Friday Links (2/28)

Couple quick things before we get to the links...

-- First, a happy 18th birthday to my brother, Stephen. Remember, kiddo, you can be tried as an adult now.

-- Second, unless there is some breaking news over the weekend, I probably won't post Saturday or Sunday. I've got a few things on tap for next week, however, including my much-discussed yet never completed mailbag. So... if you've got some burning Bulldogs questions or just want to see your name in electronic print, send along some questions to dhale@macon.com or post them in the comments section here, and I'll see what I can do about finding you some answers.

Now, to today's links...

-- Here's some video of Knowshon Moreno discussing his experience at the NFL combine and his time at Georgia. I have no doubt Knowshon is going to be a great pro, but I'm excited to see how he develops his media savvy.

-- ESPN draft experts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay debate the merits of selecting Matthew Stafford first overall in April's NFL draft.

-- And while you're watching ESPN video, you can't go wrong with a little true or false with Rickey Henderson.

-- The Sporting News has Stafford falling all the way to No. 10 in its latest mock draft.

-- Sports Illustrated's Peter King writes that Stafford learned some valuable lessons from Saints QB Drew Brees.

-- Jeff Owens has a Q&A with Trinton Sturdivant in his latest blog post.

-- Chris Low looks at five SEC newcomers who could have a bit impact in 2009, including Georgia's Marlon Brown.

-- Georgia Sports Blog should really have some travel agency sponsors, because they're quite helpful when making your football vacation plans.

-- Last night's win over Kentucky was huge for the Lady Dogs, and they have Ashley Houts' career night to thank for it.

-- The Athens Banner-Herald's Roger Clarkson says Georgia's interim head coach, Pete Herrmann, is hoping to keep coaching somewhere in 2009.

-- Meanwhile, the AJC's Chip Towers has a great piece looking at what the rest of Georgia's current assistants plan to once the season ends and they are -- in all liklihood -- unemployed.

-- In these tough economic times, the McDuffie Mirror says Georgia baseball is a sound investment of your entertainment dollars.

-- I highly recommend Jeff Schultz's blog post about the changing face of Georgia State's athletics program.

-- Meanwhile I can't exactly call Mark Bradley's latest column particularly informative, but it will no doubt fire up the message board commenters.

-- Isn't it odd that 30 Rock's Tina Fey was a dead ringer for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin three months ago, and now the next big Republican hope happens to do a fantastic impression of 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer? If this is becoming a trend, then I'm now crossing my fingers that I can vote for a conservative Judah Friedlander in 2012. Anyway, I mention "30 Rock" because I was having the exact same conversation with a friend the other day that Newsweek discusses in this article.

-- I didn't get a chance to watch "Lost" until yesterday afternoon, but I think it was probably the best episode of the season so far and added a lot of new wrinkles to a plot that, frankly, I thought was getting a little dull this year.

Anyway, here are a bunch of Lost links for your perusal (Warning: spoilers from last week's show are included, but none from future episodes as far as I can tell): The Newark Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall agrees that the Locke episode was fantastic, in large part to the great Terry O'Quinn... Zap2It thinks Evangeline Lilly (Kate) could be leaving the show, but Lilly's reps deny it... The Big Lead offers some thoughts on the show including asking when is everyone?... And of course, I was sad to see another "The Wire" alum meet his demise.

-- And finally, another nail in the coffin of the newspaper business: The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper, printed its final edition today. This is exceptionally sad to see, although most observers had seen it coming for a long time.

As a tribute to the Rocky's last day, I wanted to link to this story it ran in November 2005 that details the role of Marines whose job it is to both inform families when a loved one is killed, but also to help them through the grieving process afterward. The story won a Pulitzer Prize for both the writer and the photographer, and I don't have any reservations in saying it is probably the single best bit of feature writing I've ever seen (not to mention that it gives you an even greater appreciation for the tremendous sacrifice those in our armed forces have made).

If you think you'll have a half-hour or so this weekend, do yourself a big, big favor and print this story out, grab a box of Kleenex and read it from start to finish. You won't regret it.