A - Andre Smith. It's about freaking time. Smith has taken a step to finally start to salvage the reputation he has ruined time and again since bowl season last year at Alabama - he has finally agreed to terms on a contract and will be joining the Bengals. The move comes far too late for him to make the starting lineup at right guard, and if history is any indicator this holdup could set back his career for a long time.

B - Brady, Tom. Brady may or may not have a shoulder injury. We can't know for sure because the Patriots are notoriously tight-lipped, but it appeared that Brady left with a sore shoulder after being crushed by Albert Haynesworth. Coach Belichick says that Brady was going to come out at that point anyway, but it seems unlikely that he could have continued after that hit. There will be a lot of held breath in New England - they don't have a good option if Brady isn't ready to go. The injury can't be too serious, though - the team cut backup QB Kevin O'Connell on Sunday.

C - Chris Simms. Kyle Orton had better figure things out quickly, because the Broncos just temporarily lost their safety net. Simms has suffered a high ankle sprain, and will be out for at least two to four weeks. That's a big blow for a guy already learning a new system. The Broncos signed Ingle Martin , but neither he nor Tom Brandstater are legitimate options for the team. This isn't good news for Denver at all, but it can't come as a surprise - they did sign an incredibly fragile QB, after all.

D - DUI. Billy Gillispie just seems determined to make sure that every last shred of his reputation is thoroughly destroyed. Gillispie was just 30 miles from Lexington, the site of his coaching disgrace, when he was stopped on Thursday night and charged with drunk driving. He even got to spend a night in jail after refusing to take a sobriety test. The biggest question to come out of this is why Gillispie, who isn't from Kentucky, would stay in the state after what happened? In a situation like his I'd have to drink, too.

E - Exodus. Miami seems like a nice city to visit, but apparently it's not much of a place to play quarterback. The string of departures away from Randy Shannon's program continues, and it's gone beyond being laughable. Miami only had four scholarship quarterbacks heading into the fall, but now they have half that number after both Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith left the program on Tuesday. Jacory Harris is a promising QB, but now the pressure is really on him - the third stringer on the team is the holder on field goals.

F - Freshman. USC has had such a remarkable run of quarterbacks lately that they haven't had to take huge risks at the position. Until now. For the first time ever, the Trojans are going to start the season with a true freshman at the helm. Despite not being overwhelming in his fall performance super-frosh Matt Barkley has won the QB competition over Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain. He gets to ease into the job with a reasonably easy opener against San Jose State, but that Week 2 game at Ohio State could be a nightmare if the youngster isn't ready for primetime.

G - Golf. Tiger Woods came up one stroke short in The Barclays after shanking a putt on the 18th, but he never should have needed that putt at all - he finished second despite being thoroughly average for the first two rounds. It was Heath Slocum who came out on top in the first of four PGA playoff events, and he did it by starting and finishing strong - he finished at nine under despite going even par over Friday and Saturday. Slocum had nothing to lose in this event - he didn't know he had made the FedEx Cup field until last Sunday.

H - Hockey. Americans may only barely acknowledge the existence of hockey, but Canada has proven yet again that little else matters. The Canadian Olympic team had a scrimmage to finish off the three-day evaluation camp in Calgary they had in advance of picking the team for the Vancouver Olympics. Despite charging as much as $85 for tickets to the glorified practice, more than 19,000 tickets were sold, and the sold out Saddledome was as loud as any playoff game.

I - Insubordination. Brandon Marshall wants to prove that he is a complete moron, it seems, and he's doing a darned good job of it. The flighty wide receiver has been suspended for the rest of preseason by the Broncos for detrimental conduct. Marshall has been a problem throughout the brief McDaniels era, but it came to a head when he acted like a child at practice on Wednesday - walking when the rest of the team was running, punting a ball instead of handing it to a ballboy, and swatting down passes instead of catching them. Marshall deserves some punishment, but any thoughts that this will solve anything or that he will learn from this are hopelessly naive.

J - Johan Santana. The Mets have had lots of practice dealing with injuries this year, but this one could really hurt. Johan Santana is on the shelf for the rest of the year and his elbow requires surgery. It won't affect the Mets this year - their season was a lost cause long ago. It could be a real problem, though, if the issue lingers beyond this year - the Mets have a lot invested in Santana, and they need him to anchor their rotation for years to come if they ever want to be competitive again.

K - Kazmir, Scott. It wasn't long ago that the Rays seemed to think that Kazmir was their ace now and into the future. A year later the lefty is now an Angel. In a move that was almost entirely financially motivated, Tampa Bay has sent their ace to the Angels for a package of prospects that is far from overwhelming. The Angels are taking a gamble in picking up Kazmir's contract, but it's one that should pay off well for them - Kazmir has pitched very well recently, and the Los Angeles pitching coach formerly worked with Kazmir in Tampa.

L - LLWS. After a long, difficult tournament, the team representing California has beaten Chinese Taipei to win the Little League World Series. The team from Chula Vista lost a preliminary game, but strong defense and big hitting kept them winning when it really mattered. I thought the same thing while watching LLWS action that I do every year - it is way more entertaining watching 12 year olds play baseball than you would guess it would be.

M - Mark Sanchez. It turns out that the rookie from USC isn't going to have to be patient and wait his turn after all. Despite spotty performance in the preseason, Sanchez has been named the Jets' starting quarterback. The timing probably isn't ideal for a team with playoff aspirations, but new coach Rex Ryan was left with little choice when veteran Kellen Clemens failed to step up and look like an NFL quarterback. Sanchez responded to the news by playing his best game yet in a win over the Giants on the weekend.

N - No luck. Maybe Jake Peavy should just take the hint and take the rest of the year off. The new White Sox hurler is trying to get healthy enough to join his new squad, but he keeps hitting road blocks. Two rehab starts ago he took a line drive off his elbow. On Saturday he left his rehab start in the fourth inning after just 68 pitches after experiencing tightness in that same elbow. It now seems very unlikely that he'll see Chicago this fall.

O - Out. Matt Cassel hasn't exactly taken Kansas City by storm this preseason, and now he might have some time to sit back and think about his struggles. Cassel limped off the field on Saturday after being sacked by Seattle on the third play of the game. He never returned to action, and he is undergoing tests to see the extent of the injury. The Chiefs were going to struggle no matter what, but losing the quarterback they invested so much in could be a problem - especially if he is out for any length of time.

P - Penny, Brad. The Red Sox are making quite a habit of cutting veteran pitchers. First it was John Smoltz, and now Brad Penny has been shipped out of town. Penny is healthy, but he has been lousy over the last two months - he has gone 1-6 over that time. The way that Smoltz bounced back upon joining the Cardinals will make Penny's case stronger, and he'll almost certainly land on a team - and a contender - for the stretch drive.

Q - Quite the staff. Kurt Rambis has finally got his chance to run his own team - the Timberwolves. To make sure that he makes the most of that chance he has spent this week establishing quite a staff. Joining him as assistants are two big names - Bad Boy and Detroit Shock coach and GM Bill Laimbeer, and former Sacramento Kings and New Mexico State coach Reggie Theus. Add that powerhouse staff to all the young talent the team has amassed and this team could make some real gains this season. They are certainly a team to watch.

R - Rockies. Colorado had a perfect opportunity to make a whole lot of noise this week, but they completely blew it. First, they dropped two of three against the Dodgers, and then they were swept by the Giants. Instead of being in the lead in the NL West, the Rockies are now tied with the Giants in the Wild Card race, and both teams are looking at a wide gap between them and the Dodgers. It's far too early to say for sure, but this could be when the high flying Rockies fall back to earth.

S - Simeon Rice. After almost two seasons out of football, the defensive end is making a comeback - of sorts. Rice has joined the New York Sentinels of the UFL, and will be coached by Ted Cottrell. Rice was forced to retire because of declining play and a fractured foot, so it's hard to be optimistic about his chances of a return to glory. On the other hand, the six-game UFL season won't be nearly as tough on him as an NFL season would be.

T - Travers. Summer Bird used the biggest race of the year for three year olds outside of the Triple Crown to prove that he's not a one-trick pony. The Belmont winner won the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday, and he did it in impressive fashion. After traveling surprisingly close to the pace, the colt made his move around the final turn, and pulled away to win by daylight over a wet, almost sloppy track. With the win Summer Bird becomes unquestionably the top three year old colt in the country.

U - UFC 102. There were two key storylines to emerge from the latest UFC event, which took place in Portland Saturday night - lightning fast knockouts, and the potential end of an era. It took only 21 seconds for Nate Marquardt to knock out Demian Maia, and just a third of that time for Todd Duffee to flatten Tim Hague. In the main event, 46 year old Randy Couture put up a good fight, but ultimately couldn't beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. It's hard to see what the next step is for The Natural - two straight losses limits his heavyweight possibilities. He should retire, but he's too stubborn to do that, and the UFC still makes too much money from him to force him out of action.

V - Vick. After more than two and a half years out of action, Michael Vick is back in the NFL. His preseason debut with the Eagles was, in a word, underwhelming. He looked fine in the action he saw, but he barely played at all. Since the game some potential controversy has erupted - the Eagles alternated between Vick and Donovan McNabb during the game, and there are indications that McNabb thought the platooning was killing offensive momentum. If that's true then that explains the less-than-expected playing time for Vick.

W - What?!? Far be it from me to be the one to defend Ochocinco - he's a big boy who can take care of himself. Based on the NFL's latest action, though, you can only conclude that they are picking on the flamboyant receiver. The player formerly known as Johnson has been fined $5,000 by the No Fun League. His crime? He was wearing an orange chin strap instead of a white one. Things like that could cause really serious problems - especially for a team like Cincinnati that has orange uniforms. The league really can be ridiculous.

X - eXplosion. We saw a pretty classic quarterback matchup this week, but it was later than we expected to see it, and it's not likely to be repeated in a meaningful game for at least a couple of years. Aaron Rodgers played very well to lead his Packers past Matt Leinart and the Cardinals. Rodgers had 258 passing yards on just 19 attempts, and scored three touchdowns. Leinart countered with 360 passing yards and three touchdowns of his own. The performances will raise already high expectations in Green Bay and likely end any speculation about Leinart losing his backup job in Arizona.

Y - Yankees. New York is in cruise control heading towards another AL East title and a shot at another World Series title. They had an unfamiliar experience on the road to their destiny - for the first time in more than two months they lost a series at home. The surprising Rangers took two of three in the Bronx. New York bounced back nicely by sweeping the White Sox, and if they had to lose to someone they likely don't mind it being the Rangers, the team chasing their hated rivals the Red Sox in the Wild Card race.

Z - Zack Greinke. Greinke hasn't been in the news nearly as much now that his Royals have assumed their familiar position in the cellar, but he is still making life miserable for opposing hitters. On Tuesday he set a Royals' all-time record by striking out 15 in eight innings against the Indians. He came back on Sunday with a complete game one hitter. Greinke is now 13-8, and has an AL leading 2.32 ERA. You really have to wonder what this guy could do if he wasn't stuck on such a lousy team.