Sideline Warning

Buried at the end of an article in the Clarion Ledger from earlier this week, about how Tulane is an unknown quantity for the Dogs, is an interesting snippet:

A new policy will keep quarterbacks off-limits from media interviews starting on Tuesdays of game weeks. Other players are available for interviews until Wednesday.

Croom said he instituted the policy because he wanted his quarterbacks to be able to better focus on the game plans.

To help them better focus on game plans, coach, or because you’re afraid of what someone like Michael Henig might get asked after a performance like last week’s?

The Pep Rally is, more-or-less, a link dump of things I found over the past week or so that didn’t merit whole posts, but deserved linkage nonetheless.

• FanHouse :: A few posts ago, I said that Quinn and Bomar should’ve gotten stiffer penalties. FanHouse’s Brian Cook found a video that basically proves my point. Quinn, while being a snotty little asshole, tells a reporter to “get a real job” when he’s asked about the sanctions.
• Snarktastic :: Some “new math” that perfectly illustrates the mindset of Pete Carroll’s fans.
• SI.com :: Sports Illustrated tells us that one of the Auburn signees who had their grades “mysteriously” changed was cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse. If the tables were turned, you’d see the glut of Auburn bloggers crying foul. I haven’t seen anything like that in Alabama blogs this week. Wonder why.
• Ladies… :: No, it’s not college football, but the All-Star Game Bingo Board is hilarious. They need to do one for CFB.
• Fanblogs :: Some company named RedShirted.com is buying up a bunch of fire your coach domain names. It’s a little tacky that they still have Coach Hep’s domain listed.
• Tide Druid :: An Alabama Blogger found a picture of a “small” gaffe made by Saban in one of his books. Saban makes reference to “Alabama’s Jordan Hare Stadium.”
• FanHouse :: In the wake of an SI.com columnist getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar, FanHouser Matt Ufford writes the seminal piece in sourcing blogs for the MSM.

So there you have it. Good luck to everyone on this “unlucky” day.

The Pep Rally is, more-or-less, a link dump of things I found over the past week or so that didn’t merit whole posts, but deserved linkage nonetheless.

• The Advocate :: Lots of nancies got all flummoxed about a quote from Les Miles. They are worried about the hurt feelings of those poor Pac10 fans. Nonsense. Call it like you see it, Les.
• SI.com :: SI.com used the words “recruiting power” and “Pitt” in the same sentence. Weird.
• FanBlogs :: Apparently Michigan State QB Brian Hoyer is eating 6,000 calories a day.
• Boi From Troy :: USC Quarterback John David Booty looks a little preggers, according to Boi From Troy.
• Montgomery Advertiser :: A reader from the Montgomery Advertiser is speaking the truth about Saban’s salary, regardless of what the ignorant commenters on the site might think.
• The FanHouse :: Georgia State Senator Eric Johnson gets points for a snarky letter he sent the Revenue Commish over a proposed UF license plate.

Okay, so my blogging died an early death before The Pep Rally could really catch on. With barely over 60 days until kick-off, it’s time to give it another shot. No lie. The Pep Rally is, more-or-less, a link dump of things I found over the past week or so that didn’t merit whole posts, but deserved linkage nonetheless.

So… uh… yeah. Let’s go.

• College Football Resource :: CFR has a good update on the things the pundits are saying about the late Terry Hoeppner.
• The FanHouse :: Point-shaving in Toledo? The alleged point-shaver was cleared, but then failed to make the grade. Heh.
• Ramblin’ Racket :: All the wrecked Wreck updates you can handle. They’re awfully defensive about those pictures, aren’t they?
• The FanHouse :: You want to talk Fulmer Cup points? Just give this guy the contest. Bank robbery? Jesus.
• Fanblogs :: Michigan plans to expand The Big House — one of the most storied stadiums in college football.
• The FanHouse :: JaMarcus Russell spotted outside a club on Draftsday Eve sporting a ‘Bama Boy chain. Complete with diamond encrusted elephant. (Plug warning: I wrote the post linked to).

Apologies for the abundance of FanHouse links. They just happen to be on top of things.

UPDATE: (7-5-2007) “Senator Blutarsky” pointed out in the comments that something seemed wrong. After looking back at the numbers, it appears that I had transposed two column headers. Previously, in the “received” column I had swapped “21-28″ and “28+” that has now been fixed in the raw numbers and in this post.

Ryan Ferguson over at The FanHouse linked to an article about blow-outs in the SEC. The first thing I noticed when I read the article over at Tracking the Tigers (an AL.com blog) was that it had some bizarre restrictions.

For starters, Marshall left out the worst teams in the conference, only looked back 5 seasons, and it seems that he looked at a coach’s last five seasons, instead of just going back five years. He also set the margin of victory (or loss, in this case) necessary to qualify for a blow-out at an astonishingly low 14 points. I’m fairly certain that I’ve never heard anyone call a 14-point win a “blow-out”. Rather than just criticize the methods, however, I decided to run some numbers of my own.

I went all the way back to 1998, looked at all of the current SEC coaches, and was mainly focused on a per-year rating rather than a raw number. I looked at wins by 21-28, 28+, and 21+. I was also curious about shut-outs, so I tossed those in as well. What follows is a far-too-long analysis, or you can jump right to the raw numbers — (I collected these automatically, so there could be some discrepancies… please let me know if you see any).

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