REPORTING FROM THE JOCK-O-SPHERE: THE RETURN OF GILBERT!

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"Gilbert doesn't like us, and that makes us melancholic."

Jock-O-Sphere is proud to report on the return of the granddady of all athletic bloggers. What a way to take you into the weekend, eh?

·Gilbert Arenas: The Return!

Looks like he couldn't stay in blog retirement. Gil threw down about how happy he is to remain a Wizard, his travel overseas—a must read—and um, how every player in the NBA hates Milwaukee.

"Richard Jefferson going to Milwaukee &. HAHAHA!," he writes (or rather, dictates). "Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing. You know why? Because every player hates Milwaukee. Nobody wants to live in Milwaukee. I'm sorry, Milwaukee, to come down hard on you, but no one in the NBA wants to play in Milwaukee. From him going from New Jersey, actually from New York (because he lives in New York), from New York to Milwaukee is like going & let's just say it's not going to sit well with you. That was a funny one when I heard that one. I know Yi is happy though."

Don't believe him? Todd Day certainly agrees. Milwaukee…damn.

·Curt Schilling: Getting Graphic

Want to know the ins and outs of Curt's surgery? He'll be more than happy to show you.

"I was planning on posting pics and a break down of the surgery for those that can stomach it," he writes.

"Needless to say my bicep was 'rotting' in the canal and actually was split in two, with pictures to show of all.

"So I'll get post an update later this week."

So does Curt preface this post with a NSFW tag?

·Chris Cooley: Let Your Beard Hang Low

Cooley's solution for getting through training camp? Growing a beard. And you can join him in his quest.

"It seems like if I can do something stupid or silly it makes it easier to get through some of the days," he writes. "I pulled off the long hair, I wore the shorts, there is always a couple sharpie tattoo days but now I'm ready for a new adventure…Greatest facial hair of training camp is going to be this year's motif. After leaving Wyoming for my summer vacation I came home with quite a start on my new project. It's been a little over two weeks since I've shaved and I'm as proud as I can be! One thing about my little endeavors is that it is much more fun if I can have a partner in crime, or as many participants as possible. So I've decided to start the Chris Cooley Beard Growing Contest."

·Donovan McNabb: Training Dayz

Donovan hits us with more thrills and spills in his latest from AZ:

"Just wanted to check in from Arizona again," he writes. "I've been out here this week working out with a few guys including Brian Dawkins, LJ Smith, Jason Avant, Hank Baskett and Lorenzo Booker."

"We have been getting after it from sunup to sundown. We start at Fischer Sports, a place I have been working out at most of the offseason. Brett Fischer—an Eagles fan from Bucks County—is a physical therapist, certified athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist. He has helped me through what he calls functional training. We mimic the motions that we use on the football field. For me it might be an emphasis on using my abdominals, hips and lower body to create torque when I throw the ball. For some of the other guys it might be trying to get explosion out of their cuts."

"A few of us are coming off injury and that is Brett's specialty. We get great care from our trainers in Philadelphia but Brett has some different methods for rehabilitation and I know that my body has reacted well to it. His staff has also set us up with nutritional counseling providing organic meals and snacks for the week."

Organic meals and snacks or Mama McNabb and her Chunky Campbell's Soup? Now that's a toss-up. PTI, have at it in 5 Good Minutes.

·Curtis Granderson: Tigers' Slow Start Explained

Curtis gives us the straight dope on his Tigers' pokey first half:

"The big question people want answered is why we started to play better and what or who has been the spark?" he writes. "The answer isn't one special thing. Jim Leyland hasn't yelled at us or given us pep talks and not just one player on the team has played extremely well over the past month. Different guys have stepped up at different times, from the hitters, to the starting pitchers, to the relievers. There really isn't one reason why we are playing better.

"In the clubhouse we have joked around that as the weather warms up, so will we. The main thing is throughout a 162-game season too much is made of the first two months of the season. The Yankees last year got off to a horrible start and everyone thought their season was done in May. As the season goes on and you play the rest of the games on your schedule, things will begin to even themselves out. As you saw last season, the Yankees were able to make it to the playoffs again."

The Yanks made a push to get into the postseason only to pad their stats for the Title Town USA crown, everyone and their sister knows that.

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