Sugar Bay and Verdana Bold, who were separated by a nose as the one-two finishers in the seven-furlong Duchess Aug 9. Will meet again on different terms at Woodbine on Saturday.

The surface this time is turf and the distance is one mile for the Ontario Colleen, a $150,000 stakes for 3-year-old fillies that attracted a field of 13.

Sugar Bay, an Ontario-bred homebred who races for George Strawbridge Jr. and is trained by Mac Benson, is coming off back-to-back wins at seven furlongs, with the first coming in a first-level allowance here July 18.

Benson considered working Sugar Bay, who will be making her turf debut, on the training track turf course for the first time before the Ontario Colleen, but decided to give his filly her final tune-up on the main track here Tuesday.

“She’s by a good turf horse,” said Benson. “She’s been on the grass all her life, grazing and running. If a horse is going to like the turf, he’s going to like it.”

Chantal Sutherland, who has been aboard Sugar Bay for her recent wins, was committed to Northern Kraze, winner of the recent Wonder Where and one of the favorites for the Ontario Colleen.

Jono Jones, who was aboard for Sugar Swirl’s recent 1:01.80 breeze, picks up the mount.

Verdana Bold is hot horse

Verdana Bold, a Kentucky-bred owned by Edward Seltzer, won the six-furlong Star Shoot and the 1 1/16-mile Selene in her first two appearances here for trainer Danny Vella and just missed adding a third stakes score in the Duchess.

“The race went perfect,” said Vella. “The winner had a garden trip, but we didn’t have a bad trip either.”

Although she won her debut for trainer Rodney Jenkins at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Laurel last December, Verdana Bold disappointed when trying the local course for the first time in the 6 1/2-furlong Alywow two starts back.

“That race just didn’t go right for her,” said Vella. “We know she can handle the turf. And the one-turn mile should suit her perfectly.”

Tyler Pizarro, still looking for his first stakes score, retains the mount on Verdana Bold in the Ontario Colleen.

Whitepark Bay belongs, Vella says

Whitepark Bay, who joined the Vella barn here late last month, also will run in the Colleen.

A Kentucky-bred, Whitepark Bay won her debut at Pimlico in April and followed with a close second in an optional $50,000 claiming/first-level allowance. Both races were at one mile on grass.

After finishing in a dead heat for fifth in a first-level allowance at 1o1/16 miles on turf at Delaware, Whitepark Bay cut back to 6 1/2 furlongs for her debut over the local course and finished four lengths behind the winner in 10th place.

“She really shipped in too close to that last race – she was supposed to be here earlier,” said Vella. “I ended up putting her in there, but I shouldn’t have.

“She’s quite a nice filly. I believe she belongs with these.”

Robert Landry picks up the mount on Whitepark Bay.

Cappal Mor making stakes debut

Vella also has a candidate for Sunday’s one-mile turf feature – Cappal Mor, who is slated to make his stakes debut in the $125,000 Vice Regent for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds.

Cappal Mor will be seeking his third straight victory. He dead-heated for the win at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track here June 14, then scored in his turf debut in a first-level allowance at seven furlongs five weeks later. Both races were in Ontario-sired company.

“He’s out of a Riverman mare, and we thought he’d move up on turf,” said Vella. “He’s a very solid horse.

“Really, in his last race, he was much the best. We freshened him with this race in mind.”

Ice Bear in Woodbine Mile?

Benson is uncertain of his next move with Ice Bear, a 4-year-old gelding who is coming off a game win in the With Approval at 1o1/8 miles on turf.

“I’m trying to find something for him,” said Benson. “There’s one race in the book he’s eligible for. But it’s not on the grass, and I don’t think it will go.”

Benson has the option of running Ice Bear in the Woodbine Mile, as he anted up $1,000 to nominate the gelding to that Grade 1, $1 million race here a week from Sunday.

“I figured it would be better to spend $1,000, to be nominated, than to find out the race was coming up easier than expected and put up $20,000 to supplement him,” said Benson.

Lady Shakespeare one to watch

Youth and old were paired here Wednesday morning as 2-year-old filly Lady Shakespeare and 9-year-old horse Pellegrino worked five furlongs in company over the turf training course.

Both were clocked for five furlongs in 1:00.20, but Lady Shakespeare continued on to gallop out six furlongs in 1:14.10 compared to Pellegrino’s 1:15.

Lady Shakespeare, a full sister to last year’s Woodbine Mile winner Shakespeare, won her debut at six furlongs on turf and is pointing for the Grade 3, $250,000 Natalma, a one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies here Sept. 14.

“She just worked unbelievably well,” said Roger Attfield, who trains Lady Shakespeare for owner and breeder Charles Fipke. “I think she’s probably going to be a very, very nice filly.”

Lady Shakespeare was entered in Sunday’s Ice Water, a one-mile overnight turf stakes that came just days after her debut, but she was scratched.

“I shouldn’t even have put her in there,” said Attfield. “It was too soon back for a filly like her. It would have been bad management.”

Society’s Chairman readies for Halton

Society’s Chairman breezed five furlongs in a bullet 59.40 seconds on the training track turf course in preparation for Monday’s Halton, a one-mile turf race that will be one of six $125,000 yearling sales stakes on the Labor Day program.

“He looked good,” said Attfield, who trains Society’s Chairman. Jones rode Society’s Chairman for the drill.

A 5-year-old horse who finished a close second in the Grade 3 Connaught Cup at 1o1/16 miles on turf here this spring, Society’s Chairman, looks to rebound from a dismal outing at a mile and 70 yards on the Polytrack on Aug. 9.

Emma Ain’t Bluffin preps

Emma Ain’t Bluffin, 4 for 4 in 2008, breezed five furlongs on the main track in 1:01.20 under regular rider Jim McAleney in preparation for Monday’s Algoma, the 1 1/16-mile yearling sales stakes for fillies and mares.

“She was excellent,” said trainer Steve Owens. “Everything’s on schedule.”

Emma Ain’t Bluffin, a 5-year-old homebred who races for Empress Stable, began her streak at the $12,500 maiden claiming level and won most recently in an optional $62,500 claiming/second-level allowance race. All of her wins are at 1 1/16 miles.

Storm Mesa, who this summer won graded stakes on turf and dirt. Will remain on turf for the immediate future. Her trainer, Bret Calhoun, said he would like to see her make her next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies at Keeneland on Oct. 11.

“It’s an invitational race, so we’ve got to get invited,” Calhoun said. “But that’s our plan.”

Storm Mesa won five straight races between March and July, including three stakes. Her first one was the $100,000 Cinemine at Lone Star Park for which she earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 108. Storm Mesa also won the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows and the Grade 2 San Clemente at Del Mar. Her streak ended Aug. 16, when she finished fifth, beaten four lengths, in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks.

“I think she had too many hard, fast races,” said Calhoun. “I think she was just empty, just tired. She’d come back in three weeks that day, and she’d been coming back in four and been running fast numbers on all the sheets, and I think it just finally caught up with her.”

Storm Mesa is based in Kentucky.

Benny the Bull racing career is over.

The top sprinter in the country, Benny the Bull was found to have a chip in his right front ankle Wednesday morning, two days after he worked six furlongs in 1:14.29 at Aqueduct in preparation for Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga. X-rays taken Wednesday morning at trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.’s Aqueduct barn revealed the chip.

Benny the Bull would have to undergo surgery to remove the chip, and thus he would miss the remainder of the year, including the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Since his connections were going to retire him at the end of the year anyway, the decision was made to retire him now.

“He’s given us so much,” said Michael Iavarone, co-president of the International Equine Acquisitions Holdings Stable, which owns majority interest in the colt. “He’s a horse that hasn’t missed a beat the last 15 or 16 months. It’s time to retire him.”

Iavarone said stallion plans are pending for Benny the Bull, a 5-year-old Florida-bred son of Lucky Lionel who won 9 of 17 starts and earned $2,221,630. International Equine purchased Benny the Bull from owner Greg James last summer. In eight starts for IEAH and Dutrow, Benny the Bull won five stakes, including the Grade 1 De Francis at Laurel Park last year, the Sunshine Millions Sprint, Grade 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, Grade 2 True North, and Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap this year.

“I think what got us all excited was the Sunshine Millions race when he freaked,” Dutrow said Tuesday, before knowing of Benny the Bull’s injury. “It looked like he could have beaten any sprinter that day. His other races he’s just been grinding it out, but that day he looked like a special sprinter.”

“There’s ups and downs in this game, but I don’t even view this as a down,” Iavarone said. “The horse has retired without something terrible happening and hopefully he’ll live a happy and healthy life.”

The defection of Benny the Bull from the Forego could leave Lucky Island the favorite. His challengers are expected to include Eternal Star, Ferocious Fires, First Defence, Premium Wine, Real Estate, and possibly Bold Start, Forefathers, and Tasteyville.

Mambo in Seattle headed to Super Derby

Mambo in Seattle, a hard-luck second to Colonel John in last weekend’s Travers Stakes, will be pointed to the $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 20, trainer Neil Howard said Wednesday.

“It’s a mile and an eighth, the timing is pretty decent, it’s a nice race, good purse, still with 3-year-olds,” Howard said. “That’s probably what we’re going to do right now.”

Mambo in Seattle returned to the track Wednesday for the first time since the Travers. He jogged 1 5/8 miles the wrong way around the main track.

Though Mambo in Seattle has been beaten twice on synthetic surfaces, Howard said the Breeders’ Cup Classic, being run on the synthetic surface at Santa Anita, remains an option for Mambo in Seattle, though he is not letting himself think that far ahead.

“The first time he ever ran, he was a good second on Polytrack,” Howard said. “In his first race this year, he wasn’t overly cranked up, so he figured to get tired. I wouldn’t be overly concerned if he did run on a synthetic track, but [the Breeders' Cup] is not something we’re thinking too much about right now.”

Past the Point, Desert Party are Harty’s next

Trainer Eoin Harty would love this weekend to be a repeat of last weekend, when he won one Grade 1 race and finished a close second in another.

Harty, who last Saturday won the Grade 1 Travers by the slimmest of margins and on Sunday finished second in the Pacific Classic with Well Armed, will send out Past the Point against Curlin in this Saturday’s Grade 1 Woodward and potential favorite Desert Party in Monday’s Grade 1 Hopeful.

“If I could knock off the Travers and the Hopeful, I just don’t really think I could top that,” Harty said Wednesday from Southern California. “That would be something else.”

On Wednesday, Desert Party worked a strong five furlongs in 59.26 seconds over the main track under exercise rider Anna Hollander. The work, in which Desert Party got his last three furlongs in 35.52 seconds, was the fastest of 12 at the distance.

“I talked to Anna and she was full of enthusiasm,” Harty said. “I think he’s fit and he’s ready. If he’s good enough, he’ll be right there.”

Meanwhile, Past the Point is coming off a sharp 1 1/2-length victory in a second-level allowance race here on Aug. 3. He earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 103 in that race. His second-best Beyer Figure was a 93, also achieved over this track in a restricted stakes last August.

Harty understands it will be a tall order to beat Curlin, but he would consider the race a success if Past the Point could get a top-three finish.

“Hopefully he’s got a long career ahead of him,” Harty said. “If there’s a chance to pick up some graded money along the way, I hate to shun such an opportunity.”

A field of five is expected for the Woodward: A. P. Arrow, Curlin, Divine Park, Past the Point, and Wanderin Boy. Out of Control is possible.

Cagey Girl wires Wilmot for Duggan

Trainer David Duggan’s unbelievable summer continued Wednesday when Cagey Girl, the longest price in the nine-horse field, went gate to wire under Mike Luzzi to win the $83,250 Mollie Wilmot Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Nedjma.

It was a neck back to Nehantic Cat in third.

It was the sixth victory from 15 starts for Duggan at this meet and his third stakes win.

Cagey Girl, a daughter of Crowd Pleaser owned by North Shore Racing, covered the mile in 1:36.01 and returned $47.

Castellano to become a U.S. citizen

Javier Castellano will not be riding here Friday, but for a very good reason.

On Friday, Castellano will be in Miami, where he will be sworn in as a U.S. citizen. Castellano, 30, moved to the United States from his native Venezuela in 1997 and began riding in south Florida.

“It’s so exciting for me,” Castellano said between races Wednesday. “I’ve been waiting for this for so many years. I’ve been here 11 years.”

Castellano has ridden 14 winners at the meet.

* Jackie Davis, the 21-year-old daughter of retired jockey Robbie Davis, is named to ride Shifty Guy in Friday’s fifth race. It will be her first career mount. Shifty Guy is trained by Allen Jerkens, for whom Davis has worked since January as part of her educational requirements through Chris McCarron’s North America Riding Academy.

Joe Crawford, the Los Angeles Lakers only selection in the NBA draft last June. Signed a contract with the Western Conference champions on Wednesday.

Crawford, the 58th overall pick, averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in four years at Kentucky, where he played in 127 games, 76 of them starts.

The 22-year-old 6-foot-5 guard ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring as a senior with a team-leading 17.9-point average, and then averaged 11.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in six Summer League games for the Lakers last month.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

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Officials say Duckworth died of heart disease.

Oregon officials say an autopsy shows former Portland Trail Blazers center Kevin Duckworth died when his enlarged heart failed.

Duckworth died Monday at 44 on the Oregon coast, where he was on a goodwill tour for the team.

The Oregon State Police said Wednesday the autopsy was done by Dr. Larry Lewman, a state medical examiner who concluded that Duckworth died of “hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with congestive heart failure.”

The police statement says the heart disease had combined with high blood pressure to result in “marked enlargement of his heart which had been failing for some time.”

Oklahoma City new NBA franchise has finally set a date to announce its name and team colors.

The team said Wednesday that it would unveil the name and colors simultaneously on its Web site and at a downtown event Sept. 3.

Clay Bennett’s ownership group has applied for trademarks for six names: Thunder, Energy, Wind, Marshalls, Barons and Bison.

Oklahoma City television station KOCO has reported that the choice will be Thunder, but Bennett has refused to comment on what the name will be.

The former Seattle SuperSonics announced on July 2 that they would be moving to Oklahoma City.

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NBA to play 2 games in China in October.

The Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors will travel to China in October to play two exhibition games, the NBA and Chinese Basketball Association said on Wednesday.

The NBA China Games tips off with the Bucks and Warriors meeting on Oct. 15 in Guangzhou and Oct. 18 at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena.

The NBA will host events in the cities as part of its Sichuan Province earthquake relief efforts.

The games will be televised live in the United States.

Guard Kyle Weaver, a second-round draft pick, signed a multiyear contract Wednesday with Oklahoma City.

Weaver was selected 38th in June by Charlotte but didn’t sign with the Bobcats before being traded to Oklahoma City earlier this month for a second-round choice in next year’s draft.

Weaver averaged 12.2 points last season as a senior at Washington State.

No other terms were released.

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Warriors G Ellis out 3 months with ankle sprain.

Golden State guard Monta Ellis will be sidelined for at least three months after severely spraining his ankle during an offseason workout, forcing the Warriors to start the season without the player expected to lead their revamped roster this fall.

Ellis, who got a six-year contract extension worth $66 million on July 24, sprained his ankle and tore a deltoid ligament while working out in his hometown of Jackson, Miss., last Thursday, said Chris Mullin, the Warriors’ top basketball executive.

Ellis underwent surgery Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., to repair the ligament, and returned home later in the day. Ellis’ ankle will be immobilized for six weeks, followed by at least six weeks of off-court rehabilitation before the guard can return to basketball workouts.

“He’s one of our main guys, but we don’t think it’s a season-ending injury,” Mullin said. “The time frame, it fluctuates, but hopefully with his youth – and he’s been pretty durable and resilient to injury – hopefully he does get back (soon).

“With the offseason moves we made, hopefully we can still play at a high level this year. To me, it’s more something that you look at as a challenge, and you don’t let it defeat you, you deal with it.”

Ellis averaged 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists last season, all career bests, while emerging as a dependable shooter for the league’s highest-scoring club.

He will miss training camp and the Warriors’ preseason schedule, which includes a trip to China, along with at least the first month of the regular season.

“Training camp was going to be an important part of his development,” Mullin said. “That’s going to be postponed, obviously, but he’s got a lot of development on and off the court that he’s going to continue to do. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, and now his job is to get healthy.”

Golden State’s training camp opens Sept. 27.

Ellis, the winner of the NBA’s most improved player award in 2006-07, is expected to play a major role this season for the Warriors after Baron Davis’ abrupt departure for the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent. Golden State showed its commitment with a huge contract extension for Ellis, who is likely to assume Davis’ role as the point guard and catalyst of coach Don Nelson’s uptempo offense.

In Ellis’ absence, new point guard Marcus Williams is likely to get the first chance to run Nelson’s show – although Mullin also will travel to Chicago on Thursday to take a look at former Clippers guard Shaun Livingston, the unrestricted free agent who hasn’t played since injuring his left knee in a game on Feb. 26, 2007.

Golden State acquired Williams in a trade with New Jersey last month to be Ellis’ backup. Williams, the former UConn star entering his third NBA campaign, averaged 5.9 points and 2.6 assists in 53 games with the Nets last season.

“Just in talking to Nellie today, (we’re) talking about maybe spreading that ball around and getting scoring from different areas,” Mullin said, mentioning more shots for Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington and newcomer Corey Maggette. “Marcus is more of a pass-first point guard. If at some point he thought he didn’t get a chance (in New Jersey), he’s going to get a chance now.”

Guard Kelenna Azubuike also is likely to get more playing time with the Warriors, who missed the playoffs last season despite winning 48 games. Golden State shuffled much of its roster in the wake of Davis’ departure, signing Maggette and forward Ronny Turiaf while losing forwards Mickael Pietrus and Matt Barnes.

Mullin wasn’t certain whether Ellis hurt himself in a 5-on-5 scrimmage or a smaller pickup game. Although Mullin still is the same inveterate gym rat he was during his All-Star playing career, he shares most NBA executives’ wariness about their players’ offseason health in such risky workouts.

“I’m all for guys training and getting better,” Mullin said. “Ideally, I’d like everybody here (in Oakland) all the time, but that’s not realistic. I think one thing Monta has done each and every year is improve, and I do believe most improvement is made during the summer. That’s when guys do get better, so I can’t debate that.”

There more than a few Miami players who’ll freely acknowledge not knowing many specifics about Charleston Southern. Including where the school is located or the names of some key Buccaneers.

Think that means Miami is overlooking its opening night foe?

The Hurricanes insist that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Miami’s season begins Thursday night in their new Dolphin Stadium home against Charleston Southern, a Football Championship Subdivision member. It seems like a mismatch of colossal proportions – Miami has five national championships, Charleston Southern has two winning seasons – but the rebuilding Hurricanes know the Buccaneers will arrive believing they have nothing to lose.

“Everyone that we play, for some reason, always has a countdown clock to when they’ll play the University of Miami,” Miami coach Randy Shannon said. “Everyone. It’s part of being at Miami. You have a target on you. But you know what? These guys understand on this football team that we went through a lot last year. We understand what losing is and we understand not to take opponents lightly.”

Sure enough, on the Charleston Southern athletic Web site, there’s a clock ticking down the seconds until Thursday night’s kickoff.

The Buccaneers are touting this game as one of the biggest in their school’s history, a chance to shock the college football establishment and earn a piece of spotlight on the national stage. After learning that North Texas – Miami’s originally scheduled Week 1 opponent – bought its way out of the game for a chance to visit LSU, Charleston Southern quickly began pleading for the chance to be the replacement.

“We’re very grateful to coach Shannon and the University of Miami for giving us this opportunity,” said Charleston Southern coach Jay Mills. “Since the moment I arrived on this campus, we’ve talked about Miami’s football program and what they’ve done in the last 25 years with five national championships and how we hope to emulate that on the FCS level, being another small, private institution that wants to be nationally recognized.”

The game isn’t on television (the only Miami game on TV Thursday night will be when Vanderbilt faces Miami of Ohio, which just happens to be Charleston Southern’s Week 3 opponent). The TV snub may be proof of how far Miami fell off the national radar a year ago, as it bumbled along to a 5-7 season – the program’s worst result in three decades.

So this year, the Hurricanes are starting over.

None of the quarterbacks have any college experience, and when Thursday’s game ends, Miami’s starter for the 2008 season still won’t have any passes on his record.

Redshirt freshman Robert Marve – who will start at No. 5 Florida next weekend – is one of seven Hurricanes who’ll serve one-game suspensions for a variety of reasons; Marve’s stems from an arrest last Oct. 31 on a misdemeanor charge that was later dropped. Still, Shannon has his rules: Get in trouble after midnight, you sit out the next game you’re slated to play.

That means freshman Jacory Harris gets the start.

“Big-time players step up in big-time situations,” said defensive tackle Marcus Forston, another true freshman who was Harris’ teammate at Miami Northwestern High last year, when the Bulls won their second straight Florida Class 6A title. “And Thursday, we’re going to see what he’s going to do.”

The Hurricanes will see what a lot of freshmen will do Thursday. There’s 14 on the team’s two-deep for the matchup.

“If we didn’t have all these freshmen on this football team, we’d probably have a one-deep,” Shannon said. “It’s called recruiting.”

If there’s one edge Charleston Southern has, it’s experience. The Buccaneers (5-6 last year) have 19 starters back from last year, many of whom got a taste of what it was like to face a big-time opponent when Charleston Southern visited Hawaii last season.

Plus, 41 players on the Bucs’ roster hail from Florida, so they’ll certainly know plenty about the Hurricanes.

“It’s going to be the biggest crowd Charleston Southern athletics has ever played in front of,” said Charleston Southern senior transfer quarterback Tribble Smith – who was part of a Clemson team that won at Miami in 2004, albeit in a game in which he didn’t play. “It’s a huge opportunity and we’re all looking forward to it.”

It’s bad enough, Ohio State LB James Laurinaitis said, that the rest of the country badmouths the Big Ten.

Even worse, he felt that reporters who cover the conference put it down at the preseason football meetings in late July.

After lopsided losses in the last two Bowl Championship Series title games, Laurinaitis’ Buckeyes in particular have been slammed by college football fans for playing a weak-sister schedule. An All-American and last year’s Butkus Award winner, he was asked what the perception was of Ohio State’s program outside of the state.

“There’s a lot of different opinions. For the most part you feel like, even when we were at Big Ten media day, people within our Big Ten media were asking about the whole perception of our strength of schedule and stuff,” he said. “There’s not really much you can say about any of that. The only thing that will change any of that is just to win.”

Big Ten teams open play on Saturday with only three games against topflight opponents.

No. 20 Illinois meets No. 6 Missouri in St. Louis, Michigan hosts a Utah team that is coming off a 9-4 record and Michigan State travels to California.

The rest of the schedule includes Western Kentucky at Indiana, Maine at Iowa, Northern Illinois at Minnesota, Syracuse at Northwestern, Coastal Carolina at No. 22 Penn State and Akron at No. 13 Wisconsin. No. 2 Ohio State takes on Youngstown State, which like Maine and Coastal Carolina is in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Just one Big Ten team (Illinois, at No. 6) was among the top 19 teams in the nation in strength of schedule in 2007.

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PHELPS FAN: Not many people can claim they beat Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps in the swimming pool. Penn State safety Mark Rubin can.

Eight years ago when he was 14, Rubin beat Phelps in some races in Northeast region swim tournaments, including the 50 freestyle, the 100 free and the 100 backstroke.

But the victories didn’t come very often over Phelps, who is from Baltimore. Rubin was a state high school champion swimmer from the Buffalo, N.Y., suburb of Amherst.

“I beat him five, six, seven times,” Rubin said about Phelps. “He beat me 20, 30, 40 times.”

Rubin found himself glued to the TV after football practice this preseason to watch Phelps’s record-setting performance in the pool in Beijing. He also got playful teasing from teammates and even coach Joe Paterno about his brushes with Phelps.

In his prep career Rubin also swam against another U.S. gold-medal swimmer, Ryan Lochte, who, like Rubin, is from upstate New York.

Competitive swimming ended for Rubin in high school. Today, he hits the pool mainly in the summer for leisurely swims.

“In a perfect world, maybe I’d play football,” Rubin said jokingly, “and maybe coach Paterno would give me a couple weeks off to swim in Beijing.”

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FRESH JUICE: Illinois’ Juice Williams worked in the off season with an expert on multi-tooled quarterbacking, Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Williams, a junior known more for his running than throwing, said he worked out with McNabb for a week and exchanged text messages with him.

“He shared some of his experiences in college and the NFL, so it helped out a lot,” Williams said.

McNabb advised him to “play with confidence and have fun. You can’t live and die with the game of football, so just go out there and have fun.”

Williams was the top running QB in the Big Ten last fall with 755 yards but he threw for just 134 yards a game, last among all conference starters.

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IT’S ACADEMIC: Iowa will be counting heavily on two players who were forced to leave the program last season to get their grades in order.

Running back Shonn Greene, who rushed for 205 yards in 2006, has been tabbed the starter after spending last season at Kirkwood Community College (Iowa). Cornerback Amari Spievey, who redshirted in 2006 and spent 2007 at Iowa Central Community College, is a first-teamer as well.

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SOMETHING OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE: Rich Rodriguez’s debut as Michigan coach will be preceded by what’s being called “The Victors Walk.”

The team will get off a bus and will walk about 200 yards with the band leading the way and fans lining the route.

In Lloyd Carr’s finale at the Capital One Bowl, the Wolverines walked in a similar fashion off the bus and toward the stadium. The late Bo Schembechler had his team do a similar walk, but it stopped in the mid-1970s.

“We talked to some of the players and they are really excited about it,” Rodriguez said. “You work like crazy, seven or eight months of the year to play twelve games and hopefully play in a thirteenth, so those twelve games ought to be very, very exciting for them all the time.”

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QUICK-HITTERS: Michigan State opened a new $15.5 million renovation and addition this month to the Duffy Daugherty Football Building. … After leading the 119 teams in the FBS in yards allowed last year, Minnesota has bulked up, moving ends Lee Campbell and Steve Davis to LB and adding a pair of 300-pounders at tackle. … Michigan is unranked in the AP preseason poll for the first time since 1985. … Indiana opens with four straight home games, has reinstalled Kellen Lewis as the starting QB and got an unexpected boost when the NCAA announced S Jerimy Finch would not have to sit out this season after transferring from Florida. … Ohio State could become the first team to ever win three outright Big Ten titles in a row.

Demetrice Morley has waited an extra-long time to make his next hit as a Tennessee safety.

After serving a year suspension, the junior has returned to anchor what is potentially one of the best secondaries in the country with the help of star safety Eric Berry.

“I can’t wait. I feel anxious. I feel like a little kid again,” Morley said.

The defensive backs were the one of the biggest concerns entering the 2007 season and had a rough start in outings at California and Florida before improving tremendously.

Injuries forced the Vols to play a number of people at cornerback. This season, seniors DeAngelo Willingham and Antonio Gaines, junior Marsalous Johnson, sophomores Dennis Rogan and Brent Vinson and even freshman Art Evans could see playing time.

Willingham and Rogan are projected to start at cornerback Monday against UCLA. Vinson will serve a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules.

“Obviously it’s a more experienced secondary, probably a more confident secondary,” defensive backs coach Larry Slade said. “When you go out there and break in a lot of new guys … they’re learning on the job.”

That’s exactly what Berry, Willingham, Vinson and Rogan did last season after Johnson and Gaines had season-ending injuries early in the season.

Now they don’t have to spend so much effort during a game thinking about different coverage packages and schemes. It’s automatic now.

“We knew what we had last year. We knew the situation. I didn’t make any excuses then. I won’t make any excuses now,” defensive coordinator John Chavis said. “We feel a lot better about where we are right now.”

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YOUTH MOVEMENT: The evidence of No. 10 Auburn’s youth movement is all over the depth chart – from the demotion of senior receiver Robert Dunn to the abundance of freshmen as backups in the secondary.

The Tigers have 10 sophomores listed as starters and five freshmen listed as second-teamers. All four secondary positions have freshmen listed on the depth chart.

The biggest surprise was Dunn’s spot as a fourth-team inside receiver, behind sophomores Mario Fannin and Terrell Zachery and second-team freshman Darvin Adams. Tuberville said Dunn’s status sends a message that no job is safe even for veterans.

“On offense he hasn’t performed to his abilities and we’ve got a lot of players there in that position,” Tuberville said. “The older players can find out very quickly how important it is to be consistent. You can’t rest on experience, you can’t rest on, ‘Hey, I’ve been here.’ You better play and you better perform.”

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WELCOME BACK: LSU coach Les Miles is eager to get defensive tackle Charles Alexander back in a game for the first time since he went down with a right knee injury early in the 2007 season.

Alexander arrived at camp in early August fully recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that kept him out of 11 games in 2007 and limited him during spring practice. But just a few days into fall practices, he hurt his left hamstring and sat out most of the past three weeks.

“Frankly, we think that he has the potential to be one of the more dominant defensive linemen in the country,” Miles said. “We really have to get him on the field and get him healthy before that starts showing. I think his playing in this game is important to him so that he can get on board and get as comfortable playing week after week as any of the guys on the team.”

A senior from Breaux Bridge, La., Alexander played in one game in 2005, 12 games in 2006 and started three games last season before his knee injury.

Early this week, Alexander returned to practice and LSU’s depth chart lists him as a starter.

LSU opens its season – and the defense of its national title – Saturday against Appalachian State in Tiger Stadium, and Miles is optimistic that Alexander will play.

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STATUS CHECK: The status of Mississippi State left tackle Derek Sherrod is unclear as Saturday’s opener at Louisiana Tech approaches.

The 6-foot-5, 298-pound sophomore could miss the rest of practice this week with a foot infection and might not be available when the team travels to Ruston.

“The doctors tell me there’s a chance,” coach Sylvester Croom said. “The doctors tell me it’s going to have a lot to do with his pain tolerance. We’re just in a wait-and-see mode right now.”

Sherrod will be a key to Mississippi State’s success on the offensive line this season. The team lost all-Southeastern Conference candidate Mike Brown in the offseason after he fired a gun on campus.

So Sherrod moved to left tackle from the right side. If he can’t play, starting right tackle Mark Melichar will have to move over, too. That would leave the Mississippi State offensive line thin on the edges.

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LAYING LOW: Alabama receiver Mike McCoy could easily be wondering what he has to do to get a little attention.

The Tide’s top returning receiver was overshadowed by DJ Hall last season, and now freshman Julio Jones is grabbing most of the attention. At a position that often includes some flamboyant – even cocky – players, McCoy takes the lack of attention in stride.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” he said after politely fielding a half-dozen questions about Jones.

McCoy figures to be a leading candidate to become John Parker Wilson’s go-to receiver this season after getting 28 catches last season and waving farewell to three more of the Crimson Tide’s top receivers.

He does have one key ingredient: A comfort zone with Wilson.

“Mike’s got great athleticism. He can make the moves,” Wilson said. “I’m just so comfortable throwing to Mike. We’ve been throwing for a couple years now. He’s always going to be in the right spot. I’m very confident in his routes and where he’s going to be.”

The Vince Young legacy keeps growing at Texas.

The quarterback who led the Longhorns to the 2005 national championship will have his No. 10 retired in a ceremony before Saturday night’s season opener against Florida Atlantic.

Young’s name and number will be permanently displayed on the facade of the new upper deck in the north end zone of Darrell K. Royal/Texas Memorial Stadium. He will also be presented with a framed burnt-orange jersey.

“He’s one of the best, if not the best, to ever wear a Longhorns uniform,” said Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who was a redshirt freshman in 2005 when Young led the Longhorns to a 13-0 record capped by a 41-38 win over Southern California in the Rose Bowl.

Young’s fourth-down dash to the end zone in the final minute scored the winning touchdown and capped one of the great individual performances in the history of college football. He left Texas after that junior season, was drafted third overall, and is now in his third year with the Tennessee Titans in the NFL.

“That’s something my family can enjoy and be proud of forever,” Young said. “I was speechless when the told me about the jersey retirement earlier this summer. It’s such a great honor to be remembered in such a special way.”

Young was 30-2 as a starter and won his final 20 games. McCoy, who has a 20-6 career record going into his junior season, is on pace to pass Young for career victories and could set several passing records before his career is over.

Asked if thought he could have his No. 12 retired, McCoy joked, “There’s a spot in the end zone waiting for me.”

Texas has retired five football numbers: Young, Earl Campbell (20), Ricky Williams (34), Tommy Nobis (60) and Bobby Layne (22). The school will have retirement ceremonies for Nobis’ and Layne’s numbers later this season, coach Mack Brown said.

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MASTER: The chip Kansas linebacker Joe Mortensen jokes about carrying around on his shoulder is invisible to the naked eye. Not so with his philosophy of life.

That is tattooed right onto his arms, made big and brawny by dedicated weight lifting.

“Master of my destiny,” proclaims the inside of Mortensen’s bulging left forearm. His right forearm says, “Captain of my Soul,” in the same flourishing script

In other words, the All-Big 12 linebacker of the No. 14 Jayhawks figures he alone is responsible for what he does and who he is.

“‘Master of My Destiny’ means I control what goes on in my life,” he said. “If I’m a great man, if I’m a superstar, if I’m what I want to be, it’s because I achieved it. If I’m a bum, if I’m something bad, then it’s because I allowed it to happen. Every decision I make in my life is all mine.”

A more spiritual point is on the right forearm of the 250-pound senior. It has to do with who he is more than what he does.

“Being a good man, having good morals and being a great person. That’s what it means,” he said.

Mortensen had the twin tattoos applied to his arms “a couple of years ago” in his hometown of Oakland, Calif.

“Every time I get down or feel good, I look down on my arms and know this is the reason I’m here,” he said. “I have the power to change how I feel, whatever I’m doing in my life.”

That belief in being in charge of himself came in handy last winter when despair followed on the heels of the Jayhawks’ 24-21 victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, which capped a school-record 12-1 season.

Mortensen sacked the quarterback and blocked a field goal attempt. But shortly afterward, he was diagnosed with a slight tear in his ACL.

At first, depression set in.

“I’m a huge critic of myself. When I got hurt, I got down a little bit,” he said. “I was all worried about not being able to come back and play at the level I can.”

It was not the sort of attitude for a young man who believes himself to be the master of his destiny to take. So Mortensen went to work.

Now, he says, he’s back to 100 percent and ready to join fellow seniors Mike Rivera and James Holt in a talented, experienced linebacker corps.

“That negative talk is the worst thing you can do,” he said. “I credit myself on being the most positive person in my life, talking myself up, knowing I can do whatever I want.”

“It was a lot of hard work getting back. But it was worth all the pain and stuff I went through in the offseason to get here.”

The Jayhawks open on Saturday at home against Florida International, a team they destroyed 55-3 last year.

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MISSING: Missouri will likely be without a key defensive player when the No. 6 Tigers open the season Saturday against No. 20 Illinois in St. Louis.

Senior linebacker Van Alexander is making good progress as he recovers from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury suffered in spring drills. Alexander will travel with the team to the Edward Jones Dome, but coaches doubt he’ll be on the field.

“He’s working really hard to get there and we’ll see where he is on a day-to-day basis,” defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said Tuesday. “You couldn’t ask him to work harder and play harder and we are real proud of him and see where he is at game time.”

Alexander said he’s right on schedule with the rehab of the knee.

“I have to talk to the staff but I think I can be back soon,” he said.

He started eight of 14 games in 2007, registering 60 tackles and making his first career sack and fumble recovery along the way.

“It will be hard to wait but at the same time you know you are helping the team and that its the right thing to do,” Alexander said.

Sophomore Luke Lambert will likely start in Alexander’s place on Saturday.