“That is not right and surely someone made a terrible mistake.”

Craig James believes people choose to be gay but shouldn’t choose to dislike him.

“The actions have also led to the breach of Craig James‘ contract and the impugnment of his career,” Liberty Institute general council told Fox Sports in a letter sent Tuesday. “We demand the immediate reinstatement [of] Mr. James to the on-air college football analyst position. If you refuse to reinstate Mr. James, millions of Americans will be left with the impression that you do not respect religious liberty and Liberty Institute will be forced to pursue subsequent legal options.”

Pass the popcorn, please.

‘All Players United’

What impresses me about Emerson’s piece on the offensive linemen’s APU protest last Saturday is how thoughtful and respectful the responses are.

From the head coach:

… Georgia head coach Mark Richt didn’t appear overly concerned on Tuesday, three days after the protest, saying he was “still trying to figure out the whole deal.”

“I was probably like a lot of people, seeing it on the (ESPN) ticker after the game,” Richt said. “I just have to educate myself a little better with what it’s all about.”

Richt did indicate he had sympathy for the overall sentiment of APU.

“We have the freedom of speech in our country, but the question is what’s the most appropriate way of doing it, so that’s the only thing,” Richt said. “Based on what I read about, what their concerns were seemed like pretty legitimate concerns. Whatever they are trying to accomplish is being done in a respectful way, so that’s all I really know.”

From Lynch:

“They bring so many people in here to educate us about the NFL, and there’s some guys who will never see the NFL. If you’re a college athlete, whether it be soccer, track or basketball, the NCAA needs to fund and require representatives to go to schools, public or private in the U.S., and really educate them as to what you’re actually doing when you sign your letter-of-intent,” Lynch said.

“I’m signing away the same rights I basically have when I sign with an agent at the end of the season. Obviously there’s differences, the compensation, this and that. But I’m signing away our name and our rights is something parents and the prospective athlete needs to understand a little bit more about. Because I was just happy to get a full ride, I wasn’t really looking too much into the details about it. I just knew that when I signed that name I got to go play football and go to school for free. And I was like: Yeah, that’s tight, sign me up.”

There’s more there worth reading.  I wonder how much of the attitudes expressed are the result of suffering through the Green and Houston suspensions.  Probably a fair bit.

Musical palate cleanser: this one goes out to you, Mattel.

This news inspired today’s tuneage, The Negro Problem’s “Ken”.

Remain calm. All is well.

Mark Richt is on the special teams mother.

Richt on special teams issues: "Everything is very correctable." #UGA

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) September 24, 2013

I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, drink or throw something.

They were just messing with you, Penn State.

The next chapter in the high comedy that is NCAA governance has arrived, and if you’re at all surprised by it, then you’re an idiot.

Due to Penn State University’s continued progress toward ensuring athletics integrity, the NCAA Executive Committee is gradually restoring football scholarships the university lost because of sanctions more than a year ago. These changes were endorsed by the Division I Board of Directors and based on the recommendation of George Mitchell, the independent Athletics Integrity Monitor for Penn State and former U.S. Senator.

Beginning next academic year (2014-15), five additional initial scholarships will be restored to the university’s football team. This amount will continue to increase until they reach the full allocation of 25 initial in 2015-16 and 85 total football scholarships in 2016-17.

Anything in the rule book about this?  Of course not.  The grand poobah continues to make it up as he goes along.

“The goal has always been to ensure the university reinforces clear expectations and a daily mindset within athletics that the highest priority must be placed on educating, nurturing and protecting young people,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “The Executive Committee’s decision to restore the football scholarships provides additional education opportunities and is an important recognition of Penn State’s progress.”

So why did you take those “additional education opportunities” away in the first place?

NCAA Prez Mark Emmert: This case should not be seen as a precedent for handling other cases. #PennState

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) September 24, 2013

No shit, Sherlock.  Why limit yourself the next time you need to fly by the seat of your pants?

As I warned you guys a while back, this is what the end justifies the means looks like when you’re talking about the NCAA.  If I was at Southern Cal, I’d be seriously pissed off right now.

The most shocking thing some of you will read all day

Unpossible:

Sailors also suggested that even had Mettenberger remained in Athens, there was a chance he would have transferred anyway assuming he would not have beaten Murray for the starting quarterback job.

“He had a really good spring game, I don’t think you can argue that, but I think Murray was ahead of him by that time anyway,” Sailors said.

C’mon, man, that G-Day game was everything.  At least that’s what a friend of my second cousin who knows somebody who read something on a message board said.  Sailors is wrong.

Next, he’ll tell us that Murray deserves to start ahead of Mason.  Eh, what do current players know about stuff like that anyway…

We’ve lost control of the Mark Richt hot seat meme.

Yes, this is dumb on so many levels.

3. Georgia did what Georgia does. This. THIS! This is why Georgia fans hate Mark Richt. Two weeks ago, I praised Mark Richt and declared him off the hot seat. I’m an idiot.

Just when Richt has earned the good graces of the Georgia fan base, he goes and acts like he’s trying to lose to North Texas. I know it was raining, but it was raining for both teams and you can’t expect North Texas to play nice, even if you are paying them roughly $1 million to be there. I mean, heck, “mean” is right there is their mascot – Mean Green.

Is it all Richt’s fault? Probably not, but who else is there to blame, really?

The final score – 45-21 – makes it look like Georgia won comfortably, but that is misleading. The Bulldogs had a punt blocked and North Texas tied the game at 21 in the third quarter. Then Georgia scored 24 unanswered points to make it look like a convincing win, which is the most Georgia thing any team can do.

This is why Georgia fans rant and rave about Mark Richt. They have no confidence in what that team will do, because it’s never done anything to give them reason to. A loss to LSU next week will get that hot seat burning again. I think Richt kind of likes it. What other explanation is there?

Well, that it’s idiotic to overreact to a 24-point win comes to mind.

Try as hard as you like, but a segment of the fan base bitching about Richt, or booing after a brain-dead special teams snafu does not a hot seat make.  I’m afraid, though, that it does lead to the media drawing unfortunate impressions about us.

At least their hearts are in the right place.

It’s good to know that the short kickoff hasn’t been a calculated play in Georgia’s arsenal.

It’s not really a matter of strategy: Morgan said the goal nearly every time is to get a touchback, it’s just easier said than done.

“That’s obviously the goal,” Morgan said, his voice cracking into a laugh. But he did add: “I’m definitely gonna try to focus more on distance.”

Head coach Mark Richt was also asked about kickoffs on his Monday night call-in show. Richt reiterated that the goal was to get touchbacks, but also cited reasons it wasn’t automatic, whether it be foot strength or wind. Richt also added that punter Collin Barber, who handled kickoffs the first two weeks, would be ready if he was needed – implying that Morgan’s kickoffs better get through the end zone more consistently.

Short leash, Coach.  As Emerson points out, Odell Beckham doesn’t exactly suck at returning kicks.

The hive mind

If you’re a player at Georgia Tech, you’re not supposed to express an opinion publicly unless your teammates vote on it first.  I guess that’s a step up from what they vote on at LSU.

Although it makes you wonder if Corch put Tebow’s inspirational eye-black messages up for a vote in Gainesville.

Upon further review, Georgia-North Texas edition

Nothing too deep from what I garnered watching the replay.  Here are three quick shots:

• Murray’s interception looked even worse on TV than it did live.  That’s the kind of throw you make when you’re convinced you’ll be back visiting the opponent’s end zone pretty soon.
• Swann needs to learn that the most important thing you do returning punts (after you field them) is to go north-south.
• One positive to take from an offensive line having a shaky day is that it’s a helluva lot easier to sell the screen pass.