Heading into the Labor Day Weekend, take a few minutes to revel in the gold-medal glory of Olympic beach volleyball.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh visited CBS funnyman David Letterman. High jinks ensued.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while waiting for the Rams second-teamers to actually make a tackle:

• Should Rams fans be worried about their special teams again?  Can punt blocking really be that difficult?
• Where did Ana Ivanovic run off to? Did she score some sweet tickets to Broadway plays?
• Shouldn’t Joe Torre win some games with his big-budget Dodgers?  Shouldn’t he keep them from packing it in against the Nationals, of all teams?

BAD BOY NO MORE

Tony Stewart is bemused by the ongoing Carl Edwards-Kyle Busch tiff. It’s nice to see somebody else called into the NASCAR trailer for a change.

“I’m fine with them taking on the wrestling roles for now,” he told the Dallas Morning News.

NO HOPE FOR RAMS?

Of the 16 ESPN experts polled on its web site, 14 picked Seattle to win the NFC West. The other two went with Arizona.

GOOD LUCK, DUDE

In an interview with Sherdog, 900-year-old Ken Shamrock is not worried about his upcoming mixed-martial arts match against Kimbo Slice.

“Honestly, I think I can test him anywhere,” he said. “He’s got big, heavy hands. Everyone says he punches hard and he probably does. But again, he doesn’t punch properly, in my opinion. He swings his hands, he moves his body back and forth trying to get as much power as he can, but there’s really no snap behind it. You can usually see the punches coming. I’m going to do what I need to do. If it goes to the ground, I’ll probably break his leg. I mean, no question. I will break his leg. If he gives it to me, I’m going to break it.”

Well, we’ll look forward to that.
QUIPS ’R US

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

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “It’s official: Hurricane Fay was in South Florida longer than Nick Saban.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The most expensive seats at the new Yankee Stadium will cost $2,500 each. If I’m paying that kind of money, I don’t want to watch the game. I want to manage it or bat leadoff.”

Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, defying doctors’ orders, announced he plans to play on rather than have surgery on his two torn knee ligaments. Merriman asks that any further questions be directed toward his medical adviser, Tiger Woods.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com, on Ken Griffey Jr.’s defensive limitations: “Look, if Junior plays center in Boston, then the Sox starter ought to ask the umps if they can just close the field the way we used to close right as kids when we didn’t have enough players. If that guy is out there, then the Sox don’t have enough defensive players. I know he used to be a great fielder. Used to be. Not now. Not the version the Sox wheel out there now. Not the guy who looks like he’s auditioning for the role of Joe Hardy at the end of ‘Damn Yankees.’ And what matters now is now. And you can’t win now when Junior creaks like a senior.”

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com, with last-second fantasy advice: “If you want your team to leave a crater mark in the standings then selecting a rookie wide receiver is a must, preferably in the first five rounds. As always, I ignore the recent and overwhelming statistical evidence that first-year wideouts are generally more useless than Bill Belichick press conferences.”

Kriegel again: “Admit it, a bunch of you guys out there heard about these problems between Russia and Georgia and wondered, ‘What the hell is Putin’s problem with the SEC?’”

MEGAPHONE

“I don’t realize yet that I beat the No. 1 in the world. I don’t realize that I played at the big court. I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight. I don’t know. It’s just — maybe tomorrow I will be — I will … I don’t know when I will realize everything.”

Julie Coin, after upsetting knocking Ana Ivanovic out of the U.S. Open.