I am tired of the Michael Vick story. I’ve made my position on this matter unmistakably clear. The league, in keeping with the precedent set forth by the commish’s Pacman Jones ruling, have to suspend Michael Vick. I had a feeling that the animal rights’ groups would pressure the league and the franchise so heavily that they would have to make Vick take an indefinite leave of absence. And that’s what’s happening now. That being said, I’m over it. I don’t want to hear anymore about it on sports talk radio or read more columns from reporters across the country about how the league should throw the book at the (soon-to-be former) Falcons QB. I agree with all of those positions, by and large, but I’m done with this story. There is such a thing as media over-saturation and I’m there.

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No, seriously…

The French government has installed two toilets at the top of Mont Blac, Europe’s highest peak, which will have to be emptied by helicopter.

Great white sharks apparently don’t like kayakers.

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How effective will Rams first round pick Adam Carriker be at defensive tackle? I saw Carriker practice at the Senior Bowl and he’s got it all. He’s very quick, has great feet and hands and an unbelievable motor. The Rams shouldn’t over-think this. Leave Carriker at end. 

Great column in today’s Washington Post by columnist Sally Jenkins about the NBA ref scandal.

George Brett and the greatest gameday promotion ever.

Tennessee joins the list of schools who do not plan to drug test its high school athletes. I think a lot of these states are doing a big thing badly. If you think that steroid use and the use of performance enhancing drugs by high school athletes is limited to states like Texas and Florida, you’re kidding yourself. 

Florida basketball lines up another lackluster non-conference schedule.

Butch Davis on trying to rebuild the UNC football program.

Les Miles backs down from USC/Pac-10 comments. Not a bad idea, coach. Maybe Les peeped the Trojans’ depth chart.

Bobby Bowden has high expectations for his pair of (so far) underachieving quarterbacks.

AJC columnist Terence Moore says there is no way Michael Vick ever plays for the Falcons again.

Bob Stoops says he’s in no hurry to name his starting quarterback. At some point, this is just arrogance. Quarterback by committee has never worked anywhere. The Sooners need a starter. 

Carmelo Anthony follows Edgerrin James’ lead; introduces ‘the new Melo.’

Fellow Huskers impressed so far with new quarterback Sam Keller. I kind of think Keller is a baby. When Dirk Koetter didn’t name him starter at Arizona State, instead of staying and fighting it out with Rudy Carpenter, he immediately packed up and left. His mental toughness is certainly suspect.  

Mizzou coach calls QB Chase Daniel “amazing.”

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Response from last night’s YouTube debates is in. (New York Times/Time Magazine’s TV Blog/Jeff Jarvis). To be honest, I didn’t find this all that spectacular. The questions were predictable and kind of average. They certainly were no different than any question posed to the candidates during a traditional debate. I’ve decided that while I think Obama is the more viable candidate and certainly someone I would vote for, I love Joe Biden, even if he puts his foot in his mouth — a lot. Oh and as anyone who watched last night will tell you, Sen. Mike Gravel is nuts.

Premiere Magazine’s list of 10 TV shows that should be movies.

Is Netflix in trouble?

NBC is being sued after someone caught on Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” series killed himself. While it is difficult to argue with the intent of this series, as a journalist, I do not feel in any way that reporters should be doing the police’s job for them and making the news. It was really only a matter of time before this happened.  

Teen Vogue to fold? Where will LC “work?” 

Part 2 in Entertainment Weekly’s Top 50 Best Love Songs ever.

The Cinematical on how much a critic should spoil a film when writing a review. When writing reviews and when I did the Industry Outsider podcast, I tried to always be respectful of the readers and listeners who hadn’t seen the film. To not do that, in my opinion, is an arrogant and pompous things to do because at that point you are not writing the review for anyone else, you’re writing it for your own self-satisfaction.

TiVo to debut a $299.99 HD DVR. Nice. I think this will prove to be the right price point for this product.

CBS’ Public Eye on how the internet has become the destroyer of financial models.

Yikes.

Those were my exact thoughts when I read Les Miles comments about USC and their schedule, comments that he has since backed down from. (Comments that may or may not have stemmed from residual bitterness over losing top Louisiana prospect Joe McKnight to Southern Cal). And probably wisely so. As good as the Tigers will be this year, they’re not USC. Miles’ team is hands-down the favorite to win the SEC and a BCS championship between the Tigers and Trojans would be any sportswriters dream. The game would force Miles’ team to cash a check that his mouth wrote. After sniping USC, the Pac 10 and Alabama, it’s clear that Miles is pretty confident about his team this year and he should be.

It’s amazing to think that despite the departure of JaMarcus Russell, Dwayne Bowe, Craig Davis and LaRon Landry, LSU is still the favorite to win the SEC West and the conference championship. At quarterback, the Tigers will start senior Matt Flynn, who famously filled in for Russell in the Peach Bowl trouncing of the Miami Hurricanes in 2005. Flynn is a consistent, accurate quarterback and his mobility will give the Tigers offense, and new offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, some additional play-calling options. Expect to see a running back by committee in the backfield, with Crowton promising to “go with the hot hand” with Alley Broussard, Keiland Williams and Charles Scott all seeing some time. Replacing Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis won’t be easy, but you can’t be too worried if you have Early Doucet lining up wide. If Brandon LaFell and speedster Trindon Holliday can become consistent scoring threats, the LSU offense will be as multi-faceted and dangerous as any in the conference. With three starters returning on the offensive line, and a fourth if you include oft-injured right guard Will Arnold, the success of this offense will rely on the success of the line to stay healthy, open holes for the running backs, and protecting Matt Flynn and giving him time to find Doucet, LaFell, Holliday and tight end Richard Dickson.

Every offensive coordinator in the conference had to have been slamming their head against their desk when they found out that LSU’s defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey (an almost sure-fire first round pick after his junior year) decided to come back for his senior year in Baton Rouge. But for all the attention Dorsey gets, the Tigers will use a four-man rotation at tackle that will include Charles Alexander, Marlon Favorite and sophomore Al Woods coming in to spell Dorsey. Needless to say, running on the Tigers won’t be easy. With Tyson Jackson coming off the left end and Kirston Pittman, Rahim Alem and Tremaine Johnson all sharing time at right end, passing against the Bayou Bengals won’t be that much fun either.

At linebacker, the Tigers will return all three linebackers from last year. With the addition of some underclassmen who saw playing time last year as freshman, defensive coordinator Bo Pelini says this is the best corps he’s had since he arrived in Baton Rouge. With seniors Chevis Jackson and Jonathan Zenon starting at the corners, junior Curtis Taylor and senior Craig Steltz won’t face a baptism by fire as they try to replace four-year starters LaRon Landry and Jessie Daniels. The success of this defense will absolutely rely on how well this unit plays. If Jackson and Zenon can hold their own against the best receivers in the conference, it will free up Steltz and Taylor to fly around and make plays.

Few teams in the SEC this season have a schedule that is more favorable for a national championship run than LSU. Death Valley will play host to Virginia Tech, Florida, Auburn, South Carolina and Arkansas. The Tigers have a road schedule that is as weak, if not weaker, than Florida’s with games on the road against doormats Mississippi State, Ole Miss, an improving Kentucky team and a game in New Orleans against an overmatched Tulane team. But then there’s that game on Nov. 3 against what’s his name in Tuscaloosa. The storylines will be interesting but the game won’t be. Alabama isn’t there yet.

Bottom Line prediction: 11-1. My sole concern will this team is Miles himself. He’s done an awful lot of talking this offseason and I can’t help but wonder how Miles’ mouth will detrimentally affect his team this year. That week 2 game against ACC-favorite Virginia Tech at home could be an early season stumbling block. There’s also those tricky Gators that could easily hand the Tigers their sole loss of the season. Given their favorable road schedule, the Bayou Bengals will win the SEC West and be in national championship contention. Oh I can only hope we’re looking at a USC/LSU national championship.

Coming tomorrow: Arkansas

One story in particular had been yelling at the radio this morning. It’s this Oklahoma football story and how the program has to vacate all 8 of its 2005 wins stemming from the dismissal of Rhett Bomar and J.D. Quinn prior to the start of last season. I simply don’t think the punishment is enough. I think the program should not vacate the wins, they should forfeit them. All the teams they beat in 2005 should be credited with wins that includes their bowl game. Secondly, they should be put on probation.. no bowl games this year or next. The NCAA has to take a firm stance and let these football factories know that they need to keep an eye on their athletes. The programs have to be held accountable for the actions of their players. This story really makes you wonder what is going on with the Oklahoma Athletic Department. This is the second time in two years that the NCAA has come down with major sanctions against one of its cornerstone programs (former OU coach Kelvin Sampson was punished for making too many phone calls to recruits prior to his first season at IU).

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No, seriously…

How valuable is parking in New York? Try more than your house. Yet another reason living in the Big Apple is atrociously overrated, same goes for Boston.

A Connecticut man is being spared jailed time after spiking the grape juice of a local church with dish soap.

The British military has denied that they intentionally released man-eating badgers in Iraq.

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Eli Manning took a shot at departed Giants running back Tiki Barber yesterday. Finally, I think for all the complaining and sniping Tiki Barber did during his last two years in New York, it’s nice to see someone call him out. I just didn’t think it would have been the near-catatonic Eli.

The New York Rangers have rewarded goalie Henrik Lundqvist with a raise. So let me get this straight, the Rangers can give Lundqvist a raise, sign Scott Gomez and Chris Drury and still afford to keep Marty Straka, Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr? This story typifies my continuing frustration with Sabres management who just don’t seem to understand the modern free agency market in the NHL. They were mad that Edmonton made an offer to Thomas Vanek. THEY’RE TRYING TO GET BETTER! That’s what good teams do in the off-season.

West Virginia running back Steve Slaton has sights set on a national championship and says he’ll stay in school as long as it takes. My guess? Championship or not, he’s out of Morgantown after this year.

The New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica says A-Rod would be crazy to stay in New York.

The early season forecasts aren’t good for Purdue or IU.

What kind of season will ‘07 be for Steve Spurrier?

Interesting L.A. Times piece about new USC QB Mitch Mustain. I think Mustain will be the Drew Henson of USC, a semi-notable playing wearing a headset and a ball cap. The school is consistently recruited top talent at QB and having to sit this year out could put him behind Mark Sanchez and freshman QB Aaron Corps.

Marlins president David Samson is emphatic in his claim that Ichiro’s contract with “ruin baseball.”

The Fanhouse on what IU needs to do this season to move forward from the passing of Coach Hep.

Pete Carroll says LSU head coach Les Miles didn’t slam the Trojans; he slammed the teams they play.

Darius Miles is a nice guy.

The Memphis Grizzlies have signed a deal with Darko Milicic. At this point, I don’t think anyone has any idea what this kid can do. I’ll be interested to see how he performs in Memphis if he can get consistent minutes.

Fanhouse’s 6-12 ranking of the SEC’s quarterbacks.

Oklahoma is planning to appeal the ruling handed down from the NCAAPre yesterday.

Hoosiers’ at no. 8 in “Premature” basketball poll.

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Well-rounded news…

Bush 86’s press conference joke.

The nation’s largest union of firefighters is appealing to Americans not to support the presidential bid of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Entertainment Weekly interviews Stephen Colbert about his upcoming book.

The 20 best and worst celebrity blogs.

USAToday’s Pop Candy blog wants to know about your favorite band t-shirt. Mine’s an old Bush t-shirt, circa Razorblade Suitcase, with Gavin Rossdale’s mug on the front that I found at Goodwill in Terre Haute.

A tough story to read. An interview with the man who was involved in the car accident that killed David Halberstam.

Author and Bottom Line fav Chuck Klosterman is planning to write a sports book.

Digg founder Kevin Rose sounds off on the controversy over DiggNation’s parent company Revision3, suing a user who pirated episodes of the FREE show. This story is hard to swallow for me. I enjoy DiggNation, I kind of think Kevin Rose is a psuedo-intellectual, pseudo-artsy, pretentious moron but I find the show enjoyable. And I have a hard time dealing with the fact that they threatened legal action against a guy who pirated the podcasts when they themselves have talked openly about their own piracy on the show. If only Architecture in Helsinki did a song about hypocrisy than maybe Kevin would quote lines from it on the show while name-dropping the band.

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Favorite Story of the Day

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is alleged to have gone on a Yahoo! stock market forum under an alias to pimp the company’s stock and trash talk rival companies, particularly Wild Oats. Well done, John! I mean can’t all over-priced health food chains get along?

Checking in a little late today as things are busy here at the Log. I didn’t watch a single minute of last night’s All-Star Game instead opting for almost three hours of Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D-List (this should indicate my level of hatred towards Major League Baseball and all baseball related activities). Griffin’s show does an incredible job of making its otherwise unlikable star incredibly likable. The opposite can be saud for Bravo’s new Paula Abdul-based reality show, “Hey Paula.” I would imagine this show appeals to the same people that loved the weekly trainwreck “Being Bobby Brown.” All I needed to see was an ridiculously over-medicated Paula Abdul browbeat her two personal assistants about not packing the right sweatpants for a flight out of LAX. Did I really need another reason not to like Paula Abdul? Well now I have a weekly reminder of the dangers of popping prescription drugs like chicklets. If you watch that show regularly and love it, I’d suggest meeting with a therapist.

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No, seriously…

A city in China has set up a bounty for dead flies.

A home in Massachusetts where vultures roost year-round is for sale, can’t imagine why.

I don’t even have the words to describe this story.

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In the biggest news of the day, the Oklahoma football team will forfeit the entire 2005 season due to NCAA-placed sanctions on the program stemming from the dismal of starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and O-lineman J.D. Quinn from the team for getting paid to not work at a Norman, Okla. car dealership.

The head of the NFL players union is making $6.7 million last year and is still not afraid to break a few necks.

The Sabres are in the works to play an outdoor game at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

A great piece from the Chicago Sun-Times’ Greg Couch on the night that ended Tank Johnson’s career with the Bears.

Michigan ends its 13-year marriage to Nike; will wear Adidas starting in ‘08.

College football coaches are gearing up for the start of summer practice by tweaking and finalizing their playbooks.

The Baton Rouge Advocate’s Scott Rabalais on the comments made by LSU’s Les Miles about the Pac-10 and USC. Here’s what I don’t like that college football fans everywhere do. You can’t compare games and outcomes. You can’t compare what happened when USC played Notre Dame and when LSU played Notre Dame. A team can be completely different depending on when you played them. It’s hard not to wonder what would have happened to Michigan State (and to its former head coach John L. Smith) if they didn’t completely fold against Notre Dame in the 4th quarter. Because LSU beat Notre Dame by a similar margin as USC does not mean they were as good as USC was last year because they just weren’t. USC was one brain fart against UCLA from winning another title. And as for Les Miles’ wish to play the Trojans in the National Championship game.. be careful what you wish for, coach.

A well-done piece in the L.A. Times by Sam Farmer on the lives led by NFL head coaches and the effects of the job on their families.

Did you know…. Clippers star Elton Brand was one of the producers of Werner Herzog’s new flick “Rescue Dawn.”

Stewart Mandel’s best and worst coaches in college football.

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Well-rounded news…

The FCC hears from parties on both sides of the aisle over the proposed Sirus/XM Radio merger. There is no conceivable way that this merger can be good for consumers though I wouldn’t mind having all of the NFL games and NFL radio on the XM radio in my car. I’d take some minor price gouging and price fixing for that. Gotta give some some to get some.

Stereogum has recruited some great acts to cover the songs on Radiohead’s classic “OK Computer,” which celebrates its 10 year anniversary this year. Featured are acts like John Vanderslice and Cold War Kids. Oh did I mention, the MP3’s are free.

A pretty illuminating interview with ‘Order of the Phoenix’ screenwriter Michael Goldenberg.

Time’s look at this summer’s best movie marketing ploys.

Wired’s Game Life blog kills any excitement I had about the upcoming Bourne Conspiracy game.

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Best stories of the day

Evel Knievel and Kanye West are attempting to settle a multimillion dollar trademark infringement lawsuit stemming from West’s 2006 video “Touch the Sky” where the rapper played a character named Evel Kanyevel.

Metallica frontman James Hetfield was detained by British authorities at London’s Luton Airport prior to the band’s Live Earth appearance. It is believed he was stopped and questioned because of his “Taliban-like beard.” In related news, drummer Lars Ulrich overheard a baggage handler whistling “Enter Sandman” and sued him.

Back from the weekend and hours of Live Earth listening and watching. I think overall the performances were pretty run-of-the-mill if not dull. I think the effect this event will have on people may be their awareness of their everyday decisions that could effect the environment but that can’t be the only residual effect. That concert was supposed to be about widespread, global policy change at the highest level. Not just me making sure my lights are off when I leave my apartment in the morning or buying non-toxic, biodegradable dish soap at Publix (which I did yesterday, I’m answering the call). The genius of Live Earth was that it let everyone know, myself included, that there are so many things you can do to lessen your environmental impacts but isn’t that a little like rummaging through couch cushions for loose change? The only way the global climate crisis (if you believe it to be such) is going to be impacted in any significant way is if governments (like ours) get involved and gets concerned. Then and only then can real, substantial changes be made.

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No, seriously…

Man assaults brother with lawn gnome.

Boy named Hell barred from Australian catholic school.

A man in New Hampshire robbed a bank dressed as a tree.

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The Detroit Free-Press offers ways to rebuild Michigan State football.

The Tennessean answers some burning pre-season SEC questions.

The Oklahoman says the Sooners have to hitch their wagon to wideout Malcom Kelly if they want to win the Big 12.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Ted Miller takes on LSU’s Les Miles’ comments about the Pac-10. And then follows up today after being bombarded with e-mails. SEC fans are as defensive of their schedule as Notre Dame fans are about how weak the Irish’s schedule is annually.

Major League baseball is not letting Worldwide Leader broadcast from the site of this week’s All-Star game. Finally a baseball story I can get behind.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wonders how hard it would be for the Falcons to move Michael Vick.

New York Magazine on how best to get your mug on television at a game. Here’s a hint: bring a kid, preferably your own or one that you know. Kidnapping is a felony.

West Virginia running back Noel Devine: The next Reggie Bush or the next Pacman Jones?

Brian Dawkins is saying that if all the Eagles’ playmakers play at their highest-level, the Birds can pack their bags for Glendale. Your lips to God’s ears, Brian.

New York Magazine on how not to get beat up at a baseball game.

The story out of Buffalo keeps getting more bizarre. Daniel Briere’s agent is refuting the claims made by Sabres management about negotiations between his client and the team.

The Buffalo News’ Jerry Sullivan says Sabres management need to take some responsibility for how poorly handled this off-season has gone for the team.

Dan Patrick is leaving the Worldwide Leader to pursue “new endeavors.” These endeavors will include looking at himself in the mirror for a minimum of three hours a day, erect a Taj Mahal-like shrine to himself in his backyard and, of course, writing love notes to Keith Olbermann.

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Well-rounded news…

Mark Cuban’s spat with the Dallas Morning News.

Live Earth expected to break records in internet streams.

Facebook to go public?

Sony cuts the price of the PS3 by $100. Microsoft to follow suit?

Northwest Airlines has announced that it is now accepting Paypal as a valid form of payment for airline tickets. Great news for consumers. Now you can buy that $2.25 autographed 8×10 glossy of Pauly Shore and a trip to see your mom the same way.

Voters are already showing signs of fatigue from the ‘08 presidential race and the election is still 16 months away.

Variety’s Steven Mirkin takes the Live Earth telecast to task.

Jim Carey will play Ebeneezer Scrooge in an upcoming Robert Zemeckis version of “The Christmas Carol.” According to reports, Carey will play at least four roles in the film, which will utilize performance capture technology similar to those in the Zemeckis/Hanks Christmas vehicle, The Polar Express.

Voting has wrapped up on Time’s New Seven Wonders of the World.

One of my favorite authors, Chuck Klosterman, talks to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Time Magazine’s Bryan Walsh on what Live Earth really meant.

Newsweek wonders just how green Live Earth really was.

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Inside baseball…

Slate’s Jack Shafer says the new color of sensational journalism is green.