Sprints // 02.23.09

Andre Smith-gate: Revealed. We now know the outlines, at least, of what got Andre Smith suspended. And it all could have been solved with a little help from Jack Bauer.

TUSCALOOSA -- Former University of Alabama left tackle Andre Smith told an NFL team at the league's scouting combine last week that he was suspended from the Sugar Bowl because he was not upfront with coach Nick Saban, according to an official of that NFL team.

Smith told the team in a face-to-face interview that an uncle made contact with an agent representative, but that Smith himself did not do so, the team official said. Smith told the team that no money was exchanged. ...

According to a second source with knowledge of Smith's suspension, Saban confronted Smith about the issue, and Smith would not provide all the information Saban desired.The source said Smith violated the terms of his scholarship when he declined to cooperate with an investigation by the school's compliance staff. (HT: Roll Bama Roll)

While outsidethesidelines pretty well wraps things up at Roll Bama Roll, C&F imagines that not cooperating with university compliance staff is probably a big deal at just about any school.

"Numbers r kul" post of the day. A Sea of Blue takes a look at whether Kentucky's basketball team is too dependent on Jodie Meeks. Answer: Probably not. The Meeks discussion forms as a launching point for an assessment of Kentucky's chances at making the NCAA tourney and finds it likely the Cats get in, though maybe with an "ugly seed."

What, no Eric Ramsey? Track Em Tigers, meanwhile, carves the Auburn Tigers' Mount Rushmore, then adds a Ring of Honor, then tacks on a few names to be considered in future classes. Rushmore-ites range from Shug Jordan to Pat Dye, who seems somewhat marginal to C&F.

But how can you leave off a man that changed the face of Auburn's football program? Dye led Auburn to four SEC championships in the 1980's and is the school's second winningest coach behind Jordan. He also was instrumental in forcing Alabama to travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

And he was instrumental in making sure than an undefeated Auburn football team didn't get to play in a bowl game in 1993. But, hey, water under the bridge, right?

In fairness to TET, it is a pretty good list.

Why is this Yankee man spitting on me? A bit late on the uptake for this one, but Lou Holtz will coach the Notre Dame legends (read: has-beens) team into battle against the Japanese national team in July. Proof that I am not making this up. Hint to the Japanese team: Watch for the QB draw.

While the article notes Holtz's past history as a football coach in previous games played in Japan, it does not recount Dr. Lou's daring black-ops exploits during World War II, during which Holtz is said to have singlehandedly sabotaged hundreds of Japanese aircraft and defeated Yamamoto in a poker tournament shortly before the admiral's death.

Now if Rich Brooks twitters, I'll be impressed. Mark Richt is twittering. Some of the scandalous entries include:

Mat Drill #6 is in the books!
4:59 AM Feb 21st from web

The UGA coaching staff is off to volunteer at the local food bank of Georgia.
5:58 AM Feb 21st from web

Twitter: Because some people really need more excitement in their lives. (HT: Dawg Sports)

Apologies. If you came to the site on Sunday, it was probably down. That was the fault of your humble correspondent, and thanks to the tech crew at SBN for fixing the mistake.