Everyone throw a couple of prayers up to the big guy for Donovan McNabb who makes his return to the field tonight. I worry that he rushed his rehab after the Birds took Kevin Kolb in the draft and that knee is not ready. We’ll see. I’m hoping for the best.

__________

No, seriously… 

Even insurance fraud can be painful.

__________

D-Nabb returns to the field tonight.

The Big Ten Network isn’t being picked up by cable carriers.

USC tailback Emmanuel Moody is headed out of L.A.

Miami Herald columnist wonders if Trent Green can still be good.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers want a cooler training camp facility at Walt Disney World.

The Orlando Sentinel on Chris Simms’ fall from grace.

___________

Netflix to drop prices yet again to compete with Blockbuster.

Disney’s Hollywood Studio to have an entire land dedicated to George Lucas?

The Huffington Post’s Liza Palmer on why Lost is like a bad relationship.

A whopping 18 stills from The Dark Knight!

Move-in day on the campus of Virginia Tech.

In more exciting news, my hometown,Terre Haute, Ind., totally got a shout-out during Tony Dungy’s appearance on Letterman last night to plug his new book.

__________

No, seriously…

A 16-year-old drove his truck to an island in the middle of a shallow Pennsylvania river and couldn’t get back.

Inmates split on Woody Allen.

__________

Eagles corner Sheldon Brown says leveling Reggie Bush in the playoffs last year was like running through a cardboard box.

New Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is already putting the team through the ringer.

What is Brady Quinn thinking? I think on draft day, everybody was kind of pulling for the guy to get drafted because of the embarrassment he caused himself by showing up to the draft without knowing where he would go or how far he’d fall. And now he has grossly overestimated his value and is pissing off an entire city that wants to embrace him. Cleveland wants to love Brady Quinn. He needs to quit acting like a petulant child and get to camp. What a dope.

You can still chew snuff at Tennessee football games but Neyland Stadium will now be smoke-free .

Bobby Petrino trying to keep the Falcons focused on the game on the field. Good luck.

LSU senior tailback Alley Broussard is leaving the team.

Matt Leinart’s legal battle with his ex-girlfriend Brynn Cameron could get very public and very messy.

Cotton Bowl executives are lobbying to make the Dallas-based bowl a BCS bowl.

SI’s Stewart Mandel on how the Michael Vick scandal has effected Virginia Tech.

Eagles draftee Kevin Kolb signs with the team. I was so hoping for a holdout.

Boise State running back (and publicity hound) Ian Johnson has hired extra security for his weekend wedding following racist threats.

___________

Well-rounded news…

USAToday profiles fanboys.

Naomi Watt, Stuart Townsend and Joseph Fiennes have all been cast for roles in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Not so fast.

Blockbuster may be losing money but it’s beating Netflix, says BusinessWeek.

Facebook founder finds himself in court; being sued by former colleagues.

Though relatively small companies, XM and Sirius merger is huge for the future of satellite radio, says Washington Post.

Has the mystery behind J.J. Abrams’ “mystery” project been solved?

How a movie poster got me totally excited for a Western.

The cover of Bottom Line fav. Kanye West’s new album, Graduation.

Blender’s top 25 most influential people in online music.

The Huffington Post’s Eric Williams thinks a Seth Rogan-led Green Hornet movie, or any Green Hornet movie, is a bad idea.

__________

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.

__________

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.”

__________

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.