The Starting Five
5. Happy 40th birthday to pro football’s all-time leader in passing yards. He celebrates tonight with a game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
4. If there is such a thing as a “fate worse than death”, does this guy deserve it?
3. Notre Dame names a relatively short (for the position) African-American quarterback from South Carolina as its starting quarterback for the season opener. How’d that work out the last time?
2. Through 100 games Angels rookie Mike Trout — the Millville Meteor! — has the most hits of any rookie since Tony Oliva in 1964 and has scored the most runs of any rookie since Joe DiMaggio in 1936. Sports Illustrated nailed it with the cover line here.
1. Americas’ most entertaining entertainment writer, Rob Sheffield, provides a lesson in composition (your assignment, kids, compare and contrast) while brilliantly analyzing Walter White and Jerry Seinfeld.
Do you know this man? He turns 40 today.
Reserves
As he approaches the genesis of his college football career, we wish Cincinnati Bearcat wideout Leviticus Payne the best. We will keep track of his numbers and hope that his exodus only comes after four fruitful seasons and a degree. Sorry, we got nothing for Deuteronomy…
Joe Posnanski’s “Paterno” biography is not exactly popular with other journalists. See here and here…
Rick Ross, in Rolling Stone, on if he ever gets too high: “I don’t really know what that means.” For you white folks, Rick Ross is sort of the 21st-century Suge Knight. For you really white folks, Suge Knight was sort of the hip-hop Berry Gordy, Jr…
Lindy’s college football preview notes that Ohio State’s band dots the “i” in script Ohio and wonders if another school from the Buckeye state, Miami, would ever attempt the “parenthesizing of Miami (Ohio)”…
Ryan Lochte versus Prince Harry in a race in a pool? I would’ve led with this story if I were McKenzie McHale.
ESPN’s top-ranked prep basketball team last season was Findlay Prep, which for some reason unbeknownst to us, the WWL rarely points out is not a pre-existing school. It was only a matter of time before someone who loves football and has the money copied the blueprint.
Hippo Stuck: My experience is that the best way to extricate a creature from a pool is to play ice cream man music…
Carly Rae Jepsen singing a Carly Rae Jepsen song. I know!