Friday Morning Dawg Bites

The weekend is almost upon us and there's more going on than you can shake a stick at, so I need to give you a quick rundown on everything that's happening while you knock back that crucial initial morning cup of coffee. Buckle up and hang on, 'cause here we go:

• The polls will remain open for another day and a half, so now is the time for all good men (and, most especially, all good women) to come to the aid of their bloggers. In short, vote for me! I don't care if you've voted already; this is Georgia . . . we vote a good half a dozen times apiece and then we let our departed loved ones vote, too, out of respect for our elders. My distinguished opponent has broken out a picture of Tia Carrere in a Toronto Maple Leafs nightshirt to aid his cause, so we in Bulldog Nation need to redouble our efforts and vote unscrupulously and with willful abandon. Consider this a public service announcement not only in support of the Peach State's long history of electoral shenanigans, but also in defense of the proper pluralization of the word "leaf."
• While we're on the subject of the Ladies . . ., let's segue over to the ladies; namely the Georgia women's basketball and women's golf teams, both of which got good news on Thursday.

Fortunately, the risk of the Georgia women's golf team being shown a Paris Hilton video by the head coach has now decreased dramatically.

• What's worse than Billy Donovan leaving Florida and then coming back? How 'bout . . . Billy Donovan agreeing to a five-year non-compete clause effectively preventing him from coaching in the N.B.A. during that span? By the way, Florida president Bernie Machen, who already has firmly established himself as the chief chump in the Southeastern Conference (well, with one noteworthy exception), once again has egg on his face. When Nick Saban was hired at Alabama, Bernie said the new Crimson Tide coach's contract was "not good for college football" because of the "impact" it would have on coaches' salaries. Bernie recently signed his top two coaches, Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan, to six-year deals that will pay them $3.25 million and $3.5 million per year, respectively. Stop Bernie before he spends again!
• It seems odd to me to think that the Gator basketball coach is making more money than the Gator football coach, but, then again, a lot of guys have won one in a row. When one is attempting to figure out what makes a fellow an elite coach, it's tough to determine all the factors that must come into play, but LD sure took a good stab at it.

Being a Georgia coach named "Mark" is a pretty good indicator of elite status. Being an Alabama coach named "Mike"? Not so much.

• Robert, a frequent Dawg Sports commenter who almost singlehandedly has redeemed the South Carolina fan base in my eyes, set up shop as Third Down Draw on Wednesday. His first posting is up and running and I'll be adding him to the blog roll on the right as soon as I get the chance. In the meantime, be sure to give him a look.
• Are University of Georgia student-athletes taking their education seriously? Paul Oliver's academic shortcomings aside, the palindromically nomenclatured Lion in Oil thinks so. Are would-be Auburn University student-athletes taking their education seriously? Uh . . . maybe not so much.

I hate Auburn.

• In case you didn't notice, the major league baseball draft got underway yesterday and Diamond Dog closer Joshua Fields was taken in the second round by none other than your Atlanta Braves. Now that major league baseball is back in my good graces, I'll look forward to rooting for Fields as a professional ballplayer while regretting his absence from the Red and Black roster.
• Do you think you know which non-conference football games will be good? Maybe you don't. Do you think you know which non-conference football games will be bad? Maybe they won't.

Go 'Dawgs!