Welcoming back an old friend

One of this offseason’s mild disappointments was Stingtalk closing the board to anyone who isn’t registered to comment there.  (Hey, if I were a Stingtalk administrator, I wouldn’t let the likes of me register.)

So you can imagine the pleasure I took in discovering last night that Stingtalk has a Twitter feed that is an automated post feed of comments from the message board — and if you click on it, you can read the message board thread.

You CANNOT tell me UGA isn't bought and paid for! https://t.co/28YASz1ROt #gatech

— stinGTalk (@stingtalk) September 3, 2022

Let me be the first to say thanks for letting me back in, guys.  I don’t know if you’ll regret it, but I won’t.

It’s hip to be square.

There’s a fine line between “it just means more” and trying too hard…

Real tears. Lmaooo pic.twitter.com/rPKNQWe8IY

— Pablo Escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) July 15, 2022

… and the Southeastern Conference managed to blow right past it yesterday.

My guess is some bright young media person is out of a job today.

The art of clickbait

What makes for a good troll, the kind of Tweet or post that draws someone in, despite their better judgment?

My annual rankings of SEC QB discussed on today’s @thatSECpodcast

*** NOTE: These rankings are a projection of where the league’s QBs will rank by the end of the season, not where they rank in the preseason or based on last season’s stats pic.twitter.com/bwwKD8Khai

— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) July 11, 2022

Yeah, that’s pretty much it — totally subjective standards (“where the league’s QBs will rank by season’s end”, with no mention of what the rankings will be based on, or who’s doing the rankings), Young sitting first to give the list some degree of faux credibility, all in the service of teasing people looking at this to check out his podcast.  Because that list is intended to irritate a bunch of different fan bases.  Nicely done.

The only thing better than screaming hot takes…

Thinking about how 2019 LSU would have beaten 2021 Georgia by 30 points this morning

— SportsTalkATL.com (@SportsTalkATL) June 17, 2022

… are screaming hot hypothetical takes that can never be tested in the real world.

Work of art

This may be the most perfect job of trolling I’ve ever seen on Twitter.  It’s pretty much guaranteed to provoke a response from everybody.

Top 50 Offensive Coordinators Entering The 2022 Season pic.twitter.com/A1mFzinyy0

— Big Game Boomer (@BigGameBoomer) June 13, 2022

I mean, sometimes you’ve just got to step back and tip your cap to a master.

Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time.

Geez, Finebaum is really dogging the Clemson fanbase.

“There is no doubt after reading social media (Wednesday), the most insecure, paranoid fanbase of college football in America is Clemson. The Clemsonites take it to a whole new level. It’s one thing if you’ve never won a national championship. … But these guys have won two in recent years and they are just so desperate for attention. They are so desperate for adulation. They are so desperate to be loved.”

He did have a message for Clemson fans, though.

“I just laugh at Clemson fans,” he said. “Get over yourself, OK? You’re not that important. This 2022. College football has left you behind.”

That should make for a fun show this week, which is all PAWWWLLL!!! really cares about anyway.

“Georgia Football is Falling Apart… LITERALLY”

This was also shared with me by someone (thanks, W.H.) via email, who thought I should turn around and share it with the class.

This dude sees nobody talking about Georgia this offseason as a bug, but I suspect if you asked Kirby Smart, he’d see it as a feature.

By the way, I have no idea what the random clips of football plays not involving the Dawgs are there for.

Enjoy!

The birth of a meme

Methinks this is a wee bit over the top, but consider the source.

Sources tell me @LincolnRiley first USC practice was flawless. One observer noted “Some are calling it the greatest practice ever on a college campus”.

— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) March 22, 2022

And there was much social media mockery thereafter.

Toxic

How it started:

There it is: Stetson Bennett is coming back. pic.twitter.com/VBOAlMhmzu

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) January 19, 2022

How it’s going:

Stetson Bennett finished the season No. 3 nationally in yards per attempt (10.0) and No. 4 in passer rating (176.7).

In the 4th qtr. of the national title game, he threw a go-ahead 40-yard TD and a 15-yard TD go up by 8.

Some initial UGA fan reactions to him coming back. pic.twitter.com/mN9qHcjBqX

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 19, 2022

And, yes, I get all the usual disclaimers about how a vocal group on social media doesn’t represent the fan base at large, yada, yada, yada.

I also get this:

Some of the things I’m reading are sickening….

— Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (@SedrickVanPran) January 19, 2022

We’re less than two weeks out from the team winning a national championship.  If Smart and the coaching staff don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt from every Georgia fan right now, when will they ever?

Somehow, I suspect the program will muddle through just fine.  Some folks need to chill or find another diversion in their lives.

Could’a been a contendah

Well, Knoxville, ain’t this a real kick in the pants.

Tennessee fired Butch Jones as its head coach and the Vols’ search for his replacement reached Schiano.

Tennessee fans displayed their displeasure of discussion that Schiano was set to become the Vols’ next head coach. Fans protested and voiced their displeasure on campus, social media and on sports talk shows.

According to former NFL general manager Mike Lombardi, Schiano was set to bring eventual Heisman Trophy and national championship quarterback Joe Burrow with him to Tennessee.

In a recent GM Shuffle podcast, Lombardi said that Tennessee not hiring Schiano prevented Burrow wearing orange and white and then transferring to LSU…

“He was going to go to Tennessee if Schiano got the job there until they — till social media blew that up — and then he went to LSU.”

Oh, well.  At least Vol fans’ hearts are pure.  And Clay Travis did help usher UT into a memorable era, even by Vol standards.