Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

This may be the greatest violation of the First Rule of Holes by a head coach that I’ve ever seen. (h/t Graham Watson’s Twitter feed)

Coach McMackin, here seen objecting to the playing of the Village People's "YMCA" by the Notre Dame band.

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There will be a quiz on the materials.

Two excellent nuts and bolts pieces that should be of interest to every Dawg fan:

First, Paul takes a look at Georgia’s penalty situation last season.  He makes the case that while the volume of penalties isn’t that important to wins and losses, the timing sure can be.

Then read this post of Chris Brown’s over at Doc Saturday where he breaks down Oklahoma State’s offensive scheme.  It’s the usual great stuff you get from Chris, including my favorite line in the post:

The Cowboys’ best pass play last year was often “Just throw it up to Dez”.

We have been warned…

Have-nots, meet the haves.

What more can you say about this?

University of Alabama trustees approved $6.5 million in salaries for Crimson Tide football coaches in 2009. According to Equity in Athletics Data Analysis (EADA) reports compiled for the U.S. Department of Education, Alabama will spend more for its 10-member staff this fall than 32 Division I-A schools from outside the BCS leagues spent operating their entire programs in 2007-08, the most recent data available…

John Jancek and Mark Bradley: inquiring minds want to know.

Mark Bradley keeps bringing up the subject that John Jancek was named co-defensive coordinator in the offseason.  I thought the title was granted for compensation purposes, but Bradley seems to hint that there’s something else behind the move.

Anybody know if there’s something to that, or is Bradley simply talking out of his derriere?

The return of the Mumme Poll

The coach reflects on the poll outlasting his stint at New Mexico State.

I’m starting to get some questions about the Mumme Poll, both at the site and in e-mails, so I thought I’d take a moment and address them in a quick post.

• First off, yes, I plan on hosting the Mumme Poll again this year.  I thought the format proved successful last season, so I won’t tinker with it this year.
• No, you don’t have to be a blogger to participate (although bloggers are certainly welcome).  And, no, if you weren’t a voter last year, it doesn’t mean you can’t come on board this year.  If you’re a knowledgeable, interested football fan, you’re eligible.  That should include everyone who drops by GTP on a regular basis.  Except for the Russian spammers, of course.
• I am looking for a greater pool of participants than we had last year.  We started in the sixties and wound up with about half that at season’s end.  I’d like to get the voting pool up to around 100.  And I’d like it to stay there, so I’m looking for folks who will be motivated to stick around all season.
• I would really, really like more geographic diversity than we had the first go around.  While I didn’t see much evidence of Georgia bias in the voting, I still think it’s healthier to get perspectives from outside of the school, the conference and the region.
• The first official vote won’t take place until after the games of week six, with a practice vote after the games of week five, so you’ll have until then to decide to hop on board.

If you’ve got any questions, comments or suggestions, let me know.

Early 2009 betting lines

The Las Vegas Sun has a piece up on the betting lines for the biggest games of the 2009 college football season.

As you might expect, the Gators are getting a lot of love right now.

Florida, the heavy preseason favorite to win the national championship, commands some of the largest point spreads on the board. The Gators opened as a 24-point favorite against Tennessee on Sept. 19 and are favored by 22 points against Florida State on Nov. 28. The Gators are a favorite of 2-1 — or less — to win the national title in Las Vegas sports books. Florida even inspired a “yes/no” proposition at all Lucky’s books that allows gamblers to lay minus 240 (risk $2.40 to net $1) that it will not win the national title.

If you look at some of the lines on individual games, there’s some other stuff of interest.

• Bettors like Georgia Tech’s chances in the ACC.  The Jackets are listed as favorites against Clemson, Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech.
• Georgia is now a one point favorite in Atlanta against Tech, though.
• Ole Miss is favored against both LSU and Alabama.  And ‘Bama is the favorite against LSU, as well.
• The line most likely to change between now and game time?  USC is only giving six points against Notre Dame.
• A close second is Alabama -5 against Auburn.
• And that Ohio State -6 against Michigan might not be there, either.
• On the other hand, the Red River Shootout looks pretty solid with Texas as a one-point favorite.

Factoid of the day

This one goes out to every dolt who thinks the Georgia fan base is growing restless enough with Mark Richt to put him on a “hot seat”.

Fun fact: The Bulldogs are seeking their seventh 10-win season in nine years under Mark Richt. Georgia had seven 10-win seasons in 25 years under Vince Dooley.

We may get impatient now and then, but we ain’t stupid.

Thursday morning buffet

Lots of tasty morsels in the world of college football for your sampling pleasure:

• Let’s face it.  There are some things in life that are gonna make you smile.  Mike Leach talking about body piercing is one of them.
• Whatever the Pac-10 presidents saw in the new commissioner, detailed football knowledge wasn’t much of a factor.  Dude hasn’t attended a football game in more than a decade – and that was Harvard-Yale.
• Loran Smith says Jesus is to blame in part for Georgia Tech’s 1990 co-MNC.
• Speaking of Loran, I bet Jim Donnan wishes this had happened years ago.
• Plan E in Knoxville takes flight, as the casting call for walk-ons goes out across this great land of ours.
• And Junior may want to keep an eye on the NCAA’s probe into his mentor’s aggressive use of coaches in consultants’ clothing.  (h/t The Wiz)
• If ever a book title cried out for a snarky response, this is the one.
• Florida recruit decides that if the Gator staff requests that a verbal commitment be kept quiet, it may be time to look elsewhere.  (h/t Eleven Warriors)
• The wheels of justice may grind slowly for Jamar Hornsby, but they are grinding.