Smart art and some espanol

The top story is an example of art working well with copy. Minnesota is building a new football stadium, and its team is in a rebuilding phase. As a result, the coach in a hardhat seemed like an appropriate photo for the featured Q&A. In the TSR you'll see an inversion of the phrase "a wolf (or lobo, as it were) in sheep's clothing." Given that New Mexico is ranked No. 89 in our top 100 college football countdown, that headline seemed fitting.

Two teams that are always good for page views

I'll start with explaining the TSR. West Virginia fans are still pretty bitter about Rich Rodriguez leaving, so I made a point to play up Dave Curtis' Mountaineers question in the blurb. As for the TS, people have such strong feelings for or against Notre Dame that they'll click on anything with an Irish player. So for the blurb, it was just a matter of coming up with something to accurately describe the story (and I thought the headline was decent, too).

Mr. Swofford goes to Washington

I was having trouble coming up with a headline for this story, which mentions BCS coordinator John Swofford's testimony before Congress. I wanted to convey that what he said about the bowl system was highly debatable and then somehow tie it to what he was doing in Washington, D.C. After our photo editor sent me the art for the package -- of Swofford being sworn in -- the light bulb went on.

Don't quit your day job, Jim Tressel

The top story's lede details several unfunny jokes Jim Tressel told at the press conference after Ohio State's spring game, hence the headline (I requested a photo of Tressel from that press conference but didn't get it). I thought the top story right headline and blurb were clever, as well.

Rachel Carson meets Jonathan Crompton

The top story warns against getting too excited about college football spring game performances. The headline is a reference to Carson's 1962 book "Silent Spring," which warned of the dangers of pesticides and helped launch the environmental movement. Overhyped spring games and environmental pollutants have about the same social and political import, wouldn't you say?