• Charles Barkley has some relationship advice for Shawne Merriman: “You don’t get your women from reality TV.”

• Well, Jay Cutler’s debut for the Chicago Bears could have gone better.

• Fox Sports reporter Chris Myers compares Larry Foote’s jersey from the Steelers to the Lions to going from dating Beyonce to Whoopi Goldberg.

• Michelle Wie’s blog is worth checking out - if only for the leather skirts.

• Jim Tressel says Ohio State fans are unhappy & miserable. And William Rolle sort of proves the coach’s theory.

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• The Bronx Bombers blow up in a Tuesday night fight with the Blue Jays.

• And if Derek Jeter’s gonna brawl, he’s gonna need a mighty moustache.

• Seems that Wisconsin civic leaders have a problem with 12-year-old albino boys playing football with a tinted helmet visor.

• A Walter Payton statue in front of Soldier Field: A tribute to a Chicago Bears legend, or an insult to America’s veterans?

• ESPN will truly offer a college basketball marathon, as Monmouth & St. Peter’s agree to tip off at 6 a.m. Eastern.

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November will mark the 10th anniversary of the death of one of the most popular running backs ever to play the game. On Nov. 1, 1999, Walter Payton passed away at the age of 45 due to complications from liver cancer.

As such, Payton’s family & Bears management are planning on ways to pay tribute to the man known as “Sweetness”. Such plans include placing a life-size statue of Walter outside of Soldier Field.

Only one problem - the Chicago Park District is against such a move.

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Now that all NFL rookies are required to take a trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, ESPN’s HASHMARKS wants to know which player’s exhibit is the most popular destination.

And how sweet it is to see that Sweetness is often at the top spot.

Walter Payton is the player of choice many rookies coming to Canton want to check out. According to Hall of Fame tour coordinator Joe Horrigan, the former Chicago Bears RB seems to be “the one guy they all seem to know.”

So, what makes #34 the #1 in so many rookies’ hearts? Read more…

Walter Payton College Preparatory High School was constructed on the Near North side of Chicago in 2000, infused with great public support for its mission to lift up the brightest and best the city had to offer. Being named for Walter Payton, a hallowed figure in Chicago a decade after his passing, enforced the high expectations placed on all involved with the school.

Those expectations took a vicious backfield hit this spring as the head boys’ basketball coach for Walter Payton College Prep was accused of violating two female students over the winter. Yesterday, George Turner was formally charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Chicago police also released details, accusing Turner of seducing the girls numerous times.

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SPREAD THE NOOS, PAYTON’S FAVORITE SHOOS ARE BACK!: The BOSTON HERALD reports that the old sneaker band Roos is making a comeback in the U.S. retail market. A Massachusetts-based company has “secured a license from U.K.-based Pentland Group to sell KangaRoos athletic shoes in the U.S. beginning this month, and the company plans to ‘expand into KangaRoos clothing and accessories.’”

Our one memory of the ’80s version of the shoe was the late, great Walter Payton’s association with the brand.

We think Sweetness was the only major endorser of the eclectic kicks (”check out our pockets!“), which certainly earns him a place in the pantheon of footwear endorsement greats, like Derrick Coleman (British Knights), Karl Malone (L.A. Gear), and O.J. Simpson (Dingo Boots):

Sadly, Roos shoes went extinct faster than the Bears’ playoff chances following the glory of Payton’s mid-’80s Bears teams. But here’s hoping the noo shoos will once again finally catch the nation’s fancy thanks to rapidly multiplying retail outlets.