Morning Walk-thru - She shines with her own kind of light

Live from Lincoln, it's Saturday Night! ESPN/ABC/Disney released the confirmed college footbaw games for their Saturday night primetime telecasts yesterday and it's an interesting slate. Tennessee-Cal open the season Sept. 1 in an intriguing rematch from last year. I'm sure the mustard-clad Bears will be particularly spicy considering the embarrassment they endured in Knoxville in 06.

Two weeks later, it's USC @ Nebraska and I'm already salivating. The game was already going to be big as the Cornhuskers are still looking for a marquee win that says "we're back." But when you throw Keller into the mix it gets even better. He's got something to prove after tossing 5 INTs the last time he faced the Trojans. Win that game, in what is sure to be the craziest night in Lincoln in some time, and Sam will never buy a drink in Nebraska again. (After he completes his eligibility of course. The NCAA is everywhere!)

After that it gets a bit dicier with Wazzu visiting LA the week after, followed by Notre Dame doing the same two weeks later against UCLA.

Papelbon blows it...A save that is. Sadly, he won't be perfect on the season. First Dice-K pitches like a mortal, now this. With the Red Sox payroll, is infallibility too much to ask?

Can't win for winning...Even when the Cubs are winning, they're not really winning. After fighting back valiantly to take a 6-5 lead against the Pirates in the 7th, the game was suspended due to rain.

Now all Chicago has to do is come back today, play out the rest of their game with a one-run lead, then turn around after a half-hour break and win again.

Do you think Vegas even takes bets on the odds against the Cubs winning two games in one day?

Baron & the Boys are going to regret this...For an extended amount of time last night, I really thought we were going to see the biggest NBA story unfold since Kobe's 80-point outburst last year. After going down by 21 early, Golden State climbed all the way back and looked like they were about to really beat the Mavericks. The Warriors were flying around, making threes, pounding their hearts and laughing--laughing--right in Mark Cuban's face.

But when it came down to it they couldn't, or didn't, deliver the death blow. Dirk Nowitzki realized that there was a playoff game going on around him, spurring a 15-0 run with a couple of threes to close out the game. We'll see how Golden State recovers back home.

I know one thing, I don't want this series to end. Watching games in Oakland reminds me of the good old days, and the "on-the-brink-of-the-biggest-upset-ever" tension has made even Mark Cuban speechless.

The next round fate of both teams is probably already written. Dallas survives and they can just make reservations for the conference finals. You don't survive something like this as a 1-seed and feel like you've cheated death. Meanwhile, if the Warriors win the road ends for them in the next round. You expend too much energy and emotion to keep it up.

Point is, enjoy it while it lasts.

Big in Kentucky...My recent FOXSports.com column, shamelessly linked in the post prior to this one, resulted in my first ever piece of hate mail and I couldn't be happier.

A native Kentuckian wrote to tell me she was "disgusted" by what I wrote, the whole hats and crying thing, and also assertiedthat I didn't care and/or knew nothing about the sport.

"Not everyone cares about football, basketball or baseball," she said and that was entirely the point I was trying to make.

Perhaps I should be more concerned with clarity. Nevertheless, it's always good to know someone is reading.