Perverse afternoon question

Do you think there’d be as much energy devoted to the topic of player compensation now if they hadn’t replaced the BCS with the new playoffs?

Recipe for unionization

Start with an ever-increasing demand on student-athletes’ time…

Georgia coach Mark Richt was asked on Tuesday how much time players spend on football during the season.

“A lot,” he said. “We’ve got a 20-hour rule that’s time that is countable, which is film study, strength and conditioning, practice. For the things that don’t count … is when you’re in the training room, before and after, or any kind of film work they do on their own. Gameday counts as three hours, but if you leave on Friday for an away game and don’t come back till midnight the day of the game, that’s a long time too, you know? So there’s a lot of hours that are put in and it’s pretty amazing for them to do that and then do other things that they’ve got to do academically as well. … They don’t have a lot of free time. Sometimes we talk about teaching them how to manage their time, and they look at us like: ‘What time is that that you’re talking about?’ So they put a lot of hours in.”

Throw in some frustration over a lack of player empowerment…

“But what this does … it ensures that players have a voice and whatever route this goes and whatever structure comes from college sports, we have input. We’re out there sacrificing so much. We’re a big part of what college sports is today and the revenue that’s generated off of it. We deserve to have a say in that. We deserve a seat at the table.”

Add a dash of hypocrisy for zest…

I don’t buy the player safety [argument]. Nobody stood up for player safety when they wanted to add games. It seems to me that every time player safety comes up, it’s an auxiliary reason to make money somewhere else. To me, common sense [now] is the opposite of what Coach Bielema was saying. Slowing it down isn’t going to create greater player safety. Creating less contact is. Widening the field. Lengthening the field. Putting fewer guys on the field. Putting smaller guys on the field. Put fiber optics in the helmets so you can see how hard they’re hitting on every play.

And, voilà!  The perfect shit sandwich recipe.

The most unnecessary lede you’ll read today.

Via SI.com:  “A few minutes after the conclusion of Georgia Tech’s third spring practice on Wednesday, Paul Johnson addressed reporters with a touch of sarcasm.”

I mean, doesn’t he always?

You think you’re so smart.

After watching this, I’m even more impressed with the results we got from the Montana Project.

Fluke you.

Great.  It’s not enough that we had to watch it happen… and keep seeing it again.  Now Auburn’s using its winning play in last year’s Georgia game as kinda, sorta motivation for this season.

Q: How much do you think your guys are motivated by hearing some people try and say some of what happened last year was ‘flukish’ and that it was some sort of one-year wonder and they want to prove these guys are here to stay on top of the SEC?

Lashlee: I think they’re motivated by that. I think they’re motivated by being so close and not finishing. You feel like you had an opportunity to do something more special than people thought you could do and we didn’t just finish it the way we wanted. There’s the motivation in that in and of itself.

I don’t get too caught up in “flukish” and I don’t know that our guys do. It take some breaks to get to the national championship game. Doesn’t matter who you are. Obviously, the catch at Georgia is the one everybody thinks about…

I can think of another team that should be using that game as motivation.  And not of the kinda, sorta variety, either.

Today, in stupid questions about a players’ union

John Thompson, former college basketball coach and current concern troll:

“Can you fire somebody if he doesn’t perform?” Thompson asked.

Gee, I don’t know, John.  Let’s ask Nick Saban.

“I think these great men and women should be able to at least have money to wash their underwear.”

Yeah, Harry Reid actually said that about student-athletes.  It’s certainly easy to mock.  But maybe not so easy to dismiss.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes there’s the growing possibility of Congress getting involved. Allen Sack, president of the Drake Group, said the organization is gaining progress with one “very interested” U.S. senator and several members of Congress about tying NCAA reform to federal aid that universities receive.

“We’ve gone to the senator level and we’ve got a nice relationship going, especially in the context of what’s going on with college sports and millions and millions of dollars are going to our universities and we find our athletes are not being educated?” said Sack, who declined to identify the senator. “There are some irate Congress people. Some of these things hit a chord with Congress.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told The Washington Post he would help the unionization movement.

“Of course they should be able to organize,” Reid said. “The way these people are treated by the NCAA and the universities themselves is really unpardonable, and I wish them well. I’ll do anything I can to help.”

This is the reward for blind arrogance, Mr. Emmert.

Spring, when a man’s heart turns to Dawg Porn

Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God…

Dime packages: Defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt is following through on his pre-spring statement that he’ll use more dime packages, which was basically absent in last year’s Georgia’s defense. What’s interesting is how it’s being incorporated right now.

Damian Swann, the senior cornerback, is playing inside at what the team calls the “Money” spot in the dime. It’s basically an inside linebacker spot.

“It’s like playing the star (position),” Swann said after practice. “It’s just on the other side. I mean you’re pretty much doing the same thing you probably would do if you were playing the star. And I actually played a little bit of that my freshman year when we played dime against South Carolina here. I enjoyed that. It’s just another opportunity for me to make plays, doing something else.”

Ramik Wilson and Amarlo Herrera, the two starting inside linebackers in the base defense, are alternating as the lone inside linebacker on the dime package.

They may actually try to have someone on the field who can cover an inside crossing route on obvious passing downs?  Jeremy Pruitt, I think I love you.

I feel so dirty after reading that.

Mark Schlabach brings the pure, unadulterated Dawg Porn… just brings it:

Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, a sophomore from Eastman, Ga., added more than 20 pounds during the offseason and now weighs about 248. Floyd started eight games as a freshman in 2013 and finished with 55 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and a team-high 6.5 sacks. Pruitt will be looking for even more production from Floyd this coming season, and one UGA assistant called him the “best player on the team — period.”

“He’s always making plays and setting the tone,” linebacker Ramik Wilson said. “He stands out every play. He’s just a beast right now.”

Um… I’ll be in the shower if you need me.