This week on the Double-A Zone:

•         Will the Tim Donaghy scandal impact the way you look at referees and officials in the future?  The ripple effect from former NBA Referee Tim Donaghy providing inside information to gamblers on games, including ones he officiated, is larger than the league. Impartiality is the most basic rule of officiating, and the high-profile violation sent shockwaves throughout the entire sports world, including intercollegiate athletics.

•         Before the Olympics get underway in Beijing next week, the Double-A Zone is turning its attention to American Olympians who have a connection to intercollegiate athletics.  This week we spoke with Brad Vering, a wrestler who will be making his second straight Olympics appearance. The 30-year-old Vering was a 2000 national champion and a three-time all-American during his undergraduate days at Nebraska, as well as a first-team NWCA all-academic selection.

•         Lindsey Luebchow took shots at the NCAA on her Higher Ed Watch Blog.  Luebchow mentions that the NCAA helps "encourage the professionalization of sports teams by emphasizing the value of athletic performance over academic achievement." Read this blog and find out what other things Luebchow got wrong

•         Ladies, get out your calculators, it's time to brush up on your parabolas. Last week the National Science Foundation announced the results of a recent study, finding that boys and girls performed equally on standardized math tests Just like women in athletics, the reason for the stellar academic performance is simple: opportunity.  Will we ever move beyond gender stereotypes in academics and athletics? 

•         Finally, recent Carnegie Mellon graduate Howard Smith reflects on the life and lessons of Randy Pausch.