There's a lot going on in the world around you and it's hard to keep up, so here's the quick rundown on the events of note about which you need to know:
- How will Georgia fare against a tougher 2007 schedule? Would you believe . . . first place in the Eastern Division? ESPN is predicting a third Georgia-L.S.U. S.E.C. championship showdown in a five-year span, with the Bayou Bengals emerging victorious this time. Actually, that doesn't sound terribly unlikely to me. In the Mark Richt era, the 'Dawgs have alternated victories and defeats in the Georgia Dome, winning the 2002 S.E.C. championship game, losing the 2003 S.E.C. championship game, winning the 2005 S.E.C. championship game, losing the 2006 Sugar Bowl, and winning the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl. It'll be time for the Red and Black to lose there again in the 2007 conference title tilt . . . before winning the league championship game there in 2008.
- Doug Gillett has exactly the right take on Georgia's recent national gymnastics championship.
- Are you ready for the Kentucky Derby? If not, don't worry, 'cause Kanu's got you covered. Also, Nico knows where Oregon State got the idea for those new uniforms . . . and, more importantly, he knows why he's a 'Bama fan.
- According to the latest Fulmer Cup standings, only two of the country's 10 most lawless football programs are in the Southeastern Conference, while three of the four worst offenders (including the top two) are Big Ten member institutions. Now might be a good time to recall the wise words of Big Ten conference commissioner Jim Delany (with emphasis added, lest anyone miss the hypocrisy):
I guess it doesn't matter whether they obey the law, as long as they're slow.
In other news, the recent second arrest of previously suspended linebacker Akeem Hebron prompted Coach Richt to call a team meeting to address such conduct issues. Perhaps Tommy Tuberville will call a similar meeting so his team can sing the new Auburn fight song.
- The first and second rounds of the N.C.A.A. tennis tournament will be hosted in Athens by the men's and women's teams.
- In case you missed it, last night's edition of EDSBS Live featured an interview with fellow University of Georgia alumnus Tony Barnhart, a call from Ragin' Cajun Rebel in which he echoed my take on sensationalist sports columnists in general and Gary Parrish in particular, and a reference to me as a cuddly conservative, as well as such questions as the following:
The obvious answer, of course, is Bill Simmons, but is it really accurate to call him a sportswriter? (Seriously, don't even bother reading the so-called Sports Guy's stuff unless all you care about are out-of-date pop-culture references and the N.B.A. If you're going to visit "Page 2," go read about Terreal Bierria instead.)
Easy . . . Tom Wolfe. Given what he has written about architecture, art, and the Merry Pranksters, I'd love to see what he could do with college football.
Who you got?
Go 'Dawgs!