Look at it as another opportunity to check your messages.

So, this is a thing now.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee has approved several proposals to enhance student-athlete safety and allow electronic devices in some areas of stadiums for coaching purposes…

After reviewing numerous video examples and receiving strong feedback on its annual rules survey, the committee voted to expand the authority of the instant replay official, requiring them to review all aspects of targeting fouls. Additionally, the instant replay official will be able to stop the game and create a targeting foul in situations where an egregious action has occurred.

I guess letting CBS and ESPN jam more commercials into their broadcasts isn’t dragging out game times enough. This ought to be good for at least one additional commercial break per game.

It’s only a matter of time until the Rules Committee once again explores the need for a few changes “to speed up the game” – all in the name of the fans, of course.

“This is a game of skill…”

Here’s something that may be worth keeping an eye on:  in a world that’s grown increasingly hostile to the fantasy sports business model, a bill introduced in the Georgia legislature is proposing to swim against the tide.

State Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, has proposed legislation following efforts in other states to place rules on companies operating daily fantasy sports websites. The bill, however, stops short of calling it gambling…

Unterman called the legislation a “consumer protection” effort, saying an estimated 1.5 million people play daily fantasy sports in Georgia.

Notably, she wrote the bill to differentiate daily fantasy sports from gambling — something Georgia bans other than in lottery games and slot-like machines known as coin-operated amusement machines.

“This is a game of skill, that you are actually following and researching the players and teams, versus just going in and plopping down $3 for a lottery ticket and the computer generates the numbers,” Unterman said…

Okay, you can stop chuckling now.  The idea that fantasy sports is more a game of skill than, say, poker is… well, laughable.

But what I really wonder about here is pretty simple.  With the NCAA and the conferences on the warpath about fantasy sports and their track record for making public gestures, could we be looking at a situation where there are repercussions in states that welcome fantasy sports?  Eh, probably not.

I mean, let’s face it.  Georgia is looking at regulation because there’s a little money in it for the state (“And it would mandate that companies register in Georgia if they have players here, setting an initial $50,000 fee — and $10,000 annually”).  In time, the schools could see fantasy sports turning respectable, like an aged whore, and view them as just another revenue source, too.  Maybe one day Draft Kings will wind up endowing a couple of positions at UGA.

Still, at least for now, we’re in the Bible Belt.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the bill and, if it passes and is signed into law, what kind of response it’ll generate.

Picking up the check

It’s not exactly a shock that Georgia’s on the hook for a fair amount of change with the dismissal of Mark Richt and his staff.  $6.2 million is the cost of doing business in today’s SEC.

The fun occurs when you break down that number.  Particularly with one Jeremy Pruitt.

UGA’s employment agreements with assistant coaches call for them to be paid through June 30 of the current year unless they have a multiyear agreement. Georgia then agrees to make up the difference if the coaches’ new jobs pay less…

… Pruitt, who is now defensive coordinator at Alabama, had two years remaining on their three-year contracts. So their monies will be paid over the remaining term, according to Andy Platt, the athletic association’s chief financial officer. That’s … $600,000 total for Pruitt, records show.

But wait, you say.  Jeremy Pruitt’s gone to work for the Rolls Royce of college football programs, in the same position he occupied at Georgia.  How is it possible that Georgia owes him money?

Likewise, it appears Pruitt is scheduled to make $1 million a year as Alabama’s new defensive coordinator. He succeeds Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, who made $1.5 million last year in the same role for the Crimson Tide. Pruitt made $1.3 million as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator last season.

Pruitt took a pay cut to work for Saban, except it’s not really a pay cut, thanks to the generosity of Greg McGarity.  I bet Pruitt smiles every time that deposit shows up in his checking account.

Hell, I’m a little surprised he didn’t agree to work for less.

Musical palate cleanser, Tex-Mex edition

For your morning enjoyment, here’s Doug Sahm, with his nineties group The Texas Tornados, doing his flower power ode to jail bait, “Mendocino”.

The man could spin a groove with the best of them.