Talking to the enemy

You get a little idea about media perspective when you see a silly piece like Robbie Andreu’s about coaches… talking.

The other day Urban Meyer and Mark Richt were standing together outside one of the meeting rooms engaged in a friendly conversation for about 10 minutes. Given their past history, this was one of the highlights (and most surreal moments) of the week.

Yes, it’s so strange to see two grown up human beings – okay, football coaches – conversing with each other for a few minutes without engaging in fisticuffs or body slamming.  What exactly did Andreu find surreal about their interaction?  Just because they’re competitors on the field doesn’t mean they can’t be civil off of it.  Sure, there are coaches who by their nature generate a certain amount of personal animosity, but you can say that about people in any profession.

Besides, Richt was probably just getting Meyer to retell the Jeremy Fowler story.

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Ring my bell.

So the SEC announces its grand compromise with Mississippi State on the cowbell front.

“(The modification is) recognizing the tradition at Mississippi State,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. “We’ll provide the opportunity of the use of cowbells at Mississippi State so long as they’re used at the appropriate times.”

Those appropriate times will be pregame, halftime, between quarters, timeouts, after scores and during possession changes — basically, whenever music can be played over the speakers. The rule is specific to schools with traditional artificial noisemakers and will only be in place at that school’s home venue — essentially, Mississippi State only.

Failure to comply could expose the school to fines from the conference.  Judging from the comment thread to the linked article, that increase in SEC revenue is going to come in handy.

About those 40 times…

If you’re wondering how so many of those kids at Georgia’s spring combine were able to turn in 40-yard dash times that would make Usain Bolt jealous, take a look at Tim Tucker’s description of how the staff measures dash times:

A measure of linear speed. The players will sprint 40 yards as fast as they can. They are timed from their initial movement through the finish line. Each player is timed by four different coaches. Each player gets two attempts, with their best time recorded. [Emphasis added.]

In other words, a player starts and then a stopwatch is clicked.  In Bolt’s world, the runners wait for a signal and both they and the clock start from that.  How much of a difference in time results from that?