The Rock Chalkboard

Malcolm Lee 'very solid,' 'taking the right steps' on Kansas' D-line
Malcolm Lee is probably about as tough a grader as you'll find on the Kansas football team. Following a 17-14 win, one in which his defensive line unit produced five of the team's top seven tacklers with one sack, one forced fumble and a handful of quarterback pressures, Lee spoke about the unit as if it had been gashed for 500 yards in a lopsided loss.

Lance Leipold eyeing quick turnaround for Kansas run game
Some things from Kansas football's season-opener — the performance of the defensive line and special teams, for instance — exceeded expectations. Other groups, like the young secondary, gave about what you'd expect.

OT commit James Livingston 'more than happy' with contact from Kansas
James Livingston's season is off and running. The 6-7, 275-pound offensive tackle and his Dexter (Mich.) team won their first two games in blowout fashion, the perfect start to the year for the class-of-2022 Kansas commitment.

Bits o Chalk

Chris Webber - Michigan AD Warde Manuel apologized for 2003 fallout
Webber, the Fab Five star who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, told ESPN that Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel privately apologized to him for the way the school handled the fallout of an investigation surrounding claims that Webber had accepted money from former booster Ed Martin.

New Orleans Saints release RB Latavius Murray; Tony Jones Jr. to serve as backup
Murray, 31, was due to make $3.15 million in salary and bonuses this season. That, combined with the emergence of undrafted second-year running back Tony Jones Jr., led to the Saints' decision.

Donald Trump, son to provide commentary on Evander Holyfield-Vitor Belfort alternate telecast
The Trumps will call the entire four-fight telecast that also includes Anderson Silva-Tito Ortiz and David Haye-Joe Fournier, according to Triller.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few cited for DUI, apologizes for 'lapse in judgment'
According to the report, Few was pulled over Monday shortly after 8 p.m. north of Coeur d'Alene, a popular vacation destination in Idaho. Police received a report that Few was driving erratically and speeding.

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes enters season as NFL MVP favorite, but Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen drawing most bets
Allen, the Buffalo Bills' fourth-year quarterback, has attracted more bets to win the Associated Press MVP award than any other player at multiple sportsbooks, including a $10,000 wager placed at 13-1 odds in June with Caesars Sportsbook in Indiana. Allen enters the season as the largest MVP liability at BetMGM sportsbooks, having drawn nearly twice as many bets as Mahomes, the consensus favorite.

Eraser Dust

US coronavirus: Schools don't need to see a big uptick in cases if they follow these measures, Fauci says - CNN
In Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 13 school employees have died from Covid-19 since August 16, the school district and local teacher union told CNN. All 13 -- three teachers, one security monitor, one cafeteria worker and seven school bus drivers -- were unvaccinated, they said.

On Late Night, John Mulaney unpacks his truly eventful year, starting with Seth Meyers' intervention
“I packed a lot into this... is it September?” People might forgive John Mulaney for having to take a beat—and do a bit—before publicly revealing everything he’s gone through this past year. Spending three funny, uncharacteristically heartfelt segments with his longtime friend and Saturday Night Live colleague Seth Meyers on Tuesday’s back-from-vacation Late Night, the comedian was forthright about his widely publicized fall out of sobriety, and his unlikely turn in the internet infamy meat-grinder. As Meyers put it when reminiscing about the younger Mulaney’s abstemious ways during their time on SNL, “You were a square.” Mulaney agreed, noting that nobody would have imagined that that straitlaced guy would have become “tabloid fodder.”

The instrument that Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant hates
So whether Robert Plant really hates the ukulele or he just hates the dulcet tones of Skin Tyson singing The Beatles at him is up for debate. But one thing is for sure if you have a song to sing for Plant, make sure you do it without a uke in sight.

Schwarzenegger says atmosphere of this year's California recall looks 'exactly the same' as when he won in 2003 - CNNPolitics
He says all of it is "very dangerous" for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom Schwarzenegger calls a friend.

Richmond, Va.'s Robert E. Lee Confederate Memorial Comes Down : NPR
Wednesday, the state of Virginia removed the 12-ton statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee more than 130 years after it was installed amid efforts to change the collective memory of the Civil War.

Democrats hit the gas on Biden's multitrillion-dollar safety net bill
WASHINGTON — In a race against the clock, Democratic leaders in Congress are working frenetically to craft a multitrillion-dollar bill to expand the social safety net with plans to hit the gas and start moving it through the House this week.

Human remains found along Flathead River
Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino says because of a lack of road access, Two Bear Air along with Flathead County Sheriff’s Office boats were called to the scene.