James Franklin impersonating Coach Richt

h/t AHD

A "10"?? Really? That was a half-assed entry. Plus, where's the flip? And I bet the Old Vandy could've jumped off a real cliff. 

Yeh, I'm looking at you Coach Widenhofer.

Kolton Houston emerges from Emmert's purgatory

When I read the news last night I had to do a double take. We are Dawgs after all and are not used to receiving good news and fair pardons from the NCAA. Did my eyes deceive me?

Of course, the answer is thankfully no. On his birthday Kolton Houston tasted the cake of eligibility. I bet it was the sweetest celebration he could've imagined. An exhausting battle is finally won and to the victor go the spoils of football, between the hedges!

Ron Courson surely celebrated too. Or perhaps he just collapsed into a deep slumber after putting up a seemingly endless and senseless fight against the NCAA for years in Kolton's behalf. All the tests administered by him and his staff...all the analysis and advocating. UGA is lucky to have Dr. Courson in its corner for sure. Well done good sir!

And Mark Richt...what could he possibly be thinking? A good omen? Fair news from the NCAA? The same organization that once indicted his all world receiver by means of a TMZ report, one that was about as factual as a George O'Leary résumé. I bet our coach is still pinching himself!

Yes. Things have a way of working out sometimes, even if the watch says it's half past about damn time. As I laid my head down last night I had a vision. On September 7th, in Sanford Stadium, Jadeveon Clowney is going to meet a man who's been waiting three long years to hear his name called over the loud speaker. A man who's been held captive and stripped of the game he loves. He's been caged up and away from the opportunity to prove his skill and earn a spot on the depth chart. I don't know if a mere mortal can stop Clowney, but I'd wager he's never lined up against someone as eager to play in Sanford as Kolton Houston.

Can you hear the cheers, the chants? Can you feel the love and the eagerness? Can you see the tears of the frenzied crowd?!? I can.

"It's time to TEE it up BETWEEN the HEDGES!!" #KoltonisFREE

Innocent until proven filthy

The University of Florida has removed the last visible connection between the school and celebrated former player Aaron Hernandez. During his time in Gainesville, Hernandez collected many awards (All-SEC, the SEC's first Mackey Award winner given to the nation's top tight end) and recognition for which the Gators set in stone so that visitors, fans, recruits and alumni could remember the star for years to come. A permanent semi-permanent reminder of his excellence.

"We didn't feel it was appropriate to celebrate Aaron Hernandez. We put together an immediate plan after the initial news broke to remove his likeness and name in various private and public areas in the facility, such as the South Endzone team area, locker room, football offices, Heavener Complex, Kornblau Lobby and the brick display entrance to the football facility," the school said in a statement.

Hernandez's likeness and his name will no longer tarnish Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Really, what other choice did the school have? After all, they're just following suit.

After Hernandez was charged with murder, he was released from the Patriots. Several other organizations have also distanced themselves from Hernandez.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame, in Canton, Ohio, removed an award-winning photograph of Hernandez from public view after receiving complaints from visitors. Electronic Arts said it took Hernandez out of its "Madden NFL 25" and "NCAA Football 14" video games. Panini, a trading card and memorabilia company, also removed Hernandez stickers from 500,000 of its sticker books, which were already produced but had yet to hit the shelves. 

Receiving high praise

Mike Bobo's been in Athens a long time. He's seen quite a few talented receivers over the years, both as Georgia's quarterback and as a coach on Richt's staff. And that's why this stands as pretty high praise:

Bobo certainly likes this group of receivers.

“It’s a complete group,” he said.

He was on staff when Georgia had Reggie Brown, Fred Gibson and Terrence Edwards at receiver.

“I wouldn’t trade this group for any group that I’ve had since I’ve been here just because you’ve got so many guys who can do so much,” he said.

Is Coach Bobo blowing sunshine? After all, Terrance Edwards holds numerous career and season receiving records including career receptions and career yards. But as it turns out, the statistics support Bobo's statement.

Last season Georgia tallied a whopping 3991 yards receiving, 3,150 of which came from the receiving corps. The 2002 squad, headlined by Edwards, Gibson and Brown, totaled 2,818 yards receiving. In 2003, the receivers lost Edwards and gained 2,298 yards. In fact, the 2008 season which featured AJ Green and Mohammed Massaquoi, is the only season that comes close to last year with a combined 2,887 yards from the receiving corps.

So it becomes easy to see why Bobo is excited about the talent and the depth for this group. His excitement might only be exceeded by Aaron Murray's.

*Receiving stats taken from various sites and then adjusted to reflect actual receivers' total.

USCe investigating Clowney link to Jay-Z

First off, full disclosure: my wife had to explain to me who Jay-Z is. Yes, I'd heard the name enough times to know he's a music (if y'all can call it that, big on ya) high roller. But she explained his influence in greater detail.

Like did you know he's also into being a sports agent? And evidently Clowney is "about to turn up" with him.

Jay Z, who's real name is Shawn Carter, recently started a talent representative agency for athletes called Roc Nation Sports. He made a splash this summer when he signed Kevin Durant of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

A report from "Inside the League," a football insider website, claimed Clowney was in "regular contact" with Jay Z about possibly signing with the rapper's company. The report did not include any sourcing for that claim.

An Instagram account believed to be operated by Clowney posted a link to an article discussing the report. Below the post was written "You kno (sic) we about to turn up. Dream coming true."

A spokesman for the South Carolina athletics department said the school's compliance office was looking into the report.

During a live interview with ESPN's Chris Fowler on Tuesday afternoon, Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier was asked about the report.

"All of our conversations (with Clowney) are 'Wait until you have played your last game at South Carolina,' " Spurrier said. "When the bowl game is over this coming season, he's free to accept any amount of money anybody wants to give him. But until then he has to be a student-athlete like all the other guys or he's not going to be eligible. He's done a good job of knowing that."

So Clowney will likely face a few questions and then they'll all meet Weslye Saunders for drinks at the Whitney Hotel. I mean it's not like the guy sold a jersey through BookFace or anything.

Penn Wagers in the crosshairs

It appears as though some defensive players were given the lay of the new land yesterday as far as the targeting rule. Many of them took to twitter to voice their displeasure. I thought freshman Ryne Rankin's were especially cogent.

I can't stand the thought of one of these calls changing the course of the game. I can't stand the thought of one of these penalties costing us a suspended player, per the new rule. And I certainly can't stand the thought of one of these flags costing Georgia the game completely.

But you know what, I can't stand the thought of our defense playing soft and scared either.

NFL scouting, post Aaron Hernandez

Saw this tweet from Bruce Feldman sometime yesterday and then saw some backlash over it:

"Spoke w longtime NFL personnel man who said in wake of AaronHernandez teams may use police experts to check prospects tattoos"

Without fully opening up the can of worms, let's just twist the lid slightly. Is this a surprise? If you have a vested interest in an NFL team, does this bother you in any way?

With the money that these players make, I'm more surprised that this hasn't already been happening on a large scale. From the combine to the draft there are a lot of players to evaluate. And whether or not a tattoo on a bicep could mean suspected gang affiliation is not nearly as time sensitive as a 40 time. And while we may not mind gambling on NFL Sundays, executives and owners would rather not gamble on a draft pick that may or may not pan out off the field.

In short, I completely understand this from a business perspective as wanting to worry more about what happens on the field and leave the personal side of things to someone that may understand what they're seeing.

As for the civil liberties...is this really that much different than a CEO handing an interviewee a laptop and asking them to pull up their Facebook page?

Sanders Commings breaks collarbone in mini camp

It was his first practice as an NFL player. Damn.

Kansas City Chiefs safety Sanders Commings fractured his left collarbone in his first practice of training camp when he landed on it while trying to defend a pass. 

The fifth-round draft pick jumped to defend tight end Tony Moeaki and landed hard on one of the practice fields at Missouri Western State University on Tuesday. Commings immediately walked off the field and was taken for X-rays that revealed the break.

Commings wasn't wearing shoulder pads because players are barred from wearing them for the first three practices under terms of the most recent collective bargaining agreement. 

The Chiefs hadn't yet scheduled surgery Tuesday night, and a team spokesman said it wasn't known how long Commings will be out. He was expected to provide depth in a secondary that underwent a massive overhaul this past offseason.

Obviously he was really getting after it. Hope Sanders has a full recovery.

Dabo on "Clemsoning"

Clemson isn't playing Georgia in the opener. Just ask head coach Dabo Swinney.

"I tell our team all the time that everybody is a nameless, faceless opponent," Swinney said last week. "We're playing Clemson every week. That's our toughest opponent every single week - Clemson.

Dabo is saying all the right things. He pays reference to players in the past approaching one game differently than the next depending on rankings, television time slots and whether or not the opponent runs a high school offense if College Gameday is in town. He knows the reality is they are very much a program not far removed from an embarrassing Orange Bowl destruction of epic proportions and are perceived in the ACC as a team that should compete each year in the conference title. But there's always inexplicable losses, such as Georgia Tech in 2011, North Carolina in 2010, Wake Forest in 2008...(ad naseum...)...

But I suspect Dabo also has to convince himself of this "nameless, faceless opponent" each night. He's an emotional coach that is able to chest bump his players and trade media barbs with the state's horsey-sauced incumbent loud mouth.

This opener is getting bigger each and every day. We suspected this would happen. But now that media days have come and gone you can actually feel it. I'm still more nervous about the second game. But as we draw nearer to August 31st, this opener will have an identity of its own and the average fan like me will not be able to contain it as just another football game.

Dabo won't either. His players, and fans of his team, better hope he has another shtick.

Tajh Boyd stumps for Heisman

Sure, the ACC preseason player of the year (by the way, what is that exactly?) is just having some fun in a photo booth at ACC Media Days. Cute.

Suddenly the way UGA is handling Murray's (lack of a) campaign is looking even better.

Monday's Meatloaf - Nixon's Minions to open for the White Russian Hackers

11:59pm - mix up a "Caucasian": ice to the rim, two parts vodka, one part Kahlua, one part milk
12:01am - discover that Netflix no longer streams "The Big Lebowski"...YGTBGDKMMFers!!

 It really tied the room together.

12:03am - compose scathing email to Netflix higher ups, incidentally click "Save" instead of "Send" and forget about it...
12:05am - discover that I'm hungry and prepare an advanced tactical move on the pantry
12:21am - clumsily complete tactical maneuver, retreat towards sofa
12:22am - rediscover that "The Big Lebowski" is no longer available to stream on Netflix
12:27am - begin another scathing email, sigh deeply but with a sense of accomplishment. Scratch myself while checking Twitter.
12:28am - piss off the edge of the deck and smile whimsically at my apparent grasp of the world
12:31am - decide to rewatch the Washington episode of "Drunk History"
12:41am - while laughing hysterically at Nixon's dumb ass, discover Lay's Sweet Southern Heat chips crumbs on my Drive By Truckers t-shirt. Curse. Much too loudly.
12:42am - Moan. Also too loudly. Lower volume on the remote by pressing the channel up button. Fall into the bottom a bucket of misery where I can't find the show I was watching and become increasingly convinced UVerse is a communiss organization corrupted by Nixon's minions
12:43am - decide Nixon's Minions is the best name for a punk band I've had since Jimmy Carter's Nutskins
12:47am - finish "cleaning" off my shirt
12:52am - begin search for lost remote.......
2:22am - wake up and take my clean shirt upstairs to brush my teeth and stuff

Today's Ingredients
- I'm certainly no Mark Emmert, but it appears to me that Spencer Hall has sufficiently investigated the FIU nekkidities.
-  Blutarsky looks at a concern that has been developing for quite some time. Also, it's good to have someone like Dr. Courson on staff.
- I've never seen Tyler in a Jeter jersey but I join him in dropping the ESPN channels from my cable package denouncing Colin Cowherd as one of the ones that was probably blathering about Tiger yesterday even as Phil was finishing one of the more remarkable rounds of golf ever seen.
- ICYMI, a terrific read about how Aaron Murray has managed his major and his quarterbacking/team leadership duties. DGD.
- DavetheDawg wraps up the Lamont Gaillard commitment succintly. And with a poll. Also, Chris Wilson is the next governor of Georgia. Probably.
- Andrew discovers that Clempson is good at math. Kind of.
- Terrific read by the ABH's Bowers on how Coach Diaz has made the UGA Tennis program a consistent powerhouse.
- And lastly, another great read by Garbin as to why the recruiting process is so fickle and confoundingly frustrating.

Verify our range to target. ONE ping only.

5:21am - awaken to relieve myself and pat myself on the back for remembering to let the dog out
5:23am - back in bed, wonder if I actually did let the do.....zzzzzZZzzz...
7:23am - roll over, moan
7:38am - awaken refreshed with a pulse, turn phone on and begin search for my shorts
7:38 and a half - phone alerts me to 24 new emails
7:39am - "TWENTY four new emails!! That's abuncha shit right there. Something hazza be up witf that...ugh..."
7:40am - read email from GMail team alerting me that some douchebag in Russia compromised my account and that my password was automatically changed but that I should change it again HELLO DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE TYPED TO YOU AT 3:33 IN THE FRIGGIN' MORNING?!??!?!
7:42am - read email from Google Team again but now with the understanding that they are not actually a Navy Seal Team operating from the middle of the Black Sea.
7:47am - Finally realize that my email has been hacked. Shit.
7:59am - Oh. OK. So this means EVERY contact has been exposed to some type of link telling them to lose weight, send their life savings to eastern Nigeria and satisfy their woman by enlarging their...
8:00am - OOOOOOhhhhhMMMMMMyyyyGGGGGGGooooDDDDDD!!!
8:01am - 8:32am - cry uncontrollably in the fetile position with my shorts half on while enjoying the cool temperature of the bathroom tile is a mixed bag of Life Blows and You Ball So Hard Bro.
8:33am - finish fastening my shorts into an acceptable and semi-fashionable position
8:35am - compose BookFace and Tweet of apology to those who suffered from my horribly inept password, that is now "MenudoRULZ!!"
8:36am - 12:31pm - wait for my Mom to text to see if I'm okay.

Moral: Netlix is communiss bastards that sell your password and killed Donny. Life sucks, but you're not dead yet so don't throw ashes into the wind.

And also don't make White Russians at 11:59am.

Bernie