And I thought the Rays dust mop Raymond was embarassing

Another day, another Tiger Woods drama. This one is the departure of his swing coach Hank Haney, who insists this was entirely his idea. Maybe so, but it's an idea that had occurred to a lot of other people well before last night. One of the rumored names for Woods to work with is Shaun O'Hair's coach Sean Foley, but who knows for sure about anything with him right now? One thing I would genuinely be stunned by is if he reunited with Butch Harmon. Harmon violated the first rule of Tiger Club - don't talk about Tiger Club. Humbling himself isn't Tiger's strong suit, and the idea of him saying "fix me" to the guy he walked away from just doesn't ring true.

Another day, another half baked "report" on conference expansion. This time it's my side of the sports media world to blame, as WHB radio in Kansas City goes with a blatantly inaccurate report that the Big Ten had offered slots to Nebraska, Missouri, Notre Dame and Rutgers. There will unfortunately be more of this kind of nonsense to follow, because everyone thinks they have "sources" even though the source may not have the slightest clue what they're talking about. That's how something that really happened, like Missouri discussing the revenue possibilities that they might have in the Big Ten, gets turned into "they've been offered a spot in the Big Ten". Some outlets will just guess and make stuff up too. I don't know which one of those apply here (maybe both) but until the Big Ten actually has a meeting and votes on things this kind of report should be viewed with extreme skepticism. Inviting new members to a conference is not done like you're calling a buddy to grab a pizza and come over to watch the game - there's a process.

Thanks to the Dallas Cowboys not paying attention to what they were putting on their website, the team's entire draft board has basically been released to the public. After the team posted video of Jerry Jones standing in front of the board on draft night, dedicated work from folks on the internet including Bob Strum of the Ticket in Dallas was able to put together the list for each round. Think the agent for Sean Lee, the linebacker Dallas took with pick 55, is pleased to know they had him rated the 14th best prospect in the draft? Navorro Bowman went late in the third round, yet Dallas had him as the 20th prospect in the draft. That kind of scouting might explain a few things about the Cowboys draft performance in recent years.

There are lots of meaningless games in sports, and I'm sure there are nights guys don't really want to be there even though they're paid handsomely to do so. Having said that, it doesn't seem to be unreasonable to expect a guy to remain awake for the entire game. That was a little much for Ken Griffey, Jr. though, as he left the Mariners dugout for the Seattle clubhouse in the fifth inning of a game last week and went to sleep. When it was time for him to pinch hit a couple of innings later, no one bothered to wake him up. Griffey's had a terrific career, but he's 40 and not doing much when he does play. If his interest level is this low, it's time to go ahead and retire so a player who actually cares enough to watch his teammates play can have the spot.

The return of soccer to my hometown of Tampa didn't seem a big enough deal to mention on the blog. The team is calling itself the Rowdies even though it's got a different official name for corporate purposes. The real Tampa Bay Rowdies, which I followed as a kid, have been gone for almost two decades. Those Rowdies never had anything like the new team's mascot though, which requires me to share this with you. I have no idea where Brooks found these remarkable photos, but I'm alternately grateful/depressed that he did.