Sprints Reports the News and Remembers Bobby Cox // 10.12.10

Note: The commemoration of Bobby Cox is at the end; I put the news up top for those who don't really care about MLB.

The 2010 Great Injury Question continues to be asked
John Brantley still says he's not as injured as reported -- i.e., his ribs are not cracked and his thumb is not broken. Those who are inclined to believe Urban Meyer and his players will believe this. Those who don't ...

Alligator Army sides with ESPN
And good for mlmintampa for doing so. It's too easy for fans to get wrapped up in ruling out news they don't like or don't want to hear.

The information Schad has is too specific to be some random dude. ... I wouldn't expect him (or any ESPN reporter) to continue to run with a story unless it is accurate. You can rip ESPN for a lot of things, but their reporters are generally correct.

I'm not quite sure what to think, but like mlmintampa I find it hard to believe that someone as respected as Schad would continue to stand by information he had a reason to doubt.

He even yells at himself
Nick Saban gets upset about his team's attitude, cusses about it, then corrects himself for cussing about it.

We had the best team in the country last year. We proved it. We proved it over 14 games. This team hasn't proved s***. Excuse my language. That's how I feel about it. I'm really upset that I used bad language. I'm sorry. I'm sure I'll get some letters on that, and should.

He might even write himself a letter about it, if he had time for that ... stuff.

BREAKING NEWS: CALEB KING ARRESTED
The charge for the 11th, Richt-career-altering arrest in recent months: failing to appear in court on traffic charges. By the way, it took two AJC writers to track down all the details on this major development. Clearly, I was far too generous in downgrading the Richt hot seat alert to orange.

The Mayor spells out why this isn't a major problem
Essentially: Different arrests warrant different punishments. (I would say no pun intended, but I would be lying, and I try to tell the truth on this blog.)

Speaking as a guy who got a speeding ticket or two, and a parking ticket or twelve, while enrolled at the University of Georgia, though, I don’t think guys need to have their scholarships yanked over sheer stupidity that does not endanger life, limb, or property, or involve moral culpability.

Granted, if Caleb King used his moped to lead Athens police on a high-speed chase around campus, that would be one thing. Otherwise, a speeding ticket probably shouldn't indirectly lead to someone being dismissed.

Is Tennessee the worst team in the SEC?
It's not me asking this -- it's Rocky Top Talk that looks at the quandary about its own team, and the answer is maybe best described as probably so. On the other hand, few teams in the SEC have faced a schedule quite as difficult as Tennessee's at this point -- save maybe Alabama -- so let's hold off on any sweeping conclusions just yet.

Add two more grandchildren to Steve Spurrier's accomplishments this weekend
And congratulations to the Head Ball Coach.

South Carolina defeats Alabama again
This time it's women's soccer.

SECRET AGENT MEN

UNC sanctions against three players announced
Marvin Austin has been dismissed and the NCAA ruled Greg Little and Robert Quinn permanently ineligible for lying to NCAA investigators, continuing to send the message to players that there are consequences for misleading the Association. One apologized.

The Senator asks an important and difficult question
One to which I don't think there's a perfect answer, as long as the NFL is concerned almost entirely with money.

BOBBY COX: THE BASEBALL MANAGER, 1978-2010

I'm not going to spend that much time on the end of Bobby Cox's time as manager of the Atlanta Braves, in part because it was expected and in part because I was never a Braves fan except when they were in the playoffs and the Cubs were not.

But when a giant in the Southern sports scene is leaving the stage, it's important for an SEC blog to take note of an extraordinary changing of the guard. And I had the honor of being around Cox a handful of times when filling in for beat writers during my time at an Atlanta media outlet.

One of the few personal stories I can actually tell is something as mundane as the purchase of my XM radio. I was filling in one day and Cox spent several minutes talking about how great it was for a baseball person to have satellite radio and be able to listen to all the games. So I bought one -- a great decision for a sports fan, I might add.

On a note of much greater significance in the grand scale of things: Cox endured his share of criticism, but the fact remains that he went to the postseason more than anyone else and went to the postseason more times in a row than anyone else. The critics would say that anyone could have done so with the talent that the Braves had in the 1990s and the first part of this decade, without noting Cox's role (including a time as general manager team of team) in acquiring and developing that talent. And despite the fact that no one else has every done it anywhere with any similar collection of talent.

Cox was not a perfect man any more than he was a perfect manager, but in a way that only made him more human. And if he did get help for his imperfections, as he said he did, then that actually makes him a better example of how we should all try to be a little bit better when we get a second chance.

In the end, that was the one shortcoming that drew the most criticism of Cox on the baseball field: He could not get just a little bit better. Division title after division title were brought home to Atlanta, but the World Series victories never got beyond one.

Of course, if that's the definition of needing to get a little bit better, it is a challenge that many of Cox's peers would have loved to count as the worst part of their careers. So long, Bobby. Have a great, and richly deserved, retirement.