Buried at the bottom of this article from the Las Vegas Sun Jeff Haney notes that, at the Golden Nugget, Nebraska is already a 12-point underdog to USC.

Now, trying to create accurate spreads during the summer is patently ridiculous. Aside from the fact that nobody has seen any of these teams play yet, who knows what sort of injuries and off-field controversies will be in play come the third week of the season. Key players could be maimed, imprisoned, indefinitely suspended, returning from indefinite suspensions, wearing warm-ups on the sidelines or simply playing like crap. All of those things will be taken into account in the week leading up to the game to arrive at a final number and, as the article shows, it will likely be much different come game time.

So why even bother? Because there are two types of people who like to bet college football in July: 1) your average Joe who won't be in Vegas during the season, and 2) your average professional sports bettor who hasn't left the sports book in 225 days.

I'd like to think I fall somewhere in the vast middle, and what this number initially said to me is that Memorial Stadium might not be worth as much as it once was from a point-spread perspective. But after a closer look, I'm not so convinced.


These super advance point-spreads have all the validity of preseason rankings and everyone hates those, but what factors could've possibly played in to this SC-NU line? Last year's spread ended somewhere around SC -18.5, so from the start we're a touchdown better than where we were, and the most immediate difference between 06 and 07 is the location so immediately it looks like Lincoln earns us 6-points right off the bat.

But you have to think that SC gets a couple of points in the quarterback department. Booty is back and Keller is essentially a wash at his point. Sam should be an upgrade over Keller, but there's also the rustiness/new system blues to contend with so I'll say he's +/- 0, and Booty probably warrants +/- 1.5 on his own.

Purify's status is probably another +/-0.5 alone, so in my mind that's 2-points back to USC. Maybe add in another 1-point for our green defensive line. Those seem like the most quantifiable elements two months out and, in reality, USC probably has an edge in almost every personnel match-up. That's why they're #1.

So, if we use last year's spread as the starting point, add in the advantages we can foresee this year, we have USC -21. The number is -12, so Memorial Stadium is worth more than a touchdown?

I guess it's possible. This isn't highly scientific stuff, but my question now is: do you take Nebraska at -12?

And, of course, what this question is really asking is: do you think the Cornhuskers will be less than a double-digit dog come September 15?

We're only a few weeks away from the start of college football practice but it feels like we're as far way as possible. Nothing is happening right now, trust me I know. I'll watch every classic game possible, read every non-story countdown there is and revive months old dynasties on NCAA 07 all in hope of making July pass faster. That said, I'm starting my own non-story thread: Things I Miss About College Football. Not college football in general, but the stuff from 10, 15, or 20 years ago that is painfully absent from today's game. (1st installment here.)

I miss guts in college football. Not the intestinal fortitude sort of guts; the courage necessary to go for two while down by one with no time left or having the heart to point out to Les Miles that USC is 4-0 against the SEC under Pete Carroll. I think that's still present in today's game.

I'm talking, literally, about guts. Bellys. Showing a little skin. Wearing a jersey that stopped a couple of inches short of the navel. Lineman, receiver, it didn't matter what you had to offer, for 20 years this was the signature style of college football.

The 1988 SI cover pictured here may as well be the epitome of the college game in the 80's. Beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, win the national title, wear the short jersey and get the cheerleader. If you can see somebody's hip pads it's not only an indication of a simpler time, but also distinctly collegian.

The stodgy NFL--they of the excessive sock fines--never allowed the cropped look. There's something barbaric about it. It's reckless by simply not being uniform and such personal displays of style in the League will cost you thousands of dollars.

But the college game was always more open to interpretation. Want to wear low socks? Go ahead. A bandana? Why not. Cover your helmet in pride stickers? Sure.

Of course the problem is, all of these things are still happening today. The gut, however, is gone; buried beneath layers of moisture-wickiness. But it likely stuck around longer than you thought.

Browsing through SI's on-line cover collection--about as good a pictorial time line as you'll find--it looks like jerseys began their northward migration sometime around the 1981 season. Here's Marcus Allen, still tucked in, but at right is Perry Tuttle, baring some of it. Same season, different style and this was just the beginning.

Over the next 15 years everybody seemed to take a stab at the abs: Penn State, Nebraska, Boston College, USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, everybody who was anybody.

I would've guessed that the short-shirt trend ended when the major shoe companies got into the jersey business, but the trend turned out to be tougher than I thought. Here's Ricky Williams in Reebok, Andy Katzenmoyer in Nike, Peerless Price in adidas, all still untucked but the jerseys are getting longer.

Eventually we'd end up at this. That 2005 Miami jersey could've been used to make four of the Playmaker's jerseys in 1987. Irvin's sleeves were nearly as wide as the entire jersey the Canes wore two years ago.

Now, of course, football jerseys don't have sleeves, just armholes. Stripes are truncated, holding almost impossible. I suppose the latter development is for the best, but what's a little technological advancement if we lose some attitude in the process?

Don't get me wrong, your team will still look great when they take the field this fall. Flawless, really, but perfection isn't always perfect. Sure you should strive for it when buying diamonds or undergoing brain surgery or bowling, but dressing a college football team?

It wouldn't hurt to keep things a little rough and ragged every now and then.

Photos: SI Cover Collection

For a guy who's not running a Cubs blog, I write entirely too much about Chicago's National League Baseball Club. Seeing as how we're at the All-Star Break, baseball's traditional mid-way point even though we're more than half way done, I thought now would be a good time to take a look back at all the melodrama, foolish optimism and frequent shoulder and elbow surgeries that come along with being a Cubs fan. I won't go game by game, but here are the highlights and lowlights of what I was feeling at the time.

We'll start at the top...

Opening Day -- The frustration was almost immediate.

"By my estimation, the Cubs 2007 season was 12 minutes old before I was totally pissed off. They were a great 12 minutes: Soriano swung mightily at the first pitch of the season, Thunder Matt was silenced, Derrek Lee was caught stealing and Hagwilt (Zambrano) kicked things off with a lead-off walk. Just what I had expected."

But it wasn't what I expected. Never would've guessed that Big Z would have an ERA north of 4.50 and go a middlin' 5-4 over the first two months of the season.

4.19.07 -- It's tough to make lasting judgment too early in the season, but this post represented a first for me: recapping a loss before it had officially become a loss. After watching the Cubs fight back to take a one-run lead against the Braves, then give back three runs in the bottom half, I wrote the following:

"Scott Eyre came on and pitched pretty well initially. Got two quick outs then got hosed on a close 2-2 pitch that should've ended the inning. Of course that led to a walk and then the next batter grounded to former Gold Glover Caesar Izturis who played paddycake with the ball, allowing the runner, some random pinch hitter who I can't remember, to beat it out at first. (Aside: If you're not going to play something close to Gold Glove defense, Izturis, you're worthless because you're bat isn't winning any games.) From there you can just assume the rest. This is the Cubs afterall. Consecutive hits, three runs, Cubs load the bases with one out and threaten in the 8th but ground into a double play, Bob Wickman is summoned from his bowling league and Chicago ultimately loses."

The big reveal, of course, is that I didn't even wait for the Cubs final six outs to be recorded. No need, really, the Cubs don't win games like that, but I never would've guessed that they would actually load the bases. Shocking.

4.20.07 -- I jokingly try not to jinx Rich Hill--3-0, 0.67 ERA, 0.57 WHIP at the time--by claiming his hot start is just pure luck. Turns out it was. He's 5-6 now.

4.23.07 -- A bit of optimism! Not sure what I was thinking here, after the Cubs had just lost 2 of 3 to the Cardinals:

"Despite all that, I don't feel too bad about the Cubs after this weekend. They've been bad, but if they can pick up a couple of wins against the Brewers they'll have survived April. Two wins and they're knocking on the door for second in the division."

Where did that come from?

4.26.07 -- The best/worst news of the season thus far. The Cubs are right in the thick of things when you take the statistical approach (which I rarely do.)

"On one hand, this could be an encouraging sign. Eventually, these stats will have to show up in the won-loss ledger, right?

On the other, it really depresses me as it confirms something I've long suspected, the Cubs are bad because they're the Cubs."

This will come into play again later...

5.15.07 -- Leading the Mets 4-0, Scott Eyre enters the game to earn the pen's 10th loss of the season:

"Then the bullpen got involved. I'm seriously considering just calling them the baby-killers for the rest of the season because it's the only thing I can think of that's more distasteful than actually watching them pitch."

Almost the worst of times.

5.17.07 -- Make that 11 losses for the bullpen after blowing another 4 run lead.

"After celebrating at the plate, Ruben Gotay tugged his crotch and spit a large glob of tobacco juice on my heart, which was lying halfway between the mound and home and I didn't even mind. Felt like I deserved it."

Probably the worst of times.

5.24.07 -- Jonah Keri validates my statistical analysis of the Cubs from a month earlier by noting that, according to Baseball Prospectus' Adjusted Standings, Chicago is actually leading the NL Central.

Except they ain't cause they're not. I hate statistics.

5.28.07 -- I was always a Michael Barrett fan, but even I could see through the haze and realize that Sweet Lou wasn't high on the Cubs backstop...

6.06.07 -- ..the great Dugout Punch-out doesn't help Barrett's case, but Lou does get kicked out on purpose the next day hoping to jump-start his lethargic club.

"The Cubs have played six of 17-straight games and they're sitting at 3-3. Ending up above .500 at the end of that grueling stretch is essential."

Believe it or not, they do, going 9-8, but Barrett continues to struggle...

6.13.07 -- ..so much so, that I decided to stage an intervention and try to get Michael back on track...

6.21.07 -- ...alas, it's not enough as Barrett is shipped to San Diego and my Baseball-Reference sponsorship is rendered useless.

6.26.07 -- The season, perhaps, turns as the Cubs allow six runs in the 9th, but somehow fight back to win.

"That's the beauty of my little Cubs versus me stance: when they win, I win. It doesn't happen very often, but last night's game might have been the best of the season so far. The Cubs rolled for 24 outs, then I missed the disastrous last three, only to wake up in time to see a come from behind win.

I want to declare this game the sort of game that turns a season. The Cubs are within three games of .500 and streaking, but I think I'll just take note of it as the first time this season I felt like I watched an actual baseball team and call it a day."

7.2.07 -- The first half see-sawing mercifully ends.

"Who the hell are these guys? The Cubs don't do this, win games on squeeze plays, get out hit by the best team in their division and still win. It's absurd and these last 10 games have been about as good a stretch as I can remember as a Cubs fan.

All to get to .500. One game short of the halfway point of the season and the Cubs are perfectly average. I'm not trying to be Mr. Doom & Gloom, I'm ecstatic like everyone else, but let's realize where we're at. This little surge got the Cubs back to where they should've been all season. That's all. Now we're even, and Piniella knows it.

As Sweet Lou says, "Let's see if we can extricate ourselves from the .500 mark."

One week removed from that post, the Cubs are still in the same position. Trying to extricate themselves from the .500 mark, 4.5 back of the Brew Crew and I'll take that.

The Cubs probably deserve to be a .500 club, but early on they weren't even getting that so I guess I'll call the first half a wash. Chicago is within striking distance. They're alive. Lily and Marquis have been okay, Zambrano's rounding into form and some young guys are contributing.

My only concern--aside from the bullpen of course--is if somebody needs punching is Koyie Hill man enough to do it? that, according to

We're only a few weeks away from the start of college football practice but it feels like we're as far way as possible. Nothing is happening right now, trust me I know. I'll watch every classic game possible, read every non-story countdown there is and revive months old dynasties on NCAA 07 all in hope of making July pass faster. That said, I'm starting my own non-story thread: Things I Miss About College Football. Not college football in general, but the stuff from 10, 15, or 20 years ago that is painfully absent from today's game.

What's college football without whiskey? It's carried into tailgates by the handle, poured into soda bottles for easy stadium entry and used to make ordinary chicken breasts extraordinary on Saturdays. It gives you the courage to follow your team on the road and the illogic to defend the BCS when it benefits your alma mater.

Despite all that, I'm not really interested in the elixir itself but rather the vessel that used to carry it. Whatever happened to the college-branded decanter?

I grew up in a house that prominently featured a shrine to The King and bourbon. As far as I knew, we had every single Elvis decanter

But that wasn't all. Mixed in with the demolition derby trophies and ceramic Presley bottles, were liquor-laced shrines to the Devaney era Huskers. Jerry Tagge, Johnny Rodgers, and some ugly, random helmeted dude took their place alongside beer league bowling trophies as honored talismans.

Today such marketing seems like another casualty of the politically correct era. What college would knowingly link themselves to hooch? None and that's too bad because packaging booze in team-themed decanters probably wouldn't result in fans available.drinking more whiskey, just buying more. Just check out the number of decanters available on eBay right now, half of them still full.

Let's take a tour of the former Southwest Conference:

Texas Tech -- Looks a lot like Yosemite Sam, which is appropriate considering the offensive stylings of Mike Leach. Shoot early and shoot often, accuracy be damned. I doubt that any of the following decanters were "officially licensed" as no official university trademarks appear, but that's what makes them great and gives us hope for the future. Maybe there are still ways around using the copyrighted stuff.

University of Houston -- There is some debate on-line as to whether or not this decanter is meant for Washington State or Houston fans, but based on the fact that we have three other SWC teams represented, I'm guessing this one rooted for Andre Ware.

Oklahoma State -- Is it just me or does this decanter look suspiciously like another Big XII trademark?

Texas Ag. & Mech -- Young cadet or park ranger? You decide.

Baylor -- Oh, poor Baylor. That's the same dazed look you'll see before or after 6 conference games in any given season.

Texas -- I know there are better Longhorn decanters out there. Who drinks more whiskey than Texans? Distillers are sitting on a gold mine in the Lone Star state.

Of course, this wasn't just limited to the SWC, at one time or another almost every college received the full treatment...

Kansas State -- As the Yun' Ball Coach said, "even their decanters are ugly as hell." Sure, the Wildcat is sitting on a basketball but we all know that K-State basketball is a joke. Just ask Bob Huggins. (Yes, Nebrasketball is a joke as well, I know.)

Missouri -- I'm not even sure I could drink the contents of this and that's saying a lot. It's got a garage-sale quality kitty cat head and some tiger stripes on the legs. Frightening, but not in an intimidating sort of way.

Drake -- Yes, there are more than just relays going on at this Des Moines school. That's how wide spread the decanter movement used to be. Even 1-AA schools got their own.

Now, however, no school gets a decanter and that's a shame. Tell me you wouldn't forgo the Bud on a fall Saturday if Sparty was staring back at you from the shelves. Convince me that popping the head of Smokey for a snort isn't better than some random bottle of Jack.

You can't do it and, literally, you can't do it. Those days are gone like the tearaway jersey. But if you're looking for a way to crack into collegiate marketing this might be the way to go. Just think about the tailgating arms race that takes place each weekend--who's got the biggest grill, who's got the most elaborate spread-- and imagine the potential market for these things.

If you ever get that business up and running, you can mark me down for all of them.

The Celtics are screwed.

I'm a bit ashamed at how tense the NBA's Draft lottery was for me. When have I ever cared about this event with more than passing interest? How did determining the draft order become as excruciating as having my Derby trifecta foiled yet again?

And I'm not even a Celtics fan. More of a Boston well-wisher. An interested NBA fan who thinks it would be nice if the Celtics were at least watchable.

That's not going to happen for some time.

Let's be honest, the Celtics prospects of being good anytime in the near future are far worse than inversely proportional to the odds they bucked to end up with the fifth pick in the Draft. They have one player worth keeping on their current roster, Al Jefferson, and he's far from a franchise cornerstone. Nice player? Yes. The kind of guy who wins you playoff games on his own? No.

Paul Pierce should be immediately shipped to Minnesota--might as well go straight up for their seventh pick--so he and Kevin Garnett can wallow in their "good-to-great without anything close to a championship" status together. (Side note: Portland had as good a shot at winning the lottery as Minnesota did. The NBA gods hate Garnett and the Celtics. Fantastic.)

You can barely even call the cupboard bare. Tony Allen and Ryan Gomes are solid contributors...if they were on the Spurs where they could play 16 minutes a game and feed off Duncan double-teams. Gerald Green is young and athletic but so was Kerri Strug.

Beyond everyone mentioned above, you have Perkins, Olowokandi, Powe, Ratliff, Ray, Rondo, Scalabrine, Szczerbiak, and West on the current roster. Don't listen to anyone who tells you it's not the end of the world, it is. I don't care how deep this year's draft is, who can the Celtics draft that will help the team in even the near future?

No matter who it is, it will always feel like choosing the door that had a donkey and cart behind it on Let's Make a Deal. To spare that poor player and the seven Celtics fans remaining in the world such a cruel fate, I've prepared a couple of different offers for the Portland brass and their keys to Duranden:

1. Paul Pierce, Gerald Green, the Bruins, the gyroball owner's manual and Schilling's bloody sock - You have neither a baseball nor a hockey history to speak of, now you do.
2. Al Jefferson, Eliza Dushku, Tom Brady and Boston will take total responsibility for everything J.R. Rider, Bill Walton, Ruben Patterson and Sebastian Telfair have ever said or done or will say and do - It's like an incredibly attractive steak with a decent low post game to remove all the black eyes your city has experienced in the past 30 years.
3. Al Jefferson, Paul Pierce, Gerald Green, 3 1/2 games off the Red Sox current lead over the Yankees, a lifetime contract for Doc Rivers AND Curt Schilling will ghost write Zach Randolph's blog for an entire season - That is, in order, everything the Celtics have, the only thing Bostonians have to hang their hat on currently, the only thing worse than this lottery draw and instant, unwanted headlines for an entire year all in one package.

Of course, Danny Ainge is willing to listen to any reasonable counteroffers. Or just any counteroffers. The only thing that's untouchable is the 2004 World Series.