…and ready to blog.

For me, the 2007-08 basketball season didn’t officially end until last Thursday night at the NBA Draft. And what a long season it was. I started writing about the Tigers on pretty much a daily basis beginning in mid-September of last year through the Final Four. Obviously, I didn’t write nearly as much from mid-April to late June but it was an incredibly busy period. A year ago at this time, the Tigers had no players in the NBA Draft, no coaching staff changes, no late recruits. Things were relatively quiet. This offseason has been anything but quiet, so it was nice to take a few days off and recharge the batteries for the July recruiting period.

– The NBA Draft is one of the more bizarre scenes I’ve ever encountered in sports. On TV, it’s funny when Knick fans boo their draft picks. In person, it’s incredibly awkward. I also wonder how and why one would initiate a “JEFF-VAN-GUN-DY” chant. But by far the most interesting part of the experience is how close the fans get to the players. Once a player gets his name called, he walks up from stage left, shakes David Stern’s hand, then goes to a TV interview on the right of the stage. Then, the player goes to a radio interview, which is set up pretty much right in the middle of the theater. Then, the player has to walk back to the interview room, which is a pretty long way from the theater. Listening to what the fans yell at the players as they’re making that walk is brutal and hilarious. Even Joey Dorsey had to laugh when one fan got in his face and yell “Gonna have to make your free throws, Dorsey!”

– Interesting to learn today that Doneal Mack is transferring to New Orleans. I can assure you that ending up at a Sun Belt program was not in the plans when he left Memphis. I had heard LSU, initially, but from what I understand an academic issue may have prevented him from enrolling there. It’s unfortunate for the kid because it looks like a big career mistake at this point.

– This month is all about recruiting. I’ll kick off our coverage on Sunday with a primer for the July recruiting period. No surprise here, but the big name to keep an eye on is Xavier Henry, the 6-6 guard from Oklahoma City (though he’s listed at 6-6, I believe he’s 6-7) who has been compared to a left-handed Dell Curry. I have always written and said that Memphis, based on my informed speculation, has a slight lead over Kansas. I have no reason at this point to change that point of view.

– Tyreke Evans will be a counselor at the upcoming LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron. I won’t be going there to cover the camp, but a number of national reporters will, and it will be interesting to hear how he fares in the counselor pickup games against established college players.

– The Memphis-Kansas national championship game was nominated for an ESPY — and rightly so — as the best game of the year. It actually might win, too, though the Giants’ Super Bowl win will probably take the award.

– Most Memphis fans I know haven’t been able to bring themselves to watch the game, but I highly recommend watching the second half, at least until the last two minutes. The Derrick Rose performance is even more mind-blowing in retrospect than it was in person.

– Speaking of Rose, I guess he likes to drive fast. Nothing like starting your career with some bad press.
– I’d love to give Chris Douglas-Roberts and agent Leon Rose a shot of sodium pentathol and find out why they chose not to work out for several teams at the bottom of the first round. Rose is one of the best agents in the business, but did he mess this one up? Or did Rose feel like he was protecting CDR, the thinking being that he knew CDR wasn’t a good workout guy, so why over-expose him?

– Just flipped the TV over to Fox News for a second. Were Dick Morris and Bob Huggins separated at birth?

As always, the Fourth of July Holiday weekend is likely to be one of the busiest boating weekends of the year in Tennessee, and officials from several state agencies are urging boaters to use caution on crowded waterways.

There have been 70 boating accidents in Tennessee already this year, resulting in 28 injuries and 11 fatalities. Conservation officers from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency have also issued 59 citations for Boating Under the Influence (BUI) in 2008.

It’s important to remember that alcohol and water don’t mix, especially if you’re the one driving the boat. Operating a boat with a blood-alcohol content of .08 or higher is illegal in Tennessee – and it’s easier to reach that level than you might think.

When you’re out in the sun and the heat with the boat rocking underneath you, the effects of one beer can sometimes be equivalent to drinking three beers in a normal, dry-land situation.

I once did an experiment in Columbus, Ga., to see how many beers it took to get me “legally drunk” on the water.

Under the supervision of a Georgia conservation officer and a designated driver, I drank six beers and blew a .09 on the breathalyzer. If I had actually been operating the boat, it would have been a ticket straight to the drunk tank, in handcuffs.

From what I hear, judges don’t view BUI any differently than DUI. So the misery won’t end when the handcuffs come off.

Don’t let alcohol ruin your three-day weekend. Don’t take a chance of hurting yourself or someone else. Don’t allow yourself to become one of those statistics I mentioned above.

When I write about you on the outdoors page, I’d rather you be listed under “High Fives” instead of “Facts & Figures.”