Weekend Gift Basket

Here are some things that made me laugh or smile today.

The Elite 11 Final Roster has been announced and Connor Brewer (who recently spoke to a Cosmnaut) is on the list. Apparently the event will soon be re-titled The Tremendous Twenty-Four.

ESPN RISE’s Elite 11 is the nation’s premier quarterback competition for prep athletes. The competition is a five-day event in Southern California that brings together the top high school quarterbacks and focuses on improving their play on and off the field.

Call me crazy but if you are the QB at Texas, I suspect your play off the field starts with a leg up.

Notable Elite 11 alumni include Vince Young, Matt Leinart, JaMarcus Russell, Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford, Troy Smith and Tim Tebow.

Speaking of Tim Tebow, this story had some interesting things in it.

As a college star, he was known for writing bible verses on his game day eye-black, the grease football players wear under their eyes to reduce glare. One of his favorites was Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (He wrote Phil under one eye and 4:13 under the other.) Once before a tough game, against the wishes of his coach, he changed the verse to John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Guess what? They won the game.

His coach was elated. After the game he came over to Tebow. "Atta boy, Great job," he said. You finished. I love you."

"As great as that was, " writes Tebow," how much greater will it feel when we get to heaven and Jesus takes off His headset, opens up His arms, gives us a big hug, and says, ‘Atta boy, Great job. You finished. I love you."

Really? Did this really happen? I'm not trying to be snarky, or no more than usual, but this sounds ludicrous. We've dispatched Gary Danielson to get to the bottom of it.

Thanks LBS for the head's up.

Dan Beebe has commissioned Callisthenes a Big 12 Staff Writer to recount the history of the Big 12.

You can read Act 1 here.

Talking points were plentiful, positive and the least of Dan Beebe's concerns. As calendars prepared to flip from 2009 to 2010, the Big 12 Conference and its commissioner had their competitive ducks in a row.

But then...

...below the surface of this success, there were fissures that threatened to blow with volcanic force. Ironically, the forces that brought together the 12 schools that created the Big 12 in February 1994 were nearly identical to what nearly ripped the Conference apart in the summer of 2010.

Lots of discussion of wounds never healing and Tom Osborne's crotch gravel.

"From the very first day I met [Nebraska athletic director] Tom Osborne, he had concerns about the way the conference came together," said Beebe, who joined the Big 12 office in 2003 and became commissioner in September of 2007. "What Tom represented was a lot of angst about the Big 12, its formation and the things Nebraska was no longer able to do that they had done previously. … Even though that was 13, 14 years earlier, it still was obviously in his craw."

Lucky for Nebraska teams like Iowa have really rolled out the welcome wagon for them.

Anyway, give the Deeds Of Beebe a look and look for the next acts.

Lastly, Willie. F'ing. Lyles.

Man, this guy is all over my mediascape.

The Yahooligans "broke" the story and then wondered whether Willie was a villain or a victim.

Good lord, what a freaking joke and mess. But my favorite part is Jason Whitlock, former ally of Willie's, apparently no longer feels Will deserves his expansive protection.

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And apparently, we're not finished:

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Have a great and safe Fourth of July, Carnival-goers.