Rule #1 - WAIT UNTIL THE GAME’S OVER

A recap of the end of last night’s game between Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Texas Southern from USAToday’s SportsScope blog:

“Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Marcelle Goins made a 40-foot three-pointer at the buzzer, sending the game against Texas Southern into overtime. Pine Bluff’s fans rushed the court even though the game wasn’t over. The refs gave Pine Bluff a technical. Texas Southern made the two free throws and went into overtime with a two-point lead.

As expected, Pine Bluff lost — by one point, 77-76.

“You can’t blame it on any one thing because we made a bushel of mistakes,” UAPB Coach Van Holt said. “But the difference in the game was the technical foul on our fans.”

Even as a student at a basketball-crazy school, I’ve always thought that allowing students to storm the court after a game or rushing the field after a football game was an awfully bad idea. Forget the safety hazards proposed by falling goalposts or hundreds of people running close together and potentially getting trampled and killed, the volatile mix of emotional, exhausted players and a rabid mob of obnoxious, sometimes drunken, students is a recipe for disaster. Think about what happens when an opposing player has had enough of a kid yelling in his face as he tries to make his way off the floor and (justifiably perhaps) slugs him and that incites a huge brawl between players, coaches and students as law enforcement officers struggle to make their way through the crowd. What college campus wants that to be the last image of their athletic tradition?

But apparently, the threat of that happening isn’t enough to stop some athletic departments from letting their students rush the court or the field after a big win. Maybe if it starts to cost them games like it did APB last night, ADs will have a change of heart on this issue. It’s a shame that the possibility of someone losing their life in such a needless fashion isn’t enough to generate nationwide reform on behalf of colleges and universities.

Been a while since I threw up a news post.. here goes..

I like…

USAToday’s Pop Candy blog has a cool story about the pen pal relationship between John Waters and a young Fred Armisen, now a cast member on SNL.

Arctic Monkeys have released some new tracks under a fake name.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradley tears into the BCS.

Spin has a cool interview with Mike Doughty.

Anthony Bourdain is returning to work the sauté station at Les Halles in New York for a night. Working the grill station? Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin. Might not be a bad time to think about booking a table at Les Halles in the near future.

The new Chronicles of Narnia trailer:

To view the trailer in HD, head on over to Yahoo! Movies.

I don’t like…

BCS Coordinator and SEC Comish Mike Silve says increased parity in college football won’t change the BCS.

The Sabres have ended their 29-year relationship with the Rochester Americans.

I like…

Eric Gordon drops 33 in his debut for the Hoosiers last night.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradly says Georgia is every bit as tough as LSU.

Fanhouse has a funny take on the Missouri-Kansas border war.

Marvel is offering an archive of 2,500 back issues.. not for free but still pretty cool.  Lost creator Damon Lindelof has a list of what you should start with.

USAToday’s Beau Dure has devised a hypothetical playoff system.

I don’t like…

ESPN is stockpiling journalists.

The Michelin Guide gave zero stars to chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Las Vegas. Keller is the only American-born chef with two three-star Michelin restaurants to his credit (French Laundry and Per Se).

I like….

Serious Eats has some recipes for… wait for it.. bacon-wrapped Turkey.

The Indianapolis Star has a good article today about Big Ten teams and bowl eligibility. As of this week, only Minnesota doesn’t have a chance to become bowl eligible.

Georgia might be rocking black jerseys in their game against Auburn this weekend.

USAToday has a nice Indiana basketball preview story.

Lifehacker had a link to a handy app called BookBump. The application helps you keep track of books in your library, books you’re looking to acquire and helps student cite books in different formats for academic papers.

I like…

A hardcover, 240-page book of the Heroes graphic novel was released today.

Seth Myers and other Saturday Night Live cast members have joined the picket line for the WGA strike. While the strike spells trouble for shows that I love like Heroes, Lost and Pushing Daisies. Myers and the rest of SNL’s cast and writers can remain on strike indefinitely. That show is awful right now. I tried to watch it when Seth Rogan was hosting and the show was borderline unwatchable. Take your time out there, fellas, really. 

Heroes creator Tim Kring called Entertainment Weekly to apologize to fans for the show’s stagnant season 2 start.

I don’t like…

Our sister paper, the Northwest Florida Daily News, lost its sports editor Perry Ballard yesterday. Ballard, 52, was found dead at his Fort Walton Beach home and his passing has left many in the Florida Freedom family grieving today. Our hearts go out to Ballard’s wife, his friends and his extended family at the Daily News. He will be sorely missed.

For your right…

to PIIIIIIIIIIICKET!

Tina Fey picketing outside 30 Rock as part of the WGA strike.

Whitney Matheson over at the wonderful Pop Candy blog on USAToday.com has a plethora of links of stories trying to figure out how the strike will affect television junkies and moviegoers.

Somehow the jersey of Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon (and three other players including injured QB Tyrod Taylor and CB Brandon Flowers) disappeared prior to Thursday’s game in Atlanta against Georgia Tech.

As USAToday’s SportsScope blog so perfectly put it, “…these schools aren’t called “Tech” for a lack of resourcefulness.” A Georgia Tech away jersey was given to Glennon, tape was put over the name and Glennon’s name was written in a timeless caligraphy on the tape over the nameplate.

Equipment managers might want to forget Glennon’s gear more often. The normally-awful quarterback was 22 of 32, for 296 yards and 2 touchdowns.

This story of USC’s harrowing flight into South Bend really reaffirms why I hate flying and why I sweat like I’m being interrogated every time I get on an airplane.

The Labor Day weekend is upon us and for those of us here in Destin, it means one last weekend before Summer and the tourists it brings is officially over for the year.

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.

Watched the first three episodes (again) of Heroes last night. The show is really incredible and entertaining. Is it a tad overacted? Yes. But it does have the feeling of reading a comic book in a way that isn’t the least bit heavy-handed or on-the-nose (see: the visually-stupifying but soul-sucking Sin City). The performances turned in by the cast are decent if not occasionally overreaching but the ensemble cast does something extraordinarily well — they don’t get in the way. The stories being told in the show are so enveloping and engaging that Olivier-like performances are unnecessary and thankfully missing.

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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.