)

NFL Camping: Holdout CB Darrelle Revis finally signed with the Jets. That guy better be worth it.

MLB Pennant Races: Indians back in first in AL Central, thanks to Studly Fausto Carmona. I haven't been talking much about the day-to-day drama of the various division (and Wild Card) races, but this is the best year anyone I have talked to can remember, in terms of having all of the divisions be up for grabs this late in the season. Let's hope it continues this time next month.

MLB Stud: David Price, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 MLB Draft, who signed a 6Y/$11M deal with the Devil Rays to be the cornerstone of their franchise, which he instantly becomes. Can they/will they get him up to the big-league level before September 1?

(Meanwhile, the Nats gave LHP Jack McGeary, a 6th-round pick with first-round talent who everyone assumed would go to college, a $1.8 million bonus to sign with them, obliterating the slotting system that had him valued around $150K. Bold move for a team that had a tremendous draft haul, that has a terrific batch of young pitching arms in the minor-league pipeline and that has overachieved in the second half of 2007, given the pre-season expectations they would contend for Worst Record Ever. Fun time to be on the Nats bandwagon.)

MLB Dud: Prince Fielder, who was suspended 3 games by MLB (he's appealing).

Jose Offerman: Suspended indefinitely! (Hardly a surprise. Note how you don't hear much from the wing(nuts) of baseball purists who talk about "unwritten rules" that shrugs off the usual violence on the field as "part of the game." (Because that's one of the stupidest notions in sports, ultimately leading to moments like we saw Tuesday night.)

Meanwhile, we live in the Era of YouTube and no one has produced a video clip of the attack yet? What the hell? Get on that, people!

Pac-Man Fever: Well NOW he wants to be a rap star. Truly, he is a talent who knows no boundaries. Get ready for it: Pac-Man's debut "Let It Shine" will be released on August 27. (Obviously, we're all waiting for "Make It Rain 2."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have to give up his iconic No. 8: Numbers matter in NASCAR more than any other sport, if only because of the merchandising and because announcers tend to refer to drivers by their car number. Much like Kobe switching to No. 24 though, this is an opportunity for Junior and his new team to make new dollars off all his fans buying new merchandise with his new number.

Fantasy Football: KSK Keeper Draft Results, if you were curious. (Picking 3rd) L. Johnson (RB); B. Jacobs (RB); A. Johnson (WR); S. Moss (WR); J. Cutler (QB); B. Jackson (RB); B. Watson (TE); J. Horn (WR); Broncos D; S. McNair (QB); A. Vinatieri (K); A. Gonzalez (WR); P. Holmes (RB). (At that point, I had to leave the draft with two picks to go, and the group hazed me by drafting Kenny Irons and the "Houston Oilers" Defense on my behalf.) All in all: Meh.

Big Daddy Drew filed a report over at KSK. What he failed to explain is that I had an episode of "Fantasy Draft Rage." In alternative come-back rounds, Brian from Awful Announcing -- who was picking directly in front of me -- selected (no: STOLE!) not one (Calvin Johnson), not two (Alge Crumpler) but THREE players! (Byron Leftwich was the third).

For Johnson, I was disappointed, but - hey - them's the breaks. When he swiped Crumpler, I lost it, shouting a string of obsenities and threats into the 14-person conference call, all directed AA's way. The rest of the group found this highly amusing. I feel like my draft was ruined. (It didn't help that I didn't have much of a backup plan on any of the picks, with the resulting effect being me blinded by my rage/disappiontment and making a terrible pick.)

Notably, I had never experienced that before. I blame the KSK-fueled environment.

-- D.S.

Wednesday 08/15 A.M. Quickie:Vick, Rizzuto, Cox, Offerman, Keepers, More!

Michael Vick: It's just a matter of time. He's going to cop a plea and go to jail -- or the Feds are going to slap new charges on him and he'll go to jail (for even longer).

The smart money says he takes a plea, does a year or two and hopes everyone forgets about him so he can return to the NFL after a couple years in the pokey. Hell, a few years in jail might even humanize the guy with fans and the league.

Now, if there are ties to gambling (which everyone assumes there are... you don't get into dog-fighting for the humanity alone), Vick will be done. A lifetime ban isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Speaking of copping a plea, Tim Donaghy reportedly will, too. (Perhaps with the pleas behind them, the Vick and Donaghy stories will finally, mercifully, fade from the foreground of fandom.)

RIP, Phil Rizzuto: Condolences to family, friends and fans. Scooter even enjoyed a moment as a pop-culture icon, via Seinfeld, when George lost his Phil Rizzuto keychain in the asphalt, then had to jackhammer it out.

(That episode is close to a classic, with Elaine moving into the janitor's closet in a neighboring building, just to get the exceptional flounder delivered from a local Chinese restaurant. One of the greatest subtle moments in Seinfeld history is when George, carrying a jackhammer and dressed as a construction worker, and Elaine, dressed as a janitor and carrying supplies, pass each other on the street, nod and continue along their way. Holy cow!)

MLB Stud: Bobby Cox sets the MLB record for ejections by a manager. Not quite sure why we would celebrate a milestone of such appallingly poor sportsmanship, but apparently, this is the Summer of MLB Milestones. Not sure if "Ejection 132" has the cachet of "Home Run 756" or "Home Run 500" or "Home Run 600" or "Hit 3000" or "Pitching Win 300."

Baseball Dud: Jose Offerman, who was arrested after charging the mound and smacking the pitcher and catcher with his bat. This was, of course, in an independent league game, which is why it's a "Baseball Dud" and not an official "MLB Dud." But pretty messed up all the same. (OK, where is the YouTube video?!)

NFL Concussion Watch: Who, exactly, is going to call the "Head-Shot Hotline?" (That's not the real name, but the NFL's concussion phone hotline needs a nickname.) Somehow, I imagine someone will call reporting an injury to the player "Amanda Huginkiss."

CFB: I'm not much of a fan of USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno, but how can I begrudge him today after he filed such a slurpishly good dual-portrait of the best college football coach and best college basketball coach in America? (Come on: You know exactly who I'm talking about.)

Tiger is going to create and design his own course in the U.S.

Lawsuits: I hope that Rutgers player wins her lawsuit against Don Imus.

Must-Read: Larry Brown Sports has a great interview with Brian from Awful Announcing. Here's the link.

Blog Anniversaries: Happy 6-month anniversary to the Ladies... (God, six months already? The Ladies... are best-known for two things: Being the most popular women sports bloggers online and creating the legendary Hot Bloggers Tournament. And I'm not just saying that because I was a No. 1 regional seed.)

Wow: The DS.com One-Year Anniversary is coming up in two weeks. Yikes!

Fantasy Football: I'm in over my head in the Kissing Suzy Kolber-sponsored Keeper League. I have the third overall pick in tonight's draft. Any specific suggestions as it relates to keeper-league draft strategy? For example, would I take Reggie Bush at No. 3 because I think he'll get even better as years go by? Or do I grab a guy like Stephen Jackson and just play to win now? All thoughts and advice appreciated, via the Comments.

Meanwhile, DS.com reader John is running a study about Fantasy Sports. Click here to fill out a survey he's conducting and help him out.

Meanwhile, have you joined up in any/all of the four football-prediction leagues I have set up? Use the links at the top-right, group name: Daily Quickie Readers. Come on: Join in!

-- D.S.

Tuesday 08/14 A.M. Quickie:Madden 08, Vick, Jaworski, Bonds, Sonics, More!

First things first: Go right over to those links to the right and join up in my four football prediction competitions – two NFL and two CFB. The group name for all of them is the usual: Daily Quickie Readers. Hope you join in. Winner of each gets to write a guest-post on DS.com. (Or, alternatively, maybe a prize that is perhaps a little more enjoyable.)

Next: Click this link to read my Jaguars season preview on Deadspin. As many of you know, I picked up the Jags as my favorite NFL team before last season began. I'm back for Year 2. Consider yourself appropriately appalled.

Madden 08 released today: As I pointed out in the Daily Quickie (I believe in last year's edition on the day Madden 07 was released), the release of Madden has become one of the biggest days of the sports year. It's arguably bigger than any single NFL weekend except the Super Bowl. And it arguably tops any single day's event in any other sport, with the exception of the first two days of March Madness (which, coincidentally, are two days of all-consuming attention, not unlike the first two days you have Madden out of the box).

Vick Watch: Now the other two guys are cutting deals, too. Vick is SO screwed. Doesn't even matter HOW he's screwed. He just is.

Should Vick himself take a plea deal? He probably should, simply to get this behind him (and understanding that he's in a ton of trouble, whether he feels like he did anything wrong or not). Here's the priority: Avoid any association with gambling (which could get him banned from the NFL for life), avoid jail time, take the NFL's punishment (even if it's a year) and, for cripes sake, rehab his image.

How could Vick rehab his image? Once the legalistics are behind him, he can admit how wrong he was, display contrition and become the poster guy for animal care – in particular, being a spokesperson against dog-fighting and other cruelty issues. Give money. Give time. Give celebrity. Create and star in a documentary about it. Write a book about it. Despite the current loathing towards him, I suspect that fans WANT to forgive him – he simply needs to (sincerely) give fans something to hang their forgiveness on.

Related: In an interesting NYT/CBS poll, 36 percent of fans who know about the case think that Vick is receiving preferential treatment. Wow: If what he's getting is preferential treatment, I don't want to see what "throwing the book at him" looks like. Did the local prosecutor bumble the case? Yes. Have the Feds been deliberate? Yes, but that's called "building a case." Has the NFL been lenient? Considering they suspended him indefinitely on nothing more than the indictment alone, not particularly.

MNF Preseason Debut: Last August, on the day of Tony Kornheiser's debut, I suggested he was the best thing to happen to Monday Night Football since Howard Cosell. Unfortunately for all of us, I was a wee bit off. (Cripes: When you make as many boldly superlative pronouncements as I do, you can't be right ALL the time.)

I acknowledge that glaring error in the hopes that you'll forgive me a second straight year of hyperbole, because I was off by one year: Ron Jaworski is the best thing to happen to Monday Night Football since Howard Cosell. "Is it Monday yet?" was brilliant, but here's my 2007 MNF slogan suggestion: "We've put the 'football' back in Monday Night Football."

Broncos 17, 49ers 13: Who's with me that Jay Cutler feels like a late-round steal in your fantasy draft? (Alex Smith will be a late-round bargain, too.)

Bonds Watch: Is 2008 his last year? Needless to say, I don't expect there to be a "Retirement Tour" around the league... although there should be. And any team that wants to juice attendance (home AND road) should sign him. Much like his Home Run Chase, most fans can say they want no part of Bonds, but if you've never seen him in person, you'd be crazy not to attend at least one of his games next season, if only just to tell your kids you did.

Meanwhile, Bonds was greeted with cheers last night in Pittsburgh. Despite the fact that Bonds and Pirates fans have a history together, it illustrates exactly what I've been talking about recently about fans forgiving (if not forgetting) long enough to briefly show appreciation for watching one of the handful of greatest players in MLB history.

MLB Stud: Welcome back, Richie Sexson.

Cal Ripken's new job: He's "special sports envoy" for the State Department. I hope administration spin czar Karen Hughes doesn't simply use Ripken for attempted political gain. But, overall, I really like the idea.

NFL Coaching: Here's to Lane Kiffin's quick and complete recovery from whatever viral infection has got him down right now. Gotta show solidarity for an NFL coach who is younger than me.

Pat Riley to coach another three years: I'll take the under.

Sonics relocation to Oklahoma City: It's all but done, based on some of the talk from the ownership group. Not that anyone shouldn't have seen this coming from the first day that Bennett bought the team.

I feel badly for fans in Seattle. There's a competing feeling: I feel good for the fans in Oklahoma City, who proved they absolutely are fantastic NBA fans when they hosted the displaced Hornets.

So the logical question: How soon can the NBA get a replacement team in Seattle, and which team do they relocate to do it? Could they possibly move the Hornets. It's not like they could make the announcement at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game... in New Orleans. Any other options?

I'm late on this, but... Mark Cuban approves of tanking: It's nice to see him affirm a position I've held for years. Tanking isn't just OK, but in many cases is optimal.

-- D.S.

Shanoff's Jaguars Preview on Deadspin

I'm back for Year 2 of Jags fandom!
Here's the season-preview post on Deadspin.

Monday 08/13 A.M. Quickie:Tiger, Ankiel, Jenks, Vick, Pac-Man, More!

UPDATE: It's that time again! See the "Picks" links to the right to sign up for my annual NFL and CFB predictions games. Same group name as always: DAILY QUICKIE READERS. Tell your friends and join in now!

Just as I was the first to declare that one week in July the "Worst Week in Sports History," let me be the first to declare that happy days are here again. The brutal sports news of last month is long-forgotten:

Old (bad) news: Tim Donaghy, Michael Vick and Barry Bonds. New (good) news: Rick Ankiel, Bobby Jenks and Tiger Woods. (And did I mention that your fantasy football draft is just around the corner?) Yes, there's still Vick and Pac-Man news to talk about today, but there's finally a lot of provocatively good to counter-balance the provocatively bad.

Tiger wins PGA Championship (13th Major title for Woods): So much for this being the year of the No-Name Major Winners. Tiger affirms that it's not a year in golf without a Tiger Major.

(Nicklaus leads Woods in career Majors by 5. What's the over-under on when Tiger breaks that? I'll start the bidding at 2009 for those of you ultra-bullish on Tiger, but won't go any later than 2010.

MLB Stud: Bobby Jenks, who set down his 41st consecutive batter, tying the MLB record. This is a damn impressive streak (and history in the making), friends. I'd qualify this as well worth a live cut-in.

Ankiel Watch: MLB's most endearing story of the season continued this weekend, with Ankiel clubbing his 2nd and 3rd HR of the season on Saturday (that's since Thursday, mind you).

One more MLB Stud: Magglio Ordonez, who became the second Tiger to ever hit two HR in the same inning.

MLB Dud: Eric Gagne. Has done more harm than good since coming over to the Red Sox. It's only August 13 and the Yankees are only 4 games behind in the AL East. Forget the Wild Card: With so many games to play, New York could actually overtake Boston for the division title.

Vick Watch: (Can't be avoided) Yahoo is reporting that it's looking like Vick will be suspended for the entire season. Presumably, Roger Goodell will simply use the league's "Personal Conduct Policy" plus Vick's claim to the league that he wasn't involved in dog-fighting to boot him out for the year. (The NFL denies the report.)

Pac-Man Jones Watch: (Again, can't be avoided). He showed up on his TNA show, but used a little rasslin-style theater to sidestep actually joining the acting troupe. After an off-screen "incident," he was "injured," thus allowing himself to "participate" in TNA without actually "participating."

NFL Weekend Stud: Kellen Clemens. After his 16/22 for 174 yards and 3 TDs, how soon before Jets fans are calling for Clemens to replace Chad Pennington sooner rather than later?

NFL Weekend Dud: OK, so about Matt Schaub... The new Texans QB went 3/5 for 5 yards in his Houston debut. Eek. (Meanwhile, the Titans benched Vince Young in one of those "well, it's only preseason" moments.)

Rebuttal from reader Evan:

You're killing me man. Don't go for the easy dud. Schaub's numbers don't
tell 1/4 of the story. He only missed on 1 throw to a wide-open Kevin
Walters down the sidelines. The other incompletion was actually his best
throw. With a blitz coming from either side he stepped up in the pocket
(something Carr NEVER did) and delivered a perfect pass to walters - who
dropped it. He is the polar opposite of a dud.

Alexander-Tomlinson didn't really happen last night, nor would any reasonable fan have expected it to. LT didn't even play, and Alexander barely did. And we fantasy football owners wouldn't want it any other way.

NFL Monday: Ravens-Eagles and Broncos-49ers. Mostly, I just want to see how Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser mesh. Of course they'll be better than TK and Theismann. But can Jaws help Tony raise (or even FIND) his game?

CFB Preseason: Bad news for Pitt and Dave Wannstedt. Derek Kinder, Pitt's fantastic WR, is out for the season after a knee injury.

Is Darren McFadden entering the NFL Draft after the 2007 season? Well, considering that he's the best player in college football this season and the most gifted running back to enter the NFL since LaDainian Tomlinson, I'd say that he probably should. (Put it this way: Had he been allowed to enter the NFL Draft after his sophomore year, he would have been the first RB taken and arguably the No. 1 overall pick.)

Fantasy Football: With Thomas Jones' injury, picking up Leon Washington late suddenly doesn't seem like such a stretch anymore, does it?

Video: Have you seen this Mike Nugent video? Awesome. (h/t Fanhouse)

Madden 08 release! Coming tomorrow.

-- D.S.