Crappy game, man.

You might think that going to the bathroom  during a national broadcast might be a tad embarrassing.  But you don’t wear the orange and blue.

But don’t worry! While this kind of incident on national television might ruin some people for eternity, Lane has had quite the opposite reaction.

“It was the best thing that could have happened,” said Lane, via Jacksonville.com‘s Richard Johnson. “It got a lot of attention and just put me in a place where I was out there publicly and people knew who I was. I really didn’t get a lot of grief from it. A lot of people were really more focused on how well I did in the game more than anything. I feel like it was that way because I embraced it.”

Honestly, I got nothing to add to that.

Advertisement

The Ohio State Way?

Does what Braxton Miller did the other day rise to the level of an NCAA violation?

I have no idea.

With Ohio State’s announcement that the school “is looking into the situation”, do you think it’ll handle what’s happened differently than Georgia, if presented with a similar problem, would?

I have an idea.

“However, I’d be lying if I said that the concussion thing doesn’t scare me a little.”

How many of these does it take to turn an outlier into a trend?  And why aren’t they listening to Urban Meyer?

Keep your chin up, kid.

University of Alabama Chancellor Robert Witt says that even though mistakes were made, embattled UAB President Ray Watts still has his undying support.

“There is no doubt that our governing structure and the synergies of UA, UAB and UAH are a point of tremendous pride for Alabama and a model for the nation.  It is extremely unfortunate that a vocal few would choose to disagree.”

And after reading the complete PR memo that laid out the plans to shut down UAB’s football program, I can see why Witt has his back.  After all, if college is about preparing students to deal with the real world, how much more of an education could UAB’s student-athletes get than this touching send off?

Make History, Show Your Heart: This will be a difficult transition, but it will demonstrate your ability to deal with hard times and show heart, work ethic, loyalty, and dedication. These are traits to be proud of and this is a story you will be able to share and benefit from in every job interview for the rest of your life. Take this opportunity to prove your ability to deal with a difficult situation and to help others through the same — something employers look for.

Yeah, making sure that somebody you interview for a job hire has the experience of suffering through a layoff in the form of a D-1 college football program being closed is the kind of thing 21st-century employers are seeking out in droves.  Especially in Alabama.

A model for the nation, indeed.

The quarterback derby: “We’re starting from the ground up.”

Don’t know if you caught any of the ‘Net buzz from the past couple of days, but it was feverishly reported in several quarters by folks who aren’t in the know that Jacob Park has practiced with the Ones.  Whoa, dude… you know what that must mean!

Turns out, it’s even true.  Because Schottenheimer’s rotating all three quarterbacks to get a feel for what he’s got to work with at the position.

This spring, Schottenheimer is rotating the quarterback depth chart every practice, each candidate getting a shot with the first team. For instance, Tuesday it was Ramsey’s turn to run with the first team, but on Thursday he will go to third team, the next day he’ll be second team, and so on.

This produces some challenges, admits Ramsey, as the first-teamers are more skilled and experienced and feature better offensive line blocking. But Schottenheimer wants every quarterback to have that advantage before he makes an evaluation.

That’s got to hurt a little bit for the once-presumed leader at the position.  And it sounds like it does.

“I had just felt comfortable (with the playbook) right when Bobo left,” Ramsey said, smiling ruefully. “I was like, ‘Yes, I got it.’ And sure enough I’m into a new system.”

So, what do Schottenheimer’s options look like so far in the spring?

• Brice Ramsey.  You’d still have to think that Ramsey’s experience still counts, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he doesn’t keep an advantage over the other two candidates.  (Then, again, I’m not a coach who clearly thinks the competition serves a purpose right now.)  But Ramsey’s primary critique of himself is an obvious concern.  “The read, to my footwork, to what the play is, is the biggest thing for me right now.”  He’s had a long way to go from his high school system to running a pro-style attack and there’s still a way to go on his journey.
• Faton Bauta.  We all know Bauta’s story.  He’s the mobile guy who’s arm strength is the weakest of the three.  Emerson says Bauta doesn’t describe the current situation as a fresh start, just a continuation of competition at the position.  (Although Weiszer quotes Bauta differently.)  If that’s the case, Bauta’s already lost the race with Ramsey once before.  You tell me what this sounds like:  “It’s always an unbiased competition. We’re just out there playing ball. If he’s the better man, all right. But I came in here and was telling myself, ‘Whatever, I’m gonna keep getting better as a quarterback, I’m gonna keep improving, and I’m gonna go as far as I can.’ ”
• Jacob Park.  The least experienced of the three.  But that’s not what makes me nervous about Park.  This makes me nervous about Park:  “I created a lot of bad habits. I just (played) chuck-and-duck,” Park said.  That’s something straight out of the Joe “I kind of saw Norwood and was like, hmmm, but I decided to throw it anyway…” Cox school of winging it.  It may be entertaining, but I doubt the coaches share that point of view.  At least Park is aware that he has to change his approach:  “Now I’ve actually got to …make reads, sit in the pocket, pick up blitzes, not run around and chuck the ball all the time, make good decisions and throw completions,” Park said. “Now I’m playing actual fundamental football and not backyard football.”  The obvious question is, can he do all that by August?

I can see why Richt maintains a decision about the starter won’t come until preseason practice in late summer.  It will be worth watching G-Day for any indication the three are settling into the position; that may be a more important consideration than their relative physical merits.  As will any indication of leadership skills they show in the time between the end of spring practice and August.  Right now, your guess is as good as mine, or anybody else’s bulletin board speculation.

By the way, you can check out interviews with all three here.

A little shot of Dawg porn for your morning

At GTP, we’re fond of two things in the spring, Dawg porn and tea leaf reading.  More on the latter in a sec, but here’s just a taste of the first for you:

Another spring sub-plot is who emerges at receiver to complement veteran Malcolm Mitchell. There are a number of candidates, including some veterans and incoming freshmen, but a returning walk-on has caught the eye of some.

Charlie Hegedus, who redshirted last year after transferring from N.C. State, was mentioned by quarterback Jacob Park when Park was asked who had stood out. The first player Park mentioned was Isaiah McKenzie, the standout kick returner who also plays receiver. Then Park compared McKenzie to Hegedus.

“I think Charlie Hegedus has come on strong,” Park said. “His hands are ridiculous, and his speed is close to Isaiah’s. I mean I saw them two on film (Monday) take off on go routes on opposite sides of the field, and Charlie had him by two steps for 40 yards.”

Hands and speed?  Yeah, I could go for some of that.  Where’s the cold shower?

*************************************************************************

UPDATE:  Bonus Dawg porn from Jordan Jenkins and Lorenzo Carter!

… Jake Ganus, a senior linebacker who transferred to Georgia from the now-defunct UAB football program, is bound to get substantial playing time.

Jenkins said Ganus has already made a name for himself amongst the Bulldogs.

“I didn’t think Ganus was as fast as he was,” Jenkins said. “When we’re running sprints as linebackers, he’s up there. He’s beat me a couple times, beat Lorenzo [Carter] a couple times. He’s as fast, if not faster, than some of us. He’s not afraid to stand out from the pack.”

Carter said this year will be different for him and the other linebackers because of Ganus and the incoming freshmen.

“It’s gonna be crazy,” Carter said. “I’m not gonna have to play when I’m tired. We’ve got firepower coming off the bench.”​

Wednesday morning buffet

Dig in, peeps.

• Jay Rome wants to have fun this season, instead of “It’s always been about going out and trying not to hurt myself anymore.”
• I got excited seeing the word “wheel” used in the context of Georgia’s offense, but it turns out all Seth meant was that Schottenheimer is tweaking the terminology of the play calls, not the system itself.
• Dennis Dodd insists that football is a money loser at most schools, but those schools still want football.
• Steve Spurrier is going to call the plays again this season.  Why did he ever stop? “It wasn’t going very well … You make a bad call and say, ‘Awe, dumbass. Why’d I do that? Maybe someone else can do it better.’”
• Spurrier’s calling the plays, but he doesn’t know to whom yet.
• SI.com’s Zac Ellis drops in on Athens to let us know how Georgia’s offense is progressing so far.
• Corch wants you to know you’ve got nothing to worry about in the player injury department:  “The game is safer now. I can give you 28 years of experience. The game is safer now than it’s ever been.”
• Nothing says school pride like having your mugshot taken in a logo’d t-shirt:  “Parole Tide!!!”

The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back

The document dump in the Todd McNair defamation suit against the NCAA has generated the shitstorm anyone who’s watched the NCAA desperately try to prevent the information from being released in public predicted was coming.  There’s plenty of damning information…

•Also in a memo, Uphoff went to great lengths to compare the Bush case to the Oklahoma City bombing trial. Uphoff was attempting to show how witnesses’ credibility could be attacked by challenging the weight given to hearsay.

“This evidence in this [Bush] case is, for example, [is] markedly stronger than in the OKC bombing case which was built entirely on circumstantial evidence,” Uphoff wrote. “In fact, there was no direct evidence that [Terry] Nichols was ever involved in the bombing plot.”

•Howard added in correspondence to committee members: “McNair should have all inferences negatively inferred against him … we need not say why we disbelieve him, we only need to let the public, or whomever, know that we do disbelieve him.”

Lawyers for McNair argued in their lawsuit that the lengthy messages by Uphoff and Howard were intentionally sent to voting infraction committee members in violation of the NCAA’s procedures to influence them in their decision. Howard had just joined the infractions committee but was supposed to only be observing the USC case. Neither had voting rights to decide the case.

•Infractions committee member Eleanor Myers admitted to a “botched interview” in which investigators got the year of a key phone call wrong between McNair and former agent wanna-be Lloyd Lake. That contention had been a key part of McNair’s appeal to the NCAA, which was rejected.

… but the funniest stuff has to be the bridge too far – Junior.

The emails, among nearly 500 pages of documents filed in the case Tuesday that were obtained by the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/1HA4eCv), include members of the NCAA infractions committee deriding the school for hiring back as its head coach former assistant Lane Kiffin, who had been an offensive coordinator for coach Pete Carroll during the Bush period that led to school sanctions.

“USC has responded to its problems by bringing in Lane Kiffin,” committee member Rodney Uphoff wrote in an undated memo to other members of the committee. “They need a wake-up call that doing things the wrong way will have serious consequences.”

Another committee member expressed similar sentiments about Kiffin in an email dated March 2010, after Kiffin had returned to lead USC after stints as head coach of Tennessee and the NFL’s Oakland Raiders.

“Lack of institutional control … (and do we add the hiring of Lane Kiffin?), is a very easy call for me,” committee member Roscoe Howard wrote.

I wonder if the committee has any misgivings about Nick Saban now.  You can bet if the members do, they haven’t put those in writing.