No debate: F-bombs not proper

The force behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White, has been invited to speak at the Oct. 13 meeting of the Oxford University debate club in England.

The 187-year-old Oxford Union Society has been known for its ties to the upper tiers of politics. Past speakers include Sir Winston Churchill, Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, Albert Einstein and U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

White said he's expecting to respond to tough questions with straight answers.

White, who has guided mixed martial arts into mainstream sports, is known for dropping plenty of F-bombs in interviews and will be challenged to speak the King's English next month.

Or maybe not.

■ BUCKEYES, WOLVERINES UNITE -- Finally, Ohio State and Michigan football players and fans have found something to bring them together.

Ohio state Sen. Kevin Coughlin will introduce a resolution soon that calls for Ohio State and Michigan to continue meeting in the final game of the regular season when the Big Ten expands to 12 teams in 2011 and splits into two divisions with a championship game.

Reports have surfaced that the teams will be placed in opposite divisions and will meet earlier in the season. A rematch could occur if they win their respective division titles.

"This season finale has become the greatest rivalry in sports history, and it would be unfortunate to dilute one of college football's most important traditions," Coughlin said.

The schools have met in the final conference game since 1943. "The Game" was first played in 1897, and the rivals have met 106 times since.

"I'd rather keep it as the last game," said former Michigan quarterback Chad Henne, now with the Miami Dolphins. "There's tradition there, and you always look forward to that last game."

Rex Kern, the quarterback for the Buckeyes' 1968 national title team, told the Columbus Dispatch that moving the game "would make both Bo (Schembechler) and Woody (Hayes) come out of the grave."

"It's such a fierce, competitive game, one of great respect and admiration by both universities and communities and would diminish what (the) Big Ten conference stands for," Kern said. "That was the reason we went to Ohio State -- to play that last game, because we knew the Rose Bowl and Big Ten championship road went through Ann Arbor."

■ TREASURE HUNT -- The NFL preseason is a time for building team camaraderie.

Miami Dolphins defensive end Kendall Langford and several teammates spent some time bonding after practice Tuesday in Davie, Fla., while scouring the grass for a lost diamond earring that Langford said was nearly 2.5 carats.

"I've got a great group of guys out here helping me -- family-type guys," Langford told The Associated Press.

He said he forgot to take off his earrings before practice and lost one during drills.

"He's a teammate. That's what you do," defensive end Ryan Baker said. "It's a fat diamond. It's a shame."

COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL