We are getting very close to the NFL season and I know that some of you are itching to go to the hip and retrieve the wallet and make a wager. Don't do it. This is still the exhibition season and the primary objective is not to lose any key players to injury. Greg Cote in the Miami Herald summed this issue up succinctly and brilliantly. All of you should read this carefully. This man speaks the truth:

"The only thing sillier than believing in an exhibition result is betting on one.

"A degenerate gambler is defined as anyone who would wager money on a glorified practice game in which the head coach's main aim is to A) make sure his front-line players don't get hurt and B) determine whether the ninth offensive lineman on his roster will be some guy you have never heard of or some other guy you have never heard of."

According to reports in the Seattle Times yesterday, Rick Neuheisel has found something to do with his now abundant spare time. He will be a volunteer quarterbacks coach at Rainier Beach High School in the Seattle area. He will attend all of the team's practices and games and this ought to put to rest the rumors that he would be signing on with a TV network to do broadcasting work related to college football. Frankly, he has 90 days from the date of his firing back in July to pay back a $1.5M loan he got from the University of Washington, and my guess is that he will be using whatever time he has to file a lawsuit against the school so that they can negotiate a settlement and he can keep at least half of the $1.5M. Did I hear someone say that I was being overly cynical? Remember, the only difference between a cynic and a realist is whether or not you agree with him.

With Neuheisel volunteering his services at the high school level, let's hope this does not trigger a rush by some other "out-of-work college coaches" to do the same. I don't want to see Mike Price coaching a high school dance team or Larry Eustachy as a senior prom chaperone.

According to a wire service report yesterday, the Indy Colts signed a LB/special teams player who was working in a flea market in Dallas when the team called. Marq Cerqua had been with the Bucs whilst Tony Dungy was there and so Dungy said he was familiar with what the team was trying to do on defense and special teams. Cerqua was happy to get the call; he said he needed the money. "I think I made like $30 the other day working, selling my old clothes, my old stuff." This is about as heartwarming a story as the plot line for Joe Millionaire.

A baseball fan from California won a contest and his prize – along with some others – was to be able to get three pitches from Nolan Ryan at the AA stadium in Round Rock, Texas. He stepped to the plate and Ryan's first pitch hit him in the back. The guy took this very philosophically and said that it was actually better to be hit by the pitch because now he can truthfully tell his kids than he was "drilled by Nolan Ryan."

In the spring, the WWE will put on the 20th rendition of Wrestlemania. In ten years, they can call it Wrestlemania XXX and no one will be able to know if that is the Roman numeral for "30" or the rating for the video production. Anyway, for the 20th version of this spectacular event, you can buy tickets starting at the end of September. It will be in Madison Square Garden and ringside seats will cost you $750 six months in advance of the event. P.T Barnum certainly wishes he were alive today…

I "Googled" to see if any of the "ticket sites" had special travel/hotel/ticket package deals for Wrestlemania but none of the four that I looked at had any. I did find some package deals to go and hear Celine Dion in concert and to see Blue Man Group perform. I actually believe I'd rather go to Wrestlemania. Actually, if you add a fourth choice to this mix of top quality "entertainment options", I'd select doing a splenectomy on myself using only a melon ball scoop and a dull razor blade.

Once the Clippers decide whether or not to match the offer that the Heat made to Lamar Odom, that should about do it for the important free agent signings in the NBA – with one exception. Unless I missed it, Jason Terry is still out there as a restricted free agent and has not signed with anyone or re-signed with the Hawks. Terry averaged over 17points and about 8 assists last year with a really mediocre team. My advice to Terry would be to stay in Atlanta and have another good year and then hit the streets as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

I told you yesterday about Kwame Brown's DUI arrest. Michael Wilbon does a whole column on Kwame Brown today in the Washington Post and little of it is "laudatory". Here is the headline on that column:

"To Be A Work In Progress, You Must Work To Progress"

Here is the headline on the jump:

"More Time On Court, Less In It"

And now, your Detroit Tigers update. With a record of 31-94, they are on an 8 game losing streak. They have a chance to lose their 100th game before you flip the page on your calendar to get to September. At their current pace, they will lose 122 games. Yesterday, they claimed a player off waivers from the Braves and optioned him to their AAA team in Toledo. This poor guy has to live with the fact that the Tigers optioned him out. When he looks in the mirror, he has to say to himself that in 2002, he is simply not ready for the majors!

Finally, Bentley College in Waltham Mass hired RJ Tolan as a new assistant hockey coach. Bentley College teams are the Falcons. This may be the single context where "Bentley" and "Falcons" go together in some way. In the automobile world, Bentleys and Falcons are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

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