Team Speed Kills Now. LIVE tonight at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT. Bill Connelly of Football Outsiders (and our own SB Nation Missouri blog, Rock M Nation) joins us to for a numerical preview of the SEC. Oooooh. Numbers. All of that from the FO Almanac for this year, which is available here and here. Good stuff for those of you who have looked at sabermetrics and wondered, "Why can't they do that for football?" And Dr. Charley West of SB Nation's West Virginia blog The Smoking Musket shows us how to burn couches gives us a WVU view of the Mountaineers' game with Auburn.
'We talkin' 'bout practice' (III). The Auburn Tigers report today. But is there a quarterback in their midst?
Lou Holth for Congreth. How would I even begin to make that up?
If he ran, Lou Holtz would join an already-crowded GOP primary field that includes two state legislators and a Winter Park city commissioner. Still, the prospect of Holtz getting in has Republicans buzzing about his fundraising ability and aura of celebrity.
"You put him in the ring and it's all but over," said John Dowless, an Orlando-based Republican consultant. "He's on TV, he's likable, the name ID is huge and people respect him enormously." ...
"Holtz has said enough things on TV … and because of this I'm sure he's said enough stupid things," said [University of Central Florida Roger] Handberg.
No. Not Dr. Lou. Here he is on health care.
And here, for those of you who didn't see it in March, is his penetrating analysis of how global warming couldn't be happening because it was cold that day.
I'm still waiting to see how he uses the newspaper trick to explain the national deficit.
Urban Meyer is staying at Florida. No, not because of the contract extension. The exension is a six-year deal worth $4 million per. (Meaning he's still getting paid less per national championship than Nick Saban, but I digress.) Fowler gives a good enough reason about why Meyer isn't yet the highest paid coach in the nation.
Consider that Florida could easily win another national title in 2008. Then consider that in the era of high-rolling coaches, every coach who wins a national title will undoubtedly get a hefty raise.
This might be why Florida didn't make Urban the country's highest paid. If Florida would have shelled out, say, $4.75 million today instead of $4 million, then what do they do if he won another title? Pay him $5.5?
But he also follows the pro-Florida logic that I find to be contradictory.
Maybe they can refer to a buyout that won't be very much, maybe as low as $500,000, but Jeremy Foley has shown in the past he doesn't restrict coaches with hefty buyouts. You either want to be a Gator or you don't.
Then why would the raise matter? Either Meyer wants to be a Gator or he doesn't, right? If you're going to try to "encourage" a coach to stay by giving him more money, why not go ahead and throw in a buyout? And while "You either want to be a Gator or you don't" might be Foley's philosophy, it's not exactly the best comeback to whispers of a pending leap to Notre Dame.
Blutarsky also points out the other problem with thinking $4 million = NO NOTRE DAME!!!
But if I can be that little nagging thought that resides in the back of their reptilian brains just for a minute, consider one thing: if Notre Dame is paying Charlie Weis over $4 million per year right now, how much would it pay for a real coach?
I think most of us who have either written or commented about the matter on this site think the odds of Meyer leaving for Notre Dame are slim to none. But, especially sans a larger buyout, this contract extension really does nothing to make that departure any less likely.
Two more notes on this: No, the money isn't state money; no, Les Miles isn't getting a raise.
Finally, on a team I can cheer for
Not sure how long he'll be in camp -- he would almost have to be considered a long shot -- but Dicky Lyons Jr. is expected to sign a contract with the Atlanta Falcons today. I think I'll pass on hearing about his Michael Vick dreams.
We'll fight with you, Donald
The colorful attorney for Renardo Sidney has made the Mississippi State signee's case worth following. Now the NCAA apparently wants to shut Donald Jackson up, and he's refusing.
No
Not this year, and probably not for a long time -- if ever. Next question.
Jim Delany has gone round the bend
"So were we 1-6 (in bowl games) last year? Yeah. Were we 0-6 in the BCS in the last (three years)? We were. Those are the facts. But take me from 2000 or 1997 to 2005; I remember when Michigan played Ohio State. We were the toast of the town, one versus two, game of the century."
Um, Jim. Did ya miss the game after the "Game of the Century"? The one where the winner of the Game of the Century got dismantled by the "undeserving" No. 2 Florida Gators?
And, really, you want to play a bowl game in Happy Valley in December or January? (HT: Dr. Saturday)
We packed a ballroom for three days
The Pac-10 can't even pack a classroom for one.
This has got to be the dumbest BCS reform idea I've ever heard
Craig, the computers were the entire reason an unqualified Oklahoma team got into the national championship game in 2003 and created the first and so far only split title of the BCS era, in the most controversial BCS episode ever -- which isn't exactly a low bar to clear. And you want to make the computers more important? At this point, you will better serve your conference and its teams if you just shut up.
Oh, and Utah was 5th in the final BCS computer rankings of the regular season ... which would have still left them out of the national title game. Good job there. (HT: Blutarsky) As for postseason rankings, Sagarin's ratings have Utah 5th if you use the real ratings and not the "politically correct" ELO-CHESS formula forced on him by the BCS. This is useful because Sagarin is one of the only computer polls to tease out the different numbers. (Some have Utah lower than first even within the BCS confines.) As for Sagarin's Pure Points/Predictor, Utah comes in 10th.
The NCAA's arguments vis a vis the Florida State case are still bogus
Lawyers put it much better than your humble correspondent can.