Football list was fit for a King

The easiest way to get instant reader reaction -- other than typing the words “Kobe” and “Lakers” -- is to make a list about nearly anything.

Top-five NBA coaches. Five worst NHL trades. Best checkout line at the neighborhood Trader Joe’s.

Football guru Peter King of SI.com admitted he was trying to shake up a dull spell (hey, we don’t like Mondays, either) by ranking the 32 NFL quarterbacks that he thought would start for their teams on opening day.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were 1-2 -- no surprise there. Among others, Ben Roethlisberger landed at 17, followed by Matt Leinart at 18.

Rex Grossman? The man at the controls of the reigning NFC champions was mired at 27.

But Vince Young’s No. 7 rating drew the most-heated response. One printable offering from a reader: “Thank you Goat. Vince Young is the worst passer out of all of the top 26, no way he belongs at 7.”

There was virtually no response, positive or negative, to Leinart’s ranking.

So if something escapes comment on the Internet, did it ever happen?

Trivia time

Last on King’s list was Kansas City’s Brodie Croyle. In what round was he drafted in 2006, and what college produced him?

Iron Lane?

It looks as if rookie Coach Lane Kiffin might have come in cracking the whip a little too hard. The Oakland Raiders have opted to cancel the final week of their off-season training program, citing players’ union complaints about “the high level of intensity.”

Guess that famous slogan needs to be expanded a bit: Commitment to Excellence ... Unless You Feel Really Tired and Need to Take a Nap.

Scud’s thud

The early reviews on the new TV reality dating show “Age of Love,” starring tennis pro Mark Philippoussis, have not been kind.

“Rather than wine and roses, their bonding activity is rappelling down a building in downtown L.A. The show’s premise, at this point, goes from ridiculous to laughable,” wrote Stuart Levine of Daily Variety.

After all, everyone knows that you don’t rappel down a building until the second date.

(Paul) Bunyan alert

Father’s Day just goes hand in hand with swinging an ax and cracking logs, doesn’t it?

Indeed, that’s what was happening in Rochester, Minn., at the 12th Midwestern Lumberjack Championships on Sunday.

“We had to clear the land with axes, and that’s how it evolved,” lumberjack Cliff Hughes of New Zealand told the Post-Bulletin newspaper. “You don’t see too many from Egypt.”

Well, Briefing is planning on backing the Kiwis in next year’s two-man sawing competition.

You can dress him up, but ...

Father’s Day seemed to inspire all kinds of quirky promotions.

For example, the Toronto Blue Jays decided to give out black ties with the autograph of Manager John Gibbons.

But ties aren’t exactly a standard in Gibbons’ wardrobe, and he couldn’t remember, specifically, the last time he had worn one.

“I’ve been to a couple of formal events in the past few years. I’ve put on a sport coat. Like putting earrings on a pig,” he told reporters.

Trivia answer

Croyle, who graduated from Alabama with a degree in human environmental science, went in the third round -- 85th overall.

And finally

Variety’s Levine, again on Philippoussis’ marriage prospects: “Philippoussis, after all this, might realize he’s better off staying single.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com