Two losses by a combined 71-6 could add up to Skins' woes

Mind games Memo to Redskins fans: keep telling yourself that exhibitions don't matter. And they often don't. But when your team loses the last two by a combined 71-6 and you've got a rookie head coach, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

Suspicions Now that the Olympics are over, the Chinese female gymnasts are returning to school - except for the three who are returning to preschool.

Clearing barriers You get the feeling that the LPGA's problem with South Korean players isn't that they can't speak English; it's that they win too many tournaments. Maybe they can't talk the talk, but the Asians walk the walk.

Timeline Southern California, which visits U.Va. today, last opened its football season on the East Coast four years ago. The Trojans beat Virginia Tech 24-13 in Landover, Md., then rolled to the BCS title.

Nit picking I wouldn't go so far as to call USC vs. U.Va. a "big game," as I've heard it described on radio and TV. That description is best reserved for match-ups where the result is more in doubt. I'd call today's game a "major attraction," sort of like a parade, with U.Va. playing the role of the float.

Lonely As Labor Day approaches, the first-place Rays are refusing to fade, which is more than you can say for the Tampa Bay ticket-buying public. Thursday night, the Rays won again before a home crowd of only 14,039. It was their sixth consecutive home game with fewer than 20,000 people in attendance.

On the trail As Barack Obama's personal aid or "body man," former Duke pass receiver and walk-on basketball player Reggie Love stays by the candidate's side on the stump, in the air or during pickup hoop games. Love, who has a good pair of hands, is doing his part to see to it that Obama doesn't drop the ball.

SOS In Friday's Pilot, columnist Kerry Dougherty said long lines, chaotic overcrowding and exorbitant concession prices at Denver's Invesco Field made life uncomfortable for those in attendance at Obama's oration. NFL fans can relate. They put up with that at every game.

Reality check Somebody with the Chargers needs to be the adult and protect Shawne Merriman from himself before the linebacker loses his battle of wounded knee.

Suggestion If everyone agrees that women's beach volleyball owes much of its popularity to the players' two-piece swimsuits, maybe something like that would work for the WNBA.

Add suits Think the preceding comment was sexist? Don't go there. Not when beach volleyball players blatantly try to appeal to sexists by exposing so much skin.

Futurewatch At the rate the International Olympic Committee is adding goofy, trendy sports, by the 2016 Summer Games I will be disappointed if America doesn't win gold in beer pong.

Twinkle toes If you hear reports of strong tremors in Southern California, it may only be Warren Sapp rehearsing for Dancing With the Stars.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373 bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com