Quick update on my picks for the week, I went 9-for-11 last night with Ball State and Iowa State being my only two losses. Ball State lost to Miami of Ohio in the last seconds of that game in Muncie and Iowa State just didn’t show up to play at home against Kent State. Can’t win ‘em all.

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No, seriously…

We’re going to need a bigger fly swatter: 200-yard spider web found in Texas.

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The NFL has revamped its logo.

ACC must prove it is power conference again.

Virginia Tech lunch pail gets in on remembrance of shooting victims.

AJ Feeley breaks hand in preseason game. Inquirer/Daily News

Wisconsin running back P.J. Hill changes his style to prolong his career.

Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Trent Edwards impresses in Bills’ preseason wins.

The play of Brodie Croyle in the preseason solidifies the reasons to start Damon Huard at QB for Chiefs.

Hoosiers head to the Bahamas.

Vols will need to run ball effectively to repeat ‘06 result against Cal.

Georgia Tech hasn’t won at South Bend since the ’50s.

Urban Meyer not concerned about ego of USC transfer.

Is Oregon State running back Yvenson Bernard a Heisman dark horse?

Beckham out for six weeks with knee injury.

LSU not impressive in season opener, says Baton Rouge Advocate columnist.

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Well-rounded news… 

Premiere has a list of the 20 greatest plot twists.

NBC will not renew its contract with iTunes.

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No, seriously…

Emus love Wal-Mart.

That’s news to me: VA tells woman she’s dead.

That’s assault, brotha: Schoolchildren in Colorado no longer allowed to play tag.

Woman makes it known that she’s paranoid and racist at San Fransisco airport.

British crooks try tunneling to ATM.

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Colorado QB Cody Hawkins on being “the coach’s kid.”

Hokies to honor shooting victims before Saturday’s game against ECU.

No favorites in Heisman race, says SI writer.

Gamecocks oft-arrested freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia gets redshirt.

ESPN takes over “Two-A-Days.”

Browns fans vote on Quinn’s coif, prefer it long.

Nice piece in the New York Times on Jets rookie linebacker David Harris.

A story in the Washington Post about the beasts USC has at linebacker.

Is the Big Ten overrated or did it have a bad week last year?

Hoosiers trying not to think about emotions as gameday without Hep approaches.

‘07 Gators have challenge ahead, say ‘97 Gators.

Georgia will be tested, says former Oklahoma State coach Les Miles.

Pac-10 has worst refs, coaches say.

Andy Reid should have stayed home to deal with family issues, Inquirer columnist says.

VT players prepare for rush of emotions Saturday afternoon.

Will Demetrius Jones start for Notre Dame Saturday?

Slate combs college message boards.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette picks the top college football games this year.

Ainge breaks pinkie, will start Saturday.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart predicts the conference champions.

The Big 12 eyes a return to the top.

The Pac-10 needs to make a BCS stand.

UCLA, Cal poses biggest threat to USC’s Pac-10 supremacy.

Cal’s strategy is simple: get the ball in the hands of DeSean Jackson.

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Well-rounded news…

Trailer up for Steve Carell’s new movie “Dan in Real Life”

MTV bored enough to make reality television show about high school newspaper.

So why are Americans eating so much shrimp?

The producers of Lost sound off on Island’s new residents.

Is there a Magneto movie in the works?

Cinematical misses the pre-Earl Jason Lee.

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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

I plan on watching some NFL exhibition football for as long as I can stand it tonight (which could end up being the first quarter or so) but hey.. football’s back! Can’t feel too bad about that!

__________

No, seriously…

Beavers attacking the elderly.

Cops shouldn’t wear cowboys boots.. no one should really.

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ESPN’s Mark Schlabach looks at which college football coaches are on the hottest seats in 2007.

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt takes his team to see The Bourne Ultimatum.

ESPN Ombudsman: ‘Who’s Now?’ draws venomous response from ESPN faithful.

Another story on the Virginia Tech football team, this time by SI’s Stewart Mandel.

More of Fanhouse’s Big 12 Preview:

• Toughest schedules
• Coaches on the hot seat
• Underdogs

ESPN’s Pat Forde on the war of words between Michigan and former player and current Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. The Detroit Free Press’ Mark Snyder.

ESPN/ABC has released its schedule for the 2007 college football season.

Notable opinions: Mike Lupica, Michael Wilbon on Barry Bonds.

Racism in European soccer targeted at American DaMarcus Beasley.

Introducing, Steely McBeam, the new Pittsburgh Steelers mascot.

It’s never too early for an Indiana basketball story.

Brady Quinn expects to earn his lumps at Browns camp after holdout.

Steven Jackson shrugs off hard hits at Rams camp.

Another story from a paper outside Indiana about the start of Hoosiers football practice.

Joey Harrington says he was handcuffed by Lions.

Frank Beamer says he wasn’t accusing Georgia of spying on his practices.

Oklahoma defensive back Reggie Smith might be the best player you’ve never heard of.

Things get testy at USC camp.

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Well-rounded news…

30 percent of X-Box 360 owners don’t know the system performs in hi-def. I’m not one of them. It’s amazing.

What makes sweet tea so special in the South?

Kevin Smith on losing Rosario Dawson and his birthday.

Blockbuster acquires movie download service MovieLink.

Kevin Smith is not directing SuperMax.

Wild Oats profits fall through the floor.

Last night’s Top Chef

• Gail Simmons
  
• Ted Allen
• Anthony Bourdain

__________

No, seriously…

This guy really did attend the Ray Charles Driving Academy.

Canadian airline loses a very important piece of luggage.

__________

Jermaine O’Neal backs off his trade demand/ The Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz.

Packers rookie running back Brandon Jackson is impressing everyone in Green Bay.

The NFL Network to make games pay-per-view?

Joe Paterno says the Big Ten needs to reinstate the bye week.

Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English isn’t concerned about all the holes he must fill.

Urban Meyer may not redshirt freshman QB John Brantley after all.

Texas QB Colt McCoy is ready to go after impressive freshman season.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis still pretending that freshman Jimmy Clausen won’t start for the Irish.

Cal QB inexplicably dyes his hair various shades of blue.

USC’s trio of tailbacks coming on strong.

__________

Well-rounded news… 

New iMacs to look like the iPhone?

A nice piece in the LA Times on the trend of artists playing entire albums at live gigs.

Steve Allen to sell his portion of DreamWorks.

A poignant cartoon by Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today as flight delays hit a 13-year-high.

Harold Perrineau talks to Entertainment Weekly about returning to Lost.

A Top Chef bracket that beats the pants off ESPN’s stupid “Who’s Now?”

PopCandy’s breakdown of Lollapalooza.

__________

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.

__________

No, seriously…

A man in New Orleans found a knife in his back more than 5 months after he was stabbed in a fight.

Zimbabwe authorities are pissed at a medium that led them on a hunt for diesel fuel the medium said was in the northwestern part of the country.

__________

Great Q&A on The Big Lead with The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon.

The Falcons could face some serious consequences if Michael Vick practices, says SI’s Peter King.

Hawaii wants ESPN’s College Gameday to travel to the Big Island for the Warriors’ tilt against Boise State. Not gonna happen.

Brynn Cameron not about to put Matt Leinart up for Father of the Year. Unfortunately, this story isn’t that surprising.

A pair of stories on how Virginia Tech football players are preparing for the start of the ‘07 season. New York Times/Orlando Sentinel

Is Brady Quinn a jerk?

SI’s Grant Wahl on David Beckham’s debut Saturday night.

Keith Hernandez on his famous role on Seinfeld. The Zapruder-style footage of Hernandez spitting on Kramer and Newman is one of my favorite moments in television history.

__________

Well-rounded news…

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Best Buy’s Geek Squad taking stuff off your computer. Consumer rights blog The Consumerist led the way on this story. Good job, guys.

University of Kansas students will have their internet privileges taken away if they are caught file sharing.

The assistant managing editor at the Birmingham News is a genius!

An amazing map of Web 2.0.

Netflix has lowered their subscription fees in an effort to keep up with Blockbuster online. $1 guys! That’ll show ‘em!

Flying Gonzo!

Part one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 50 Best Love Songs Ever.

Bottom Line fav Nada Surf to hit the road in the fall to preview new material from their upcoming, yet-to-be-named album.

David Chase addresses The Sopranos finale.. sort of.

The Sacramento Bee will begin posting video letters to the editor on its site.

What to do with that Joan Obsborne CD you can’t believe you own.

XM and Sirius execs continue to try to convince the FCC that its merger is good for consumers. No way.

__________

No, seriously…

Don’t let firefighters from Braintree, Mass. into your house.

__________

Though he’s not playing, the focus of MLS fans is very much on David Beckham — and if you read the quote at the bottom of this article, it appears not everyone is stoked about it.

The opening of Madden 2008 features Eagles safety Brian Dawkins (a.k.a. “Dawk,” “Weapon X) and makes me want to run through a brick wall.

Steelers guard Alan Faneca says this will be his last year with the Steelers. Is this guy as irreplaceable as he seems to think he is?

The NHL ways from being a mainstream success says paper in a city without an NHL team.

The Tennessean takes a fun look at the mascots of the SEC.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart ranks the SEC’s best new assistants.

Pro athletes see degrees as key to life after sports.

Apparently Hollywood is pretty excited about having Becks in town.

The Denver Post’s John Henderson: Beckham’s talent gets lost in the circus that is the player’s life.

Apparently, everyone and their brother is reviewing NCAA Football 2008. Personally, I love the game on the 360. I realize it’s not perfect but I think the graphics are great, the game does play a little slow but all of the interfaces are great, recruiting is a blast and the dynasty mode with ESPN.com is pretty amazing.

Is Barry Bonds boycotting the Worldwide Leader?

Japanese reporter gets baseball writers association membership stripped after getting Clemens’ autograph.

__________

Well-rounded news…

The latest on two upcoming Kevin Smith films.

Some stills and video from the shoot of “Dark Knight” the sequel to Batman Begins have gotten out. I think I peed a little when I saw these.

Entertainment Weekly has listed its top 10 “small roles with a big impact” for actors who played small parts in movies that made the films they were in. A notable abscence from this list is Kevin Spacey as John Doe from David Fincher’s classic “Se7en.” Oh yeah and Coldplay’s cameo at the end of Shaun of the Death. Where can I get my tickets to ZombAid?

Bottom Line fave, Arctic Monkeys, are hitting the US this fall. My girlfriend will be happy to know that while she may have dodged an evening with Bloc Party, she’ll be accompanying me to the Monkeys gig in New Orleans. Put on your dancin’ shoes!

Harry Potter fans everywhere are pissed at the New York Times for reviewing the last Harry Potter book before it hit store shelves.

Drew Carey to be the new host of the Price is Right? What else does he have to do besides listen to Wayne Brady sing and count money?

Imagine all the fake legs you could buy for $40 million!

Everything you ever needed to know about life, you can learn from watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Brian Williams loves Interpol and Feist and She Wants Revenge (who sound exactly like Interpol).

It looks as if the NFL is going to let the legal proceedings play themselves out (something they didn’t do for Pacman Jones) but I’m slowly becoming tired of this story. None the less, here’s more stories if you’re not as tired as I am.

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The Vick story has put the underground world of dogfighting in the public light.

Vick’s future and marketability are very much in jeopardy.

Michael Vick could still face charges in Virginia.

The New York Daily News’ Lisa Olson says the Vick case has helped shed light on an inhumane sub-culture.

With indictment, Vick has put the NFL in a real tight spot.

NFL to let legal proceedings determine the facts.

Baltimore Sun’s Mark Schmuck says commish has enough facts to suspend Vick indefinitely.

The Kansas City Star’s Jason Whitlock says Michael Vick can evolve from the hip-hop, prison culture.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said based on previous cases, Michael Vick has a good chance of beating the rap.

The AJC talks to Falcons fans about the indictment.

The AJC’s Jeff Schultz wonders if there is any conceivable way that Michael Vick didn’t know what was going on at his home in Virginia.

Furman Bisher’s open letter to Falcons owner Arthur Blank.

Michael Vick lands ‘no-nonsense’ judge.

NFL should bench Michael Vick now, says Dallas Morning News columnist.

Ditto, says Denver Post.

Vick is league’s latest PR nightmare, LA Times says.

AJC’s Mark Bradley says Vick’s image damaged — but not beyond repair.

Vick story crashes Humane Society website.

Baltimore Sun’s David Steele says Michael Vick deserves everything he gets, guilty or not.

No notion could possibly be more preposterous. To suggest that the ESPYs mean serve any other function than to further exalt ESPN to its rightful place as the Worldwide Leaders in Sports is completely ridiculous. Say some punt returner wins an ESPY for Play of the Year. If that same player were to go to his respective team when his contracted expired and say, “Hey, I think I deserve to make this much as an ESPY winner.” Chances are he’d get laughed out of the room. Now if an actor won an Oscar or an Emmy, their value to studios or networks increases exponentially and it can be used as a bargaining chip. The ESPYs are nothing more than a completely contrived product of ESPN and should not be taken seriously in any way, shape or form.

__________

No, seriously…

You should really get rid of any drugs on your person before asking the cops for a ride home.

A Florida woman complained to a cop that a man had sold her bad crack.

A man crashed into a South Carolina police officer with 43 pounds of marijuana in his car.

Telemarketing isn’t for everyone.

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Newsweek’s Devin Gordon questions the role ESPN plays in today’s sports landscape.

Carson Palmer points out some of Ed Reed’s weaknesses as a safety.

NFL commish Roger Goodell reduced the 4-game suspension of Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen to just two games to match his two drunk driving arrests.

New Orleans is trying to convince the NFL to move the NFL Draft to the Big Easy.

South Carolina freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia is real close to getting himself kicked off the team. This kid can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble and as far as character issues are concerned, he has to raise about every red flag there is. I guess if you can throw a football 60 yards on the fly, it doesn’t matter if you key a professor’s car.

The finale of the Fanhouse’s best quarterbacks of the SEC.. guess who’s number 1?

On the night of the NBA draft, the New Jersey Nets reportedly passed on a deal that would have sent Jermaine O’Neal to the Nets for Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic and Jason Collins.

Madden champions might be awarded championship rings.

The Baton Rouge Advocate’s Scott Rabalais warns not to expect any changes to the BCS anytime soon.

A nice story about Deion Sanders in today’s Dallas Morning News.

The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee is expecting 800 to 1,000 corporate jets to descend on area airports when the Super Bowl is played in February.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who hates ESPN’s stupid ‘Who’s Now?’ tournament.

Sports blog Awful Announcing explains why so many people hate ESPN.

__________

Well-rounded news…

Slate questions Toyota’s “Little Deviants” ad campaign. I felt the same way the author of this piece does when I first saw this spot. It was before a movie and I was sitting there thinking, “Wow, this is really violent and inappropriate.” I think whoever greenlighted this campaign could end up paying for it with their job.

Robert De Niro’s next foray into directing will be a depiction of the 1949 Chinese Revolution.

Fox is keeping a very tight lid on the new Simpsons Movie and most critics won’t see the film until three days before it hits movie theatres everywhere. I’ll be very interested to see how this film does. I don’t think that anyone I know watches the Simpsons with any regularity but I still think the popularity of the series is undeniable and I think the movie will do very well… not Harry Potter well.. but it will rake in some box office bucks..

Johanna Bennett, ex-girlfriend of Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, talks about how the pair co-wrote the band’s infectious “Fluorescent Adolescent.”

The fourth season of Bottom Line fav Top Chef will be shot in Chicago.

Bravo will premiere eight, one-hour episodes of “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style,” starting in September. They’ve ordered another season of Project Runway but last I’d heard it was not certain that Gunn would return for a fourth season. Just a memo to Bravo, no more Shear Genius or Top Design, no one’s watching and those shows are garbage.

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