Jackson Free Press

Lost in some of the Rand/Medicare/Taxes discussion of Rep. Paul Ryan was a glib line that he's now offered a few times on the stump, taking President Obama's "You Didn't Build That" line out of context to suggest that Obama was saying that small businesses didn't build their businesses.

The irony is two-fold (a.) Ryan has spent his adult entire career working in government in Washington, aside from a year he listed as a "marketing consultant" for his family's company and (b.) his family business, Ryan Incorporated, began in the 1800s building railroads for the government, switched to roads and highways (for the) government in the 20th century, had a hand in building O'Hare in Chicago, and more recently has made a a fair bit of scratch on defense contracts. In other words, the family fortune has done just fine by way of the government and, particularly, the infrastructure that Obama was talking about when Ryan misquoted him.

A current search of Defense Department contracts suggests that “Ryan Incorporated Central” has had at least 22 defense contracts with the federal government since 1996, including one from 1996 worth $5.6 million. … Mr. Anti-Spending secured millions in earmarks for his home state of Wisconsin, including, among other things, $3.3 million for highway projects. And Ryan voted to preserve $40 billion in special subsidies for big oil, an industry in which, it so happens, Ryan and his wife hold ownership stakes.

Speaking of his wife, Janna Ryan was a D.C. lobbyist before she became the "stay at home mom" that she has been introduced as -- for big pharma, big oil, "nuclear waste issues," health insurance and the cigar lobby, as they fought to keep the same warnings off cigars that cigarettes have.

The Summer Olympics are over for the next four years. In two years, the Winter Olympics will take place in Sochi, Russia. We won’t see the summer games against until 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Every nation will have to wait four more years to catch up to the United States in total medals. After all the medals where given out Sunday, the U.S. stood alone atop the medal standing as the only nation to break triple digits in medals.

The U.S. finished with 104 overall medals outpacing second place China, which finished with 87 total medals, by 17 more medals and third place Russia, who finished with 82 total medals by 22 medals.

No one finished with more gold medals than the USA either. The U.S. finished with 46 gold medals with China at 38 gold medals in second and Great Britain, who finished fourth in total medals with 64 total medals, who had 29 gold medals.

Overall the U.S. finished with 36 gold medals, 29 silver medals, and 29 bronze medals. In the final medal count, 25 nations finished in double digits in total medals.

Bahrain, Botswana, Cyprus, Gabon, Grenada (won gold), Guatemala, and Montenegro all won their first ever Olympic medal. There were 204 countries competing and 85 of those countries received at least one medal.

Rounding out the top ten in total medals were Germany (44 total medals) in fifth, Japan (38 total medals) in sixth, Australia (35 total medals) in seventh, France (34 total medals) in eighth, South Korea and Italy (28 total medals each) tied for ninth to round out the top ten.

London was a successful Olympic games for the United States. Since 2000 games in Sydney, the U.S., China and Russia have finished in the top three spots.

Since 1992 games in Barcelona, China has finished in one of the top four spots as the Chinese have become a world power in the Olympic games after not even being in the top ten in the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea.

The United States leads the way to Rio in total and gold medals but Brazil, China, and Russia will be hot on the U.S. heels in four years.

After the Hall of Fame game, the New Orleans Saints spent the week holding joint practices with the New England Patriots before their preseason game. Those joint practices might have allowed both teams’ defense to dominate during the game.

The game started with the Saints losing the coin toss and the Patriots deferring until the second half. New Orleans' offense would fail to make a first down and was forced to punt on their first possession of the game.

That would be the story most of the night for the Saints offense, as it failed to get on track for the majority of the game. Even Drew Brees had a rough outing, only completing one pass for four yards in two offensive series.

After the Saints punted, New England was forced to punt, but an offsides penalty on Martez Wilson kept the Patriots drive alive. New Orleans was able to end that extra drive after the penalty when Will Smith sacked Tom Brady and forced a fumble.

The fumble was recovered by Curtis Loftin at the New England 34 yard line. Brees was unable to get the ball into the end zone and the Saints were forced to kick a field goal. John Kasay converted on a 46-yard field goal to give New Orleans a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.

Brady would finish the night completing just four of seven passes for 30 yards with no touchdowns and, of course, a fumble.

Neither team did much offensively for the rest of the first half. There were more low lights than highlights for both teams.

Replacing Brees at quarterback was Chase Daniel, with just over five minutes left in the first quarter. Daniel would get picked off by Steve Gregory at the Patriots 12-yard line. Gregory would return the ball back to the New England 17-yard line.

Daniel’s night would be over after his interception, having completed four of six passes for 62 yards. After the INT, Brian Hoyer replaced Brady and was helped out by another Saints penalty on a punt to keep the drive after Daniel’s interception alive. Martez Wilson was flagged for running into Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko.

Hoyer was replaced by Ryan Mallett, who would be unable to take advantage of the second penalty by the Saints on fourth down that kept a New England drive alive.

Mallett would throw an interception of his own right before the two minute warning. The former Arkansas Razorback was picked off by former Alabama player Marquis Johnson at the New England 49 yard line.

Sean Canfield would take over for Daniel after the Johnson interception. He drove the Saints down to the Patriots 32 yard line.

Canfield floated a pass on first down that Patrick Chung intercepted at the Patriots 11-yard line. It was a tough night overall for Canfield, as he went completed six of ten passes for 45 yards.

Mallett got a final drive after the Canfield interception. He drove …

Football is back. After an offseason where player activity has made more news than player signings, the New Orleans Saints getting back on the playing field meant more -- after one of harshest punishments ever given to an NFL franchise in the wake of "bounty gate."

In the NFL Hall of Fame game, New Orleans finally got back to football and away from the offseason drama. The Arizona Cardinals helped the Saints open the NFL preseason.

New Orleans received the opening kickoff and Drew Brees went to work. In a ten play drive that covered 77 yards in just over four minutes, the Saints first string offense looked in midseason form.

Mark Ingram scored on a one-yard plunge to give New Orleans an early 7-0 lead. Brees’ night was done after the score with him going four of five for 41 yards.

Brees' counterpart, Kevin Kolb of the St. Louis Cardinals, didn’t have quite the night the record-setting Saints quarterback did. Kolb was constantly harassed by the Saints defense as the Cardinals porous offensive line failed to give very much protection.

Kolb didn’t help make his case to be the starting quarterback when his first pass of the night was intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins. Kolb didn’t see Jenkins jump a short passing route as he made the first of several terrible defensive coverage reads of the night for Arizona.

While Brees only played one offensive series, Kolb kept playing as the Cardinals offense struggled. Kolb’s night ended after he was knocked down in his own end zone after an incomplete pass, injuring his ribs.

Kolb didn’t make it through three full series before he was injured. He was replaced by John Skelton, who is also fighting for the starting quarterback job.

Late in the first quarter, Skelton got the Arizona offense going, in a drive that went 89 yards in 14 plays that lasted over seven minutes to tie the game at 7-7.

After Brees left for the evening, he was replaced by back-up quarterback Chase Daniel. While the Cardinals quarterbacks were under duress most of the night, Daniel put up solid numbers as he played most of the first half and midway into the third quarter.

Daniel finished the night completing 15 of 20 passes for 203 yards. After the Cardinals tied the game, Daniels got the Saints offense rolling once more, driving to the Arizona four yard line.

New Orleans was unable to cross the goal line instead opting for a 23-yard field goal from 42-year-old John Kasay, also fighting for his job, to retake the lead at 10-7. The Saints field goal scoring drive lasted just over four minutes and covered 36 yards in 10 plays.

The Saints got a chance to run their two minute offense in the second quarter and Daniel ran it nearly to perfection. Daniel drove New Orleans 94 yards in seven plays in under a minute and half.

Daniel capped the drive with a Travaris Cadet catching the four yard …

Football returns on Sunday with the Hall of Fame game between the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints. The Saints finally get to play football after a tremulous offseason that included a prolonged contract dispute with quarterback Drew Brees and the bounty gate scandal.

This game will be the first game of head coach Sean Payton’s yearlong suspension due to bounty gate. The Hall of Fame game also marks the debut of Steve Spagnuolo's defense.

Before the game, here is a look at five things to watch during the game:

Saints offense on third down and goal line

This will be something to watch all preseason long. When the Saints offense reaches third down and/or the goal line, the effects of Payton’s suspension might hit New Orleans the hardest.

Payton’s play calling helped the Saint offense stay at its high-powered best -- but his best play calls came when the Saints reached third down or the goal line. Brees will be able to carry Payton’s thought process onto the field, but it will not be the same as having Payton on the sideline looking at the play sheet and having his unique feel for calling games.

Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. will take over the play calling duties, as he did when Payton broke his leg last season. The Saints offense struggled at times in Payton’s absence, suffering two of their three losses last season after the injury.

How the Saints offense converts third downs and goal line situations in the preseason could be a key indicator to how the New Orleans offense will operate during the regular season. While Brees is directing the first team offense, play-calling in key situations is must watch.

Another effect of Payton’s suspension will be gamble plays -- like going for it on fourth down either for a score or a first down -- and gutsy calls like the on-side kick from the Super Bowl. It will not be until the regular season that New Orleans would feel the pain of not having their riverboat gambler head coach making big calls.

Saints’ defense

As discussed above, Steve Spagnuolo takes over the defensive coordinator job after Greg Williams moved on to St. Louis Rams for the same position (Williams was later suspended for the year for bounty gate). Spagnuolo is taking over the New Orleans defensive unit after he was fired as head coach of the Rams.

As defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, Spagnuolo became a head coaching candidate after his defense held the record-setting New England Patriots offense to just 14 points in Super Bowl XLII.

Much like former defensive coordinator Greg Williams, Spagnuolo uses a base 4-3 defense. Spagnuolo will blitz, but not as much as Williams did. He will also try to disguise his blitzes more than Williams did.

In the NFL, it can take a year to two years before a defense learns the ins and outs of a defensive scheme. Learning assignments and executing those …

As the Olympics round the turn into the final week; this mega two week spectacle finally moves to track and field. The United States finally moved to the top of the leaderboard in overall medals as well.

U.S. swimmers, American’s first gold in Judo for a man or woman, women’s eight team rowing and one all-around individual in gymnastics helped the jump China. The USA now has 37 overall medals to China’s 34 overall medals.

More importantly the U.S. has tied China for the most gold medals with each country having 18 gold medals apiece. The USA has nine silver and 11 bronze to China’s 11 silver and five bronze. Rounding out the top ten in total medals are:

Japan in third with 19 medals (2 gold, 6 silver and 11 bronze), Germany (4 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze) and Russia (3 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze) are tied for fourth, France is in sixth with 16 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze), host nation Great Britain is seventh with 15 medals (5 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze), South Korea is eighth with 14 medals (7 gold, 2 silver, 5 bronze) and the top ten is round out with Italy (4 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze) and Australia (1 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze) tied for ninth with 11 medals.

Before thinking about track and field, let’s look back at these Olympics so far. We have seen women breaking through with Gabby Douglas becoming the first African-American woman to win the gymnastics all-around individual title and Kayla Harrison win the first gold medal in judo for an American, man or woman.

Of the 37 medals the United States has won, 19 of those medals have been won in women’s events. In the same year Title IX turns 40 women are a major part of the United States athletic success at these games.

These games truly show the effects of Title IX have had an impact and are still having an impact. U.S. women in these games have been strong in nearly event.

Track and field events haven't even taken place and American women have been leading the way. It seems nearly every record broken, U.S. earning its first medal, or medal repeat has been from an American woman. Thank you Title IX.

Michael Phelps says this is his final Olympics and if it is he has acquitted himself for his slow start. Since his fourth place in the 400m IM, Phelps has gone on to win two gold medals and two silver medals.

Phelps has become the most decorated Olympic athlete ever with his 20 total medals to pass Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina who once ruled with 18 medals. There are two events left in Phelps Olympic career if he doesn’t decide to return in 2016 game in Brazil.

Ryan Lochte was supposed to supplant Phelps has king of the pool but it doesn’t feel like he has done so. Lochte leads Phelps and …

China (9 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze) started fast but the United States (5 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze) has finally caught the Chinese in total medals. Both countries have 17 total medals after three days of competition.

China leads every country with the most gold medals with nine. The United States is in second place with five gold medals with North Korea in third with just three gold medals. Four countries have two gold medals.

Italy was in third place in overall medals but has been over taken by Japan (1 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze) who has earned 11 medals. Now the Italians (2 golds, 4 silvers, 2 bronze) are in fourth place with eight overall medals

France (3 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze) is in fifth place with seven medals, followed by South Korea (2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) is sixth with six overall medals. Russia (2 gold, 3 bronze) has underwhelmed with just five medals in seventh place.

Two nations are tied with four medals and five nations have three medals.

Host nation Great Britain has only three medals and has yet to win gold on home soil. Overall 37 countries so far have captured a medal in these games.

It has been an up and down games for the United States. The U.S. has been a slight disappointment in swimming and men's gymnastics team blew a fast start to finish out of the medals.

Team America still has plenty of chances to medal in the London Games with track and field starting soon.

The opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics haven’t even taken place but there has already been some early Olympic excitement. France put a scare in the USA women’s soccer team early today in Glasgow, Scotland.

Things didn’t look good for the U.S. women early, who are seeking to win their fourth gold medal in soccer and repeat as Olympic champions, as France struck first to take a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the game off a nice goal from Gaëtane Thiney.

France put the U.S. women in an even deeper hole after the USA failed to clear a French corner kick and France moved the ball around to find the back of the net again. Marie-Laure Delie scored the second French goal to give them a 2-0 lead less than 15 minutes into the match.

The USA team got on track in the 19th minute when Abby Wambach scored off a header from a U.S. corner kick. Wambach, one of the greatest women’s soccer players in U.S. history, once again sparked this team.

Team USA pulled level when Alex Morgan scored to make it a 2-2 game 32 minutes into the first half. France still looked dangerous in the first half barely missing a couple of chances at a third goal. The teams were tied 2-2 at halftime.

In the second half, the U.S. women slowly took control of the game earning more possession and playing sounder defense in front of goalkeeper Hope Solo. The comeback was complete when Carli Lloyd scored in the 56th minute to give the U.S. their first lead of the game at 3-2.

The French women look to tire as the second half went on and the more talented U.S. side began to play up to their talent level. U.S. talent and French fatigue led to a final, nail in the coffin, goal for the ladies from the USA. Alex Morgan scored her second goal of the game in the 66th minute to give the U.S. women a 4-2 lead. USA held off any offensive attacks from France in the final minutes of the game.

The two French goals are the most goals allowed by the USA women in any game since their World Cup Final loss to Japan last year. Soccer and Archery are the only two sports that start before the opening ceremonies on Friday.

USA women will face Columbia next on Saturday.

This morning the NCAA came down hard on Penn State in an unprecedented action not involving infractions of NCAA rules. Penn State was hit with a four year bowl ban, $60 million fine and a reduction of 10 initial scholarships and 20 scholarships for the next four years. Also 111 wins vacated from 1998 to 2011, basically symbolically ending Joe Paterno's legacy.

While the NCAA didn't give Penn State the death penalty, it did cripple the program for the next 10 to 20 year if not more. Players still eligible can transfer to other schools and play immediately.

The feeding frenzy of coaches trying to lure Penn State players away might show football programs are not even thinking twice about happened to the Nittany Lions today. I doubt that the punishment of Penn State will curb the spending and power of college football.

Even though NCAA president Mark Emmert says the Penn State punishment doesn't open Pandora's Box in college sports. It does raise a serious question of why not.

The NCAA did nothing in 2003 when Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson murdered teammate Patrick Dennehy. Former Baylor head coach Dave Bliss even conspired to cover up the true facts of Dennehy’s murder. Baylor was punished for NCAA violations but in there was no punishment that was included for the murder of Dennehy. Baylor basketball has bounced back to play in the post season in basketball four times since the NCAA levied penalties on the Bears in 2005.

Should the NCAA go back and punish Baylor (retroactively punishing school is something the NCAA does all the time)?

What about the death of Virginia women’s lacrosse Yeardley Love? In 2010, Love was murdered by her former boyfriend and men’s lacrosse player George Huguely.

Love’s mother, Sharon Love, is suing the state and coaches ignored Huguely's erratic behavior, including two alcohol-related arrests, frequent intoxication and attacks on another female student, a teammate and a Virginia tennis player.

Sharon Love claims the university, head coach Dom Starsia, assistant coach Marc Van Arsdale, and athletic director Craig Littlepage didn’t discipline Huguely for his behavior or get him treatment for anger management and alcohol abuse.

If the claims are true, should Virginia be punished for not protecting Love from Huguely and because of their lack of concern she ended up dead?

In an ongoing investigation, several Montana football players along with another man are accused of gang raping a fellow student. In the Montana case, head coach Robin Pflugrad disciplined several players but didn’t report the incidents to his superiors.

Montana university president Royce Engstrom said in a statement "The University of Montana has determined not to renew the contracts of Athletics Director Jim O'Day and head football coach Robin Pflugrad." Then Engstron thanked both O’Day and Pflugrad for their service as he let them go.

The Department of Justice is investigating the university and campus police, along with the …

Needing to finish the third round and start the fourth round, rain finally stayed away from the True South Classic. The tournament had been hit by rain on the first three days causing delays from the weather.

Rain and delays couldn’t slow down Scott Stallings who won shooting 24-under for the tournament. Stallings carded a 68 for 4-under in the final round, to hold off Jason Bohn who finished second at 22-under, to win by two strokes.

Stallings played solid golf all week only recording only three bogeys for the entire tournament. He didn’t even have a bogey in the second or third round to go with the four eagles he posted in the first three of rounds of play.

The solid golf Stallings played was on display at the 18th hole. Up three strokes, Stallings played smart, conservative golf hitting safely from the tee, laying up and finishing the hold with a par to keep his lead at two strokes.

Stallings earned his second PGA Tour win (he won the 2011 Greenbrier Classic in a playoff). By winning the tournament, Stallings earned $540,000 of the $3 million purse.

Billy Horschel finished in third at 20-under and Bud Cauley finished fourth at 19-under with a group of three tied for fifth at 18-under. Defending champion Chris Kirk finished tied for tenth with two other at 15-under.

Brandon native, Jonathan Randolph finished in a large group that was tied for 21st place at 12-under.

After the Fondren "C Spire Summer Music Series" concert originally scheduled for Thursday was rained out, organizers have decided to move the concert to Monday, July 23. The event is free to the public and picnics are encouraged, although coolers are not. (Soft drinks and beer available onsite.) The concert features local bluegrass group the Vernon Brothers on the front porch of the historic Cedars House, located on Old Canton Road just south of Meadowbrook Road in Jackson.

Verbatim release:

Thursday nights' concert at The Cedars has been rescheduled for Monday, July 23

Join us this coming Monday night, July 23, for the C Spire Summer Music Series at The Cedars featuring the Vernon Brothers. Rain might have delayed our original date but there is no reason to cancel some summer fun!

Get together with your family and friends over the weekend and make your plans to attend this incredible night of music and fun. If you have never heard the Vernon Brothers, you are in for a real treat. They are a fantastic mix of country, bluegrass and hillbilly - just perfect for the "front porch" stage at The Cedars! Mother nature is showing she is all clear on Monday, so bring a blanket or lawnchair and a picnic supper - no beverage coolers please. Brown Bottling will be on hand with a variety of Pepsi product offerings as well as Aquafina Water. Southern Beverage will be offering a selection of craft beers as well as two popular regular varieties. Beer will be $4.00 in bottles - craft beers available will be Covington Strawberry, Shock Top Lemon Shandy, Tallgrass 8-Bit Pale, Diamond Bear Pale Ale, Steven's Point Belgian White, Back Forty Truck Stop Honey and Back Forty Naked Pig - new 8% craft beers we will have available are Steven's Point Raspberry Saison and Steven's Point Whole Hog 6 - Hop IPA - we will also offer Bud Light and Michelob Ultra.

Worried about the mosquitoes? No need, we will spray again Monday after the rain from the weekend! The Cedars is located at 4145 Old Canton Road and as always, convenient parking is available across the street at St. Andrew's Lower School.

So, join us in Fondren this coming Monday night for this great night offamily fun and entertainment starting at 6:00 p.m. - and remember, it's FREE! See you there!

A special thanks to all of our sponsors. This Fondren Renaissance Event is presented by C Spire in cooperation with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, Pepsi, Southern Beverage and Trustmark. Mark your calendars now for the last concert in this series on August 16, "Delta Honky Tonk Night" featuring Pryor and The Tombstones.

Favre watch is never over.

The former NFL quarterback has been in the news quite a bit this week. In an interview with Deion Sanders, Favre spent time discussing how he doesn't need his jersey retired in Green Bay to validate his career and that he played in 2010 for, wait for it, the money.

Now comes reports from Biloxi-Gulfport Sun Herald that Favre is expected to return to football as offensive coordinator of Oak Grove High School. Favre's agent Bus Cook confirmed the legendary quarterback is taking the job.

"He is taking a job out there," Cook told the Sun Herald. "He is going out there, and it will give him something to do."

Oak Grove coach Nev Barnes told the paper nothing is official but the two sides will talk on Monday to gauge how much the former three-time NFL MVP wants to be involved with the program. Favre is currently on vacation in Colorado.

Favre has worked out with the football team at Oak Grove for several years. His workouts at the high school have often sparked "Favre Watch" in recent summers.

Play has been suspended in the True South Classic with round two still under way. Round one was delayed by rain on Thursday and a brief bit of rain slowed play on Friday making it harder to finish the first round and get the full second round done in the same day.

Leading the tournament before play was suspended is Billy Horschel who posted a 9-under 63 and 13-under for the tournament. His second round was highlighted by eagles on the par five fifth hole and par five 18th hole.

Horschel shot a 68 in round one to finish the round at 4-under. Day one leader Jason Bohn completed just nine holes in his second round and was at 4-under before play was suspended.

Bohn is tied for second place with Matt Bettencourt at 12-under, with both players still needing to finish their second round. Bettencourt finished his second round at 6-under and shot a 66 in both rounds of play.

Defending champion Chris Kirk finished his second round shooting a 68 for 4-under. Kirk is 9-under for the tournament heading into round three.

Brandon native Jonathan Randolph was unable to finish his second round and was even through four holes. Randolph currently is at 5-under for the tournament.

Australia’s Steve Bowditch is fourth at 11-under after carding a 66 in round one and a 67 in round two. J.J. Killeen is the only other player currently double digits under par at 10-under and is currently in fifth place but has not finished his second round.

When play was suspended the projected cut line was at 3-under. Play will continue at 7:30am with players finishing round two and starting round three, if there are no more weather delays.

Kobe Bryant was asked this week if he thought this current USA Men's Basketball team was better than the 1992 Dream Team. Bryant gave his thoughts to the question:

"Well, just from a basketball standpoint, they obviously have a lot more size than we do — you know, with [David] Robinson and [Patrick] Ewing and [Karl] Malone and those guys," Bryant said. "But they were also — some of those wing players — were also a lot older, at kind of the end of their careers. We have just a bunch of young racehorses, guys that are eager to compete."

"So I don't know," Bryant continued, the trace of a smile beginning to play its way across his face. "It'd be a tough one, but I think we'd pull it out."

Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were quick to stand up for the '92 squad, saying their Olympic team would have beaten this current team. Both were members of the one of the best basketball teams ever assembled.

The great thing about sports is debating ideas or topics we will never know the answer too. Kobe's comments does lead to a great debate.

Could any member of the '92 squad have guarded LeBron James? In like token, could any member of this squad guard Jordan?

Would Magic Johnson and Larry Bird hold up against a squad more talented than any they faced on the way to gold medal in 1992? Could this current team handle the size and skill of two centers like Patrick Ewing and David Robinson?

Here is the roster for the '92 team:

Michael Jordan

Scottie Pippen

Larry Bird

Magic Johnson

Charles Barkley

David Robinson

Patrick Ewing

John Stockton

Karl Malone

Chris Mullin

Clyde Drexler

Christian Laettner

The current squad is made up of:

LeBron James

Russel Westbrook

Kevin Durant

Kobe Bryant

Carmelo Anthony

Kevin Love

Chris Paul

James Harden

Andre Iguodala

Deron Williams

Tyson Chandler

Blake Griffin* (Griffin injured his knee and could be replaced by Anthony Davis)

I have watched players from both teams play and both teams have talented players. Still, there is no question in my mind, the original Dream Team would beat the current one.

No player on the current squad had the drive to win like Jordan, Magic and Bird. The '92 team was made up of 11 future Hall of Famers.

The biggest reason the '92 squad would win is because of Jordan. No one, and I mean no one, closes a game like he did and willed his teams to victory in his prime.

Let the debate begin! Who do you think would win between these two talented rosters?

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees gained leverage in his contract battle with the team by way of today's ruling by arbitrator Stephen Burbank. The ruling clarified vague language of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) on the franchise tag. At the heart of the matter is the wording:

Article 10, Section 2(b) — “Any Club that designates a player as a Franchise Player for the third time”

The NFL Players Association and Brees argued that the wording means a player can't be franchised three times in his career regardless of team. The NFL argued that the franchise tag was club related and the same team could franchise a player three times in his career.

Brees was franchised by the San Diego Chargers in 2005 counts as the first time he was franchised. This means the Saints franchising Brees this year counts as the second time and if the two sides don't reach a deal, next year would be the third time Brees was franchised in his career.

This gives leverage to Brees for salary cap reasons because his salary would would be 144 percent of this year’s number. That number would put the Saints over the cap next season causing the team to have to cut salary just to keep Brees.

By no means am I a salary cap expert but there are ways for the Saints to pay Brees and make the cap hit lower. I have heard on ESPN and NFL Network people more familiar (without going into great details) say the lower cap hit is possible (it's not great TV to bore the audience with accounting).

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, wrote a detailed article on the franchise argument that might be more helpful than my limited understanding of the CBA and salary cap issues. Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports also writes a detailed article on the subject as well.

Still, a potential mess can be avoided if the Saints and Brees can come up with a long term deal before July 16.

The Jackson Showboats have found their man and they didn't have to look very far to find him. Grant Worsley, Showboats General Manager, announced today at Two Sisters restaurant in Jackson that Wright Busching will be the first head coach in franchise history.

Busching is a Jackson native who graduated from Jackson Academy. He went to college at Ole Miss, where he earned a degree in history with minors in business and English, and has been an assistant and Jackson State for the last three seasons.

Worsley, Busching and several players, including former Mississippi State player Dietric Slater, were on hand for the announcement. The Showboats are still evaluating their roster before the season begins later this fall.

Full story to come soon in full blog post or as person of the day.

I learned today that on Monday (July 2nd) the Jackson Showboats will formally announce the first head coach of the new franchise. The announcement will be made at Two Sisters Kitchen in Jackson at 11a.m. this Monday.

I have been told that the new coach has ties not only to Mississippi but to Jackson as well.

Several players will be in attendance at the announcement along with team owner Grant Worsley. The Jackson Showboats are a new American Basketball Association franchise and will begin their inaugural later this year.

Alright, I am about to leave the office and hop on I-55 to Memphis, where I'll join up with MTV, VH1 and the Flaming Lips as the band tries perform a world-record 8 concerts in 24 hours. All the while, they will be hosting the O Music Awards, which will be broadcast for the entire 24 hours on OMusicAwards.com. I'll be taking the entire trip, hopefully. I'm definitely going to be there from Memphis to Jackson, including shows in Clarksdale and Oxford. Whether I continue on to Hattiesburg, Biloxi, Baton Rouge and New Orleans is largely up to the glorious Donna Ladd. I will be updating the blog with words and photos whenever I get the chance from the road. So as you watch the live online stream, go to the shows or do whatever life has in store for you over the next 28 hours or so, check in here for all the Flaming Lips world-record tour info you can handle.

Also, if you attend any of the shows, see the caravan pass by or run the Flaming Lips at a gas station, tell us about your experience here!

Update 5:54 p.m.: I called my contact with MTV on my way to Memphis to ask where I need to meet the media caravan. He told me that the bus was full, and I was not on the list, as Gayle from Text100 told me I was June 19. He is still going to give me passes to all of the shows, but I don't have a ride.

Gayle was extremely apologetic, and said there was something lost between her and the folks at MTV. She thought I was on the list.

Since I would have been stuck in Memphis with no ride, I came to Oxford, where I have friends going to the show. I'll be going to the show here, starting at 9 p.m. and following the band to Jackson (if my ride doesn't fall through, again).

My plan is to follow them on to Hattiesburg, and probably call it quits after that, as I don't think I'll be awake enough to drive after that. I'm pretty bummed that I didn't get on the media bus, especially after I was told that I had a spot on it. Not going to let it ruin my night, though. I'll still give you all updates from the road. I think Virginia Schreiber will take the photos in Jackson. I'm sure she'll share those as well. Check back for more updates from road, from Oxford to Hattiesburg...

Update 7:49 p.m.: I'm sitting at Ajax in Oxford. Just got a call from MTV, they said there is room on the bus after all. I already have a ride from Oxford to Jackson, and we can get to Jackson faster than caravan. So I'll get on media bus after Jackson show and follow the rest of the tour. Great to know someone got on the list and didn't care …

The BCS Presidential Oversight Committee approved a four team playoff for college football. The deal will start in 2014 and will last for 12-years starting in 2014 and ending in 2025.

Teams will be seed and the games will be rotated over six sites hosting. Those sites are the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Rose Bowl with two other bowls joining "the big four" most likely the Cotton Bowl will be one of the six.

The coveted sixth spot will be contested between some of the higher tiered bowls. In the mix should the the Chick-Fil-A-Bowl, Outback Bowl, or Capital One Bowl. One long-shot bowl game for the sixth spot could be the Liberty Bowl.

Even though the 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick presented their plan and it was agreed too, no details were released today on how teams will be selected for the playoffs or how the revenue will be shared by all of college football.

The proposed playoffs formats talked about publicly have been the top four teams or top four conference champions. Teams will be seed one through four with one playing four and two playing three and winners meeting for the national championship.

If the top four team format was used last year the seeding would have been:

(1) LSU vs. (4) Stanford

(2) Alabama vs. (3) Oklahoma State

If the top four conference champions format was used last year:

(1) LSU vs. (4) Wisconsin

(2) Oklahoma State (3) Oregon

New playoff deal could be worth as much as $50 billion according to early reports.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is spending a lot of time in the media over the last week. Neither the Saints nor Brees have been able to stay out of the media this off-season.

Brees found himself in a firestorm last week (Tuesday, June 19) after comparing the Saints bounty scandal to weapons of mass destruction.

Brees tweeted: “If NFL fans were told there were "weapons of mass destruction" enough times, they'd believe it. But what happens when you don't find any????”

It didn’t take long for the media to jump on Brees comment and it went viral. Brees quickly apologized for his comments later the same day on Twitter.

Again from Brees’ twitter account: “My WMD comment has nothing to do with politics or our brave military. Merely an analogy to show how media influences public perception” “I apologize if the WMD comment offended anyone. Especially our military. There is no one I respect more than our service men and women”

This week (Monday, June 25) Brees partnered Dick’s Sporting Goods supporting PACE (Protecting Athletes though Concussion Education). PACE is the nation’s largest baseline testing program with the goal to test 1 million kids.

Brees made the rounds this morning (Tuesday, June 26) on Mike & Mike in the morning on ESPN Radio and the Dan Patrick Show a syndicated radio show. On both programs, Brees touched on several topics from the PACE program, his sons playing football, his contract and bounties.

Brees stated he felt like further punishment was being held over coaches heads if they didn’t cooperate with the investigation. “I’ve been informed a lot of those coaches feel there are further sanctions being held over their head if they don’t cooperate with the investigation,” Brees said on the Dan Patrick Show. “If they were to speak out on behalf of the players, maybe that’s the fear they have.”

The quarterback also says the NFL has confused, “Pay-for-performance has been lumped in with pay-for-injure.” Brees also said he hasn’t seen evidence of a pay-for-injure program.

One bit of good news, Brees stated he thought the Saints and him would get a long-term contract done before the July 16 deadline. "I've always said, you would think this process should be a lot simpler than it is," Brees said. "It just always seems to be complicated. But I'm still very confident that we'll get a long-term deal done, and hopefully that will happen sooner than later."

"When it comes down to certain provisions of the contract, there are little things here and there that take time to resolve," Brees said. "But in the end, the organization typically starts off at one place, the player starts off at another and you find a way to a compromise and meet in the middle and do what's fair and just."