Fall is sacred.

I’m grateful to Junior for one thing.  By hiring away (now discarded) strength coach Mark Smith from South Carolina, he forced Spurrier to hire a replacement, Craig Fitzgerald.  And Fitzgerald, by God, is a freakin’ stickler for scheduling.

South Carolina’s football players get a break today from the summer strength and conditioning program.

But there will be no rest for Craig Fitzgerald.

The Gamecocks’ new strength coach will report at 5:30 a.m. to Palmetto Richland, where doctors will induce his wife, Mary, into labor. The couple, which is expecting its second son, should be home in time for Fitzgerald to make Monday morning’s weightlifting and running session.

“My wife’s pretty good (at) scheduling,” Fitzgerald said. “She has them in the summer, so we don’t miss workouts or anything.”

Now that’s what I call dedication to the job.  Way to crank ’em out, guys!

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Maybe he’ll wear a jersey during the hearings.

Senator Orrin “this isn’t just Utah that’s being treated unfairly” Hatch popped up on Washington Times Radio to reiterate his belief that the BCS violates antitrust laws… and to talk about Utah.

“The University of Utah was the only undefeated team last year, and they didn’t have a chance in the world of competing for the national title, and then they get there and defeat one of the teams that was No. 1 for most of the year. They killed them,” Hatch said.

It’s the courage to rise above personal concerns and focus on national issues that makes Hatch the political giant he is.  Or at least thinks he is.

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UPDATE: I almost missed this related whine from Utah’s gymnastics coach.

“I find it a bit ironic that the commissioner of the SEC expresses a concern about opportunities for student-athletes to compete for a national championship, yet supports the BCS system which eliminates that opportunity for so many,” said Utah coach Greg Marsden, who has been an advocate of changing the gymnastics championship format for about 10 years.

Man, these guys can milk it, can’t they?

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UPDATE #2: And the hits just keep on coming, comrades.

Summertime…

It’s the offseason, folks, so much of what’s going on in Athens is outside of the public eye – or even the coaches’ eyes.  But Tim Tucker’s got some quotes from a few of the players about what’s going on in summer workouts.

There’s still a lot of the we’ve-got-a-lot-to-prove and we’re-working-harder-than-ever quotes in the post, but I found it interesting to hear from Tavares King that Branden Smith is working out at wide receiver and looking like he might contribute some there this season.  Of course, it’s a long way to September…

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UPDATE: Marc Weiszer shares some more observations from the players.

What are the odds?

Steele’s got the odds to win the (Mythical) National Championship this year as posted at the Las Vegas Hilton up at his blog.

I can live with Georgia coming in at 60-1.  After all, at fifteenth on the list, that’s about where they’re appearing in the preseason polls [insert snarky comment here].  But Notre Dame showing three times more likely to play in the big one?  That ain’t right.

I’ll say it again.  If we don’t get a dream season out of the Dawgs this year, I really hope the consolation prize is a trip to a BCS game for them to play the Irish.  Maybe Jimmy can get some tips about playing one-handed from his brother.