Hit the Links....

It's late February & even we are surprised by how slow things are in the world of college football. Other than watching the Oregon football program implode from afar there's not too much going on out there. How the Ducks keep perhaps their best player eligible when he has been banned from campus by a judge will be an interesting trick worth watching. We have little doubt with Phil Knight's money they'll find a way to pull it off. Some things that have crossed our path recently:

• Today is a big day at Ole Miss as students vote on a new mascot, the dastardly Colonel Reb having been retired do the fact that Colonel Saunders sells more chicken & is therefore inherently superior. For the record, while we do not engage in politics at the Barrel, we fully support the Ackbar campaign. In fact, there's even a Facebook page. A tip of the hat & a brown cocktail to the genius(es) behind these political machinations. If you could get Chewbacca to play linebacker we're positive he'd be a difference maker in the SEC. (For the record, the Millenium Falcon defines "SEC speed")
• The AJC looked at college football attendance & found that "Georgia Tech ranked 40th with an average home attendance of 51,584. That was an average increase of 4,095 over the previous season - the 12th largest increase in Division I, according to the NCAA." It's great news we had more fans coming to Bobby Dodd than the previous year. Was it our on-field success or an excellent home schedule (Clemson, VPISU, U(sic)GA) that drove the increased attendance? It will be interesting to see how 2010 develops with only one marquee game on the home slate (Miami).
• A really nice 2009 highlight video from GTCU17. Great work, particularly the audio cut-ins from the game announcers.
• An interesting interview with defensive coordinator Al Groh from his old pals at the Cavalier Daily. It appears from his comments that Groh will have carte blanche with the defense, something we anticipated when he signed on board.
• A very good read on defensive backs & coverage techniques over at Shakin' the Southland. These guys always have great football content.
• Doug Roberson of the AJC sat down with CPJ for a brief chat. Nothing earth-shattering but some interesting nuggets. Any doubt who is in charge?

A scouting report on BayBay Thomas to follow......