By Brian Edwards
Posted 07/18/2008 at 02:21 PM

Good afternoon ladies and gents, wanted to check in on my blog page as it has been too long. Here's a bunch of quick-hit thoughts and some links, etc.

--Gotta love seeing David Duval and Greg Norman in contention at the British Open.

--I've got six plays in my MLB pick pack tonight.

--I'm up for today's chat at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. With Week 1 lines out for college football and season win totals released, I encourage questions about college football, which is only 41 days away.

--Ready for a shocker? Atlanta LHP Mike Hampton has hurt his groin again, delaying his return -- again. When was the last time he touched the field -- 2001?

--What in the hell are the Hawks waiting on in terms of re-signing Josh Smith? Pay the man his money! Al Horford agrees with me. Not that Big Al and I have EVER disagreed on anything! The Hawks got lucky when the 76ers inked Elton Brand and the Clippers traded for Marcus Camby. Now the Grizzlies are the only team with enough cap space to give Smith an offer sheet, and that doesn't appear as if it's going to happen. So what are the Hawks waiting for? If they mess this up and allow a 22-year-old homegrown stud like Smith to somehow get away, it will be the worst of many awful moves this organization has made in the last two decades.

--I love it when I'm right. I've been calling A-Rod a scumbag for years. I've had many reasons to do so. First of all, he took that insane contract with the Rangers when he could've stayed with a winning team (Seattle was at the time), showing the world that money was much more important than winning. After several years of putting up huge numbers but finishing in the cellar of the AL West every season, he decided he wanted to play for a winner. So he goes to the Yankees, who were dynastic at the time with a nucleus that had won four consecutive Fall Classics. But since A-Rod's arrival, the Yankees have done next to nothing in the playoffs. And A-Rod has been awful when it counts in the post-season. Now Stray-Rod has been caught running around with various women and his wife has filed for divorce. And now, in true scummish A-Rod form, we find out that A-Rod the Cheater has not only been cheating, but also spying on his wife. Memo to A-Rod: You suck! You're a total loser in life. And hey, your numbers are cute and all but you have ZERO World Series rings. None! And that's not changing anytime soon. Take those facts and like it. Ok, I'm done.

--The Clippers have been a joke for a long time -- this we know. And they have lost Elton Brand -- a rare 20 pts, 10 reb's a night guy -- and Corey Maggette during this off-season. With that said, I have to give the Clippers (mostly Mike Dunleavy, who appears to be running the show these days and doing a good job of getting the frugal Donald Sterling to spend some $$$) credit for the way they've handled this off-season. Obviously, you're not going to replace Brand, but you have to commend the Clips for getting Marcus Camby (perhaps the best defensive big man in the NBA) in a trade with the Nuggets for nothing in return. You have to love the signing of Baron Davis and the choice of Eric Gordon with the No. 7 pick in the draft. And now they sign Kelenna Azubuike to an offer sheet. He's a younger/cheaper version of Maggette who won't need as many shots that can therefore go to Davis, who is a better shooter/scorer than Maggette anyway. And maybe DeAndre Jordan, the big man project from out of Texas A&M, will turn out to be ok. Kudos to the Clips, who have made the best of a bad situation and might turn out better for it in the long run.

--Bad news for the rest of the SEC: Florida WR Percy Harvin is ahead of schedule in his rehab from surgery on his heel.

--I'm still stunned over the felony charges against former Florida basketball player Teddy Dupay, who is accused of rape and kidnapping in Utah. Billy Donovan recently remarked on the situation for the first time.

--Great news for Mark Few and the Gonzaga basketball team, which is a serious Final Four contender in the 2008-2009 campaign. Austin Daye, who was diagnosed with a torn ACL last week, went for a second opinion. And it's a good thing! The second doctor told Daye he only has a bone bruise and a minor tear that won't require surgery. So it turns out that Daye won't miss Gonzaga's important non-conference games that'll determine its seeding come Selection Sunday.