Back from the Stone Age

So, I went the latter half of last week without internet. For a junkie like me quitting cold turkey is tough. And, of course, in this era of breaking news immediately, I was burned.

I wrote my UConn spring camp preview at the beach on Wednesday detailing some of the big question marks this camp. On Friday it ran with a write-up about Dahna Deleston's move to linebacker. If I was anywhere close to being connected I would have heard about the move. But, I went old school, and of course it ran when all you diehards knew he was going back to safety. Thanks for the email and heads-up everyone (not).

Other thoughts living in the stone age -- found out about the Pudge Rodriguez trade in the newspaper of all things.

You don't know how bizarre that felt. No google alerts, no google news. Found out reading the McPaper, USA Today. Coming from a newspaper guy (this is hard to admit), I was shocked reading it in the dead-tree edition. It was unsettling. Epiphany time for Mr. Silver. My industry as we know it is dead. Gotta brush up on some HTML. That, or maybe refine my burger-flipping techniques in the back yard...

Will report back on Tuesday, next open practice. A thanks to Sherman Cain for pinch-hitting on Friday for the JI and scout.

Silver's Big East picks (no, I wasn't a part of the disastrous Big East poll).

1. WVU

2. USF

3. Rutgers

4. UConn

5. Cincinnati

6. Pittsburgh

7. Louisville

8. Syracuse

UConn doesn't get the good road schedule this year. That's a problem with the Big East with the 4-3 home-away splits. That's why I drop UConn to fourth. WVU is the class of the league and I can see UConn anywhere from 2-7 depending on health and a little bit of luck (how is that for volatility?).

FWIW, USF's Jim Leavitt would have put UConn second if he did the poll.

Silver's Preseason Top 25

1. Ohio St

2. Florida

3. Georgia

4. USC

5. Oklahoma

6. West Virginia

7. Clemson

8. Missouri

9. LSU

10. South Florida

11. Illinois

12. BYU

13. Auburn

14. Texas Tech

15. Wake Forest

16. Virginia Tech

17. Texas

18. Tennessee

19. Arizona St.

20. Wisconsin

21. Oregon

22. Kansas

23. North Carolina

24. Rutgers

25. Utah

Remarks: Wish I had a top 35. How do you differentiate before even practice starts?