Watching and listing

Yeah, I’m somewhat amused that Kirby Smart, a guy who hasn’t coached a single college game yet as the head man, is on the 2016 watch list for The Dodd Trophy.  He is the only SEC East coach on the list of 24; the only other coaches from the conference to show up are Miles and Saban.

Mark Richt’s name isn’t there, either.

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“But he’s not Superman. He’s not Batman. He’s just Nick.”

Among the many things I’ll never understand about my fellow man…

Wherever she goes in and around Cedartown, at the grocery store or gas station, work, or whenever she’s somewhere that she’s recognized as Nick Chubb’s mama, Lavelle Chubb gets the questions.

“How’s Nick?” people ask.

“Is Nick going to be able to play?”

“Is he gonna play against North Carolina?”

“Is he gonna be as good as he was?”

If they’re delivered to her in the right spirit, Ms. Chubb always does her best to answer them. If not, she’ll handle them differently.

“It’s expected,” she said of the constant queries. “They’re fans. The majority of them are genuinely concerned. When they’re not, I know how to walk away and still be polite.”

… what kind of person goes up to Nick Chubb’s mother to give her a hard time about her son’s health?

“Do something, NCAA”

Andy Staples makes a pretty good point here.  Baylor is well on its way to self-imposing a kind of death penalty.

Meanwhile, Baylor will lose most of its talent core after this season. Russell is a senior. So is tailback Shock Linwood. Receiver KD Cannon is a junior but could move on to the NFL. The defense is senior-heavy. Into that void will wander the bottom half of the 2016 recruiting class and a 2017 class that currently has one commitment. There is no telling how many players will leave after Baylor picks a new coach. The remainder of the Briles staff likely will be gone by early December, and a new staff will have to hustle to salvage what’s left of the class of 2017 recruiting cycle.

It’s possible Baylor will hire a coach on the rise who can begin the rebuild with the 2018 recruiting cycle, but it’s just as likely this job won’t attract a strong candidate pool in the wake of the scandal. Baylor has an excellent location and excellent facilities, but the next coach will have to fight negative recruiting for years. The chances are much higher that Baylor’s program in three years will look much more like the Baylor that toiled at the bottom of the Big 12 before Briles arrived.

So to those who wished the NCAA would return Baylor football to doormat status, you’re on your way to getting your ultimate wish. But the NCAA didn’t have to do anything. The scandal did it all by itself.

Way to go, Bears.  Enjoy the quality time coming.  You’ve earned it.

Kids these days. When I was in school…

So the P5 conferences announced with some fanfare yesterday a series of proposals to give student-athletes back some of their free time that has been steadily encroached upon over the years in the name of amateurism because college coaches are paid ever increasing big bucks to win.  They even gave the proposals a catchy name, Flex 21.

What’s interesting about the proposals themselves is how they illustrate the degree to which these kids have had their time in college taken away from them.

FLEX 21

In Season
Current Rule
• No countable athletically related activities during one calendar day per week
• Travel day related to athletics participation may be considered a day off

Proposed Changes
• Travel days may not count as days off

Academic Year
Current Rule
• No countable athletically related activities during two calendar days per week outside the season.

Proposed Changes
• 14 Additional Days off. Can be used during or outside the season

Overnight
Current Rule
• No countable athletically related activities between midnight and 5 a.m.

Proposed Changes
• 8-hour block of free time, any time between 9:00 pm to 6:00 am.

Postseason
Current Rule
• Varies by sport

Proposed Changes
• 7-day recovery time

I’m sure many of you are prepared to jump up and loudly proclaim that this is what student-athletes bargained for when they received their scholarships, but I’m just wondering how many other college kids on scholarship have had to surrender their lives to such an extent.

In all, it’s pretty pathetic.  Good thing playing D-1 football is not a job.

Musical palate cleanser, just drive edition, part five

Today, it’s the daddy of rock and roll car tunes, Chuck Berry.

My problem is that there are two Berry songs that qualify for a MPC.  Only solution is to clip them both here.

First, here’s “Maybelline” live, from 1955.

And from a few years later, here he is performing “No Particular Place To Go”.

The man had an… um, interesting stage presence, to say the least.

Feel free to add on any musical driving selections you may have in the comments.