Running off at the typewriter. …

The swirling controversy surrounding Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, the Miami Dolphins' first-round draft pick, is essentially why the Florida Gators never considered hiring Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze.

Remember when the Gators fired Will Muschamp and everybody just assumed Freeze — the charismatic, offensive-minded head coach who turned around Ole Miss' perennially puny program — would be the No. 1 candidate for the UF job. Turns out, Freeze was never even considered because of the rumors and rumblings involving an NCAA investigation that was announced shortly after the Gators hired Jim McElwain.

Many of the concerns about Freeze focused on Tunsil, who was suspended for seven games during his junior season for receiving a bevy of improper benefits, including the use of three loaner cars over a six-month period and a $3,000 interest-free loan.

The heat obviously got turned up on the Ole Miss investigation after Thursday's draft-night fiasco in which Tunsil's Instagram and Twitter accounts were apparently hacked and a screen grab of a text appeared to show Tunsil requesting money from an Ole Miss assistant athletic director.

After Florida hired McElwain, UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley told me that some potential coaching candidates had been eliminated because of character issues. Although Foley never mentioned Freeze by name, it's quite clear now why the Ole Miss coach was never a candidate to coach the Gators. …

Short stuff: Speaking of coaches with character issues, did you see where five of the top 20 picks in the NFL Draft were from Urban Meyer's Ohio State program? … Getting drafted in late in the first round by defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos was a godsend for University of Memphis quarterback and Deltona Trinity product Paxton Lynch. This is like graduating from cooking school and getting a job as the head chef at Emeril's. ... A Moment of Silence, please, Blackie Sherrod, the legendary sports columnist of the Dallas Morning News, has gone to That Big Pressbox in the Sky. Three of Blackie's best lines: (1) On legendary quarterback Bobby Layne's car accident: "After indulging in some heavy, late-night research with scholarly friends, Bobby was driving back to his hotel, innocently enough, when he was sideswiped by several empty cars lurking at curbside." (2) On leveling the playing field: "In a perfect world, a fair world, Bob Hayes should be forced to carry a small calf on his shoulder when he runs the dashes, Mark Spitz would swim with a sea anchor and Ella Fitzgerald must sing every note with a mouth full of Tootsie Rolls." (3) On an unknown tomato can fighter: "He has everything a boxer needs except speed, stamina, a punch, and ability to take punishment. In other words, he owns a pair of shorts." …

Miami Marlins second baseman and defending NL batting champion Dee Gordon, who grew up in Windermere, gets suspended 80 games for PEDs in the same season Barry Bonds becomes the Marlins new hitting coach. How long until Gordon claims somebody spiked his flaxseed oil? … I would like to take a mulligan on the column I wrote recently about how the Magic should consider bringing back Dwight Howard. After watching Howard and the Rockets' pathetic performance against short-handed Golden State in the first round of the playoffs, it's clear the Dwight of old is now sadly just an old Dwight. … NFL to NBA in the wake of Steph Curry, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin exiting the playoffs with injuries: "Geez, guys, you really need to do something to make your sport safer." …

Speaking of the NFL: When a federal appeals court upheld Tom Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension, did Roger Goodell do a celebratory end zone dance before spiking a law book at Robert Kraft's feet? … Will people quit complaining about the name of our new Camping World Stadium. Just think of all the advantages: (1) Toasted marshmallows sold at concession stands. (2) Night-game tailgaters catching lightning bugs in jars and sitting around the fire telling scary stories. (3) Forgoing the constraints of rest rooms and relieving yourself anywhere you want. … Did you see where Skip Bayless is leaving ESPN? Admit it, you're going to miss him. … You know who else I'm going to miss? Orlando City defender Aurélien Collin, who was traded Friday to the New York Red Bulls. So long, my beloved bald brother.

Open Mike

Don't forget, you can click on OrlandoSentinel.com and read the wildly popular Open Mike blog and interactive extravaganza to get my freshest takes on what's happening in the world of sports. Here's a blog about a new corporately named football stadium:

The name change is now official, but you can't change our minds and our memories.

Even though it was announced earlier this week that our venerable, old Citrus Bowl is now the newly named Camping World Stadium and will host the renewal of the Florida Gators. vs. Miami Hurricanes rivalry in a couple of years; it will always be the Citrus Bowl to longtime Floridians.