Nov 9
No picks this week.
Mack Brown isn’t 40, but he’s a man, he has knowledge to spare, and OSU should pay attention.
Twice this week the Texas coach taught Mike Gundy a lesson. On Saturday, he reminded the 40-year-old Football Coach that NCAA games are indeed four quarters long. Then on Tuesday, Brown proved why it’s never a good idea to give a scholarship to anyone who's name is closely tied with the words, “sexual”, “assault”, and “12-year-old”. Chris Collins was 17 and on his way to play for the Longhorns when he was accused of the aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl during an after-prom party. Mack Brown, a man who has let a wild Red River flow of thugs into his program in recent years, told Collins to take a walk. Gundy stepped in, and with the charges still pending, made Collins a Cowboy. On Tuesday, Collins–now a sophomore linebacker at OSU–pleaded guilty. Career over, right? End of story, right? Wrong. Sure, Collins has been suspended for the remainder of season. But he’s still on scholarship, still enrolled in classes at OSU, and according to the school will be “supported and encouraged”, because he’s been a “model student”. OSU says it’s a process. That they need to check into things, review the details. Trust me, the details of this situation aren’t the stuff scholarship offers are made of.

“YOU WANT TO GO AFTER AN ATHLETE, ONE OF MY ATHLETES, YOU GO AFTER ONE THAT DOESN’T DO ALL THE RIGHT THINGS.” Mike Gundy, during his Jenni Carlson rant.

Mike Gundy says the media, “makes him want to puke!” This week the Stillwater Shouter’s silence has me throwing up in my mouth. This isn’t the NFL. There are no contracts, there’s no Players Association at this level. If someone on his team so much as looks at Gundy the wrong way, he’s got the right to send him packing. Yet Collins remains on scholarship?
Yesterday I listened to a local sports talk host ramble on about how Collins deserved a second chance. Folks, I don’t know Chris Collins. Never met him. And I don’t care what a nice, quiet kid Collins has been during his time at Stillwater. What I do know is that he pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl. When Mack Brown cut ties with Collins, OSU (once again) became Second-Chance University.
This isn’t baseball, you don’t get three strikes.
This is the sexual assault of a 12-year-old, and Collins needs to go. And if Mike Gundy wants to yell at me about it, that’s fine, I can take it. After all, I’m a man, I just turned 30.


Nov 2
When I was in college back in New York, I had a journalism class in which we had to ask each other basic questions like, “where are you from?” and “what kind of car do you drive?” The name of this class is irrelevant, since this story is a lie.
Regardless, when I was asked what car I drove, my reply, “when Im home, I drive my mothers caravan,” was met with laughter from a few guys and a look from the Long Island ladies that clearly stated: “no shot in hell.”
These days I roll through the OKC in a Civic (sorry ladies, Im taken now) and I’ve never been more afraid for my life. You see, the Honda Civic 2003 doesnt come standard with periscope, which would enable me to see over the Tundra parked to my right and the Silverado to my left. Because of this, I almost never pull out of a parking space with any confidence that I won’t be mauled by a Dodge Dakota. It’s a miracle in the Jon Kitna sense of the word, that I haven’t been killed.
Dont get me wrong; I dont hate all people with pickup trucks, I just find many of them ridiculous. Especially the ones who reside in my apartment complex. The logic behind renting a studio apartment and then purchasing a truck so mammoth, your efficiency could fit inside it, escapes me.
Remember guys, as sure as John Mellencamp sings, “this is our country,” and Toby Keith croons, “Ford trucks are tough, just like Oklahomans”, both of those men are chauffeured to and from sold out concerts in luxury vehicles that dont have a hitch or a flat bed.

With that off my chest lets get to the picks.

NCAA

Texas A&M at Oklahoma
LINE: Sooners by 21
Since destroying their first four opponents by a combine score of 146-47, Oklahoma has cooled off, going 3-1, without a margin of victory larger than 10 points. OU has won the past three in the series, but none by more than 7 points. Sure, the Aggies are reeling, but they’re not Nebraska, and giving 21 points in a conference game not featuring Baylor is asking a ton.
THE PICK: Texas A&M

Texas at Oklahoma State
LINE: Texas by 3
The Longhorns don’t own the Cowboys, but as Fletch would say, “they’ve got a lease with an option to buy.” Texas has won 19-of-21 in the series, including the last nine. The stakes are high: if OSU wins it all but guarantees that the Bedlam game will be for the Big 12 South title. The Cowboys have found ways to melt down in Stillwater, but not this time.
THE (less than confident) PICK: OSU

NFL
Patriots at Colts
LINE: Pats by 5
I like the take of Newday’s Ed McNamara:
“What is best in life is to crush your enemies and see them scattered before you." Who said it? No, not Bill Belichick, but another legendary coach, Genghis Khan, who led the Mongols, history's top road team. On the Merciless Meter, Genghis and Bill rank about even, but Mr. Khan was nicer to the
media.
Obviously, Ed likes the Pats in this one, but I just can’t bring myself to go against the Colts in the RCA Dome–where Indy is a home dog for the fist time in six years–especially not after Tony Dungy compared the Pats Spygate scandal to Barry Bonds.
THE PICK: Colts

October 26
Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and the Dallas Cowboys all have the weekend off, so I’m taking the weekend off from writing an intro.

Your Picks

NCAA
Ohio State at Penn State
LINE: Ohio State -4
Earlier in the season, Ohio State's third-string quarterback, Antonio Henton, was accused of soliciting a prostitute...on a Monday night (apparently Henton offered a cop $20 for sex). Call me naive, but I never would have guessed that hookers even worked on Monday nights. Seriously, after a long weekend of turning tricks, wouldn’t Monday and Tuesday be booked solid with trips to the free clinic/clear heels superstore? But the bigger, more pressing question is this: How is it that Antonio Henton needed a prostitute? He’s a frequin’ quarterback at The Ohio State University. Meanwhile at Penn State, young college coeds live in fear of a tiny geriatric road-rager named Joe Paterno. The good news is that neither of these incidents will affect the game. The bad news for the Buckeyes is that Happy Valley has been heartbreak ridge for OSU. The Nittany Lions defense is stout (10th nationally). Buckeyes QB Todd Boeckman has never experienced an environment this hostile. Sooners fans will be glued to their sets and will revel in the Happy Valley White-Out upset.
THE PICK: PSU

NFL:
Giants at Miami (from London)
LINE: Giants -9.5
Big Blue goes for six in a row. The Dolphins are 0-7 for the first time in their 42-year history, and will try to snap their skid with a “home game” in London, England. Earlier in the week Dolphins DE Jason Taylor said, "We can't win in America, maybe we can win overseas." Not bloody likely. Personally I prefer Channing Crowder’s take. Crowder, who comes from Atlanta, admitted he did not know until now where London was, or that Londoners spoke English. "I couldn't find London on a map if they didn't have the names of the countries," he said. "I swear to God. I don't know what nothing is. I know Italy looks like a boot. I learned that.” Crowder went on to say, "I know [Redskins linebacker] London Fletcher... that's the closest thing I know to London. He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London. I'm sure that's a coincidental name."
I can’t believe he knows what “coincidental” means.
THE PICK: Giants

October 19
Let’s face it, for more than just the obvious reason, without the internet this column would not be possible. Thanks be to Gore. But while the web is an invaluable tool for researching all things sports and sports gambling related, it’s also the most distracting invention in the history of mankind.
Indeed, this very column would have been posted hours ago had sportsillustrated.com not been featuring Marisa Miller in it’s Swimsuit 2007 profile today. Marisa might be the definition of distracting. In fact, it’s my goal to one day have the word "distracted" replaced by "MarisaMiller'd".
For example: Sorry honey, I really meant to pay attention to what the kids were doing, but I was really MarisaMiller’d by the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Magazine featuring Marisa Miller.
I like this idea almost as much as Dennis Miller’s pitch to have the number 23 replaced with "Jordan". As in: 19, 20, 21, 22, Jordan, 24.
These things need to happen.
But another even more random thought sprung to mind as I clicked on the link for Marisa Miller’s no doubt riveting profile. In high school I was friends with a girl named Melissa Miller, and in college I dated a girl named Marisa Schwartzman. So I got to thinking: you know, if you combined the two of them, they would look nothing at all like Marisa Miller. Weird.
On to the picks.
Oklahoma at Iowa State
LINE: OU minus 29.5
Basic tenet of sports gambling: wise guys do not bet every game. They find a select few (or even more likely, just one game) and play them hot and heavy. Then again, wise guys don’t live in Oklahoma and certainly don’t blog on local tv news websites. Such is life. This game has been an afterthought all week. The Sooners have an offense that features at least six future NFL contributors. Iowa State’s defense hopes to some day order the NFL ticket. 29.5 points is typically a ton for a Big 12 road game not involving Baylor, but this is the epitome of the have’s visiting the have not’s.
THE PICK: Oklahoma

Kansas State at Oklahoma State
LINE: OSU minus 3.5
KSU coach Ron Prince called OSU an "Offensive juggernaut". Mike Gundy said that type of blatant brown-nosing makes him want to puke. The Big 12 is normally a home-team conference, but this year OSU has embarrassed Nebraska in Lincoln and KSU dominated Texas in Austin.
THE PICK: Kansas State

NFL:
Vikings at Cowboys
LINE: Dallas minus 9.5
The Cowboys are coming off a humbling experience against New England. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson is coming off a record-setting day against the Bears. Some players are double threats, others are triple threats, Vikings QB Tavaris Jackson is the very rare zero-threat. Dallas keys on Peterson, and Romo proves that not dating Carrie Underwood in order to focus on football was not all for naught (but still really dumb).
THE PICK: Dallas

October 12
Right off the top, my sincere apologies for skipping a week for the Red River Rivalry (easier written than said on live tv, trust me), there’s no excuse for my laziness except laziness. But rest assured, I’m back, focused and ready to get down to the business of getting down.
A quick thought on baseball before we get to the picks. When the Mets pulled the greatest disappearing act since Keyser Soze, I lost nearly all interest in post-season baseball. Then the Cubs, Yankees and the Phillies got swept, and now I’m forced to sit through Diamondbacks-Rockies games called by the shabby, make-shift TBS gang. Personally, I’d rather watch ants crawl in my driveway. Unless you have blood relatives on one of those clubs, or someone calls and says, “turn on TBS, you are not going to believe how fat Tony Gwynn is”, I can’t possibly understand why you’d tune in. But alas, there is one highly specific reason to check out the NLCS. While Mariano Rivera and Billy Wagner may confidently stride to the mound in the bottom of the ninth to glorious, thrashing that is Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, D-Backs closer, Jose Valverde, busts out of the bullpen to the Notorious B.I.G.’s “I love it when you call me big Poppa.” It’s quite possibly the greatest thing to happen to relief pitching since the bullpen car. I mean how many guys can say they get publicly pumped up to do their jobs to the lyrics, “cause I see some ladies tonight who should be having my baby, baby”? Genius.

Okay, picks time.

Missouri at Oklahoma
LINE: OU by 10.5
After posting four huge wins, both in the standings and in casinos, the past two weeks OU has gone 1-1 in reality and 0-2 ATS. A versatile and potentially explosive offense and a speedy defense full of playmakers makes it tempting to pick the Sooners every week. But not everyone loves OU. ESPN Senior Writer Bruce Feldman, a guy called by one book-reviewer the next “John Feinstein”, loves the road dog. Here’s his pick from espn.com:
Missouri 35, Oklahoma 31: The Sooners never lose at home, but I think Chase Daniel is tough enough to pilot a big upset. He has a lot more firepower at his disposal than most people talk about, with two great tight ends and rising star Jeremy Maclin. I do think Mizzou will have its hands full with the OU ground game, which I could see burning the Tigers, but I think Daniel will make the big play late to win the game.
Problem: since this posting, a report has surfaced that the Tigers will be without starting running back Tony Temple, who has 351 yards this season and rushed for 1,063 in 2006. He did not make the trip to Norman.
THE PICK: Oklahoma.

In the NFL, favorites are 29-47 against the spread. The Point? Unlike high school, college and grad school, I’ve done some basic research. But much like high school, college and grad school, I still ignore common logic. Cause as Tock the Falcons fan says, “Liam loves him some favorites.” It’s ingrained in my DNA.

Giants at Falcons
LINE: Giants by 3.5
Michael Strahan says the woman pictured here is distracting.
http://img.stern.de/_content/57/47/574765/cheer5_375.jpg

In his new book, “Inside the Helmet: Life as a Sunday Afternoon Warrior”, Giants DE Michael Strahan says NFL cheerleaders distract players during games.
"The cheerleaders are a huge, huge distraction. They aren't there just to distract the fans, they're used as a weapon against us, too. We stare at cheerleaders sometimes. It's against the rules for a cheerleader to date a player, but it happens all the time. I'll tell you the best girls in the league, by far, are not the famous Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders or the famed Raiderettes. It's not even close, folks. The Washington Redskins get the prize in my book. Every single one of those girls is stunning."
Sounds like a great read.
Good news is the Falcons cheerleaders only look like this: http://img.stern.de/_content/57/47/574765/cheer30_375.jpg
Big Blue has won three straight, while the biggest win in the ATL was the $19M in bonus cash they’ll likely retrieve from man’s best friend’s worst enemy, Michael Vick.
THE PICK: Giants

Patriots (5-0) at Cowboys (5-0)
Line: Patriots by 5.5
In Unforgiven, just before pulling the trigger, William Munny looks down on Little Bill Daggett and says, “deserve’s got nothing to do with it.” What an icy moment. Sure the Cowboys don’t deserve to be undefeated, and the Bills definitely didn’t deserve to lose that Monday Night game, but that’s life in the League. The Cowboys defense looked suspect against a bad Buffalo offense, and will be torn to shreds by Tom Brady and company. BTW, Randy Moss is 6-0 lifetime against Dallas.
THE PICK: Patriots


September 27
Hello faithful readers (Stephanie from promotions, Mom). Did you know that in certain Las Vegas Casinos you can now bet on nearly every play of every single game? It’s called Play-By-Play Wagering and for my boys "Tock from the WP" and "Crazy Dave from Queens" it’s like your birthday, the 8th night of Hanukkah and the Super Bowl all fell on the same day (that day coincidentally: Arbor Day). Let me explain. Take last week: near the conclusion of the Ravens-Cardinals game, with the score tied at 23, Baltimore’s veteran kicker Matt Stover trotted onto the field to attempt a game-winning field goal. At this point, from the comfort of your own seat in the Sports Book you would have been able to place a bet on whether or not Stover would make the kick. What a country! But as sweet as that action is, the depressing reality is that you still can’t technically “bet on everything.”
For instance, last Saturday night, I would have cleaned up by wagering that the Mike Gundy Explosion* would be an instant classic in the realms of coaching outbursts, and would–-because of the subject matter–-likely be a polarizing topic nationally. I would have also bet my first-born’s eyes that “I’M A MAN, I’M 40!” would go on to be the funniest sound-bite of the year. Talk about a lock. But at least I can take solace in the notion that as a guy quickly approaching 30 it’s refreshing to learn that I still have another decade to act like an idiot. With that, I bring you this week’s picks.

Oklahoma at Colorado
LINE: Sooners by 22
At a recent post-game press conference, the Golden Boy Sam Bradford said, “we’re trying not to be just good, we’re trying to be great.” No word on whether Tony the Tiger has contacted Rajika Reid’s attorney in order to sue the OU QB for copyright infringement. Regardless, the Sooners have been brilliant–-top five in the country in total offense, top five in total defense. At 2-2, the Buffs already have as many wins this season as they had all last year. With the Red River Shootout just around the corner, how seriously will Stoops’ boys take their trip to Boulder? OU wins, but 22's a whole lot of points.
THE PICK: Colorado

NFL
Bears at Lions
LINE: Bears by 3
Word is that Mike Gundy has been cold-calling Denny Green to inquire about an appearance in one of those coach-tirade Coors Light commercials. Green’s “They are who we thought they were!” outburst is still high comedy, but it doesn’t exactly apply to this year’s Chicago Bears. Rex Grossman is out and Brian Griese is in. The defense is shredded, with injuries sidelining Tommie Harris, Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher. So who exactly are these Bears? A team primed for another upset? Perhaps.
THE PICK: Detroit

Rams at Cowboys
LINE: Cowboys by 13 1/2
Any gambler on his game will tell you that getting 13.5 points in the NFL is like getting 30 in a college game. Any old-school bookie will let you know that wise-guys play underdogs. Anyone with any common sense will tell you that in the end betting on an NFL game is a coin-flip. Mark Bulger is playing with broken ribs, Stephen Jackson will sit out with an injured groin and left tackle Orlando Pace is done for the year with a torn rotator cuff. The Cowboys offense is rolling and their defense is coming around.
THE PICK: Dallas

*If and when I start a rock/funk band, I’m naming it The Mike Gundy Explosion.


September 21
Now, if anyone actually read this blog, they might consider e-mailing me with questions*. And one of those possible questions might read, “But Mr. McHugh, I thought gambling was illegal. How is it that you’re able to actively participate in the joy and splendor that must seamlessly accompany it?”
And my hypothetical response would be: “First off, Mr. McHugh was my father. Please, please, call me Mr. Liam McHugh. As for your question, let’s just say I know a guy, who knows a guy, who because of an entrepreneurial decision to open a on-line gaming website in Venezuela is now persona-non-grata in the good old Estados Unidos. The bad news is he now attends Thanksgiving dinner in New York via web-cam. The good news is his friends and acquaintances in NYC can feel free to throw down on every single Louisville Cardinals over without fear of credit card fraud. So thanks for your pretend e-mail, but enough living in the past, let’s talk NFL week three.”

Cowboys at Bears
LINE: Bears by 3
Dallas has a Romo, a T.O. and now they’ve added a Tank: void filled. Tank Johnson is now a Cowboy, but the big man can’t play until the second half of the season. A week two defensive improvement–Dallas forced five Dolphins turnovers–should scare “Mental Midget” (Ron’s Rivera’s alleged words, not mine) Rex Grossman.
THE PICK: Cowboys

Titans at Saints
LINE: Saints by 4
The Saints offense has evaporated, and their defense is helping rejuvenate careers around the league (see Jeff Garcia/Joey Galloway for more). Jeff Fisher does more with less than any coach in the NFL, and does more for gamblers than any coach anywhere. After covering the spread against the Colts for the third consecutive time, the Titans are on a 13-5 ATS run.
THE PICK: Titans

Chargers at Packers
LINE: Chargers by 5
Those with the top pick in Fantasy Football Leagues coast to coast are seething at the schedule makers. After games against Chicago and New England, LaDanian Tomlinson has exactly 69 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. And if you’re counting at home, he’s averaging only 1.9 yard per carry more than I am. Expect the relevance of that last line to lose some luster this week. The Packers will find out that playing the Giants prepares a team for nothing more than playing the Giants. LT Runs wild, Brett Favre comes back to earth.
THE PICK: Chargers

*Please don’t e-mail me with questions.


September 14
Hey Oklahoma! And let me definitely be the first to say, Happy Rosh Hashanah! Kudos to the Sooner State for scheduling the Centennial Fair to coincide with the Jewish New Year. Finally, Senator Jim Inhofe got one right–-truly a mitzvah for all of us. And as any good gambler will tell you, with each new year comes new hope. So Mazal Tov and L’Chiam, let’s get this point-spread party started, you mench you!

San Diego at New England
Line: Pats by 3.5
Yesterday David Letterman reported that Bill Belichick had hollowed out footballs and inserted tiny camera’s into them in order to steal defensive signals. Funny, but at this point, maybe not that far-fetched. Either way it’s a huge black eye for the proud Pats franchise. Here’s what ESPN's (Boston) Sports Guy Bill Simmons had to say about his beloved Pats Coach: “The truth is, there's probably no saving the Pats. Everyone outside New England was searching for a legitimate reason to hate them for the past four years, and now they have an excellent one. Spying on opponent's signals is just plain seedy. It's one step above playing footsie with someone in an airport men's room. It's a disgrace. It's embarrassing.” Lost in this week’s Spy Games saga is the fact that the Chargers are stil steamed about last year when the Pats beat them and then disrespected them in the playoffs. They’ll be prepared.
THE PICK: San Diego

Buffalo at Pittsburgh
Line: Steelers by 9.5
In the season opener, the Bills saw one of they’re own suffer a catastrophic injury and lost on the final play. Meanwhile, the men of Steele beat down a cursed Cleveland club. The Bills are emotionally spent and Big Ben looks to be in top form.
THE PICK: Steelers

Indianapolis at Tennessee
Line: Colts by 7
Last season the Colts were a great team and a terrible bet–-just ask the Titans, who covered both times against Indy (winning one game out-right). But the demise of the Colts defense has been greatly exaggerated and Peyton Manning is still Peyton Manning.
THE PICK: Colts


September 7
What a welcome to high school football in the Sooner state. An estimated 15,000 fans attended last Friday’s Moore-Westmoore game. And by estimated, I mean that my photographer, Jeremy Ferris, said that 15,000 were there and I took him at his word.
Either way, there was a big crowd. I had never seen people tailgate for a high school game. In the end, Moore-War lived up to the hype, as the Lions came back from a 19-0 deficit to narrowly lose to the Jags 22-20. All in all, a great tone-setter for the high school season.
This Friday we’ll be live at the Carl Albert-Ada game. CA features one of the top junior tailbacks in the country in David Oku. In week one, all Oku did was rush for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns. It was an amazing performance, and I can’t wait to watch him person, but what I really want to get into is a game known as the Backyard Bowl: Jenks at Union, Friday at 7:30 pm.
Apparently this is a big deal. And I know this because Sports Illustrated has a preview of the game in its current issue, and 30,000 fans are expected to show. To say I was taken aback by that figure is like saying A-Rod’s somewhat interested in the $300M figure people are saying he might get this offseason. Seriously, 30,000 at a high school game in Oklahoma? Is Oprah giving away Ford pickup trucks? I was blown away.
Allow me to provide some frame of reference. Please understand, I went to a high school that two years ago dropped football. Not because our enrollment is limited (it’s a school of around 1,200), but for what New York Newsday called “a total lack of interest”. Now, the good news is we have a sick Mathletes squad, but the bad news is that the only way 30,000 people are showing up for a high school sporting event in my home town is if Springsteen performs at halftime.
As for the actual Jenks-Union game, Jenks is ranked No. 1 and has won eight of the last 11 6A state titles. No. 2 Union, of course, has won the other three. Sight unseen, gun to my head, I like Jenks in a nail-biter.

Now let’s get to the real predictons.
ALL PICKS AGAINST THE SPREAD
NCAA

Miami at OU, Sooners by 10.5
Last Saturday, the ‘Canes beat Marshall 31-3, while the Sooners beat down North Texas, 79-10. What does this mean? Not much. But Sam Bradford was a whole heck of a lot more impressive in his first start (363 yards, 3 td's), than Kirby Freeman was in his fifth (9-21, 81 yards). Hoping to eek out an ugly, low-scoring affair, Miami is checking the Saturday forecast hourly, praying for rain. Randy Shannon’s got Miami headed in the right direction, but frankly this game is too much, too soon for his boys. A fresh Allen Patrick keeps the UM defense honest, Bradford avoids the big blunder and one-dimensional Miami has trouble finding the end zone.
The Pick: Oklahoma

Florida Atlantic at OSU, No Line.
Up in Stillwater, there’s an old saying about Florida Atlantic: "We needed a win, so we scheduled Florida Atlantic." Two years ago the Cowboys won 23-3, and last year it was a 48-8 bloodbath.
Mike Gundy says he expects a challenge this time around. Don’t believe him. If the line comes down at -24 or better, jump on board with an OSU team that's desperate to strut it's offense.
The Pick: NA

NFL
Predicting the first week of the NFL based on preseason performance alone is a lot like predicting the Miss America Contest before the swimsuit competition–it leaves a lot to the imagination.
With that said, I love the Steelers at -4.5 on the road at Cleveland, and the Eagles -3 at Green Bay.
Check in next week for a full slate of NFL picks.


September 1
When I took this job January, I was thrown directly into the fray--men's college hoops, women's college hoops, the Hornets fair-well tour, OCU starting a rowing program (man did I not see that one coming). Regardless, we were
starting a sports department from scratch here at Fox 25 and playing a perpetual game of catch-up. Whenever I came up for air, without fail, someone was there to say, "Wait until the summer, you'll be begging for things to report on." For the record, if you said something to that effect, I went home to my sad, little
apartment secretly hating you. No hard feelings though--I know that being annoying is a genetic trait, like obesity or the ability to shoot lasers from one's eyes.

But a funny thing happened on the way to football season: the sports world went crazy. From the NCAA's ruling on OU, to Barry Bonds, to Tim Donaghy, to Michael Vick, to Amanda Beard posing nude in Playboy, there truly was something
for everyone. In the end, the dog days of summer were not quite as dead as advertised, and oddly enough, they feature dead dogs. Here's a quick look back.

Let's start with the Sooners. In early July, OU got put over the NCAA's knee and spanked (rather lightly I might add) for the Rhett Bomar, JD Quinn no-show jobs fiasco. Two scholarships gone, probation extended, and the erasing of one
of the more forgettable seasons in recent OU history. Oh no, not the Holiday Bowl memorabilia! Wait, we get to keep the cash? In that case, Mr. President (Brand), tear down that banner!

Then there was Barry Bonds. I wasted so much time at work this summer watching his pursuit of Hank Aaron (and calling low-lights of when he failed to homer) that it pains me to waste anymore. When something truly historical takes place, years later, we inevitably find ourselves asking, "Where were you when this happened?" I know I'll never forget where I was when Barry Bonds majestically passed Aaron on the all-time home run list--at Cinemark Tinselton Theatre,
watching The Bourne Ultimatum. I'm not normally an action film guy, but that movie rocked!

The Tim Donaghy NBA gambling scandal was supposed to shock and upset us. But outside of a few NBA bets I lost last year (hey jazzsports.com would a refund kill you?) I could really care less. When the story broke, everyone was evoking the Black Sox scandal, like this was going to tear apart the basic fabric of something truly wholesome. Listen, this is the NBA, a league populated by guys who shoot their pistols outside of strip clubs, go into the stands to punch drunken fans and where tattoos and paternity suits should be listed right next
to points, rebounds and assists on the stats sheet. C'mon NBA, this is 2007, you're going to have to do a little better than a betting scandal starring a no-name ref to shock us.

Which leads me to Michael Vick. Remember a few weeks ago when he was going on about not being involved in dog fighting and how it was just plain "stupid" to judge him. Well guess what? Turns out he did it. He's a dog fighter and a dog
murderer and now he's going to his own personal cage. Michael Wilbon probably put it best when he said that being involved with hanging and electrocuting dogs makes one the "scum of the earth". And, insult to injury, he was sold out by his boys--both of whom he had supported financially and one he had known since middle school (didn't these guys see the Carmelo Anthony "Don't Snitch Video"?) You know, when he was tearing it up at Virginia Tech, football analysts were preaching on about how he'd change the face of football. Finally, Vick lived up to the hype.