Isner on Letterman

In case you went to sleep early or watch something else with your "late" nights, here's John Isner's appearance on David Letterman last night.



Federer in fifteen minutes, huh? Didn't Izzy take a set off the greatest tennis player ever in 2007 (right before the Oklahoma State game in Athens) at the US Open?

Quinton

USA

I've got nothing insightful to say about the World Cup other than I'm enjoying the hell out of it, and this cracked me up.



ht - Steve Patterson (UGASports.com)

Longest. Set. Ever.

In his first round match with Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, our boy, John Isner, was all even at two sets a piece yesterday when play was suspended.  This morning, the two simply needed to play the final and deciding fifth set to determine the winner.  That set, however, now the longest set in tennis history, still isn't over.  Play was suspended again tonight and Isner and Mahut will return to Court 18 tomorrow until a winner is decided or darkness interrupts again.  At Wimbledon, there are no tiebreakers in the final set, so the players simply keep playing games until someone wins two in a row.  They currently stand at 59-59.  Isner had four match points during the day, but Mahut had an answer for each.

I've seen the word "epic" floated about in describing this match, but that term is inadequate.  The longest match in pro tennis history was six hours and thirty-three minutes.  The fifth set of this match, which I remind you isn't over yet, is currently at seven hours and six minutes.  So, one fifth of this match is longer than the entire match of the former longevity record holder.

It's not epic, it's unbelievable in the most literal way possible.  Isner: "Nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever." The scoreboards not only couldn't handle the numbers of the score, they just plain broke down completely, going utterly dark at 48 all.  Even ESPN's scoretracker couldn't go above 50 games apiece.  The match stats, which I won't bore you with, are enough to skew a data set so irreparably that it becomes nonsensical or comical.  Both players broke the record for aces in a match.

You can follow a highly amusing account of the day at Wimbledon here, heavy on the crisp, dry British wit and highly recommended.

Tomorrow, they begin anew, both players looking for a single break point to capture a deciding advantage.  John Isner is everything you want out of a famous athletic alum.  He's always selling UGA on the tube and is always in a Georgia football hat off court.  Break him, Johnny!

Quinton

The Mountain West could be in excellent shape

Even if the Pac 10 takes Utah on Wednesday as the Seattle Times is reporting, the MWC could still come out of this expansion talk in great shape. Their goal has always been to gain access to a BCS automatic qualifier slot, and adding Boise helps them meet that goal.

I personally think they showed better management than the Big 12 or the Pac 10 during the expansion talk by locking down Boise when they did (I know the Big 12 ended up in a better place financially, but I don't think it was their management that made it happen as much as falling into something created by outside forces). There were scenarios out there where the Big 12 North could've taken the best parts of the MWC, CUSA and WAC to rebuild the former Big 12. But adding Boise so quickly stopped some of that before it started.

Before the Pac 16 talk started, the MWC already was rumored to have a plan in place to pursue Boise, Fresno State and Houston. There's no reason why that plan can't move forward along with a 12th team like Nevada, Tulsa, Rice or SMU.

The last 2009 regular season Coaches Poll included these teams:

#3 TCU
#6 Boise State
#14 BYU
#25 Houston

By comparison, the SEC finished the '09 regular season with three ranked teams in the Coaches Poll. The league still has tremendous work to do in terms of building fan interest, but it has the potential with the expansion above to make significant progress. Plus, there are quality new rivalries in the league with Boise vs. BYU and TCU vs. Houston.

If the MWC takes Boise and Fresno State, it will be very hard for that league to keep its ESPN contract. One of the biggest problems with the MWC is the lack of an ESPN deal. Currently, their games are shown on CBS College Sports and Verses. And the WAC knows its vulnerable.

Also, the Pac 10 may move back to an eight game league schedule from their current nine game schedule once they expand to 12 teams. If so, their members will need to find non-conference opponents to fill the final slate at the same time that the Big 12 is moving to a nine game regular season. And it may not be as simple as the P10 members picking up the old B12 member non-conference games. I think the MWC members are going to end up picking up some nice match-ups from Pac-10 teams. Another potential win for their credibility.

Some changes I expect to see over the coming weeks (beyond the obvious Utah to the Pac 10 discussion):

• MWC Expansion - to include Fresno State and/or Houston at a minimum.
  
• WAC Implosion - This looks unavoidable to me.
  
• La Tech's Advancement - if Louisiana Tech can get into Conference USA to replace Houston, they're going to leap on it. Their program would take a nice step forward with the opportunity to face Southern Miss, Memphis, UAB and Tulane regularly as opposed to trips to Moscow, Idaho and Las Cruces, New Mexico.

It's still an interesting time. Even if the next moves don't register quite so loudly on the football richter scale.

PWD

Expansion Wrap Up

Let's say you throw a party for kids in the neighborhood. And let's say that kids who attend the party receive $10 million per year for the next 20 years. While kids that don't attend the party lose $20 million a year for the next 20 years. What do you think will happen?

Of course, parents are going to want their kids there. Not just one kid mind you...but multiple kids. And don't forget cousins, grandchildren and nephews.

That's among the reasons why I said last month, that I didn't see a 16-team league happening.

In the end, I think the Big 10 will expand by 1 team and the Pac 10 will go to 12. And most of the 16 team talk is brilliantly aimed at getting the Big 10 the best possible team to reach out to them for inclusion.

From there, all the leagues will take a deep breath. Because the contractual complexities of moving to 16 teams in one or more conferences are just too great. And University presidents are too risk adverse.

Regardless, Andy Katz's article about the mysterious Trilateral Coalition / Black Hand stopping the Pac 10 expansion is the best read of the entire Bay of Pigskin roller coaster ride.

Two schools who faired better than most think in expansion are:

• Iowa - The Hawkeyes and Huskers have only played six times since World War II, and only twice since Reagan's first term in office. This despite Lincoln being located only 60 miles from the Iowa state line. Right now, Iowa and Nebraska are on comparable footing in football. This is the perfect time for them to become rivals. More than likely, Iowa vs. Nebraska will become the season ending game for both programs, and that's the sort or big time match-up Iowa needs to raise demand for tickets. There's nothing like a heated border war to ignite the fan passion. Also, Iowa State can't sell area recruits on getting to face Nebraska every year. It's another hit to the Cyclones...which is also a win for Iowa.
  
  
• Colorado - They are taking a lot of heat for leaving the Big XII, but it makes total sense to me. When the Buffs were at their best, they were recruiting heavily out of Los Angeles. The rumors are that the Buffs will be in the same division with UCLA and USC which means a yearly game in LA. They are trading in division games against Nebraska and 4 teams that hardly get anyone in that part of the world excited for USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and likely Utah. That's a towering home run from a ticket sales and fan interest standpoint. TV money is great, but you have to recruit players and sell tickets to win games, and they are better positioned to do that than ever.

What's your overall thought on Expansion? Bottom line for me...I'm glad we ended up where we did at the BCS level, but I don't think we're done at the mid-major level. See next post for more info.

PWD

Excited about Jarvis Jones

I'm pretty pumped about Jarvis Jones transferring to UGA from USC. Given the NCAA's track record for complete unpredictability, there's no telling whether or not Jarvis Jones will actually be cleared to play for Georgia in the 2010 season. It should be an open and shut case for immediate eligibility, but the NCAA is a fickle mistress. I know Chip Towers says he's hearing that Jones will have to sit a year.

Update: Jarvis told Chad Simmons of DawgPost.com tonight that he plans to redshirt in 2010 no matter what the NCAA does with his eligibility. Probably a good call with the neck recovery.

In the meantime, check out this form tackle at the 1:04 mark of Jarvis Jones violently covering a kickoff for Southern Cal. What a novel concept.



Also, there's this video from the AJC about Jarvis' recruitment. It was published before his senior year in high school.



The three most exciting parts of Jones transferring to Georgia are:

• Fixing a recruiting blunder committed two years ago involving not prioritizing the kid properly to start with.
  
  
• Bringing a potential impact player into the program at a position of need who has seen minutes at a BCS school. The inside linebacker positions (starters and depth) are two of the biggest question marks on the team in my opinion. It's not as big a question mark as quarterback, but it makes me nervous.
  
  
• Jones' ties to Columbus-Carver High School where two of the state's truly elite prospects are enrolled. I'm pretty sure that I've said this before, but Isaiah Crowell isn't your typical running back recruit. To me, he's a Percy Harvin-level athlete playing tailback. I would put Crowell in a class of recruit like Champ Bailey, Takeo Spikes, Eric Berry and Charles Grant. You can't have players like that leave your state. Period. As for Gabe Wright, he's a bigger version of what Kedric Golston was before the car accident when the Tahoe flipped over and landed on Golston's femur.

Opening the pipeline to Carver back up while landing a player is a win-win-win.

PWD

Our Long National Nightmare is Over

David Perno fired Pitching Coach Brady Wiederhold after four seasons. This year, the Georgia Bulldogs had arms. Five Bulldog pitchers were drafted in the most recent MLB draft. However, the team had an absolutely absurd team ERA of 8.51 (8.48 in SEC play...so it was always bad...not just on weekdays) which was 12th best in the SEC. The 11th best pitching staff in the league had a team ERA of 6.92 and the 10th had an ERA of 5.88.

The low light for me was the 14 walk performance against Georgia Tech in Athens. The team had given up 12 walks before the end of the 5th inning, and the team's "closer" surrendered 3 consecutive walks after entering the game with the bases loaded.

When your ERA is 2.63 runs per game out of 10th place in your league, you're terrible. It would be different if there was no talent at that position. But that certainly wasn't the case.

I sincerely like Coach Perno, and I respect what he has accomplished overall in Athens. But this needed to be done. Badly. Rebuilding the pitching staff will take time, but this was the biggest no brainer termination in Athens in quite some time. Hopefully, more systemic changes are coming because there were problems with last year's team beyond just the pitching coach.

Onward and upward,

PWD

Your Expansion Update

For a situation in constant flux, here's your morning update:

• Last night the Houston Chronicle reported that the Texas A&M Board of Regents will meet as early as Thursday to vote to join the Southeastern Conference. The other Big XII schools are expected to join the Pac 10. AggieSports.com points out that all eyes are on TAMU this week.
  
  
• The Texas legislature really wants everyone to take a deep breath and slow down. That's one of the reasons they've set up Wednesday hearings on this to find out what's going on and why.
  
  
• One Aggie blogger weighs in on the possibility of losing the series with Texas. Personally, I don't think it will come to that...regardless of what league everyone ends up in.
  
  
• And Rivals.com weighs in on expansion as it relates to recruiting.

PWD

Hold that Dial

Orangebloods.com (who has been all over conference expansion like no one else) says that Texas is considering a proposal to keep the Big 12 together as a 10 team league. I still don't understand why the Big 12 AD is being so reactive in this. Why not offer Cincy and Louisville to replace Colorado and Nebraska? You'd be adding two new media markets and two quality basketball programs who badly need a home.

PWD

Like shooting fish in a barrel

This comment thread is too good to pass up.

PWD

Texas A&M Considering SEC

It's going to be very tough to pull off, but we're hearing that Texas A&M is receptive to joining the SEC with or without Texas. And the Longhorns, Sooners, Red Raiders and Cowboys are considering the Pac-10 offer with or without Texas A&M.

It'll be very hard for the Aggies to leave without Texas. They would likely need a commitment from Texas that they could still play each every year, but Gene Stallings and the TAMU president are looking at the SEC vs. Pac-10 decision in a very logical manner.

From the standpoint of distance for non-revenue sports and cultural fit, the move to the SEC is a no brainer. From a revenue standpoint, it's no worse than break even given that the Aggies would be able to sign their own TV / electronic rights deal outside of the SEC contract like UGA and Florida have ... both having long term deals worth more than $90 million.

If only the Aggies were added, the SEC would look to the East for the final piece of the puzzle with the most discussed name being Virginia Tech.

In my opinion, a 14 team SEC would move to a nine game conference schedule including a 6-1-2 rotation. All traditional cross divisional rivalries would be kept in place. The only sacrafice the league would be making would be in the area of non-conference scheduling. It would be incredibly difficult for schools like UGA, Florida and South Carolina to schedule non-conference games beyond their non-conference in state rivals and play a nine team SEC slate. But if we were adding Va Tech and Texas A&M to the mix....who cares about playing Oregon.

See Also:
-- The rift in Texas - Sportsline
-- Aggies listening to SEC - Orlando Sentinel
-- Texas has to listen to SEC - Tony Barnhart
-- A&M considering SEC - Sporting News
-- Texas won't hang around - ESPN
-- 16 team conference TV deals not a slam dunk - CNBC

PWD

Perno on Draftees & Coaching Changes

Coach Perno discussed the MLB draft's impact on the incoming baseball recruiting class with 960 The Ref Monday. The interview can be heard here. We're almost sure to lose RHP Ralston Cash, but Perno sounds optimistic on the rest of the drafted kids, including RHP Drew Cisco. We still have some recruiting to do with these guys, but Perno thinks the kids will hold fast for big money. If they don't get it, Perno thinks they'll play college ball rather than give in to the minors. Perno also noted that a lot of the big shot recruits we either didn't go after or went after and lost, all went high in the draft and are likely going to the minors instead of college.

Assistant coaching changes were raised in the interview, but Perno sounded like there won't be any. I hope these incoming pitchers have some serious talent.

Quinton

It's Official: Colorado Joins the Pac 10

The Pac 10 conference announced today that The Colorado Buffaloes are joining their conference. This announcement was made moments ago. (Source: ESPN). This is on top of the likely news within the next 48 hours that Nebraska is joining the Big 10.

According to ESPN (and this was also discussed last night by Pete Thamel of the NYTimes):

Texas and Texas A&M officials are scheduled to meet [today] at an undisclosed location to discuss the future of their athletic programs and the Big 12 amid speculation the league could be raided by rival conferences and broken apart.

Things are moving very quickly. One of the big problems with expanding to 16 teams is...how do you keep fans happy when they are fewer titles to go around? Well, the Pac 10 may have dreamed up a very obnoxious answer to that question (ht - blutarsky):

The coach said it's possible the Pac-16 would push for two automatic bids to the BCS, one for each division champion. That potential bonanza could open the possibility of the two division champs from one league playing for the national title, and it would eliminate the need for a conference championship game.

"The Pac-10 doesn't believe in a championship game," the coach said. "And coaches in the Big 12 don't like it anyway."

If they move in that direction, the Pac 10 is essentially not a single conference at all. It's a modified version of the Pac 8 meets the Southwest Conference in a marriage for TV purposes only.

Imagine the SEC applying this thinking and expanding to 16. You'd have a league whereby the SEC East and SEC West champs both earned a BCS slot automatically, but there would be absolutely no "settling it on the field" in that scenario as the two division champs wouldn't meet in Atlanta. Bizarre.

See Also:
-- Texas A&M and the SEC in talks? - SI.com
-- Scrambling to save the Big XII - NY Times

PWD

Well....so much for a boring off season

The entire college football universe may change more in the next 48 hours than it has at any other compressed period of time in history with a likely end to the Big 12, and the trickle down impacts of that decision. Along with a much shorter term impact, but loud in the near term slapping of Southern Cal.

The latest on USC appears to be 20 lost scholarships, a two year bowl ban, and the optional penalty free release of upperclassmen to transfers. Bama fans still won't be pleased because it's not quite as bad as they got. But then again....the link tying the football staff at Bama to the Means saga was more concrete than the link tying Bush to the USC staff. I expect that much of this initial probation from the NCAA is for show. About a year later, they'll come back and soften the punishment a little.

Here's the big question on USC. Will the scholarship reduction begin immediately, or will it begin after the appeal? Ideally for Southern Cal haters, the penalty will begin after the appeal. Which means, they could damage an additional recruiting class before the sanctions even start while in limbo.

PWD

The Dream Team pitch is working

Dean Legge has a great read on the Dream Team concept. The closing paragraph is absolute money:

The Dream Team notion is working… Georgia won’t sign Tucker’s James Vaughters (he will commit to Stanford in the coming weeks) but every other player in the top 15 in the state is either committed to Georgia or seriously considering the Dawgs. This is a massive turnaround from the Dawgs’ recruiting struggles of 2010. After all, 2011 is a construction zone, and hard hats are required.

That's exceptional news because last year's offensive class was about as close to a full bore dumpster fire as you can get. To get recruiting back and really performing at such a high-level despite last year's disappointing season says a lot about Mark Richt and this staff. It's impressive.

PWD

Georgia lands enormous two sport recruit

Nick Marshall has committed to play football and basketball for the University of Georgia. Marshall will play defensive back for the football team, and he'll play both guard positions for Coach Fox's basketball team.

Why this is a big deal:

• Marshall is one of the best all around athletes in state. If Christian LeMay is good enough at QB for Coach Richt to feel comfortable offering Marshall at CB, that's an excellent sign.
  
  
• As Blutarsky pointed out this morning, Marshall is a former silent commit to GT to play QB. This is exactly the type of kid CPJ needs to land. That he'd rather play CB for us than QB for them says a lot.
  
  
• Marshall will sign his letter of intent as a football player, and he will not count against the 13 scholarship limit for the basketball team. If Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie go pro as expected, Georgia will have 6 scholarships to give for the 2011 season. Marshall could be the seventh member of that class if Coach Fox wants to try and land a "Dream Team" of his own in the ultra stacked 2011 hoops recruiting class.
  
  
• Marshall is a Top 125 level player in the nation in basketball according to Rivals.com. He's a guy that can help Georgia at either point guard or shooting guard.
  
  
• One of Nick Marshall's closest friends on the hoops circuit is Kentavious Caldwell. Caldwell is arguably the best shooting guard in Georgia if not the entire Southeast. He's 6'6" with the ability to manufacture points by the bucketload, and he starts shooting when he gets off the bus. Last season, Georgia signed Kenarious Gates as an offensive tackle who is another close friend and former high school teammate of Caldwell's. To sign Caldwell and Marshall would establish the foundation for an elite backcourt. Especially, with Top 100 SG/SF Malcom Brogdon also very interested in the Dawgs.

Marshall's commitment is a very big deal for the Dawgs in both sports. We're talking about a guy who could legitimately start for UGA one day at quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback, safety, shooting guard or point guard. That's a very handy asset.

See Also:

-- Chad Simmons take on Nick Marshall - DawgPost
-- The Dream Team continues - AJC
-- Hard Hats Required - DawgPost
-- 2011 Basketball Hot Board - UGASports.com

PWD

Profiles in Hope: Stegeman Renovation Update

On Sunday, the Athens Banner Herald posted updated renderings of what Stegeman Coliseum will look like after the renovations are completed this November (Image: ABH). The interior look and feel of the concourses is dramatically more impressive than I anticipated. Lee Shearer has the story which you may have missed because it appears to have been filed online under News instead of dogbytes or basketball.

Check the PDF...it doesn't look like the same facilities inside the concourses. As for the interior seating area, it hasn't been the problem for several years. The problem was the coaches and the product they put on the court for far too many years.

I'm thrilled to know that we're going to have an updated facility in time for this season.

PWD

Expansion Update

Matt Hinton has a comprehensive update on Conference Expansion that's a must read. It walks through last week's drama involving the Big 12's possible collapse. It really sounds like the next two weeks will be critical in the Big 10, Big 12 and Pac 10 expansion efforts.

pwd

John Wooden Passes Away

In 1946, John Wooden interviewed with Wally Butts to become the head basketball coach at The University of Georgia. Due to recruiting policies in the South at the time, Wooden wouldn't have been able to assemble the type of team he wanted. So he turned down a job offer from Butts. Two years later, he started coaching at UCLA. Oh, what could have been.

Coach Harrick brought Wooden to Athens to speak about 8 years ago. It was one of the most amazing talks I've listened as the quick wit of the man was still obvious well into his 90s.

Wooden has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family and the UCLA family.

PWD

Cordy Glenn to Enter the Ninja Draft

Cordy Glenn, a 6'5" and 330 pound offensive lineman at Georgia, announced today that he'll abandon his final years of eligibility to enter the Dark Arts of the Ninja. The news came on the heels of the University of Georgia's athletic department announcing that Glenn ran a 40 yard dash timed at 4.81 seconds. Apparently, football is too easy for a man of such size, grace and speed so he's moving on to a new field*. (Image: ABH)

Also, Cornelius Washington, a 6'5" 255+ lb defensive end, was timed in the 40 yard dash at 4.29 seconds. It's worth noting that only 8 players have run under 4.3 seconds at the NFL draft since 1999, and none of them weighed over 210 pounds.

And lastly, Brandon Wood, a 290 pound defensive tackle with eight career solo tackles in three seasons, was clocked at 4.71. It's worth noting that Tim Tebow only ran 4.72 at the combine. We must be truly stacked at DT if a player with those wheels is riding the pine.

In completely unrelated news, the University of Georgia also announced that a member of the athletic department's Strength and Conditioning Program has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Fiction.

In all seriousness, what's the point of inflating the strength numbers of our players like this? Is it to take pressure off our S&C coaches? Because it's sure not going to take any pressure off our kids when fans think they can move like that. I just don't get it.

Or as someone said on a message board today, "If our guys can run that fast, we should be able to cover kickoffs." I love our coaches, but I haven't seen this much fake demographic info on the internet since I last logged into Match.com.

See Also:
-- Cuff runs 4.24 - DawgPost.com

PWD


*Note: Not a shot a Glenn. It was a shot at the press release. He's actually one of my favorite Dawgs.