Yesterday may have seemed like any other day to most people, but trust me when i say that it was one of the greatest days of the year.

NCAA08, the newest version of EA Sports' college football franchise hit stores. That sound you heard was productivity draining out of many young American males.

Some people live and die by the Madden football video games. I didn't get a PS2 until last year and NCAA07 was my first purchase. i was hooked. I don't need the pro game - I want to take a college program from the bottom to the top. I did very well with Boise State and ended up getting a bunch of big offers, eventually ending up at penn State. I didn't win the national title, but I had a few good seasons. I also, while at Boise State, racked up more than 100 points in a game against a Division I-AA team. I think one of my returners had four TDs that game.

This year's version will blow last year's away. The recruiting function - one of my favorites - is even better. And I know what I am doing, compared to my knowledge level when i got my hands on the game last year. Thanks to the real-life Boise State team, 08 will have trick plays like the ones they used to beat Oklahoma last season.

I haven't bought the game yet, mainly because I want to go to bed at a reasonable hour during the work week. But I have Friday off, so it will be in my hands sometime on Thursday. Pray for my family.

Most times, I pride myself in standing up for everything that defines America. This time of year, however, I have to go against so many of my countrymen on one thing.

I hate fireworks.

Not the boom up in the sky, crane you neck and admire kind. I like this. I really enjoyed the show we had in town this week.

I could just do without the regular people who set off fireworks all week leading up to the Fourth of July.

I really can't set my finger on why I feel this way. I guess a lot of it boils down to the fact that I'm a big scaredy-cat.

I don't have any horrible tale from growing up when a good friend of mine blew his fingers off while playing with an M-80. I did have a firecracker go off kind of by my ear, but it didn't do any serious damage.

But I do know those kinds of injuries happen. That alone made me worry whenever I got near the things, even as a kid.

Then there was the time that my friends Bobby, Dave, and I almost set the grass around the water tower in our town on fire.

The boys from Athens are working on their new album. They recorded up in Vancouver for a month or so, but last week held five nights of "working rehearsals" in Dublin.

These shows were not shows as Michael Stipe pointed out regularly from the stage. The band worked through 11 new songs, some of which sound fantastic. You can check some of them out here on YouTube.

The band also extended "olive branches" (a term used by long-time manager Bertis Downs) to the fans by playing some old stuff. And I mean old stuff. They played four of the five songs from Chronic Town (Stumble was the only one missing) at some point during the week. They played Second Guessing several times. They also added in West of the Fields, Harborcoat, Driver 8, So. Central Rain, Sitting Still, Disturbance at the Heron House, Maps and Legends, and Little America.

Check out their Web site for night by night details on the shows. They are back in the studio. I can't wait until the release their album and tour again.

From the mountains

to the prairies

to the oceans

white with foam

So I was wrong and Kobayashi did compete. He was unreal until he hurled with about 30 seconds left. I've never been prouder to be an American than I was when Joey Chustnut stuffed that 66th hot dog into his mouth.

What a country.

When Joey Chestnut wins the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest next week, some will say it's a hollow victory. Kobayashi has pulled out of the competition due to a jaw injury.

Last year, he downed almost 54 dogs in 12 minutes to set a new record, but Chestnut was right on his heels with 52 dogs. Just a few weeks ago, Chestnut shattered Kobayashi's record with 59.5 dogs at a competition in Phoenix.

This year's matchup would have been epic. I watched the competition last year for the first time and could not believe how much fun it was. I was so looking forward to seeing Joey take Kobayashi down, but it looks like he'll probably cruise to the title.

Unless Fink shows up. That would be epic.

Nobody likes a party pooper when you're having a few drinks. That's why no one ever calls Boston City Councilman Stephen J. Murphy when it's time for Happy Hour.

Murphy has introduced legislation to make Boston bars serve cocktails sealed with plastic covers to prevent the use of date-rape drugs.

Don't confuse this with a hearty endorsement of date rape drugs - I hate Sebastian Janikowski - but was this guy dropped on his head as a child? Luckily, his measure doesn't seem to have much chance after comments like these

"You can't drink a martini with a straw!" said Charles M. Perkins, who runs the Boston Restaurant Group.

"That would crush the umbrella, wouldn't it?" said Dan Pokaski, chairman of the Boston Licensing Board.

"How am I going to get the olive out of my martini with a cocktail cover?" Councilor John Tobin said jokingly. "How about we do crazy straws, like the squiggly ones? Or why don't we just give everyone a thermos, or a fanny pack that you slide your drink into?"

A committee will study the proposal, which may be modified to just encourage bars to make the covers an option for customers. The problem is real, says Murphy, who managed to make himself look like a predator while trying to rescue young ladies from being drugged..

"I know that it's happening," Murphy said, before quickly adding, "not that I'm in that scene anymore."

Not in that scene anymore?

Some Web site did a list. Imagine the originality, huh?

Anyway, the list recounts their choices for the Top 30 Villains in Sports Movies. A noble cause, I must say, but their choices are so misguided.

Where do I start? First off, the Yankees from Bad News bears are 24th. 24th! How is that possible? They helped provide us with one of the greatest lines in movie history, courtesy of Tanner Boyle: "Hey Yankees... you can take your apology and your trophy and shove 'em straight up your ass!" Vic Morrow as the manager. His snot-nosed kid who held onto the ball so Engleberg could get a home run. That's definitely Top 10 material.

And speaking of the Top 10, that list included The Program, The Mighty Ducks, Sandlot and Rudy. And some of those weren't even real villains, but plot points. I'm sorry, Rudy's "athletic ability, size, and strength" do not qualify as a villain. In fact, the real villain in that movie is Notre Dame.

To top it all off, Judge Smails from Caddyshack wasn't even in the Top 10. Unacceptable. I expect a new list at some point. To quote the great judge, "Well, we're waiting."

One of my favorite TV shows, "Scrubs," made a bold choice last season and killed off a major character, Nurse Laverne Roberts. Well, news has come out that she might be back next season ... kind of. Aloma Wright, the actress, will return in a new role that ought to be worth some laughs - Nurse Roberts' single, alcoholic sister Shirley.

Get it? Laverne and Shirley. I love Bill Lawrence.

As I flipped through a newspaper at work the other day, a story caught my eye. Apparently, a group of people got together and swam across the Chesapeake Bay.

“Don't they know there's a perfectly good bridge right there,” I said to a co-worker.

Now I know this is an annual event which raises money for charity, but I just don't understand why someone would look at a body of water like the Chesapeake, then look at the bridge and still come to the conclusion that swimming is a good option.