Toomer’s Corner and the little picture

No doubt I’m sensitive to this sort of talk after Dennis Dodd’s epic “the only damage caused by Damon’s panties was to the school’s reputation” column, but can we please, please dispense with this sort of overwrought logic?

… It’s not a reach to say that over the last 24 hours, the University of Alabama has suffered its worst black-eye since George Wallace stood in the school house door. From CNN to ESPN to NBC News with Brian Williams, Alabama and its reputation has been carpet bombed from one end of the country to the other.

It’s not a reflection on the school that Harvey Updike is borderline certifiable.  As far as I know, he has no official or unofficial relationship with the university.  Whatever tenuous linkage exists is completely in the mind of Al from Dadeville.  So don’t blame the school.  I’m not even sure you can blame the culture (although, admittedly, it’s tempting).  Sometimes people behave like complete assholes simply because they’re complete assholes.

One big happy

Via Roll ‘Bama Roll:

Feel the love.

If Saban got any farther separation, he’d be outside the frame.

Friday morning buffet

Tender, succulent morsels of news for you…

• Nice story about the end of Art Kehoe’s exile from Miami.
• So far, the Pac-12 hasn’t been able to entice ESPN into throwing big TV money at it.
• Mark Cuban has formed a limited liability company.  For some reason, that’s being treated as big news.
• Somehow I’m not surprised to learn that on average it takes the NCAA 11 months from the time an investigation is launched until the offending school receives a notice of allegations.
• Two members of the Idaho Board of Education voted against giving Boise State’s Chris Peterson a $35,000 bonus and $50,000 raise.  Tough crowd.
• Meet Clarence Clemons, talented college offensive lineman who still loves the game.
• Arkansas State now has Josh Jarboe and a Kiffin in its ranks (h/t Chip Towers).  What could possibly go wrong?

“The goal is to never make a promise you can’t keep.”

So, Greg McGarity is ready to go to the mats with Bernie Machen.

First-year UGA athletics director Greg McGarity is strongly opposed to the practice of oversigning football prospects and in favor of legislation to help curtail such activity among SEC institutions.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” McGarity told Dawgs247 this week…

… According to McGarity, “I think it will be a topic for discussion (at SEC meetings) in Destin this year.”

“I think you will see controls in place,” McGarity said. “Now what that model will look like will be determined later — sooner than later. … I think you’ll see it being dealt with at the conference level much like the Big Ten (Conference) deals with it currently.”

I think he’s optimistic.

Here’s his problem.  Mark Richt is on the side of the angels when he says,

“The goal is to never make a promise you can’t keep,” Richt said. “That’s the big thing for me. If there’s a kid that you say, ‘Hey look, we are at our number. Those numbers change. There’s attrition. Things happen,’ but the hard thing is when you sign a guy in February and then you don’t have to declare your number until school starts, and you know there may be some attrition in the meantime. … To say that it wouldn’t have nice to have one or two other guys that you thought could come in and make an impact on your football team, that’s the tough part.”

And McGarity adds some pretty strong language to that.

“I think the thing you focus on is, ‘What kind of conversation are you having with these young men and their parents up front? Are you making them aware of all the dynamics that could occur?’ I think the majority of the time that’s probably not the case.”

But that’s not what the debate is going to focus on (too bad, in my opinion).  The fight is going to be over competitive disarmament.

… In the Big Ten, teams are restricted from recruiting more than the 85 players. This has led to cries that Big Ten schools continue to play against a stacked deck when it comes to the SEC, which has an ongoing five-year streak of BCS titles.

“No question it gives the SEC a big advantage,” former Ohio State coach John Cooper recently told The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. “And let’s face it — they don’t need another advantage.”

If McGarity does the math, it’s a loser for him to allow the debate to proceed on those terms.

… Auburn actually signed 32 prospects in Feb. 2010, months before winning the BCS national championship. Alabama, the previous national champ before Auburn, signed 32 players in Feb. 2008.

According to Oversigning.com, a Web site designed to raise awareness of this topic, in addition to Alabama and Auburn, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee have all reportedly logged classes of 30 or more football signees in the past five years.

That’s seven schools right there.  Add the Hat in, and you’ve got a solid majority that’s going to fight giving up the right to sign half of the world in February.  One thing you can say about Mike Slive is that he’s not the kind of guy who expends a lot of political capital on a losing cause.  My bet is that the most we’ll see in the short run is some fairly meaningless window dressing.  The SEC ain’t the home of the cowbell compromise for nothing.