Today’s buffet tries to show more staying power than Vince Dooley thinks Isaiah Crowell had.
- One thing about Missouri’s defensive line to keep in the back of your head: “The average weight of the projected starters heading into fall camp is 262 pounds.”
- Mark Emmert’s no amateur, that’s for sure.
- Michael Elkon wonders why ESPN can’t take the same approach to broadcasting college football as it does with Euro soccer. He’s got a point – it’s a long way down from Ian Darke to Jesse Palmer – but it could be worse. Just ask Fox Sports.
- Karl Benson is one wild and crazy commissioner.
- cocknfire presents a well-reasoned argument on why a four-team playoff is just the right size and all I could think of as I read it was this.
- Welcome back, Brandon Burrows.
- And The Valley Shook posts an instruction manual for our new SEC brethren. My favorite bit of advice: “DO develop a hatred of the color orange. A&M already has a leg up in this area, so to help Mizzou out, we are sending 20,000 Tennessee fans to your campus. You’re welcome.”
- Evidently Georgia’s backup quarterbacks can kick every other SEC program’s backup quarterbacks’ asses. ESPN’s bloggers rank Aaron Murray as the second-best quarterback in the conference, but have Georgia’s quarterback group as tops in the SEC.
- Patrick Garbin offers us 20+ minutes of Munson’s classic broadcast of the ’75 Cocktail Party.
Get The Picture 
I have seen plenty of teams with small defensive lines give bigger lines fits if they are in shape and quick. Our advantage will be if we can run straight at them, something we haven’t done very well lately except for last year vs FLA. Don’t forget how Bean used to wave at quicker ends who ran around him to the QB on numerous occasions. This game scares me, given it is Mizzo’s first SEC game. We need to be able to run the ball and put their talented QB on his back to win.
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I seem to remember a lot of comments about how small/light Boise’s D-Line was last year too.
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The real key is what kind of depth they have. If they are experienced six or seven deep on the line then yeah, they won’t likely be a picnic.
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+1
Also, notice that they are replacing three starters on the offensive line just as we are. If I were Pinkel, I wouldn’t want to deal with Jarvis Jones, Cornelius Washington, Abry Jones, Garrison Smith and Jenkins/Geathers with 3 new guys on the o-line.
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That is exactly when Pinkel decided he needed a drink before going home, he had probably just left the film room. But with that said, we will be facing a very amped Mizzou team in Columbia. Passion fueled adrenaline is a great equalizer, our guys had better be ready to get punched in the face. I feel we will have the better team that night but playing their SEC debut at home after all the conjecture of the past year will have them sky high. Even little cats and birds are dangerous when they bring all they have. And like the Cocks, their depth issues will not show that early in the season.
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Good points. Let’s turn James Franklin into Jared Zabransky to get rid of the adrenaline.
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Or Colt Brennan
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Looks that way Mac. I just drove through Columbia MO earlier today on I70. There is a billboard series of about 10 billboards, showing off the new uniforms and logo that culminates with the message “We Are Ready It’s A New Era” and the SEC logo. It’s well done and pretty cool, and exudes an amped up fan base and team.
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Makes me want to strap on a helmet, clock is ticking away. Hope the team is as fired up as we all are.
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I have no idea who the Birmingham News is projecting as Missouri’s starters, but the average weight of DE Brad Madison (260), DT Sheldon Richardson (295), DT Lucas Vincent (295) and either DE Kony Ealy (260) or Michael Sam (260) is most certainly not 262 pounds. Not even close. Pretty sure that averages out to 278.
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Considering UGA’s projected starters at DL are averaging 318 (299 if you want to throw in Jarvis and be “fair”), I’d say it’s at least a little close.
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a) 3-4 lines are supposed to be bigger
b) Even with a 3-4, Georgia (with Jarvis) is an outlier instead of the norm
c) There is an absolutely enormous difference between 278 (295-pound DTs, 260-pound DEs) and 262 (280-pound DTs, 245-pound DEs).
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Touche
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“If ESPN started Georgia-South Carolina by covering the entire rendition of Also Sprach Zarathustra* and then discussed the teams’ starting lineups and how they would match up against one another, both in terms of styles and in terms of individual matchups, then I would be a very happy camper and I suspect that most college football fans would be, as well.”
If they used Eumir’s Also Sprach with no discussion by announcers to open coverage, it would be even better
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Good sounds. Very tight.
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Is it my imagination, or does UGA lead the galaxy in players who leave the team for a few days and then return?
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Digs Ian Darke.
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+1…”You couldn’t have write this!” World Cup 2010 versus Algeria…love that guy.
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+1 billion.
I could listen to that man read the dictionary. I would also recommend Martin Tyler as a footy announcer.
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How do we petition ESPN with Elkon’s request?
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The Good Senator writes:
“cocknfire presents a well-reasoned argument on why a four-team playoff is just the right size ”
Good analysis and interesting reading, especially regarding the logic that a playoff should include teams that could make a claim for the number one spot. And, as he points out, a small playoff also still insures that the regular season is meaningful. (It occurs to me those two points are closely linked.)
What I had not considered before this; a four team playoff potentially takes a lot of glow out of the SECCG. Especially in those years where the two teams matched in the conference game are #1 vs #2, or even some other combination of the top four teams. IOW, the 2008 and 2009 Florida/Alabama match ups would have been a lot less compelling had both sets of teams and fans known going in that as far as the play-off is concerned, winning the game was just for seeding purposes, not for participation. It also introduces the possibility that two teams could potentially meet three times; once in the regular season, once in a conference playoff and once in the National Playoff.
Oh what a tangled web we weave!
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That’s why home field advantage is absolutely crucial. In the seccg If you are playing for a chance to host a semi in tuscaloosa vs traveling to Eugene, well that certainly ups the ante.
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That was fun to listen to Munson’s voice again. I can still see the Appleby to Washington play today. My uncle and I were sitting on the fifty among some Gator fans. As soon as he let the pass go I was on my feet, knocked my uncle back into his seat … miss those games and Munson. Great going to the game from Valdosta in those Dooley years.
Would like to know what Munson would say about the roster and the lack of running backs at UGA in recent years. The grit site has some interesting numbers and take on the recent history of the TB position. I do not think I am alone in thinking this position has had alot to do with the Dawgs win-loss records in recent season.
Personally I think the position coach has been an issue, but then again the article points out the history is longer than his tenure. It is fun to watch a solid running game. I think that teams which run the ball effectively are champions. I throw out teams that are solely running teams (a LSU vs a GT). The SEC championship game last season proved that to me again how LSU just rolled their backs in. Or like last nite catching a glimpse of SC making that 3rd down with Lattimore against the Dawgs last season as they milked down the clock and walked out of Sanford with another win.
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ELKON regarding coverage of Euro soccer: “the actual game coverage would start with shots of the teams gathering in the tunnel, followed by their entrance onto the field, the national anthems, and then more discussion of the starting lineups before kickoff.” Elkon then contrasts this with the contrived fights pre-game among the ESPN personalities.
My guess is that ESPN covers soccer differently because the gathering in the tunnel is about is the most exciting part of the game, so it must be shown. The rest of the game goes downhill from there. I am about to snooze off just writing about it.
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