Coming soon, to an ESPN outlet near you…

Ah, jeez.

Finebaum, the polarizing personality of college football’s signature call-in show, is leaving the Birmingham, Ala., market where his contract expired in January, for Charlotte, N.C., and a national forum: ESPN. His multi-tiered platform will include a radio program on ESPN networks, 100 televised appearances annually on ESPN and a TV simulcast of his radio show on the ESPN-owned SEC Network launching in August 2014.

It was inevitable, I suppose.  What sucks is that now I’ll be stuck paying for him to be on the air.

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Rivalries are in the eye of the beholder.

Lester’s still got a bee in his bonnet about those cross-division rivalries.  But now he wants to make you feel guilty about it if you disagree with him.

“I trust they will recognize with the upcoming playoff, and with the BCS bowls being so important, everyone should shoulder the burden of playing the better teams,” Miles said. “Everybody.”

I’m supposed to give up support of the oldest rivalry in the South because Miles’ fair play fee-fees are hurt?  Screw you, Les.

But I do have a suggestion to calm the man’s troubled soul.  I’ve said most of it before – move the two Alabama schools to the East and switch Missouri to the West.  That solves the bulk of the cross-division problems.  My new candidate for the last transfer is South Carolina, since the ‘Cocks are backing LSU’s play.  If longstanding rivalries don’t matter to the folks in Columbia, then not having Georgia and Florida on the schedule every year shouldn’t bother them in the least.

Urnge Crush

Remember the other day when Butch Jones was asked what differentiates the Tennessee fan base from others and he said it’s that they’re “very knowledgeable”?

Well, with apologies to Bill Higdon, it’s a good thing Jones didn’t say they’re very classy.

Nicely played, Coach Hand.

You never can tell.

I always admire anybody who will go back and dredge up a prediction list – let’s face it, those things are out of sight, out of mind a day after they’re posted – so kudos to Seth Emerson for his look back at his preseason list of the ten most important Georgia players of 2012.  And honestly, other than substituting John Jenkins for Corey Moore, there’s not much I would quibble with off his original list when it was produced.  But it differs considerably from his 20-20 hindsight list, which isn’t unexpected.

Seth notes the chaotic conditions surrounding the team last summer, and sure, that had an impact on the differences in his lists, but to me, it’s also a good illustration of how hard it is to anticipate how a college football season plays out.  Some kids you’re counting on get hurt.  Georgia’s wide receiving corps sure had a different look at the end of the season from where it started.  Some kids never get untracked to become contributors.  (You could say Marshall Morgan’s biggest contribution last year was weaning Richt off his addiction to settling for field goals.)

So as you read his list for this year and compile your own, just remember that even the slam dunks aren’t always that.  And that the bigger deal is whether the team has the quality depth to fill in the holes if that happens.

He had his reasons. Nobody said they had to be good reasons.

According to Joe Schad, Mike Gundy’s rationale for blocking Wes Lunt’s transfer to half the known college football universe is based on three factors:

• That Lunt allegedly cited a desire to transfer “closer to home” and that those blocked schools are not “closer to home.”

• The belief that at least some coaches at some interested schools improperly contacted Lunt.

• The possibility Oklahoma State could face some of the blocked conferences in a bowl game.

The third one is my favorite.  I’m surprised Gundy stopped at 37 schools.

Tuesday morning buffet

Indulge yourselves.

• Fun Bryan McClendon stat:  A true freshman has led the Bulldogs in rushing in three of his four seasons as the Bulldogs’ running backs coach.
• One of the O’Bannon defendants had licensing agreements with more than 80 former college athletes from 1995 to 2010.  Does the NCAA pay attention to anything it says is important to it?
• ACC Network?  Not with Raycom sitting out there holding rights that nobody seems to be in a big hurry to buy back.
• Only at Southern Cal – “Porn Star Attempts Recruiting DT to USC”
• Does Georgia have a shot at hosting College Game Day this season?
• “Why wouldn’t you want to make money?”:  helpful advice for Minnesota’s beer sales problem.
• Two signing periods, or just an earlier NLI signing date?

Musical palate cleanser: c’mon baby, light my fire

Ray Manzarek, R.I.P.

Your opinion of The Doors probably depends on how big a wanker you felt Jim Morrison was.  Me, I loved ’em.  And regardless of what you might think of Morrison, there’s no question that Manzarek and Krieger were superb instrumentalists.

In honor of his passing, here’s a ten-minute long live version of a song that was on the set list of every band that played at a bar mitzvah party I attended.