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Tebow doesn't wow 'em with test score; no marque game for Georgia Tech this fall

(3/12) Now here’s a different approach to coaching football. New Tennessee coach Derek Dooley has set numerous off-the-field goals for the Vols during the off-season. "Character education - very important to me," he said. "Let’s face it, when you’re 18 to 22, no matter where you came from, you have a big hole in your head. I know I did."

Interesting thing about the ongoing ACC men’s basketball tournament is that the only team that the tourney is important to is Georgia Tech. Duke, Maryland, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Clemson probably are already in, no matter what happens. The Yellow Jackets are the only team that can help or hurt themselves and we won’t find that out until Sunday night when the selections are announced.

The NFL administers the Wonderlic Personnel Test to all of its in-coming rookies. Ex-Florida quarterback Tim Tebow didn’t exactly stun them with his score. The test is designed to measure problem solving ability. Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford led all quarterbacks with a 36 score; Texas’ Colt McCoy scored 25; Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen 23 and Tebow had a 22. The average score is 21. The good news, at least for Tebow, is that Michael Vick scored 20, so if Vick can score that high, the test is basically meaningless.

The fact that the University of Connecticut women have won 72 straight games and are seemingly unbeatable had USA Today asking whether the Lady Huskies’ seeming invincibility is hurting women’s basketball. Regardless of the answer, what is UConn supposed to do about it - start losing on purpose or what?

What’s a conference to do with this problem? SI.Com points out that the ACC has six teams capable of winning the league title. But that’s bad. Andy Staples writes that the ACC needs a truly elite team to compete for a national title. He lists five upcoming games this fall which could propel an ACC team into elite status. Those games take place the first three weeks of September. Sept. 4 - North Carolina vs. LSU; Sept. 6 - Virginia Tech vs. Boise State; Sept. 11 - Florida State vs. Oklahoma; Sept. 11 - Miami vs. Ohio State and Sept 18 - Clemson vs. Auburn. Georgia Tech is the other team capable of winning the league but the Yellow Jackets don’t have a marquee out-of-conference game this fall.

New BCS executive director Bill Hancock has received letters from two congressmen questioning how fair the BCS might be in distributing money to college football programs. Hancock, a kind, gentle, thoughtful man, said this: "I sure do think Congress has more important things to do with the issues facing this country." Amen; tell it all, Bill.

This is Norman Arey announcing my candidacy for the U.S. Congress.

Notre Dame admits that there are scenarios that would force it to join a conference

(3/11) When Georgia Tech takes on North Carolina tonight in the ACC tournament, amazingly the Yellow Jackets will be favored. But history isn’t on Tech’s side. The Tar Heels lead their all-time series, 60-22.

In the planned upcoming movie about Vince Lombardi, Hollywood has selected Robert De Niro to play the former tough-guy coach. Don’t know about you but I think it’s a fabulous choice.

Even though Michael Vick is still a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL club surely will trade him before the opening of the season in the fall. The most likely place is St. Louis. Says Vick during a radio interview: "I’m not saying it out of arrogance but out of confidence, I think I can be the difference maker on any team but especially a team like St. Louis." I agree. The difference just might not be of the positive kind.

Notre Dame wants to remain an independent in football but the Irish athletics director Jack Swarbrick admits that if the Big 10 and Pac 10 go for expansion, there are certain scenarios that would force Notre Dame’s hand (to join a conference).

Pretty amazing with the down year the ACC has had in basketball but pre-tournament projections still have the conference receiving the second most number of bids of any league. The ACC may get seven invites, second only to the Big East’s eight.

Chew on this for just a minute but with college athletics in such dire financial straits, the average compensation for football coordinators at at least a dozen schools in the Division I ranks has gone up 38 percent.

OK. Here’s the question. Pete Carroll is gone. The Pac-10 is seemingly up for grabs. So who does the grabbing? USC’s Lane Kiffin, Oregon’s Chip Kelly, Washington’s Steve Sarkisian or Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh? My pick? Rick Neuheisel at UCLA.

A sad note but former Georgia Tech and Boston Red Sox star Nomar Garciaparra signed a one-day contract with the American League team and then retired.

And finally, former Brave pitcher John Smoltz may not be finished yet, according to Yahoo!Sports. The internet site predicts Smoltz will sign with a National League club during the season. The teams mentioned as most likely to land the pitcher are St. Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago.

This is Norman Arey and I’d love to see Notre Dame forced to join a conference.

Georgia's future non-league football schedule is dull; Mettenberger got his money's worth

(3/10) Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger got his money’s worth when he was arrested over the weekend. Mettenberger, who will challenge for the quarterback job for the Bulldogs this year, was charged with five misdemeanors - underage consumption/possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of having a false ID.

Probably as it should be but the AP All-ACC basketball team didn’t have a Georgia Tech player on either the first or second team.

Already an upset and we’re not even into the major conference tournaments yet. Gonzaga, a staple in the NCAA tournament over the past decade, was beaten by St. Mary’s in the conference tournament finals.

The upcoming NFL draft seems to be about as unpredictable as the weather but it appears former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford has replaced Nebraska defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh as the No. 1 pick and will go to the St. Louis Rams. Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung, an offensive tackle, may be taken second by Detroit (to protect quarterback Matt Stafford’s blind side) and Suh would drop to third and go to Tampa Bay.

And guess what, three former Georgia Tech players are picked to be chosen in the top 23 choices - receiver DeMaryius Thomas 12th by the Dolphins, DE Derrick Morgan 16th by the Titans and and running back Jonathan Dwyer 23rd by the Packers. Georgia’s defensive lineman Jeff Owens could be the 31st pick by the Colts.

Here’s a rumor I like. When Ernie Kent is fired as Oregon’s basketball coach, supposedly the leader to replace him is P.J. Carlesimo. Remember Carlesimo, who coached Seton Hall to six NCAA appearances and one Final Four?

Collegefootballnews.com refers to Georgia Tech football as the Beast of the East after Paul Johnson has been there only two years. Actually, the ACC should be pretty good this year with the Yellow Jackets, North Carolina and Virginia Tech all ready to have big seasons.

Rivals.com has picked their Not-So-Elite Eight, which is made up of the eight biggest disappointments in college basketball this season. The list includes North Carolina, Michigan, Tulsa, UConn, Creighton, Dayton, Minnesota and Washington State.

Taking a look at Georgia’s non-conference football games over the next five seasons or so, other than a home-and-home with Louisville, Oregon and Clemson, it’s made up of a bevy of no-names - Louisiana-LaFayette, Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State, Idaho State, Appalachian State and North Texas. No great shakes there.

This is Norman Arey wishing the Bulldogs would be a little more adventuresome.

Tebow will at least have an audience of two; Presbyterian student Duke's hero

(3/9) Remember back at the start of the college basketball season when North Carolina coach Roy Williams had a Presbyterian fan tossed out of the Dean Dome when the kid yelled just as Tar Heel Deon Thompson was shooting a free throw? Well, that student, Brian King, was the guest of honor of the Duke student body over the weekend in the Blue Devils’ annihilation of the ‘Heels, given a front row seat, and was the Cameron Crazies’ hero the entire night.

FoxSports.com offers up its list for the top athletes-turned-politician. From bottom to top, they are pro wrestler Jerry Lawler (who ran for Memphis mayor unsuccessfully); former Oklahoma quarterback J.C. Watts, the last black Republican in Congress; baseball player Jim Bunning; Bills’ quarterback Jack Kemp; pro wrestler Jesse Ventura, governor of Minnesota; Princeton and NBA star Bill Bradley, who ran for president twice; and California governor and body builder supreme Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Kentucky placed two on The SportingNewsToday.com All-Freshman team, as it should have, as John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins made the squad. Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors was named along with Kansas’ Xavier Henry and Arizona’s Derrick Williams.

Something I learned this week. During the regular course of a college basketball season, a team could play with as many as seven different brands of basketballs.

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow will have at least two teams present for his pro day workout March 17. The Seattle Sawhawks and the Buffalo Bills will be in Gainesville.

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, by all reports as conservative as his little red sweater vest, did an interview with a gay magazine. Although there was no breaking news that came out of the interview, the fact that one of the most conservative guys in the business did the interview deserves kudos.

When the Kentucky men beat Florida over the weekend in basketball, it enabled the Wildcats to close out their regular season with a perfect 18-0 mark at home.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberg was accused of sexual assault over the weekend in Milledgeville, it marked the second time it has happened in as many years for the player. Now the Steeler has hired prominent Atlanta attorney Ed Garland to represent him. It’ll be interesting to see how all this works itself out.

This is Norman Arey simply saying that usually where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Who's got the best chance to win a game in their league tournament, Tech or UGA?

(3/8) Interesting that the possibility of an NBA lockout looming could have a profound affect on the college basketball game. For instance, Kentucky freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and junior Patrick Patterson may decide to return for another year in Lexington if there is no pro league available.

There is a very real possibility that the Big East may garner as many as eight or nine invites to the NCAA men’s tournament and some say that’s too many. But they might also ask why punish the league for being so good? If nine deserve it, so be it.

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow appeared in Jacksonville autographing whatever fans wanted autographed. He changed $160 per autograph. What, you say? Tebow charging for signing his name? Good for him. How about the 3.7 zillion he signed all the way through high school and college for free. What about the thousands of Tebow jerseys the University of Florida sold of which he had zero percent. I think it’s a bargain.

Did the super-talented Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech play themselves out of the NCAA tournament by losing two of their last three? After losing its season finale at home to Virginia Tech over the weekend, it looks as if the Jackets will have to win a couple in the ACC tournament to be assured of a bid. They play North Carolina in the first round Thursday night but unlike many years, that’s good news. The Tar Heels couldn’t have embarrassed themselves any more than they did after losing to Duke by 32 points Saturday.

The question has been asked: Who has the best chance to win a game in their conference tournament, Georgia or Georgia Tech? Before you scoff at the question, realize that Georgia (13-16) faces Arkansas (14-17) while Tech (19-11) plays Carolina (16-15). Not a bad question.

Kind of hard to believe but the United States was knocked out in the first round of Davis Cup play over the weekend by a couple of no-names from Serbia. Really. Has tennis fallen that far in this country?

Auburn and Alabama are at it again, and it’s just March. Nick Saban accepted the Iron Bowl Trophy at halftime of a basketball game between the Tide and the Tigers. The trophy goes to the winner of the annual slugfest between the two. After thanking all the Alabama people, Saban then issued praise for the folks at the University of Auburn. Oops. Auburn is referred to as Auburn University. Saban was booed by the War Eagle faithful in attendance.

This is Norman Arey and I honestly don’t believe Georgia Tech deserves an NCAA invite.

Who's really on the hot seat when fall football begins across the nation?

(3/5) Georgia isn’t the only major power that needs to have a quarterback step during spring practice. Texas needs Garrett Gilbert to have a strong spring spelling the graduated Colt McCoy and Penn State quarterback Kevin Newsome will be feeling the pressure to replace Darryl Clark.

Just thought you’d like to know but after Georgia lost to Kentucky in men’s basketball this week, the Bulldogs now own a 24-112 all-time record against the Blue Grassers.

When California defeated Arizona State this week, it gave the Golden Bears at least a share of the Pac-10 regular season championship--something it hasn’t been able to do in 50 seasons.

For our obligatory Tiger Woods’ note of the day, longtime caddie and close friend Steve Williams says he’s mad at his boss. . . Plus no less an authority than Jack Nicklaus says he’s confident that Tiger will play in the Masters in April.

Yes, of course, we’ve gotten older. I find it hard to believe that former Georgia All-America and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker turned 48 this week.

According to college football writer Tom Dienhart of Rivals.Com, there are an even dozen college coaches feeling heat entering the fall. He divided them into three categories. Under the "inferno" category are Maryland’s Ralph Frieden, Dan Hawkins at Colorado, Rich Rodriguez at Michigan and Ron Zook at Illinois. Under the "hot" category are Minnesota’s Tim Brewster, Les Miles at LSU, Bill Lynch at Indiana and Dennis Erickson at Arizona State. And finally, listed as "warm" are Georgia’s Mark Richt, Mark Sherman at Texas A&M, Paul Wulff at Washington State and (say it’s not so) Steve Spurrier at South Carolina.

I loved this note. After starting at point guard for Duke and at quarterback for Syracuse, Greg Paulus will work out for the NFL scouts during pro day at Syracuse.

And finally, doesn’t anyone want to be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA March Madness? It’s a given that Syracuse, Kentucky and Kansas will be three of the top seeds but it seems nobody wants the fourth. All Duke had to do was win at Maryland but it didn’t. All Kansas State had to do was beat Kansas, but it failed. How about Villanova?

This is Norman Arey inviting you to join me at the Bella Roma Grill Saturday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. in front of State Mutual Stadium. I’ll be there live along with co-host Dan Houston with our Southern Sports Roundtable (WRGA 1470 AM).

Who told biggest tales: Mark Twain or Mark McGwire? Words of wisdom from Mike Vick

(3/4) Here’s the skinny on Georgia Tech earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Yellow Jackets lost to Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum Tuesday, finishing its ACC road schedule with a 1-7 record. No matter whether the Jackets receive a bid or not, they certainly don’t deserve one. If you can’t win on the road, how attractive are you for the Big Dance?

A true sign that the apocalypse is upon us is when a judge approved a request that the suit O.J. Simpson was wearing on the day of his "acquittal" be donated to the Smithsonian Institute.

According to an AP report, the Missouri State Senate voted unanimously to rename a six-mile segment of Interstate 70 in St. Louis from "Mark McGwire Highway" to "Mark Twain Highway." The road was selected to commemorate McGwire's then-record 70 home runs hit during the 1998 season. Makes sense. Twain’s fiction beat out McGwire’s but it was close.

As Ernie Banks would say, "Welcome to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, college football fans." There is a good chance that Illinois may meet Northwestern on the Chicago baseball field this fall.

Michael Vick offered up these words of wisdom in his fight to become a card-carrying member of MENSA. The felon said he’d like to become quarterback of the Carolina Panthers for the most solid reasoning yet. "I like their uniforms," he said. "And I’d get to play against Atlanta twice a year."

Defending national basketball champion North Carolina beat Miami Tuesday. So? Big Deal. It was a big deal on two fronts. It was the first time this year the horribly slumping Tar Heels have won back-to-back games and it also marked the program’s 2,000 overall win. Kentucky reached the 2,000 threshold in December and Kansas needs two more to get there.

Have you no shame? Enough is enough. Irene Folstrom, a native American who grew up on an Indian reservation in Minnesota, has written a first-person account about being Tiger Woods’ girlfriend during his one-plus years at Stanford University. The story appeared on Golf.com and basically she says that Tiger was a super guy!

Yahoo!Sports is out with its third annual college basketball All-Coaches team and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim headed the list. Also on the first team were Kentucky’s John Calipari, Frank Martin at Kansas State, Dave Rose at BYU and Kansas’ Bill Self. Interesting to note that Maryland’s Gary Williams was the lone ACC coach on the list, on the second team and Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl was a third team selection.

This is Norman Arey and I’d have included Georgia’s Mark Fox on my team.

There goes Tech's insurance policy; Calipari on a whiskey label; ACC tickets for sale

(3/3) How about this for two programs going in different directions in a hurry? Before the season started, Syracuse was unranked in the college basketball polls. Today the Orange is No. 1. Texas held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks during the season. On March 1, the Longhorns dropped out of the Top 25 poll. And by the way, it’s Jim Boeheim’s first No. 1 ranking in 20 seasons.

Not a new name, but a new reputation. Steve Alford, who once starred as a player at Indiana for Bobby Knight, had some success as head coach at Iowa is now at New Mexico. He has the Lobos ranked No. 8 in the nation. Alford had once been thought to be in line to take over the Indiana program. He may still.

There goes Georgia Tech’s insurance policy. Jaybo Shaw, the backup quarterback to the Yellow Jackets’ Josh Nesbitt, has left the Tech program and will play for Georgia Southern next season.

The AJC says that Georgia Tech has more than 350 tickets left for next week’s men’s ACC basketball tournament. That, in itself, is big news. There was a time, only a very few seasons ago, when the tickets could not be gotten for any amount of money.

A crazy story coming out of Charleston that Miguel Starks from metro Atlanta, quarterback at The Citadel, was arrested for armed robbery. His robbery victim was one of his assistant coaches at the military school.

Another example of how big college basketball is in the state of Kentucky, Maker’s Mark, a bourbon manufactured in the state, will sell a limited edition of the product with Wildcat coach John Calipari’s face on it, beginning in April. The cost will be $49, but I’d bet plenty that by the time Kentucky fans finish buying it up, it’ll be more than $100 per bottle.

And for our obligatory Tiger Woods note of the day, reports are that the golfer is back from a week of family counseling and is hitting balls at a local golf club near his home in Florida.

And finally reports coming out of NASCAR suggest that 38-year-old Jeff Gordon plans on driving on the circuit for at least five to six more years. He currently has 82 victories on the tour.

This is Norman Arey inviting you to come by Bella Roma Grill in front of State Mutual Stadium Saturday from 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. for WRGA 1470 AM's Southern Sports Roundtable and say hello to co-host Dan Houston and me.

Would Sam Bradford be offended to be drafted by the Washington Redskins?

(3/2) Don’t you just love America? At the NFL combine this week, former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, who is 1/16th Native American (Cherokee), was asked if he would rather not be drafted by Washington, perhaps finding their Redskins nickname offensive? The 20-year-old simply said he wasn’t going to get into that.

The consensus is that Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall will be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft. The next five or so players to follow Wall certainly have a distinctively Southern flavor. We’re talking Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest, Ed Davis of North Carolina, Wesley Johnson of Syracuse, Derrick Favors out of Georgia Tech and Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins. My college Player of the Year choice is Evan Turner of Ohio State.

Interesting that Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran says one of the reasons he decided to leave the Bulldogs a year early was becaue of the fact that his three defensive coaches got fired -- coordinator Willie Martinez, defensive ends coach Jon Fabris and linebacker coach John Jancek.

Not a good sign when Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt starts publicly feuding with an Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist (Mark Bradley). The Jacket coach seems to be getting awfully thin-skinned. He also went on the offensive on his Twitter account against what he Tech detractors who dared criticize his underachieving program.

Did you realize that there are already six teams in the country who have won their conference regular season title: Syracuse, New Mexico, California, Gonzaga, Northern Iowa and Kansas?

President Barack Obama bet Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper a case of beer on the outcome of the U.S vs. Canada hockey match. One punster pointed out that the last time Obama got his hands on any beer, he purchased General Motors.

The latest college basketball coaching rumor is that Norm Roberts may not be back as the head coach at St. John's. Roberts’ record at the New York school is 79-98 during his tenure.

And finally, with No. 3 Purdue losing to Michigan State over the weekend, the top three teams in the college basketball polls all lost.

This is Norman Arey and I’m looking forward to seeing you at Bella Roma Grill Saturday from 11 p.m.-1 a.m. I’ll be there live with co-host Dan Houston with WRGA 1470 AM's Southern Sports Roundtable.

John Smoltz: I’ll vote for him for the Hall of Fame but not for Congress

(3/1) Welcome to the final regular season week of college basketball. You knew something was up over the weekend when both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country lost. Something was askew when North Carolina beat Wake Forest, Georgia stopped Florida and Georgia Tech had no trouble with Boston College.

Tennessee led by as many as 19 before having to hold on to subdue the No. 2 Wildcats of John Calipari. Oklahoma State took No. 1 Kansas out of the game early in a relatively easy win. Notre Dame, without super star Luke Harangody, whipped No.11 Georgetown and only No. 4 Syracuse lived up to its billing, punching out No. 7 Villanova before a mostly mad crowd of 34,000-plus.

And it comes down to . . . Money, of course. Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez says whomever becomes the league’s 12th member is going to have to buy its way into the Big 10. The league pays each of its members almost $20 million per year.

Eastern Washington, which is installing red carpet on its football field for next season, already has several suggestions for a nickname for its field including The Blood Rug, The Slaughterhouse and The Bordello Bowl.

What if they had had a good team? Georgia’s average home attendance of 92,746 ranked sixth in the country and second in the SEC behind only Tennessee, which averaged 99, 220. It was the 24th time in the past 27 years that the Bulldogs have ranked in the top six.

Unlikely bedfellows but several Boise State assistant football coaches visited with the University of Texas coaches last week to talk about, what else, football. Longhorn coach Mack Brown says he wants to have more fun and it’s hard to have trick plays out of the spread offense. Since the Broncos have no trouble with trickeration with the spread, Brown is hoping to add to his offensive scheme.

Two things that you should know. The athletes in the Olympic Village in Vancouver were provided with 100,000 condoms free. They ran out. The second thing is that cursing has been banned in California for the first week in March, darn it.

There were rumors out of Washington, D.C., that former Atlanta Braves’ pitcher John Smoltz might be a candidate for the congressional seat of John Linder, R-Ga., who is stepping down. Smoltz said no thanks on Sunday.

This is Norman Arey and I’ll admit that I won’t vote for Smoltz.