Curnutte's Saturday morning notes during rookie minicamp.

There were five UC football players participating during camp.

Rudi Johnson stopped by a school last week to thank kids that donated money to The Rudi Johnson Foundation.

The Bengals are restocking their wide receiver corps.

Will Jordan Palmer win that coveted #3 quarterback job? It's between him and Jeff Rowe.

Mark Curnutte looks at previous Bengals drafts (actually 2005 and 2006).

There will be a lot expected out of Pat Sims.

The Bengals signed three that participated on a tryout basis. DT, Antwon Burton signed a one-year deal after playing 2006 and 2007 in Denver. LB Dan Howell and Clyde Logan signed two-year deals respectively as college free agents.

Dexter Jackson is giving away 10,000 books with Half Price Books to Children's Hospital.

Bengals newest safety, Corey Lynch, is married to the granddaughter of Reverend Billy Graham organizing team bible studies. Once Jon Kitna left Cincinnati, the Bengals had to deal with issues of character. It would seem that "void" has been filled.

The Bengals signed Clyde Logan, a receiver for Idaho State -- Marvin Lewis' old playground.

Perhaps Jason Shirley sees his chance with the Bengals as a second opportunity he should take advantage of.

Tyler Whaley is pretty pumped about being a Bengal -- his favorite NFL team. He has a long way to go, however.

Bengals Brigade thought the Bengals reached for Jerome Simpson. However, Mark Curnutte writes that the Pittsburgh Steelers had Simpson targeted seven slots later.

Why didn't the Bengals trade up to get Ellis? Chick Ludwig knows: "Too expensive. The Bengals would've had to give up their No. 1 and No. 3 picks, which turned out to be linebacker Keith Rivers and defensive tackle Pat Sims (Nos. 9 and 77 overall). Two is better than one."

Pat Sims is the youngest of 10 children. He was out of football 28 months ago when his sister died suddenly of a massive heart attack.

Wide Reciever Jerome Simpson was still on a cloud three days after being drafted.

The NFL Draft now starts at 3pm -- even though coverage began three months ago. We'll be here for the draft. Once things get rolling -- before 3pm, likely -- we'll post an open draft post and creating new posts for each draft pick. So the open draft, we'll just chat. Then with each pick, we'll praise, complain that pick. Sound good? Or would you rather have a single open forum and then we'll mess around with each pick in detail the following week. What works best for you guys?

Wanna play? With each major event, there's a customized drinking game. There's the Bleacher Report's game with the following rules.

I say we take the Bleacher Report's drinking game, maybe add some for our own, and then play. We'll be liquored up until Tuesday. Though, be careful. If you're drinking, make sure you spray down your front porch so Chris Henry doesn't accidentally come to your house thinking he's home. We claim no responsibility if wives observe and thoroughly beat down husbands for spraying the front porch in fear of the Chris Henry invasion.

I can't speak about the retarded "hair rule" that prompted a feature about T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Domata Peko's hair on Bengals.com. Really. We'll be firing the guns for draft coverage soon enough. Note: We're in the process of conducting the Sports Blog Nation mock draft and will need your help. The draft will be conducted here.

Today is one of the biggest days, if not the biggest, in Cincinnati sports every year. It's when parents let their kids out of school. It's when Cincinnati's economy stalls because people like you and I make up wild excuses to get out of work. There's a parade and rally.

At ten minutes past two, Aaron Harang will fire the first pitch of the season for the Cincinnati Reds. That said, this will be the last generic baseball post for the year. So there. That's our baseball fill.

Interesting insight on Bengals' strength and conditioning coach, Chip Morton.

Bengals could use a history lesson [Ludwig's blog]

Wide receiver draft prospect, Jerome Simpson, worked out for Bengals wide receiver coach Mike Sheppard. Didn't do so well.

Sam Wyche is running for Pickens County Council.

Was Mike Brown a visionary this whole time?

Dhani Jones is a weird cat, no doubt about that one. On Monday, Jones was in the VIP section of the CatHouse Loungerie when structural damage closed the joint. And no, despite the name, it's not like the CatHouse show seen on HBO.

When it was first announced that Dhani Jones would give Rugby a try, many just didn't understand. Several questioned why Jones would risk an injury that could either knock out 2008, or even his career. It's the same argument we hear and, in many cases, give ourselves. Why do something that risks your livelihood. I say to Jones, live it up.

Though his team lost 61-15.

One of my addictive hobbies is that when a movie comes on, I'll hit Internet Movie Database and scan the facts. It only takes a few minutes and there's always a little nugget go for a bar-trivia question or two. Like, did you know that Die Hard was originally supposed to be a Commando sequel? Did you know that O.J. Simpson was considered to for the role as Terminator? Did you know Al Pacino, James Caan and Burt Reynolds turned down the role for Han Solo. Can you imagine Han Solo being anyone other than Harrison Ford? Good god, I'm just happy it wasn't Burt Reynolds.

But what usually draws me are the comments, mostly internet tough guys that say nothing of the movie. Then you come across pages that are meant for an announced sequel. Read the comments. Most are similar to "why are they making another". I know, why do they really even care? My guess is that they are tired of the rehashed and non-original material coming out of Hollywood. But I doubt that's the reason. I can't imagine there's million's of fans disgusted as super-secret Hollywood investors/lobbyists. I suppose it's because they have an agenda of hating Hollywood. We all have agendas hidden underneath the layer of what's supposedly our truth. At the same time, movies that are coming out in the past two years, haven't been that bad. Especially the sequels that we tend to always rank against its original.

Checking the To Do list...

Why in the world would anyone be against a Lingerie Bowl League? Teams are forming with names like New York Euphoria, Miami Caliente (attn: Ocho Cinco), Atlanta Steam, Tampa Breeze, San Diego Seduction, Chicago Bliss, Dallas Desire, Las Vegas Sin (so original), Phoenix Scorch and Los Angeles Temptation.

Hummm... Cincinnati Queens? Most of you get that reference, but I'm sure there's a Steelers fan that just giggled somewhere.

Something that's even faster...

It's no secret that I'm a crazy NASCAR fan. Let me amend that. I'm a crazy television NASCAR fan. The events are fun, but each event I've gone to I've had to endure 90+ degree temperatures and beer boiling hotter than Satan's kegger. Each time I go, I develop some form of heat sickness. Granted, I'm drinking beer and not jabbing IV fluids into my arm. Then comes the issue of seating. You sit, a lot. Not only do you sit in the parking lot drinking beer, eating dogs and burgers, but then you sit on benches for a race that's three hours -- and that's only a 300-mile race. You might get lucky to get a game cornhole in. Especially the board with Palmer's John Morrell promotion and the hole being where his mouth is. A Steelers fan giggled somewhere.

When you generalize a football player, specifically an NFL linebacker, you think of Alvin Mack saying in the huddle, let's "open up a can of kick ass and kill 'em all, let the paramedics sort 'em out". Or saying hit "the tight end so hard his girlfriend dies" while reviewing his responsibilities for the next opponent. Linebackers are the guys with a bad attitude that defines a football player.

Then you have a guy like Dhani Jones who listens to classical music, travels the world learning cultures and rides his bike into work because he's concerned about global warming. Dude doesn't worry about tomorrow, just enjoys today.

To say that Dhani Jones is the mold of a different character, would be a bigger understatement than saying Carson Palmer is modest.

Keeping things interesting, Jones is giving Rugby a whirl.

Some aren't so sure about the idea. Personally, I say go for it. First of all, he's not signed with the Bengals next year. It's just as likely that he'll be with another NFL team than it is with the Bengals. And since Dhani Jones hasn't showed overwhelming concern about money -- not even sure he's getting paid -- he's probably doing this for the experience. Live now, he says. Why not?

As a side note, check out Mark Curnutte's blog and the anonymous comments. Classy.

If you don't know, this is Kenny Irons.

I don't know anything. I don't know the history. I don't know the source. I don't know what to think. No, I don't know anything. In fact, after seeing this, I think I know a lot less. So, with that said.................

Trash Talk 85
My Favorite Chad Johnson Moments
Off-the-field conduct

Contract Status
Off Season Movement by 2006 Bengals
David Pollack's injury
Time Warner vs. NFL Network