In a Tweet that might as well have read “going 2 new england brb,” Reggie Bush reacted to the Saints trading back into the first round to draft Alabama running back Mark Ingram by going on the Internet, giving up completely and spending the rest of the day Googling “Reggie Bush.”

Via Twitter, the best place to say things like this:

About three hours later, Bush tweeted, “Congrats to Mark Ingram on being selected to New Orleans. He will be a great addition to the Saints backfield just as he was in Alabama,” so maybe he was just talking about the Hornets. Or he sent his Twitter password to his publicist.

Ingram gives the Saints a cheaper option at running back, and with a backfield that already includes Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory, I guess Reggie has seen the writing on the wall. Now he’s got to e-mail the guy that made his wallpaper and get him to photoshop in a bunch of Saints-nonspecific “Reggie Bush is awesome” pictures.

Maybe they could get more than four people into Progressive Field. Hey Cleveland, maybe your owners would take your criticisms more seriously if you paid to see a game in any month besides “the last one.”

Sports:

Sari About Our Cheerleaders - Hockey got me into cheerleaders by putting them in yoga pants, and now the Indian Cricket Premier League is using cheerleaders to get me into cricket by making them a culturally-specific kind of hot. Although I still don’t understand cricket. I gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket. [Best Week Ever]

How Much Will You Save if There is an NFL Lockout? - A little spreadsheet math to make losing your favorite sport easier. I don’t know how much money I would save personally, but I hope I can draft Keanu Reeves as my quarterback in Madden 13. [Sara Sprague via Hot Clicks]

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Lobster Dog was just as shocked as anyone when the Houston Texans selected Mario Williams.

Originally, I was going to put together a first round mock draft to pretend like I had any clue how the 2011 NFL Draft was going to unfold and thankfully I talked myself out of kidding myself. Besides, all I have time to do is worry about the Miami Dolphins selecting Christian Ponder with the 15th pick tonight. Seriously, if that happens I will fully endorse the lockout until he’s old enough to retire. But that’s the fun of the NFL Draft – speculation, worrying, complaining, crying, protesting, cursing, stamping feet, blaming girlfriends, threatening lives, hoping players are hit by buses. You know, all the best of the “in good fun” stuff.

Instead of making predictions so you all can call me wrong – or more wrong than usual – or trying to outbest the best in mock draft coverage at Kissing Suzy Kolber, I figured I’d collect the latest and last of the big first round rumors before this little fun party begins.

Read the rest of this entry »

*snicker*

Sports:

Yankees Accidentally Leak Personal Info Of Season Ticket Holders - George Costanza has accidentally leaked a spreadsheet containing account numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses for 20,000 Yankees fans. In a related story, the Pittsburgh Pirates have leaked a spreadsheet containing similar information for all six of their season ticket holders. One of them is Andy Van Slyke! [Deadspin]

2011 NFL Draft Choose Your Own Adventure - Way cooler and funnier than the one we did over at FanHouse, although I’m still terrible at these. I tried to draft Ras-I Dowling and was slain by a dwarf. [SB Nation]

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Ryan Mallett was putting together a solid pre-draft performance for NFL scouts, but apparently the former Arkansas quarterback just ran out of gas. After flying into Charlotte for an interview with the Carolina Panthers (who have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft) earlier this month, Ryan called them the following morning, saying that he was too sick to make it.

Complicating the matter is the fact sources said Mallett was seen out on the town late following the dinner. Off-field questions have followed Mallett every step of the process since he announced he was leaving school in January with eligibility remaining.

Mallett, who was arrested for public intoxication in March 2009, declined to answer questions from reporters about rumored drug use at the combine in February.

–National Football Post.

Mallett has been a bit of a question mark for scouts–a great pro prospect with terrific tools abutted with character issues–but honestly, blowing off that interview probably saved his NFL career. Who the hell would want to play for the Panthers? They have a new, defensive-minded coach in Ron Rivera, and they’ll basically be rebuilding that team. That’s like blowing off an interview at McDonald’s for that guy. Ryan Mallett might be a complete idiot, but he’s no dummy. UPDATE: Mallett’s agent says the quarterback was in bed by 10. Who to believe?

I don’t think there’s a bigger decision in college football player’s life than when to make the jump for the pros. We’ve seen great college players screw that decision up: Mike Williams and Maurice Clarett famously left too early, and Matt Leinart arguably stayed too late. So should a college player be allowed to declare for the draft, and then change his mind? One columnist says yes, he should.

Most of those guys, maybe all of those guys, have received the kinds of benefits from agents that would wreck NCAA eligibility. They’ve received cars or cash or clothes, or all the above. Letting them back on the college football team would be unprecedented. Big freaking deal.

Desperate times, people. Desperate times call for desperate actions, and this time here is desperate for most of those 56 young men. They left behind their college cocoon and entered a brave new world full of … nothing. No signing bonus. No paycheck.

No degree. No job. No money.

Gregg Doyel at CBS Sports points to the case of Dion Lewis, who started at running back for Pittsburgh for two years. Lewis made the decision to jump into the draft pool this year, despite having two more seasons of eligibility remaining. Read the rest of this entry »