With all due respect to Go West.. the Western Athletic Conference is truly the king of wishful thinking.

Above is the cover of the WAC’s 2007 football preview where it suggests that Hawaii QB Colt Brennan and Boise State running back Ian Johnson could be going back to Boise or Honolulu with the hardware in ‘07, an outcome that is as likely as a Paris Hilton-led Outward Bound trip into the Yukon.

I think Johnson’s candidacy is a complete farce. I mean, let’s face it, the guy is much better known for popping the question to his BSU-cheerleader girlfriend after that Fiesta Bowl classic against Oklahoma than for anything he’s done on the field. And then there’s the Broncos schedule: Boise will once again be a BCS contender because they simply don’t play anyone worth noting. Their first five games: Weber State, Washington, Wyoming, Southern Miss, New Mexico State. Doesn’t exactly sound like playing Auburn, LSU and Tennessee, does it? Boise State was a nice story last year but to take Johnson’s Heisman candidacy for real is completely ridiculous.

Colt Brennan is different. He set the NCAA single-season touchdown record last season with 58 and the record for most touchdown passes in two consecutive seasons with 93 in ‘05-06. But you really have to wonder if Brennan isn’t a victim of the system that has brought him so much success. In his four-years at Hawaii, Timmy Chang threw more than 2,400 passes and currently holds the NCAA records for most passes attempted in a career. Chang also holds the NCAA record for most career passing yards. Hawaii’s system is designed to make quarterbacks look good and if you don’t think Chang’s records and gaudy numbers will be fresh in the mind of Heisman voters when considering whether or not Brennan should strike the pose, then you’re crazy. And then there’s that schedule . Hawaii’s first five games? Northern Colorado, Louisiana Tech, UNLV, Charleston Southern and Idaho. I can’t help but wonder if Brennan would be as highly regarded as he was if he played in a major conference. Sure his numbers are, on their surface, impressive but Brennan isn’t playing NFL-ready competition week-in and week-out. Consider this: if Chang and Brennan both put up equally gaudy passing statistics at Hawaii and Chang recently signed with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL, how likely is it that Brennan will be able to make the transition from Hawaii to the NFL?

An interesting column in the Buffalo News today by columnist Bucky Gleason where he puts on Sabres GM Darcy Reiger’s hat for the day. What I like most about this column was the thought Gleason clearly put into this column. I’ve attached a link to what he calls “The Gleason Plan” for the Sabres.

A really great piece in the New York Times this morning by Howard Beck on the NBA coaching carousel and how it doesn’t involve Larry Brown. According to Beck, Brown openly campaigned for the Kings job, which they gave to Reggie Theus — who has never been an NBA head coach.

The Louisville Courier-Journal’s Rick Bozich has apparently gotten a little lazy and bored during the dog days of summer and is asking readers to do his job for him. If you have a story idea for Mr. Bozich, he’d love to hear it. He’s fresh out.

Falcons wideout Brian Finneran will miss the entire 2007 season to have reconstructive surgery on his right knee. This is obviously a blow to the Falcons offense and to Michael Vick who can use all the receiver help he can get. It certainly makes you wonder if Finneran’s career is over. This is the second consecutive year he will miss due to injury.

The Bottom Line believes that it’s never too early to start talking college football and SI.com’s Stewart Mandel broke down the 10 regular season matchups, he believes will determine the National Champion. There are two games on this list I take exception with. One is the LSU/Alabama game in Baton Rouge. Granted it’s Saban’s return to Death Valley but he doesn’t have the talent —yet— to knock off the Tigers at home. And secondly, the game between Boise State and Hawaii. Two overrated teams who have no legitimate claim to the national title in anyway square off — no thanks.

The Supreme Court upheld state rules that prohibit high schools from recruiting athletes. The case began in Tennessee where Brentwood Academy turned itself into a state powerhouse, in part by encouraging young athletes to transfer there. The decision was unanimous.

Well it appears that this is the end of the road for everyone’s favorite felon, soon-to-be former Tennessee Titans corner Adam “Pacman” Jones.

Jones is being charged with two felonies in connection with a triple-shooting at a Las Vegas strip club during the NBA All-Star weekend in February.  Jones will face two counts of felony coercion for allegedly biting the club’s bouncer on the ankle and threatening to kill a club employee.

Clark County DA David Roger issued this ominous warning to Pacman at a press conference yesterday, according to the AP:

“‘They’ll be given a reasonable amount of time to turn themselves in, and if they don’t, police will go looking for them,’ Roger said at a news conference.”

What remains to be seen is the effect that these charges will have on Pacman’s future in the NFL. It’s important to bear in mind that NFL commish Roger Goodell suspended Pacman for the entire season before  he was charged with anything in connection to the shooting. How generous do you think the ole commish is going feeling to be now that Jones has been charged?

Pacman Jones is a certifiable menace to society and should be banned indefinitely from the NFL. According to the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, the defensive back has had 12 known run-ins with law enforcement since he was drafted by the Titans in 2005.

If comments from Titans coach Jeff Fisher are any indicator, Jones days as a Titan are certainly numbered and his career in the league is, without question, in jeopardy.

“‘As I said several days ago, these are his issues,” Fisher told the Tennessean. “We have moved on, and we will continue to move on.’”

On top of being formally charged with these two felonies in Vegas, Jones is also wanted for questioning in connection with another incident at a strip club in Atlanta last week. According to the DeKalb Police Department, Jones is not a suspect in a shooting that took place outside the club but members of his security detail are being viewed as suspects. Jones allegedly got into an argument with a fellow strip club patron, who was no  doubt a stand-up guy. Here’s a suggestion to Mr. Jones: STAY OUT OF STRIP CLUBS AND IF YOU DO END UP GOING, WHICH I WOULD STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST, MAKE SURE YOUR BUDDIES AREN’T PACKING HEAT. 

Commissioner Goodell should suspend this guy from the league indefinity and see if he can go A YEAR without a run-in with law enforcement before he even considers about re-instating him. And if he can’t, he’ll be welcomed into the fraternity of talented athletes who couldn’t stay out of the way of the Fuzz by Lawrence Phillips.

In the wake of Coach Hep’s passing away yesterday, it seems everyone has a memory of Hep. He will truly be missed. Here’s some links:

SI’s Stewart Mandel

ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel

ESPN.com’s Bruce Feldman

The Indianapolis Star’s Terry Hutchens

The Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz

The Louisville Courier-Journal’s Ryan Gunterman

ESPN.com’s Pat Forde 

My old student newspaper, The Indiana Daily Student, has done a pretty knock-up job of covering this story. I will be in Bloomington this weekend for a wedding and plan to attend Hep’s memorial service Saturday.

Fans, colleagues, react to Hoeppner’s death

Fans remember Hoeppner’s passion, enthusiasm

Remembering Terry Hoeppner

My column about Coach Hoeppner’s death is currently available here and will appear in the sports section of Saturday’s Log.

Is it possible to be saddened by the death of someone you barely knew? Well that’s where I find myself today when my brother texted me with the following message.. “dude coach hep died.” soon after, my mom called me, with a lump in her throat to break the news to me.

Coach Hep died in Bloomington from brain cancer. Everyone who cares about IU knew that Hep was pretty sick when we heard he wouldn’t be coaching in the spring and we feared the worst when told that Bill Lynch would lead the Hoosiers this year and not our beloved Hep. But no one was ready for this.

In January, I got the opportunity to talk to Hep about the National Championship game. Having coached against Urban Meyer during his brief tenure at Bowling Green and coaching almost annually against Jim Tressel, I thought Hep could give me some insight into what the matchup would be between the two. Hep patiently answered every question I had with insight and thought. And then at the end of our almost 20-minute interview. I threw my professionalism out the window. You see I’m a general assignment reporter who occasionally gets my editor to let me out of the office and do what I love: Write about sports. As an IU alum, I told Hep what a fantastic job he was doing and rebuilding our program and that I was proud of the work he’d done. He told me that he wished I could have been there for the win over Michigan State and Iowa this year and how crazy “The Rock” got after the wins. Today, as I sit here, I’m glad that I took that moment to be a fan.

Coach Hep will always be remembered by this reporter, this alum and this fan as a man who loved Indiana University. He said it was his dream job and he treated it as such. Indiana University and IU football is better for having had Coach Hep.

He will be missed by those who knew him and those who wished they had.

I realize now that I’m not saddened by the loss of someone I barely knew, I’m saddened by the loss of a member of the IU family.