Links and videos from recent happenings around the sporting world. If you come across good articles, videos, etc. – please pass them along, I’d love to take a look.

College Football:

Andy Staples – SI.com – says the NCAA rulebook is huge and outdated so he offered to re-write it. With so many cumbersome and petty rules I wouldn’t be opposed to a simplified version.

Former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier finally found a home at San Jose State after looking at Miami and  Hawaii. Forcier should tear up WAC defenses in 2012!!

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is revolutionizing the conference and the NCAA could be next. Now I’ll just cross my fingers that Scott has “invite Boise State” on his to-do list..

The nation’s top 2012 QB recruit committed to… Indiana over offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and USC among other schools.  Snagging Gunner Kiel is quite the get for new head coach Kevin Wilson.

I thought these things only happened in Alabama but I guess we can add Texas to the list now too. A Longhorn-Sooner argument leaves two hospitalized with the Oklahoma fan in critical condition.

Photo via sports-at-work.com

At the Mountain West Conference media days last week, it was announced that Boise State couldn’t wear all blue uniforms for conference home games because of a “competitive advantage” which of course created an uproar among Bronco Nation. Paul Myerberg over at Pre-Snap Read says Broncos could wear all pink with ankle weights and win by 14. Can’t say I disagree.

I haven’t hesitated to criticize Ohio State, Jim Tressel, and Terrelle Pryor in wake of the investigations, suspensions, sanctions and other happenings in Columbus but Eleven Warriors offers a surprisingly excellent defense of Pryor  (HT Andy Staples). The author make some great points but I still think Pryor is a douchebag (read the article).

ESPN released its 2011 College Football Game Schedule last week with over 400 games and all five BCS bowls. There are quite a few TBDs beginning at the end of September, but I’m ok with ESPN poaching the best games for our viewing pleasure!

One of SI’s best writers – Joe Posnanski – chimed in on the pay-for-play issue and I think he’s onto something.. I’m sure some of you don’t agree but it’s a good read regardless.

North Carolina finally fired Butch Davis as head coach last week and it could end up costing the school $73 million. The timing of the firing was surprising – after ACC media days & just before fall camp – especially since the writing was on the wall since last year.

Smart Football’s Chris Brown gives some excellent insights into Mike Leach and his new book “Swing Your Sword” (HT The Solid Verbal). If you don’t already read Brown’s stuff – now is probably a good time to start.

Pat Forde wrote a great piece about yard markers becoming ingrained for college football fans. He’s right – every Boise State (and Oklahoma) fan knows what happened on fourth-and-18 from the 50 yard line.

One Bronco Nation Under God created The Twitter 100: The definitive list of Twitterers that Boise State fans should follow – this is a great list for Bronco fans and not just because I’m on it.

This is great – College Football Fan 101: So You Want To Be A College Football Fan by Michael Felder at In the Bleachers (HT TheUpsetBlog).  You probably want to read this.

Soccer:

Brazil’s next great superstar Neymar scored this amazing goal last week against Flamengo. Neymar’s goal inspired The Big Lead’s Jason McIntyre to compile the 10 best goals of all-time.  Surely the 10 best goals of all-time are debatable but it’s a pretty good list.

Bob Bradley was fired as coach of the U.S. National Soccer Team on Thursday after mediocre results following the 2010 World Cup. The firing certainly wasn’t a surprise and I think it was a good time to make the change.

U.S. Soccer quickly hired Juergen Klinsmann as the new head coach after he nearly got the job five years ago. Here is Klinsmann’s daunting to-do list now that he finally has the job. I can’t wait to see what a foreign head coach can do with our national team – should be interesting one way or another.

CBSSports.com’s Brett McMurphy says, with Holgorsen aboard the Mountaineers offense could fly high. I think McMurphy could be right, especially after the success Dana Holgorsen had coaching at Texas Tech, Houston and Oklahoma State. West Virginia’s offense with Geno Smith at QB should be fun to watch.

National Basketball Association:

I was planning to ignore the NBA altogether until the lockout was resolved but Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a great column about the Players Union and owners being scared of commissioner David Stern.

With the NBA locked out for the foreseeable future, Kevin Durant was working on his game at Rucker Park the other night going off for 66 points in his first ever appearance  - here’s some footage if you haven’t seen it:

Based on my twitter feed it sounded like KD was at it again on Tuesday night..

Track and Field:

Joe Posnanski wrote a great piece about long jumps not being as long as they used to be and Carl Lewis’s mysterious 30 ft. jump. This was really good.

Random:

How A Magic Cell Phone Changed A Former ESPN Cameraman’s Life - Bob Gray inherited a celebrity phone number and seems to be making the most of it. (HT Dan Rubenstein)

Any good articles or videos I missed? Happy Humpday Everyone!