Sprints Debates the Merits of Lane Kiffin // 06.17.09

The Great Lane Kiffin Debate. Permit C&F to lead off with a completely self-promotional item today, particularly since there isn't much real "news" in the SEC right now. Tonight, barring some sort of significant techincal glitch, Team Speed Kills will partner with Rocky Top Talk, Roll Bama Roll and Get the Picture to present the Great Lane Kiffin Debate, a live-blogging discussion of the past, present and future for Lane Kiffin at Tennessee.

The event will begin at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT. Again, if all goes as planned, you'll be able to participate in the debate through comments -- in a moderated fashion -- here at Team Speed Kills, while guests to the other sites can do the same there.

We have as many people as might have been offended by Kiffin as is possible to do and have the dicsussion make sense -- your humble correspondent will represent the gas-pumping South Carolinians, Year2 will carry the banner of cheating Florida Gators, Todd of Roll Bama Roll will refuse to thank Lance Thompson for coming up with his Alabama-based arguments and Blutarsky's grandmother will insist he take up Georgia's banner. And we'll have two Tennessee fans to take up for Lane Kiffin.

And I got through that whole thing without once writing "Boy Wonder."

Aw, crap.

Why don't you just claim them all? Some Alabama fans are now admitting that the university hasn't won 12 national championships -- it's more like 17.

The question of how many National Championships the Crimson Tide can rightfully claim sparks heated debate among both staunch fans and derisive rivals. For the most part, Twelve and Counting simply sidesteps the issue, accepting the University’s tally of an even dozen as the figure and moving forward with its mission. (Allen Barra adds a Gnostic final chapter that touches on five other seasons that can be reasonably considered as well.)

How long will it take them to get it to 20?

Meanwhile, the Tide will open the renovated Bryant-Denny Stadium -- named. in part, after the coach who Alabama fans now probably credit with 14 national titles -- with a game against San Jose State. Because nothing says "honoring the Bear" like playing an obscure WAC cupcake.

Mediocrity is not so mediocre. Ron Morris, columnist for The State and persona non grata among South Carolina fans, sortakinda defends his newspaper's decision to run an ad touting the fact that the Gamecocks were .500 or above in the big three SEC sports (football, basketball, baseball).

USC has done it once. Kentucky and Vanderbilt have not done it since USC joined the league. Using that same time frame, USC’s .500-or-better success matches that of Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Tennessee, who have done it one time apiece. Georgia has done it twice since 1992-93. ...

Florida is the lone SEC school to have consistent success across the three major sports, having reached .500 or better nine times since the 1992-93 school year. Next best is Alabama with four, followed by Arkansas and LSU with three apiece. Arkansas joined the SEC along with USC in 1992.

Yes, but see, none of their hometown newspapers ran an advertisement congratulating them for it.

Somebody's taking Mike Slive way too seriously. There's Boy Wonder spouting off, and then there's the other extreme.

Anyway, I asked him about his thoughts about Alabama getting placed on NCAA probation last week as a result of the textbook fiasco.

Chizik approached it with a stiff-arm reminiscent of the Heisman Trophy.

"I've got my own issues at Auburn," Chizik said deftly. "I just worry about Auburn."

That's the best you've got? When you're 5-19, you really need to find some way to fire up the base. You don't have to accuse Nick Saban of cheating or anything, but you could say something interesting.

Digging deeper on the money question. Veazey goes even further into the databases on athletics revenue, pulling out the football numbers for all SEC schools.

1. Georgia, $67.05 million
2. Florida, $66.12 million
3. Auburn, $59.67 million
4. Alabama, $57.37 million
5. LSU, $52.69 million
6. South Carolina, $50.43 million
7. Tennessee, $40.26 million
8. Arkansas, $40.14 million
9. Kentucky, $25.86 million
10. Ole Miss, $17.77 million
11. Vanderbilt, $16.92 million
12. Mississippi State, $15.99 million

Veazey helpfully points out that some universities might have some other money that comes from here or there, but this is largely it.

Of interest: Note the enormous difference between the top and the bottom of the league. Georgia earns almost four times as much as Vanderbilt or either of the Mississippi schools.

South Carolina doesn't just beat Tennessee, which I wouldn't have figured, but does so by a margin of more than $10 million. Tennessee, in other words, would have to increase its revenues by 25 percent just to catch the Gamecocks.

The drop-off between Arkansas and the bottom four schools is also pretty dramatic.

Next up: Admitting it must submit to gravity. The NCAA has acknowledged that it cannot conspire with a university to break the law and will graciously "allow" FSU to fulfill its legal obligation to release records related to the academic fraud investigation. The Association trots out a neat legal theory to reserve for the future its rights as a national organization to ignore state law.

Nonetheless, Stevenson acknowledged that FSU is subject to public records laws, and that the university had asked to release the document.

"Therefore," Stevenson wrote, "the NCAA will not object to FSU's disclosure of the response provided FSU complies with applicable and state privacy laws and exemptions."

So the NCAA isn't saying anything crazy, like it has to follow the law or something.

Wind Sprints. Aairon Savage is likely done for the season, greatly concerning The Joe Cribbs Car Wash ... The Mayor updates the fight to get Erk Russell into the College Football Hall of Fame ... What, you don't have a play for 3rd and 61?