Monday's Meatloaf - Any Port Will Do

Shreveport against Texas A&M. Not what we had hoped for in August, but better than staying home.

There won't be any practices until Saturday as students get ready for finals and Coach Richt checks over his list. The down side of that is that there won't be any media contact this week for us to guage and over analyze the head guy's answers to loaded questions. Or maybe that's the plus side.

I don't know about you, but I'm expecting at least a couple airport stalkers to report on any curious activity from Ben Epps and beyond. Tuberville evidently already has a real estate agent picked out and Van Gorder just signed up for Tae Kwon Do classes on Barnett Shoals Road.

In the related category, The Birmingham News has pegged penned the Georgia DC job as a backwards move for Kirby Smart. As many commenters in yesterday's post pointed out, I think Kausler makes the point for Georgia. CMR doesn't micromanage. You don't come up on the SEC Championship stage unless Darling Nicky wants you to and you don't get credit for holding the mighty gayturds to 13 points unless you crouch to his level.

This will come down to money. In the mean time let's check those flight logs one more time...

Today's Ingredients

• Advocare Indy Bowl tix on sale HERE.
• The Sherman-led Aggies give up over 32 points a game, but have an offense that runs up and down the field. The law firm of Hartley, Doolittle and Garner are gonna need some more legal pads and pens...make it pencils.
• Coach Richt sees the task of preparing with an undermanned staff as a challenge. I don't think that was a dig at Fabris...??
• From a team with fewer coaches to one with fewer players. Remember MSUs Mark Dantonio? He's not gonna have his team's integrity questioned. So he told another eight players to unpack their bags.
• After four years of marinating in St. Timmy's tears, you'd be dehydrated too.
• An Alabama assistant has emerged as the leading candidate for the DC opening in Tallahassee. And it's not Smart.
• The Senator makes a compelling case in defense of Bobo. This is a very fair and eye-opening statistical analysis that leads me to two thoughts: keep Bobo on the sideline...and Searels in red and black.
• Speaking of those two, Chad Simmons tells us who's living room they were in last night ($$) trying to convince to become the lone signal caller for the '10 class.
• It was an understandably quiet weekend in Athens and around Butts-Mehre. But I would imagine things were a little rowdy in the Ogletree house. I've heard and read more than a few comments about how the Dawgs need more hard-nosed players with less stars by their names. Well take a moment to introduce yourself to Zander.
• Over at TeamSpeedKills, cocknfire made a good case for TCU. But as Joey used to say on Must See TV - the point is moo.
• Weis lost games this season because of Tenuta's porous defense. And yet it's Pete Carroll that draws the blimps' post-employment wrath. You be the judge: irresponsible journalism or irreverent remarks?
• You be the Judge, the sequel: was Charlie Strong buying time or still wading in the tide? According to Forde, that point is moo, too.
• The Pelini Bros. were about as graceful as two coaches could be after having a major upset erased from their resumes.
• Last season it was the tie-breaker system that caused such Mack Daddy emotions. This season it was one little second. To me that sounds like an improvement.
• There were times watching that Big XII championship game where the wife and I really expected to finally see a team punt from inside their opponents' 40...on first down.
• And now, for the moment you've been waiting for....my Heisman ballot: Suh, Gerhart and Ingram. QBs can keep their pose in the pocket.

A lot of you probably get the Georgia Magazine as well. It's a monthly publication that catches alumni up on what's going on around campus. I usually skim through it after my wife has given me the highlights.

Well yesterday I think I got my hands on it first and came across this article written by Josh Darnell. He tells of his experiences in Afghanistan's Maiwand District and more specifically his recovery after his squadron encountered an improvised explosive device. An ABJ '04 graduate, Darnell is a former assistant editor of the Georgia Magazine and enlisted in the Army in 2006. The experiences he relates are both awe-inspiring and humbling.

Quite simply, it's a great read. And a timely reminder that although there are Damn Good Dawgs on Sanford's field each fall, there are even greater ones serving our country.

Dig in and enjoy your Monday Reader. After all, we are near the height of the gluttonous season.

Bernie