FanHouse Florida

What a terrible way to start the season. Or to end it. Or to happen at all. Period.

WPBF in northern Florida reported that a 73-year-old man died over the weekend when he tried to remove a loaded muzzleloader rifle from his truck. The gun accidentally discharged, hitting Johnny G. Hurst in the chest. He was pronounced dead on the scene. And what makes it even worse is that his wife and two sons witnessed the accident.

Hunting, as a sport, has to deal with a lot of public relations issues, probably more than any other recreation. For instance we all hear from the bunny huggers that try to shame and guilt us for "slaying bambi." But that stuff is trivial compared to safety issues. No doubt the worst thing to happen in our community is when someone is killed.

So, I'm going to have to be a nagging teacher. A few reminders from the hunter safety handbook are after the jump. Study up. We all have a responsibility to be safe in the woods.

Your official The Dugout Guide to This Year in the National League East:

• The Mets will win a lot of games.
• The Phillies will win a lot of games.
• The friggin Florida Marlins will win the division with nothing but Luis Gonzalez and a big snapping trading card binder with pictures of actual professional baseball players in it.

Yesterday's Spring Dugz (sprung dugz) dealt with character growth and the development of personality that comes with time. Today's Spring Dugz (springing dugz) is the exact opposite of that, because until Jeffrey Loria turns into a winged monster and breaks the bonds of his life the Marlins are pretty much boned. But boned in a good way, where they win World Series championships.

After the jump, the long road out of Eden.

Yep.

Heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the tenth and final race of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, things in the Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson Show changed dramatically since last week's edition. Gordon now trails Johnson by 86 points in the standings. Here's a breakdown of their stats at Homestead and the possibilities that loom within the last Chase race of the season.

Homestead Stats: Neither Gordon nor Johnson have a win at Homestead, a track that has seen a myriad of layout changes since it first came on the Nextel Cup tour. Johnson has the best career finish with a 2nd-place in 2004. Gordon's best finish also came in 2004 with a 3rd-place.

A year ago, Gordon finished 24th while Johnson finished ninth to wrap up his first title. A 40th-place finish in 2005 left Johnson with an average finish at HMS of 14.5 while Gordon has average 11.4.

Chase Stats: Phoenix stuck a fork in Jeff Gordon's title hopes after Johnson won his fourth-straight to Gordon's 10th-place finish. The 86-point deficit will be nearly impossible to overcome unless Johnson has serious trouble in the race. If Johnson finishes 18th or better, he automatically looks up the title, even if Gordon leads every lap and wins the race.

In doomsday scenarios for Johnson, if he finishes 40th or worse, Gordon could take the title with a 10th place finish or better. A 43rd-place finish for Johnson would mean Gordon would have to finish 14th or better.

I wouldn't put too much stock in those possibilities this year knowing that he has only failed to finish a race four times. Johnson should have his second NASCAR Nextel Cup title in hand come Sunday evening.

CONFIRMED: Roush-Fenway Racing officially announced Thursday morning that Robbie Reiser would assume role of General Manager at Roush-Fenway after the conclusion of Sunday's Ford 400.

Read the full release here.

ORIGINAL: Matt Kenseth might not be hearing Robbie Reiser's voice in his ear anymore after Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, according to ESPN.com's David Newton:

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Robbie Reiser, who has been Matt Kenseth's crew chief since they entered NASCAR's premier series in 2000 and long before that in the Busch Series, will become the general manager at Roush Fenway Racing.

He will replace Max Jones, who will move into the GM role at Robert Yates Racing. RYR and Roush recently formed an alliance that basically will allow them to work as a seven-car operation without violating NASCAR's four-car cap.

If indeed it happens, this will be the first time in Kenseth's NASCAR career that Reiser wasn't calling the shots for him. Together, Kenseth and Reiser have landed one Cup championship in 2003 and 15 race wins since Kenseth ran his first full season in 2000.

Interesting Tim Cowlishaw column today about the issue of going pro. We hear all the time that kids have to strike when the iron is hot, lest they get injured or their stock drop. And while that Shaun Livingston gore-fest is still fresh in everyone's mind, it's the latter one that's the bigger concern.

The conventional wisdom is that Joakim Noah hurt his draft prospects this year, and cost himself major cash by not coming out after last year. Cowlishaw, though, begs to differ, claiming that "private workouts would have identified the flaws in Noah's game." This is wishful thinking; every summer, we see flaws glossed over as "room for improvement."

Cowlishaw's better point is that, all in all, draft position doesn't matter all that much. Based on current mocks, Noah seems to have cost himself "a little more than $2 million over four years":

The fifth pick last year – Atlanta's Shelden Williams of Duke – will make about $11.4 million over his first four years. The 10th pick in this year's draft will make about $9.1 million for four years.

In the NBA, players earn their big money after that first contract. That's when they have proven their value at the elite level and get those first maximum contracts.

Obviously, not all lottery picks end up being elite players, and some don't even stick in the league. But his basic premise--that draft picks should probably have a whole career of money making ahead of them--just isn't acknowledged enough. If Noah is a total bust, well, that couple million might have come in handy. Generally, though, a tall guy with energy will almost always be able to grab a contract somewhere with someone. And this tall guy will also be able to say he won back-to-back NCAA championships.

Someone alert Les Miles so he can drop an f-bomb: LSU recruit Terrance Toliver, a Texan who is one of the top wide receivers in the country, was apparently the subject of frequent negative recruiting from the Florida Gators:

"Every time (Florida recruiters) came, they just said LSU doesn't qualify their players," Toliver told FOX 26's Mark Berman Wednesday. "About (how) their academics are not all that. It kind of had me confused."

Eventually a bewildered Toliver asked his football coach Rick Sargent and Hempstead instructional coordinator Tina Johnson to go to Baton Rouge to find out the truth about LSU. The two went last weekend. "They went and checked (LSU'S) academics out and their facilities," Toliver said. "They just came back and told me whatever Florida was saying about the academics wasn't true."

I'm shocked, shocked that there's negative recruiting going on in the SEC, but what is interesting is that recruits are becoming more open about it. The Toliver accusations were preceded by a Washington Post article on Illinois recruit Arrelious Benn, who received a series of insulting text messages from then Notre Dame QB coach Peter Vaas:

"FYI, ILL is telling Robert Hughes that they will build their offense around him? Didn't they tell you that? Coach Vaas," Vaas wrote Benn on Dec. 17.

Earlier that month, Vaas left this voice message on Benn's phone: "You don't want to do anything except bury your head in the sand. . . . I guess you're not tough enough to compete at the big level."

...against all the service academies instead of, you know, Michigan and Ohio State.

Moral of the story: be prepared to have kids rat you out if you're a poopyhead.

Per the request of our fine editors at AOL corporate, us NCAA Football types at the FanHouse were asked to list 2007 "impact recruits". Seeing as how National Letter of Intent Day (aka Signing Day) is tomorrow, this request is timely.

What defines impact? A John Madden-like BOOM ? Nahhh.

The instructions from our bosses are intentionally vague which I like. So what follows are the first five of ten impact recruits. My main criteria is to name players people will be talking about. So while some recruits may be better or more interesting, these are ten guys who will get noticed.

• John Chiles, Athlete (Texas) - Chiles played quarterback, running back ... pretty much everything in high school. He's fast, has ball skills and makes plays. Colt McCoy probably has the quarterback position locked down for a few years so look for the Texas staff to creatively find ways to get the ball in his hands. Video.

• Chris Galippo, Linebacker (USC) - Galippo was last seen making somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 tackles at the US Army High School All America game in January. He's already college size (6'-3"/235 pounds) with speed and the ability to play inside, outside or even defensive end. Oozes leadership as he doggedly helped recruit several future teammates. Video.

• Ryan Miller, Offensive Tackle (Colorado) - Had offers from literally everyone of significance, but chose the hometown Buffaloes. Should be able to make an Andre Smith-like impact on an otherwise modestly talented Colorado line.

• Terrance Toliver, Wide Receiver (LSU or Florida) - Toliver is expected to be the next great "big and athletic" receiver in the mold of Dwayne Jarrett and Charles Rogers. Runs fast, has a big body, can make plays in the air, he can do a lot of things and should have a fantastic college career. Video.

• Willy Korn, Quarterback (Clemson) - Korn saw his stock drop a bit over the course of the fall but he's got a chance to start next year for Clemson. Korn can scramble as well as throw the ball. With Clemson's tremendous backfield his burden will be lightened. Could be leading one of the country's best offenses from the word go. People will definitely be talking about him if he wins the job and plays well early. Video.

Coming up: Impact National Recruits Part II