Willingham's Huskies prowling for opponents; UT's Lofton quietly battles cancer

(5/30) Tennessee has been praised for its willingness to play meaningful out-of-conference games in the past. Joey Mac points out that the University of Washington is doing the same thing. Ty Willingham’s Huskies will play LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, BYU and Notre Dame over the next five seasons.

My thoughts on the Atlanta Hawks hiring Rick Sund as their new general manager. Rick who?

Roscoe Tanner is in trouble again -- bounced a $72,000 check in Tennessee. He did the same thing in Florida but for only one-half that amount. Strange thing. Tanner was the big, hard-serving blond guy from Lookout Mountain who won the Australian Open and was consistently ranked in the Top 10 in men’s tennis for years.

One of the nicest guys you’d ever meet, which makes his problems even more puzzling. Attended Stanford, so we know he’s not stupid.

My thoughts on former Georgia quarterback Quincy Carter coming out of rehab to take on the backup quarterback job for Kansas City’s Arena Football team: I don’t care.

Ole Miss head football coach Houston Nutt says University of Texas transfer quarterback Jevon Sneed will start for the Rebels. . . Indiana University spent more than $200,000 in legal fees in conjunction with firing basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. . . UNC point guard Ty Lawson says he would have to be assured of being picked in the top 20 to stay in the NBA draft and not return to the Tar Heels. . . More than 2,000 showed up at a high school stadium to hear Florida quarterback Tim Tebow speak about his faith.

Some NFL gurus say former Michigan quarterback Chad Henne is the best prepared to play of any of the quarterbacks picked in the draft this season. Henne was chosen by the Miami Dolphins.

I feel bad for Chris Lofton, who revealed after the season that he had been battling testicular cancer for the past year. The Tennessee guard was considered one of the top shooting guards in the country but when his points and shooting percentage fell off during his senior year, the NBA guys backed away. Now Lofton’s name wasn’t even on the 65 players invited to the NBA camp in Florida.

Meyer: Tebow is due for some relief this football season

(5/29) Former Atlanta Falcon coach Bobby Petrino, who left the team with three games remaining in the NFL season to take the head job at Arkansas, "explained" why he chose to do it. He claims the Razorback job was on the table and the timing was such that it was must-do right then. Makes no sense but then, it never did.

As the deadline of June 16 draws nearer, which is the date college players who have left school for the NBA draft must declare, no one is more nervous than those gentle folks in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have three players -- Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green out there -- and it’s almost a given North Carolina is going to lose at least one if not more. The trio averaged 41 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists last year.

One college rumor making its way around is that Memphis is having talks with the Big East about leaving Conference-USA and joining with the bigger boys. That would give the Big East only 17 teams but now nine would play football.

A little late for Memorial Day but here’s SI.Com’s list of top athletes to serve in the armed forces -- Ted Williams, David Robinson, Roger Staubach, Gene Tunney and Bob Feller.

The eight most underrated golfers ever on the PGA tour, according to Sports Illustrated, include Larry Nelson, John Daly, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Rory Sabbatini and Calvin Peete. And if you wonder about Daly, he’s won more majors than, say, Greg Norman.

Name of the Week: Bo Levi Mitchell, an incoming freshman quarterback for June Jones at SMU.

Florida coach Urban Meyer admits he’s spending a lot of his off-season time conjuring up ways to take some of the offensive burden off of quarterback Tim Tebow. Meyer says he always make a list of his top playmakers before every game and in the past, the list was a short as two names. He says now the list goes all the way up to eight or nine.

SEC home to five of the nation's largest football stadiums; up next -- SEC TV?

(5/28) Most college football fans will tell you the largest stadium in the country is Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor but Penn State is now claiming no worse than a tie, and can also seat 107,000. Tennessee, Ohio State and Georgia round out the top five. And if you’re really curious, the top 10 includes LSU, Alabama, Southern Cal, Florida and UCLA. . . And by the way, the Wolverines are set for an NCAA-record 209th consecutive sellout home crowd of 100,000-plus on Aug. 30 when they entertain Utah in Ann Arbor. . .

Amazing that Ohio State leads the Big 10 in revenue produced by football, bringing in $59 million compared to Michigan’s $51 million.

Former Georgia Tech star and now Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek wore camouflage catching gear in honor of the troops Monday night for Memorial Day.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is a 7-2 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this year for the second time. If so, he would be the second player to do that - Archie Griffin of Ohio State won it in 1974-75.

Georgetown basketball player Jeremiah Rivers, son of the Boston Celtic coach Doc Rivers, has transferred to Indiana. The rising junior had narrowed his choices to the Hoosiers and Georgia Tech.

A major topic to be discussed during the SEC meetings this week in Florida is the formation of an SEC television network. Although the project is being touted as a way to showcase the conference’s Olympic sports, it would also televise additional football and basketball games not picked up by the major networks.

The NFL is about to implement stronger policies, fines and actions for players who end up on the wrong side of the law. But the good news, especially for teams like the Cincinnati Bengals, is that the league won’t make the new policies retroactive.

And finally, because the sport of tennis is in more trouble than usual with accusations of players throwing matches, no-shows at tournaments and a list of other complaints, the top three men’s players have put themselves forth for election onto the ATP board of directors. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic want to sit on tennis’ governing board. Not a good move in my opinion. That’s one of tennis’ problems now -- the players have too much of a say. The inmates running the asylum, so to speak.

Junior's switch from 8 to 88 means really big numbers for marketing company

(5/27) ESPN.Com compiled a list of the top 25 race car drivers of all time. The top five, in descending order: Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Dale Earnhardt, Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt. The King, Richard Petty, placed sixth (Click) .

Just a thought but if the powers that be won’t have a college football playoff, why don’t the television networks force one? Television drives everything else in the sport, so why not insist on a playoff?

And speaking of the BCS, one by-product of the system as it exists today is fans are now pulling for leagues as well as their particular team. Something like, well, if Georgia can’t win it, the SEC has LSU is in the championship game. Of course, the ACC has been doing that for years in basketball.

Because of dismissals, transfers, arrests and just plain quitting, Indiana University’s men’s basketball team has only eight scholarship players for this season and only two who were on the team last season.

No question who the big name is in NASCAR, according to the Charlotte Observer. Motorsports Authentics, which is one marketing arm associated with racing, reports that the new Dale Earnhardt, Jr. green shirts with Junior’s new 88 number on it has replaced the Budweiser Red shirts with his old number 8 as the best-seller.

After posting a loss of $6.5 million in the first quarter of 2007, the company turned a $3.6 million profit this quarter because of Junior’s sales.

According to the AJC, three of the top SEC games for this upcoming season feature Georgia and/or LSU. Georgia-Florida on Nov. 1 is everybody’s top game but the Bulldogs play in Baton Rouge Oct. 25 and Auburn on Nov. 15. LSU plays at Auburn on Sept. 20 and at Florida on Oct. 11.

In the ACC, none of the top five games involve Georgia Tech in any way, shape or form, according to the newspaper. Clemson, however, is featured in three of the top five and all are away games. The Tigers take on Wake Forest on Oct. 9, the Seminoles on Nov. 8 and Boston College on Nov. 1.

A plateful of NASCAR and a helping of Studebaker on the side

(5/23) If you don’t count Florida International which has only been playing football since 2002, Kent State has the worst all-time record of any team - 297-476-28, a .388 winning percentage, according to the New York Times. The current string of ineptitude –- two winning seasons since 1977

Lloyd Moore died this week, known as the oldest living NASCAR driver. In an obit in the New York Timesrecounting Moore’s early races, was this: "One race site was an uphill, downhill, through-a-stream, though-the woods course in Sugar Grove, Penn.,. known as Satan’s Bowl of Death." Now that’s racin’.

The folks who manage NASCAR merchandise sales say the newly acquired image of Racing Bad Boy hasn’t hurt Kyle Busch in sales. Busch was 27th last year in merchandise sales but has jumped up to seventh this year. That’s an 85 percent jump . . And to no one’s surprise, Dale Earnhardt Jr., despite not having won a race in two years, leads in garnering expose for sponsors while old nemesis Jeff Gordon is in the No. 2 spot.

OK, so I’m going overboard on NASCAR items today but Jeff Burton said he welcomes all the drug-testing the circuit can hand out. "You’re going 200 miles per hour," he said. "You deserve to know that the guy next to you is clean." Wonder if we could arrange for that on our highways?

Name of the Week: Andy Studebaker, who played linebacker for Wheaton College and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s harder than it looks. Ken Griffey Jr. has gone almost a month and 86 at-bats since his last homer. Griffey is standing at 597 homers and the psychological step of getting to 600 is wearing on him. That’s his longest homer drought since 1990.

And finally, a word about Major League Baseball. The Yankees and Tigers are in last place, the Marlins are in first and the Chicago Cubs may be the best team in baseball. Absurd.

And finally, really this time. This has absolutely nothing to do with sports but you know how I love lists. According to the American Merchandiser magazine, the top 10 selling snacks in vending machines are Snickers, Doritos, M&M Peanuts, Cheetos, Cheez-Its, Twix, Strawberry frosted Pop Tarts, Rice Krispies Treat, Lay’s Chips and Mrs. Freshley’s Jumbo Honey Bun.

Minnesota football recruit just says no to naked--but yes to Cornhuskers

(5/22) In a story about Rome native Will Muschamp, now the defensive coordinator at the University of Texas, the Dallas Morning News asked the Longhorn players what they thought of their new coach. Most said they thought he would come in with a lot of coach-speak about toughness, scream and yell during practices and then show his lighter side. They say it’s been five months. They still haven’t seen a lighter side.

For comparison’s sake, here’s how much the Atlanta Falcons think of their No. 3 choice in the recently completed NFL draft. Quarterback Matt Ryan signed a $72 million contract good for six years with a guarantee of $34.75 million. Two years ago, Vince Young signed a five-year deal worth $25.7 million with the Tennessee Titans.

The National Football League, in its exquisite wisdom, has come up with an idea to combat the waning interesting in pre-season games. Commish Roger Goodell wants to play 17 regular-season games rather than 16. Just what we need, another meaningless game. Why not eliminate all pre-season games. Colleges don’t seem to need them.

The team which managed the biggest turnaround in college football history is Hawaii, which went from 0-12 in 1998 to 9-4 the next season. (And this is from Joey Mac) South Carolina was close. The Gamecocks went from 0-11 in 1999 to 8-4 in 2000.

The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame will induct University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl this year.

No! To Naked. When the University of Minnesota took a group of football recruits out to a strip club during their recruiting visit, 6-foot-8, 305-pound lineman Lydon Murtha wasn’t pleased. In fact he decommitted and signed with Nebraska.

And speaking of, well, naked, Crystal Mangum, a.k.a. the Duke lacrosse stripper, received a degree in police psychology from North Carolina Central University.

And finally, proving that athletes will endorse just about anything for a buck, the Boston Celtics’ Glen "Big Baby" Davis has signed up as a spokesman for Ace Nail Care. That’s fingernails, not the kind you drive with a hammer.

Georgia vs. Florida picked as the top game this season by FoxSports

(5/21) Exactly one-fourth of the teams in the ACC will open their season on Thursday night, Aug. 28, and that just seems excessive. Besides Georgia Tech hosting Jacksonville State, Charleston Southern travels to Miami, Baylor meets Wake Forest and N.C. State takes on the Gamecocks of South Carolina. Whatever happened to Saturday afternoons?

Former baseball star Jose Canseco, due to going broke after two costly divorces, is taking up boxing to try and pick up a few quick bucks. He shouldn’t have any trouble finding an opponent. Plenty of former players would love to knock his block off.

When the ACC rejected the idea of playing nine conference games instead of eight last week, it made big news. But consider this, as pointed out by Scout.com. The SEC has won six national titles in the 16 years since it switched to eight regular season games and a championship game. In the four years previous to that, playing seven conference games, the league won zero national titles. In the 16 years prior to that, playing six league games, the SEC won just three national championships.

The Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville is No. 1 on FoxSports’ list of the top five college games of the year. No. 5 on the list was Alabama vs. Clemson at the Georgia Dome. No. 4 was Missouri at Texas; the Texas-Oklahoma game was third, Ohio State at Southern Cal was second and then the Bulldogs-Gators.

In passing out grades to college football teams for off-season hires, NBCSports.com gave out only four unqualified As. According to NBC, Rich Rodriguez’ hire by Michigan rated their top grade along with UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel, Houston’s Kevin Sumlin and yes, Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson. Arkansas’ procuring of Bobby Petrino was given an A/F - the "F" because he may not stay very long.

Alert reader Joey Mac sent this in. Something is terribly wrong. After FSU’s star receiver Preston Parker was arrested last week on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, which is a felony, head coach Bobby Bowden refused to ban weapons for his players. Last season, the University of Miami banned their players from having guns. "I’ve got one, too," said Bowden. "I hate to say this but if you are in certain neighborhoods, you better have a gun. You have to protect yourself and your family. I really hate to say that but it’s the way things have gotten. " My God.

Tech season opener gets interesting; no pot of gold for TV's Rainbow Man

(5/20) The opener for Georgia Tech’s new coach Paul Johnson against Jacksonville State was nothing but a yawner a week or so ago but things have changed. LSU quarterback transfer Ryan Perrilloux will be calling the signals against the Yellow Jackets.

And speaking of the Ramlin’ Wreck, Steven Threet, the quarterback who transferred to Michigan from Georgia Tech, is now expected to be the starter for new coach Rich Rodriguez.

Not sure if this is good news or bad, but the New York Daily News reports that boxer Mike Tyson is now a sober Muslim.

The New York Yankees grossed more than $319 million last year. With the largest payroll in Major League Baseball at $208 million, they obviously needed every cent.

Remember Rainbow Man, the multicolored Afro wig-wearing guy who showed up at sporting events from coast to coast with a sign that read John 3:16. Well, here’s why you haven’t seen him lately. Rollen Stewart is serving three life sentences for hostage-taking in 1992.

Arizona State officials say that they’re selling an unusual amount of season ticket packages to folks from Georgia, obviously Bulldog fans getting ready for the game against the Sun Devils on Sept. 20. Some of the season packages go for as little as $99.

Atlanta Braves’ outfielder Jeff Francoeur’s 369 consecutive starts is tops in the Major Leagues.

According to a list on SI.Com, the five dirtiest players in sports are the Detroit Piston’s Bill Laimbeer; the Cincinnati Reds’ Pete Rose; pro footballers Bill Romanowski and Conrad Dobler; and hockey’s Ulf Samuelsson.

Turns out that disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy not only bet on games but bet on games in which he was an official.

One of the first things a lot of pro athletes do after signing a big contract is buy their mother a house or a car or expensive jewelry. Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade bought his mother a church in Chicago which was dedicated over the weekend.

Away games to tax Bulldogs; FSU president predicts college playoffs inevitable

(5/19) The AJC had an excellent article on the upcoming football schedule for the University of Georgia. It does seem that things are set up for the Bulldogs to make a run at the national championship. If they are to make it through for the title, they will play the most ambitious schedule in years but that’s what it takes to win championships.

The first rough stretch involves playing at South Carolina and then traveling to Arizona for a game against No. 14 Arizona State the following week before returning home for a game against Alabama.

The second rough stretch involves the Bulldogs playing away from home four straight weeks, taking on LSU, Florida in Jacksonville, Kentucky and Auburn.

The landscape in college basketball is sure to change with North Carolina on the precipice of possibly losing up to four players from last year’s team. The latest defection is backup forward Alex Stephenson, who has left to return home to California because of an ill father. Starters Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington plus sixth man Danny Green are still out there testing the NBA waters.

For those who were disappointed that the BCS shot down a college football playoff, there’s still hope, according to Florida State President T.K. Wetherell. In fact, he says it’s inevitable. He says the unbelievable untapped money will make it impossible not to have a playoff, initially starting with four teams, then eight and finally 16.

How valuable is Tiger Woods to the PGA television ratings? The Players Championship last week, without Tiger, saw a drop of 28 percent in its viewing audience.

University of Washington and former Notre Dame head football coach Tyrone Willingham says a "good ol’ boy" network exists in certain parts of the country that prohibits black coaches from getting head jobs.

And finally, a question. Is Big Brown as good as he looks or is the field he’s racing against incredibly weak this year? No contest Saturday at the Preakness. He was beyond impressive.

Royal trouble for Sir Charles?; rare milestone for Braves, Chipper Jones

(5/16) Kind of a slow sports day; let’s see what we can do.

I like Charles Barkley. The retired NBA star and former Auburn player says what he thinks and I often agree. Remember he told America’s youth when he was in his hey-day as an NBA star that he didn’t want to be anybody’s role model. Kids’ role models should be their parents. But alas, Charles may be in trouble. Sir Charles, who says he will run for governor in his home state of Alabama, has been given notice that he must repay a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas casino or face criminal charges.

The 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament will be played at Boston’s historic Fenway Park. Fenway is one of a handful of major league parks that will have hosted a collegiate tournament.

A quarter of the way through the season, the Atlanta Braves’ Chipper Jones is hitting well over .400. The last Brave to bat .400 this far into the season was Ralph Garr in 1971.

An upcoming documentary on the life of boxer Mike Tyson says that the fighter went through more than $400 million in earnings on his way to bankruptcy.

Former Southern Cal basketball star O.J. Mayo took time out to meet with members of the media and denied he had received any improper gifts while at USC. After the interview, he slipped into his new red Porsche and drove away. . . And speaking of troubled players, former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, kicked out of school earlier this year, has signed to play at Jacksonville State in Alabama.

There’s been a lot of talk about Alabama coach Nick Saban signing 32 players for next year’s freshman class. But Saban doesn’t lead in that category. Miami signed 33, Virginia Tech 31, Minnesota and Florida State 30 each.

And just for the record, eight of the top 10 scorers last year in college basketball came from mid-major or low-major schools led by Charron Fisher at Niagara at 27.8 points per game and VMI’s Reggie Williams at 27.7 points.

Talk about flops: Falcons' power rating; Andruw Jones; Paris Hilton as a mom?

(5/15) Bobby Bowden didn’t exactly tell anyone when he was going to retire but the Florida State coach did say he could see the end and that he wouldn’t coach until he was 83. He’s 78 now, so that at least gives us a timetable, of sorts.

Something for Falcons’ fans to ponder. Jeff Schultz of the AJC points out that both ESPN and SI.Com rate Atlanta 32nd out of 32 teams in the NFL in power ratings. I wonder is that with or without Joe Horn?

And speaking of flops, Andruw Jones is hitting .170 with one home run and five RBI for the Los Angeles Dodgers and its already mid-May. The former Brave also weighs in at 242.

Two college teams have had five No. 1 picks in the NFL draft since its inception to lead all others. The two are Southern Cal and Notre Dame. One of the Trojan’s was O.J. Simpson. One of the Irish’s was Paul Hornung.

Weird that two of the greatest female athletes in their sport chose to retire within 24 hours of each other. Golf great Annika Sorenstam announced her retirement effective at the end of this season. Tennis great Justine Henin, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, says she’s retiring immediately.

Rivals.Com’s pre-season college football Heisman Trophy list included five quarterbacks, four running backs and one wide receiver. SEC players Tim Tebow of Florida and Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno were on the list.

And the other night on comedian Jay Leno’s Tonight show: Guest Paris Hilton said she would be a great mom because she’d had 17 dogs. Says Leno: "Hey, big deal, so did Michael Vick."

And finally, I ask Why Not? Everyone else is getting a piece of the pie. NCAA basketball officials are forming an association and are asking for more pay in post-season games. Right now, the officials make anywhere from $750 a game to $1,500 for a Final Four game. They’re quick to say their association is not a union. Of course not.

Tech fans would rather beat Georgia than win the ACC

(5/14) Sign of the Times: Former NBA star Latrell Sprewell’s yacht was sold at auction when he couldn’t make the payments and then his home was foreclosed upon when he failed his financial commitments. . . Pittsburgh Steelers Hines Ward’s restaurant in Pittsburgh will be auctioned next week in U.S. Bankruptcy court.

Florida State baseball star Buster Posey played all nine positions as the Seminoles beat Savannah State 10-0 this week. He also hit a grand slam to cap off his special day.

The Chicago Bears made Robbie Gould the highest paid kicker in NFL history when they signed him to a five-year, $15 million contract with a $4.5 million signing bonus. Eat your heart out, Pete Gogolak.

For musicians out there in the sports world, the University of Washington is offering $1,000 to someone to write it a new college song. The rules are it must be at least two verses with a recurring chorus. All you have to do is write the words -- a professional composer will put music to it.

And by the way, I’m all for the ACC and every other major college football conference adding a ninth conference game. Most conferences were playing eight conference games when there was an 11-game schedule, so why not add another league match instead of another cupcake?

West Virginia’s Pat White was the only quarterback pick on the 52nd annual Playboy Magazine All-America team.

Falcons’ wide receiver Joe Horn says he wants out of Atlanta and the word is that the Dallas Cowboys are interested in acquiring him to play opposite Terrell Owens.

Duke has committed itself to doing something about the sorry state of its football program. Besides hiring David Cutcliffe from Tennessee, the Blue Devil brass has approved more than $2 million for him to pay his assistants -- which puts them in the upper third of the ACC.

And finally, just to show you where Georgia Tech’s football priorities lie, the AJC asked fans to respond to the question, "Would Tech fans rather win the ACC or beat Georgia this year?" With more than 1,600 responding, almost 1,200 voted for "beat Georgia" - that’s 75 percent.

Some surprising offensive stats--at least from these colleges

(5/13) Rivals.Com reports that Georgia Tech, with four 1,000-yard rushers, two 3,000-yard passes and four 1,000-yard receivers is the only ACC school to have multiple players in each category in the past 10 years. OK, then, how come they haven’t been better than they have?

And here’s one I’ll bet you didn’t know. Kentucky leads the SEC with five 3,000-yard passers since 1998. Florida had four and Ole Miss three.

The Miami Herald reports that Bobby Bowden will coach at FSU for at least two more years. Coach-in-waiting and offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher must be paid $2.5 million if he’s not offered the job by Jan. 10, 2011.

Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning’s new wife, Abby, is a fashion designer. The new bride has said when the New York Giants are presented with their Tiffany & Co.-designed Super Bowl rings, Eli won’t be wearing his -- too much bling. Eli sheepishly said he might wear it for a few months.

And alert reader Joey Mac sends in this quote from Sergio Garcia after winning the Players Championship at Sawgrass: "I want to thank Tiger for not being here. That always makes things a little easier."

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. It just seems more than coincidental that former Southern Cal basketball star O.J. Mayo is accused of taking improper gifts from agents and friends of the program so closely on the heels of former USC running back and Heisman winner Reggie Bush being accused of the same.

Is there something in the water in Florida? Over the weekend, University of Florida defensive lineman Matt Patchan was shot in the shoulder. Central Florida cornerback Johnell Neal was shot in his hometown of Baton Rouge. And there was Gator defensive back Jamar Hornsby, upon whom we reported yesterday, who was tossed from school after being accused of using a dead woman’s credit card.

Today's question: How dumb can they be?

(5/12) Happy Reconsideration Day. Did you realize that exactly one year ago, Florida men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan left Gainesville to take over as head coach of the NBA’s Orlando Magic? Long story short. He reconsidered.

And speaking of Florida, how bright must Jamar Hornsby be? The Gator junior safety was arrested on charges of using a dead woman’s credit card -- not once but 33 times. And Hornsby started making purchases the day following her death in a motorcycle accident with another Gator football player. He’s been kicked off the team. . . And speaking of motorcycles, Alabama football player Rolando McClain purchased a motorcycle last week and wrecked it the same day but wasn’t seriously injured.

And speaking of motorcycles, I have an acquaintance who is a brain surgeon. He thanks God for motorcycles every night. They keep him in business.

Here’s a sports vent sent in by good friend Joey Mac. "It’s a good thing Mike Hampton is not a race horse."

Just the kind of trivial trivia I like: A total of 245 high schools in 42 states contributed to the 252 players taken in the NFL draft. California led all states with 34 followed by Florida with 25 and Texas with 24. No other state had more than 13, according to the L.A. Times.

Here’s another. The Raleigh News & Observer reports that Miami football, which started the decade 46-4 as a Big East member, is 30-19 since jumping to the ACC and is below .500 (12-13) in conference play.

And more from the Raleigh newspaper: The ACC hasn’t won its BCS bowl since Florida State beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl in 1999. FSU was supposed to bring the rest of the ACC up to its level. Instead, says the newspaper, the ACC has sucked the Seminoles into a vortex of mediocrity (they’re 31-20 since expansion.)

And finally, the Preakness will be run this Saturday but I’m not planning on watching. I’ve had enough after seeing what happened to Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby.

Norman says Appalachian State football coach a popular man with the Big 10

(5/9) Mark Teixeira is a great player, a good guy and is going to be a very rich one shortly. Teixeira, who played his collegiate baseball at Georgia Tech, is looking at free agency at the end of this year. Jon Heyman of SI. Com suggests the Atlanta Braves’ infielder’s contract may begin with the number "2" as in 200 million for a multiyear deal.

Question. Will the insane gasoline prices affect NASCAR?

Appalachian State football coach Jerry Moore learned his spread offense by watching Urban Meyer when he was at Utah and then refined it by visiting with Rich Rodriguez when he was at West Virginia. Now that Rodriguez is coaching at Michigan, Moore says he’s been invited to speak and visit with almost every team in the Big 10.

UNC-Ashville’s Kenny George, the 7-foot-7, 360-pound center, wears a size 28 shoe.

Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis took a couple of shots at Michigan and its new coaching staff during a speech to Irish boosters. In closing, he said, "To hell with Michigan." The Irish play the Wolverines the second game of the season.

The Final Four teams had a total of 14 underclassmen declare for the NBA draft -- four each from Memphis and UCLA and three from North Carolina and Kansas.

Joe Hamilton, the former Georgia Tech quarterback and recently hired football staffer, resigned after being charged with DUI, possession of marijuana and hit-and-run. It saved athletics director Dan Radakovich from having to make an unpopular decision.

The NCAA has accused Alabama State University of 668 rules violations, most of them in football. What? They forgot to wear their helmets?

Does Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie know something that we don’t know? Last week, the Wildcats’ coach got a verbal commitment from eight-grader Michael Avery in California. This week, he got a commitment from nine-grader Vincent Zollo of Ohio. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s crazy.

The long list of things Norman is tired of hearing about in sports

(5/8) I’m allowed to have a personal opinion within the context of these commentaries and my two new favorite sports figures are golfer Brandt Snedeker and NASCAR budding superstar Kyle Busch. Snedeker is young, always pleasant, unflappable, Southern and a pleasure to watch. Busch is young, will bring in a whole new age group to the racing circuit and his on-going feud with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. can do nothing but help the left-turn folks.

Things I’m tired of hearing:

>Reggie Bush and whether he’ll be deposed or not for accepting illegal gifts while at Southern Cal.

>Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia and Michigan.

>How good Georgia is going to be this year.

>Florida quarterback Tim Tebow performing one of his seemingly endless humanitarian good deeds.

>No movement by the BCS to a playoff system.

>Athletes running afoul of the law.

>Former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux.

>The big contracts being signed by college football coaches.

>Bobby Bowden vs. Joe Paterno and who’ll outlast the other.

>Nick Saban just on general principle.

More things I’m tired of hearing:

>The Atlanta Falcons’ seemingly inability to put the Michael Vick era behind.

>Come to think of it, Michael Vick, period.

>That the Atlanta Hawks are back. Hey, they lost by an average of 25 points per game in the NBA playoffs on the road in Boston.

>Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks.

>Who’s leaving early from the college basketball ranks for the NBA.

>Mark Richt and his seemingly endless good deeds.

>Tech football players jumping ship because of Paul Johnson.

And more things:

>Congress’ involvement with Major League Baseball.

>Presidential candidates courting the NASCAR vote. Hey Hillary, it didn’t work.

>Athletes involving themselves with presidential politics. Fox sportscaster Troy Aikman gave $2,300 to John McCain.

>Politics being involved with the Olympics.

>Charlie Weis and Notre Dame, not necessarily in that order.

> Anything to do with boxer Mike Tyson.

>Any story dealing with Evander Holyfield’s retirement.

>Michael Vick - ah, I already said that.

NCAA report card: 200 colleges penalized because of low academic standards

(5/7) Say it ain’t so, Joe. The AJC reports that Joe Hamilton, the former Georgia Tech quarterback hired last month as a football assistant, has been arrested on charges of DUI, possession of marijuana and hit and run on Tuesday. Hamilton had at stint in the NFL and the Arena Football League before joining the Yellow Jacket staff. The South Carolina native led Tech to a share of the ACC title in 1998. A shame. Hamilton always seemed to have his head on straight.

Lou Holtz was one of the inductees announced last week for the College Football Hall of Fame. Holtz wasn’t quite as well-traveled as the NBA’s Larry Brown but he comes close. Holtz coached at William & Mary, N.C. State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina with a side trip to the NFL with the New York Jets. His overall college record was 249-132-7.

Here & There: Wayne Gretzky and John Elway have bought between 1 and 2 percent of the Professional Bull Riding circuit. . . Dennis Rodman has been signed into a rehab unit although I’m not sure from what he’s rehabilitating. There’s a long list of choices. . . There are 69 college basketball players who are early entrants into the NBA draft. Somebody needs to do something about this age limit thing. . . Bob Huggins has signed an 11-year contract extension as head basketball coach at West Virginia. I’ve never heard of an 11-year extension before.

The hot rumor on the NASCAR circuit is that team owner Rick Hendrick could give Casey Mears the boot and give the No. 5 car to Tony Stewart. With Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon on the same team, the question would be is there enough ego room and enough cars to go around? . . . Kyle Busch has joined forces with Pedigree Dog Chow and will try to raise $100,000 for the 4 million dogs in shelters and for adoption programs.

The NCAA announced it had handed out penalties to more than 200 colleges for lack of academic performance. In basketball, Tennessee was the most notable. In football, both Kansas and Hawaii received penalties which include loss of scholarships and reduced practice time. The NCAA promises it will be less lenient next season.

Word on the campus is that Ryan Perrilloux, the LSU quarterback who was kicked out of school, will re-surface at Alabama’s Jacksonville State. Jax State kicked its starting quarterback, Cedric Johnson, off the team for violation of team rules. Perfect match.

And finally, of the 19 players who were suspended from the Florida State football team in December, less than a dozen are on the team as a result of graduation, transfer and academic ineligibility. Six are projected starters.

SEC chief's playoff plan might be too successful with fans?

(5/6) OK, let’s all get this straight. SEC commissioner Mike Slive’s plan for a plus-one playoff system, which essentially involved four teams playing two games to decide a national champion, was defeated because it might be too successful? Seriously, that was the thinking. Every conference except the SEC and the ACC voted against the proposal because they felt it might be so welcomed that fans wouldn’t be appeased with just four teams and might want to go to eight or even 16. Gosh, imagine that. The Division I-AA envisioned that right out of the box.

All-star pitcher Roger Clemens admitted to making some mistakes in his personal life after it was reported that he had affairs with several women during his career. Clemens’ admission is much like the Titanic reporting it had a leak.

Just what the Falcons needed -- another player in trouble with the law. Linebacker Michael Boley was arrested over the weekend for battery at a time when the Atlanta club is stressing good behavior after the Michael Vick fiasco of the past year.

Former Kentucky head basketball coach Tubby Smith was back in Lexington over the weekend for the first time since his departure last year to coach at the University of Minnesota.. Smith was presented an honorary Doctorate Degree in Humanities by the university. He also attended the Kentucky Derby.

Talk about a challenge: New Indiana basketball coach Tom Creen, after defections and dismissals, is down to three returning scholarship players and eight players in all as he looks to regain the Hoosiers’ place among the nation’s elite programs.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that during spring break, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow helped out at a medical clinic set up by his minister father in an impoverished village in the Philippines. "Dr. Tebow" helped circumcise needy children.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce NASCAR’s newest villain. Jeff Gordon will have to step back for Kyle Busch, after his run-in with Dale Earnhart Jr., has inspired Junior fans to start an Internet crusade to Rise Up Against Kyle Busch. It’s just one of them racin’ things.

Sports notes: It's never too early to talk SEC football (or basketball)

(5/5) Some SEC Football stuff: Seven of the dozen Southeastern Conference schools drew at least 28,000 for their spring football games and the SEC averaged 31,100. . . Florida will be going for its 21st consecutive winning season in football, a league record. . . Georgia returns 19 of 26 starters to a team which finished 11-2 and ranked No. 2 in the final football polls. . . Name of the week is LSU defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois. . . It’s a little frightening to realize that Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer is entering his 17th year, making him the dean of SEC coaches. The Vols also have four new offensive coaches. . . South Carolina place kicker Ryan Succop was named the Gamecock Offensive Player of the Spring. . . Texas quarterback transfer Jevan Sneed is expected to start for Ole Miss.

Bruce Pearl has booted both Duke Crews and Ramar Smith off the Tennessee basketball team and out of school. Also, Pearl’s divorce from his wife of 25 years was finalized last week.

I thought it was about time when LSU bid adieu to troubled quarterback Ryan Perrilloux. The projected starter had been given a handful of chances and couldn’t stay out of trouble.

Sportswriter Dan Shanoff proposes the SEC secede from the BCS, since it is the strongest football conference, and set up its own playoff system in football. Invite anyone who cares to join, if not whole leagues, than individual teams. And don’t let the obstructionists to a true playoff -- the Big 10 and Pac-10 -- to participate. I love the idea.

Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has nine former assistant coaches who are now head basketball coaches.

Some of the week’s stupidities: Chicago Bears’ running back Cedric Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated and had to be taken down with pepper spray. . . Kansas City Royals’ pitcher John Bale broke his hand punching a door at the team’s hotel. . .Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie extended a scholarship offer to an eighth-grader last week. Michael Avery gave his verbal commitment and will arrive on the Lexington campus in time to play on the 2012-13 Wildcat team.

Syracuse’s Greg Robinson has compiled a 7-28 overall, 2-19 in Big East conference play in his three years at the helm of the Orange.

The Hawks embarrassed themselves again, losing to the Celtics by 34 in the seventh and final game of the NBA playoffs scoring a shaky 26 points in the entire first half. Which begs the question, should there be a mercy rule in pro basketball?

Says Norman: We need more bowl games!

(5/2) The long-awaited news that there will be two more bowl games this season is now confirmed. The Congressional Bowl will be played in Washington, D.C., and will pit the ninth best team in the ACC against Navy - if either qualifies. The St. Petersburg Bowl (in Florida, not Russia) will be between the seventh best team in the eight-team Big East against a Conference USA team.

How does it come about that we have 119 Division I teams and 68 spots open since there are now 34 bowls.

Do a group of folks in Washington and St. Petersburg sit down at a table and someone says, "Hey, I’ve got it. Let’s have a bowl game!" and everyone votes yes? It’s completely insane. Can 68 teams qualify by winning at least six games? The best thing that can happen is that some bowls simply can’t fill in their slots and they’ll drop out.

The big BCS meeting in Florida which featured 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame, was a non-event, as expected. It is now clear to anyone with a half-brain that there isn’t going to be a college football playoff of any kind in our lifetime and maybe never. Period. Let’s talk about something else.

Gosh, it’s just the first week in May and there’s already noise coming from the peanut gallery that Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox needs to go. Didn’t take long this year. Ridiculous.

Davidson College finally got its due for its NCAA tourney run. Frank Ben-Eze out of Arlington, Va., signed with the Wildcats this week. Ben-Eze, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center, was ranked as the 12th best remaining unsigned player.

Georgia, not to be outdone by Georgia Tech’s scheduling of behemoths Gardner-Webb and Jacksonville State, has agreed to take on Tennessee Tech in 2009. . . And speaking of the Yellow Jackets, Paul Johnson could be Coach of the Year if he wins more than he loses, or even breaks even. I count seven games right out of the box in which they should be underdogs -- at Boston College, Virginia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina and Georgia and two home games against Miami and Florida State. Are we that sure of the wishbone?

Tech lineman latest to seek other options rather than play Johnson's offense

(5/1) Shocking that Hansbrough is transferring to Notre Dame. No, not North Carolina Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough but brother Ben, who will be a junior. The younger Hansbrough, a 6-3 guard, started 28 games for Mississippi State, averaging 10.8 points. He must sit out a year.

Georgia Tech’s offensive lineman Trey Dunmon announced he’s transferring out of the Jackets program, saying new coach Paul Johnson’s option offense isn’t best suited to his talents. Dunmon plans to go to Georgia Southern. Four have transferred since Johnson took over.

Perhaps I haven’t been paying attention, but I was unaware that Falcon owner Arthur Blank is pursuing bringing a Major League Soccer franchise to Atlanta.

Prices for this year’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game to be played in Yankee Stadium are going from $150-$725. Last year in San Francisco, tickets sold from $75 - $285. Must be the nostalgia of seeing a game in a stadium that’s disappearing after this season.

Blue chip point guard Tyshawn Taylor from Jersey City has given his verbal commitment to play basketball at Kansas. His final two choice were the Jayhawks and Georgia Tech.

The Buffalo Bills will receive $78 million to play eight games in the next five years in Toronto - three exhibition games and five regular season contests.

Nomadic basketball coach Larry Brown was hired by the Charlotte Bobcats. The job is Brown’s ninth in pro basketball and 11th overall counting his foray into the college ranks at UCLA and Kansas. He’s one of five NBA coaches to have 1,000 wins and the only one to have a collegiate title and pro title.

WRAL.com points out that Clemson’s Tommy Bowden has never had a losing season, but neither has he won an ACC title or had a Top 10 finish.

The University of Miami’s fall from grace among college football powers was further emphasized when the Hurricanes drew only 11,000 for their spring game.

And finally, and this seems like a good way to end it, more than 500 men lined up at Miller Stadium before a Milwaukee Brewers' game for a free prostate cancer screening test. Each got two free tickets for his trouble.