5-at-10: Bray in the saddle, Starting young and Braves' off day

Gang, we're in the air as you read this, on the way to NYC. We're going to move quickly today and we'll have Friday's mailbag but we're not sure how much will be be around, so you cats play nice.

From the "Talks too much" Studios, here we go...

Bray in the saddle

As our UT ace Downtown Patrick Brown shared here http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jul/26/uts-bray-linked-to-vandalism-tennessee/, Vols quarterback Tyler Bray has found some hot water for throwing beer bottles and golf balls at cars.

Not good. Not good at all.

OK, in the grand scheme of things and in the wake of the college football scandals that have dominated the news, this is small potatoes.

Where this is especially not good is that UT has to have a reliable, effective and mature Bray to reach anything close to the growing expectations on an offense that could range from good to special.

Bray is the key to the Vols' season - and coach Derek Dooley's future in a lot of ways.

Not a good start.

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photo Tennessee quarteback Tyler Bray attends the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days in Hoover, Ala.

Starting young

Our ace columnist Mark Wiedmer told us about Washington offering a 14-year-old http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jul/26/ncaa-chief-emmert-may-yet-rue-his-rhetoric/.

It's definitely an awkward spot for the future of recruiting. How young is too young? With every story like this we are more and more convinced we need an early signing period.

To be fair, this is hardly the first time this has happened - remember Lane Kiffin infamously offering Eric Berry's little brothers when they were in middle school.

Not to be out done LSU also offered middle schooler Dylan Moses, a 6-foot, 200-pound eight-grader who ran a 4.46 40 at the Tigers camp.

"I was kind of shocked when I first heard it - it was a dream come true," Moses, 14, said. "I've always wanted to play for LSU since I was a kid."

Son, you're still a kid.

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photo Atlanta Braves left fielder Martin Prado, left, is unable to tag out Miami Marlins' Donovan Solano as Solano steals second base during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday July 25, 2012, in Miami. A Marlins Park-record crowd of 36,711 watched the home team steal seven bases, the most in the major leagues this season and the high for the team since 2002. The Braves won 7-1.

Off day

The Braves are off after taking two of three from Miami, which has officially tossed in the towel.

Your thoughts on Atlanta's playoff chances?

We still believe they have what it takes, but they need another starting pitcher.

And who is giving Ryan Dempster career advice, Dwight Howard?

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This and that (special Olympic version)

Friend of the show RJ Bell of pregame.com sends along some interesting odds from the Olympic Games, which start this weekend. Enjoy the following:

- Basketball: Team USA winning Gold Medal: $750 wins $100 (implying 87% chance); Any Other Team winning Gold Medal: $100 wins $650 (implying 13% chance); Over/under of the largest margin of victory by Team USA in any game: 50.5 points??- Most Overall Medals: USA: 60% chance ($400 wins $100); China 30% chance ($100 wins $150); Rest of World: 10% chance ($100 wins $650)??- Over/under on the number of USA Medals: 38.5??- Michael Phelps: Will Michael Phelps win more Gold Medals than Spain's entire Olympic Team? Spain: $180 wins $100 (62% chance); Phelps: $100 wins $150 (38% chance)??- Number of Phelps Gold Medals:?Zero: $100 wins $5,000 (2% chance)?One: $100 wins $2,500 (3% chance)?Two: $100 wins $600 (11% chance)?Three: $100 wins $300 (20% chance)?Four: $100 wins $200 (26% chance)?Five: $100 wins $300 (20% chance)?Six: $100 wins $500 (13% chance)?Seven: $100 wins $1,600 (5% chance)??- Usain Bolt is favored to win more Gold Medals than Greece's entire Olympic Team! Bolt winning more gold: $135 wins $100 (55% chance); Greece: $100 wins $105 (45% chance)??- Crazy Props: The over/under of the number of athletes stripped of medals due to positive drug tests: 5.5; Will Olympic flame singe Boris Johnson's hair during the ceremony? $100 pays $3,300 (33 to 1); Will the Olympic Village to run out of condoms during the games? $100 pays $600 (6 to 1)??- Amount of Action: British bookmakers are expecting to take $80 Million in wagers?(which is TEN TIMES more than Beijing Games, but less than Nevada books take on Super Bowl)

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Today's question

Let's keep this simple: Will Tyler Bray miss game time for his involvement in the vandalism acts?

With a bonus question: If you're Johnny Vols Fan, are you comfortable with Bray - who appears to be every bit the million-dollar arm and 5-cent head that Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh was - being the key to your chances this year?

Discuss.

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