Wednesday 17Feb Links
UGA could get the son of Phillip Daniels.
Former Georgia player Phillip Daniels has a son playing high school football right now and his name is Davaris Daniels. Daniels is a 4 Star WR out of Vernon Hills, IL and is the #5 WR nationally by Scout.com. With the Bulldogs losing Da’Rick Rogers and only landing two WR this year, it would be a wonder why UGA would not go after Daniels. Especially, since Daniels has came out and stated how much interest he has in UGA already. Here are some of his comments:
“I like the University of Georgia a lot. As far as the current program goes, I have not been following it a lot because they have not been showing too much interest quite yet. I grew up around Georgia football. My dad went there and it has always been a part of my life. I know Coach Mark Richt is the kind of person I would like to play for. What he does for his players and people around him is big.An offer from Georgia would be big. It would mean a lot to me since I grew up around it that program has always been in my heart. If the offer comes it will be a special moment.”
Just another reminder that the running game is important.
That’s Georgia’s record under Mark Richt when they post a 100 yard rusher. The three defeats coming in a 4 point loss against Boston College in 2001, a 7 point loss against Florida in 2002 and a 4 point loss against South Carolina in 2007.
Dancing in the Endzone has some interesting stats on UGA, FU and Bama. How much production each school has lost from 2009.
LSU and UNC to open 2010 season in Atlanta.
LSU and UNC to open 2010 season.
Overall, the Heels have the muscle to walk into the middle of the ring with LSU. That means coaching, preparation and sideline adjustments will likely determine who gets out of Atlanta alive.
So who would you rather have walking the sidelines in this one: Davis or Les Miles? And which of the two shoulders the most pressure to win?
The answer to both questions is Miles. As goofy as he can appear, Miles is far more accustomed than Davis is with coaching in big games. He takes risks. And many of them pay off. Those often decide a football game.
Daytona 500 Blowed Up
NASCAR continues to lose viewers.
The race portion of the 2010 Daytona 500, won by Jamie McMurray, drew a 7.7/16 fast-national rating and 13.3 million viewers on FOX Sunday — down 16% in ratings and 17% in viewers from last year (9.2, 16.0 mil), and down 25% in ratings and viewership from 2008 (10.2/20, 17.8 mil). This marks the lowest rated Daytona 500 since 1991 (7.6, CBS), and the least-viewed since 2000 (12.9 mil, CBS).
To put the numbers in perspective, the 2010 Daytona 500 ranks behind the 2009 NBA Finals on ABC (8.4, 14.3 mil), the 2009 World Series on FOX (11.7, 19.3 mil), the 2009 NCAA Final Four on CBS (9.1, 14.9 mil), the final round of The Masters on CBS (8.3, 14.3 mil), and the race portion of the Kentucky Derby on NBC (9.8, 16.3 mil), among others.
These ole boys need some tobacco chewin’, illegal liquor haulin’, brawlin’, hillbilly divers to reincarnate the sport. The spit and polish, corporate spokes-persons that now pass as drivers just are not interesting (to me).
God vs Alabama
Alabama continues to provide hours of enjoyment to the rest of the country. It seems that Saban has more Facebook fans than God. I suspect the recent idolatry on campus is the cause.
First of all who becomes a fan of God on Facebook? Do they think God has a computer or what? Omniscience/omnipresence has superior performance capabilities to dual 64 processors, I think. Then there is the idea that someone thought to check which diety had the most followers in the first place. Did anyone check Buddha? Krishna?
But in his blog he noted that God is “almost always in the top spot” in the South, with some exceptions. Oklahomans picked the Sooners first and God third, for example, and Florida favored Starbucks over the Almighty. Urban Meyer didn’t even make Florida’s list.
(HT: SEC Blog)
Tuesday 16Feb Nugs
The Capstone Report likes UGA in 2010.
#3 – Georgia Mark Richt is a proven winner who seems to have his back against the wall. He’s in a jam, at least from a perception standpoint. Still, I believe that the quality talent he’s pooled the last few years will begin to surface this season. Barring injuries, this is a team that will play Florida for the right to represent the East in the championship game. Richt’s Bulldogs may be good enough to win.
There’s been so much talk about a position switch. Did you think a lot about that, or were you a quarterback in your mind all along?
Gray: I’ve thought about it some. I think ultimately I just want to try to do what’s best for me and what’s best for our team and helping out the team. I’ve thought about it, and nothing has really changed, dating back to anytime really. I’m planning on playing quarterback. If it doesn’t work, I’m not, like, opposed to playing receiver or trying to play defense or whatever it may be. Ultimately I just want to try to help the team win and, you know, contribute.
Former Dawg preparing for life after football. His business website here.
Former Georgia football player Kedric Golston is going back to school this week. The Washington Redskins defensive tackle is among 77 players enrolled in the NFL’s business management and entrepreneurial program at the Harvard Business School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, according to the NFL.
Nick Marshall is Georgia’s top rated 2011 QB and UGA wants him. This family should be in the running for the all-name team anyway.
Georgia won’t likely to be the last school to offer a package deal involving Marshall in some form. Outlaw’s scholarship papers with Georgia become void after he enrolls at Georgia Military this fall. Other colleges may pursue Outlaw, who says he will remain loyal to Georgia but is technically free to sign anywhere in two years.
There is also Nick’s half-brother, Quez Mahoganey (6-3, 190 pounds), a promising sophomore who contributed on both sides of the ball in Wilcox’s Class A state championship run. The boys’ mother would love to see her sons follow the example of the Ogletree twins and play together in college.
“Since they were little boys, they’ve always been outside playing football or basketball,” Shalena Mahoganey said. “I just feel so blessed that Nick has the opportunity for a free college education. Being a single parent and raising [three] kids on my own, I thank the Lord for it. I say my prayers for them to stay healthy and I know everything will work out for the best for each of them.”
Latest Big 10 expansion rumor.
Nebraska isn’t a home-run addition like Texas or Notre Dame, but it would add another traditional power in football to the league. Although the Huskers aren’t what they were when Osborne coached, the program clearly is on the rise under Bo Pelini. Nebraska also fits geographically better than Texas, as Lincoln is less than 300 miles from Iowa City. The big drawback would be a small TV market and a state that doesn’t produce a ton of FBS players.
Monday 15Feb Links
UGA Athletic Association to have gross profit disposable revenue of $15 million this fiscal year.
The athletic association expects to rake in about $85 million this year, mainly from its football team, while paying out about $70 million in operating expenses, according to financial documents it released this month.
The big money in the UGA athletic budget comes from about $17.4 million in football ticket sales and $23 million in contributions from football fans, who can get better seats by paying more money.
UGA also expects to get about $15.2 million from the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA this year – much of it UGA’s share of a 15-year, $2.25 billion contract the conference signed with ESPN last year to televise SEC football, basketball and other sports.
According to UGA projections, the athletic association’s reserves could increase from about $56.8 million at the end of the 2009 fiscal year to $60.2 million when fiscal year 2010 ends June 30.
Orangeburg, S.C. paper has Clemson joining the SEC – maybe.
How would Clemson University’s football fortunes change if it were a member of the Southeastern rather than the Atlantic Coast Conference? Would it upset the balance in the state rivalry with South Carolina, whose fans say their team plays in the more difficult conference and that those battle wounds take a toll when it comes time for the in-state game?
Clemson … the school people say has all the trappings of an SEC school in the ACC?
It would seem to be a neat fit. The football stadium is SEC sized, the small-town atmosphere links well with places like Tuscaloosa, Ala., Starkville., Miss., and others in the SEC, but would the SEC want Clemson?
Clemson has the No. 36 television market in Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville, but might be viewed as the most logical expansion while enhancing an already attractive rivalry with SEC neighbor South Carolina.
Glass Almost Full
Cousin Walter at Football on the Brain has an excellent (as usual) post that looks at the Dawgs prospects for 2010. If one starts with the assumption that the defense will be improved, which he does, then a 10 win season seems entirely possible.
The schedule, the potential of having an effective running game, an experienced offensive line, a receiving corp that is now not only talented but experienced as well, and a new defensive coaching staff eager to prove its worth are strong reasons to be at least a little bit optimistic instead of crapping yourself and running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. Plus, 10 starters returning on offense and 6 on defense.
Let say that the defense can average around 20 points per game. In 2009 the Dawgs gave up 31.5 points per game against conference opponents and 17 ppg against non-conference foes. The schedule alone should allow UGA to cut those scoring defense numbers even without substantial improvement in the defense. I believe, however, that the defense will be improved and the 20 ppg goal is attainable.
What to make of the offense for 2010. Yes, the Dawgs will open with an inexperienced QB again but what other big question marks are there for the offense? Offensive fire-power is experienced and in place. Offensive line play should be as good as we have seen in some time. Aaron Murray, the likely QB starter, will have 2 spring and 2 summer sessions by fall. He is talented and should be ready. However, with a softer schedule and an improved defense all he needs to do is matched last years production (28.9 ppg).
Murray: We have an unbelievable offense for next season. You look at the offensive line; we have, like, seven or eight [players with starting experience]. The skill positions are unbelievable. It’s not going to be all on your shoulders. We have a great running game, two great young running backs. With that offensive line, we should put up some great numbers on the running game. So I really don’t feel that whoever wins the [QB] job is going to really have that much pressure on them because it’s a balanced attack. It’s not going to be like we’re going to go out there and throw the ball 40 times a game. We’re going to be able to hand the ball to our running backs most of the game and let them do the work. And with our great offensive line, I think we can make some big plays in the running game and let us do some play-action. That’s when you’re going to hit A.J. [Green] deep down the field.
Meyer Taking Leave
That’s right folks, Urban Meyer has begun his leave of absence.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Meyer was conspicuously absent from Florida’s Junior Day on Saturday, the first real sign that Meyer has started the break he admitted he needed to take.
The leave of absence will likely last no more than a month or so as Meyer has publicly stated that he will be back for the Gators’ spring practice. UF’s spring ball begins on March 17 this year, a mere four weeks and three days away.
Coach Urban Meyer was supposed to leave his office and start his leave of absence on Feb. 4, the day after National Signing Day. We all know that didn’t happen. Once defensive coordinator George Edwards bolted for the Buffalo Bills last week, Meyer spent the next eight days firming up a new defensive leader.
Interim coach Steve Addazio was publicly considered the point man on the deal to hire Teryl Austin, but this was very much a Meyer hire. He was heavily involved every step of the way.
After Austin’s hire became official Friday, it appears Meyer has finally begun the detachment process.
Anybody want to start a pool on when he’ll be back? I’ll take Wednesday.
Sunday Sermon
T. Kyle King says the PAC 10 must fatally cripple the Mountain West and Texas will not be joining the Big 10
The Pac-10 cannot merely injure the Mountain West as a potential BCS competitor; the Pac-10 must land a killing blow. Poaching Utah would leave a scar, but BYU must be grabbed, as well, if the West Coast league intends to remain the only perennial BCS power on the block. Cultural and religious objections to the inclusion of Brigham Young will not be enough to overwhelm the Pac-10’s justified fear of a Mountain West with a guaranteed major bowl slot.
Pac-10 expansion? Yeah, that’s a realistic possibility worth discussing. Texas moving to the Big Ten? That ain’t happening. The possibility of Texas moving to the Big Ten lighting a fire under the Big 12 commissioner to negotiate an SEC-style deal to have ESPN host its league-specific network? That could happen, but the ‘Horns aren’t headed to the Midwest. If there’s one thing folks in Austin value more than bulking up the athletic association’s bank account, it’s increasing the integer on the left-hand side of the Longhorns’ won-lost ledger. The Texas exes aren’t willing to sacrifice the latter for the former, nor should they be.
These folks have think they have the SEC East figured out.
With Florida’s tough schedule, Georgia could get in the mix for the East’s top spot with a little help from their SEC brothers, but Georgia may have to do some heavy lifting itself and lately they seem up to the task.
Bulldog fans are getting a little tired of always being “just a year or two” away from getting it all together and this could be a year that finally puts Mark Richt on a hot seat with yet another disappointing season.
Sure wins include Louisiana, Mississippi State, Colorado, Vandy, Kentucky and Idaho State. That gets them to six wins and an automatic bowl bid. A probable win at South Carolina gets them seven and that only leaves tough but doable games against Arkansas and Tennessee to claim second place in the SEC East.
An easier than Florida schedule could help and Georgia could easily be number two in the East and still be the fifth best team in the SEC.
The American Catholic has decided that the PAC 10 is the best conference. TAC says that the PAC 10 has more players currently in the NFL than the SEC. Its source for that assertion is Bleacher Report. Citing Bleacher Report as an authority is bad enough but when one reads the article one finds that:
According to profootballreference.com, there are a total of 177 players in the NFL from the Pac-10. For the SEC there’s a total of 254 players.
The author then plays a statistical shell game to find an imagined PAC 10 advantage. I talked to a confidential source in the Vatican and have it on high authority that the Pope is a Dawg.
Saturday Links
Great story – HT: UGABlog
Coach’s Hot Seat proposes a conference realignment. Tech takes UK’s place in the SEC and the ACC becomes an uber-conference.
As we said a few weeks a back in this blog we believe that the Big Ten would be smart to move to a 14 team league by adding:
Missouri
Kentucky
Rutgers
Pitt (if not Kentucky)
Same view different day. The cold white stuff is very unusual around here.
Football, Population and Genetics
MGoBlog is trying to understand why Big 10 schools have become less competitive with the SEC and Big 12. An argument can be made that no shift in football power has occurred – just a change in perception of the SEC but that is for another time. In his first attempt to rationalize the north/South shift the author suggests simple growth in population in the South as the answer.
While it isn’t quite a mainstream media opinion yet, many of us are believers that population density plays a major factor in relative college football team strength. In other words, the more people near a given school, the better the school’s football team should be—in the aggregate.
Of course, the most obvious test for this hypothesis is metropolitan New York City, the most densely populated area of the country. Theory fail.
Next he tries to explain why the population shift to the South occurred. He suggests the development of air conditioning made life bearable in our hellish climes.
The theory is that prior to the 1950s, Southern summers were simply not bearable to most Americans, so more chose to live in North and East than do currently1. As access to air conditioning increased, population density in the Midwest and Northeast rose, and advanced communications (reliable telephone, teletype, and fax machines here folks) connected the country; people were able to gradually move to the relatively cheaper South and West without losing connection to business centers while remaining comfortable in the summer months.
The article cited by the author does not mention the “theory” quoted above. The only reference to the South is:
Today, air conditioners have been said to be a partial cause for the changes in the South, and for most of us who have experienced its cooling benefits in times of searing heat waves, it is an invention that is hard to live without.
There has been a population shift from north to South in the U.S. Take a look around in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Those rusting hulks of former factories did not close because the workers left for the air-conditioned South. The workers moved on in search of jobs when the mills closed. The prosperous mill towns of the Midwest have, to a great extent, shrunk to a fraction of their former robust character. The middle and professional classes have migrated to Atlanta, Charlotte, Augusta and Macon as there opportunities shrank. Left are the old and those less able or less willing to pursue lives elsewhere – those communities are less prosperous. Those towns (and the schools supported by the taxes paid by the mills) were the wellspring of talent for the Big 10 and to a lesser extent some SEC schools into the early 1960′s. UGA’s Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich (1942) was from McKees Rock, PA and Charley Trippi was from Pittston, PA. There are many other examples.
My point is that neither air conditioning nor increased population is responsible for the upsurge of the SEC football. Increased affluence among the working classes in the South is a better explanation. The article correctly point to the percent of African-Americans in the South but fails to notice their astonishing increase in income since the 1950′s. Instead, he stumbles into blatantly racist drivel about genetic predisposition.
If blacks are genetically pre-disposed to be better football players (which the racial composition of college football suggests) then the large percentage of blacks may give Southern schools a demographic advantage not indicated by their population. NOTE: This is simply conjecture based on data available—I do not purport to make definitive claims about the genetic pre-dispositions of any race.
Are Dominicans genetically predisposed to be baseball players? How about Russians for hockey? Is genetics responsible for all those quarterbacks from the Pittsburgh area? Come on – it’s the 21st century.
The reasoning of the piece flawed at best, however, the conclusion is spot-on. Michigan football will find glory in the past rather than the future.
…the Bulldogs always beat Big 10 teams. We haven’t lost to a team that was a Big 10 member at the time of the game since the 1950s. Since then we’ve beaten Michigan (1965), Michigan State (1988), Ohio State (1992), Purdue (1999 and 2003), and Wisconsin (1997 and 2004).
NCAA Taunting and Concussion Rule Changes
If passed, players who draw flags for taunting gestures on their way to a touchdown would have the penalty assessed from the spot of the foul, taking away the score. Penalties that occur in the end zone would continue to be assessed on the extra-point attempt, 2-point conversion try or ensuing kickoff.
The change would take effect in 2011 and on the NCAA’s web site, a release said the proposal received near-unanimous support.
Team Speed Kills and I think this is a bad idea. The A. J. Green penalty last year during the LSU game is a great example of why this rule shjould not happen. Bad calls associated with the rule will happen at the most critical times in close games because that is when players (and refs) are most emotional. There is no review of a bad flag.
cocknfire, however, deserves a flag for his assertion that the rule is the result of the committee chair’s age (over 50).
Also proposed is a rule that requires an injured player to be cleared by a doctor before returning to a game and:
Other topics discussed at the meeting include:
” Television monitors will be allowed in the press box coaches’ booths beginning in 2011. The home team has responsibility for insuring that coaches’ booths for both teams have identical television capability.
” Requiring players who wear “eye black” to use solid black with no words, logos, numbers or other symbols. That will be effective next season.
” Ending the requirement that players’ pants always cover the knees.
” Eliminating the intentional “wedge” on kickoffs and punts, a rule the NFL adopted last season.
” Recommending conferences that do not have a pregame warm-up policy use a 10-yard, no-player zone between the 45-yard lines beginning 60 minutes before kickoff.
