I wonder what the poor programs are doing tonight.

Tucked in at the end of the AJ-C’s article on the $40 million expansion approved for Butts-Mehre (recession? what recession?) is this little financial tidbit:

… The board also approved a fiscal year 2010 operating budget of $71.4 million for the athletics association, up 12.2 percent from this fiscal year. Projected revenue for the 2010 fiscal year is $84.8 million, up 11.2 percent.

Much of the revenue increase is attributed to the new SEC television contract, which more than offsets a drop of $2 million-$3 million in contributions tied to football season tickets.

I’ll say.

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Shurtleff’s Antitrust Manifesto: does Glenn Beck want a D-1 football playoff?

Well, he’s gone and done it:  Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has announced he’s running for the U.S. Senate.

Let’s skip past the idea of whether we want a Senator who’s enamored of a loon like Glenn Beck, and check out a couple of quotes from the man who would be Senator.  Speaking of his incumbent opponent, Shurtleff said this:

“Instead of promoting principles of individual responsibility, he let us down and looked upon government as the solution,” Shurtleff complained.

Hell, yeah!  Bad dog! Get down, government!

Er… uh, except when the BCS isn’t spreading the wealth the way this politician would like.  Because he’s ready to bring that antitrust hammer down, sucka!  Up against the wall, greedheads!

… The BCS system involves millions of dollars a year of potential revenue to these institutions that could help replace dwindling taxpayer generated general fund monies. For the 2007-2008 bowl season, the BCS Championship Series distributed about $143 million in gross income for the twelve conferences participating in the BCS System. Two million dollars went to other miscellaneous distributees. Of that $143 million in gross income, 88% went to members of the six conferences with preferred eligibility to the Championship Series Bowls (with about 65 schools participating) and 12% went to six conferences with non-preferential eligibility (with about 54 schools participating). A similar split in the distribution of Bowl Championship Series gross income occurred in prior years. Additionally, the right of preferred entrance teams to act as the host venues for bowl games generates, according to the BCS, about $1.2 billion in secondary income benefits.

Damn the BCS’ individual responsibility, I say!  Full speed ahead!  A little socialism never hurt college football, right?

It’s getting easier to be a politician these days, I think.  These guys don’t even bother to keep their stories straight anymore.

Revisiting a Dawgy theme or two

For your lunchtime reading pleasure, here are a couple of links to pieces that touch on subjects I’ve just blogged about.

The Albany Herald reports on Richt’s Bulldog Club meeting in Albany yesterday, and has two quotes from the man relevant to that “Preseason of If” vibe I discussed:

“I really believe Joe is going to benefit from the mature offensive line,” Richt said. “He will probably have better protection than Matthew ever had in his career. Our runners will probably have a little more space than Knowshon ever had. If that is true, we could end up being as productive even though those guys are gone.”

I think he’s right about that. Offensive line play will be one of the two biggest keys to the season. Now if we can just get the starters sorted out, we’ll have something.

“Bottom line is if people build up inside we will go outside,” Richt said. “If we can’t make plays outside when people are determined to stop the run, then we will have big problems.”

For that, he will rely on freshman receivers Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten to instantly contribute, admitting the chance of either redshirting to be “very, very slim.”

No real surprise there. Let’s hope the talent comes through – quickly.

On another front, one that stirs plenty of passion among Dawg fans, Bulldawg Illustrated makes a good point about where fans’ attention should be drawn with regard to the Georgia-Florida game.

… If a fight absolutely must be picked, then lets pick one over the schedule. I’ll argue all day long that the schedule is more of a liability than the plane ride, the heat, the name of the stadium, or any reason given for moving the game.

Over the past 20 years, we’ve only had 3 open dates prior to the Florida game, whereas the Gators have had 13. Georgia is 4-16 over that time frame. Break it down over the last 4 years (Richt vs. Meyer) and Georgia won the game in which we have had an open date but Florida didn’t (2007). Florida won the two games in which they had the open date and we didn’t (2005, 2006). Florida also won when we both had games the week prior, but they played Kentucky at home and we played LSU on the road (2008).

If you want to bitch about something, how about this?

P.S. Take a look at our future schedules and, as they sit right now, 2009 is the last year Georgia has an open date before the Florida game until at least 2017.

You can never go home again?

Was Steve Spurrier’s speculation on Finebaum’s show about Urban Meyer leaving for Notre Dame the first step in a plot to engineer the OBC’s return to Gainesville?

All I can say is, if that’s truly the case, they don’t call him the Evil Genius for nothing.

Thursday morning buffet

Rise and shine, campers.

• Big 12 athletic directors to Mountain West Conference:  take a hike, son.
• Doc Saturday takes a sympathetic look at Mark Richt’s career to date, and repeats Michael Elkon’s timing meme.
• At Wisconsin, loose Internet lips sink recruit’s ship.
• As you read the “yes” part to this point-counter point piece on the FSU appeal, ask yourself this – what is it exactly that Diddy Bowden does these days?
• The Doc says the Weis wash out in the Notre Dame media guide is overblown, since you can turn the page, but the author of the original story that made the rounds notes in a follow up that Weis’ record is treated differently in the media guide than other coaches at the school.
• It’s Alabama football bloggers versus Brian Cook, the Rematch.  Pass the popcorn, please.
• Man, Michael Adams’ $250K under the table deal with Jim Donnan still steams me more than a decade later, but even I’ve got to admit that Kansas State’s former athletic director makes Adams look like a piker with this arrangement.
• Trinton Sturdivant checks in.