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Not if you believe what a source is telling the New York Times. (I know, I know, insert Jason Blair or Judith Miller joke here).

Juliet Macur writes that a different test has been done on Landis' A sample (you may need to register to read it for free) and that the test revealed evidence of synthetic testosterone in Floyd's body. If true, that would make Floyd's contention that he has a naturally high testosterone level a moot point. You can't have synthetic testosterone in your body, at any level. Major no-no.

Also revealed in the article is that Landis' ratio was apparently somewhere around 11 to 1. That's high - almost three times the allowed ratio by the UCI> I know Floyd's doc says that some bodybuilders have 100 to 1 ratios, but we're not talking Mr. Olympia here. Plus, when you're looking to prove innocence do you really want to associate yourself with the one sport on earth that might have even more drug-cheat problems than yours?

It looks like Landis' only option now is to somehow prove that the synethic testosterone made it into his body either unknowingly or accidentally. Is that possible? Sure. And it's what I'd like to believe. But that's going to be a pretty darned hard thing to prove. If you're a Landis supporter, I wouldn't hold your breath.

The Sporting News has come out with its list of the top 99 sports cities in the country and Greensboro didn't make the list.

Given the fates of hockey and indoor football in this town, as well as the drop of the Dynamo down from pro soccer to the PDL, that's not exactly surpising.

But it does sting a bit to have our dear sister city make the charts. Looking at the criteria, I'd have to base this solely on the presence of Wake Forest. There really can't be any other reason.

I'm not goign to get into a heavy critique of the rankings because any such system is inherently flawed, but I can't resist a few not-so-subtle jabs.

I really think they put too much emphasis on the success of the teams and not enough on the fervor of the fans. How else can you explain how Miami - one of the worst towns in America for fan attendance, if not the worst - is No. 2 on the list and Atlanta - I love my Braves, but jeez that place is a portrait of pro sports apathy - is No. 13?

I'm guessing there's a method to TSN's madness. By basing its rankings more on results and less on whether anyone in the town actually cares about said results, TSN insures that there will always be movement in its rankings. Otherwise, Miam's always down lower because its fans don't care about any team that doesn't have Dolphins somewhere in its name (just ask Frank Haith). Heck, even with a huge Latino population, Miami couldn't support an MLS franchise that was one of the best in the league! Meanwhile, Green Bay, the ultimate one-trick-pony of sports towns, would be a permanent top five fixture because of its cheeseheads.

So TSN uses a murky formula that allows it to mix things up and occassionally slip in a Winston-Salem over a clearly more deserving Greensboro (hey have you seen our Grasshoppers attendance lately?).

Why? Because USA Today has come out with its coaches' preseason poll.

Yes, yes, we know that preseason polls don't really mean anything and that games are won on the field not on paper, blah, blah, blah.

The whole point of releason a poll like this so ridiculously early, before we have any idea what's really going to happen, is to get discussion started. Come to think of it, that's why this blog exists as well.

So, without further ado, here's the link.

What's that? You want my thoughts on it? Well, only if you insist.

Welcome to the post-Leinart era. This year, I'm not really sold on anyone as No. 1. Ohio State? Nine starters have to be replaced on defense. And while the Buckeyes offense looked awesome by the end of the year, we know that the idea of opening up the attack again goes against every instinct coach Jim Tressel. Can a team really be No. 1 when it's talent doesn't match its coach's philosophy?

Texas? No. 2? I know the Longhorns have ton of talent, but they won the national title last year because of the brilliance of Vince Young. Now that he's not around, how great can Texas really be?

Notre Dame? The Irish get a lot of credit for being so close in a couple of games they lost, but they were also pretty close in some of the games they won. The glaring lack of speed they showed in their Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State didn't just disappear, did it?

Southern Cal? If you believe that John David Booty will be to Matt Leinart as Matt Leinart was to Carson Palmer, then go right and and put them at No. 1. Me? I have no idea.

I do feel pretty confident that Oklahoma won't be a top-five team this year, not without quarterback Rhett Bomar. Speaking of Bomar, ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach has an interesting update on Bomar's future options. Quick summation: there aren't many right now.

By now we're already down to Auburn at No. 6. I think I've made my point. There's not a clear, dominant team out there.

Other points of interest:

ACC teams in the poll:

No. 10 FSU. The Noles has the highest-ranked conference team? Who'dda thunk it? Drew Weatherford looks like he won't be the next Chris Rix, which is probably why FSU is ranked this high despite going just 8-5 last year.

No. 11 Miami. One season later, I'm still wondering if Kyle Wright is the answer for the Hurricanes at QB. Plus, does he have anyone to throw the ball to?

No. 16 Virginia Tech. Is the loss of Marcus Vick addition by subtraction? Or just subtraction? There aren't a whole lot of big name players this year up in Blacksburg, but the Hokies seem to cobble together pretty good seasons when they have no-name talents.

No. 18 Clemson. Everybody's darkhorse darling. Just like two years ago. I realize by this point I'm appearing to be a big negative, but everybody just seems to be assuming that Will Proctor will do just fine at QB for the Tigers. If he does, then hey, see you in Jacksonville, Clemson. If not, then hey, it might be see you in Charlotte after a 6-6, 7-5 season.

The lifetime achievement awards in this year's opoll appear to have been handed out to No.15 Michigan and No. 23 Tennessee, neither of which was very good last year, but both of which are ranked regardless. I've got more faith in the Maize and Blue to live up to those expectations. Big Orange just might be in big trouble.

When the Kansas City Royals got No. 1 overall draft pick Luke Hochevar signed late last week, you had to figure the Detroit Tigers' No. 6 pick, UNC lefty Andrew Miller, wouldn't be far behind. And he wasn't. For a nice $3.5 million bonus, Miller signed Friday with the Tigers.

Hochevar became the fourth No. 1 pick in the last 20 years to sign a MAJOR-league contract guaranteeing a quick ascent to K.C. Miller's contract guarantees he'll be pitching in Comerica Park this September ... and maybe in the playoffs?

Daniel Bard, Miller's UNC teammate, was one of only two first-rounders left unsigned. Bard, a righthander taken 28th by Boston, is reportedly in slow-going negotiations with the Red Sox.

The Tar Heels began grilling, er, practicing Friday afternoon at the on-campus Navy fields in 95-degree heat. On one field, the thermometer registered between 115-120 degrees. That's because UNC has a new FieldTurf synthetic-grass field thanks to a $1 million renovation project. According to assistant coach Ken Browning, they're still looking for how best to water the turf to cool it before practices.

The Heels' defense will mostly practice on the new turf, while the offense uses the adjacent natural-grass field. The Heels also can practice on AstroTurf.

As for the FieldTurf, it looks and feels like real grass, it just doesn't smell like it and, because of the rubberized base, it traps the heat very well. That's brutal on days like Friday, when players practiced in shorts and helmets (but not yet in pads).

The upside comes late in the season when temperatures drop near or below freezing. Whereas the practice fields generally turned to dust bowls by late November, the new turf holds up nicely to abuse and cold weather.

Some time soon we'll reach the point where it's no longer news that former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett is in trouble. Clearly, we haven't reached that point yet.

At first glance this is just another one of those standard athlete resisting arrest stories (sadly, those are kind of regular items on the police blotter). But after reading it again, I think it raises some disturbing questions.

Why was Clarett so quick to run from the cops when his initial infraction was only an illegal U-turn? Maybe because he had four loaded guns in the back of his SUV. Which naturally begs the question, what were those doing there? Perhaps more disturbing is the revelation that Clarett was wearing a bulletproof vest. Four loaded guns and a bullet proof vest? Sounds like the police might have done Clarett a favor by stopping him when they did. It appears he might have been headed for trouble of an even more serious kind.

But hey, the guy did help the Buckeyes win that national title! Remember?

The one part of the pre-season media poll in the ACC that raised my eyebrows was the selection of Maryland at fourth in its division, ahead of N.C. State. Granted, quibbling between fourth or fifth in a division isn't really necessary, but given the Terps' back-to-back 5-6 seasons, as well as the trouble they've had in recruiting, it seemed strange to me to predict that Maryland would finish ahead of State.

This article in the Washington Post may explain a great deal of it. It looks like folks are willing to still consider Ralph Friedgen a mastermind, despite the last two seasons. The changes he's made - dealing with sleep apnea and taking over as offensive coordinator - have apparently convinced people that the Terps can rebound.

What's interesting is that Ralph's career arc has been very similar to that of Chuck Amato. Both came into their programs and made immediate impacts. Both have taken steps back in recent years. Given those similarities, you'd have to consider the selection of Maryland over State in the polls as a referendum on the two coaches. Clearly, media members think more of Ralph than Chuck.

Maybe that's purely due to Xs and Os prowess, but I can't help but wonder if personality plays a role in that voting as well. I think it's fair to say that some members of the media would like to see Friedgen rebound, while they'd also like to see Chuck stumble.

... where Herb Sendek got a huge early boost with the recent verbal commitment of James Harden.

Harden's one of the top-ranked shooting guards in the Class of 2007. Scout.com rates him as the fourth best player at that position in the country. Granted, UCLA came in the picture late, and Sendek had to play the "hire the high school coach" card, by making Harden's old coach at Artesia (Calif.) High the Sun Devils' director of basketball operations. Still, it's an impressive get, and perhaps more importantly, a very loud statement that things will be different for ASU under the new regime.

The Sun Devils beat out Washington, the new force in the PAC-10 and Arizona, the big bully next door, to get Harden. Add that in with the transfer of former Duke big man Eric Boateng (don't forget, the guy was a McDonald's All-American) and its clear that Sendek has made a splash in the desert.

Several readers have posed this highly legitimate question in the past few days. Part of the reason is I have spent much of my time checking court records and other matters relative to the Larry Harrison matter. While doing this, I had still hoped to write periodic updates on the current Aggies. This has been difficulut. Specifically, A&T officials of the highest rank ordered the cancellation of my planned interview today with new Aggie Deon Adams, a Smith HS graduate. Furthermore, these same officials constructed another roadblock in the process by requiring that all my requests for football interviews go through the office of Mable Scott, associate vice chancellor for university relations.

So why should you, the reader, care? Here's why: Mable is an extremely diligent, hard-working and busy person whose plate has been filled lately by an ongoing capital campaign, the search for a permanent chancellor and several more matters. I can hardly be shocked if she is in a meeting or otherwise occupied and is therefore unable to get to my request for a football interview in time for a story to appear. This is why institutions hire sports information directors. A&T has one, and he's quite good. Brian Holloway is his name, and he understands how to do his job. While Brian is also busy, he makes football interview requests priorities. That's his job. I know that if I try to do a story on the Aggies -- and the paper's track record on this program is pretty good -- he'll help me immediately. Now he can't be certain he can do that.

Today, ESPNU announced its college football coverage schedule for the 2006 season. A&T is on it once, for its Oct. 26 game at Bethune-Cookman. I'd kind of like a comment from coach Lee Fobbs on this, but he is apparenly unavailable.

I'm trying to do my job as thoroughly as possible in light of the circumstances presented by the Harrison case.

I was hoping to talk to Deon Adams. Might be a nice story. I may never know if it is, and you may not either.

--RBD

Well, apparently we in the media and game statisticians weren't the only ones confused last fall by a UNC football roster that included two #32's named Edwards.

Running back Barrington Edwards said Wednesday that he was getting a little tired of kids coming up to him and saying, "Hey, Larry, can I get an autograph?"

So he did the genial thing, showing deference to the senior linebacker and switching his number this summer to 5.

Why 5?

Well, 3 + 2 = 5. Barrington Edwards had worn No. 32 throughout his high school and college career (at LSU before UNC), and figured he'd just do some simple math.

"We're coming in on this 'New Blue' theme, so it just felt like a different start," Barrington said. "I like the number."

Of course, this means he probably won't get credited for defensive tackles on the stat sheet. He got one last year at Miami that rightfully belonged to Larry Edwards.

Update:

Now I have been informed that I must disclose the nature of my questions and the topic of my story to A&T officials before being granted the opportunity to talk to any football player or coach. The News & Record, following standards common to journalism, will not abide by this policy. Why not? Because it's very common in journalism for a reporter to begin an interview presuming to write about one topic and then discover -- as a result of the answers received -- something new and previously unknown that becomes more compelling.
Here's an example.
Many years ago, while I worked at another paper in another state, another reporter and I were doing what we presumed would be a garden-variety feature on a basketball player named Tora. We were proceeding with questions about why she was such a good player. Boilerplate stuff.
Then, almost on a whim, the other reporter asked Tora how she got her name. She proceeded to describe how she was born more than 10 weeks prematurely and that the nurse who helped in her delivery was named Tora.
Needless to say, dribble penetration, 3-point field goals and intense defense became irrelevant at this stage. Like any decent reporters -- and curious readers -- we wanted to know more about her medical travails.
What resulted was a story that essentially said this kid was a medical miracle. Children born that early in the late 1970s didn't always make it to their first birthday. And if they did, they were almost certainly doomed to growth issues, asthma, developmental problems and a host of ills that would continue to manifest themselves over time.
But here she was -- apparently free of asthma after initially suffering it -- and on her way to All-ACC acclaim in basketball.
And we didn't have a clue about it until what seemed like the end of a 15-minute interview.
Therefore, if we had been subject to the guidelines A&T seeks to impose on the News & Record now, we could have been accused of lying. We declared original intentions and then wrote about something else. But we weren't liars; we were journalists who discovered stuff in the normal course of an interview.
Anybody who has been in this line of work for three months will tell you this is not extraordinary.
Here's another example:
Almost a year ago today, I went over to A&T to talk to Brandon Greeson, a football player from High Point who was highly recruited and who signed with Nebrasksa. He left Nebraska and came to A&T. We had a nice chat. I ultimately wrote a story about Greeson.
But that wasn't the story I got immediately as a result of my attendance at practice that day.
So Brandon and I are talking and he says to me, "Know why we're gonna be good this year? That guy." He pointed at a person who was running around the track.
The person made his way to our direction and I saw he was wearing Universiity of Michigan athletics attire. Brandon informed me that this person was a transfer from U of M.
And his name was Larry Harrison.
Completely unknown to me -- and A&T officials -- at this time was the background of Harrison. And so I went over to the campus to write about Brandon Greeson, which I did. But I came back with something else.
The rest of the story doesn't need to be rehashed at this point.

--RBD

The sad saga of former Greensboro Grasshopper Jeff Allison continues. The Florida Marlins' No. 1 pick in 2003, who pitched 17 games in Greensboro last summer in a failed comeback attempt, was hospitalized Wednesday after a drug overdose.

Allison's original fall from grace, which included addictions to OxyContin, a failed drug test for marijuana and a heroin overdose, received a lot of national attention. Apparently, he hasn't managed to put his life back together and is in fairly dire straits.

State fans might have gritted their teeth or merely shrugged their shoulders when former coach Herb Sendek brought in a high-profile transfer (Eric Boateng) and a big-time recruit to Arizona State.

But this? This news really had to hurt.

Yes, Seattle point guard Jamelle McMillan forged a bond with Sendek in his staff before he left State. But this was the son of former Wolfpack great Nate McMillan. A lot of Wolfpack fans thought the history with the school would outweight the connection to the coach. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

State still is - at least theoretically - in the running for D.C. point guard Chris Wright, who rescinded his commitment to State after Sendek left. But frankly, I thought the Wolfies had a better shot at landing McMillan. It may be time to look at option No. 3 at point guard for the Class of 2007. Farnold Degand, the transfer from Iowa State is considered a combo guard, but he may have to man the point if an adequate replacement isn't found for Engin Atsur.

Hey – Kellie Dixon, high school sports writer here. With the input of coaches, athletics directors and our staff, we chose several bests when it comes to the area’s high school football. Check out today’s Sports section or follow this link.

We’ve got categories such as Best Rivalry, Best Helmet, Best Band (Besides Dudley) and Toughest Place to Get a Win.

Those are our picks. What are yours? Agree or disagree? What say you, high school sports fans?

First SI.com's Stewart Mandel labeled him the worst coach in America. Now check out SI.com's ACC preview. Specifically, the predicted records.

Yep, that's a 1-7 ACC record and 3-9 overall next to State. I can't seem to find the link on the site, but somewhere on there SI also ranked State as the No. 67 program in the nation.

In a word ... wow.

Or maybe ... huh?

I realize that beat writers sometimes get sucked into the optimism that exists in every school's preseason camp, but I think SI's a bit off here.

Why? I have an immense amount of respect for the national writers and am truthfully jealous of the access they can often get to the programs that we local scribes cover. But these sorts of national previews put them in an impossible position. Rank all 119 teams? Predict the order of finish for each conference? Look, it's hard enough for me to tell you what State's going to be like, and I'm talking to players and coaches three or four times a week. I can't imagine trying to form an opinion on schools I've never even seen.

Yet that's what national guys like Mandel - whom I have a lot of respect for - are asked to do each August. Here's my guess as to how the though process on State went:

1) Played horrible on ESPN against Clemson and Amato was booed. Therefore coach is on hot seat.

2) Only managed a 7-5 record despite having three first-round draft picks on the defensive line.

3) Those defensive linemen are gone, as well as three other NFL draftees. So the talent level is down.

4) Lower talent level + coach on unsure footing = recipe for 3-9 season.

It's not an unreasonable conclusion to reach, but I don't think it's correct, either. Here's why I think State will be better than that. How much better? Read my season preview article when it comes out next Saturday (How's that for self-promotion?)

1) If you know anything about State fans you know that they are an emotional bunch. Booing Amato on a Thursday night does not equal wanting the man fired. Leading the Wolfpack to five bowl games in six seasons puts you on a pretty cool seat, actually.

2) Why did State only go 7-5 with three first-round picks? Simple. None of those three threw the football for the Wolfpack. Once State switched quarterbacks and simplified the offense, it rallied to win five of its last six games. Does that sound like a program sinking to the bottom of the ACC?

3) Yes, there will be less talent ... on defense. The offense should - and I use this word carefully - be able to pick up at least some of that slack. Toney Baker and Andre Brown are two of the most talented running backs in the country. The line is pretty darned experienced and really responded to the emphasis on running the ball last season. The wideouts are young but are drawing rave reviews in practice. Yes, I still have plenty of questions about Marcus Stone - who doesn't? - but he shouldn't have to be the Return of Philip for this team to move the ball.

4) Finally, having five guys off your defense drafted means you're doing a) a pretty good job of recruiting talent and b) a pretty good job of developing it once it gets to your school. So why shoudn't we assume that Amato and Co. might have some pretty talented players - whose names we don't know yet - ready to fill in the holes left after last season?

Now, you could read what I just wrote and assume I'm thinking 10-2 and Peach Bowl bound. Let's not get carried away. We're in the post-expansion era in the ACC, where one or two plays seem to determine every game. But unless those one or two plays go against State every single time I think the Wolfpack will be better than what the guys at SI are predicting.

Rusty Farmer of Reidsville doesn't know what has hit him as he becomes the record-breaking 407,712th fan of the season for the Grasshoppers. The previous mark was established last year. This is the 80th year of professional baseball in Greensboro.

Rusty Farmer of Reidsville had no idea the Grasshoppers were about to set the city's attendance record on Friday night. So he was shocked -- and covering his ears to drown out the noise of the celebratory air horns -- when he passed through a turnstile and was feted as the Hoppers' 407,712th fan.
Farmer was one of 8,801 spectators who helped push the team's total to more than 412,000 for the season. There are two home games left -- 7 p.m. starts tonight and Sunday.

N.C. A&T coach Lee Fobbs discusses the potentially close nature of this Saturday's season-opener with Winston-Salem State.

Joe Dailey, not a resounding success as a starting quarterback at Nebraska, will get that opportunity in North Carolina's opener Saturday against Rutgers largely because of that prior experience. Coach John Bunting announced the decision to start Dailey at Tuesday morning's news conference at Kenan Stadium.

"Joe Dailey will start the game for us because he's earned that right," Bunting said. "Cam Sexton will play because he earned THAT right."

How much Sexton plays is yet to be decided. The QB's won't be rotating every two series, as Darian Durant and Ronald Curry did for much of the 2001 season. Otherwise, it appears game-day performance will be an overriding factor on playing time.

Aside from his 11 starts at Nebraska, Dailey has impressed his coaches with how well he's grasped Frank Cignetti's offense.

Read more about the Heels' QB battle in Wednesday's News & Record. And feel free to tell us who you think should get the job. Remember: Mike Paulus isn't eligible ... yet.