Something to build on

A reader sent me this link to an article about Georgia’s offseason training program.  Suffice to say, there’s a little more to it than this:

I don’t know if the staff is planning any changes to the program this coming summer, but this comment from Kyle Hobbs is worth noting:

For those individuals who believe that we should have maxed tested before starting the program it is important to note that the PREVIOUS SUMMERS numbers were all time PR’s for every athlete. Our training cycles are dictated by many factors that are outside of the Strength and Conditioning Coaches control. That is why it is stated that summer is our most productive training time in regards to maximal strength development. I would encourage others to track personal results of this program to provide a more in depth analysis of the long-term success of the program. We used it and saw great results in a short time frame; this would indicate even better results in a longer time frame.

We’ll see, come the fourth quarter against Boise State.

Confidence is high.

If you need a reminder of why there’s a down part to Travis Fain’s chart, look no further than this ringing endorsement from Alec Ogletree about the candidates to succeed him at one of the safety spots:

“It’s a great opportunity for both of them to get much more playing time,” Ogletree said. “Since I left, it just opened it up for them. I guess whoever does the best job will win out. I’m pretty sure both of them can still play.”

Well, as long as he’s pretty sure.

I can’t quit you, baby.

Travis Fain’s offseason emotion chart is classic.

“We don’t want those kinds of cost-benefit analyses going on.”

Dennis Dodd drops a couple of new Tatgate items on us.

First, “Ohio State officials were aware Jim Tressel had forwarded sensitive emails to quarterback Terrelle Pryor’s mentor in Jeanette, Pa. during an initial March 8 press conference, a source close to the situation told CBSSports.com on Thursday.”

Second,

… CBSSports.com learned that Ohio State did not lobby for the six suspended players to play in the Sugar Bowl before beginning their suspensions in 2011 beyond a simple “request” to the NCAA. The student-athlete reinstatement principle that allowed those players to participate against Arkansas has its roots in an obscure 7-year-old guideline approved by the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet in 2004.

“We just self-reported and made the request,” the source said.

The “obscure guideline” has been summarized by the NCAA as follows:

… This policy was developed and implemented by the Division I membership, specifically the Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement and approved by the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet, in 2004. It allows for suspending a reinstatement condition in specific instances involving NCAA championships or bowl games.  It recognizes the unique opportunity these events provide at the end of a season, and they are evaluated differently from a withholding perspective for student-athlete reinstatement. In the Ohio State situation, the facts are consistent with the established policy.

We now see Greg McGarity’s mistake with regard to the Green suspension.  Georgia would have been better served stalling the NCAA’s investigation until season’s end, when Green’s fate could have been determined through the filter of postseason play.  That’s some incentive to cooperate.

I’d get angrier about this, except that it’s what we’ve come to expect.

Which is why, once again, Mark Emmert proves his cluelessness every time he opens his mouth.  The NCAA’s biggest problem isn’t a threat to integrity.  It’s that we’re losing our sense of shock.