Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater rips apart the Worldwide Leader, calling its talking heads, “a bunch of made-up clowns with microphones in hand.”

SI’s Richard Deitsch has an interesting Q&A with actor and Chicago sports nut John Cusack.

The Buffalo News is reporting that the Sabres have made an offer to free agent forward Daniel Briere. There is no word yet on whether the club is attempting to re-sign free agent and former captain Chris Drury.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Fox Sports Net has no intention of airing footage of a planned walk-out by fans at Saturday’s Pirates game. The fans are protesting management as the Bucs are well on their way to their 15th consecutive losing season. Hey Bud Selig, you wonder why baseball has become irrelevant, it’s because you’ve allowed the owners to get filthy stinking rich while the product on the field for most MLB teams stinks.

The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon encourages NBA teams to draft big.

Georgia coach Mark Richt remembers a mission trip he and his family took to Honduras.

Ever wonder why sportswriters say hockey players are the easiest athletes to get along with? It’s because of stories like this.

The Dallas Morning News’ David Moore questions the plausibility of Kevin Garnett moving to Phoenix tonight in a draft day deal.

IGN explores one of Madden 08’s new features, Weapons.

__________

Well-rounded news..

Wired Magazine blog The Underwire wonders how good the new Disney/Pixar animated flick “Ratatouille” will be. If the review discussed in this post is any indication, it could be a good one. I’m planning to check it out Friday or Saturday night and could have a review up over the weekend or Monday morning. I do more than sports here, people.

Here are some reviews of the flick, none of which I will be reading prior to seeing the film.

Variety

Associated Press

Hollywood Reporter

Entertainment Weekly

Chicago Tribune

Seriously, who’s watching According to Jim?

No, seriously….

A six-month old baby girl is named after 25 different prize fighters.

A burglar called for a “time out” during a foot chase with police.

__________

SI.com’s Kevin Armstrong, most recently remembered by this blogger for slurping Duke lacrosse, is reporting that the Hoover football program is under investigation for alleged grade changing.

Writing for Slate, Paul Shirley ponders what would happen if Kobe and Kevin Garnett ended up on the same team.

In a column, today in the New York Post, Paul Schwartz calls on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to begin docking teams who draft trouble players, a notion that I whole-heartedly agree with. I think too often teams are willing to take a flier on a guy with off-the-field issues if he’s talented enough. The league needs to ensure that doing so comes at a cost, Schwartz suggests draft picks or a tightened salary cap for those teams.

The New York Daily News is reporting that former Knick Allan Houston is planning a comeback and supposedly has a lot of interested parties, including, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, the Miami Heat. If they sign Houston, the median age of the Heat roster will be 56 years old.

Chris Webber is putting his personal collection of documents and letters from African-American leaders like Frederick Douglass, Malcom X, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr on display in Detroit. The exhibit will run through September.

Another column slurping the passion of Joakim Noah. This time its the Orlando Sentinel’s Dave Curtis.

The Dallas Morning News’ Tim Cowlishaw thinks the Cowboys should hold off giving QB Tony Romo a contract extension.

A very interesting piece in the New York Times about former Wisconsin forward Alando Tucker. Stephen Danley draws some very interesting comparisons to the perceived weaknesses of Tucker’s game and what some scouts believed Josh Howard’s weaknesses were coming out of Wake Forest four years ago.

The ASPCA has voted Georgia’s “Uga” as the most lovable mascot in all of college sports.