It's been a busy week, but, since I haven't been in a position to post anything at Dawg Sports in about 24 hours (for which I apologize most profusely), I wanted to take a moment to offer a few quick links so you'd know what was going on in the world around you:  

• Should there be a rotating schedule of out-of-conference games between B.C.S. leagues?  Cardinal and Gold thinks so.  
• If I invented a new sport and tried to market it to existing sports fans in the hope that it would catch on, there is absolutely no doubt that I would hire The Lawgiver as my marketing director.  Brian, the self-described "very definition of the undiscerning sports fan," recently offered impassioned defenses of soccer and hockey, neither of which I care about and each of which I consider indistinguishable from the other except by temperature.  However, both of Brian's above-cited pieces brought me closer to caring about the sport under discussion than I have ever before been.  Reading Brian's dissertations on sports that you don't follow is like being an opponent of term limits and reading George Will's Restoration . . . if it doesn't bring you over to the other side, nothing will.  Good job, Brian . . . but I'm still with Yost on this one.  

Brian . . . the George Will of soccer.  That's a compliment, I promise.

• Speaking of compliments, I had a couple of sincere ones thrown my way earlier today, although (as with the one in the caption above) you have to have a pretty firm grasp of the "two guys in a sports bar watching the game only on their computers from a great distance apart who have never met one another despite the fact that they're buddies" ethos of the intercollegiate athletics blogosphere to appreciate the genuineness of the shout-outs in question.  Maize n Brew Dave quoted "The Family Guy" at me and the big man himself, Orson Swindle, was kind enough to write:  "Kyle, you've just gotten the greatest compliment we've ever seen. . . .  Dude, you've ARRIVED."  (You really need to read the whole comment thread to get the full flavor of it, but the lesson to be learned is this:  never use a significant portion of your lunch break to try to talk sense to a Gamecock fan, because it is a complete waste of time.)
• As noted by the aforementioned Orson, Nathan is back on task with his Big 12 mascot review.  We view Texas Tech's Masked Rider a bit differently, but, other than that, it's good stuff.  

This was the Masked Rider's choice for Best Picture.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

• Unsurprisingly, College Football Resource has generated some discussion with his list of A.P. No. 1 rankings, which has sparked responses from the Georgia Sports Blog and Bruins Nation.  
• The other day, I directed your attention to The Hobnailed Boot, who has made his presence felt in the blogosphere by offering a few Football Laws.  Give 'em a look and feel free to add your own.  

You may not have noticed my previous mention of the Hobnailed Boot because you were distracted by the accompanying Phoebe Cates photograph.

• The new BlogPoll roundtable is a good one, prompting replies from Burnt Orange Nation, Every Day Should Be Saturday, MDG, Michigan Sports Center, The Realist, and, here at Dawg Sports, from me and from several readers.  
• I thought I was the only one who saw it.  I wasn't.  

Take that for what it's worth and have a good weekend.  While you're at it, don't forget . . . The Diamond Dogs' opening game in the College World Series begins at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.  

Go 'Dawgs!