Number 55 better not be on the field in Tampa this fall

The news Tampa Bay cut loose a number of veterans yesterday wasn't terribly surprising. Guys like Warrick Dunn, Ike Hilliard and Joey Galloway are still useful players, but they aren't any kind of long term answer for an offense that desperately needs young playmakers. The stunner was telling Derrick Brooks to hit the road as well. It appears the Bucs handled this somewhat more appropriately then the cutting of John Lynch, but it's still hard to believe that Derrick Brooks won't be a part of that locker room. He was total class on and off the field and is a sure Hall of Famer. I have no idea who they think is going to be better as an option there in 2009, but he'd better be really good. Meanwhile, I bet Brooks is a New England Patriot within a week or so.

I continue to be less than impressed by Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. I watched South Carolina destroy his team last night, and marveled at the bizarre quality of his substitution patterns. Gillispie pulled Jodie Meeks just before the 12 minute timeout and didn't put him back in for seven and a half minutes of game time. At that point, with UK down two dozen, there was no reason to bother putting him back in at all. In his postgame radio interview, Gillispie was naturally asked about the Meeks move. His response: get pissy with the play by play guy. Bad coaching and bad manners are a bad combination for someone looking to stay in Lexington very long. I think UK misses the tournament unless they go on a run in the SEC event, and I doubt Gillispie is the coach there in 2011-12.

I'm not a big cel phone techonology guy. I use mine for one purpose - phone calls. I hate text messaging, even though I wind up dealing with some from people occasionally . What I have no desire at all to do is listen to music, watch videos or browse the internet on my phone. It seems hopelessly old school to people at the cel phone stores when I ask them what phone has the most reliable signal. The upside to all this is that I know exactly what my bill will be every month, and I'll never wind up getting a charge for $27,789 to watch a Bears-Lions game on my phone. How'd you like to have to explain that one to your wife?

A note in this column for the Austin American-Statesman says that Mack Brown still hasn't decided if he'll accept a coaches poll vote this year or not. Brown supposedly now favors doing away with the current poll in favor of letting retired coaches vote. The Legends Poll already does that without anyone paying attention to it, but they would be great in that role. Brown is right to be skeptical about the merits of the current coaches poll - it's loaded with conflicts of interest and should have been ditched long ago.

An Iranian effort to create the world's longest sandwich was ruined by people who couldn't hold off on chowing down until after the Guinness judges had a chance to verify its status. With 700 kilograms of ostrich meat as part of the ingredients, who could be expected to resist?