Thursday Links (7/30)

Some Thursday reading material for your viewing pleasure...

-- I have a story in today's Telegraph on how the rest of the SEC East is handling the perceived dominance of Florida to start the season.

-- Need to get psyched for the start of fall practice: Start by watching Georgia stomp Michigan State in a re-airing of the Capital One Bowl today.

-- Mark Bradley rehashes what is becoming a very stale topic: Will Mark Richt ever win a national title? As Bradley even points out in his column, only luck has kept Richt from at least one shot at the big game, so why is this even a question? Richt seems to get this more than others, I think, just because he does his job with a smile on his face. At Media Days, Nick Saban compared the coaches' poll to soldiers fighting for American's right to vote. I'll take the coach with a real perspective on life any day.

-- On a similar topic, T Kyle King wonders if we all need to rethink our perspective on college football a bit.

-- And speaking of perspective, this tidbit pointed out by the Senator adds a little more of it.

-- Chris Low writes about the fresh faces likely to make an impact at Georgia this season. He offers some good candidates, but I must take exception with his contention that Washaun Ealey is the freshman fans are most anticipating. I think that honor goes to Marlon Brown or Orson Charles.

-- The Anderson Independent-Mail writes that Joe Cox seems to be pretty comfortable with all the pressure he's facing this season.

-- The early betting lines are out and Georgia is favored over Georgia Tech already.

-- Speaking of Tech, Rex Robinson wonders if Yellow Jackets fans haven't gotten a little too big for their non-silver britches.

-- AJC commenter "Saint Simons" is a perfect example. He posts the same comment as soon as any AJC writer posts an article to the site, as you'll notice in Bill King's latest blog discussing Vegas' 8-4 predicted finish for the Dawgs.

-- The all-knowing Michael Carvell sent this bit of info along: Delta has some cheap flights to places like Oklahoma City and Northwest Arkansas that might be of interest to Georgia fans.

-- Now this is a great idea for a documentary: A former philosophy student is trying to figure out why fans love "The Big Lebowski" so much. The answer is simple -- sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, it eats you. ... Is that some kind of Eastern thing?

-- There are still a few more weeks of summer left, and NPR has a list of its 100 best beach reads to help keep you entertained while you're working on your tan.

-- Screech is writing a tell-all book about "Saved By the Bell." This may be the final blow to Jimmy Fallon's plans for a full-cast reunion.

And, finally, here are two entries in the "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be sports writers" category:

-- A New York Daily News reporter broke stories that Mets player development chief Tony Bernazard had a series of violent altercations with players. Mets GM Omar Minaya then fired Bernazard. Minaya then suggested that the stories were completely made up by the Daily News reporter because the reporter wanted Bernazard's job. All of this happened at a news conference Monday, and yesterday the reporter in question offered his side of things. His argument that the stories were accurate certainly makes sense, but I have a real problem with a reporter covering a team while angling for a job by cozying up to the owners. Minaya's way off base for this particular story, but his overall criticism is well founded.

-- A sports writer from New Hampshire has been arrested on charges of running a prostitution ring using Craigslist. Several things I find hilarious about this post: 1.) See, this proves sports writers who have been in the business for 20+ years can embrace the Internet. 2.) The phrase "could clearly hear activities consistent with sexual intercourse" really needs to be used in more stories. 3.) He only used Marriott properties to arrange the encounters. If you know anything about sports writers, Marriott Rewards points are perhaps the most essential perk we get.