Tuesday 08/26 A.M. Quickie:Politics, AL Central, NFL QBs, CFB 08

I lead today's SN column with an item about sports and politics, having watched Oregon State hoops coach Craig Robinson in prime time last night, introducing his sister Michelle Obama. (Blissfully, I did not see the Stuart Scott interview with Barack Obama.)

Don't worry: I don't inflict my own views on you in the column. In fact, I reflect the common wisdom that pops up every time I dip a toe into politics over here:

Keep politics separate from sports. We can agree to disagree on all sorts of stuff related to politics (as we do about sports), but we can agree that politics mixed with sports causes massive problems.

I'll continue to write about their intersection, when it happens. But I recognize that most fans don't want to commingle the two.

Meanwhile, the college football season starts Thursday night, and I couldn't be more excited. For me, it eclipses baseball (although that is plenty exciting right now) and preseason NFL (although fantasy drafting makes August much more fun). In the column today, I cover the must-see games of the season. I limited myself to 10, on different weeks. While the Biggies are obvious (USC-OSU, FLA-UGA, OK-TX), there are a ton of others. Hell, for this very opening weekend, I spurned the Bama-Clemson season-opener in favor of App State-LSU. (Got any must-see games this season beyond the obvious ones? Drop them in the Comments, and I'll post them as soon as I'm back online.)

That said: There's a ton of MLB and NFL news to cover, including that 9-year-old banned from his youth baseball league. Love that story. It's all in today's SN column here.

I'm heading back out to the beach. More later.

-- D.S.

Monday 08/25 A.M. Quickie:USA Hoops, Giants, Phils, Olympics, More

Congrats to USA Hoops, but I don't think that USA Basketball has created anything especially sustainable. That's the lead of today's SN column. And here's today's DS.com director's cut:

Kobe likely won't be back in 2012. Neither will LeBron or D-Wade. Same with Coach K. They're all taking their success of "redemption" and leaving behind a legacy of... what, exactly?

The 3-year "commitment?" Anyone who watched the gold-medal game knows that the 3-year commitment isn't as important as finding the right on-court tactics and right personnel.

In 2008, USA Hoops got by with sheer talent -- particularly at the top (as predicted, Kobe was the ultimate difference between gold and failure). But that isn't replicable.

But Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade and Coach K can all walk away proclaiming they did their job and reclaimed basketball gold for the USA. I think the job has only just begun.

Meanwhile, who else thinks the Giants will call Michael Strahan about a comeback, now that the D-line is down one Pro Bowl player before the season even starts...

And in MLB, how about Rich Harden as co-Cy with CC Sabathia? Because Harden is just as impressive...

I'm starting my week-long college football preview in the SN column (continued here, of course). Today's topic: Top storylines for the season, and it won't surprise you that No. 1 is "BCS Mess...again?" But it also includes "This season's Hawaii," "This season's Kansas" and "This season's Tebow." (And, no, it's not Tebow.)

Complete SN column here, with more coming later.

-- D.S.

UPDATE: This post on Gawker about the Nike-China-Blogger-Liu situation is a fascinating breakdown of a pretty fascinating side story.

Sunday 08/24 (Very) Quickie

USA Basketball exorcises the "USA Oops" label and "redeems" itself as "USA Hoops" again.

Give credit to Spain for giving the US a game -- as predicted 3 years ago when USA Basketball was re-formed in Jerry Colangelo's image, it took the presence of Kobe Bryant to be the difference between gold and failure.

(Meanwhile, can we all agree that Coach K is a terrible game coach, as he pretty much always has been? This team might not have won gold despite Coach K's coaching, but they certainly didn't win it because of him.)

MLB: The Angels weren't quite ready to roll over for the Twins again (thanks to Teixeira)... Carl Pavano!... Wow, the Rays can't be stopped (and gain a critical game of cushion on the blanked Red Sox)... Aramis Ramirez!... What was that about Ryan Bruan's back?... Big win for the D'backs...

NFL Preseason: 47-3?...Terrible: Brady Quinn, Bengals offense, Matt Leinart, Jeff Garcia, Jason Taylor (injured), Giants offense... hey, how about that Chad Pennington?... Is that the end of the season for Shawne Merriman?... With Joe Biden in the news, Delaware Blue Hen QB Joe Flacco didn't exactly set the house on fire vs. the Rams (18/37 for 152 yds and a TD, playing the entire game)...

Olympics: Angel Malodio Vatos, the Cuban taekwando guy who kicked the ref on the face, becomes one of the most memorable names from the Games...

Fay-induced rain and high winds are gone in north Florida -- all we got now is sunny and hot-hot-hot. I'll take it.

-- D.S.

Saturday 08/23 (Very) Quickie

Here's some travel advice: Don't fly into a hurricane. But I'm down in Florida for my annual summer pilgrimage, rain (plane-shuddering winds) or shine.

Meanwhile, somehow I think that "Delaware Blue Hens" will become a new bandwagon, with the selection of Delaware senator Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate.

USA Oops dispatches Argentina, will play Spain for gold overnight later tonight: I don't think Spain can or will keep it close.

And there is an argument to be made that the way this team has gone through the field is more impressive than the Dream Team in '92; back then, the world hoops community was immature -- at best. Now, teams like Argentina, Spain, Greece and Lithuania are legitimately very good. And the US is obliterating them.

(Beyond the gold, I'm sure the team is thrilled that with a gold medal, I will drop the "USA Oops" label, as they will have earned being called "USA Hoops" again.)

Rays beat White Sox in possible AL playoff preview: Wow, if Rocco Baldelli can sustain the pop he showed last night (1st HR since May '07), that's a huge boost for Tampa, above and beyond a mere single win... In the other possible AL playoff preview, the Twins beat the Angels in Anaheim behind August sensation Denard Span (3/5, HR, 4 RBI)... Tim Lincecum (14th W, crosses 200-K mark for season) may be the best pitcher in baseball, but I'm still not sure he earns the NL Cy ahead of CC Sabathia if the season ends today... (Johan, another winner Friday, probably still has a claim to "best pitcher in baseball)... Speaking of a former Best Pitcher in Baseball, Greg Maddux got shelled by the Phillies in his first start with LAD...

NFL Preseason: QB Watch. Aaron Rodgers: 18/22 for 193 yards and a TD (with a rushing TD thrown in) -- not bad for a 3rd preseason game... Matt Ryan: 15/21 for 102 yds and a TD...and a win. I think Ryan-as-starter has been (and is now fully) inevitable... JT O'Sullivan: Wins SF starting QB job.

More later. Maybe the sun will even come out later...

-- D.S.

Friday 08/22 (Very) Quickie

On a flight down to Florida - great timing, right? Can't add a link to the column from where I am, but if you go to yesterday's link below and click on my byline, you'll get to the latest one - in which I get closure on the Olympics. Isn't that something we could all use? More later. - D.S.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Weight Watchers: Fantasy Football For Diets

Clive Thompson is a smart writer. Here, he compares Weight Watchers' online tracking system to role-playing games.

When I first used it, I thought it was like "Fantasy Football for dieting" -- you get a screen of stats and options and you manage them, hoping for a daily or weekly "win." (Of course, I wasn't smart enough to write it up and present it as thoughtfully as Thompson.)

As Weight Watchers continues to try to market the system to guys, they should consider that.

-- D.S.

Henry Abbott on Starting Your Blog Career

Like Henry, I get a lot of emails from young/new bloggers asking for advice. I will now point them to this wonderfully succinct summary on TrueHoop, which covers the big points, but I'll sum it up:

Find something that you care about and put in a ton of effort covering it in a way that no one else does, serving the community that would care the most.

That's a pretty malleable statement: It could mean you're the only one covering a specific niche (good); it could mean you're the best at covering a more competitive niche (great for you, but very very difficult); it definitely means that effort counts, regardless; it definitely means that more focus is better; it definitely means that you should worry less about getting that "big" page-view hit from Deadspin and more about your core audience; it means that the next "big" things in sports blogging will assuredly involve some form of innovation.

This is one of my favorite topics in the world, and I could go on about it for a while, but I'll spare you and leave it there for now.

-- D.S.

Thursday 08/21 A.M. Quickie:Bolt, Jackson, Upshaw, NL West, More

I referenced this yesterday on the blog, but his jaw-dropping WR performance in the 200 is a good bookend with Tuesday's SN column lead defending his performance in the 100: Usain Bolt is the most electrifying track talent that most of the world has ever seen.

Today's SN column lead about Bolt isn't nearly as good as Tuesday's, I don't think, but it's an important closure to the point -- not only can he joyously win gold (100), but he can focus and break WRs previously thought untouchable.

I would say Bolt has surpassed Carl Lewis -- Bolt isn't in Jesse Owens territory; then again, no one under the age of 80 would have even the vaguest first-hand recollection of Owens.

So, for all intents and purposes, Bolt's the gold standard. Check that: Golds standard. (I desperately want him to just line up on the track during a down moment and run the 400, just to see what kind of time he'd put up.)

Meanwhile, NFL union honcho Gene Upshaw is dead, and it's a big deal. A bigger deal than Steven Jackson's return from his holdout, I should say, which will still generate headlines and fantasy questions.

In MLB, there is the state of the NL West, the state of the top of the AL and the state of the Top 5 All-Time Home Run List.

Full SN column here. More later. (And if you've been tracking the blog over the past few weeks, you know I'm not kidding.)

-- D.S.

Usain Bolt: Best Since Jesse Owens in 1936

In case you missed it Tuesday, this is what I wrote about Usain Bolt's win in the 100. I think it foreshadowed his performance -- and epic accomplishment -- today:

Let me defend Usain Bolt from prudes like Bob Costas, who apparently felt that someone whose week-long display of flamboyant sycophancy of Michael Phelps qualifies him as a journalistic paragon who might preach unchallenged from the anchor's pulpit:

Rather than defiling the spirit of the Olympics, Bolt embodied them. He cared so little for the pedestrian concept of a world record -- only for the thrill of Olympic gold -- that he put that world record at risk to celebrate the only success that mattered to him and his country.

Don't blame him for being so far ahead at 85 meters that he could celebrate early; surely, if anyone in the rest of the field was closer to him, he would have dug in -- again, not for any world record, but for this Olympic ideal Costas claim he disrespects.

Bolt did just enough to accomplish what he came to Beijing to do: Win gold in the 100. Any effort beyond that -- punish your enemies! -- would have been the very opposite of the spirit of the Games. And so everything after that was limited to his celebration of his joy.

What could be more Olympian than that?

His 200 was focused, like a laser. No preening, just "I'll-take-that-world-record."

Between the two, it was the most impressive display on the track -- Olympic or otherwise -- since Jesse Owens in Berlin in 1936.

Usain Bolt's World Record 200 Meter Run

It's only a spoiler if you buy into NBC's ridiculous and draconian and consumer-unfriendly policies of waiting on a 12-hour story before showing it on video.

Here is a video (via Daily Motion), but it will likely only be up for minutes more, if that. I don't speak French, but these French announcers' ravings are 10x better than Ato Boldin.

Oh, and after the controversial finish in the 100, it looks like Bolt had his sights set on breaking that Michael Johnson record -- all. the. way.

(It's not 8 medals, but the WAY that Bolt has run -- not just two golds, not just 2 new world records, not just in two marquee events like the 100 and 200...but the dominance.)

-- D.S.

Best. Obama T-Shirt. Ever.

You've got to have the high school hoops throwback. (From Wizznutzz, of course. Through their Mothering Hut T-shirt store.)

Dork that I am, I made my own homemade version about 4 months ago with the number 25 -- Obama has been seen wearing both No. 25 and No. 23. This 23 version looks way cooler.

BlogPoll Top 25 Results: PreseasonGeorgia Is No. 1 Among Bloggers

Only the most credible and authentic "formal" college football poll in the country! (And I say that not just because I am a voting member.)

The composite group is listed here. Individual ballots can be found here. Georgia is the No. 1, but like the AP and Coaches, it is a mere plurality.

Without standard Shanoff hyperbole, the BlogPoll might be my favorite thing ever. I am so happy it's back.

BlogPoll Top 25 Ballot: Preseason

My preseason BlogPoll ballot. Please consider that I have ranked teams in order of how I think they will finish the season, not their relative strength today. My s.o.p. is to change the ranking based on actual on-field results immediately after Week 1, impacted weekly thereafter.

1. Florida
2. Ohio State
3. USC
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma
6. Missouri
7. West Virginia
8. Auburn
9. Clemson
10. BYU
11. Texas
12. Texas Tech
13. LSU
14. Wisconsin
15. South Florida
16. Oregon
17. Tennessee
18. VA Tech
19. Kansas
20. Penn State
21. Arizona State
22. Wake Forest
23. Illinois
24. Utah
25. Northwestern

A few things, given the emphasis I have made over the past few weeks:

Yes, by putting Ohio State over USC, I think that OSU will win at USC a month from now. Yes, that represents a change in my thinking since last month. Yes, that should quash at least some of the notion out there that I am wholly and irrationally anti-OSU.

Yes, by putting Florida over Georgia, I think that Florida will beat Georgia in the Cocktail Party. (UF has the revenge factor; UGA shouldn't have used their chit a year ago, when they really needed to lull the Gators last year and surprise them this year.) And, yes, I pick Florida to win the national title, mostly because I think Florida will win the SEC title and I think the SEC champ earn win the national title again. You can holler at me for bias, which would be fair, but please note that, among others, Sunday Morning QB's Matt Hinton and CFB OCD-case Phil Steele both picked Florida to be No. 1. So it's not totally crazy.

Wednesday 08/20 A.M. Quickie:Rays, Lola, Bolt, Boldin, More

I think if you haven't put him in this category before, Usain Bolt qualifies as must-see for the way he is absolutely dominating the field in the 200 in the same way he did in the 100 (last night I was left wondering if Bolt decided to try to challenge Jeremy Wariner in the 400, how that might go -- understanding that 100/200 specialization is far different than 400 specialization, but Bolt seems that transcendent.)

That said, I led today's SN column with the Rays, for a couple reasons: (1) The milestone that they took over the best record in the AL. (2) Their 2nd straight win over the Angels in their mid-week series, which makes it 6 of 8 on the season over LAA, purported to be the best team in the league. Even without Longoria and Crawford, the Rays -- having won 9 of their last 11 -- are the best team in baseball. (Their record is the same as the Cubs, but the Rays have their win total in the AL.)

Meanwhile, I had my first fantasy draft last night -- people fall into two categories: Love to hear about other people's fantasy drafts or don't-tell-me-about-your-fantasy-draft types. I'll spare you the details, but note that through the first 6 rounds (and I was picking 13/14 so I had 2 picks virtually in a row, then a 24-pick wait in-between), I felt more in control of my drafting than ever. No panic, which is a first. Of course, from Round 8 through Round 12, I was a mess.

Anyway, I'll put my draft results in the comments, so you won't have to suffer through it here.

Here is the complete SN column from today. More later.

-- D.S.

Joe Posnanski and His Deal With SI.com

Joe probably likes the thrill of writing for his boyhood idol, but the intrigue is that SI.com wanted to publish Joe's blog posts. Not exclusively -- just re-published at the same time on SI.com, too (where they will presumably get way more page views than they do on his blog). And they didn't seem to want to roll up his blog under the SI Digital umbrella, either (which would give SI.com his blog's traffic, too). Interesting.

Much like your fantasy league's third-round run on receivers, I'm calling a mini-run on sites doing similar "syndication-ish" deals with other bloggers. Who cares if it lives in two places? Following up yesterday's post about SportsFanLive.com, content portability is a pre-eminent strategy right now. That could mean getting ESPN.com on your phone; it could mean getting elements of your CBSSports.com fantasy interface on your Facebook page; and it could mean JoePosnanski.com content living -- in its exact form -- on SI.com.

Cannibalization is a myth in online sports.

UPDATE: By the way, much like the well-spring of good athlete blogs shook up mainstream sports media's assumptions about the way the world works, Posnanski's news could have similar impact. It's very simple: Start your own indie blog -- if your newspaper will let you (Posnanski obviously had leverage in his negotiation) -- then cultivate it (and to Joe's credit, he did, embracing rather than mocking the medium's powers) and then find yourself cutting a distribution deal with a national outlet for the blog's content.

-- D.S.

Phelps Reprises Spitz: What a Great Cover

It had to be done this way. Although I will say that the old-school chain that they used for the '72 Olympic medals is way cooler than the lame ribbon on the '08 models.

Is Michael Phelps The Tiger of Swimming?

Can Michael Phelps turn swimming into a bigger sport with more traction than just the past week at the Olympics? Here are five tactics he and his team might consider, not to impact the number of people joining swim clubs, but to impact the number of casual fans consuming:

Set modest goals: Few sports attract "year-round" attention. Swimming would upgrade simply by going from quadrennial to creating a one-week-a-year buzz around its World Championships. It's possible they could add a second week with an annual U.S. championships -- but only if they featured Phelps. The bottom line: Try to own a single day out of every year with sports fans; ironically, that's more than enough.

Market himself: For better or worse, Phelps is his own best marketing tool. TV networks can't get enough. Marketers can't get enough. Fans, apparently, can't get enough. He will have to boost interest by keeping himself at the center of the swimming universe - that means racing. Or, at the very least, sitting in the announcing booth next to Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines.

(Take a lesson from Tiger: Without Woods present, golf has dropped off the radar.)

Market others: Phelps should take a lesson from the rappers he enjoys listening to before races. They develop proteges, but incubate them by attaching their own names to them (Dre > Eminem > 50 Cent > Etc.). Think the swimmers at "Phelps Swim Academy" won't get extra notice?

Deploy gimmicks: Phelps should create his own, privately owned swimming series that brings together the biggest names for exhibition showdowns, including 1-on-1 matches. How about a men's 4x100 freestyle relay rematch? Or a rematch with Cavic? Hell, you could put Phelps in a pool by himself -- against the clock -- and it would be interesting. Wouldn't you be curious to see how Phelps could do if he just tried out a random event, like the 1500?

Use his leverage: Based on NBC's lapping devotion to all things Phelps -- and presuming Phelps is going to compete in 2012 -- Phelps should "ask" NBC Universal to help fund not only his swimming series, but also to give it primetime time slots and promotion.

-- D.S.

Next post scheduled for 2 p.m.: Another new sports online social network?

Tuesday 08/19 A.M. Quickie:Bolt, Sabathia, Giants, More

During a hectic a.m., just a link to today's SN column, which leads with a defense of Usain Bolt as not only NOT a crass showboater, but -- quite the opposite -- the embodiment of the Olympic ideal.

More later. -- D.S.

SportsFanLive.com: Does David Katz Have The Next Big Thing Or The Next Quokka?

Last week, I talked about Jeff Ma's Citizen Sports -- they are taking fan-engagement activities (like fantasy sports) where the fans are already, specifically Facebook.

David Katz, formerly the head of Yahoo Sports and once a heavy hitter in the online sports world, is going entirely the opposite direction with SportsFanLive.com, profiled in today's NY Times.

The premise is that fans will join a new social network (or should I say yet another social network) -- one entirely geared toward sports fans (or should I say yet another one entirely geared toward sports fans).

Katz's site will have personalized news feeds (commodity), community-building features (cliche) and a twist on fantasy sports where friends challenge friends in weird bets (hmm).

That last one is intriguing, but it begs the question, as does the rest of the business plan: In an era where "open" is the key to basically everything, why would you launch a closed system?

Social networks live and die on what business types call "network effects" -- the more people who use, the more valuable a product becomes (think of the telephone or IM).

Katz starts out behind in the game simply by insisting that SportsFanLive.com is its own closed community (in-bound personalized newsfeeds of your favorite teams don't count -- and are entirely commoditized, anyway).

Unless tons of fans sign on to the system and make it as robust as Facebook, why wouldn't you simply expand your Facebook experience to incorporate your sports needs?

(Or, frankly, why wouldn't you continue to service your sports needs as you have for a decade online? As one analyst quoted points out: Fans haven't really expressed a lot of dissatisfaction with online sports.)

Adoption -- at scale -- is going to be a challenge. There wasn't any indication in the piece of how Katz plans to migrate massive numbers of fans to his platform. Is he planning to get fans already comfortable with social networks (like on Facebook) to pick up another one or spend less time at their existing ones for his? Is he planning to get fans who aren't into social networks to dip their toe in through something as familiar as sports?

It's unclear, although Katz insists the product is cool enough that it alone will win fans over -- comparing it to the DVR is setting a high bar.

I haven't spent a ton of time on the site itself, but my first interaction doesn't look promising. A pop-up asks me what team I love (that's fine). Then it asks me what team I hate -- stop right there. I have been analyzing the "rivalry" strategy arguably longer than anyone else in online sports media -- at least since 1995. And here's the thing: It doesn't work. I digress...

The main page is hubbed by the FanFeed, which has a "TM" so presumably they think it's their killer app. I guess it's like your Facebook NewsFeed, but again, the perils of the closed system: Unless ALL of your friends are on SFL, aren't you better off getting your friends' sports takes on your existing Facebook page? Or on a special sports-only app from Facebook?

There is eye candy called FanFinder which uses a graphic interface to show you where fans are watching the game; again, will this be an open and useful utility that shows me all sports bars in my area dedicated to my team? Or will it be predicated on existing SFL members telling me where they are watching the game? (Less useful.)

The third signature product is "BuxBets," fake prop bets proposed by fellow SFL members that you can take, with winning bets earning you, um "Bux" that you can redeem for I-have-no-idea.

One big positive: Katz has convinced Samsung to sign on as an initial sponsor. It actually adds to the site's credibility that it already has sponsor money coming in.

Katz earned the splash of a feature in the New York Times Monday Business section (if bracketed by skeptical quotes procured by NYT sports-media columnist Richard Sandomir, who usually swims in the safer waters of old-media coverage).

The question is whether the site fits in today's sports-consumption world. Fan engagement might be the right concept (if flooded with newly funded competitors and powerfully backed installed powers right now), but it begs the tritest of all analyses as to its potential: If he built it, they won't come.

(Here is a challenge to SFL: Put a running total of your signed-up members on the front page of the site, updated daily or hourly. Again: Nothing will get fans to sign up for this like seeing other fans signed up for this. The kill-or-be-killed question is: How do you get that first surge to sign up? I'm waiting on the marketing plan beyond "Land placement in the Times and DanShanoff.com.")

-- D.S.

UPDATE: Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch (far more widely read and influential than this little old blog, certainly in the tech space) beat me to the punch and weighs in with his mixed endorsement, but -- like me -- he hedges on the site's apparent lack of openness. Schonfeld likens it to NetVibes for sports, but NetVibes is affinity-agnostic; it is a platform for anyone. SFL is only for sports fans; I think the comparison highlights SFL's short-comings even more.

Monday 08/18 A.M. Quickie:Phelps, Liu, Bolt, Johan, More

Whether or not you agree with me that Michael Phelps isn't just the greatest Olympian of all time but also the greatest athlete ever (or is that Greatest. Athlete. Ever.), you have to agree that the fact that he's even in the conversation is impressive enough. Today is closure on Phelps, though I'm not quite sure what Olympic storyline could fill the void left from the previous week's drama...

...Oh, wait: The hero to more than 1 billion fans in China pulled out of the Games in the preliminary heats with a leg injury? Liu Xiang's attempt to repeat as Olympic champ in the 100m hurdles was certainly the biggest story of the Games -- if you consider that the attention of 1 billion Chinese fans trumps the attention to Phelps by 250 million American fans.

Maybe we should all be paying even more attention to Usain Bolt, who didn't just win Olympic gold and didn't just set a new world record in the 100 meter dash, but redefined the art of showboating -- in a race lasting 100 meters and less than 10 seconds, he managed to gloat through the final 20 percent of it and STILL set the world record. Amazing. Awe-inspiring.

(Oh, and let me just say: NBC's tape-delay entered the ludicrous stage with that race. The result happened 12 hours earlier, but NBC is acting like it's 1992 -- pre-Internet age. So many fans knew what happened, it was an insult to our intelligence. It's a Saturday -- fans are home. Why not show the race live in the morning, then -- in primetime -- bring Bolt to the studio to give us his "Director's Cut" of his performance, breaking it down from every angle? Cripes: Is this so hard?)

OK, back in the real world of, um, real sports: No, I don't really care that Brett Favre had a decent debut for the Jets... yes, I am kind of intrigued that Matt Ryan struggled in his 2nd NFL preseason game (with a shaky O-line, perhaps the Falcons should have skipped Ryan in favor of the more nimble -- and draft-bargain -- Dennis Dixon).

In MLB, I'm really more about the weird storylines around the league than the competitiveness in the AL Central: Like this non-story that Derek Jeter could end his career like Brett Favre? Like Jeff Kent scraping a new low by ripping Vin Scully? Like RA Dickey tying an MLB record with 4 wild pitches in a single inning? Now that's some dog-days fun.

Full SN column here. Next post scheduled for noon: Another sports social network?

-- D.S.

Sunday 08/17 (Very) Quickie: Phelps, Bolt

So Michael Phelps goes 8-for-8 on golds, and -- despite NBC's apparent interest in portraying him as a megalomaniac (projection much?) -- Phelps insisted on remaining admirably humbled and team-oriented, which just makes me like him better.

Meanwhile, Usain Bolt is ridiculous -- how can you not love a guy who not only kills the world record in the 100, but basically strolls in over the last 15-20 meters while doing it. I have never seen anything like that before in my life.

I don't begrudge him the mid-race preening: All the guy wanted to do is win Olympic gold; the world record was a bonus -- something he could have done at any old race. How healthy! The fact that he broke the 9.70 barrier (and not the quantum leap of breaking the 9.6 barrier, too) is only a bonus. But as far as sprinting goes, I'm not sure anyone has ever done it quite the way he has. (I mean, I had to re-DVR to make sure: He eased up to preen over the last 15 steps, a good 20 percent of the race.) That guy redefines fast. And it's not even his best event.

Dara Torres falls JUST short: You have to feel for her. She obviously was pretty devastated; you were never going to see Rowdy Gaines point out that Torres was out-touched after holding a commanding lead late, much as Phelps out-touched for his win in the 100 fly. So, Dara: Any chance you want to come back at 45?

Wow, USA Oops appears to be on a mission, based on the way they just dismantled Spain -- wasn't Spain supposed to be a competitor?

NFL: Brett Favre's debut was a solid one -- 5/6 for 48 yards and a TD (not much more you can ask for)... For those doing the comparison thing, Aaron Rodgers was 9/16 for 58 yards and 0 TDs -- that won't sit well with Packers fans... Chad Pennington: Pretty good solution for the Dolphins... Brandon Marshall owns Pac-Man Jones...

MLB: In battle of playoff hopefuls, Brewers edge Dodgers in 10... Marlins show a little signs of playoff worthiness, snapping the Cubs' 9-game road W streak... Classic Roy Halladay: Complete game win, over the Red Sox no less... Fantasy Stud: Albert Pujols (2 HR)...

Shawn Kemp joins parade of NBA stars going to play in Europe: Except for one thing -- this is awesomeness at its best.

-- D.S.

Saturday 08/16 (Very) Quickie: Phelps!

Just when you think Michael Phelps can't do anything more incredible than he already has, he makes his final individual effort the most exciting, gritty finish of any race I have ever seen.

That it earned him a record-tying 7th gold added to the excitement, of course; it wouldn't have meant as much if 95 meters into his 100-meter effort, he didn't look like he was going to lose out not just on the event, but history.

Tonight: The relay medly, which should be his unprecedented 8th gold and a coronation of sorts.

Meanwhile, while Phelps exhibits dominance across an entire sport, Dara Torres remains the most intriguing individual-event storyline.

How about the way she told the other racers to back off the blocks while one of them was having swimsuit issues. Then she merely put up the best time in the semis.

And now she's going to swim the anchor leg of the 4x100 women's medley relay. The issue -- it's a half-hour after her individual final in the 50; will her body be recovered?

Switching gears: If the 100 meter sprint is the headliner of the track events, it remains to be seen who will emerge from the Jamaican pair of Bolt and Powell to take gold. Should be fun either way. (Didn't want to spoil, but it's out there enough: Tyson Gay didn't make the finals.)

MLB: So much for the Astros' win streak; they couldn't handle Brandon Webb (and his MLB-leading 18th W)... the Cubs win their 9th straight on the road... 17 wins for Cliff Lee... Matt Garza!... Francisco Liriano!... Moyer vs. Maddux was kind of awesome, for the combined age alone...

NFL: The Titans may have beaten the Raiders, but all I care about is "6 carries for 44 yards" -- Darren McFadden's stat line. Oh, and Favre plays tonight. If you care.

NBA to Europe: Jannero Pargo goes to Moscow. It ain't Dwyane Wade going to Moscow.

More later.

-- D.S.

AJ Daulerio Interviews Sean Salisbury

Really long. Really surreal. Both parts are worth your time.

Friday 08/15 A.M. Quickie:Phelps, Nastia, Lochte, Ziegler, More

As someone who traffics in both instant history and superlatives, I'm struggling with what to do with Michael Phelps, if/when he finishes off his 8-for-8 performance this weekend.

Greatest Olympian ever? More than arguably.
Greatest athlete ever? Hmm...yikes. I'd say so, but I'm particularly shallow.

What is the appropriate superlative for Phelps: Better at his sport than any other athlete has ever been in their particular sport? It's a mouthful, but probably more accurate than G.A.E.

It's just too much apples-to-oranges: Phelps vs. Thorpe. Phelps vs. Owens. Phelps vs. Jordan. Phelps vs. Woods.

That particular argument might not even hold up: OK, so Phelps had 8 gold medals -- Spitz had 7. Is it THAT much better? (Given the competitiveness of today's landscape, most likely yes.)

Anyway, this is what we'll be considering after tomorrow, when Phelps goes 8-for-8 in golds (and probably 8-for-8 in world records) -- and that doesn't even count that he'll compete in 2012.

Here are the upshots, as I noted in the column: Isn't it incredible that we're even having this discussion? And don't you kind of want to know you're watching the greatest ever?

There's tons more in the SN column today: More Olympics, MLB (Ziegler finally gives up a run!), NFL Preseason (Toronto Bills are unbeatable!), the Mike/Mad Dog divorce and more.

More later. Don't forget to sign up for the football Pick 'Em challenges. (See post below.)

-- D.S.

CFB/NFL Pick 'Em Challenge: DQ Readers!

It's that time of year: Sign up for the College Football Pick 'Em. As usual, the group name is Daily Quickie Readers and it's open to anyone. Sign up now! (And here's an NFL Pick 'Em group, too: Same name -- Daily Quickie Readers. No password needed, open to all. Oh, and this year WITH the spread.)

So The Chinese Gymnast Was Only 14?

My reaction remains: So what? OK, so it breaks the "rules." But if they'll let that David Archuleta-like British diver compete at 14, it seems ludicrous to restrict gymnasts.

Again, it's very simple: IF you're good enough to compete at the highest level, there shouldn't be any age restriction. That goes for basketball, football and baseball, too, by the way.

Facebook Fantasy Football Via Jeff Ma

Jeff Ma is one of the smartest guys in online sports (and personally a great guy, too). I thought ProTrade was really cool, but when it didn't get the traction it was expected to, Ma pivoted the company as Citizen Sports -- focusing on the intersection of sports and social media. Sure, I could declare myself a fan of my favorite team via Facebook (one of their offerings), but the real potential is in interactive apps...like fantasy sports. Ma partnered up with SI.com (which desperately needed a fantasy footprint -- and the cachet of Facebook is a strategically valuable bonus). Good pick-up in USA Today about it. Definitely tracking... -- D.S.

UPDATE: Interesting celebrity-league opportunity here for one fan, too.

Thursday 08/14 A.M. Quickie:Phelps, Lochte, Toronto, LeBron, More

I think I am more into these Olympic swimming events than I was into the past, oh, decade of individual NFL or MLB or NBA seasons.

First of all, the broadcast last night was so Phelps-heavy -- despite the fact that he wasn't swimming in a final -- that I actually felt "Phelps fatigue" (Hmm: "Phelps Phatigue?"), perhaps even a backlash. That's the lead of today's SN column.

I love Phelps, but NBC is a little out-of-control. Everything was framed in terms of Phelps. Chris Collinsworth actually asked Jason Lezak if he primarily felt good about the 4x100 anchor leg because it helped Phelps earn another gold.

Cripes: As dominant as Phelps has been, Lezak's performance was more dramatic than any of Phelps'. To his credit, Lezak shut that down, politely-ish. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had said:

"Oh, go eff yourself, Collinsworth. Why are you even here? Football isn't an Olympic sport. Why don't you keep creepily snuggling up to Michael Phelps' mom -- 'a real man wouldn't shoplift the pootie from a single mom' -- and leave the swimming analysis to someone else."

Um, too harsh?

Yes, Phelps is THE story of the Olympics. He is shattering records and doing what no Olympian has ever done. We get it: He's the greatest Olympian of all time (and he's not even finished -- slated to compete in London in 2012). He might even be the greatest athlete of all time.

The worst is the way that Bob Costas and others continue to pimp the theory that Phelps cared more about his medal count than his team's win in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

On the contrary, what made it even more dramatic was precisely because Phelps didn't seem to care AT ALL about his own medal total -- he cared entirely about the team. Compare his reaction to the relay result to any of his individual events.

To present the signature image of the games Phelps' arms-out primal scream/muscular pose as a proxy for his individual success is to hijack the incredibly sincere, team-oriented (and country-oriented) moment that really defined these Games.

I'm rooting for Phelps. I want to see him win 8 golds, breaking WRs every time along the way. I want nothing more than to argue he's the greatest athlete of all time. I understand that it's easy for NBC to put a single face on the Games this year. But Phelps is not bigger than the Games.



Meanwhile, Ryan Lochte has the most monstrous challenge that any athlete has to face in the Games: Facing down Aaron Peirsol (arguably the greatest men's backstroke swimmer ever) in the 200 back, then 30 minutes later, facing down Phelps (the greatest all-around swimmer ever) in the 200 IM.

Lochte actually has a good shot at beating Phelps -- perhaps even beating Peirsol. But if he swims in the first race, there is no way that he beats Phelps in the second.

Phelps losing to Lochte would be the most startling moment of these Games. I'm not even sure that people won't be rooting against Lochte, who has the bad timing to be peaking in his career at the same moment as the greatest swimmer ever. Without Phelps, Lochte could be unreal.

Yes, I am suggesting that if Lochte wants to truly embody the Olympic spirit, he'll drop out of the 200 back and concentrate on upending Phelps in the 200 IM. (If Lochte swims in the 200 back yet beats Phelps in the 200 IM anyway, I take this all back and Lochte will rise to near-Phelpsian levels of awe.)

Again: Yes, I am really into the swimming events.

What: Like you want me to comment on Favre's arm fatigue instead? Phelps fatigue is so much more interesting, wouldn't you say?

I want to know if any Bills fans out there are very very very nervous about tonight's game in Toronto, and it has nothing to do with the Steelers. Don't think that they won't move the team.

Is Mo Williams really the missing piece for the Cavs? Shoals makes an interesting point: He could be the missing piece that keeps LeBron in Cleveland -- but that meme was bound to pop up after these past 6 weeks of "LeBron is as good as gone." Not sure about that, but I'm sure it gives some comfort to Cavs fans.

Finally, I just have to say that it no longer looks crazy that one game into the NL careers of both CC Sabathia and Manny Ramirez, I was touting them as potential Cy and MVP candidates in their leagues. If both keep playing like they did last night -- and their teams both make the playoffs -- I think it's a no-brainer. The only thing keeping it from happening is the delicate sensibilities of the NL beat writers who vote on the awards.

More later. Full SN column here. No, it is not the same as what I have just written.

UPDATE: Yes, I intentionally left out any reference to that weightlifter injury, which is -- correctly and in a way that I totally approve of -- being labeled the Worst. Sports Injury. Ever.

UPDATE: Much like Coach K during the Olympics, I totally and needlessly neglected Michael Redd in the SN column when talking about the Bucks' core group after the trade: Redd, Bogut, Jefferson -- with Joe Alexander a potential star and, frankly, Ramon Sessions as one of the NBA's most under-the-radar potential break-out stars.

-- D.S.

Revisiting My Ohio State Conspiracy Theory

Remember that post two weeks ago suggesting that Ohio State could lose at USC and still find themselves in the national championship game after voters (cough! Herbstreit!) lobby for a rematch?

BCS guru Brad Edwards has at least a little anecdotal evidence to suggest we all have something to fear -- but other evidence that there is Buckeyes fatigue. Extra points for manufacturing a BCS debate in early August. Even I have to tip my cap to that one. -- D.S.

CFB Previews: Trip In Way-Back Machine

I filled out my first preseason BlogPoll Top 25 (more on that tomorrow). In reading that Chris Low piece on ESPN.com about Tim Tebow, I happened to come across this Mark Schlabach Hot/Hot list for College Football in 2008. It reminded me of this -- I was a handsome man...once.

USA Hoops Still Could Be USA Oops

Must-read from TrueHoop's Henry Abbott on the '92 Dream Team vs. the '08 Redeem Team.

It hits on something that has been plaguing USA Hoops at least since 2004 and seems to even today: They continue to run USA Basketball as a marketing initiative first, an a winning product second (even with the 3-year commitment and other various modifications).

If they truly put together the team most likely to win in international competition, it would have a much different make-up -- fewer superstars, more guys whose games translate. For god's sake: Jump-shooters. And the fact that their best jumpshooter -- Redd -- sits on the bench most of the game speaks volumes.

They should win gold, regardless. Unfortunately, a gold won't help fix the institutional issues. All it will do is enable the existing philosophy to thrive -- right up until the next iteration of USA Basketball loses in 2012. The rest of the world is only getting better.

-- D.S.

Wednesday 08/13 A.M. Quickie:Phelps, Hoff, AL East, Iguodala, More

OK, so at this point, the question isn't whether Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time, but if Phelps will finish these Olympic Games as considered the greatest athlete of all time, period.

That's the lead of today's SN column, and I don't think the superlative is misplaced.

Meanwhile, Katie Hoff continues a string of disappointing finishes. Given that she finished 4th, waited an hour, then finished 4th again, is she too over-scheduled to compete at this level?

Speaking of this level, I can't get worked up over the underlying allegations that China is using underaged gymnasts -- underfed, yes. But underaged? Well, consider that plenty of folks questioned how old LeBron James and Greg Oden were when they were in high school. (Hmm: Nobody questioned Chris Drury's age. You connect the dots.)

Actually, if anything, I don't understand why it's OK for that 14-year-old British diver to compete, but it's not OK for a 14- or 15-year-old gymnast to compete. I say: If you're good enough to make the Olympics, it doesn't matter what age you are. (It's like the NBA: If you're good enough to play in the NBA at 18, you shouldn't be kept out by an age limit.) If nowhere else, shouldn't the Olympics be the ultimate meritocracy?

Meanwhile, you can see it coming: The Rays are on the precipice of folding (Longoria out with the broken wrist; Crawford out for the rest of the season), while the Red Sox are surging, winning games that can be labeled the wildest of the year in MLB. David Ortiz produces more points than Matt Cassel. I think we'll look back at yesterday as the Day the Rays Began Their Collapse. I hope I'm wrong.

Oh, and today is Madden 09 release day. I usually don't get too excited: I have a Wii and, historically, I'm atrocious at Madden. (I prefer the CFB '09 anyway, and the streamlined gameplay of Wii version is just my speed and highly recommended if you're a casual Wii gamer, like me.)

But I absolutely recognize that today has become, for many, a virtual sports national holiday -- in the Quickie two years ago (oh, in those glorious final-month throes before it ended), I argued that "Madden Day" was the biggest single sports weekday of the year, behind only the first two days of the NCAA Tournament. (New Year's Day, if it falls on a weekday, doesn't count.)

For those of you who care about Madden, enjoy the holiday.

Complete SN column here.

-- D.S.

Do August Injuries Affect Preseason Top 25?

So given the injuries in the past week to USC QB Mark Sanchez and Georgia LT Trinton Sturdivant, it begs an interesting question:

If you create your Top 25 rankings based on who the best team is right now -- not who will be No. 1 at the end of the season -- do the coaches and media have to adjust their rankings to account for these injuries, even before a game is played?

Is USC really a Top 3 team without Sanchez? Probably not. Is Georgia the No. 1 team without a key O-lineman? Arguably not. How about Florida without an NFL-caliber TE? Potentially.

The fact is: Georgia is not the same team without Sturdivant; USC is not the same team without Sanchez. Even without knowing the severity of their injuries (but presuming they miss at least the first week of the season, as is presumed with Sanchez), you have to change your preseason poll.

It certainly highlights how ludicrous the preseason poll is. (I personally make my preseason poll based on how I think they'll end the season, then adjust it after the first week based on on-field performance.)

But it is intellectually bankrupt (a not-uncommon quality among the AP, Coaches and Harris pollsters) not to re-do their preseason poll. We don't know how the teams will perform on the field, but we know how important the injured players are.

If we're ranking based on what we know -- rather than what we project for the end of the season -- I think that Ohio State vaults both Georgia and USC as the No. 1 team in the country. Until we actually start seeing some games on the field -- or they suffer their own major preseason injury.

-- D.S.

Floor Burn Tournament Reaches Round 2

Love this. Check it out and vote.

Tuesday 08/12 A.M. Quickie:Rodgers, Phelps, Coughlin, Piersol, More

Names you'll want to know today: Aaron Rodgers, Michael Phelps, Adam Dunn, Angola.

Aaron Rodgers preseason debut as "QB1" for the Packers was a nice change-of-pace from Favre Mania. And you know what? Rodgers wasn't bad. It's hard to account for preseason performances, but he didn't embarrass himself out there, which is the first step toward acceptance. The expectations were likely so low that anything better than "sucking" would be a good start.

Rodgers' debut actually bumped the Olympics and the Phelps Watch -- which is like the Favre Watch, only enjoyable -- in the lead of today's SN column.

But Phelps is no less captivating: His WR performance in the 200 free was astonishing, given his (and USA Swimming's) recent history in the event. He just crushed it.

More interesting was Natalie Coughlin's 100 back. I'm no expert, but I could still tell she was off to an amazing start -- she JUST held on, and her face showed it. It's like a Costanzan leave-em-on-a-high-note strategy: "Thanks for the gold, folks. I'm outta here!" (She'll compete more, but this one was the biggie, going against Coventry.)

Aaron Piersol was simply awesome: He's not enormous like Grevers or the Ultimate Swimming Machine like Phelps. He seems relatively normal. He's just the world's best backstroke swimmer.

All that pushes the Adam Dunn trade down, but it is no less interesting than if it had been made a few weeks ago. (It's interesting to see a trade involving a productive player like Dunn happening after the deadline. Where were the strategic waiver blocks? Someone explain that to me.)

Last thing to mention this morning: It remains to be seen how bad this injury is to Georgia's LT, Trinton Sturdivant, but given the strength of that O-line -- for Moreno and for Stafford -- it could be a BCS-breaker. Between that and the Sanchez injury, Ohio State is looking very very strong right now.

Hmm: More on that later today. Full SN column here.

-- D.S.

Mike Vick to Play in United Football League?

This Vick-to-UFL rumor has a lot of intrigue -- and it's an obvious fit for the UFL, if they want a single-star marketing hook to launch the league.

But let me reiterate that any "minor" pro football league that strives to be successful needs to have a single simple policy, doubling as a marketing hook: No age restrictions.

-- D.S.

Monday 08/11 A.M. Quickie:Phelps, 4x100, Rays, Ryan, More

Wow, that 4x100 freestyle final last night was just about the most exciting sports event I have ever experienced. You don't have to care about swimming to have appreciated it; you don't have to respect Michael Phelps to know his celebration was THE moment of the Olympics. (Today's SN column leads with that.)

Here are the various qualities that were in play, any one of which alone would have made this race notable: Rivalry, star power, uncertainty (even underdog status) going into it (along with trash-talk from the rival), dramatic comeback, insanely close finish, over-the-top emotional celebration, records smashed and history made.

Combined? Wow.

Everything else, by comparison, comes across as kind of ordinary: Katie Hoff's loss in the 400 free should have been huger (same with Brendan Hansen's humiliation in the 100 breast). USA Oops' romp over China was barely a blip. I cannot for the life of me understand gymnastics' scoring system. What makes swimming (and track) so universally appealing is that you've got competitors, a finite goal and a clock. It may not be enough to get folks to watch any more frequently than quadrennially, but when it comes up, it sure is fun.

Meanwhile, let's not overlook that the Rays set a franchise record for wins, and it's only August 11. (God, it's going to be deflating if they don't make the playoffs.) Brandon Webb moved to 17 wins; Cliff Lee advanced to 16.

In the NFL, let's talk less about Brett Favre's penalty lap and more about whether Matt Ryan is ready to take over as a starting QB for the Falcons right now.

And in college football, UCLA QB Ben Olson's injury (foot, two months) might be more drastic than USC QB Mark Sanchez (at least the 1st game, but I wouldn't put it past USC to keep his status VERY close to the vest, particularly with the OSU game coming in September).

More later; complete SN column here. My biggest question about the Olympics is: How do you top what happened in the 4x100 last night? For sheer value in the moment, I'm not sure it can be topped. Obviously, Phelps' quest for 8 golds will build over the next 6 days -- this race last night was the one most in question on that. But for jump-off-the-couch value, this was as good as it gets.

-- D.S.

Sunday 08/10 (Very) Quickie

Olympics: Michael Phelps is absolutely ridiculous, as anyone who watched his WR-setting 400 IM would agree. (In the other must-see, Dara Torres helped the US 4x100 free group rally for silver.)

NFL: Matt Ryan's debut -- 9/15 for 113 yds and 1 TD... Favre Watch: Favre will start in the Jets' next game... Steelers eyeing Leftwich or Culpepper to replace Batch?

MLB Playoff-Worthy Weekend Results: Cards clock Cubs behind Glaus... Angels crush Yankees behind 8-run 8th... Dice-K earns 13th W with Red Sox W over White Sox (Twins win; move half-game up)... D-Rays keep pace with win in 11... Mets d. Marlins (keep pace with Phils)...

Hot rumor: Manny wants to sign with the Yankees this offseason, specifically so he can try to crush the Red Sox 19 games a year. I don't doubt it. But will he give the Yanks a hometown discount?

Barry Bonds returns to S.F.: "I haven't retired." Perhaps his warm reception by Giants fans will give a playoff team the permission necessary to do the competitively smart thing and sign him.

NBA: Dwyane Wade jumps on the "$50 Million to play in Europe" bandwagon. This is no longer an interesting story, because the question to every player is "Would you consider playing in Europe for $50 million?" and the answer, always, is "Who wouldn't?"

Then it's a "story" but it's really not, as it's not like $50 million European offers are there for everyone. (That said, China should make three separate $50 million offers to LeBron, Kobe and Wade, just to see what happens.)

CFB: Looks like USC QB Mark Sanchez won't be out for the season, but perhaps only a game. However, that Ohio State game comes quickly -- how much will it impact the Trojans to have a gimpy and/or out-of-practice QB?

-- D.S.

Saturday 08/09 (Very) Quickie

Olympics open: Wow, that was a jaw-dropping spectacle. Any more questions that China is going to own us all?

USC loses QB Mark Sanchez: Wow. Remains to be seen how bad the knee injury is, but if it's bad, it implodes an entire assumption system about how this season will go.

Hawks keep Josh Smith: Of course they did; the Grizz should have done this at the start of free agency. (I will say I was intrigued to see a Mayo-Gay-Smith troika in Memphis.)

Dolphins sign QB Chad Pennington: He's fragile, but he's better than anything else Miami has. And, wow, would you look at that -- the Fins play the Jets in Week 1.

MLB: Big night for series matching teams right in the playoff hunt. Mets beat Marlins...Cubs beat Cards...White Sox beat Red Sox...Angels beat Yankees.

The image of the Olympics so far: President Bush slapping Misty May-Treanor's tramp stamp.

More: US Women's Soccer gets a W... China gets its first of many gold medals... Phelps sets an O.R. in the 400 IM prelims (finals tonight)...

-- D.S.

College Football Pick 'Em: DQ Readers!

It's that time of year: Sign up for the College Football Pick 'Em. As usual, the group name is Daily Quickie Readers and it's open to anyone. Sign up now!

LeBron, Kobe, Europe and the NBA's Future

Just testing a theory: So there's the LeBron/$50M/Greece meme. Now the Kobe/$50M/Italy meme (and a lot more plausible). It's not a joke; the idea of a true NBA superstar bolting for Europe (or China) WILL become a reality in the next few years. And the current NBA salary structure can't deal with it.

I wonder if the NBA will be forced to adopt an MLS-style "Beckham Rule," where one player (presumably the superstar) can be signed for any amount of money and would not count against the team's cap. (Or, alternatively, allowing for players to become part-owners.)

Sure, that favors the free-spending NBA owners and it blows the economics of salary management right out of the water, but it beats watching the stars not play in the NBA at all, right? Your reactions via the Comments.

-- D.S.

Friday 08/08 A.M. Quickie:Olympics, NFL Preseason, Ibanez, More

Goodbye, Brett. Hello, Beijing. As you'll see in the lead of today's SN column, I'm a huge fan of the Summer Olympics, and I can't wait for things to get going, as early as tomorrow with some swimming finals.

There are a couple of non-athletic sidebars worth tracking:

(1) Protests, particularly by athletes. I remain unconvinced that NBC Sports' allegience to the IOC and their overlords in China won't trump their allegiance to a U.S. viewership that deserves to see all the athlete protests you know will happen.

(2) Pollution, specifically the athlete reaction to it by wearing masks that will be unavoidable on TV. Personally, I'd be wearing that thing 24/7 if I was an athlete. You shouldn't work for 4 years to get to this point, only to be derailed because you're too macho to recognize the debilitating effects of hyper-pollution on your body's finely tuned system.

Meanwhile, I like that other Brett who plays QB for the Jets. I'm not so sure about this Favre guy. This is a fling for him; for as much stake as he used to have in the Packers franchise, he has as little stake in the Jets. But let's reinforce the key point: As long as the Jets aren't going to make the playoffs (let alone the Super Bowl), at least Favre makes them relevant. That's the next best thing.

NFL Preseason last night: Wow, the Bears need another solution at QB... Reggie Bush is going to continue to not live up to his pre-draft hype... the Pats have now lost 2 straight (but Lamont Jordan is going to be a fantasy steal)... Darren McFadden begins the takeover tonight.

MLB: I think Raul Ibanez has locked up AL Player of the Month, and it's only August 8... Manny should be the leading contender for NL MVP... the Marlins aren't going away.

CFB: Does the season-ending (perhaps career-ending) injury to Florida TE Cornelius Ingram make me any less bullish on the Gators' chances of winning a national title? Perhaps a tad -- if they weren't so loaded with other weapons on offense. The question continues to be the D.

08-08-08: Should be a wild kick-off to the Olympics. More later today and, as usual, all weekend.

Full SN column here.

-- D.S.

B.D. Drew's Guide to Fantasy Football

Definite must-read, and not just because he craps on me personally at the end, which is only a bonus. Apparently, participating in not one but TWO drafts with me a year ago was scarring. Here's how unprepared I am right now: I actually took the various players he mentions in the Deadspin post and jotted them down for future draft reference.

Must-Read: SMQ's Farewell Week

You know Sunday Morning QB is ending. You know CFB savant Matt Hinton is going to Yahoo Sports, in a coup for Jamie Mottram's blog unit. You know Hinton picked Florida to win the national title. You may not know that, this week, he is going out with a huge bang -- his long-form essays on the state of the game have been very very good. Just kick back, head to the site and read it all. Been a hell of a run -- with more to come. -- D.S.

Tonight in NYC: Varsity Letters Returns!

If you live in NYC, tonight at 8 at Happy Ending: Varsity Letters Reading Series returns, with a super lineup, including Stefan Fatsis and Aaron Schatz. I personally would like to ask Fatsis to demonstrate his Broncos-swooning kicking style -- and ask Schatz about his KUBIAK projections for Favre on the Jets. Should be a great event. And it's FREE. Complete details here.

Thursday 08/07 A.M. Quickie:Favre, NFL Preseason, Olympics, More

Depending on your perspective, this Favre-to-the-Jets story -- which will assuredly dominate the day -- is either the blissful end of a grueling chapter of our fan experience this summer OR merely the start of the next grueling chapter. It was unavoidable that Favre would lead today's SN column. Here are a few non-column observations about Favre in New York:

Favre in New York is like media wish-fulfillment -- god, can you imagine what emotions Peter King is feeling right now? The Jets store already had Favre jerseys to sell (or pre-sell) when I checked at 6:30 this morning; by 8, the site was down, presumably overloaded with would-be buyers.

Packers fans had sort of frustrated me during this whole saga -- although polling this week made me feel better that at least half of the fans were sick of Favre, too -- but now that his departure to another team is real, I feel kind of bad for them.

It can't be easy to see your icon -- your favorite player -- in another team's jersey, with another team's fans now with more claim to root for him than you have.

The Jets now become the center of gravity in the NFL -- maybe not for the duration of the season, but certainly for the next month. That's a hell of a trick, given that they share a city and stadium with the defending champs and given that they share a division with a team that hasn't lost a regular season in a long time.

Of all the thoughts I have about this swirling around this morning, I think the one that resonates is the "KG Great Man" Theory: On at least a few superficial levels (stardom level, jersey color, Midwest-to-East-Coast relocation, crappy team), Favre is like KG last fall in his move to the Celtics.

But KG was in a title-or-bust situation: Anything less than an NBA title would have been an utter and conspicuous failure for Garnett.

With Favre -- with the NFL -- there is no one-man fix for the Jets. Given the vagaries of NFL success from year to year, the Jets' 4 wins from a year ago could easily become 8 or 9 -- that won't be enough for the playoffs in an AFC where 5 playoff spots seem locked up already.

But Favre is in a different situation than Garnett: KG had to win a title, simply had to. Favre is merely looking to finish up his career. Obviously, he'd like to go out a winner, but I don't think anyone has any expectations that can or will happen with the Jets.

For Favre, getting the Jets to .500 this season might just be enough to call the season a successful one. I appreciate the Jets' interest in "win now," although the chances of going from 4 wins to the Super Bowl on Brett Favre's back seems fantastical -- not fantastic.

I said this about the Wizards and Gilbert Arenas, and I think it applies to the Jets with Favre: As long as they're not winning a championship, they can at least be relevant. For a megomaniacal guy like Favre and a team that plays in a megomaniacal city like New York, that is probably all that matters at this point.

Complete SN column can be found here, including all sorts of other topics, like MLB Instant History, LeBron vs. David Beckham, BYU's chances of crashing the BCS, Olympics ramp-up and more.

More later.

-- D.S.

Wednesday 08/06 A.M. Quickie:Favre, LeBron, Webb, Olympics, More

It's almost over. You can feel it. The Favre saga is almost over: Favre is over it. The Packers executives are over it. Packers fans seem to be ready for it to be over. (Check the SN column for a link to some very interesting local polling numbers.) The rest of us certainly cannot wait for this to be over. Bucs fans, presumably, are anxious to have things start.

Today's SN column leads, regrettably, with Favre -- but quickly gets into more interesting things!

*LeBron playing in Europe! (I say: Yes!)
*Brandon Webb vs. Dan Haren
*Nick Swisher vs. Raul Ibanez
*Olympic facemasks -- THE fashion accessory
*The Texas Tech bandwagon
*USA Oops: Not as great as they think

There is lots there -- not just Favre (mercifully, not just Favre). Check it out here.

PS: Will the Favre Bucs jersey be the NFL's hottest seller? Consider how many fans you saw wearing the Joe Montana Chiefs jersey. (Not many, if I recall...maybe in K.C., I guess.) The real question: Will Favre Packers jerseys hit the discount bin in Green Bay? Doubt it.

-- D.S.

SI Picks Georgia To Win the National Title

From SI: (1) UGA; (2) tOSU; (3) USC; (4) Mizzou; (5) Florida

This implies two things SI predicts: That Georgia will beat Florida and that Ohio State will win at USC. I think both of those suppositions are wrong; therefore, SI's ultimate predictions are wrong.

One Last Time: Not. A. Story.

I hate Notre Dame as much as anyone, but college kids drinking just isn't a scandal. Period. (h/t: TBL)

Air Obama T-Shirt: Must Have One

It's no secret that I'm pretty obsessed with the Obama-basketball connection. Here is a new must-have T-shirt: Air Obama.

Catch Barca Playing 4-on-4 in NYC

If you live in NYC: Very cool event this afternoon at 5: An incredible exhibition involving Barca players at Chelsea Waterside Park (23rd St./12th Ave.) It's for a great cause (Malaria No More). Here is a link, but it doesn't explain much, unfortunately. All you need to know is that things kick off before 5, so get there early for good seats, the chance to take photos and win prizes, etc. -- D.S.

WePlay Gets $8.6 Million in New Funding:Yes, But Will It Play In Pee-Wee Leagues?

WePlay is an interesting business: The "operating system of youth sports" is its positioning, with renewed interest in the wake of yesterday's news they raised another $8.6M in B-round funding.

There's a Yardbarker-type element to it: Its big p.r. draw is the inclusion of pro athletes. In YB's case, it's the athlete blogs being the consumer draw (ahead of its member blogs or, the backbone of the entire venture, its ad network roll-up of smaller sports blogs).

In WePlay's case, it is the A-list cachet of the B-round investors: LeBron. Jeter. Peyton.

The site is geared to pre-high school sports. It isn't a social network, but there are social network aspects to it: Hyper-localized mini-networks. It has a robust enough market potential, but I remain skeptical that hyperlocal content needs a universal aggregator. As with any platform, it's all in the utility of the tools. If they work, it could be a winner. But there are no network effects with local youth sports -- the T-ball team in Malibu doesn't need to be on the same system as the hoops league in Tampa. However, what they commonly need is an online system to organize themselves.

The well-funded WePlay can afford to build the best system -- one that would out-do any locally based system. (Yet another area where local newspapers totally blew an opportunity.)

The exit strategy seems simple enough: Become the youth-sports solution to a major sports media company's youth-sports need. The travel down the continuum is only getting younger.

Ideas like ESPNU and the CBS College Sports Network have begat the makings of "ESPN HS" -- signaled by ESPN's acquisition of Rise, in addition to its larger focus on the obsessive market for high school recruiting news and information.

The next frontier is getting even younger: Think "ESPN Kids." The twist is that rather than covering youth sports as news -- like recruiting -- this is about facilitating participation. Any media company in the business of selling sports has a vested interest in facilitating -- and generating -- enthusiasm for sports among kids.

(One of the most trenchant pieces of analysis in Tom Farrey's must-read book "Game On" was the concept that kids who play become kids who are fans, not the other way around; kids who don't play don't become fans -- a concept that better have pro sports leagues thinking hard about the future.)

And so I could see the ultimate exit of WePlay being a beachhead for ESPN -- or any of its competitors -- in the must-have youth-sports market. That it plays -- at least theoretically -- in the hot "social media" space only makes it more appealing. (WePlay has raised $13 million; who knows what its valuation is at this point -- but it'll be pricey.)

Given the high-profile athlete backers, buzz for WePlay is there. Will the kids follow?

-- D.S.

SMQ Picks Florida to Win the National Title

Validation? Hell yes. Between SMQ and Phil Steele, I no longer feel like I'll get crushed for picking Florida to win the national title this season.

Tuesday 08/05 A.M. Quickie:Favre, Brewers, Olympics, CFB, More

It is the rallying cry of a nation of fans: Anything But Favre.

I know that many/most of you reached this point weeks ago, but I have felt compelled to continue to track this godforsaken story. In today's SN column, I try to back away.

Everyone has their own breaking point: Maybe it was the first day he announced his retirement. Maybe it was the first day of the comeback talk. Maybe it was the day the Packers offered him $20 million to stay retired. Maybe it was the day he arrived back in Wisconsin to go to camp.

Last night's non-news (McCarthy press conference cancelled because his talk with Favre went long!) might have been my own personal breaking point.

Especially when there is a ton of other things to cover: The Brewers are imploding -- in real-time!... Steve Smith is sorry -- but Ken Lucas isn't!... SMQ agrees with me that Florida will be national champs! (Yes, I know I posed about this earlier this morning.)

There is a ton of stuff in the column today -- including a bunch of random details that I'm pretty sure will hit the radar today (or maybe I'm just late to the party). Check it out here.

Couple of posts coming throughout the day.

-- D.S.

Real Story Behind the Erin Andrews Story

Leave it to Spencer Hall to apply the proper perspective: They're all a bunch of misogynists. (Um, I'm paraphrasing.)

Favre Watch: No Trade to Vikings?

Not that NFL coaches are known for their truthfulness in the face of media reports, but Brad Childress says the Vikings haven't talked to the Packers about Favre. (No, they've only talked with Favre directly about Favre...) That doesn't mean they won't, but it certainly takes some air out of today's hot rumor. Instead, the Packers can focus on getting Favre into camp and either letting him compete for the starting QB job -- or telling him that he'll be the backup...deal with it.

Monday 08/04 A.M. Quickie:Favre a Viking, Manny a MVP and More

Sorry for the delay today. I guess I'm just overwhelmed by all of the raging ridiculousness packed into today's SN column. Check it out here.

Sunday 08/03 (Very) Quickie

Do you REALLY think Roger Goodell's Monday "deadline" to answer the Favre reinstatement question will change anything?

The CC-for-Cy campaign is back on!

Now: How about Manny for NL MVP?

More Trade-Deadline pay-off: Blanton earns first Phils win...

Nice to see the Angels finally play in a game where their competitor for the AL title doesn't completely cede the race to them...

Yeah: Go ahead and try to argue that Rafael Nadal still doesn't deserve to be No. 1...

Was Javon Walker ready to retire? Would you really care or notice if he did?

The Packers got at least one awkward situation fixed, and it wasn't the Favre thing: Ryan Grant was signed...

It's the four words Chiefs fans didn't want to hear: Glenn Dorsey. Knee injury.

-- D.S.

Saturday 08/02 (Very) Quickie

MLB Post-Trade Debuts: Manny, Dodgers lose critical one to D'backs; Jason Bay scores the GW run after hitting a triple in the 12th to lead BOS over OAK; Griffey leads White Sox over Royals (By the way, Manny is wearing No. 99, predictably "quirky")...

Will Brett Favre take the $20 million hush money today?

Steve Smith is good enough to get away with being in the middle of training camp brawls, right?...

Francisco Liriano is back (finally) with the Twins; Livan Hernandez is on the market after his release...

Josh Howard: Street racing? I guess he wants the fastest way out of Dallas. How did he turn into an NBA bad boy?

-- D.S.

Coaches' Top 25 Poll: What Does It Mean?

The first/preseason Coaches' Top 25 poll was released, and it's important: The Coaches' poll is 1/3 of the BCS formula, and -- as we all know -- the No. 1 voting criteria is...

Inertia.

In other words: Where teams start is a built-in advantage.

If you keep winning, it's a hell of a lot easier to stay at the top than to start from the back. (Yes, ultimately, if you simply keep winning and never lose, you will probably get to the top spot. Probably. Maybe. You never know though.)

Georgia is No. 1, which presumably means that they are the favorite to win the national title. However, if you think that Florida will beat Georgia in Jacksonville on November 1 -- as I do -- then you can't have Georgia as your No. 1 team.

(Georgia would have been better off losing to Florida a year ago, then blitzing them this year with that everyone-celebrate-in-the-end-zone schtick; by pulling it out last year, all UGA did was motivate UF to beat them, which they will.)

The number seem to indicate that Georgia's run at No. 1 will end long before the Cocktail Party. As I noted in my SN column today, UGA's 22 first-place votes are less than the combined first-place votes of No. 2 USC and No.3 Ohio State.

It stands to reason that when USC and Ohio State play in September, the winner will immediately vault into the No. 1 spot, no matter how UGA has started (including what should be counted as an impressive win at Arizona State -- if the Bulldogs actually win).

Using inertia -- and baseless projection -- as your guide, you can see how this is going to play out:

The USC-Ohio State winner will have a damn-near-lock on one spot in the national championship. (There will be no subsequent Stanford or Illinois moment for the winner of that USC-tOSU game.)

The other spot appears to be reserved for the winner of the Georgia-Florida game, certainly if that winner stays unbeaten, running the table in the SEC. (LSU, ranked No. 6 by the coaches, could play the spoiler, but without a QB and with a road game in Gainesville -- another revenge game for the Gators -- I don't see it happening.) But going unbeaten via the SEC is still a hell of a thing: Would a 1-loss SEC champ trump an unbeaten champ of, say, the Big 12? I don't think so.

Oklahoma comes in at No. 4; Missouri comes in at No. 7. They don't play each other during the regular season, so each could get through the regular season unbeaten (OU has Texas in Dallas; MU has Texas in Austin), but something would have to give in the Big 12 title game.

West Virginia and Clemson are No. 8 and No. 9 and are the top-ranked teams from the less powerful BCS conferences -- neither is without problems, and I'm not sure that even if either/both go unbeaten, they don't lose the BCS selection battle to a one-loss SEC champ...

...Or even the loser of the USC-Ohio State. (You can shudder now.) I'll preview the talking points now:

*"Well, they got their only loss of the season out of the way in September," giving them plenty of time to go from the bottom of the Top 10 (as far as they'll fall) back up into the BCS mix, as teams ahead of them lose.

*"Well, their only loss was to the No. 1 ranked team in the country," which is complemented by this fallacy...

*"Well, give them credit for scheduling a title-killing game against a fellow heavyweight." If the game isn't going to be meaningful -- like, "Winner gets to play in the BCS title game, loser doesn't," then what's the point?

But count on this:

Provided the USC-tOSU winner runs the table and the loser sustains no other losses (racking up a conference title along the way) the hype for a USC-Ohio State rematch in BCS championship game will be the most powerful force in college football this year.

A perfect season out of the SEC champ will hold off that result. A perfect season out of the Big 12 champ will hold off that result. (If we get an unbeaten USC-tOSU winner, an unbeaten SEC champ and an unbeaten Big 12 champ, the Big 12 champ will be screwed, I am sure.)

The chances of perfection for any team are very low, even for the winner of the USC-tOSU game. However, simply (and, as always, baselessly) projecting from the preseason rankings, I think the other team that will play for the national title will come down to a debate between a 1-loss SEC champ versus the 1-loss USC-tOSU loser.

Who says preseason polls are meaningless? (By the way, mine won't be coming until way later in the month. But for now, the must-read among preseason polls is Sunday Morning QB's ballot. He is going 5 teams at a time, in reverse order, and through Friday morning, he's gone from 25-11.)

-- D.S.

Friday 08/01 A.M. Quickie:Manny, Bay, Favre, CFB Top 25, More

Tired of the Manny meme or the Favre overload? We may be turning the corner.

Manny is officially out of Boston -- for better or worse. Bay is a fine replacement, but we'll see; meanwhile, the Dodgers get stronger, in a division where Manny might make the difference.

Manny and the various trade dramas leads today's SN column, but -- again, for better or far far worse -- the Favre story extends into its Nth day:

Is he taking the $20 million hush money? (That would be great for the Packers and anyone sick of the Favre story, but kind of offensive.)

Is he getting traded to the Jets? (That would be terrible for Packers fans -- as any trade would be -- and pretty bad for anyone who hates the Favre story. Favre in New York? Ugh.)

The only thing you can hope for is that the resolution comes tomorrow. Why? Because things that happen in sports on a Saturday tend to lose their momentum by Monday...

...Unless it's college football results. Speaking of which, the Coaches' Top 25 is out. It's important -- important enough for a stand-alone post later this morning.

Here is the complete SN column from today. More on the Coaches' Top 25 coming at 11 a.m. ET.

-- D.S.

Packers to Favre: $20M to NOT Play?

Just when I think the Packers can't respond any more stupidly to this Favre situation, they go and offer him $20 million NOT to play. The Packers are a case study in how NOT to manage crisis.

Thursday 07/31 A.M. Quickie:Manny, Pudge, Angels, MJ, Favre

The Manny trade rumors might be as all-encompassing (and ultimately annoying) as the Favre story, but it feels like a blissful respite from Favre 24/7 to focus on Manny.

The potential/very real trade is the lead of my Sporting News column today.

I remain stunned that the Red Sox would bail on Manny -- I figured they were analytical-minded enough to see past the personality issues and focus on the numbers.

Then I read Pinto's VORP analysis, which posited that losing Manny wouldn't cost the Red Sox any wins. Maybe one. Of course, here's the thing about that:

One win may be the difference between making the playoffs and not, between winning a playoff series and not, between successfully defending the title and not.

There's a default "Trust Theo" in this situation, but if I was a Red Sox fan, I'd be more bummed than a Packers fan should be if the Packers let Favre go.

(And if I was a Yankees or Rays fan -- or Angels fan, more importantly -- I'd be thrilled. One of the Top 3 biggest bats in the AL will have been shipped out of the league.)

From the Marlins' perspective, I love it. Take that $22 million payroll and double-down on Manny, betting that two months of paying for Ramirez is worth it, given how close they are to the playoffs.

(I renew my long-standing theory about the Marlins: You can rip them all you want, but they have two World Series titles since 1997, so they must be doing something right.)

Amazingly, the Manny thing eclipses what should be a triumphal day for the Yankees and their fans: Nabbing Pudge, the linchpin of 2 World Series teams in the last 5 years.

Given the pace of the arms race here, I think it's just a matter of time before someone brings in Barry Bonds. Frankly, I don't know what any of them are waiting for.

(Bad PR? Please: Nothing cures a PR problem like winning. And the risk that acquiring Bonds would HURT an already successful team seems low.)

Full SN column can be found here. More here as the trade deadline winds down to 4 p.m. ET.

-- D.S.

College Football Fantasy Football

Got an interesting email from CBSSports.com in my in-box on Monday: Their college football fantasy game will now include real names -- "Tim Tebow," not "Florida QB 15."

WSJ Sports expert Nando DiFino has a fast follow-up on the announcement, though two things confuse me:

(1) If the NCAA is going to let this go, then I believe it opens the door to all sorts of other products.

(2) Forcing people to include a minimum of two conferences in their league design is wack:

College football, more than any other sport, includes a level of care about conference play that is fantastic. But if I'm a huge fan of the SEC and I get a bunch of other huge fans of the SEC to play in a league with me, why should we have to include another league we know/care less about?

-- D.S.

Wednesday 07/30 A.M. Quickie:Favre, Artest, Angels, WVU, More

Let's skip the latest Favre development all together, shall we? Wouldn't it be amazing if people stopped covering it or fans stopped clicking on any links related to it (or turned off the TV or radio when it came on the air)?

There's a lot more to talk about in today's SN column. Wouldn't you rather talk about the Angels' power-play to affirm their status as the team to beat in baseball? Wasn't it enough to have MLB's best record? How about a 12-game division lead? How about a 7-game win streak against the defending champs?

You've got to respect "Title or bust," and the Angels are now in the same position as the Celtics in the NBA: Anything less than a World Series title at this point would be considered a failure. Mark Teixeira only sharpens that argument.

Meanwhile, the Rockets seem to have the same idea: In the West, it isn't enough to simply make the playoffs, only to lose before the conference semifinal round is over. You're either woefully out of it or you're a contender. With Yao and T-Mac, the Rockets weren't there; with Ron Artest, they are.

That's up there with Duncan/Parker/Ginobili and Bryant/Gasol/Bynum as the best "Big Three" in the West. Making it more interesting is Artest's versatility. I'd love to see the Rockets continue to retool, shopping T-Mac. But with Artest a free agent next summer, this is a one-shot-for-it-all deal for the Rockets. I like it.

Complete SN column here, including the proper homage to Carlos Zambrano.

Blog navel-gazing: Playingthefield.net launches, offering a platform and hub for some of the leading women sports bloggers. It's a little sad this has to exist, but -- then again -- it could be worse. Look at Fanhouse right now.

Meanwhile, speaking of blog-world navel-gazing, where is the coverage of the insanity going on over there at Fanhouse? Between the soft-core fantasy football video and the resulting insurrection among the contributors, AOL Sports is about to implode their very valuable property.

-- D.S.

Tuesday 07/29 A.M. Quickie:Sabathia, Manny, Rodgers, LeBron, More

It was a blow for all who love Instant History that CC Sabathia wasn't able to beat the Cubs last night -- it would have affirmed the "CC-for-NL-Cy-after-only-5-starts" movement.

That led today's SN column and led a trio of big series openers, including Angels-Red Sox (LAA still owns 'em, even at Fenway) and Twins-White Sox (um...WHO threw a CG SO?)

We're a little more than 48 hours from the trade deadline, and it appears Mark Teixeira is a lock to get moved, but AJ Burnett appears to be off the table. The Braves signal that they have given up on the season; the Jays, by contrast, want to battle in the hyper-competitive AL East. Which team's attitude respects their fans' intelligence more?

NFL Camping: Brett Favre doesn't even have to show up and he dominates training camp talk -- particularly at Packers camp. Packers fans can tell me whether they are ready to give (or already have given) Aaron Rodgers a break. Might take a while.

Meanwhile, USA Oops is top of mind for two reasons: (1) LeBron practiced on that gimpy ankle and (2) LeBron gave $20K to help Obama's campaign. It almost makes me like him more.

Lot more in the column. Full contents here.

More later.

-- D.S.

Monday 07/28 A.M. Quickie:Manny, Favre, Sabathia, Camping, More

Today's Sporting News column starts with an absurd premise: Why not trade Brett Favre for Manny Ramirez?

That was my first reaction to hearing that Manny was open to (or insisting on) a trade, combined with the news that it looks like the Packers are zeroing in on shipping Favre out.

Then I couldn't help myself with the gimmick, using "first reaction to..." as the lens for all of the big headlines on the radar this morning:

CC Sabathia vs. the Cubs today.
Yankees-Red Sox...oh, make it stop.
Devin Hester signed; Ryan Grant unsigned.
T.O. vs. Pac-Man...PLEASE: Make it stop.
Warriors avoid Euro-itis.
Tour de Hunh?
Olympics ticket sell-out.

Here is the complete column, if you want to see the whole thing. More later.

Oh, this story was totally fascinating -- if entirely opaque. "Facebook for football?" The reporter knows how to create a catchy short-hand.

Also: I'm late on this (yet still prescient!), but congrats to Matt Hinton aka Sunday Morning QB for his move to Yahoo. It is an incredible coup for Y! Sports -- SMQ is the most interesting CFB blog in the sports-blog world (not "most hilarious," which would go to EDSBS). Given that SMQ's motif is a brilliant once-a-day post (not that there's anything wrong with that!), I will be curious and excited to see him move to Y! Sports' blog format of many many posts per day per blog.

- D.S.

Sunday 07/27 (Very Very) Quickie

Brett Favre a Packers camp no-show (for now): Bluffing?... Derek Lowe!... Torii Hunter!... Yankess over Red Sox (again)... Goose Gossage inducted into baseball HOF... Are the Hawks about to (sign-and-) trade Josh Smith?... Kyle Busch cannot be stopped... Brewers in tie for NL Central lead: Ryan Braun for NL MVP? -- D.S.

Saturday 07/26 (Very) Quickie

NFL to stream 17 NBC games online - at both NFL.com and NBCSports.com. This is huge. Consider the league. Consider how carefully it guards its broadcast rights. Now this. Very big.

(And even if you were going to watch those games at home anyway, simply to dip their toe in the water of universal online broadcasting... wow. Now, the key question: Will the video player allow for me to watch the game via NFL.com or NBCSports.com on my iPhone or Blackberry?)

Favre to Jets?: I would rather see the awkwardness of Favre at Packers camp. Either way, has he even asked to be reinstated yet, let alone been reinstated?

Joba Rules: Shuts down the Red Sox in a 1-0 Yankees win. Yankees double-dip on good news by getting Xavier Nady from the Pirates.

Jermaine Dye hits the GW HR... Josh Hamilton racks up 100 RBI... Mets beat Cards, now have 3rd-best record in the NL...

D-Wade is apparently recovered: 20 points for USA Oops in an exhibition vs. Canada. Must be nice for him to play on a winning team after last season.

RIP, Randy Pausch: Anyone who has seen the "Last Lecture" knows what a critical role Randy's sports fandom played in his life -- and the Lecture itself. Condolences to his family, friends and many fans.

-- D.S.

Can't Blame Me For Picking Florida:SEC Media Pick Florida to Win Title

Does this count as a logical proof: If the SEC media thinks that Florida will win the SEC Championship and if the SEC Champion not only has a damn-near-automatic claim to play for the national title, but also a track record that gives them the best chance to win that title, then is it THAT crazy to pick Florida to win the national title this year? Hell, the SEC media -- most of whom probably despise Florida -- support the theory.
-- D.S.