Are the Rams headed toward a remarkable turnaround under Scott Linehan in 2008?

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King thinks not. He put the Rams 29th in his post-draft NFL power rankings. He explained why:

“Look on the bright side: I talked to a personnel guy the other day who said, ‘Chris Long was the top player on our board. The Rams have no idea what a great player they’re getting.’ I like the Long pick because he’ll be driven every-day he is on this planet to prove his legions of doubters wrong.”

But . . .

“Jake Long would have been a better pick for this team, but that’s a moot point because he wasn’t available. Orlando Pace can’t make it through a year healthy, and Alex Barron is a below-average player … those are your bookend tackles, the guys who have to keep a relatively frail (for a quarterback) Marc Bulger upright for 16 weeks. Unless Bulger makes it through the year unscathed, I’d be surprised if the Rams won six games.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while waiting for the Colorado Rockies to scramble back into the National League West race:

• Now that Mark Mulder has taken a step backward in his rehab from shoulder surgery, will the current Cards starters breath a bit easier?
• Isn’t it interesting how Cesar Izturis started hitting once rival Brendan Ryan showed up in the Cards clubhouse?
• Should the National League go ahead and give Albert Pujols the MVP award right now, rather than wait for the off-season?

MAKING PEACE WITH CAVS FANS

Remember how a Washington D.C. Papa John’s outlet distributed faux LeBron James jerseys, with No. 23 and “Crybaby” on the back? Remember how alert bloggers triggered a boycott of Papa John’s stores in greater Cleveland among angry Cavaliers fans?

Well, the parent company is trying to calm everybody down. “The decision to do this was made by a local Washington, D.C., Papa John’s operator without approval of Papa John’s corporate,” the firm said in a statement. “Nonetheless, we believe this was in poor taste and sincerely apologize to Cavalier fans and LeBron James.”

According to the Chicago Sun-Times report we saw, Papa John’s will sell one-topping pizzas for 23 cents at its Cleveland-area locations Thursday as a peace offering.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Steve Rosenbloom, Chicago Sports.com: “The whole inflatable doll thing in the Sox’s clubhouse? Funny. Both the idea and the dopey outrage in some places. Jeez, if ballplayers — any athletes — have to maintain political correctness in the sanctuary that is the clubhouse where they spend more time than they do in their own house, then either keep the media out or turn this into Major League Chess. I mean, what do you expect from guys who are frat brothers in a lot of ways? Are they supposed to host American Girl parties? Roll out show tunes? Listen, just admit that sometimes when a group of men are together, men-like crudities happen. You know, just like blue language and crude talk happen when girlfriends get together, and anyone who says different is stupid or lying, take your pick.”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Well, the NFL Draft came and went, and not a single Alabama player was selected. Imagine: George Washington University had as many draftees as ‘Bama, and GW hasn’t fielded a football team since 1966.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Bowl Championship Series officials rejected a proposal to decide the national champion with a four-team playoff. However, the BCS big-wigs did agree to a significant change in their system. From now on, after all the usual procedures are followed, the top two teams will be selected by superdelegates.”

Elliott Harris, Chicago Sun-Times: “Just a guess, but being on a boat is about the only time Bears running back Cedric Benson can anticipate being a captain of any sort.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “A San Francisco company has bought video-game rights to Major League Eating. I can tolerate the sex and violence in video games nowadays. But I draw the line at projectile vomiting.”

MEGAPHONE

“Now the problem I have is you’re not in that locker room. You don’t understand the dynamics of a player. I mean, the last time you had a uniform on was when your mom took you trick-or-treating when you were 5.”

Giants sackmaster Michael Strahan, dressing down sports talk radio host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo during HBO’s “Costas Now” program.