Damon gets some advice.

The next UGAAA Board of Directors’ meeting ought to be a lot of fun.

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UPDATE:  Groo makes some points in response to Mr. NeSmith’s editorial.

Also, this whole “reduce everything to money for motivation” thing smacks me as at least a little insulting if I’m Richt.   He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would respond publicly to NeSmith’s opinion piece, but I still found this tidbit in Ching’s blog yesterday relevant:

Someone also asked him about the suspension of the three Georgia basketball players and how the new academic policy that brings game punishment when players don’t attend classes affects things. He said he doesn’t think the policy affects recruiting because he’s never met a parent who doesn’t want them to try to make their children attend class. There’s a bonus written into his contract (which he said he didn’t ask for) that nets him a little extra green when the team meets certain academic standards, but he said that has never been a motivating factor for him.

Here’s a snippet of what he had to say:
“I’m not gonna work any harder to get these guys graduated because of a bonus or because of a policy. My intention from the first day I got to Georgia is to do everything we possibly can to support these guys and motivate these guys and discipline these guys if need be to take care of their academic responsibilities. It doesn’t change the way we do anything.”

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Playoffs: Big Ten coaches no likey either.

Evidently it’s not just school presidents in the Big Ten that are opposed to playoffs, it’s some of the coaches, too.

“I’ve been a believer that every week in college football is a playoff,” Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. “The advantages (of a playoff), in my mind, aren’t as good as the disadvantages. I like things the way they are…”

Somewhat surprisingly, OSU head coach Jim Tressel is opposed to a D-1 playoff, even though he’s quite familiar with a playoff format from his days as head coach at Youngstown State.  Here’s his rationale:

Tressel was asked why a playoff can work at the Championship Subdivision and Divisions II and III levels, but not with the major-college programs.

“There’s two factors,” he said. “One, not too many of our guys at Youngstown State were going to go on and have much of a career beyond college football. Adding another game and another game and another game was adding to their football careers, which is a good thing.

“But the bodies in I-AA weren’t as big while colliding into each other. So the risk factor of the size and speed of people at the top end is a factor (in not having a playoff). At I-AA, II and III, there isn’t that factor.”

I like the point about adding to football careers, although it’s not like every senior on a D-1 team is going to play on Sundays, either.   But the “risk factor” argument seems kinda silly – if that’s a concern, playoff proponents I’m sure would just argue that could be countered by reducing the number of regular season games.  Also, it doesn’t seem to have bothered the three BCS conferences that have added championship games to their seasons.

That being said, it is kind of interesting that Tressel threw that out in light of Lloyd Carr’s previous comments about changing the clock rules to limit the number of plays in a game – especially considering that Carr is in favor of a playoff format.  So maybe there’s a little tweaking a rival’s nose in all of that.

Vandy-Georgia: Cliffs’ Notes keys to the game.

This won’t take long.

1. Focus.
2. Score first.
3. Focus.
4. Don’t let this happen.
5. Focus.

Georgia should win, but nothing would surprise me at this point.