Brady needs to be punched

When the Browns traded up in the draft to end the slide of Brady Quinn they were just about unanimously praised by draft analysts. When his throws were knocked down by the wind like wounded ducks at minicamp doubts about the move started to surface. Now that he's whining that he should be paid like a top 10 pick or like a starting NFL quarterback, there's no way the Browns would make the trade if they had to do it over.

"I'd love to be there competing for the starting job," said Quinn, who has missed the first four days of camp. "But it's a long contract, and I have to make sure it's fair in the event I become the starter." When Tom Brady, the 199th pick of the 2000 Draft, signed his deal, I don't think he had such concerns. The difference is that Quinn, a 1st round pick, is expected to earn the starting job at some point; that's why he was a 1st rounder. If the team hoped that he would maybe, eventually he could be in a competition for the starting job, he would have been a fifth rounder like Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith. Rex Grossman, the 22nd pick (same as Quinn) in 2003, signed a market value contract and started every game for a Super Bowl team. And say what you will about Grossman, but he's never bitched about his contract.

Another reason to be down on Quinn: he was at an autograph signing at a Cleveland mall, fees ranged from $75 to $225. In my younger days I paid for a few autographs at card shows, which I now regret. Always baseball players, where football players' autographs were always free. Mike Mussina for $10 at a Virginia card show, Joe Morgan for $12 at a Maryland card show, and $5 I deeply regret for Arthur Rhodes at a Pikesville card show. A free, sponsored Jeff Bostic signing at a Giant, Mark Rypien at a Nordstroms, Darrell Green at a Macy's, and of course everyone besides Art Monk at training camp. But $75 for a guy who doesn't go in the top 20? Get real.

Rough week for the Twin Cities

It was already a rough week for Minnesota sports fans. Vikings running back Chester Taylor was carted off the field Tuesday with what turned out to be a minor arm injury. Twins ace Johan Santana expressed dissatisfaction with the Twins subtracting payroll at the trade deadline, implying that he would look to sign with a big market club after his contract runs out next year. Their WNBA team, the Lynx, are coming off a 10 game losing streak. And Kevin Garnett, their most recognizable athlete, was traded for five players no one's ever heard of.

And then a bridge collapsed during rush hour.

At the moment, the Star Tribune is reporting 4 dead, 20 missing, and 6 in the hospital with life threatening injuries due to the collapse. This makes me more scared to cross bridges than 9/11 had me scared of flying/landmarks, although not as scared as the sniper made me to get gas. I like my collapsed bridges to be caused by Magneto, Akira, or possibly someone chasing Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tom Cruise, not "structural deficiency."

Official Dark Knight Trailer

It doesn't show anything, but it's the first we've heard of Heath Ledger as the Joker. It was first shown this past weekend at Comic-Con and a bootleg copy made the rounds, but this is the official version.

This video has the teaser's audio, but with images from the Batman bible, The Dark Knight Returns.

Gyllenhaal to play Namath, Tom Cruise angling for Suzi Kolber role

Jake Gyllenhaal has landed the role of Joe Namath for an upcoming biopic about the New York media created star quarterback. For anyone below 40, his drunken come on to Suzi Kolber is the salient memory of Broadway Joe.

In related news, I found a great list of the top 10 embarrassing TV/Radio interview moments in sports. A little hard on Lasorda and Roy Williams, but the holy trinity of Jim Everett, Jim Calhoun, and Jim Mora are accounted for.

Bad Boys 3

It looks like they're doing a Bad Boys 3 with an all NFL cast. Looks like there's some on set issues, though.

Any dogs in the house?

Philadelphiaeagles.com has shockingly not taken down an 2004 interview where Dorsey Levens revealed he's sold Michael Vick dogs:

PE.com: You are part-owner of a dog-training company called Premier K9. Talk about how you got started with that.

DL: "It was just a business opportunity. I had a dog that was just obnoxious. I couldn't stand the dog and my girlfriend at the time wouldn't let me get rid of it. Art Washington trained the dog to perfection in two weeks. He was simply incredible. He could do anything with dogs. I've seen him give demonstrations. We've built up a relationship over the course of a year. The opportunity came up where another kennel had closed and it was a smart business move. It was an easy investment..."

PE.com: Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons is another customer. Did you think of not training his dog so it would attack him?

DL: "No, no. It's all business. Mike is a big dog person. Actually, he wants to open up a kennel of his own and that is in the works."

Even more shocking is that Vick is still pictured as a satisfied customer. But maybe he's now the ultimate endorser of dog training, because however despicable the charges against Vick, according to the indictment his dogs did win way more often than they lost. For all we know he's like the Michael Jordan of dog fighting, or that girl from Dancing with the Stars who coached Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith.

The Juice needs better call screeners

Apparently O.J. Simpson was on a live call in show, where he was asked "My kid Chris was wondering, do you think it was a bigger feat to break 2,000 yards in one season, or slice two necks in one night?" Another gem: "You played for the 49ers, right? Did you kill Bill Walsh?" TMZ has the video; making fun of O.J. will never go out of style. There's no People for the Ethical Treatment of Hall of Fame Running Backs/Murderers non profit organization.