It was pretty difficult not to notice Kentucky’s ascent to SEC credibility last season. The 8-4 season the Wildcats tallied last season was enough to revamp excitement about the program in Lexington and throughout the state and earned head coach Rich Brooks a new four-year deal. Despite returning what has to be one of the most promising and exciting offenses in the conference, 2006 will prove to be a tough act to follow.

Offensively, you can’t say enough about this team. They have the SEC’s best quarterback, that’s right best quarterback, in senior Andre Woodson, an explosive returnman/tailback in Rafael Little, second-team all SEC wideout Keenan Burton and first-teamer tight end Jacob Tamme. But then there’s that offensive line, which is a frightening assemblage of new players and transformed players. Just how bad is it for UK’s O-Line? The line’s only two returning starts, junior tackle Garry Williams and junior left guard Christian Johnson, were suspended in the spring because of academic difficulties. But it’s Andre Woodson, one of the Bottom Line’s Top 5 breakout stars for the ‘07 season, that makes this offense worth watching. Woodson is returning from a season where he threw just seven interceptions and 31 touchdowns. With just 13 picks in 760 career attempts, the senior signal-caller currently owns the lowest interception ratio in SEC history. Rafael Little returns at tailback and will be a versatile and complex scoring threat and defenses will need to know where he is on the field at all times. He could line up in the backfield, in the slot or out wide. One of Brooks’ favorite formations is to go empty backfield with Little and Burton lined up on the shortside and letting them run option routes. UK returns an underrated crew of receivers led by Burton and Dicky Lyons, who caught 50 balls for 822 yards last year. But Lyons may not be a sure thing at that no. 2 receiver spot. Senior Steve Johnson, Jr. came on towards the end of last season and impressed during the spring and had offensive coordinator Joker Phillips singing his praises, saying the 6-3 receiver was actually better off press coverage than Keenan Burton. Expect Phillips to stretch the field with senior tight end Jacob Tamme, who was the Wildcats third leading receiver last season. Initially recruited to Kentucky as a receiver, Tamme’s speed and hands mimic that of a wideout and make him a deep threat. If the offensive line can mature and find some cohesion, the Kentucky offense could be hands-down the best in the conference.

While the offense was spectacular last season, the defense was anything but. Bluntly put, the defense was hideous last year. Finishing second to last in all of Div. 1-A football in pass defense and total defense and surrended more than 200 yards a game on the ground, good for 108th in the country. The area that the defense did excel in was creating turnovers. The Wildcat D forced 32 turnovers (18 of which were fumble recoveries) making for a 1.15 turnover ratio that was good for second best in the country. But to expect any defense to repeat that feat would be wishful thinking. The defensive line is a mess, returning only two starters on a defensive line that was pushed around and dominated for much of last season. (The UK defense surrendered 351 yards on the ground last year to Louisiana-Monroe). D-Line coach Rick Petri will need young guys to step up and step up fast. At linebacker, the team returns SEC-first teamer Wesley Woodyard, who had a team high 122-tackles last year at Will linebacker. Junior Braxton Kelley returns at middle with junior Johnny Williams returning at Sam. If the Kentucky front seven is to be anything close to respectable, it will have to improve on their 46.5 percent success rate on third down, which ranked worst in the conference last season. Sophomore Trevard Lindley could become one of the SEC’s best young corners this season shoring up the right cornerback spot. The battle for the starting left corner spot is anything but steady with sophomores E.J. Adams and Paul Warford battling for the start. After an explosive offseason, Marcus McClinton returns at free safety after almost being kicked off the team. In March, McClinton was temporarily suspended from the team after being arrested for setting off homemade explosives in his apartment (one of the aforementioned explosives injured the safety), reportedly consisting of dry ice inserted into bottles of water. McClinton and returning strong safety Roger Williams are experienced if not unspectacular and will need to be leaders on a unit that gave up 270 yards per game through the air. In a conference where Early Doucet, Percy Harvin, Marcus Monk and Earl Bennett line up wide, this relatively young unit will be put to the test early and often. Expect to see some track meets.

Grueling. That’s what comes to mind when you look at Kentucky’s schedule. The Wildcats travel to Arkansas, Vandy, South Carolina and Georgia. And play host to Florida, Tennessee and LSU. The Wildcats also play host to their Commonwealth rivals, Louisville in Week 3.

Bottom Line prediction: 5-7. Chalk up losses against Louisville, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and LSU. I would not be at all surprised if UK tallies an upset or two (maybe against South Carolina or Georgia at home) but I wouldn’t bet on it. A game of interest for me will be the Sept. 15 matchup against Louisville at home. My guess is that Kentucky will give the Cards all they can handle but the Louisville offense is just too much with Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia.

Over my morning bowl of cheerios, I watched Mike and Mike this morning and thought the show posed a very interesting question, “Do sports fans care about scandals?” The answer to that question, though, as the pair found out is very complex. As it pertains to steroids in baseball, I don’t care about steroids in baseball or Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record because I just don’t care about baseball. There are enough things in the world for me to be outraged about so much so that I don’t need to feign outrage in anything. But I think with sports scandals in general, sports fans just get worn out. I can’t listen to sports talk radio hosts talk about Michael Vick anymore, or Tim Donaghy or Barry Bonds. I just don’t want to hear it. And it’s not that I don’t care about those stories. I’m just tired. I need a nap from scandals.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

With the start of college football season about a month away, the Bottom Line will be looking at and previewing all of the teams in the SEC to determine which has the best change of winning the league and possibly the conference’s second consecutive BCS Championship.

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FLORIDA 

I wonder if Urban Meyer took a look at his depth chart after the national championship game and starting crossing off names. And when he was done, do you think he took a look at what was left of his defense, which was arguably the stalwart of that championship squad, and said, “Oh crap?”

Offensively, the Gators will dynamic and explosive. No surprise. This is going to be Tim Tebow’s team but some have to be worried when Meyer says things like this:

“I’d like two quarterbacks,” Meyer said. “Dan (Mullen) and I have talked about it. In this conference, with the style of offense we play and the styles of defense, the quarterback will get hit.”

He can’t be serious. And if he is, who is the foil to Tebow? Will it be Cameron Newton? Or Gatorade National Player of the Year John Brantley? Or what about juco transfer Bryan Waggener? If I were Urban Meyer, I’d be careful not to overthink last year’s success. At some point, your offense needs a proven signal caller to provide consistency and continuity to the unit. The Gators are not deep at running back and they haven’t been in Meyer’s tenure in Gainesville and expect that trend to continue. Tebow will have no shortage of weapons with Percy Harvin, Andre Caldwell and Louis Murphy lined up wide and with four of five offensive lineman returning, he should have plenty of time to chuck the ball around. He will have the opportunity to win or lose a lot of games for this team.

Defensively is where it gets really shaky for the Gators. The only defensive lineman the Gators are returning from last year’s squad is Derrick Harvey, who lead the Gators in sacks, tackles for loss and fumble recoveries. They’ll have to find an end on the other side to prevent Harvey from being consistently double-teamed every down. Gone are Brandon Siler, Earl Everett, Reggie Nelson, Reggie Lewis and Ryan Nelson. The Gators are horribly shallow at the defensive back and linebacker positions and they’re one injury to a starter away from being as porous as a fish net. Florida isn’t going to be grinding out any games this year.

The Gators play the weakest road schedule in the SEC (LSU, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina) and play host to Auburn, Tennessee and Florida State. If Florida makes it through their visit to Death Valley on Oct. 6 undefeated, Urban Meyer could be looking at another run at the BCS title. But with a defense like they one they’ve got, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Bottom Line Prediction:  10-2. I don’t see the Gators having the defense to make it out of Death Valley with a win and I think they drop a game to either Tennessee or Auburn but not both.

With all of the Michael Vick news that is abounding, I don’t have much room in my head for anything else. Hopefully, tomorrow my news reader will be free of any and all Vick and dogfighting related stories and I’ll have my blogging life back.

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No, seriously…

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

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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.

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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).

With all of the Michael Vick news, you could ever want below, Today’s Line will be (thankfully) free of any Vick-related stories.

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No, seriously…

Dressing monkeys in diapers with the beautification of a city in mind.

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The phenomenon of 7-0n-7.

The wife of troubled Devil Ray Elijah Dukes makes some very strong accusations in the couple’s divorce proceedings.

Duke football turns to the university’s business school for help with program.

The Baltimore Sun’s Rick Maese thinks Beckham’s arrival will have little effect on the perception of the MLS stateside.

A Virginia Tech golfer uses tragedy as motivation to win British Amateur.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association has no plans to test the state’s high school athletes for steroids. I think this is a huge mistake. As someone who played high school football in the state of Indiana I can tell you that some kids are looking for anyway to get a competitive advantage and get noticed by college scouts. What you don’t want is kids taking these easy-to-get OTC supplements and playing drugstore cowboy and taking whatever they want, however they want. It’s a shame that the state has opted not to join Florida, New Jersey and Texas on the forefront of this issue.

The State (Columbia, S.C.) looks at the effect the Confederate flag has on the state’s athletes.

Former Houston Oilers remember their first training camp in Nashville.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tony Barnhart says Arkansas has the SEC’s easiest schedule.

LeBron James will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live in the fall.

ESPN’s Steve Davis says the competition in the MLS is tougher than most people think.

USAToday’s takes a pre-season look at the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Boston Globe’s Peter May is not too impressed with the Magic signing forward Rashard Lewis.

The Worldwide Leader’s Gene Wojciechowski talks about the Beckham press conference last Friday.

Former Worldwide Leader talking head, and one of the Bottom Line’s most self-important people in sports, Dan Patrick to be brought to you in every way, shape and form.

The NFL has officially lost it.

Minnesota coach Tim Brewster has dismissed four Golden Gophers from the team in connection to an ongoing sexual assault case. Hmm, no one’s been convicted but the coach still had the integrity to kick them off the team. Getting any ideas, Arthur Blank?

Gary Player says there is steroid use in golf.

Cell phones have been banned from this year’s British Open.

CBS Sportsline’s Mike Freeman ranks the top 10 dirtiest college football programs.

Minnesota Wild goon Derek Boogaard teaches little kids how to properly throw down on the ice. What a complete moron this guy is. Any parent of a young hockey player with a functioning brain wouldn’t think of taking their kids to this stupid thing.

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Well-rounded news…

The last installment of the Harry Potter series hits eyeballs a week early.

You might want to re-think taking that homemade iPod charger through airport security.

Wired’s Epicenter blog wonders if Digg will shut down posts and comments with the address to the pirated copy of the last Harry Potter book.

iPhones shut down Duke University wi-fi.

The New York Daily News’ Jack Mathews lists his favorite flicks of ‘07 so far.

A nice look at VH1’s weekly skankfest “Rock of Love.”

Tim Russert would love to have Bruce Springteen on “Meet the Press”.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is saying there are no Facebook IPO plans — yet.

Zach Braff and creator Bill Lawrence has confirmed that this will be the last season of Bottom Line fave ‘Scrubs’.

Fox’s ‘House’ is getting some new blood for season four.

I feel the need to sort of blow one perception completely out of the water. As you may have been aware, ESPN aired its psuedo-award show, the ESPYs, last night (I was aware but was watched Rock of Love with Bret Michaels anyway). I just heard one of its talking heads on the radio, patting the network on the back and suggesting that the ESPYs had finally arrived and was “The Oscars or the Emmys of Sports.”

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.

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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.

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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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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.