I’m going to spend Labor Day working to stay up for the Boise State-Virginia Tech college football showdown. With an 8 o’clock start, that won’t be easy. It is a good warmup for the NFL season, which kicks off this week. I look for Brett Favre to throw three interceptions per game and retire by Thanksgiving.

Flame-thrower: Aroldis Chapman looked fantastic in his Reds debut last week, at one point rattling the radar gun at 104 mph. That’s acceptable, although back in high school I blew past that number with regularity in my ’73 Monte Carlo. Still, this Chapman kid just might work out.

Credit the Reds for picking the right time to unleash their Cuban missile. The Cardinals were reeling before Cincinnati hit St. Louis this weekend. After looking at Chapman, then looking in their bullpen (where Reds reject Ryan Franklin is the closer), about the only thing the Cards can say is: “This Bud’s for you.”

Money game: The Big Ten avoided rioting in the streets by keeping the Ohio State-Michigan game in late November, but it fumbled when it put the rivals in separate divisions.

Big Ten boss Jim Delany said last week, with a straight face, that the factors in the new alignment were: competitive equality, rivalries and geography. All three criteria could’ve been met by drawing a line south from Gary, Ind., for an East-West split. Of course, the real goal was to set up a potential OSU-Michigan Big Ten title bout.

Tiger’s team: The U.S. Ryder Cup squad will be set this week. Tiger Woods might not be a great choice for a group that will be hard-pressed to give Europe a game, but I’ll guarantee he’ll be on the team. Could you imagine what the TV execs would say if he were left off?

Quick hits: Kudos to Miamisburg’s Kendrick Bruton, who carried half the Florida Gators on his back while converting a fake punt during the RedHawks’ opener in The Swamp. ... I’m trying to catch up with HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” but my cable company’s OnDemand system is about as current as Joe Paterno’s slacks. ... I reserved the last pick in my NFL fantasy draft for a Browns running back. Jerome Harrison or Montario Hardesty? I took Harrison. I’d rather be lucky than good.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2163 or bkollars@DaytonDailyNews.com.