Talking points: fake names and blurred lines in media

Quickly this morning . . .

• There appears to be no new news on the Brent Vinson/Ramar Smith couplet of police investigations except that Wes Rucker at the Chattanooga Times Free Press cites "several close to the program" as being concerned that the two incidents are connected. I don't like the sound of that, and that's all I'll say at this point.
• John Pennington takes Tony Barnhart to task for attempting to draw a moral line between the blogosphere and the old school media folks, saying that the REAL media (which he defines as TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines) getting into the fray deprives them of the opportunity to draw that distinction. Pennington makes his point by noting that he's covered all of the furor between SEC coaches at Mr. SEC by linking to REAL media. So yeah, the line is blurring. Not quite enough yet, as Pennington still segregates the two on Mr. SEC, but we're getting there. Anyway, we'll give Pennington props for taking a step in the right direction and award him the Headline of the Week Award (I made that up; we can do that because we're UNREAL -- ;-)) for Kiffin Does the Pahokee Pokey and All is Well. For the record, my position is that there are undeniable differences between blogs and mainstream media but at this point I'm not buying any comparison that suggests that one is better, overall, than the other. They're simply different, and they each have their strengths and weaknesses.
• Speaking of blurring the lines . . . Orson of EDSBS, who went quasi-mainstream with The Sporting News a long time ago, is now joined by Brian Cook of MGoBlog (formerly of FanHouse, too), LSUFreek, and Adam Jacobi of Black Heart Gold Pants. Congrats to those guys and to TSN for assembling a top-notch team.
• And speaking of comparisons implying superiority . . . Big Blue Shoe of SB Nation Indianapolis Colts blog Stampede Blue was recently called out by Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. His sole argument on the subsequent radio show interviewing Big Blue Shoe (audio link) was that "hiding behind" a pseudonym denied him any claim to credibility. I don't use a fake name, but think about all of the famous people who use pseudonyms and try to tell me they don't have as much of a reputation tied up in that fake name as does someone who uses his or her real name. In any event, it's got Corn Blight over at Corn Nation asking his readers whether his real name matters.
• New DE commit J.C. Copeland: explosive and quick ($). And not to be named on Twitter.
• More signee profiles from Inside Tennessee: Zach Rogers, which includes a quote from brother Austin about last year's offense ("a little confusing, a little too complicated ($)"), Kevin Revis, small town boy living his dream ($), and Nu'Keese Richardson, who is academically eligible and whose first goal "is to be in class every day." ($). Tennessee wants to use him like Florida used Percy Harvin. Woo for that idea.
• John Adams has a good idea: head to Texas for a QB because eight of the top 10 passers in the FBS are from Texas. See, e.g., Matthew Stafford, Jevan Snead.
• Lindsey Nelson got his big break because somebody had to pee.
• Montori Hughes makes Chris Low's Out of Nowhere list at No. 2.