I’m excited, as usual, about the college football season kicking off this week. I don’t know what games are scheduled this first week, but I do know Tennessee-California are playing Saturday so I look forward to kicking off the season with a good game (hopefully better than their game last year, which was over pretty quickly.)

As for the Arkansas Razorbacks, I think they should have another solid year. After 10 wins last year, I think they’re in position to approach that again. I believe they will win all of their home games, with Auburn the most likely to steal a win at Fayetteville. Road games of note are LSU, Tennessee and Alabama. I don’t see them winning in Baton Rouge for a number of reasons, but primarily because LSU will be the better team. Tennesee will also be tough, as the Vols were embarrassed in the first half at Fayetteville last year. Plus, it’s hard for the Hogs to win in Knoxville - which they’ve only done once since joining the SEC, I believe, and that was their first visit in 1992.

As for Alabama, I keep hearing media-type folks say that, despite having their new and much heralded coach, that this team still has a lot of work to do. I have no idea how close to the truth that is, but no road game in the SEC has ever been easy for the Hogs. In their favor, Arkansas has been quite successful in Tuscaloosa since joining the SEC - I believe they are 3-4 at Bryant-Denny. However, this being the first SEC game for Alabama with Satan Saban on the sideline, I have to think they’ll be at their best (whatever that may be.)

So, in the end, I think Arkansas will lose all three of those road games (Alabama, Tennessee, LSU), but Alabama might be their best shot at a win. I think they will win at Ole Miss. Auburn and South Carolina should be a test at home, but I’m going to go with wins in those games as well. That would put them at 9-3, which would be another great year for the Hogs. That’s probably optimistic, but - and this is key - if everyone can stay healthy and out of prison, they should be in position to get 9 wins.

Despite the beginning of the college football season, I won’t get into full-on football mode for another two weeks, because today my favorite tennis grand slam, the U.S. Open, begins in New York. Obviously, Roger Federer has ruled the tennis world when it comes to men’s tennis. He is attempting his fourth straight U.S. Open title, coming off of his fifth straight Wimbledon. However, I’m predicting that Federer will not win the Open this year.

Rafael Nadal has clearly closed the gap. The three-time French champion played well against Federer at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2006, and looked as though he might end Federer’s Wimbledon streak this year with a fantastic match, before falling short in the fifth set. But, Nadal is also not my pick to win.

Andy Roddick’s lone grand slam title came in New York four years ago, but he continues to play inconsistently at times, and can’t seem to get over the Federer hurdle, either. Roddick has the skills to win it all, but I just have no faith in him.

I’m going with Novak Djokovic, who has impressed me every time I’ve seen him play this year (which, granted, is only a handful of times.) He’s played some great tennis, and I believe the U.S. Open may be his coming out party, his first grand slam title. I also admit that I’m leaning towards him because I’d like to see someone besides Federer or Nadal win. I like both Federer and Nadal, and am becoming more and more of a Nadal fan each with each grand slam. But, I’ve also enjoyed Djokovic’s play and demeanor, and I want to see him win this time around. So, he’s my pick.

Like the Hogs record, that may be a bit optimistic, but regardless, I look forward to another great U.S. Open, which always provides a lot of great tennis and great moments. Plus, I love the fact that it’s on in the evening - unlike other grand slams - so I’ll get to watch a lot of it, and probably get less sleep than I need over the coming two weeks since matches often run late into the evening.

Speaking of tennis, I’m about to start reading James Blake’s book, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life. The book chronicles Blake’s upbringing and tennis career, including his net-post collision a few years ago that fractured a neck vertebrae, his bout with shingles, and his return to tennis in 2004. I’ve always liked Blake and look forward to reading his story.

I also just finished Don Yeager’s book It’s Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case and the Lives It Shattered. I enjoyed this and may post more about some of it later (suffice to say now that Mike Nifong is even a bigger <deleted> than I realized.) It’s really an amazing story. Much of it was played out in the press, but there’s even more to it and it’s an absolute tragedy that this went beyond the first few weeks. I was reminded often of the West Memphis Three case (see Mara Leveritt’s Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.)

Fortunately, unlike the WM3 case, the truth eventually was made known, charges were dropped and the accused were declared innocent. Hopefully, the same will some day happen for the WM3.