normanjuly2008

(7/31) Here’s why the iconic Joe Paterno won’t be the head football coach at Penn State after this season. Since 2002, 46 Penn State players have been charged with 163 criminal complaints. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the problem has recently gotten worse. Seventeen players were charged in 2007 with 72 crimes. This screams of lack of institutional control which concerns the NCAA and embarrasses the Nittany Lion brass.

One quick word about the Atlanta Braves trading Mark Teixeira. Most wouldn’t agree but I would have kept Teixeira as the franchise player, even at the expense of Chipper Jones. But the former Georgia Tech star can’t be too unhappy going to the California Angels, which happen to have the best record in all of baseball. No matter, Teixeira is going to be one wealthy young man.

Female golfer Michele Wie is skipping the Women’s British Open this week to play in a men’s PGA event -- again. Wie has yet to win on the LPGA tour and has never made the cut in the half dozen or so men’s events she’s entered. Now her LPGA mates are wondering why. Me, too.

SI.Com’s college writer, Stewart Mandel, says the three teams which will enter the season not ranked in the top 15 but have a good chance of finishing there include Rutgers, Utah and Alabama. The three that will be ranked but have the best chance of falling out of the polls include West Virginia, Texas Tech and Wisconsin.

Are NASCAR fans ready for it -- yet another Earnhardt? Jeffrey Earnhardt, the nephew of Dale, Jr., is racing in the minor leagues right now but the 19-year-old seems headed for the big show within a year.

After last year’s opening week Appalachian State upset of highly ranked Michigan, there are five games that open up this season that have upset potential. Charleston Southern is at Miami; Western Illinois at Arkansas; Western Michigan at Nebraska; Youngstown State at Ohio State; and, of course, Appalachian State at LSU.

And finally, Georgia Tech’s freshmen have reported and Georgia’s have already arrived. It’s that time.

Like it or not, the Atlanta Braves are done for the year; football starts in 29 days

(7/30) It’s kind of complicated but the Big East Conference is looking to expand its football membership and the league is talking to Army and Navy about a limited partnership where each of the service academies would play four Big East games per year.

The Atlantic Coast Conference will become the first in the nation to release team-by-team injury reports twice a week during the football season. Hope it does away with all this secret crap about who’s gonna start and who’s not.

The AJC reports that the ridiculous gas prices are impacting youth sports. Now the weekend trips to play in soccer, baseball and softball tournaments aren’t cheap. Many leagues range from Florida to Virginia in the South and it’s become an expensive proposition.

Notes, Quotes & Anecdotes: Just for your edification, there are 29 days until college football kicks off. . . Can you remember an Atlanta Falcons’ camp that has had less buzz and enthusiasm than this one?. . . The SEC media isn’t in love with Georgia as much as the national media. The Bulldogs are picked in the top three in most national polls but only No. 2 in the SEC East behind Florida. . . I was shocked when dirty referee Tim Donaghy received only 15 months in prison for fixing NBA games. . . Amazing that one of the top basketball recruits in the state chose N.C. State over Florida - that would be Roswell’s Lorenzo Brown. . . Even more amazing is that Chamblee running back Warren Norman chose Vanderbilt over Georgia Tech.

. I don’t know what you think but there’s no doubt in my mind that the Atlanta Braves are done for the season. They essentially conceded the season when they traded Mark Teixeira to the Angels.

SI.Com ran a list of the 20 top baseball quotes of all time. My favorite was Tug McGraw, formerly of the Philadelphia Phillies. He said "Ninety percent of my salary was spent on booze and women. The other 10 percent I wasted."

Top football T-shirt goes to Kansas whose fans, or possibly foes, sport a shirt that reads: "Our coach can eat your coach," inspired by the supremely obese Mark Mangino.

And finally, a game I’d like to see is Mike Leach’s Texas Tech team play Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech team. The two have exact opposite philosophies on how to move the football but both run the truest form of a one-dimensional attack.

Bleacher Report's top 10 unwearable jerseys includes a familiar no. 7

(7/29) Who’s the quarterback? That’s going to be a common question in the SEC this season. Outside of Tim Tebow at Florida and Matt Stafford at Georgia, who are golden at the position, at least seven schools in the league will be starting a new quarterback or looking for a starter.

And speaking of Tebow, and I know you’re already tired of hearing about the wunderkind, he trained in the off-season on three different continents and four different cities. He ran mountains and steps in Thailand, The Phillipines and Crotia while doing missionary work for his father’s mission.

If the Atlanta Hawks sign Maurice Evans to replace Josh Childress, who left to play basketball in Greece, the Georgia team would be the sixth team for Evans in seven years in the NBA. Evans played collegiately at Wichita State.

The secret to 81-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s excellent health: He says "eat a little more olive oil and a little more garlic, and you’ll be OK."

The Bleacher Report ran a list of the Top 10 unwearable jerseys in sports. No surprise that O.J. Simpson’s No. 32 was at the top of the list and Michael Vick’s No. 7 was third. But poor old Scott Norwood was second just because he cost the Buffalo Bills a Super Bowl by missing a 47-yard field goal

After turning down overtures from all over the country, including the head job at Michigan, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano signed a new lucrative deal with the New Jersey school that should keep him there for years. But the one escape clause Schiano has in the contract is contingent upon the school expanding its stadium and its run into all kinds of problems. If it isn’t solved, look for Schiano to leave.

Here’s a question that may cause a problem for Ohio State this year in football. With the two embarrassing defeats the Buckeyes suffered in the mythical college championship games the past two years, first against Florida and then against LSU, will Jim Tressel’s troops be dissed when the voting takes place for the title game this year?

Rivals.com is bullish when it comes to the no. 2 football team in Florida

(7/28) From alert reader Joey Mac comes this: Olympic baseball-- To speed up extra-inning games, each team’s at-bat in the 11th inning and beyond will begin with runners on first and second. Teams may start the 11th at any point in their batting order. I like it but JM points out that if Major League Baseball had adopted that, nobody in Atlanta would remember 1985 and Rick Camp’s pre-dawn 18th inning homer to lengthen the game, but then gave up five runs in the 19th and the Braves lost. The game ended at 3:55 a.m.

Duke out-pointed North Carolina in an ESPN poll to win the title as the top basketball program in the nation since the NCAA tournament went to 64 teams in 1985.

Mark Story of the Lexington Herald-Ledger says he’s never seen a fan base turn on a coach so vociferously as Louisville’s did on new coach Steve Kragthorpe. If you remember, Kragthorpe took over a veteran returning team that had won a BCS bowl the year before and led it to a 6-6 record.

According to a compilation done by the Southeastern Conference from pre-season magazines, Ohio State is the consensus No. 1 pick followed by Southern Cal. Georgia and Oklahoma are tied for third.

Latest Georgia joke: What do you say to a University of Georgia football player in a three-piece suit? "Will the defendant please rise?"

Who’s No. 2? In the state of Florida, Rivals.Com concedes the Gators are number one but who’s No. 2? Miami, Florida State, South Florida, Central Florida? The rivals pick are the Bulls of South Florida.

Looks like local NASCAR fans had better put up or shut up. Atlanta track owner Bruton Smith is going to keep a close eye on ticket sales for Atlanta’s fall race. If sales are lagging, the city could lose one of its two NASCAR events to the new track just purchased by Smith in Kentucky.

And finally there will be no doping controversy concerning an American rider in the Tour de France this year, mainly because none of them were in sight when Spain’s Carlos Sastre crossed the finish line.

Oh, it's crying time again for Urban Meyer over Georgia's TD 'celebration'

(7/25) Uh-oh. Florida head football coach Urban Meyer is letting Georgia’s "Celebration" during last year’s loss to the Bulldogs in Jacksonville get under his skin. In his new book, Urban’s Way, Meyer writes, “It was a bad deal. And it will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and our football team.” Referring to oneself in the third person is never good.

Not sure what’s going on with Paul Hewitt and Georgia Tech basketball. In the past two years, the Jackets have had 10 players graduate, leave early or transfer and have replaced them with only four scholarship players. The latest is Ra’Sean Dickey, who plans to play in the Ukraine next season. The Ukraine? Ra’Sean, if you’re going to do this, you’re supposed to go to somewhere romantic like Italy, Greece or Spain. The Ukraine? I don’t think Ra’Sean has a good fix on this European basketball thing. Unless something happens, Tech will field a team with only nine scholarship players.

The ACC is apparently pulling in its horns as far as its basketball tournament is concerned. After this year’s tournament in Atlanta, the round ball extravaganza will be played in Greensboro five of the next six years. I’ve never understood the league’s insistence on being so provincial.

NASCAR may be on the verge of losing one of its marquee names. Jeff Gordon, the 36-year-old super star says he can’t see himself continuing on the circuit past age 40.

Doesn’t seem that long but University of Texas coach Mack Brown is the dean of all Big-12 coaches, having spent 11 years in Austin.

In answer to why Alabama and Clemson would agree to open the season against each other in the Georgia Dome, here’s one good reason. The teams each will take home roughly $2 million and appear in a hot recruiting area on national television. It’s also good for the fans as beer will be sold at The Dome until halftime.

And finally, here’s an interesting scenario. Kansas University has just completed a new $12 million athletic facility on campus. Alum Tom Kivisto, who pledged $12 million to the project, was fired from his job as head of an independent gas company. The Jay Hawks aren’t sure if they’ll still get their dough or not.

From the most masculine to the wimpiest to the fastest, it's all right here

(7/24) Great point of discussion: I saw a comment that said there is nobody more synonymous with masculinity and toughness than Mike Ditka. Do you agree or disagree? How about Howie Long, Larry Csonka, Jack Lambert, Ray Nitzke or even the late Erk Russell?

The eight fastest college football players in the land from SI.Com include two players from one team. The eight are Pat White and Noel Devine of West Virginia, Joe McKnight of Southern Cal, Jeremy Maclin of Missouri, LSU’s Trinadon Holliday, Percy Harvin of Florida, Jacoby Ford of Clemson and Jahvid Best of Cal.

How about a list of the wimpiest nicknames for sports teams? Well, there’s a Minnesota High School whose teams are named The Awesome Blossoms. Chickasha High in Oklahoma has the Fighting Chicks, West Virginia’s Poca High is known as The Dots, there’s the Whittier College Poets, Minnesota’s Cranberry High is the Super Berries, there’s Scottdale Community College’s Fighting Artichokes, but the winner had to be the International Hockey League team in Peoria once known as the Prancers.

How about this factoid? According to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Tiger Woods made more more money in this abbreviated season in six events ($5,775,000) than Jack Nicklaus made in his entire career ($5,734,031).

Did you realize that Louisiana State coach Les Miles has compiled identical 11-2 marks in Baton Rouge each of the three years he’s been there. Hey, 33-6 ain’t bad.

Another word on Central Florida’s head football coach George O’Leary boycotting the Orlando Sentinel. The former Georgia Tech coach has to realize that’s cutting off his nose to spite his face -- the Sentinel is the only Florida paper that covers all of the Golden Knights’ games.

The best owner in pro football, as judged by Yahoo.Com, is Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots while Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys was second. The worst two owners are Wayne Weaver of the Jacksonville Jaguars, dead last, and Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders was 31st. The Atlanta Falcons' Arthur Blank sat in the No. 21 spot.

Tebow says no to Playboy; Wake's Grobe sees success for Tech's Johnson

(7/23) Interesting that Georgia seems to be just about everyone’s pick to win the SEC this year, maybe the mythical national championship, and yet on the pre-season All-SEC coaches team, the Bulldogs had only two players on the first squad -- running back Knowshon Moreno and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.

Thanks to alert reader Joey Mac for sending this from an interview with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, former signal-caller at Southern Cal. "I cannot stand the Buckeyes and having to live in Ohio and hear those people talk about their team, it drives me absolutely nuts. It’s amazing what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and (coach) Jim Tressel and all the crap I gotta put up with." How many Ohio State fans are gonna be pulling for the Bengals?

The University of Florida has 32 former and present athletes performing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics to lead the SEC, followed by Auburn’s 24 and Georgia’s 19.

I would have done it but Florida quarterback Tim Tebow wouldn’t. Tebow declined to be nominated for the annual Playboy All-America team because of his religious convictions. West Virginia’s Pat White is the Playboy quarterback. That deserves an Attaboy.

Here’s some numbers that all you SEC-philes out there will like. The ACC is 2-17 against non-conference teams ranked in the Top 10 over the past four seasons and 9-31 against non-league teams ranked in the Top 25. On top of that, no ACC team has ever received an at-large BCS bid.

Wake Forest head football coach Jim Grobe thinks Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson will be successful in Atlanta. Grobe’s Demon Deacons gave up 328 yards rushing last season in a 44-24 win over the Johnson-coached Navy team. "We won on the scoreboard but they went up and down the field against us. We haven’t stopped them yet. They’d still be running it if the horn hasn’t blown," Grobe said.

And finally, a reminder to all the FSU fans that the Seminoles must play their first three games minus 20-plus players who were involved in a cheating scandal last season. Bobby Bowden’s team will beat Western Carolina and UT-Chattanooga but Wake Forest comes to Tallahassee on Sept. 20 and looks like a loss to me.

LSU's Miles has the skinny on beating 'Bama; Duke's Cutcliffe out to cut the fat

(7/22) Former Braves’ pitcher Phil Niekro was being interviewed on WFAN when one of the talk jocks asked how his brother Joe was doing. Talk about being unprepared for an interview. Joe Niekro died almost two years ago.

Former Georgia Tech football coach and now Central Florida coach George O’Leary has refused to be interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel and has forbidden his players to give interviews to the newspaper. He says that policy will remain in place until the Sentinel corrects some errors that appeared in reporting the death of player Ereck Plancher.

That Les Miles is such a kidder. During a speech he gave last week, the LSU coach downplayed his team’s win over Alabama last season. He warned the crowd "not to make too much of that game as it seems like a lot of teams in Louisiana beat that team," referring to the Crimson Tide’s shocking loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

New Duke football coach David Cutcliffe might have been politically incorrect but it didn’t seem to bother him. He said the Blue Devil players he inherited were fat. Bet they won’t be come the first week in September.

An article in the Fayetteville Morning News predicts that when the SEC coaches convene this week for the annual football meetings, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier will make fun of somebody. The odds-on favorites are Phil Fulmer at Tennessee, Rich Brooks at Kentucky, the South Carolina athletics department or the state of Georgia.

This week also will be the first time the media gets a shot at Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, who quit the Falcons with three games remaining to take the job with the Razorbacks. Bet he doesn’t answer. In fact, he might just leave in the middle of the interview.

And finally, a word on my most unfavorite team, Notre Dame. There’s no way the sometimes-fighting-Irish won’t be able to better last year’s 3-9 mark. Not because they’re going to be so much better but because their schedule includes San Diego State, Stanford, North Carolina, Washington, Navy and Syracuse.

This is your fighting leprechaun with your Hometown Headlines Sports Commentary

These dog days of summer are killing me

(7/21) You know the dog days of summer are really here when the biggest sporting news is a 53-year-old guy threatening to win the British Open. And, by the way, the guy's wife has five times as many majors as he does. Of course, that's in another sport. SO: How many days until college football begins? Exactly 38.

So here’s some shorts, notes and stuff that may whet your appetite for what’s just around the corner:

>North Carolina finished 4-8 last year as the Tar Heels lost six games by seven points or less. The ‘Heels couldn’t run the ball, averaging 99 yards per game and this from a team that has produced 24 1,000-yard rushers in the past. Look for Butch Davis to win more than he loses this time.

>Georgia Tech will be a work-in-progress on both sides of the ball. Forget for a minute Paul Johnson’s glorified wishbone attack. New defensive coordinator Dave Wommack isn’t the rambling, gambling guy that Jon Tenuta was. Plus he’s got less to work with than Tenuta had.

>Clemson seems to be just about everyone’s pre-season pick to be the top Tiger in the ACC. But remember starting quarterback Cullen Harper had off-season shoulder surgery.

>It’s going to take at least one more year before Miami and Florida State regain their once lofty footing. In most pre-season polls, the Hurricanes are picked no better than second or third in the Coastal Division while the Seminoles are third in the Atlantic.

>As much as I admire Steve Spurrier, the Gamecocks may be hard-pressed to match last year’s 6-6 record. Of course, if quarterback Steven Garcia gets back in school and performs as we have been led to believe he can, things could change.

>There’s a long way to go until Nov. 29 but that’s when Auburn and Alabama play and the Crimson Tide will be trying to stop the Tigers from winning their seventh straight. At this point, there’s nothing to make you think Alabama will be able to do that.

>This year’s Hawaii may be Fresno State. The Bulldogs have a tough row to hoe early on with games against Rutgers, Wisconsin and UCLA but if they should weather that storm, look for them in a BCS bowl.

>Despite all the noise Rutgers has been making in recruiting, most prognosticators are picking the Scarlet Knights no better than seventh in the eight-team Big East.

>And finally, I predict Georgia Tech will win five and Georgia will win 10.

Maybe some nice pudding, Twinkies on the sidelines for the Gators?

(7/18) The University of Florida training staff is experimenting with air-conditioned shoulder pads for the Gator players. I’m not sure what to make of that. Perhaps they also could consider serving them a little chocolate pudding snack on the sidelines after every series and Twinkies after TDs.

The British bookies are deliriously happy that Tiger Woods is staying home this year with an injury during the British Open. Woods, who would have been a prohibitive favorite, inspires folks to bet since other golfers are perceived to have a chance. The betting is up from 24 million pounds last year to 35 million today.

And just how tough is this year’s British Open course? Consider that the top-ranked American golfer in the field, Tom Mickleson, was nine-over par after the opening round.

North Carolina basketball transfer Alex Stephenson says he’s going to play for the Southern Cal Trojans. The 6-foot-8 Stephenson left the Tar Heels to be closer to his father, who suffers from heart problems. He also was considering UCLA and Arizona State.

I don’t know, does this sound kind of snotty to you? New Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick says many changes lie ahead on the athletics landscape and Notre Dame "must participate in leading the change. Notre Dame cannot have that dictated to it." Question: When have the Irish ever been dictated to about anything? Then again, he is a lawyer but it sure didn’t take him long to embrace the Irish spirit.

Certainly he’s no John Wooden but then who is? UCLA has signed basketball coach Ben Howland to a contract extension and raise which will keep him in Westwood through 2015 and will pay him more than $2 million a year.

Factoid of the Week: Did you realize that the Miami Dolphins have had 12 starting quarterbacks since Dan Marino retired in 1999?

And finally, the AJC ran a reader’s poll asking the question: Will oft-injured Atlanta Braves’ pitcher Mike Hampton pitch in a game this year. The fans voted 90 percent no.

Favre can't take the heat (in Tampa Bay); Bo's a perfect '10' for Gov. Arnold

(7/17) Golf’s bad boy, John Daly, showed up at the British Open with a deep tan. When asked about it, he said he’d been practicing for two weeks in Arkansas. "I can take my shirt off there and nobody cares," he said.

Walton High School’s Glen Rice Jr., son of former NBA star Glen Sr., is the top uncommitted senior in the state. Rice, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, has narrowed his choices to Miami, Florida State and Georgia Tech.

Say it ain’t so, Commander-in-Chief. The Army-Navy game, long a fixture in Philadelphia, has opened up bidding for the game in the future and rumors has it that the two military institutions would be open to a corporate sponsor. The Frito-Lay Navy-Army game just doesn’t get it. Dallas already has met with the two service academies about hosting the event.

Three different Internet articles are extolling the talents of Texas-transfer quarterback Jevan Snead. Snead landed at Ole Miss and some of the prognosticator folks are saying the Rebels could improve on last year’s 3-9 record to a winning season if Snead is as good as touted.

Student-Athlete has become an oxymoron in college sports these days, so here’s the listed majors for the top five Heisman Trophy candidates:

>Pat White, West Virginia, Athletic Coaching Education.

>Knowshon Moreno, Georgia, Consumer Economics.

>Chase Daniel, Missouri, Business.

>Chris Wells, Ohio State, Unknown.

>Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech, undeclared.

>Tim Tebow, Florida, Family, Youth and Community Services.

According to SI.Com, Moreno’s major isn’t what you may think - it teaches you how to buy stuff.

A Perfect 10: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed actress Bo Derek and TV producer David Israel to the California Horse Racing Board this week.

Brett Favre, who may be retired, or not retired, told his agent he didn’t want to play in Tampa Bay because it was too hot. Yet Favre has been staying in shape by working out at Southern Miss, his alma mater, in Hattiesburg, Miss.

And finally, if it ain’t one thing it’s another. The National Football League, fearful that some of its fine players are flashing street gang hand signs after scoring touchdowns, has hired experts to examine last year’s game tapes.

How 'bout them Dawgs--at No. 9? That's Phil Steele's pick

(7/16) Holy Cow! One of the pre-season football magazines had the audaciousness to rank the mighty Bulldogs of Georgia at No. 9. That was Phil Steele’s pick and it makes sense. He said he’s picking where he thinks they’ll finish, not where they should start. Remember, the Dawgs have one of the best teams but also one of the hardest schedules. I think two losses is about right.

Georgia Tech has completed Internet voting for its "Magnificent Seven" all-time top games and will feature the seven classics in each of its seven 2008 game programs. Wonder how many Bill Lewis and Chan Gailey wins will be in there?

Crying in their beer. Budweiser, which was just sold to an overseas brewery, spent more than $218 million last year in advertising at sporting events. That was more than $45 million above what No. 2 Chevrolet funneled into the various games. Now sports teams are casting a wary eye toward St. Louis.

Kill ‘de Bums: The latest Harris Poll says the New York Yankees are No. 1 as the favorite baseball team in America. Atlanta was No. 2 followed by the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubsand the Los Angeles Dodgers. The least popular teams were the Los Angeles Anaheim Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Just one more word on NBC renewing its television contract with Notre Dame football. It would seem that the ability to tell a recruit that he will appear on national TV every game gives the Arrogant Irish a recruiting advantage. Yes?

Defense wins championships, right? Wrong. In the BCS era, that’s from 1998-2007, offensive-minded coaches have won seven titles to four for their defensive counterparts.

And finally, let’s see if I can get this straight, and I’m not promising. Including walk-ons, there are 105 players on Georgia’s football team. Therefore, the seven players arrested constitute 6.7 percent. That percent goes to 8.2 percent if you’re talking about scholarship players. The UGA police say they’ve arrested 1,308 undergraduate students out of 25,144 for 5.2 percent, only 3.8 percent of the total enrollment of 33,831. So, athletes do get in trouble more than the general student body, right?

Billy Packer, Kenny 'The Snake' Stabler both sent packing

(7/15) Love him or hate him, CBS has sent Billy Packer packing. The network made the decision to lose Packer and team lead announcer Jim Nantz with Clark Kellogg next season. Packer had done 34 straight NCAA Final Fours, the first one in 1974.

Georgia Tech basketball secured its second recruit for the 2009 class when Kammeon Holsey of Hancock Central committed to the Yellow Jackets. Holsey, 6-foot-8, averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds for the state class A champs. Tech earlier got a committed from Brian Oliver of Oak Hill Academy.

Kenny "The Snake" Stabler, former quarterback at Alabama and later Super Bowl winner with Oakland, has taken a leave of absence from the broadcast booth in Tuscaloosa. Stabler, the color analyst for 10 seasons, was arrested on drunken driving charges in June, at least the third charge of that kind for him.

A man in Chicago has proposed a final resting place for the ashes of Chicago Cubs fans. Called "Beyond the Vines", the cemetery would feature a 24-foot-high ivy-covered wall which looks like the one at Wrigley Field. The wall would hold 280 urns emblazoned with the Cubs logo. There also would be a bronze baseball card with a photo of the deceased fan. The AP’s Don Babwin writes, "It would be a perfect answer for a team that’s been killing its fans for 100 years."

There’s no question that Kyle Busch is the hottest thing in NASCAR this season with seven wins in 19 starts but that doesn’t hold a candle to what The King did in 1967. Richard Petty won 10 straight and 27 of 48. Now that’s racin’.

FoxSports rates the five teams needing the most love this season. The list of super losers includes Utah State. Buffalo, SMU, Florida International and Temple. Time for a group hug.

The latest SEC attendance figures show that the league’s butts-in-seats is up 12 percent, with Tennessee being the only one of the dozen schools to show a decline. But it’s hard to feel too sorry for the Vols, who still average more than 100,000 per game.

And finally, Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno may be the best running back in the nation and that’s good for the Bulldogs, says the AJC. Coach Mark Richt’s best years at Georgia have come when he had a 1,000-yard back. And don’t forget about Moreno backup Caleb King.

Duke to go winless in the ACC again this year? No-no

(7/14) The price of freedom, if you want to call it that, can be very, very high. Greg Norman paid his former wife $103 million in their divorce settlement and recently married former tennis great Chris Evert. Evert paid her former husband Andy Mills $7 million in their settlement in 2006.

And just so you’ll know, Michigan has 869 victories as a program, the most in Division I-A history and 45 more than second-place Notre Dame, which has 824 wins.

Great decision by Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson. He says he’s through recruiting any prep player who’s a one-and-done type. Every college coach in the country should adopt that policy.

With great pleasure I report that baseball bad boy Jose Canseco was knocked out by former Philadelphia Eagles return man Vai Sikahema in a celebrity boxing match over the weekend. Canseco is 6-foot-4, 245 pounds. Sikahema is 5-foot-9, 205 pounds.

I enjoyed reading Carolyn Curry’s comment when new Georgia State football coach Bill Curry told her he was considering taking the job. "Good, " said Carolyn. "You’ve found something that you know how to do and we don’t have to move."

At least one national prognosticator isn’t picking Georgia as pre-season No. 1. Dennis Dodds, a senior writer for CBSports, has Ohio State at the No. 1 spot with the Bulldogs at No. 2. Dennis, you’re an idiot, not for not picking Georgia but for picking Ohio State.

How good is Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards? Consider that Edwards threw for 1,948 yards and 17 touchdowns while rushing for 1,275 yards and 17 more rushing touchdowns. And that was after missing four games with injuries.

The Sporting News football magazine’s three top college quarterbacks are Florida’s Tim Tebow, West Virginia’s Pat White and Missouri’s Chase Daniel.

And finally I have a fearless prediction to make right now in mid-July. Duke, which has lost 25 straight ACC games, will win a conference game this season thanks to the Xs and Os of new coach David Cutcliffe.

UGA ranked 14th in list of tough places to play college football; Gators, no. 2

(7/11) My favorite college writer, SI.Com’s Stewart Mandel, predicts there are five teams to keep an eye on this year which should dramatically improve over last season’s win total. The five, in order, are SMU, Pitt, North Carolina, Ole Miss and Notre Dame.

Here’s a trivia question for you: What do Travis Minor, Greg Jones, Leon Washington, Lorenzo Booker and Antoine Smith have in common? Yes, they all were featured running backs in Florida State’s offense and none of them reached the 1,000-yard mark. The last Seminole back to do that was Warrick Dunn in 1996.

Dallas NBA owner Mark Cuban gets more ink than John McCain and Barack Obama combined. The latest rumor is that Cuban is interested in purchasing the Pittsburgh Steelers. This comes to light as he also is involved in negotiations to buy the Chicago Cubs. Maybe he’d be interested in the Falcons and Hawks, too?

Ever heard of Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, Calif.? It’s the alma mater of Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen. The quarterback battle this year is between Nicolas Montana, son of Joe, and Trevor Gretzky, son of Wayne. And they’ll be throwing to Trey Smith, son of Will.

The economy strikes again. Rutgers University has had to cut-back on part of its stadium expansion plan and cancel another part because of the increase in cost of all building materials and labor.

SI.Com ran a list of the toughest places to play in college football, based on the home team’s winning percentage. The top five were, in order: Nebraska, Florida, Florida State, Miami and a tie between Ohio State and Michigan. Georgia was ranked No. 14.

And finally, Maryland head football coach Ralph Friedgen is considered an offensive genius by many in football, both pro and college, but Friedgen has decided to give up the play-calling duties for the Terps and has hired James Franklin to go the job. Last season at Kansas State, Franklin had a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,500-yard receiver and a 1,000-yard rusher.

'Hotseat' Web site lists Willingham, Ferentz and ... Saban?... as feeling the heat

(7/10) So why is Clemson picked to dominate the ACC this year in many of the pre-season college football magazines? The Tigers return all of their skill players, bring back 40 of its top 44 letter winners and had the No. 2 recruiting class in the country. Of course, they do have Tommy Bowden. Can he finally get off the hot seat and guide Clemson into a BCS bowl?

Reportedly new Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has agreed to pay West Virginia the sum of $4 million on his buyout clause for leaving the Mountaineers to take the Wolverine job. It’s not clear whether Rodriguez will pay the entire sum himself or if a Michigan booster will help.

There seems to be a Web site for just about everything you can think of in sports. Hence, Coacheshotseat.com is out there. According to this specialized site, Ty Willingham’s seat at Washington is hottest followed by Joe Glenn at Wyoming, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Alabama’s Nick Saban.

Keep your eye on Fresno State this year. Pat Hill’s Bulldogs are again proving Hill’s boast of playing anybody, anywhere, anytime. After watching Boise State and Hawaii play in BCS bowls the past two seasons, Hill’s Bulldogs want to be the third WAC team to make it. Only problem is the schedule with three of their first four games against Rutgers, Wisconsin and UCLA.

Here & There: Wade Phillips seems to be out after this season with the Cowboys so Dallas can bring in Jason Garrett . . . Miami and Notre Dame may be ready to sign on for a neutral site game. . . The Diamondbacks are talking about signing Barry Bonds for the remainder of the season; Tony Stewart is leaving Joe Gibbs’ racing team and it looks like he’ll be replaced by 18-year-old Joey Logano. . . Driver Jimmie Johnson says he’s voting for John McCain for president. He also said that most of the NASCAR fan base is Republican.

Bloomberg News reports that after declaring bankruptcy, Michael Vick enters the Sports Finance Hall of Shame joining inductees such as boxer Mike Tyson, who earned more than $200 million but went to Chapter 11 in ‘03 and ex-NBA star Latrell Sprewell, who made $100 million but has his yacht and home repossessed.

And finally, the aforementioned Nick Saban says Alabama is doing everything it can to help clear up off-the-field problems. The Tide has an extensive drug testing program, has a sports psychiatrist and sport psychologist, and has a learning institute that comes in and works on character development and self-image. Wonder if the coaching staff attends?

Here's a first: ranking the most-hated football programs in the past 25 years

The Bleacher Report lists the 10 most-hated, envied and disliked college football programs in the last 25 years. The newsletter is specific, with time periods in the quarter century.

-10) Tennessee, Phil Fulmer, 1995-1998, 45-5.

-9) Nebraska, Tom Osborne, 1993-1997, 60-3.

-8) Oklahoma, Bob Stoops, 2000-2004, 60-7.

-7) Florida, Steve Spurrier, 1993-1998, 65-10.

-6) Notre Dame, Lou Holtz, 1988-93, 64-9.

-5) Colorado, Bill McCartney, 1989-1994, 58-11.

-4) Florida State, Bobby Bowden, 1987-2000, 152-19.

-3) Ohio State, Jim Tressel, 2002-2007, 66-11.

-2) Southern Cal, Pete Carroll, 2003-2005, 37-2.

-1) Miami, Jimmy Johnson, 1985-88, 44-4.

I wasn’t going to get into the Alex Rodriguez-Cynthia Rodriguez divorce. But I can warn the New York Yankee player that his wallet may be considerably lighter. Mrs. Rodriguez has employed four lawyers in two states. Says one friend: "That’s not the dream team, that’s the greed team."

Imprisoned Atlanta Falcon quarterback Michael Vick has filed for bankruptcy, claiming he owes between $10 million and $50 million. I’m no law guru or court expert but (1) is it $10 million or $50 million, there’s a big difference, isn’t there; and (2) how can he be broke after signing for more than $100 million, even if he didn’t fulfill the contract? Surely someone advised him on investments.

Georgia Bulldog 6-foot-7 freshman forward Jeremy Jacob has decided to transfer after playing in only six games for the Bulldogs. Jacob suffered a stress fracture last year and sat out the season.

If you could purchase stock in a player, the Atlanta Braves’ Mark Teixera would be a good bet. Teixera could be dealt as early as the end of this month if the Braves are still floundering since the first-baseman becomes a free agent after the season. The latest team to express interest, and there’s been lots of them, is the Boston Red Sox.

Notre Dame has announced it’s erecting a statue of former coach Lou Holtz outside of the football stadium. Wonder if it’ll be placed alongside the more famous one of You Know Who?

And finally, how about this: Thirty-nine of the 109 professional sports franchises are threatening a move if they don’t get new stadiums, no matter how old (or young) the one they play in happens to be. Is sports completely about money now? Yes. It’s always been.

No clipboard duties for Matt Ryan this fall, says Pro Football Weekly

(7/8) Interesting news from the most arrogant college football team in the nation. Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, says SI.Com, expects somewhere between nine and 12 wins this season. Remembering that the Irish managed only three wins last season, I’m anxious to see when he brings in Mandrake the Magician.

Austin Rivers, a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Winter Park (Fla.) High School, has committed to play basketball at the University of Florida. Rivers, the son of Boston Celtic coach Doc Rivers, is the youngest recruit ever for coach Billy Donovan of the Gators. Rivers is a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 14 points per game.

Here’s something for all NASCAR fans to ponder. It appeared in the Orlando Sentinel. Kyle Busch, the man whom Rick Hendrick fired and replaced with Dale Earnhardt Jr. after last season, has all the markings and makings of the next Intimidatort (that’s Earnhardt Sr. to you NASCAR neophytes.) He has the ability, he has the attitude, he has the audaciousness. He has everything except the last name.

It was only a matter of time until the perceived recession in this country affected NASCAR. With GM, Ford and Chrysler along with Toyota reporting double-digit drops in sales and profits, NASCAR is sweating out whether any will drop sponsorships -- especially GM, which is worth millions to the sport.

In the Yankees’ win against the Red Sox over the weekend, Alex Rodriguez tied Mickey Mantle for 13th on the all-time home run list. A-Rod hit his 536th.

Ever the marketing geniuses, Nike has designed a special shoe for each of the 28 Olympic sports that will be played in Beijing this year.

Pro Football Weekly reports that the Atlanta Falcons have no plans to let first-round draft choice Matt Ryan stand on the sidelines with a clipboard. The newsletter says Ryan will compete for the starting job with holdovers Joey Herrington and Chris Redman, and could be the starter by the time the Falcons open the season against Detroit. All reports are that Ryan has become an astute student of the pro game and is more prepared than many veteran quarterbacks in the league.

A big what-if: Brett Favre to Atlanta to mentor Matt Ryan?

(7/7) This lead appeared in a story about golfer John Daly, written by the Dallas Morning News’ Bill Nichols: "On the road to nowhere with relevance in his rearview mirror." Now that’s a great lead.

Tucker basketball star Manny Atkins has verbally committed to play for Virginia Tech. Atkins, a 6-foot-6 guard/forward chose the Hokies over Georgia Tech and Marquette. Not a good sign for the Jackets’ Paul Hewitt to let an in-state player slip away.

New Georgia State head football coach Bill Curry has hired his first three assistant coaches. John Bond, who was offensive coordinator for Georgia Tech last season, will serve in the same capacity for the Panthers while John Thompson will be the defensive boss. Thompson has worked for six of the 12 SEC schools. George Pugh is the third hire. What I remember about Pugh, an assistant to Jackie Sherrill at Pittsburgh at one time, was his involvement in a ticket fiasco before Pitt played Georgia in a bowl game in the early ‘80s.

FoxSports.com ran a list of the most overrated NFL players in the Super Bowl era -- in other words, in the last 40 years. The Falcons have been the proud owners of two of them -- Michael Vick and Jeff George. Others to make the list included Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann. If you want to argue, check out their stats.

It seemed as if Tennessee head football Phillip Fulmer would enter this season on the hot seat after several so-so years, including an unbelievable 5-6 season when the Vols opened the pre-season rankings at No. 2. But no. The UT brass presented him with a five-year extension with a raise that averages out to $3 million a year. At the same time, basketball coach Bruce Pearl was given an extension and will average $2.3 million annually. The Fulmer deal seems strange to me but what do I know?

My WRGA Southern Sports Roundtable talk show co-host Dan Houston says he’d love to see Brett Favre come full circle and play for the Atlanta Falcons. If you remember, the Falcons traded Favre to the Packers back in the day. Word is that Favre wants to un-retire and who better to teach the ropes to Matt Ryan than the future Hall of Famer?

And finally, those who had a very successful weekend include Kyle Busch, Venus Williams and Rafael Nadel. But none outshown 41-year-old mother Dara Torres, who won the U.S. Swimming trials in the Olympic tryouts in the 100-meter freestyle and will go to her fifth Olympics.

Time to join the East Carolina bandwagon? Wait until game five this season

(7/3) East Carolina coach Skip Holtz might just be a better coach than many believe. Holtz took a Pirate team that had won only three games in two years and has posted seasons of 5-6, 6-5 and 8-5 and has taken his team to two straight bowls. But before you jump on the ECU bandwagon, three of its first four games are against Virginia Tech, West Virginia and N.C. State. There’s also a game against Virginia later in the season.

Being a college basketball junkie, I want to admit I’ve been reading about next year’s NBA draft and who’ll go where. To give you an idea of how much better this draft will be than this year’s, North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough is projected to go no higher than 18th by Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.

And because you need to know, in a FoxSports poll, Rollie Fingers was voted as having the best mustache of all time in baseball. Goose Gossage was a distant second.

Not a good start for projected Green Bay starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers when he was asked if he felt pressure to connect to the fans as did retired QB Brett Favre. "I don’t feel the need to sell myself to the fans," Rogers said. "They need to get on board now or keep their mouths shut."

Chip Towers of the AJC writes that Georgia has now had seven football players arrested in seven months. Throw in the alcohol-related arrests of basketball’s Billy Humphrey and baseball’s Ryan Wooley and there seems to be a problem. Towers says Georgia needs to get a handle on this. More like a hammerlock than a handle.

After the NASCAR race in New Hampshire last weekend, Tony Stewart became just the 13th driver to lead at least 10,000 laps in his career. It’ll be a while before he approaches the No. 1 spot which is held by Richard Petty who led 52,194.

And finally, with a new commissioner taking over the Pac-10 after this season, the conference is said to be looking at expansion. So who would be added to get to the magic number of 12? The consensus is Utah and BYU. I personally think they should take a long hard look at Vanderbilt and Duke.

Georgia, Tech appear to be leading the preseason police blotter reports

(7/2) There’s been a rash of crime at both Georgia and Georgia Tech’s athletic programs over the past few months. The Yellow Jackets’ Jerrard Tarrant was arrested on charges of rape and sodomy while the Bulldogs’ Justin Anderson and Trinton Sturdivant were arrested on charges of battery Monday while Michael Lemon was charged with battery Saturday. Georgia has had six players arrested since the end of last season.

As powerful as the SEC is in sports across the board, it can’t hold a first down marker to the Pac-10. The SEC tied with the Big 10 by winning five national championships this season while the Pac-10 took home a whopping 13 national titles.

And speaking of strong conferences, let me just say that 10 of the Big 12 teams return their quarterback starters, including Graham Harrell at Texas Tech, Colt McCoy at Texas, Chase Daniel at Missouri and Sam Bradford at Oklahoma. No other conference has that strong of a lineup with the possible exception of the SEC with Tim Tebow alone.

Former University of Georgia basketball star Mike Mercer has resurfaced at South Florida and will be eligible to play for the Bulls next January.

Remember when Louisville was a real player in college football? It could be a long time before the Cardinals make it back into the big time. In the past 15 months, 21 players have left the program. Something’s going on up there and it doesn’t seem to be a positive thing although they did get rid of Bobby Petrino.

Just so all of you domino enthusiasts can get ready, the World Domino Championships will be played in Orlando at the Disney complex this year. Watch out for those double-sixes.

Hottest rumor in college football is that Rutgers’ coach Greg Schiano is the man who will replace Joe Paterno at Penn State when the 81-year-old legend retires. Remember Schiano turned down Michigan to stay at Rutgers.

And finally, one of the really good guys in sports is retiring. Les Robinson, the athletics director at The Citadel has called it quits. Robinson was also head basketball coach and AD at N.C. State and at East Tennessee State.

Next on the SEC Network: Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt. Plus highlights

(7/1) The Baltimore Ravens will have two trained ravens fly out with the team during pre-game introductions. That’s great stuff. I never knew you could train ravens. Could they be trained to quote "Nevermore?"

The Macon Telegraph reports that if the Southeastern Conference starts its own television network as it is expected to do, the league would still have national deals with CBS and regional deals with ESPN. What the SEC network would show are games not ordinarily scheduled on big TV, such as Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt or Arkansas vs. Kentucky. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm.

The SEC’s contracts with CBS, ESPN and Raycom earned the league $50 million last year alone. The TV money accounts for more than a third of the league’s budget and the deals will be re-negotiated after this year, and you can bet the SEC will bring in even more.

Records show that the SEC had nine teams play before at least 96 percent capacity crowds last year and seven of those played before 100 percent capacity. The only exceptions were Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.

West Virginia quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Pat White’s younger brother, Coley, will be a freshman quarterback for the Mountaineers this fall. The older White says his brother has much more potential than he had as a freshman. That’s kind of scary.

You gotta admire NASCAR CEO Brian France’s style. Last week,France met with the nation’s newspaper sports editors at their annual convention and bluntly told them that he wanted more coverage. That and a dollar will get him a cup of coffee somewhere.

Of the 80-plus early entrants in the NBA draft, 17 who declared for the draft weren’t chosen. The question is. what happens to them?

And finally, there was a suggestion, and I’m not sure of its origin, that the SEC and Big 10 set up a showdown weekend in football patterned after the ACC-Big 10 Showdown in basketball. I love it but I would imagine that backwards Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delaney would shoot it down.