Hey guys, quick note, I know a lot of people are having trouble signing into the Locker Room. We're working hard to get that fixed. Thanks so much for your patience. I'll keep everyone updated on how we're doing. -- McLovin'

AP New Haven Little Leaguer Jericho Scott mows 'em down.

Actually, this is what I've learned in my three weeks of coaching seventh graders for the Fairfield Giants football program. Kids are going to cry. They are going to fail and succeed in the same day of practice. The kids I've been helping out with take their football pretty seriously, or as seriously as you would expect a seventh grader to.

They hang their gloves from their facemasks like Randy Moss. They imitate LaDainian Tomlison's stiff arm. They try to yell out audibles like Peyton Manning. But as soon as you ease up during practice, they try to bury one of their buddies under a pile of blocking dummies or they make up songs about each other. They're 12, that's what they do.

One of the longtime coaches told me that their philosophy is “Fun and Fundamentals.” That works for me. For every time a coach raises his voice to get a kid to focus on an assignment, a coach is laughing when a kid hurdles a teammate during a drill to the roar of his friends.

The other day one of the kids, Pete, was having a tough time with a bigger kid, Zack, in a blocking drill. Two straight times he couldn't keep Zack out of the backfield ... the tougher part, all his teammates are watching the drill. He got upset, threw his helmet down and got pretty choked up. One of the coaches pulled him aside and talked to him away from the rest of the players. He told him to get lower... to fire out ... to use his center of gravity against a taller player. When the drill resumed, Pete and Zack faced each other again. It was a stalemate, but Pete had improved a ton, in about three minutes. He was pretty pumped. He finished practice and ran to the concession stand to get a slushee with his friends.

For me, I hope that is what kids' sports is about. Lots of learning, lots of fun and lots of sugar. -- Dan Patrick Show executive producer Paul Pabst

Hunter Martin / Getty Images

Like myself, Tony grew up in Philly, so it's a bit nerve-wracking to see this cover. There are actually six covers for this week's NFL preview.

SI.com's Jim Trotter had some interesting NFL tidbits. Trotter is close to the Chargers situation and said that ultimately, Shawn Merriman decides his own fate. If the player can prove he's healthy enough to play -- which Merriman proved he could do last year with the same injury -- then the team can't force him to sit.

Regardless of the Merriman injury, Trotter still likes the Chargers to win it all this year. He says they're paid like a Super Bowl team and it's time they deliver. What do you think?

By the way, if you haven't picked it up yet, SI does not pick the Chargers.

AP QB Mark Sanchez will start for USC.

Tony asked the Los Angeles Times' Chris Dufresne if USC should be concerned about Virginia this week, with Ohio State looming next week. Dufresne says the Trojans should be OK, but there's some unknowns with USC -- only four returning starters and a new quarterback.

Tony and Dufresne are looking forward to Alabama and Clemson going at it in Atlanta. Great game. Who do you like?

Dufresne also commented that teams can come back from early losses, but it's harder in conference games. So teams try to avoid conference games early in the schedule.

Dufresne also likes what UCLA is doing. Commenting on the "LA football monopoly is over," Dufresne said that it's about time someone in Los Angeles took on Pete Carroll. Right now, UCLA can't compete with USC. But Dufresne says in two or three years, this rivalry could be reignited.

Barry Zito poses for True Religion jeans.

Tony is fired up about Barry Zito's new career as a male model. Zito has been wildly inconsistent on the mound, but at least he's solid in front of the camera for True Religion jeans. I think he's sporting the Zoolander "Blue Steel" right there.

Do you think Zito should do this when he's not performing up to his contract for the Giants? Or is he just a joker?

Tony, of course, has a lot of experience with this. He's been criticized for spending energy on male modeling at the expense of radio. But when you got looks like that, what are you supposed to do?

John W. McDonough/SI Shawne Merriman will play despite ligament damage.

Jam-packed show as we get ready for Labor Day weekend. The NFL season is quickly approaching. SI's Jim Trotter stops by to talk about Shawne Merriman's decision to play this year despite extensive ligament damage. Trotter covered the Chargers for years and knows Merriman well, so he should have some interesting insights. Also, Trotter will explain why the NFL is reinstating Adam Jones and update us on the latest headlines around the league.

The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice will join the show to talk about instant replay. Will it stop at just home runs? Justice is great on state of baseball issues and should have a brilliant perspective.

And the Los Angeles Times' Chris Dufresne is in the house to preview opening weekend for college football. It looks like USC has a quarterback. Can UCLA say the the same thing?

But most importantly, your MC today is not Mr. Dan Patrick, but it's the great Tony Bruno. Dan's on a plane headed out to LA to catch the Tennessee-UCLA game on Monday. But you know Bruno will stir it up today. So let's get going.

AP Michael Phelps hasn't worked out since Beijing.

Michael Phelps sounded pretty psyched about life. He says he hasn't worked out once since winning his eighth gold medal. I wonder if he's still consuming 12,000 calories a day?

Phelps said he plans to pick up some more events moving forward. He said he'll try a backstroke event and probably the 100m free. But he wouldn't get too specific about his exact plans. Sounds like he's taking a break and then will refocus for the World Championships next year.

Dan asked him what he listens to most on that infamous iPod, and Phelps said Lil' Wayne, who will also be on Saturday Night Live with Phelps next month.

AP Roger Goodell wants to expand the regulars season.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is ready to move forward on expanding the regular season for 2010. And he wants to contract the preseason. Goodell says he understands that fans aren't happy about paying full price for preseason games. With the current offseason workout schedule teams use, there's no need for four preseason games.

Some interesting questions come out of this. If the NFL expands to 17 games, who gets the extra home game? Or does it go overseas?

The 1972 Dolphins and Emmitt Smith are ecstatic. Now, no one will be able to go undefeated. And Smith can say he's the rushing king for backs who played 16 games.

I'm a huge NFL fan and am excited about this. I guess you could say this will water down the product, like the long MLB and NBA season does. But when the NFL season is over, I'm usually pretty depressed.

AP Mike Krzyzewski says he won't return to coach the Olympic team.

Mike Krzyzewski sounded pretty laid back with Dan today. He said as great as winning the gold was, he's ready to move on. Coach K said he'd thought about this team every day for the last three years and he can't go through that again.

Of course Coach K had nice things to say about Kobe Bryant. But he dispelled the thought that Kobe almost came to Duke. He said that Kobe was very unlikely to play college ball instead of go to the NBA.

One interesting note, Krzyzewski said the Dream Team could beat the Redeem Team. So much for loyalty.

And Coach K was not afraid to give Dan a hard time when they got into who was a better player. Krzyzewski said he was a key part of Bobby Knight's Army team and that Dan never could have handled that. Dan didn't disagree.

One more note, Dan mentioned he wanted to take it to Steve Wojciechowski, because it annoys him when Wojo used to hit the floor with his hands. Coach K said he was actually afraid of Wojo, so he never would have made his point guard stop doing that. 

AP Photo     Tiger Woods said he hasn't picked up a club yet and is still moving slowly.

We picked up some interesting tidbits from the Tiger interview. Here are some of the highlights ...

1. Tiger's been cleared to putt, but hasn't gone out there yet. He fully admits Dan could take him right now. But months from now, when Dan says that Tiger said on air that DP was the better player, keep in mind Tiger was hurt at that time.

2. Remember the rumor that Tiger was going to sit down with the leg injury at the U.S. Open if he wasn't in contention. Tiger dispelled that. He said absolutely not. He was going to stay on the course at Torrey Pines one way or the other.

3. Dan asked him his best win ever. Tiger didn't hesitate -- the 2008 U.S. Open.

4. Tiger doesn't know when he will come back. He said it's up to both him and the doctor.

5. Tiger was really impressed with Michael Phelps. Especially his consistency. The two have a lot in common.

6. He's really into being a father right now. He said that his daughter is currently running faster than him. Tiger says it's nice to have this opportunity to be with his daughter, because usually he's on the road. He's not sure when he'll get this chance again.

7. Dan asked Tiger who the best player in the world right now. He said Phil Mickelson and Paidrag Harrington. Dan seemed surprised by Mickelson, but Tiger pointed out he's been doing it for so long.


8. He's into the Yankees, but the Dodgers are really his team. He's in a bad mood about the whole topic of baseball.