Saturday Links (3/6)

Answering a few of your questions...

Ally writes: David, have you been able to find out why Zach "punt block" Renner left the team? I love this kid & thought he was really happy at UGA.

David: This is a pretty unfortunate situation. When UGA awards walk-ons with a scholarship, they are one-year scholarship agreements. Usually Mark Richt tries to keep those players on scholarship, but it's not always possible. That was the case with Zach this year. Unfortunately, that put Zach in a precarious situation financially that prevented him from remaining with the team. He told me he is hoping to transfer to a DIII program closer to his home in Connecticut, which will ideally be more affordable.

Mike writes: Do you have a schedule for spring football? When will the first full-pads practice be?

David: They'll practice every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday beginning March 16, and while the official schedule hasn't been set for full-pads and scrimmage days, my best guess would be either the 20th or 23rd for their first full-pads practice.

Trae writes: Saw a lot of stuff about the defense in your post on bulldog blog but what about the offense? Did you get a chance to see the QB's work any?

David: You can check out some of their throws on the practice video I posted yesterday. Beyond that, it's tough to say too much from the small glimpse we got of the QBs -- not that I'd necessarily know what I was looking for anyway.

Mark Richt, on the other hand, had a clear idea of what he wanted to see, which I thought was pretty interesting: "We're teaching them to think right and think in a systematic way so that when the pressure is on, they'll be able to function properly. Thinking is a habit just as throwing a football is a habit. If you think properly, down after down after down, rep after rep, even in the film session as you watch it, you go through the same progression over and over and over, you're just forming a habit. You're going to do the right thing and make the right decision. One thing I told them before we left the meeting was, if you want to impress me, show me your helmet -- I want your helmet to be locked in where it should be as you progress. When you watch film, you can watch that quarterback's helmet. You can't really see his eyes, but you can see his helmet and see where he's progressing and the timing of it, and you can tell if he's doing it the way he's supposed to be doing it or not."

OK, a handful of links for your Saturday reading...

-- Connor Nolte has today's final regular-season game day trick shot posted and it features a cameo by Charles Barkley.

BTW, here's what Mark Fox had to say about the trick shots: "What's amazing about the trick shots is when Connor started that, I gave him a hard time that it was more important to them than the simple fundamentals of the game. But it's garnered so much attention for our program -- I woke up the other day and had a million messages about ESPN. It's been amazing. ... I joked with someone that this kid got us into 10 million homes, and it's been great publicity."

-- Chattanooga writes about Trey Thompkins' rising star.

-- It won't mean much in the standings, but there's still a lot Georgia is playing for against LSU today.

-- I had a story in yesterday's Telegraph on the chemistry among Georgia's coaches after so much turnover from years past.

-- Chris Low talks to Todd Grantham about his philosophy and plans for this season.

-- Bubba N Earl take a closer look at how Zach Mettenberger stacks up in the QB competition.

-- Jeff Schultz writes that this spring is about establishing a new attitude at Georgia.

-- Former Bulldog Charles Grant got his walking papers from the New Orleans Saints.

-- Bill King writes about Bill Goldberg's impending trip to "Celebrity Apprentice."

-- The Lady Dogs fell to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC tourney.

-- NBC has officially renewed "Community"... along with "30 Rock" and "The Office," not that those were much of a surprise.

-- So Conan O'Brien randomly picked one person to follow on Twitter -- which has immediately changed the girl's life. Crazy.

-- Billy Corgan sounds like he's not too thrilled with one of his former bandmates.

-- i09 offers five reasons why the parallel universe in "Lost" is a complete waste of time.

-- Another former cast member will be back on "Lost" for at least one episode.

-- And finally, the Village Voice has an interview with a stripper who talks about how music at strip clubs is chosen. This article wins the award for "story I am astonished I found interesting" this week. I mean, who knew that Weezer fans were now a key part of the strip club demographic?