Big Dawg better watch his pups. To hear new athletic director Todd Turner tell it, the future is now for University of Washington athletics. Quote to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “I’m not terribly concerned about past, I’m really more focused on what lies ahead.”

Ah, before Turner shuts his playbook on the past, he might want to check out the lawsuits filed by former football coach Rick Neuheisel and former softball coach Teresa Wilson. They’re still pending. Also, they serve as a reminder that Washington athletics stepped in a big pile of stink last school year, for the second time in a decade. Neuheisel was fired for gambling on NCAA basketball tournament games, Wilson for not knowing that her team physician was dispensing prescription drugs willy-nilly.

Turner had better be concerned about the sports culture at Washington that fostered the coaching problems.

On the other hand, Turner comes with the credentials that UW officials covet in the face of 2003-04 sports scandals – a squeaky clean record as athletic director at Vanderbilt, 17 years of experience and considerable time on NCAA committees dealing with such issues as academic reform and compliance. Time will tell if this Boy Scout will succeed where former AD Barbara Hedges failed.

Gas pains still not a deterrent. How high would gasoline prices have to go before American motorists started driving less? Higher than they are now.

The American Automobile Association released a survey on July 4 travel plans and found that more Americans are planning to hit the road this year than last. On Wednesday, the average price of a gallon of gasoline across the nation was $1.94. Last year at this time, it was $1.50.

The fact that Americans are generally not changing their driving habits is a clear signal that the current price isn’t unbearable. Oil companies and a certain Middle East cartel are surely taking notes. Motorists’ complaints ring hollow when they refuse to alter the one variable in their control: purchase less fuel.

Clinton busts Clinton. CNN reports that in his best-selling memoir, Bill Clinton inadvertently confirms what Monica Lewinsky told the independent counsel’s office: their affair began during the fall of 1995.

Problem is, Clinton told this to a federal grand jury: “When I was alone with Ms. Lewinsky on certain occasions in early 1996 and once in early 1997, I engaged in conduct that was wrong.”

The earlier time line means Lewinsky was still an intern, which makes his actions even that much more sordid.