If you’re offended by our obnoxious moments, at least call them by their correct names.

I know this is being written from the Gator perspective, but still, “Florida/Georgia rivalry has life again”?  Somebody isn’t getting it – and I say that as a Georgia fan who suffered through one of the most miserable games in the series in ’09.  I’ve never seen anyone in Jax, garbed in orange or red, who didn’t want a win and didn’t suffer a loss unhappily in the aftermath.

Here’s the first of his five reasons for that:

The Gator Stomp — Georgia’s players rushed the end zone to celebrate running back Knowshon Moreno’s 1-yard touchdown run nine minutes into the 2007 game. Georgia coach Mark Richt is partly responsible because he told the players before the game that he wanted to see them celebrate raucously when the Bulldogs scored. He didn’t mean on the field, but that’s what happened. It sparked the Bulldogs to a 42-30 victory.

The “Gator Stomp”?  There’s your problem right there, bud.

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Is there anything more useless than media ombudsmen? Tits on a boar hog, maybe.

I know it’s ESPN, but regardless of what we think about the WWL, it at least likes to keep up the pretension of being a journalistic entity.  The problem is that its role as a provider of sports product virtually guarantees that conflicts of interest will crop up.  That makes it hard to play the role of neutral reporter with a straight face.  Hence the need for “independent” validation.

The network has struggled to use ombudsmen to whitewash its role in the Craig James-Mike Leach fiasco, with little to no success.  That’s not because it’s hard to be an ombudsman.  It’s because ESPN has left itself in an impossible situation with James.  There’s too much evidence out there.

So what do you do if you’re the Poynter Institute and you don’t want to offend the powerful organization that’s been signing your checks for the last eighteen months?  Easy.  You punt.

SI.com: The single question I get asked the most from readers about Poynter Review project is this: Craig James left ESPN with some unresolved issues including the assertion by some that he used an outside PR firm to impact news coverage at ESPN. Why has, or why did Poynter fail to address the Craig James situation and his role at the network after saying it would in a column on Sept. 2, 2011.

Dunlap: You would need to talk to Stephen about that.

Buckley: I think that’s a fair question, and if we promised we were going to write something, we should have. I think the audience asks a fair question, especially given that we did say we were going to. If we made a promise, we should have kept it.

Well, at least it was a fair question they chose to dodge answering.  Pat yourselves on the back for that, people.

“I really felt like we bonded in a big way – Coach Grantham and me.”

Scout’s Fletcher Page has an interesting piece on how Grantham goes about pitching the program to recruits.

Outside linebacker is the Swiss Army knife of Grantham’s defense –

In his two seasons with the Bulldogs, Grantham has had success with the strong and big-bodied Justin Houston and the athletic and fluid-moving Jarvis Jones.

He’s recruited players at the position that seem best suited for pass-rushing: Ray Drew (who eventually moved to defensive end), Jordan Jenkins, Josh Dawson and James Deloach.

He’s also scooped up versatile, athletic-types that possess coverage skills and don’t necessarily fit a certain mold: Ramik Wilson, Josh Harvey-Clemons and Leonard Floyd.

– and he makes that sell to recruits.

The sales pitch has been simple – yet masterfully calculated. If you can play, no matter your strength, Grantham will find a way to employ you. And he’s been hitting it off with recruits in the film room by being both optimistic and brutally honest.

Also, if I’m DeMarcus Ware, I think it’s time to start asking about royalty checks.