As a former 7th round pick, Marques Colston has risen quite quickly in the NFL on the field and in his bank account. Set to earn $445,000, the 7th rounder who set rookie records is now going to be earning around $7 million annually. Not a bad pay increase! Colston deserves it, as he has been the best Saints receiver for the past two seasons. He works great with Drew Brees, will get even more single coverage with the addition of TE Jeremy Shockey, and he's got no ego complex like the other top WR's.

The greatest player of our era, huh? Well, Tim Tebow is certainly a special talent and he proved that last year by winning the Heisman as a sophomore, but his coach's claim is a bit too far fetched. Tebow has only had one season as a starting QB, he has not lead the Gators to a Championship, and...there have been hundreds of great players in our era before Tebow, I'm not sure if he's THE best yet. Let's hold off judgment for a little while longer. The kid still has at least 1 more season to play, potentially 2. He'll have enough difficulty living up to last season's play, let alone "greatest player ever" expectations.

After another BCS Championship blowout loss, the Ohio State Buckeyes' juniors all had a decision to make. Should they jump for the NFL and millionaire salaries, or should they all come back and try to get this thing done again. In somewhat of an awkward interview, Buckeye LB Marcus Freeman described the moment when they would all return to school, in the shower. Check out the full episode via the link.

The University of Pacific (Stockton, CA) is in the middle of a sexual assault investigation involving four current Tiger athletes. The athletes are rumored to be 3 men's basketball players and 1 women's basketball player, and the victim did not want to press criminal charges. This is an ugly black eye for a small school and bringing the wrong kind of attention to the university. One of the players in question is senior point guard Steffan Johnson, who according to his MySpace account, is currently in Moscow, Idaho. The only reason he'd be there is if he was transferring to Idaho, which a senior would only do if he wasn't allowed to play at his old school. Interesting development.

Check out the highlight of the summer league so far, a 69-footer by former USC Trojan OJ Mayo and the newest addition to the Memphis Grizzlies. I still don't think Mayo is going to be the phenomenal pro that everyone is touting him to be, but that won't be decided for a couple of seasons I guess.

So the day has finally arrived for those die-hard NCAA Football gamers, because 2009 comes out today. The question is, as always, how different is it from 2008 aside from the roster changes? Are there enough changes to motivated consumers in this economy to purchase the $60 game (PS3/XBOX)? Personally, I'm always interested in playing the most recent sports game, so I'll probably get it. But then I realized that the Bears have their first cover boy of all time on a video game so I have to buy it! Our former punt returner specialist and sometimes flashy WR DeSean Jackson graces the cover of the PS2 game. So, will you be purchasing the new game for your system? Darren McFadden graces the XBOX cover, Matt Ryan is on the PS3 cover, Michigan State's Sparty is on the Wii, and some West Virginia fullback is on the PSP cover.

Now that the whole Baron Davis, Elton Brand saga has finally been decided, it is important to look at the remaining players on the Warriors' roster to see what the team will have to deal with. Monta Ellis will probably be moved to the starting PG position, and this raises some questions. Can Monta still look for his shot and score at a high level while running the team? Most of the roster doesn't need a PG to set up their offensive game, with the exception of Andris Biedrins but he gets all his points off of boards and hustle anyway. Marco Belinelli is playing well this summer and there are a few young players trying to make the roster that could help out, one of them being former Duke starter DeMarcus Nelson.

After our implosion last season after the Oregon win, the Cal Bears need a serious hangover fixer to make sure that last year's botched chances don't carry over into the new season. As ESPN stated: "The collapse was almost without precedent in college football, a team going from national championship contender, hours away from being ranked No. 1 in the nation, to almost not being bowl eligible."

There are questions all throughout this squad, but the most important one will be the key problem of last season: Quarterback. Will Jeff Tedford start senior Nate Longshore, the once NFL ready QB who was leading the Bears to the #1 position in the nation until the injury at Oregon, or will he go with sophomore Kevin Riley, who replaced Longshore in the Armed Forces Bowl and led a comeback? The key will be re-inspiring the players, as it was noticeable that some quit last year as the season tanked. Other question marks are the running back position (can Best be an every-down back?), wide receivers (they're all new!), and the defensive line (always an issue). I hope Tedford has us fixed up for the upcoming season, because I wouldn't survive another collapse like last year. GO BEARS!

After a long journeyman career in the NFL, the former Super Bowl winner will likely hang it up now after suffering an Achilles tear. Dilfer was not under contract with any NFL team, but said the Raiders may have been interested in his services as a veteran influence on the young JaMarcus Russell but this injury almost assures Dilfer of retirement.

The Philadelphia 76ers are making huge moves to go after Clippers forward Elton Brand, and it sounds like Brand is listening to the offers. After luring away Baron Davis from the Warriors and opting out of his contract, Brand had made all assurances that he would re-sign for less money to make a championship contender. The Sixers have traded Calvin Booth and Rodney Carney to the Minnesota Timberwolves in order to clear cap room for either Elton Brand or new coveted free-agent Josh Smith of the Hawks. Which one will they go after, and will Elton renege on his promise to the Clippers?

By now most of you should be informed of the probable scandal involving former USC running back and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush; if you don't, well he took money and gifts from undisclosed sources (according to the NCAA). The investigation has been ongoing for about 2 years now, but recruits don't seem to care. It seems inevitable that the Trojans will escape this situation without any punishment, so at some point these recruits will have to deal with the repercussions of one, Reggie Bush. F-USC, I hope they get screwed out of plenty of scholarships for their lack of care for NCAA rules (see Matt Leinart and Dwayne Jarrett for a similar infraction).

After 18 tumultuous months the Berkeley tree sitters are finally coming down. The University has attacked the situation with more force than they have in the past, and the efforts are paying off as the legal front is coming in favor of the University. Although the judge held off the start of construction for the new Student Athlete High Performance Center, the University has a few small things to do to ensure that construction begins soon. Also, they have been granted an expedited hearing to rule on when that construction may commence. All in all, we're closer to finally starting construction on something that was scheduled to begin 2 years ago. We need this to happen, or our football program will fall behind the rest of the Pac-10 and the nation.

Another act of violence has broken out involving athletes, but at least this one is non-fatal. WR Trent Guy was shot in the back last night after exchanging words at a nightclub with another individual. Guy, a junior WR, was hospitalized but is expected to make a full recovery. Should Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe institute a non-nightclub policy, or just merely have a tighter grip on his players?

USA Track and Field took a huge blow today as their top sprinter, Tyson Gay, fell due to an injured hamstring during his 200 qualifying race. He is the World Champion in both the 100 and 200 meter races and has already qualified for the 100 meters, but with this fall he will not be on the Olympic team for the 200 meter race. The big thing now is to make sure that Gay can recover from his injury in order to even compete in the games at all. Will Gay be ready for Beijing?

Yo Yard, it's good to be back, I've been away in Europe for the past month doing the tourist thing. I come back and realized my Bears have come up with new uniforms, so I'm very excited. Well, my excitement has dissipated as I viewed the new Nike design. They're pretty ugly and plain, with no numbers on the sleeves or shoulders, not to mention just straight dumb looking. They remind me of a soccer uniform, with the lines at the collar just looking ugly. Lemme know what you guys think. There's also talk that the classic blue helmet with the Cal script may be accompanied by a yellow stripe, but that's not confirmed yet.