“NCAA spokesman Bob Williams could not be reached for immediate comment.”

Today, as you may have heard, is a big day in the O’Bannon case.  A federal judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on whether to certify the case as a class action.  In advance of that, some more information filed by the plaintiffs became available, information that, if accurate, isn’t exactly flattering to the NCAA.

And other newly revealed parts of the plaintiffs’ document offer insight on the types of discussions that allegedly were occurring among the NCAA’s staff about all of this, including the degree to which NCAA officials were feeling pressure to please various corporate partners.

At least five “high-level NCAA employees expressed concern about the ‘obvious’ use of likenesses,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote. The five were identified in a footnote as Dennis Poppe, former vice president of championships and alliances; Damani Leech, director of championships and alliances; Joe Dunn, associate director of corporate alliances; Gail Dent, associate director of public and media relations; and Kevin Lennon, another vice president.

Again referencing an accompanying exhibit document that remained under seal as of late Wednesday night, the plaintiffs’ lawyers also wrote that even though members of the NCAA’s rules-interpretation staff had the view “that using the images of [student-athletes] to promote products was ‘contrary to our amateurism principles,’ more senior officials at the NCAA reminded [rules-interpretation staffers] that ‘(w)e, as you point out, are trying to realize revenue from these videos that continue to promote the championships and keep our corporate champions and partners happy so that they continue to provide revenue to the NCAA membership.’ Bo Kerin of (the rules-interpretation staff) responded, ‘I hear you loud and clear!’.”

That amateurism stuff is just for amateurs.

Pardon their progress.

Yesterday, the city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars announced plans for major renovations to the north end zone at EverBank Field.  Why should we care about that?  Well, because tucked away in that announcement is the news that around 7,000 seats will be yanked out of there to accommodate the changes, although we’re assured that “temporary seating can be installed for major events that will require a larger stadium capacity”.

Uh, huh.

There’s Cocktail Party lip service in the announcement, but let’s face it – there’s no way there’s enough room elsewhere for temporary seating to make up for the loss of 7,000 seats.  Which means the inevitable law of supply and demand is about to work its magic on our wallets.  More money and crappier seating.  Ain’t it great?

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UPDATE:  Weiszer reports that McGarity has been promised that stadium capacity will not be reduced for the Cocktail Party.

Bummer, Gator dude.

Mmm, mmm, mmm, that orange and blue Kool-Aid must have been mighty tasty.  Josh Evans knows why his Gator mates didn’t show up for the Sugar Bowl.

“I think we had a lot of distractions,” he said. “People were feeling sorry for themselves they weren’t in the national championship. Personally, myself, I don’t feel like we all bought in as a team for that game and really gave it our all.

“We didn’t play Gator football – and you saw the result.”

That dream was over before the SECCG was played.  December must have been a helluva long month for those guys.

A lean, mean fighting machine?

Something weird is going on with the post-spring practice weights.

Of Georgia’s 71 returning contributors and early enrolling freshmen listed below, only 22 were listed as having gained weight from the 2013 pre-spring roster to the post-spring roster.

A total of 44 players were listed as having lost weight, with some members of the offensive line recording the biggest drops in recent months.

How big?  Pretty freakin’ big:

OL John Theus — 298 — (-11)
OL Watts Dantzler — 307 — (-13) 

OL Zach DeBell — 273 — (-20)

OL Xzavier Ward — 278 — (-21)

OL Austin Long — 287 — (-37)

Now maybe this is about remaking bodies based on some new S&C philosophy and maybe we’ll see much of the lost weight regained by August.  At least I hope so, because I don’t think any team is going to survive life in the SEC with a right tackle whose weight is south of 280.

On the other hand, Gurley at 232 has the potential to be one scary dude.

Suck it up, boys.

Bret Bielema sees all those no-huddle attacks spreading (see what I did there?) across the SEC and has… wait for it… health concerns.  No, not about his defensive coordinator’s career, but about the players.  No, really.

“Not to get on the coattails of some of the other coaches, there is a lot of truth that the way offensive philosophies are driven now, there’s times where you can’t get a defensive substitution in for 8, 10, 12 play drives,” Bielema said. “That has an effect on safety of that student-athlete, especially the bigger defensive linemen, that is really real.”

Shit’s getting really real there.  His solution is a rules change that would allow a 15-second substitution period after every first down to allow defenses to make substitutions.  (Bielema, by the way, is a member of the Playing Rules Oversight Panel.)

Needless to say, some of his peers who are invested in the faster paced game are not exactly enamored with that.

“I’m not for that at all,” Freeze said. “If the offense doesn’t sub, the defense shouldn’t sub, and that’s the way the rules are.”

The article cites Saban, Spurrier and Muschamp in support of Bielema’s position.  That makes sense in light of Bill Connelly’s post on offensive pace in the 2012 season.  Take a look and you’ll find Alabama, Florida and South Carolina running in the bottom quarter of the national pack in that department and Wisconsin, Bielema’s old stomping grounds, only slightly faster.

I would love to hear Mark Richt’s take on this.  Georgia ranks 98th on Bill’s chart, but Bobo does mix in some no-huddle stuff.  And don’t forget that Richt, technically speaking, was ahead of the game with no-huddle, only to see the conference shut it down.

Anyway, I don’t see Bielema’s crusade going anywhere.  And as Spurrier points out, there’s an obvious way to deal with the problem:

“Of course, the answer is for the other team’s offense to stay on the field and get the other fast-paced team stay on the sideline,” Spurrier said.

Wednesday morning buffet

Lots of good stuff today…

• The NCAA is considering an accounting trick – counting student fees not only as subsidy, but also as revenue generated by the athletics department – to make schools’ bottom lines look better.  I’m sure students who have to take out loans to pay those mandatory fees think that’s just peachy.
• There are many reasons why this isn’t such a great idea.  But I can’t help but wonder if it would make money.  If it did, at least for some schools, and they felt they needed the additional cash flow, how long to you think it would take for them to launch?
• If the NCAA losing the O’Bannon case isn’t such a big deal, then why are people like Jim Delany predicting the apocalypse?
• And while I’m on the subject of O’Bannon, hell hath no fury like a shoe marketer scorned.
• Is it just me, or is Athlon’s coaches talk feature a lot less snarky since Tuberville left the SEC?
• The Division I-A Faculty Athletic Representatives come out against expanding the playoffs beyond four schools.  I’m sure that will make a huge difference in the long run.
• Bruce Feldman lists the ten softest non-conference schedules of 2013.  All the usual suspects are there.
• What caused the Alabama defense’s statistical drop in the second half of last season?

The art of being a jerk

Turns out Mike Gundy is even better at it than I first gave him credit for – he lifted most of the transfer restrictions on Wes Lunt, though not publicly, but did it so late in the process that Lunt had lost contact with the coaches he’d had previous relationships with so that Gundy’s apparent change of heart had no effect.  Well played, sir.

All that being said, the lesson here is that if you’re an OSU player who wants to transfer and Gundy even hints that he’s prepared to gum up the works on that, go to the media with your problem early and often.  And if you’re a coach who isn’t named Randy Edsall going up against Gundy on the recruiting trail, I think you know what to say.

Help a Jacket out.

Wes Durham is leaving Georgia Tech after almost two decades and the search is now on for the next Voice of the Jackets.  Any suggestions?

Football Ticket Cutoff Scores 2013

If your sense of things is that demand from the fan base is solid, but not as rabid as it was a few seasons ago, you’d be right.

If you made a $250 contribution to the Hartman Fund, you’re getting season tickets.  And if you ordered away tickets to Tennessee and Auburn, you’re getting those, too.  No problem getting a single game ticket to the Kentucky game, either.

Maybe McGarity can explain how more cupcake games will increase demand.

Now he’s just screwing with us.

I love Phil Steele for the massive amount of data accumulation he bombards us with every year, but there are times when he pushes the analytical envelope a little too far.  This is one of those times.

The Final 14 Teams Who Fit the
National Championship Mold in 2013

Alabama	Notre Dame
Florida	Ohio St
Florida St	Oregon
LSU	South Carolina
Michigan	Stanford
North Carolina	Texas A&M
Northwestern	Vanderbilt

I will eat whatever hat Mr. Steele cares to furnish if Vandy winds up closer to a national title game than Georgia does this season.