Around the blogosphere, Vol. 1

This is the post you see on a blog when the blogger in question doesn’t have an original thought for the day, but instead decides to fall back on his or her web surfing skills. Well, hell, I can surf with the best of ’em, so here goes:

Our first entry comes from The Wizard of Odds, and it’s pretty damned cool. It’s a list of the cheapest shots of the year in college football. There are YouTube embeds to watch and a place to vote. Check it out. There’s a follow up post that includes the pop Tra Battle took from a UT coach on the sideline, to boot.

Number two is the revelation in a blog called the 12th Manchild that the new Secretary of Defense (that’s not a clever nickname for a defensive coordinator, by the way), Robert Gates, who has been serving as the President of Texas A&M, has been a closet lurker/poster on an A&M message board called TexAgs.com. It’s a little creepy seeing him refer to himself in the third person in some of his posts:

Ranger65: There is only one person standing between keeping this game on campus and going to Dallas — Dr. Gates. He has met with State Fair officials, with Regents, and knows what the Athletic Department and football coaches want. I am told he remains firm — and pretty much alone. While he might agree to one away game at the State Fair at which we play different teams — including but not limited to Tech — he is adamant against locking in the annual game with Tech there. I think you can take this to the bank: the annual meeting with Tech will not move to Dallas as long as Gates is President of Texas A&M. He has said not only that college games should be played on college campuses and that A&M students would be the losers, but I’m told he has said in private he would never agree to being locked into an annual competition that relgated us to a permanent second class status behind tu and Oklahoma. So, despite all the speculation on this board, don’t underestimate one tough SOB standing up for what he thinks is right.

Let’s hope Dr. Adams doesn’t get any similar ideas.

Next, if you’ve wondered how much time has actually been saved from the average college game this year as a result of the new NCAA clock rule, wonder no more. The guy at cfbstats.com (it’s in my Links section) has the answer, courtesy of The Wizard of Odds:

Conference…………..2005…………………2006
…………………………….G…..Time……….G…….Time….Min. Lost
Mountain West…..36…..3:28:18……36……3:02:12…..26:06
Pacific 10…………….40…..3:28:54……45……3:10:12…..18:42
Western Athletic…36…..3:20:48……36……3:04:18…..16:30
Big 12………………….49…..3:28:54……49……3:13:06…..15:48
ACC…………………….49…..3:27:06……49……3:11:54…..15:12
Mid-American…….48…..3:16:36*…..49……3:02:42…..13:54
Big Ten……………….44…..3:18:42……44……3:06:54…..11:48
C-USA………………..49…..3:17:12…..49……3:07:00…..10:12
Big East………………28…..3:24:30……28……3:16:00……8:30
Southeastern………49…..3:19:12……49……3:12:36……6:36
Sun Belt……………..28…..3:08:54……28……3:04:36……4:18
* missing game duration of Toledo-Ball State 10/15/2005

When I first saw the SEC numbers, I was puzzled, but the more I reflect on them, the more I lean towards being pissed, because I suspect CBS and Lincoln Financial, who carry the lion’s share of SEC broadcasts, used the new rule as cover to pad their commercial minutes. If that’s the case, shame on them both. The average national decrease in time was just under 14 minutes, by the way.

And to wrap things up, here’s one blogger’s eloquent take on the ‘Bama coaching search fiasco.