Quick Blubs:

- After the Big Ride yesterday, drove to work this morning to give the legs a chance to chill.

- Passed a couple of bus stops on the way in and saw the middle schoolers waiting for their first day of school. They all had the persecuted, "hung dog" look, which is pretty much the look grown-ups have on Monday mornings. Wait until these kids find out first-hand that a job is year-round and doesn't take summers off.

- The talking heads were b---hing about college graduation rates this morning in regards to student-athletes. It sounds like the NCAA is going to use a new formula to calculate graduation success. I probably have less tolerence on the subject that most folks: if you accept a full-ride athletic scholarship, you do what you can to graduate. This is the rest of your life that you are preparing for. If it turns out you can't cut the academic mustard, then give up your ride to someone else. And if you are the coach of a major college sports program and your kids aren't graduating, you are not preparing them for life after sports and you should be working at McDonalds.

- A co-worker just told me that his stepson and a buddy tried to deep-fry a Burger King Whopper. My arteries are closing as I write this.

- The chief of the Tour de France says there is no doubt that Lance Armstrong took a performance enhancing drug to win the 1999 TDF. I can almost understand where the French are coming from on this. One analogy from the Bicycling forum web site: How would we feel if the Yankees lost to a French team in the World Series? On the other hand, The French haven't won the TDF in twenty years. They really need to get over the fact they're the planet's biggest wusses.

- Tropical Storm Katrina is approaching the Florida coast. The spouse can make her own joke here.

- A Marine from Reno was killed in Iraq last weekend. He is the 20th Nevadan that has died there since the conflict started.

- Here's a couple of blogs I glance at every once in a while. Ronnie works at Pixar Studios and Jill is a English Literature professor (I think). They write good.

- This is very funny and very cute, and yes, the title really is, "Everyone has had more sex than me." WARNING: Don't bother to look at this if you have a dial-up line. It will take forever to load.

- The greatest song ever recorded now has a video! Same warning as above.

- And there is still worst out there. Again, same warning (blah blah blah).

- One of the middle schools kids this morning was smoking. Tobacco wins another one. We all lose.