NCAA Endzone

North Carolina has added a new jersey color to its wardrobe. Seems that the Tour de France leader gets to wear a yellow jersey, so now the leader at North Carolina gets to wear one. Thus far, it belongs to defensive-minded guys; safety Trimane Goddard had it Tuesday and two defensive linemen preceded him.

Several Maryland players are taking a yoga class. Good for them! Yoga increases flexibility and stamina, not to mention it can help you feel more focused. Sounds like a winning combination. The Jacksonville Jaguars, with all their hamstring problems, could learn a thing or two from Maryland.

Speaking of the Jacksonville Jaguars, I went to training camp yesterday. The rookies were lookin’ pretty darn sharp. The highlight of my day, however, came when former Gator Mike Peterson stopped right in front of me to assist the stretcher driver in picking up the backboards that had begun to scatter when he hit a bump. Me, being a smart ass and knowing Peterson’s sense of humor, I just couldn’t resist yelling, “Don’t you be getting on that stretcher now!” The big guy looked over his shoulder and flashed me a huge grin. It was a priceless moment, and of course all I captured of it on my camera phone (dorko forgot her camera) was Peterson’s back. Figures. I had witnesses, though, and I had to ask them if it really happened because I didn’t quite believe it myself. Even the Georgia fan next to me assured me it happened.

From the Every Day Should Be Saturday blog (warning: Gator-friendly) comes some interesting drink recipes for fans of various teams. My favorite, the Bourbon Meyer, was down in the comments somewhere.

The jury found Northern Colorado punter Mitchell Cozad, accused of stabbing the team’s starting punter in his kicking leg, guilty of second-degree assault instead of attempted murder. I didn’t think the attempted murder would stick. The assault could get him up to 16 years in prison. Surely someone will teach him how to make a shank right quick, if he doesn’t get shanked first. He’ll be an amateur among pros if he goes.

The Oregon Ducks could be playing a game in China against Boise State in 2009 … that quacks me up. Perhaps the Ducks just don’t want to play on that blue turf anymore, but that’s a long way to go to avoid it.

The Miami Hurricanes could be playing their last season at the Orange Bowl, which needs $206 million in repairs. Um, guys, you could build a new one for much less than that. If the University of Central Florida can do it, so can you. All it takes is a little planning and a pricey corporate sponsorship. Your bad on the planning part!

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The Fighting Irish don’t have a starting quarterback named, according to Charlie Weis. Dude, what’s the holdup? The season is almost here. Your lawsuit is resolved. Time to get on the stick and pick one. You have three viable candidates, which is more than some teams have. So just spin the chamber and pull the trigger already. Inquiring minds want to know who your starter is.

Wake Forest is going to be defending its first ACC title since 1970. You go, boys. You were the sleepers of last season and I always like to see sleepers win. Unless it’s FSU, of course.

South Carolina’s QB returned to practice after having academic problems. Seems he missed too many summer school classes. Well, there’s an easy solution to that one - go to class. Duh.

Speaking of South Carolina, Steve Spurrier is upset that two of his recruits were denied admission to the school even though they met the NCAA’s minimum academic standards. Um, dude. It’s a college. It’s supposed to be academically competitive. Sports are great, but academics come first. At least they should come first. If they don’t make the cut, they don’t play. Simple enough.

Florida running back Brandon James got six months probation and community service for purchasing pot. Easy solution to that one, too - don’t smoke pot, or have someone else buy it for you. Hello!

Nobody in college football should be more glad to be starting a new season than Arkansas coach Houston Nutt. The Arkansas offseason was, in a nutshell, nuts. Now it’s time for football, which means the drama level in Arkansas will revert to a normal state. At the very least, there will be something substantial to talk about.

A woman lied to the cops and said Northern Colorado punter Mitchell Cozad was with her when he was supposedly stabbing the team’s starting punter. That’s not the first time a woman has lied about being with a football player …

UCLA fans have to be excited, if this little bit from the LA Times is true. “UCLA fans had to rub their eyes and hope it wasn’t a mirage: Bruins receivers went up field and got the ball.” Well, that’s a good start. Now they just have to cross the goal line with it. Get ‘er done!

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No secrets here.

I am a Gators fan. In fact, I’m wearing my Gators championship jersey right now. I wore it all summer. So am I a little prejudiced? Um, yeah!

Because I am a good little Gators fan, I went to the spring Orange & Blue game in Gainesville. In fact, it was my first trip to a college football stadium, so I was just soaking it all in. The Swamp looks a lot different in person than it does on TV. It seemed like every seat was a good one. Even though the stadium wasn’t completely full, it was plenty exciting. But I digress.

The real treat of the day was seeing Tim Tebow do something but run. After seeing him in the Orange & Blue game, I can let you in on this one little secret that Gators fans have mostly been keeping to themselves.

The boy has an ARM! Not only can he run, he can throw. He appears to be a total-package kind of quarterback. Small wonder Gator fans are excited about him. Tebow shows signs of being everything you could want in a quarterback, on and off the field.

But does that mean he can lead the Gators to another national championship?

It’s possible. But I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s probable. The Gators lost a lot of strong players to the NFL draft, particularly on defense. And as the reigning national champions, there will be a lot of teams gunning for them, bringing their best game in hopes of defeating the reigning national champions.

I think the Gators have as good a shot at the national championship as anyone. But I wouldn’t say it’s a lock.

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Indiana tight end Blake Powers threw a water balloon into another car while stopped at a red light, hitting the driver in the head.

Funny, right? Apparently not to the off-duty police officer who was driving the other car. Powers was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery. Not to mention driving next to a police officer while having fun.

Was it technically a crime? Yeah. But was it worth making an arrest on? Not to me it wasn’t.

So now Powers will have to go to court and get his slap on the wrist. An inconvenience, yes, but hopefully the judge remembers what it was like to be young and wanting to have a little fun. We all act stupid when we’re young, but there’s not always criminal intent behind it.

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