Watching last night’s Falcons/Bengals preseason game, something very profound occured to me: I really like Joey Harrington.

Watching the former Lions/Dolphins quarterback run down the field after throwing a touchdown pass in a PRESEASON game, you begin to understand what Harrington has been through. In Detroit, he had absolutely terrible teams around him.  George Blanda, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning couldn’t have won with those Detroit teams. Frankly, Lions GM Matt Millen is a clown and that he still has that job today is mystifying.

Now that Harrington is going to be the Falcons starter, you really want the guy to succeed and do well. He badly wants to be embraced by his teammates, by the fans and by the city and I hope all of that happens for him this season. He wasn’t embraced by any of the above in Detroit, which many sportswriters claim in the worst sports city in the America. I figure there must be some truth to it because everytime someone says something negative about Detroit, people from Detroit get all tight. My guess is that they know their town’s a hellhole and the way they treated Harrington is disgraceful. Good luck, Joey.

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No, seriously… 

Man, roller skating must be getting really competitive.

Vodka, a hot headed wife and a naked husband make a really bad (and painful) combination.

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SI’s Stewart Mandel with five players that redefine their positions.

The demise of Sam Keller at Arizona State.

The AJC’s Mark Bradley sums up yesterday’s Michael Vick plea as nicely as anyone.

Kirk Herbstreit’s “Herbies.”

The Vikings feel really good about Tarvaris Jackson.  I’m not impressed. Yet. 

Lovie Smith doesn’t believe Lance Briggs abandoning his $300k car on the highway at 3 in the morning had anything to do with booze.  Come on, coach.

Vick an afterthought on Virginia Tech campus.

DeAngelo Hall should think twice before using his hair to trash talk.

Jeremy Bloom is a better skier than a football player. Who knew?

Can the ACC show its a power conference again?

Which Brady Quinn haircut do you prefer?

The Bills will start rookie linebacker Paul Posluszny.

Vick should be an example to young stars, says Milwaukee columnist.

Nike is done with Mike Vick.

Big 12 will be ruled by parity, Omaha paper says.

No starting spot for Cards corner Antrel Rolle.

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Well-rounded news… 

Tom Welling as Superman in Justice League flick.

New ‘Lost’ cast members.

More Scott Baio on VH1.

Fall movies to look forward to.

The 10 best foods you’re not eating.

Traveled to Orlando this weekend to visit the girlfriend and made some interesting observations. First of all, central and northern Florida is hot. But it’s a different kind of heat. In Destin, I walk out the door of my apartment and you can breathe the heat, it’s thick like steam in a sauna. In Central Florida, you feel the heat on your skin. There was a moment Saturday afternoon, where the sun was directly overhead and I don’t know if, in my life, I’ve been hotter than I was at that very moment.

A very exciting week in my life as college football season starts officially on Thursday night and the first season of ‘Heroes’ releases on DVD tomorrow. Also on my mental calendar is the start of the NFL season, and the release of the third season of “The Office” next week and Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up” on DVD.

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No, seriously… 

A Tennessee man was arrested for producing counterfeit “rain”.

Americans love shrimp.

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Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel thinks little league baseball players playing in Williamsport deserve to be paid.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach on Nebraska starting quarterback Sam Keller.

Giants not interested in free agent linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.

Chad Johnson on Michael Vick.  

USC transfer Emmanuel Moody is transferring to Florida, paper says.

The $350,000 car owned by Bears linebacker Lance Briggs was found abandoned on the highway. Now, what would make someone abandon a $350,000 car after being involved in an accident? Did I mention the car was found at about 3:15 a.m. 

Rutgers RB Ray Rice eyes Heisman in ‘07.

Was the performance of punter Sav Rocca really the highlight of last night’s Eagles preseason game? Sigh. Game notes from Les Bowen. Bowen’s game story.

Sabres/Penguins to play outdoors on Jan. 1.

Hoosier guard A.J. Ratliff declared academically ineligible for first semester.

Five burning questions for Tennessee in ‘07.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart with some interesting posts this weekend.

• Some final questions.
• Impact freshmen.
• Five best places to tailgate.

The AJC’s Jeff Schultz thinks Georgia is BCS Bowl-bound.

Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter talks about the Sun Devils in ‘07.

Astros to retire Jeff Bagwell’s number.

A huge game for Oklahoma State this weekend at Georgia.

The San Fransisco Chronicle profiles Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh.

ESPN’s Ivan Maisel’s five Big 12 predictions.

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Well-rounded news… 

The St. Pete Times has a fantastic political fact-checking website.

My thoughts are with Owen Wilson.

I have officially joined the TiVo revolution. While it is an unbelievable technology, it will not official begin paying dividends in my life until football season where I’ll be able to TiVo games that I won’t be able to watch. An added bonus is that I get to watch shows that I used to watch in college that I am now too old to stay up for (i.e. Conan). So far, I’m very impressed.

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No, seriously… 

A chinese couple have tried to name their baby ‘@’.

A man in Muncie is my new hero.

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Fanhouse’s Big East preview.

• Impact freshmen.
  
• Top 5 players
• Coaches on the hot seat.
• Five biggest games
• Most underrated.

Georgia Tech QB punks defensive end in practice.

The Philadelphia Daily News’ Les Bowen says it may not be time to give up the Eagles defense — yet.

Eagles guard Shawn Andrews is having ankle problems and defensive end Jerome McDougle is out for the year — again, securing his place as one of the biggest first-round busts in franchise history.

The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon on gambling in sports.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook thinks the Steelers must start 2nd year Santonio Holmes.

The Detroit Red Wings have unveiled their new sweaters — which look just like the old ones.

Chris Leak is strugg-a-ling to make the Bears roster.

Jon Gruden is tired of talking about Chris Simms.

SI writer Cory McCartney breaks down the nation’s top rushing tandems. 

More of ESPN’s breakdown of the top conferences in college football.

• Pac 10 vs. Big Ten
• SEC vs. Big 12

Pat Forde says SEC is king.

New York Red Bulls player blogs for the Times about meeting Beckham.

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Apparently there’s a fetus on facebook.

Slate’s Jack Shafer thinks newspaper need to admit more of their factual errors in print.

Edward Norton talks to the Los Angeles Times about his Incredible Hulk script.

Entertainment Weekly reviews the Seth Rogan-penned, Judd Apatow-produced Superbad.

       RESTAURANT WARS 

As the contestants stated, Restaurant Wars has become one of the most anticipated challenge and last night may have shed some very interesting light on how the judges are viewing the chefs this season. It appears as if they have adapted a “what have you done for me lately?” kind of attitude and are taking the chefs on a challenge-by-challenge basis. I think this is the wrong way to go and ultimately will leave us with another lackluster winner (sorry Ilan) at the end of the season. Judging by the previews, I think one of the heavy-hitters (see: Casey, C.J., Tre, Brian) could be leaving us next week.

This week (SPOILER ALERT) no one went home though there were some candidates for knife-packing. Howie, once again, continues to show that he knows everything and no one else knows anything. Like last week with his Cuban, Howie ran his mouth about how he knew how to cook risotto and has cooked it 100 times and proceeds, in true Howie fashion, to butcher it. It’s time to send Howie home and be done with his bullheaded stupidity once and for all.

Sara continues to ride the middle of the road and goes out of her way to fly under the radar. I don’t think she’s going home next week though she is clearly the least talented chef still in the competition at this point.

Dale’s choice of scented candles for his team’s restaurant almost cost him last night. But the chefs got a hold of themselves and remembered that this is Top Chef not Top Design and spared Dale. Likewise for Brian who ran the front of the house about as badly as you could have. The secret dinner guest/blogger took a shot at his sweatiness and on behalf of sweaty dudes everywhere, I feel ya Malarkey. Walk it off.

Tre burned and then inexplicably served potatoes that he knew were burned and it probably should have cost him last night. I think he’s one of the strongest chefs in the competition but has to be much smarter about what he’s putting on the plate.

Some other takes on this week’s episode:

• Anthony Bourdain
  
• Gail Simmons
• Ted Allen
• Huffington Post blogger Jane McGivney
• EW’s Gregory Kirschling