And baby makes three.

James Franklin signs on to Spurrier’s division record only proposal.

I’ll say it again – keep an eye on this, if more coaches back it.  It smells like a power play.

*********************************************************************

UPDATE:  At least one coach hasn’t changed his tune.

Richt on Finebaum re: Spurrier wanting division games to determine division champs said depending on sked, "he may change his tune on that."

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) May 11, 2012

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“We will not try to compete with the NFL at all.”

The USFL is reincarnating as a spring development league.  Per its CEO,

“We will play in markets where there are no NFL teams or major league baseball teams. It’s a league for guys who are on the bubble for making NFL teams, and we will have complete open access for the NFL. We want to build a model that is sustainable.”

It’s looking to locate its franchises in markets that are college football oriented.  And while it’s not going to pay NFL-level salaries to its players (the league will own all the player contracts), it is going to pay all the players.

Hmm… development league… college football oriented… paid players…

Just a thought here, but maybe somebody at the new league ought to think outside the box a little and consider waiving the NFL three-years-out-of-high-school eligibility rule.  Not only would that give kids who don’t want to go to college an outlet to pursue their pre-NFL careers – break up dat ol’ NCAA plantation! – and give the new league a big marketing splash, but it would also be in keeping with the spirit of the original USFL.

And it wouldn’t cost the NFL a damned penny more than it’s paying now towards the development of 18- to 20-year old kids.

Makes too much sense, right?  Ah, a man can dream sometimes.

The new covers are here! The new covers are here!

Steele’s, that is.  Here’s what graces the SEC edition.

Lookin’ good, Mr. Jones.

And don’t get too bent out of shape about Alabama getting its own version.  It’s a special edition – more pictures, less content.  Think of it as a sort of Playboy in reverse.

Would it matter if Penn Wagers could communicate better?

Admittedly, this sounds like faint praise, but I always thought Steve Shaw deserved his reputation as one of the SEC’s best officials.  But I’ve just got to chuckle at the idea that outfitting SEC refs with a wireless communication system is going to make a whit of difference out there.

… The NCAA football rules committee allowed the SEC and Big Ten this spring to test the system, which international soccer referees have used for several years. Wearing a small earpiece and microphone, the seven football officials didn’t have to huddle to discuss penalties and could engage in pre-snap conversations to catch possible infractions.

Great.  Penn Wagers and company will be able to discuss whom they want to slap with a penalty even before the play commences.  We are witnessing the birth of true cutting edge officiating.

And I’m sure this stuff works brilliantly.  After all, it’s been tested on the stage of the world’s biggest sporting event.

Vokkero, a European company, initially developed the system called VOK-REF in 2005 based on specifications from the French Professional Football League and French soccer referee committee. The device was used in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup.

Yeah, the 2010 World Cup, a classic example of better officiating through science.

I can’t wait.

Bill Hancock’s “jes’ folks”

Flashing the low-key bullshit that’s endeared him to millions, the BCS Director spins the current battle over playoff formats like so (h/t One Foot Down):

“… But generally, there’s up sides and down sides to everything. Obviously if you have 1, 2, 3 and 4, you’ve got a pure bracket: 1 versus 4 and 2 versus 3. But if you take the conference champions — the top four ranked conference champions — then the regular season, which is the best in sports anyway, may mean even more. But then you would have a question about, ‘Well, what about No. 2 Alabama?’ This year, if it had been the conference champions, it would’ve been teams ranked 1, 3, 5 and 10. And is that what the public wants to see? I really don’t know. From what I’ve heard, folks are about divided 50/50 on it.”

“Folks”.  You.  Me.  Jim Delany.  Mike Slive.  Yeah, that’s it – we’re all getting together tonight after work to discuss this stuff over a few beers.  (Maybe we can reach a consensus, although Jim said he couldn’t stay late… said he had some shopping to do, although I always thought he was big on re-gifting.  But I digress.)

Who’s kidding who here?  The folks who think it would have been swell to have the tenth-ranked team dropped in to a playoff ahead of six teams ranked higher are Delany and the people to whom he would have cut those postseason checks.

Bill Hancock really should get out more.  Or blather less.

Friday morning buffet

Congrats, you made it!  Now have some football.

• Quayvon Hicks thinks Zander Ogletree is a “great man”… just not a big man.  (Seeing as Hicks just won a state title in the discus throw, I’m not gonna argue with him.)
• North Carolina’s ACC peers aren’t very happy with its Butch Davis-era NCAA violations.
• Michael Elkon confirms that I made a good decision not to listen to the absurd Buzz Bissinger debate (using the term loosely) about banning college football.
• But I sure as hell would have tuned in for this:  Leach said, “I would have massacred those people. I would have loved to been part of that debate.”
• Mark Richt has some thoughtful observations about concussion safety and where football might be headed as a result.
• Boise State may be having second thoughts about joining the Big East, in part because the TV money may not be there.
• Years after the demise of the Blue-Gray Game, it looks like Montgomery will be hosting a new “College Football All Star Game”.
• Derek Dooley, Roy Adams and Adolf Hitler.  Who says Tennessee football isn’t fun?

Tom O’Brien, in good standing with the Almighty

Showing a cynicism well beyond his years, Kenderious Whitehead had this to say about the coaches he spoke with during the recruiting process:

“All the coaches were nice. They are going to say and do anything to get you there. Of course, they are going to be nice to you. It’s all a game.”

Interesting how that attitude and God (“The funniest thing that said is that they can get me to the league, to the NFL. That was pretty funny. It was a number of coaches that said that. It was funny because nobody can get me to the NFL but me and God.”) took him to NC State of all places.  Hallelujah!