Does America really need another pro football league?

Michael Huyghue thinks it does. He is commissioner of something called the United Football League.

And he figures that outcasts like Michael Vick need another pro football league, too.

“Michael’s not going to be able to walk right back into the NFL,” Huyghue told SI.com. “He’s going to need some kind of buffer before he signs in the NFL, and we’ll be able to provide that for him.”

Borderline NFL players also ought to consider the upstart league, if it actually comes into being.

“If they sign the one-year deal, they’d be able to re-sign with an NFL team around Thanksgiving,” Huyghue told SI.com. “So the downside wouldn’t be that great — and they’d be able to get the playing time they need to develop as players.”

Normally the NFL would try to squash a competitor, but Deadspin’s Clay Travis raises an interesting point:

“What if the UFL gives a fig leaf to the NFL’s new personal conduct policy? They can kick guys out of the NFL without having to worry about their ill-defined policy being challenged by the NFLPA in court. Plus, they don’t have to worry about the monopoly charge because they can point to the UFL. The NFL can then ship their vagabond players out of the league with year-long suspensions, allow them to rehabilitate their images elsewhere, and then bring them back when their “sins” have been cleansed. Which would be perfect for a player like Vick. As if all this weren’t enough, the UFL could serve as a farm-league of sorts now that the NFL’s European football experiment has given up the ghost. Something to keep in mind as America’s most famous prisoner continues to serve his time.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while waiting for Chris Carpenter’s right triceps muscle to quit barking at him:

• How will the Rays stay in the pennant race with both Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria on the disabled list?
• Who could have possibly guessed that another Cards pitching prospect – Mike Parisi – would go down with a season-ending elbow injury?
• Did the Oakland Raiders look at any game tape before signing Adam Archuleta?

SAYING GOOD-BYE TO BRETT FAVRE

Great stuff from Packers fans.

THAT’S JUST MEAN

The late-night smart alecks are having some fun at our president’s expense.

“President Bush arrived in Beijing. Again, I don’t think he really understands the Olympics that well,” NBC funnyman Jay Leno said. “They asked him if he liked the decathlon and he said no, he preferred regular coffee.”

Over on CBS, David Letterman offered this: “They got together, the Chinese, and they threw a big steak dinner for President Bush. They served Peking Lame Duck. And President Bush, he doesn’t know what he is doing over there. He turned to the President of China and said, ‘General Tso, I love your chicken.’”

QUIPS ‘R US

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

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com, after Ryan Dempter promised playoff glory for the Cubs: “I can see this turning into a Clip & Save for the Brewers and Cardinals. What’s more, if this season goes the way that the last, oh, 100 seasons have gone, I can also see the Dempster Declaration taking its place with Dubious Baker asking ‘Why not us?’ (answer: because you’re the Cubs, yeesh) and Ron Santo’s clicking his heels after wins in 1969 (and by the way, I believe it was about now in ‘69 that the Cubs would proceed to blow an 8½-game lead).”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Trent Green last year, Chad Pennington this year. The Dolphins must be trying to cut down on their stadium insurance costs. Neither one of those guys, after all, can break a pane of glass.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Georgia, No. 1 in the preseason football rankings, has suspended or dismissed six players (so far) for violating team rules. The Bulldogs have collected almost as many arrests as first-place votes.”

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “Jay Glazer of Fox Sports is credited with breaking the ‘Brett’s a Jet’ story late Wednesday night — and did so from Orlando International Airport. He spent the entire day there because he was unwilling to get on a plane and not be able to use his cell phone. ‘I never wanted to kick Mickey Mouse’s [backside] so much in my life,’ Glazer told Newsday. ‘I felt like Tom Hanks in The Terminal. I started making friends in the stores.’”

David Thomas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Says Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski to a European journalist: ‘We have an expression that when you have a really good team, you play for the name on the front of the uniforms, not the name on the back.’ So, the Redeem Team is playing for Nike?”

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