"What would I do with my parking spot?"

Chuck Culpepper relays a classic Dan Jenkins story courtesy of daughter Sally:

In the course of an unconquerable endorsement of Texas Christian for the No. 1 ranking in college football -- its collective victims have won more games than any of the other unbeaten teams' collective victims -- Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post offered full disclosure.

While extolling her hometown of Fort Worth for its "superior Railroad barbecue and the transcendent cheese enchiladas at the Paris Coffee Shop," Jenkins confessed that her parents, who include the great sportswriter Dan Jenkins, "are both TCU alums, and such devoted fans that they have a monogrammed parking space at Amon Carter Stadium right next to the ex-chancellor's.

"They once bought a house because it had a stunning view of the stadium from the back porch. 'Gee, this is nice,' I said, shading my eyes against the sodium glare of the lights. 'You can walk to games.'

" 'No, I can't,' my father said. 'What would I do with my parking spot?' "

“Intent doesn’t factor in for a couple of reasons"

I can tell how passionate you all are about this Doug Barron drug testing story since no one passed along Rex Hoggard's story highlighting the tour's response after some of us called them out for not responding to Barron's claims. (Isn't it special how they chose Golf Channel and GolfChannel.com as their outlet of choice.)

Rich Young, the tour's attorney made what seems like a fair point:

“Intent doesn’t factor in for a couple of reasons,” Young said. “It would be very hard to prove what’s in somebody’s head and why they used a banned substance. Secondly, the rules are clear on this. They know what they are allowed to use. Doug clearly used testosterone even though he knew he wasn’t allowed to.”

Young also addressed concerns the Tour’s punishment of Barron, who played just one Tour event in 2009 and has not made enough in the last three seasons to cover the potential $500,000 fine for his violation, was too harsh when compared to other sports like baseball, which suspended Los Angeles slugger Manny Ramirez for a blatant doping violation for 50 games this season, or one-third of a season.

“When he was told he couldn’t do (testosterone, although Young concedes Barron’s use of beta blockers is a more “complicated” issue), he may not have liked the decision, but for him to ignore the decision is a flat out intent to violate the rules,” he said. “He may not have done it to become Barry Bonds, but he was told what the rules were and chose to break them.”

"The interim commissioner, Marsha Evans, logged about 45,000 air miles to clean up after Bivens and salvage next season."

Thanks to reader Rick for Karen Crouse's look at the hardship the new LPGA schedule inflicts on players down the money list, focusing on Reilly Rankin.

I couldn't help but notice this little jab:

The L.P.G.A. is a model of diversity and inclusion that has been at the forefront of globalization. And yet it is wobblier than it has been since its infancy in the early 1950s. In July, a player revolt led to the resignation of the commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, who had secured only nine contracts for 2010 events.

The interim commissioner, Marsha Evans, logged about 45,000 air miles to clean up after Bivens and salvage next season. Michael Whan was named the eighth commissioner in the organization’s 59-year history in October and will officially take the reins in January.

“I think that we should be commending Marty for making a difference in getting some relationships back on track,” Lorie Kane, a tour veteran, said of Evans.