There’s No Limit on Recruiters’ New Angle

The NCAA has limits on how many phone calls college representatives can place to prospective student-athletes. So, naturally, recruiters have found a loophole: text messaging.

Duke Crews, a senior forward from Hampton, Va., told ESPN the Magazine that he received about 30 “Think Wake” messages before changing his number.

Brandan Wright, a forward from Nashville, worried about keeping his messages straight after signing up for an unlimited plan.

“I never let them stack up,” Wright told the magazine. “You might reply the wrong thing to the wrong school. Then you’d be all messed up.”

Trivia time: When was the last time UCLA’s football team was ranked No. 1 by Associated Press?

Lesson learned? Randy Moss should be thankful that his recent acknowledgment of marijuana use didn’t land him in front of the judge who sent him to jail in 1996 for a parole violation.

Kanawha County (W.Va.) Circuit Judge Charles King, who sent Moss to jail after Moss admitted smoking marijuana while on probation for a misdemeanor battery charge, could bring himself to read only the first few paragraphs of an account of Moss’ interview with HBO before putting the newspaper down in disgust.

“His antics don’t interest me,” King told Associated Press. “I read enough to gather what he did.”

Weighty issue: Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times wants the NFL to confront its drug problem at a time when offensive linemen feel pressured to report to camp weighing at least 300 pounds.

“This is the 20th anniversary of the Super Bowl Bears, and you might remember that we celebrated William Perry for his unbelievable weight,” Couch wrote. “Now he wouldn’t even be considered big. Playing today at that weight, his nickname wouldn’t be the Fridge, but maybe Junior.

“I have no proof that steroid use is rampant in the NFL. I can’t name names. But I have eyes. Some things you just know. Is it irresponsible to say this? It’s irresponsible not to.”

Chop talk: Members of Atlanta’s 1995 World Series championship team gathered Friday for a reunion to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the city’s only major professional sports title.

Among those in attendance were Brave ace John Smoltz and former players David Justice, Steve Avery and Jeff Blauser.

Looking back: On this day in 1952, Bob Elliott of the New York Giants was ejected against the St. Louis Cardinals for protesting a strike-two call. His replacement, Bobby Hoffman, was thrown out for arguing the third strike in the same at-bat.

Trivia answer: UCLA was ranked No. 1 for two weeks in October 1988 before losing to unranked Washington State, 34-30, on Oct. 29 at the Rose Bowl.

And finally: Reader Janice Hough notes that “The Aristocrats,” a new movie in which comedians take turns telling a dirty joke, is getting great reviews. But she found some parts disgusting -- such as when one guy goes so far as to recap the Dodgers’ season.