__________

No, seriously…

Squirrels burned down the home of an Illinois man… twice.

__________

Good article today in the Washington Post by Les Carpenter on the fight over the NFLPA’s pension and disability plan. The way I feel about this is that the union and the NFL should make sure that, medically, players are taken care of after they leave the game because of how brutal a sport football is. Former players, however, are not entitled to dig into the pockets of current formers, despite their claims that they are. I’m working at a newspaper today and I certainly respect and admire those that came before me in this business but those people have no right to what I’m making today. And neither do the former players, many of whom resent what the kind of money today’s players are making.

Kevin Durant will be on the cover of EA Sports’ March Madness ‘08.

Penn State took action against 10 football players that took part in an off-campus fight that put one man in the hospital last year. Conveniently, none of them will be ineligible for the fall. Two of the players still face felony criminal charges.

Jay Mariotti says the Bears should have parted ways with Tank Johnson long ago.

Whoever is checking Andy Katz’s home for radon leaks may also want to fly to Detroit to inspect Jon Kitna’s crib. The quarterback told a Detroit radio station that the Lions are going to get at least 10 wins this year. I think that can happen.. oh wait.. 10 or more wins? Nevermind.

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the Magic are interested in acquiring free agent Rashard Lewis, the 6-10 forward averaged a career high 22.4 points last season. With a frontcourt of Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard, the Magic become a very serious threat in the Eastern Conference. Think Billy Donovan is having second thoughts?

The SEC is cracking down on class attendance. Following a policy set forth by the University of Georgia where the athletic department fined and suspended its athletes for missing classes and academic appointments, the conference is requiring all of its member schools to have some sort of attendance policy in place.

The Denver Post’s Woody Paige is suggesting John Elway help mentor Jay Cutler.