PITY....with these new SEC members- it ain't just for Vandy anymore!

We basically have two choices in dealing with these "new" members of the SEC:
1. Roll our eyes and pretend that they don't exist, or
2. Attempt to educate them with sage old Southern wisdom.

As we here at S&G are your classic "givers" we are going to go with option number 2.  The other day I ran across a Texas AnM fan at a luncheon (identified by his AnM golf shirt).  I asked him "Y'all excited about the SEC?"  He started beaming and said "Oh yeah!  This is just what we needed.  It will give us a chance to grow.  I think with Sumlin in charge we are really gonna be able to make an immediate impact."  I naturally responded with "Weeeelllll.....Sumlin is a good coach and all but you better have a good defense if you are gonna run that Hal Mummy crap in the SEC.  Y'all should have hired a defensive guy and then grabbed an up and coming OC."  The guy looked at me all puzzled and said... "QBs are what wins championships so I think having a guy knowledgeable in the passing game was a good move."  Naturally I laughed in his face and said...."Yeah well if QBs won National Titles then BYU would be the greatest program of all time.  Defense wins Championships!  Y'all will figure that out soon enough."  I then departed from this wretched soul and felt a strange sensation......after some intrawebs searching I think that I may have felt something called P-I-T-Y. 

Feeling all flush with this new "emotion" I have decided to formulate a little test for our new Big Soft XII brethren to help them understand if they are at a proper mental state for SEC play.

QUESTION 1.

Which of the following would you rather have on your team?

A.


OR

B.

QUESTION 2.

Which of the following would you rather have on your team?

A.

OR

B.

QUESTION 3.

Which of the following would you rather have on your team?

A.

OR

B.

QUESTION 4.

Which of the following would you rather have on your team?

A.

OR

B.

QUESTION 5.

Which of the following would you rather have on your team?

A.

OR

B.

QUESTION 6.

Which of the following would you rather have on your team?

A.

OR

B.

ANSWER KEY:
1. B
2. B
3. B
4. B
5. B
6. B

If you answered A to any of the above questions then I hate to tell you but......you ain't ready for the SEC, son!

And don't call or text me either!

https://twitter.com/LoganTillman/status/206478570661482496/photo/1 That's Michigan OL commit Logan Tillman. Apparently he doesn't think highly of Urban Meyer's recruiting methods either. In the Big 10, with the talent advantage Ohio St will always have, he'll win games. But it'll be interesting to see if Corch can enjoy the same level of success he did at Florida. It's not like the Buckeyes won't tolerate the shenanigans of his top 1% of the top 1%, like they always have, but something tells me his schtick will wear out faster there than it did in the Swamp. You shoulda stayed on the ESPNs Urb.

You Can't Express Concerns in May.....can you?

So the other day Corbindawg over at the Grit Tree (No Relation) asked could Georgia protect their name and reputation.  The story was picked up on a message board and one of our old flings jumped onto Corbin for his story.  I guess our recent time off left some of our closet case, self loathing , Richt-O-Philes desperate to go off on someone roughly associated with grits. 

Now we like Ol' Corbin over here at S&G but like all true believers Corbin was a little shocked that he could be on the receiving end of the Shiite Richt-O-Phile wrath.  So just for Corbin here are a few things you have to remember about Richt-O-Philes.

1. They treat last years record like Liberals treat the Constitution.  If you have never sat in a Con-Law class with a bunch of hippies then let me explain.  If the Constitution helps their cause they want to strictly interpret- but if the Constitution doesn't help then they want to interpret the thing until it says something that it doesn't say at all.  ROPs roll this way with the record from the year before.  If the Dawgs are 6-6 then ROPs demand that you look at the records of Georgia's opponents but if they are 10-4 then ten wins are ten wins and you may say nothing else about the matter.
2. THIS IS THE YEAR!!!!!  Sure we said last year was the year but that was just a slight mis-calculation on our part.  Now this year, this YEAR, THIS YEAR.............THIS IS THE YEAR !  (and if not this year then definately next year.....or the next..or maybe the next....maybe)
3. All writings, comments, or thoughts about the University of Georgia's football program must be prefaced with he following disclaimer or else you are subject to ROP attack:
"Mark Richt is the greatest football coach in the history of football and anything that I write, say, or think about this subject is always with the knowledge that Richt is the greatest person I have ever heard of."

So be careful there Corbin.....there are a lot of days between now and the Missouri game and anything you write short of "Georgia will win the National Title" is sacrilege to the ROP mind and will not be tolerated. 

Sports and Grits gets it's wish, again!

You've seen the immense influence we have in Athens, as our recruiting is going great and continues to explode since we arrived on the scene. Mark Richt has followed our advice, to great success last year. Mark Fox may slowly, but finally, be on the same path. Now, the S&G power players gets another wish in the hoops program. It's not official, but the little birds are chirping that the long desired addition to Mark Fox's staff may finally be happening. We wanted to see Jonas Hayes hired over a year ago, and it seems like we're gonna add him to the staff. Callou, callai, what a wonderful day! You imbeciles question our influence. Is there any doubt now who pulls the strings in Athens, and pulls the right ones?

The University of Texas....College Football's One Legged Man at a Butt Kickin' Contest

So work and other top secret projects have been occupying our time lately but nothing can bring us back to the blogging table quicker than the chance to laugh at the University of Texas.  So in case you missed it here is a re-cap of SEC expansion from start up until today.
1. SEC invites Texas and Texas A&M, then
2. Texas craps pants at the prospect of having to play more than two decent teams in a year, then
3. Texas runs and hides from the SEC.  SEC follows the doo-doo smell and finds Texas' hiding place, then
4. Texas cries, holds breath, pitches hissey fit, and says that the SEC does not have enough true research facilities, then
5. SEC offers Chokelahomo, then
6. Chokelahomo calls their Masters in Austin to ask permission for the ability to ask for permission to consider if they should ask permission to consider the SEC's offer.  Texas denies this request.
7. SEC gets stuck with Missouri, then
We get today's decision to have the Big 12 champion play the SEC champion every year.  This is confusing because the main goal of Texas and Oklahoma in all of this has been to avoid having to play the best in the SEC every year.....yet now they will......play the best in the SEC every year.  Wow!  Texas really out maneuvered all of us on this one.  So we can now officially write Texas and Oklahoma out of every having a chance to ever win the National Title ever again.  Want to hear what a retard thinks about all of this?  Well here goes:

"This is another example of the strength and stability of the Big 12 Conference," Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said in a statement.

Adams to Retire Today. F-R-E-E-D-O-M!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE KING OF ALL DOUCHERY IS GOING TO RETIRE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST LOOK AT HIM....HATING FOOTBALL AND GRINNING BECAUSE HE HAS DONE SO MUCH TO HAMPER OUR ATHLETICS FOR SO MANY YEARS.

Todd Gurley, the next MEAST Safety?

We all got excited about landing not just 1, but 2 elitely talented rushers out of North Carolina. Keith Marshall has already arrived, and shown off his electric speed. But the under the radar back, Todd Gurley, may be even better. He has elite track speed as a hurdler, on a bigger, more powerful frame. He could be a Rodney Hampton type back for Georgia, or could he be something completely different? We've got backs, with Boo Malcome and Isaiah Crowell, as well as Marshall and the hopefully incoming Derrick Henry (amongst other potential top rushers in the 2013 class). And we all know about a desperate need to fill the disturbingly thin depth chart in the defensive backfield. So, with that in mind, and the load of backs we already have on the board, could Gurley be destined for greatness somewhere other than an offensive backfield?

Butch Davis recruited Gurley for North Carolina when he was still the Tar Heels’ coach. “He doesn’t have the electrifying speed, but I’ll tell you what’s intriguing about Todd Gurley,” Davis said on ESPNU on signing day. “In camps when you watched him, he reminds me of the kid that I recruited to the University of Miami that did similar things in high school by the name of Sean Taylor. Sean was a high school running back and we flipped him over to play strong safety and he became one of college football’s greatest strong safeties.” Gurley said he played safety the first eight games of his senior season before moving to defensive end. He said Georgia has not talked to him about playing safety.

Our beloved I HAS CRAYON

Really does have a crayon! RedCrake of dawgsports confirms our biggest nightmares, with hilarious results.

S&G 2013 Draft Projections....because it is never too early.

This time next year we should be discussing the SEC's seventh consecutive National Title and yet another draft dominated by the SEC.  Now we never really know which redshirt sophomores will jump into the draft nor do we know which Juniors will return for a senior season.  With all of these uncertainties the Ol'Boys at S&G are just going to guestimate.

1.        Jarvis Jones                            OLB                       Georgia

2.        Marcus Lattimore                   RB                          USCe

3.        Sean Porter                            OLB                        TXAM

4.        Sam Montgomery                    DE                          LSU

5.        Tyler Wilson                          QB                          Arkansas

6.        Knile Davis                             RB                           Arkansas

7.        Barkevious Mingo                    LB/DE                  LSU

8.        Devin Taylor                           DE                         USCe

9.        Dee Milliner                            CB                          Bama

10.     Barrett Jones                           T/G                         Bama

11.     D.J. Fluker                              OT                          Bama

12.     Nico Johnson                          OLB                       Bama

13.     Johnthan Banks                       CB                          MSST

14.     Jelani Jenkins                          OLB                        Florida

15.     C.J. Mosley                             LB                           Alabama

16.     Kwame Geathers                     NT                         Georgia

17.     Baccari Rambo                          S                           Georgia

18.     Tyler Bray                              QB                           Tennessee

19.     Tyrann Mathieu                       DB/KR                  LSU

20.     Jake Matthews                         OT                          TXAM

21.     Chris Faulk                             OT                           LSU

22.     Sharrif Floyd                           DT                          Florida

2012 NFL Draft Re-Cap

Just in case six consecutive National Titles and once again dominating the draft was not enough to establish SEC superiority here is a picture of the LSU coaching staff as the Fabulous Freebirds, enjoy.

As true Southerners we naturally don't much care for the NFL but we do view the Draft as the last hurrah of the college season.  Now you may like the draft or love the draft but we doubt your ADHD along with your quasi- obsessive compulsive disorder leads you to breakdown the draft as if you are an actual GM the way we do over here at S&G.  With that in mind here are our five winners and five losers in the draft along with our grade for each:

WINNERS

1. Pittsburgh Steelers - Grade A: 

Best Pick- David DeCastro, OG, Stanford
Best Value- Chris Rainey, RB/KR, Florida
Their first pick of the 7th round (Toney Clemons WR Colorado) was the only stretch.  Everything else was not only a good pick but also a value pick.

2. San Diego Chargers- Grade A:
Best Pick- Melvin Ingram, DE/LB, South Carolina
Best Value- Melvin Ingram, DE/LB, South Carolina
All you need to know is that they got the top pass rusher and a top 5 pick with no off field issues with the 18th pick.  They had a few misses but also got a future starter at Center in the 7th round.  The Ingram pick was one part smarts and one part luck for the Chargers management.

3.Indianapolis Colts- Grade B+:
Best Pick- Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
Best Value- Josh Chapman, DL, Alabama
Grabbed a 1st round talent at TE in the 2nd and got a 3rd round talent at DT in the 5th.  Luck will be a great starter but will never be Peyton Manning level and will never be the player he is projected to be.  Colts get a B+ and not an A because with the new Rookie pay scale they could have re-signed Manning, traded down with the Browns for about 10 picks, drafted either the best RB or OT at 4 and re-built their team.

4. Cincinnati Bengals- Grade B+:
Best Pick- Kevin Zeitler, OG, Wisconsin
Best Value- Orson Charles, TE, Georgia
I don't see Kirkpatrick as a very big risk and think he was better than Gilmore who went 10th.  Zeitler was a great pick and Charles is a 1st round talent that fell to the bottom of the 4th.

5.Philadelphia Eagles- Grade B-:
Best Pick- Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi State
Best Value- Brandon Boykin, CB/KR, Georgia
The Eagles got the best DT in the draft and they got him outside of the top 10.  The Cox pick alone was enough to get them in the top 10, but they grabbed Boykin (a second round talent) at the end of the 4th round.  The Eagles also grabbed the very talented Bryce Brown in the 7th.  Brown is a high risk high reward guy but at the end of the last round he is a safe bet.

LOSERS
1. New Orleans Saints- Grade F:
Worst Pick- Akiem Hicks, DT, Regina
Pick That May Actually Make It- Nick Toon, WR, Wisconsin
There are bad drafts every year but usually there is at least one decent pick by even the worst GMs.  The Saints draft this year was not one of those drafts.  While one can make the case for Nick Toon as a decent pick the truth is that the Saint's entire draft was horrible.

2. Seattle Seahawks- Grade F+:
Worst Pick- Bruce Irvin, LB, West Virginia
Pick That May Actually Make It-Jaye Howard, DT, Florida
If the Seahawks had not taken Howard in the 4th round their entire draft would have been a flaming pile of failure.  Kentucky LB Winston Guy in the 6th and NC State DE J.R. Sweezy in the 7th were decent picks.  The Irvin pick will haunt this franchise for 5 years.

3.San Francisco 49ers- Grade F+:
Worst Pick- A.J. Jenkins, WR, Illinois
Pick That May Actually Make It- Joe Looney, OG, Wake Forest
All of their picks weren't horrible but they were all reaches.  The 49ers drafted for need and not for the best player available which is a big no-no.

4. Oakland Raiders- Grade D-:
Worst Pick- Miles Burress, LB, SD State
Pick That May Actually Make It- Juron Criner, WR, Arizona
All of their picks weren't horrible but they were all reaches.  The Raiders drafted for need and not for the best player available which is a big no-no.  "Where have you gone Al Davis?  A lonely Raider Nation turns it's eyes to you."

5.Jacksonville Jaguars- Grade D:
Worst Pick-Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma St.
Pick That May Actually Make It- Andre Branch, DE, Clampsun
Blackmon is over-rated and will be a bust.  Branch has shown flashes of ability but is inconsistent.  All the other picks were just darts thrown against a board.



Nail, meat head of the hammer

Paul Westerdawg drives this home to absolute perfection. We won't steal his thunder, just say go read his comments regarding Mark Fox's continued attempts to win Talladega in an '87 Honda Accord hatchback.

Best of the Rest- The 15 Best Players Still on the Board for Round 2

Remember Kids---The Sgt. Osiris Rule is still in play:

Friday is now the day in which teams are built.  The 2nd and 3rd rounds allow you to take a few more risks without violating the Osiris Rule (Round 1, just so you know, is not the place to test the Osiris Rule).  By our Cold Blooded calculations there were at least 13 players taken yesterday that were not 1st round material (and at least 6 that were not even 2nd round material).  Our calculations also show that there are at least 6 players still available with a 1st round grade and 9 others who were on the line between the 1st and 2nd rounds in their grades.  Here are the best players still hanging around:

1. Courtney Upshaw- OLB Alabama:  The Packers, Patriots, and Texans all whiffed on the chance to take a player perfect for the 3-4 and with experience in this system.  Expect Upshaw to be gone very soon this evening.
2. Alshon Jeffery- WR USCe:  The Cardinals, 49ers, and Titans all stretched for WRs and all made huge mistakes with their 1st round picks.  I expect Alshon to get gobbled up by the Rams...maybe with the first pick of the second round.  I still believe that Alshon is the best WR in this draft.
3.Bobby Massie- OT Ole Miss: 3rd best OT in the draft and a guy who could have easily been a 1st round pick.
4. Cordy Glenn- G UGA: If you want him as a OT then he is a mid-2nd round pick if you want him as a guard then he is just slightly behind DeCastro who is the top guard of the draft.
5. Peter Konz- C Wisconsin: Top center of the draft.  O-linemen from Iowa are tricky because they are so well coached; O-linemen from Wisconsin are just plain good.  Konz anchored arguably the best O-line in college football over the past two years.
6. Orson Charles- TE UGA: A nightmare mismatch for almost any line backing corp in the league.  Penalized by most because his true potential was never shown under the coordination of I Has A Crayon.
7. Reuben Randle- WR LSU: LSU has produced so many receivers in the past 8 years that some of their guys can get lost in the shuffle.  Randle has great size, great hands, and great instincts. 
8. Jared Crick- DL Nebraska: Has played DE and DT while at Nebraska.  Overshadowed by Suh, then injured, then moved out of DT and into DE.  All of these things hurt his production but could be a steal for the right team.
9. Josh Chapman- DT Alabama: Short by most standards but a powerhouse nose that would be great in the 3-4.
10. Coby Fleener- TE Stanford:  Not the mismatch nightmare that Charles is at this position but he is a better blocker than Orson and like most of the Stanford Cardinal that we have seen in the draft the past few years he is a very smart player.
11. Jonathan Martin- OT Stanford: Honestly too finesse to be a LT but much like Chris Williams from Vanderbilt that went to the Bears a few years back could be a RT or a left guard.
12. Janoris Jenkins- CB N.Alabama:  1st round talent still on the board.  Why you ask, simple:
He was kicked off of the Florida Gators team under Urban Meyer.......the only real question is just how many dead bodies are there.
13. Jake Bequette- DE Arkansas: Think Jarret Johnson formerly of the Ravens now with the Chargers.  A white DE from the SEC who could excel if converted to a pass rush OLB in the NFL.
14. Brandon Boykin- CB/KR Georgia:  Can be molded into a nickle corner but a huge value as a kick off /punt returner and gunner in punt coverage.
15. Andre Branch- DE Clampsun: A less talented but almost as lazy version of Quinton Couples.