I know, I know, I know . . . I already gave you a rundown earlier in the week, but much is afoot and I didn't want to leave any stone unturned, so I am at it again.
As Ferris Bueller pointed out, life moves pretty fast.
Just to make sure you're completely up to date on everything ere you head out into your weekend, here are a few noteworthy tidbits to bear in mind:
A worthwhile discussion that deserves your attention has been started over in the diaries by 34hawk's sensible posting on the commercialization of intercollegiate athletics, which is accompanied by a poll question. NCT has risen to the challenge and you are encouraged to take part in the discussion, as well.
I know some of you are turned away from that portion of the Dawg Sports forum by the name "diaries," but don't worry . . . this isn't the place for recording your innermost feelings, but for interacting with your fellow fans on important questions such as these.
Fear not; none of your fellow readers receive unwanted visits from corporate attorneys possessed by evil spirits.
I am grateful to 34hawk and NCT for getting the conversation going and I would urge you all to take part.
34hawk isn't the only person posting poll questions around here, though. Since it is the most critical question surrounding the national championship game, I recently asked: "Who's No. 2?"
All of the major conference teams with a single loss were listed among the contenders, although some subsequently suffered a second setback.
Southern California? A good argument for No. 2. Notre Dame? Uh, not so much. (Photograph from Athlon Sports.)
The team I have ranked second on my BlogPoll ballot was the top choice of Dawg Sports readers, too, as Southern California finished with a slight plurality of 30.7 per cent of the vote. Narrowly trailing the Trojans were the Maize and Blue, who garnered 28.7 per cent of the ballots cast.
The since-defeated Razorbacks came in a distant third with 16.8 per cent, edging out Saturday's opponent, Florida (14.9%). Fifth place went to a Notre Dame squad that had not yet lost to U.S.C. The Irish managed to poll at four per cent, just ahead of "none of the above" (3.0%).
Louisville and West Virginia tied for last place (1.0% apiece) among teams receiving votes. Neither Rutgers nor Wisconsin was the choice of any member of the electorate.
The new poll question concerns no less vital a matter of public policy: "Who's the hottest cartoon redhead?"
It's not a bad poll question; it's just drafted that way. (Drawing from Gil Formosa.)
The Georgia Sports Blog has a thoughtful look at Ian Smith's issues, The Cover Two provides an insightful breakdown of Georgia's recent performance in rivalry games and an interesting observation or two regarding the Pac-10, LD is thinking things over, Sunday Morning Quarterback claims that (but does not explain why) it was not a difficult decision for him to rank a 9-3 A.C.C. squad (Georgia Tech) over the 8-4 S.E.C. squad (Georgia) to which the former just lost, and my fellow webloggers at SportsBlogs Nation are all over the B.C.S.
I mentioned after the Georgia Tech game that, when I stopped by the bathroom in the Tate Center, I overheard a Georgia fan making a comment about whether the win qualified as pretty.
What I neglected to mention was that, while I was standing in line with my former "Dawg Show" co-host, Travis Rice, a fellow washing his hands at the sink heard me talking, turned around, stared at me for a moment, and asked when our T.V. show aired.
Considering the fact that it's been two years since the last episode of "The Dawg Show" was on local cable in Henry County, I was pretty pleased at still being recognized.
Finally, the comment of the week came from Fotodog, who noticed the eerie similarity between Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis and the monster version of Chet from "Weird Science":
The resemblance is downright creepy.
I hope you all have a good weekend.
Go 'Dawgs!