Hold a cup to your ear and listen. What do you hear? Silence. Not a peep.
That is what's resonating from the University of Florida, at least Sunday. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow says he doesn't think there's going to be any trash talking from the top-ranked Gators this week as they prepare for Saturday's SEC opener against rival Tennessee. It's no secret that first-year Volunteers coach Lane Kiffin's recruiting accusations in February have UF players extremely eager for this game, to say the least.
Here's the top lesson from Saturday: If you're a major program, never schedule a game you can lose as your season opener. Period. This should be a rule. Why? Because we fans sit around for nine months waiting for the college football season to return, and then, in one sixty minute game, the entire season is ruined. It's just not worth it. You roll out of bed the next morning and effectively the wildest dreams of the offseason, that your team could run the table and contend for a national championship, is over.
Ask Georgia fans what they feel like this morning. Ask Tennessee fans what the last two years prior to this season felt like losing the first game of the season in California. Losing the opening game counts as two losses, it makes you feel like complete crap. And don't even get me started with how good you feel if you win an opening game. You're a liar. You don't feel good, you just feel relieved. Nothing has changed about your season if you win a big opening game. You just get to dream for one week more. On to the ClayNation Starting 11.
In case you're wondering, here is the complete list of outrageous things Lane Kiffin has not done since becoming head coach at Tennessee:
1. Paint himself orange and skydive naked into Bryant-Denny Stadium. 2. Ask what Urban Meyer has done that's so great. 3. Consult with the UT astronomy department to see whether the universe would be annihilated if his ego was ever in the same room as Bruce Pearl's. 4. Coach in, and win, a football game.
For a moment, I had to cross off "make an outrageous scholarship offer to a middle schooler" because, well, there were reports that he just did that. Evan Berry, 13-year-old son of former Vol running back James Berry and brother of current Vol Eric Berry, has officially committed to the Vols. Or so said Rivals.com and ESPN, sort of.
Last summer, the SEC signed a new $2.25 billion television rights deal with ESPN. The amount was staggering. ESPN is now on the hook for $150 million per year for the next 15 years. Now we know that every SEC football game will be televised on the network's broadcast partners, infinitely more basketball games will arrive on the network, and sundry lesser sports will also be featured.
It's a deal of tremendous implications that catapults SEC sports coverage into the realm of professional sports. What's been left unexamined is how this will change ESPN's news coverage of the league, and how that resulting coverage is going to make the SEC the de facto national college league of choice. Why? Because ESPN has spent so much money on the rights packages, the SEC has to be front and center.
When Houston Nutt signed 37 players to football scholarships at Ole Miss back in February, he knew several would not qualify academically. After all, the NCAA only allows a maximum of 25 scholarship players in any one recruiting class. Thus it was no surprise last week when SEC Commissioner Mike Slive told his coaches they would only be allowed to sign 28 prospects to letters of intent from now on.
This puts the Tennessee Volunteers in a bit of tight spot. The website Gridironstuds.com has counted up and found that Lane Kiffin (above) and his staff have already made scholarship offers to a few more prospects than that. And by "a few" I mean "a metric boatload." The Vols have 187 offers out there for the class of 2010.
Insert your own "doesn't Tennessee have a math department?" joke here. Kiffin went to Fresno State anyway. But what are the Vols going to do?
In the past few years, many colleges have begun to roll out all-day football camps for women. Sometimes these situations become borderline awkward, such as when hundreds of female Virginia Tech fans took photos of players as they flexed in their underwear. Nothing kills the fun of college athletics more than your wife coming home with pictures of your favorite players wearing nothing but compression shorts. Now Lane Kiffin and Tennessee are joining other SEC schools like South Carolina and Georgia which have been offering women this experience for several years.
Only they're rolling out the university's No. 1 starlet to open up the festivities ... Layla Kiffin.
The SEC coaches meetings rolled into Destin, Fla., this week, and Lane Kiffin washed ashore.
You know Kiffin, the man who brought a Molotov cocktail to the SEC tea party, the guy who coaches like tickets have to be sold for the latest WWE event. You halfway expect for him to enter press conferences wearing orange tights, grab the mike, scream invectives at his rivals, then spike the microphone, kiss his biceps, and leave without taking questions. Kiffin coaches college football like Vince McMahon helms the WWE, it's all about creating a buzz.
Tuesday, Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers received a commitment from a high school defensive end named J.C. Copeland. "Kiffin" exulted via Twitter, "It's a beautiful day in Knoxville, Tennessee today. I was so excited to hear that J.C. Copeland committed to play for the Vols today!"
There's just one problem with this twit, er, tweet. You can't comment on a recruit by name until they've officially signed with your program. Oops.
Meet Twittergate. As a result of the Twitter post, the Vols have been forced to self-report a secondary violation to the NCAA.
Last season, the Raiders paid DeAngleo Hall $8 million for eight weeks of service before cutting bait. Not the best use of the salary cap, but it makes sense when put in perspective: Oakland has had four coaches, four quarterbacks and 16 wins in four years. Blowing $8 million on Hall is nothing.
Hall wasn't out of work long; he signed with the Redskins and played well enough to get a long-term deal (apparently, leaving Oakland is good for your career).
Why might Principal Alejo (right) be upset? I don't know, it could have something to do with the fact that his public profile page for Pahokee High School features a Florida Gator at the bottom [Now replaced with the Pahokee High seal. Alejo's e-mail address has also been removed.] Alongside this quote, "I would also like for every student to graduate and go to college." What needs to be added to the end of the quote is this, "Unless they go to Tennessee." No matter which school you support, I think we can all agree, this is ridiculous and colossal misplacement of school time, energy and focus.
Hold a cup to your ear and listen. What do you hear? Silence. Not a peep.
Here's the top lesson from Saturday: If you're a major program, never schedule a game you can lose as your season opener. Period. This should be a rule. Why? Because we fans sit around for nine months waiting for the college football season to return, and then, in one sixty minute game, the entire season is ruined. It's just not worth it. You roll out of bed the next morning and effectively the wildest dreams of the offseason, that your team could run the table and contend for a national championship, is over. 
In case you're wondering, here is the complete list of outrageous things 
Last summer, the 
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In the past few years, many colleges have begun to roll out all-day football camps for women. Sometimes these situations become borderline awkward, such as when hundreds of female Virginia Tech fans 
The SEC coaches meetings rolled into Destin, Fla., this week, and 
Tuesday, 
Last season, the Raiders paid 
It's really come to this.
