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.

____________

No, seriously…

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

____________

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.

____________

Well-rounded news… 

Premiere has a list of the 20 greatest plot twists.

NBC will not renew its contract with iTunes.

Monday I mentioned seeing the trailer for The Kingdom and being really excited about it. One of the other trailers before the Bourne Ultimatum was for Ridley Scott’s American Gangster staring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and… Common. Check it out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

__________

No, seriously…

A 10-year-old accidentally locked himself in a gun safe at a Massachusetts’ Sam’s Club.

An Australian cattle rancher spent a week in a tree after falling off his horse in a swamp chock-full of alligators.

__________

ESPN has launched bracket-style tournament to decide which conference will be strongest in 2007.

• ACC vs. Big 12
• Pac 10 vs. Mountain West
• WAC vs. Conference USA
• WAC vs. SEC

SI writer says USC freshman Joe McKnight is the second coming of Reggie Bush.

Fanhouse’s Pac 1o preview.

• Coaches on the hot seat.
• The teams not named USC or Cal.
  
• Top 5 games.
  
• Most underrated players.

A member of the Rutger’s Women’s Basketball team is suing Don Imus for defamation of character. This woman doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of winning this suit because her attorneys will have a very difficult time showing that she was specifically damaged by a comment that was made about a group of individuals, comments where no one was named individually. It would be the equivalent of someone saying that all Destin Log reporters were illiterate and possibly in-bred and then me trying to sue that person for defamation. You can’t sue someone for hurting your feelings — at least not yet.

John Smallwood on why it’s ok to overreact about the Eagles’ preseason snooze-fest. The Eagles are apparently not worried.

The New York Times says the greatest threat to Michael Vick’s future in the NFL may not be dogfighting specifically but rather the money he may or may not have gambled on dogfighting.

Giants rookie wideout Steve Smith has the Giants very excited.

Indiana football players will wear a helmet decal and a patch on their jerseys in memory of Coach Hep.

Photo: Sam Riche/ Indianapolis Star

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart lists his must-watch games of 2007.

With a bunch of youth and inexperience, the Orlando Sentinel’s Dave Curtis says Florida will experience some growing pains in ‘07.

Going to Broncos’ games help Darrent Williams’ mother cope with her son’s death.

Ankle problems seem to be plaguing Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin.

An interesting piece on hetero-lifemates, Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan, which features this photograph:

Whoever pranked neanderthal tight end Jeremy Shockey is officially my new hero.

Dan Patrick is back on ESPN radio for the next three days and word is Colin Cowherd will not be taking his place.

Peter King’s All-Future team.

Apparently there was a confrontation at a UCLA pick-up game between Baron Davis and USC FRESHMAN O.J. Mayo. You don’t think this kid’s going to be a total headache, do you Tim Floyd? Good luck.

The AJC’s Terence Moore thinks if Michael Vicks takes a plea deal, he’ll likely be banned from the NFL for a long time.

__________

Well-rounded news… 

An interesting take on journalistic objectivity and politics.

Peer-to-peer file sharing network Lime Wire appears to be going legit.

My So-Called Life movie not likely, says Claire Danes.

The Knocked Up dvd will hit stores Sept. 25 with three editions.

Daft Punk is looking to release a live CD.

Site of Coachella 300 years overdue for a massive earthquake.

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.

__________

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.