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There's a column in here somewhere, and we'll soon explore the topic more in-depth, but did you see these two stories?

Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports absolutely crushed it with this explanatory piece about how NFL teams are doing due diligence on prospects. Show them an attractive woman's profile, get on to their Facebook page and then sift through all the friends, pictures and comments:

"It works like magic," said a personnel source that was familiar with his team's tactic of using counterfeit profiles to link to Facebook and Myspace pages of potential draft picks. The source directed Yahoo! Sports to one of the team's "ghost profiles" - a term he coined because "once the draft is over, they disappear. It's like they were never there."

Elsewhere in cyberspace, John Calipari's daughter Megan changed the status update on her Facebook page and broke a major college basketball story in the process. Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com details the scoop:

JOSH PASTNER IS THE NEW COACH AT MEMPHIS!! YAY!!

Chances are you won't be drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs this month, or be named the head coach of a Conference USA program anytime soon, but these types of stories raise a whole new set of issues for students, reporters, employers and anyone who has a Facebook account.

What's your reaction?

The Bears finished 1-3 in the preseason - barely, following a 16-10 win over winless Cleveland on Thursday -- and have a host of problems to beset that record.

Can anyone really say the preseason won't foreshadow the regular season?

I'm tired of hearing the preseason doesn't count and detailed why in The Sun, but I'm open to edgy refuting. Spill.

Bears head coach -- and now fashion model -- Lovie Smith graces the pages of GQ next month. The magazine claims there's 73 reasons to think we're living in a new golden age of football, and Smith's part of reason No. 12 -- "style is (finally) returning to the sidelines."

Pictured in between, but much larger than, Chiefs coach Herm Edwards and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Smith gets credit for wearing "some coachy stuff (the Bears down jacket, the knit cap), but the difference is, it fits him."

Some other classic lines in the write-up:

"Marvin Lewis doesn't look like he sleeps on the training table at night, living off Ritz Bits and Muscle Milk...Mike Tomlin wears Versace shades -- and looks good in a suit, not like a teenager making his first court appearance (see Bill Belichick)...Marvin Lewis and Tony Dungy and Herm Edwards, who wear clothes that not only are clean and ironed but appear to have been picked out with the lights on."

Drop a few of your own personal coach blasts or pats on the back here -- now.

Right now is a good time to be young, rich and part of the Cubs. In this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, Luke Winn has a detailed article on Jeff Samardzija and how he wound up on the North Side instead of the NFL.

Within that piece, comparisons are made between Lou Piniella's bullpen and the one he managed in Cincinnati - The Nasty Boys. For some historical perspective on Piniella and his legendary temper, check out veteran baseball writer Hal McCoy's excellent blog:

(Rob) Dibble was his closer and there was a situation for him to close. Dibble didn't close and when I asked Dibble why he said, "Go ask the manager."
So I did. And Lou said, "He told me before the game his arm was a bit sore and he wasn't available."
So I returned to Dibble and told him what Piniella said and Dibble screamed, "The manager is a liar."
So I trudged back into Lou's office and said, "Your closer just called you a liar."
Piniella flattened me against his office door and he sprinted to the clubhouse, jumped on Dibble and the fight was on.

Naperville Central graduate Owen Daniels is No. 9 on the Preseason Fantasy Rankings: Tight Ends on profootballtalk.com, putting the Houston Texans tight end in some exclusive company.

I don't understand much about fantasy football, but I know enough to know that a tight end's worth is based on offensive production, meaning catches, yards and touchdowns. So being called the ninth best tight end in the NFL for fantasy purposes isn't exactly the same as being called the ninth best tight end in the NFL.

Still, it's significant to be ranked in the top third at your position. Only the biggest of the big dogs are ranked higher. Jason Witten (Cowboys) is No. 1, followed by Antonio Gates (Chargers), Jeremy Shockey (Giants Saints), Kellen Winslow (Browns), Dallas Clark (Colts), Tony Gonzalez (Chiefs), Chris Cooley (Redskins) and Vernon Davis (49ers).

Tennessee Titans receiver Justin McCareins did not practice on Friday and won't play tonight against the St. Louis Rams.

The Naperville North graduate is out with a hamstring injury, but Titans coach Jeff Fisher said he expects McCareins will be back on Monday.

OK, so most people will be concentrating on how Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman do in their plays at quarterback tonight in the preseason opener.

But what about the wide receiver position? With the departures of Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad, the elevation of Devin Hester and the return of Marty Booker, who will begin to emerge as the top two threats?

So Brett Favre rejoins the Green Bay Packers today and reports are there will be an open competition for the starting QB job.

Did the Packers do the right thing or should they have figured out a way to keep Favre out of Green Bay?

Will they, should they still try to trade him to the Vikings or somebody else?

Who will start at QB for the Pack in the regular-season opener?

Because Naperville North alumnus Chris Brown has missed practice with back spasms, the Houston Texans auditioned four running backs on Thursday and signed former Bronco Mike Bell.

Brown has missed four days of practice and counting. He jogged on Thursday, but may not return until Monday. Until then, Mike Bell is taking the reps with Ahman Green, Chris Taylor, Darius Walker and rookie Steve Slaton.

"He looked a lot faster than everyone else to begin with but then he got tired," coach Gary Kubiak said. "So we've got to get him going. It was an easy call for us because he knows what we're doing. He could walk out here today and work. He's got some talent. There's an opportunity for him as we get Chris healthy, and we'll see how it goes."

Well, that headline takes a bit of liberty with this article posted at the AOL FanHouse on Tuesday. But the article did discuss how the running back position would shake out for the Houston Texans during training camp.

A few weeks ago, our own Brad Engel pondered the same topic and passed along what the Houston Chronicle had to say, which was that Ahman Green, Naperville North graduate Chris Brown and rookie Steve Slaton would be 1, 2 and 3 on the depth chart.

This is what AOL's Stephanie Stradley had to say about Brown and his chances for extended playing time this season with the Texans.

Chris Brown: Oft injured free agent running back, formerly of the Titans.

Cons: Oft injured free agent running back.

you -- the City of Naperville -- to get involved with the camp next year.

Naperville North alumnus Chris Brown, a running back for the Houston Texans, needed help to make the vision for this weekend's camp at Calvary Church in Naperville possible. He got it from the City of Aurora and elsewhere -- see other sponsors here Camp Brochure.pdf -- but not from his hometown.