Paper trail

Reading the Twitter feeds from the various beat writers covering A.J. Green’s meeting with the press before practice today, I can draw one quick conclusion – when he says that he really didn’t think much about selling his jersey to Chris Hawkins, I believe him.

Consider that (1) he deposited the money he received from Hawkins into his bank account (2) provided the NCAA with copies of his bank statements when asked and (3) explained to the NCAA where the $1000 came from when they saw the deposit entry.  That’s not exactly how you’d expect somebody who knows better to act.

Which leads me to wonder what Georgia’s compliance staff has been doing all these years since Ringgate went down.

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UPDATE: I’m not holding my breath that he’ll actually do this, but if he did, it would electrify the fan base (not to mention his teammates and coaches).

… One of the top NFL draft prospects in the country, Green said there’s a part of him that feels like he owes the school and the fans another season.

“When I lay down sometimes, I feel like I owe the fans and maybe should think about coming back [next year],” said Green, a certain first-round selection if he comes out this year. “I just feel like I owe the fans for missing those four games.”

Wingin’ it.

Derek Dooley isn’t going to bring the maximum number of players he’s allowed to bring for a road game (70!) and he’s not going to bother with a Friday walk through at Tiger Stadium, even though he acknowledges that almost half of his team has never played at that venue before.

I’ve got to admit that’s different.  Maybe he’s hoping it’ll rattle LSU’s field goal kicker.

Technically speaking, he’s been in the arena.

Our fearless leader chimes in.

It’s not the criticism that’s amusing, it’s the deep insight about a solution that is.

Well, I’ve always hated the designated hitter rule.

One of the things that bothers me about the BCS/playoffs debate is how overwrought some playoff proponents get about the status quo.  Take for instance, this blurb about Dan Wetzel’s new book:

Every college sport picks its champion by a postseason tournament, except for one: Division I-A football. Instead of a tournament, fans are subjected to the Bowl Championship Series, an arcane mix of polling and mathematical rankings that results in just two teams playing for the championship. It is, without a doubt, the most hated institution in all of sports. [Emphasis added.] A recent Sports Illustrated poll found that more than 90 percent of sports fans oppose the BCS, yet this system has remained in place for more than a decade. Built upon top-notch investigative reporting, Death to the BCS at last reveals the truth about this monstrous entity and offers a simple solution for fixing it.

What I can’t figure out for the life of me is how D-1 college football can structure its crown jewel in such a despicable way and still survive.  Yet the sport not only hasn’t gone on life support, it’s thrived, as demonstrated by all the new TV money flowing its way.  So either college football enjoys having the most masochistic fan base on the planet, or the fans’ preference for a playoff – which clearly exists – is being twisted into something harsher by Wetzel.   (His “It’s So Easy” solution, by the way, is a 16-team playoff, which, he assures us, “can solve the problem while enhancing profitability”.  And, a pony.)  Or, he’s projecting.

Wetzel, of course, was pleased by the news that PlayoffPAC is pushing the IRS to investigate three of the BCS bowls’ non-profit status due to large salaries and other forms of compensation being paid to their officials, which led to this hilarious Twitter exchange between him and LA Times sportswriter Chris Dufresne:

Forget bowl CEOS: Pay for top 14 NCAA execs totaled nearly $6 million last year. Yeah, let’s turn FB over those guys!

Fiesta Bowl CEO earned less than half what NCAA prez hauls in annually. NCAA getting 11 billion for hoops and players dont have food money

I’m last person to defend the NCAA. Arguing which suit is more overpaid isn’t a legitimate debate

But that’s who would run a football playoff RT

And, the punchline, from Wetzel:

Who says NCAA would run it? They don’t have to. Altho I’ll say this, NCAA is great at running tournaments

Kinda gets that whole Mussolini-made-the-trains-run-on-time vibe going there, doesn’t it?  And that brings me back to another thing that makes me roll my eyes about another line from this debate – the idea that some sort of gross corruption exists which a playoff will clean up.  Please.  The money’s still going to be there, no matter what, thanks to us.  All the argument is about is who gets their hands on it.  New boss, same as the old boss.

Still, I’m sure he’ll sell a few books.

You had me at…

There’s a big difference between regression to the mean and regression.

The traditional Airing of Grievances begins.

And what, I ask you, would a disappointing start be without a little player disgruntlement about playing time?  Marcus Dowtin, come on down.

… Dowtin doesn’t think the coaches are comfortable with him on the field at all times, he said.

“Yeah, I would say I feel like they don’t trust me,” he said. “What their reasons are, that’s between them. But you know, like I said, I’m just asking that they keep coaching me and eventually one of those days give me a shot to do what I can do.”

There’s a little part of me that actually takes some encouragement from that, at least if it’s an indication that Grantham’s insistence on a return to a meritocracy to earn playing time.  And it’s worth pointing out that the two other inside linebackers he’s rotating with are Dent, who’s having an excellent year, and Robinson, who, while not being the strongest kid on the field, has shown a propensity to line up and run the play properly.

Dowtin did try to walk his comment back a little, but, still, that whole tirade comes off sounding like one of those “Damn, son, I don’t think I would have said that” moments.  Grantham and Belin don’t strike me as the types who celebrate Festivus.

Lost in the Penn Wagers Triangle.

I wondered about Washaun Ealey’s reaction on this play.

photo via Richard Hamm/Athens Banner-Herald

And this explanation is consistent with what I saw from him.

“When he hit me, I was a little unconscious, but I knew where the ball was,” Ealey said. “The referees blew the play dead before I could react to the fumble and the other team jumped on it, I guess, after the whistle was blown.”

I’m curious to know whether in fact a whistle did blow.  The officials on the field seemed to react initially as if one had, but were overruled by the replay official.  On the other hand, I didn’t see much of a protest from the Georgia sideline when the call was changed.

Think they’re checking with the SEC office on this one?  About all that’s lacking from this season’s great start is an opportunity to be Reddinged.