Tanned, rested and ready

South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia is keeping his nose clean and his hair cut.

And while the school is saying all the cautiously correct things…

There has been speculation Garcia could be allowed to rejoin the team earlier if he completes the requirements. But USC athletics director Eric Hyman has given no indication he would lift Garcia’s suspension before Aug. 15.

“You know what the plan is,” Hyman told reporters this week. “You’ll have to go back to the university and the guidelines that he’s been asked to follow.”

… you know what Spurrier is thinking.

… If the 6-foot-2, 221-pound Garcia rejoins the team, he will begin the fall behind Tommy Beecher and Chris Smelley on the depth chart. Spurrier tabbed Beecher his No. 1 quarterback after a spring game that featured erratic quarterback play and a combined eight interceptions by Smelley (five) and Beecher (three).

Beecher has not started a game since his senior year at Concord (N.C.) High in 2004, while Smelley was 4-2 as a starter last season before Blake Mitchell reclaimed the No. 1 spot.

Sounds like a tough battle ahead.

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A little love for Rodney Garner

Rodney Garner gets some respect from Dennis Dodd – as the best defensive line coach in the country.

And these’s nothing like a quote from Colt Brennan to support a point.

“The SEC is probably the fastest conference in all of college football, and we got a first-hand taste of that tonight,” Brennan said after the final college game of his career.

Garner helped make it that way. The 41-year-old is at the pinnacle of his career. The Bulldogs are a trendy pick for preseason No. 1 based largely on a dominating second-half defensive performance in 2007. Georgia’s defense led the SEC with 42 sacks last season. Defensive end Marcus Howard became the Sugar Bowl’s first defensive MVP in almost 30 years. All-SEC defensive tackle Geno Atkins might be the next great one produced by Garner, who is entering his 11th season coaching Georgia’s defensive line.

Duke football: in their hearts, they know they suck.

The Wiz links to this rather amazing story about a lawsuit filed by Louisville against Duke as a result of the latter’s backing out of a four game contract to play.

What’s remarkable isn’t the suit itself, but Duke’s defense to Louisville’s claim for damages.

… The contract called for a penalty of $150,000 per game if a date with a “team of similar stature” could not be arranged.

Duke’s lawyers argued the Blue Devils, which have a record of 6-45 over the past five seasons, were so bad that any team would be a suitable replacement.  [Emphasis added.]

That turned out to be a winning strategy, as the court ruled in Duke’s favor.

“At oral argument, Duke (with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty) persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower. Duke’s argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville.”

Kentucky courts interpret contract terms “according to their plain and ordinary meaning” barring any ambiguity. According to Shepherd, finding a suitable replacement literally meant any NCAA Division I team would suffice – including those in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA.)

How quick do you think this gets incorporated into rivals’ recruiting pitches?

“She’s had a number of unnerving experiences with the pirate.”

A quote like that could only come from one guy.

(h/t The Wizard of Odds)