Good vote

And I stand corrected. But I can't believe Case Keenum wasn't in the top eight! Er, maybe I can.

Toby's lament

Heisman Trophy voters will make the cowardly choice today and give Colt McCoy of Texas this year's award. Last year, this space shared the view that BCS outsiders have no shot at the Heisman. This year, the mold has been broken a bit, with five finalists and one a defensive player (a defensive lineman from Nebraska). But it's likely that in a Gino Torretta-like choice, voters will mechanically hand the Heisman to McCoy--the most well-known player on one of the two big-name unbeaten teams (Alabama is the other).

What has McCoy done to distinguish himself? Very little except that he was on most writers' preseason lists of candidates. They have the incentive of showing they were right back in August. The predictions, though, are silly. Even in September, papers print a "Heisman Watch," that is all based on projections. So someone like Toby Gerhart, the Stanford running back who came out of nowhere, really doesn't have a shot. And doubly so since he's playing on the West Coast.

McCoy's numbers don't stack up with Gerhart or Case Keenum of Houston. Further, he nearly choked in the travesty known as the Big 12 Championship, with a tepid victory over Nebraska. (The Big 12 stunk this year, by the way.)

Case Keenum 43 TD 9 INT 5,449 Yards

Toby Gerhart 26 TD 1,736 Yards

Colt McCoy 27 TD 12 INT 3,512 Yards

It's not even close. Sadly, Keenum wasn't even invited to New York for today, yielding to higher profile schools and individuals like Tim "Don't call me Jason White" Tebow. Gerhart had the best season, astonishing numbers against a solid Pac 10. The only hope is that someone like Mark Ingram, the Bama back who ran over Florida in the other travesty known as the SEC Championship, will actually eke out the trophy over McCoy. And don't even get me started on the BCS Mess this year.

Sewing machinations

This season of "Project Runway" has been uneven at best. Michael Kors has been missing for long periods of time. We haven't seen Nina Garcia in weeks, and I'm still thrown off by her jump from Elle to Marie Claire. The judging has been dreadful: terrible outfits are rated brilliant; amazing outfits are dismissed as ugly.

The past two weeks have been the worst. First, Ra'mon was bounced in favor of the bland Louise. Then this week devolved even further. In his sewing room rounds, Tim Gunn mostly praised the work of the duo of Epperson and Christopher. Nothing signaled that they were in trouble, in fact you could tell Christopher was proud that Tim had complimented their work.

When it came time to judge, though, the duo's work was harshly criticized. Soon, Christopher found himself standing next to Louise as the final two. Unbelievable. Christopher survived at least.

The switch to Lifetime, unless I'm missing something, hasn't made a big difference. In fact, the additional half-hour models show is kind of interesting. And the designers may be the best the show has ever had. Let's hope someone truly deserving emerges as the winner.

Steppe team

The first week of the Tour has been as odd as one might expect given that Lance Armstrong is back and riding for a team of renegades sponsored by a place mostly known for its proximity to the steppe. When Armstrong was just a great story, in the early 2000s, and people like Rick Reilly weren't covering the Tour, there was a delight in following the race quietly on summer mornings. Now, like when your favorite local band goes big time, the Tour is splashed everywhere because of Armstrong's fame. And sadly, the doping-riddled Tours of the past three years are overlooked.

Armstrong, whose brushes with doping strain the credulity of his proclaimed innocence, now rides for the Cobra Kai-like Team Astana, which is sponsored by a state-run company in Borat-land. Alberto Contador, Bobby to Lance Armstrong's Johnny, also has had brushes with doping allegations. As has Andreas Kloeden, the big German who is probably third-best on the team.

Johnny and Bobby went at each other pretty hard this week, which was an unusually eventful first week of the Tour. Armstrong broke away on a relatively flat stage, gained a lot of time on Contador and nearly wound up in the yellow jersey. Contador, the pre-race favorite, wasn't pleased afterward. Then Contador went rogue the other day on a mountain stage and surged past Armstrong, leaving the Texan fuming. It's hard to know what really is going on within the team when Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's old buddy from the Postal Service team, is director. It should make for good theater the rest of the way. Let's hope another doping scandal doesn't derail things.

Sprocket dance

Seeing Lance Armstrong in a Team Astana uniform is like seeing Daniel LaRusso joining the Cobra Kai. Team Astana, owned by government-run entities in Borat's homeland of Kazakhstan, was booted from the 2007 Tour for doping . In the circus-like world of cycling, Lance Armstrong joining a team once laden with dopers hardly merits as news. Astana now includes a Star Wars cantina-like cast of characters--Alberto Contador, the young superstar, Andreas Kloeden, the Austrian who used to wear white-rimmed shades while riding, and Levi Leipheimer, the bald American with a funny name. Though Astana can hardly pay its riders the squad is considered the favorite in the Tour, which started today in Monaco. Adding to the madness is that doper Alexandre Vinokourov is hoping to return to Astana (the team, not the capital) in time for this year's Vuelta a Espana.

I've decided to root for Christian Vande Velde, another American rider with a European name, who gets written up in Chicago papers a lot because he's from Lemont, Ill. Vande Velde's team, Garmin-Slipstream, has stringent doping controls and was formed as a response to the scandals of the past couple years. I also will enjoy the commentary on Versus by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. In these crazy cycling times, they're about the only two people we can count on.

Funky songs

One of the things I like about the Beastie Boys is the names of their songs. Here is the track listing for the upcoming "Hot Sauce Committee, Part I," due in September.

1. Tadlock's Glasses 2. B-Boys In The Cut 3. Make Some Noise 4. Nonstop Disco Powerpack 5. OK 6. Too Many Rappers (featuring NAS) 7. Say It 8. The Bill Harper Collection 9. Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (featuring Santigold) 10. Long Burn The Fire 11. Bundt Cake 12. Funky Donkey 13. Lee Majors Come Again 14. Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament 15. Pop Your Balloon 16. Crazy Ass Shit 17. Here's A Little Something For Ya

I love any band with a song called "Bundt Cake." And I wonder if "Funky Donkey" is a sequel to "Funky Boss." As an aside, young donkeys are perhaps my favorite baby animal.

Charter member

A few weeks back I posted an ode to the re-discovery of an old musical favorite. I have a variation on the same theme to report today: the beauty of discovering a great band live and in-person.

More than a week ago, I had a chance to see Nine Inch Nails at Charter One Pavilion. It was a chilly evening, but really rather perfect for a spring concert (more on the venue later). I heard an usher say something about "Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine" and didn't think much of it. The opener for NIN came on stage (Jane's Addiction had opened some shows on this tour but not this one) and I didn't really pay attention. Then the distinctive sound of a funk-metal guitar reached my ears. It was none other than Chicago native Tom Morello. The name of the band was Street Sweeper Social Club, and they had a sound that harkened back to the late 1990s heyday of rap-rock. Morello apparently has taken the project on in addition to his work as The Nightwatchman and with Rage. The vocalist is Boots Riley of Bay Area rhyme collective The Coup and drummer is Stanton Moore of Galactic. Even better, a portion of the band's proceeds fight hunger and homelessness! Check out a clip here; I highly recommend "100 Little Curses."

Not to be overlooked was the fact that this is (allegedly) Nails' last tour. To Clevelander Trent Reznor's credit, he and the group still bring it strong. Their stage show and sound system are top-notch. This show, in contrast to last summer's Lollapalooza appearance, included a long, meandering midsection with a number of moody, quiet numbers. Still, Reznor ripped through classics like "Heresy" and "Head Like a Hole," which closed the show.

Charter One Pavilion is quite the venue. I was skeptical of it at first, but there aren't many outdoor music locations in a big city like this--right next to a beach and within view of downtown. Boaters actually anchor just off-shore and listen to the shows echo across the water.