Michigan State: Backlash After Tweeter Bashing...

Michigan State took to a social media outlet to bash their arch rival Michigan during the Wolverines woeful loss to Defending National Champion Alabama this past weekend. Now the backlash is all on the Spartans because their head coach, Mark Dantonio, thinks his players showed classless taste in their remarks regarding Michigan players' performances. He deemed his players taunts "disrespectful", and suggested his guys "need to keep their mouths shut".  It should be a lot of fun around the MSU practice fields this week. As they say, when the head coach ain't happy, nobody ain't happy. (I thought that was when Mama ain't happy...oh well, you get the point).

Tyrann Mathieu: Honey Badger Puts LSU on Academic Alert...

Tyrann Mathieu says he will enroll at LSU today for fall semester classes even though he was dismissed from the Tiger football team back in August. His departure from the team stems from his failure to comply with the school's substance abuse policy.  It is believed to be his desire to be reinstated by Coach Less Miles for the 2013 football season, but he has received no assurances from Miles nor the athletic department relating to his return.  Mathieu is also eligible for the NFL Draft in 2013. My money is on the speculation that if the "Honey Badger" wants to be a Bengal Tiger next year, then it's a done deal. Miles isn't going to let this talent walk again if he believes his state of mind has been healed any at all. I don't believe it will surprise many college football fans if Honey Badger is back prowling the turf at Tiger Stadium next season.  Will you be surprised? Anyway, we'll just have to wait and find out...

Dan Uggla: $62 Million But 'Riding the Pine'

Dan Uggla is in the second year of a $62 million contract, but he is no longer the starting second baseman for the Atlanta Braves. Manager Fredi Gonzalez informed Uggla that he would be used sparingly down the stretch in the Braves playoff run. Not much ground for argument on the second baseman's part. He's hitting an anemic .208 with only 17 homers this year. He has fanned 150 times thus far. Since joining Atlanta last year, Uggla is giving the Braves about a half a season per campaign.In 2011 he had a tremendously horrible start but managed to finish strong. This year he began the season better, but has been inconsistent all year. The last couple of months his game has been pretty much missing in action. Martin Prado will see most of the action at second, as he moves from the outfield to his once familiar spot on the right side of the infield.

David Rudisha: 1:40.9 - No Way!

The most incredible feat of the 2012 Olympic Games was Kenyan David Rudisha's winning the men's 800 meter run in 1:40.9. This event did not garner nearly the attention and recognition it should have. Forget the fact that the winning time was a new world record. How could it not be? But don't forget the fact that the winning time was just slightly more than amazing. For more than 50 years it has been maintained that no athlete could ever run below 1:40 in the 800. Rudisha is standing at that threshold. The Wall Street Journal called it the greatest 800 meters ever run. I've always maintained that the 800 is the toughest race in track and field. It was once considered a 'run', as it is still called, but it has actually evolved into a sprint. Rudisha's splits were 49.28 and 51.63. That first lap really stands out when you consider that Grenada's Kirani James won the Olympic 400 Meters in 43.94. The bar has been set now for the 800 by Rudisha. As the 2012 track and field season draws to a close, it will be interesting to see what 2013 and beyond hold for this event. Is running below 1:40 in the cards for any athlete? After these 2012 Olympics, it sure seems to be a realistic possibility.

Happy Labor Day America!

Yes indeed! Take the day off, fire up the grill, ice up the cooler! Enjoy the official end of summer. The pennant races are heating up in baseball. The start of football is officially underway. The Holiday Season is looming large.  There is an important(understatement!) election on the horizon. There's a lot going on and a lot coming up, so relax on Labor Day and get ready for the stretch run of 2012. Chill out America!

Chipper Jones: Not Another Like Him!

Sunday evening, 40 year old Chipper Jones hit a dramatic walk-off 3-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to lift his Atlanta Braves to a pennant race needed 8-7 victory. Just hours before today's first pitch, the retiree-in-waiting had this to say: And when asked about putting the team on his 40-year-old back and delivering big hits they’ve lacked lately, he said: “I’d be lying if I said two outs bases loaded, bottom of the ninth inning I want anybody else up there but me. That’s just the mentality that I’ve always had. And that’s never going to stop. I don’t care if I’m 40 or 60.
This is Chipper's last month as a regular season active baseball player. The only way we'll get to squeeze a little bit more out of his career is for the Braves to make the playoffs. And he just might be the man to do the squeezing for us.

Alisha Gray: Lady Hawk/Tarheel On the Mend

Washington County girls' basketball star Alisha Gray had surgery this week to repair damage suffered to her ACL and MCL. The surgery was performed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Gray has verbally committed to play for the University of North Carolina next year. She sustained the injuries to her knee while practicing with the U-18 National Team in Colorado. Gray will, of course, miss her entire senior year on the court with the Lady Hawks, but aims to be ready when she becomes a Tar Heel next summer. Her knee injury was very serious, make no mistake about that. It will take long, hard and strenuous rehabilitation to rebuild that knee to the point of being competitive in an NCAA environment. But also make no mistake about this: Alisha Gray is the type of young lady who will pay the price to recover completely. She will endure the pain. She will put in the hours of rehab. She will work hard to get back on the court and be an integral part of the Lady Tarheel Basketball Team. She is that kind of person. She comes from that kind of family. She has that kind of faith. She will draw tremendous support from her family, friends, school and community. This Lady Hawk/Lady Tarheel may be down, but she is definitely not out. Don't forget about Alisha Gray. That's not a mistake you want to make! Hang in there and work hard Alisha!

Georgia vs Buffalo

Georgia won its 2012 home opener against The University at Buffalo by a final score of 45-23. Buffalo takes $975,000 southern dollars back North for their willingness to play in the hot, thick and sticky humidity of the South. Not a bad deal at all, considering we all play in it for free, ya'll!
O.K., so much for the opponent's bank account. Now just a few observations from the game itself:

1. Todd Gurley is the real deal. Period.
2. Aaron Murray must improve. And sooner better than later.
3. Georgia's vaunted defense still has a lot of work to do. They are the rock of the Dawgs.
4. Mike Bobo cannot improve. As an offensive coordinator, he is simply hopeless.
5. Georgia must play much better in Columbia, Missouri Saturday night. Understatement.

Tennessee Volunteers: Rocky Top or Beaver Tail?

A couple of Tennessee players were sporting the new "Beaver Tail" look in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic. I wonder if they'll change the words of the redundant 'Rocky Top' song to go along with the new look? "Good 'ole Beaver Tail, Beaver Tail Tennesee". Just saying...

Georgia Football: Does the NCAA Have a Minimum?

The maximum number of total scholarships at any one time for a Division I football program is 85.  With attrition of any and all sorts, the University of Georgia now has 74 scholarship players. This number includes 5 walk-ons who have been awarded scholarships. Translated, this means Georgia has 69 recruited players on their current roster. Translated further, this means Mark Richt's program is actually serving a self-imposed probation.  The depth chart is now so thin that Dr. Atkins and Jenny Craig should be envious.  Put wings on the depth chart and it could walk down a Victoria Secret runway. It is sadly that trim, plus the fact there are several players who much serve one and two game suspensions. If the Dawgs suffer an unusually high amount of pre-season injuries, much less a season ending one, this situation immediately reaches intensive care proportions. We will just stay with 'extremely serious' for the time being.  Now more starters will have to play on special teams, which could increase their risk of injury, and it could be a fatigue factor in the fourth quarter. Georgia will also lose the luxury of perhaps red-shirting a kid they wanted to give more time to develop. The inventory in the Bulldawg locker room is now so low that it's a matter of if you're breathing, you're playing. The importance of quality and quantity of the 2013 recruiting class has reached epic proportions. Georgia must rebuild their roster evenly by position and the coaches must take a huge step toward this goal quickly. Even this does not solve their depth problems consistently because they will have such a huge class (2013) on the same eligibility run. Most of the ones who stay for the long haul will all exit the program at the same time.  This means that for the next several years, the Dawgs cannot afford to have a 'down' recruiting year. These numbers problems did not happen overnight. If you've followed Georgia recruiting closely over the years, the current predicament can't surprise you. When you combine the factors of under-signing with a high amount of attrition, this is what you get.  On the positive side, this year's campaign is certainly not the toughest course laid out in the conference. If players stay healthy throughout the course of the season, Georgia could overcome the obstacles that a thin roster presents. Success breeds success, and thus recruiting becomes easier and better.  How this entire situation pans out remains to be seen, but July is already a week old. Translated, that means we don't have long to find out.

Happy Birthday America!

An Opinion On Sports wishes you a happy and safe 4th of July!

Andy Griffith: Thanks for the Memories...

This is probably my favorite line from the long list of great episodes of 'The Andy Griffith Show', when Opie has to release the birds he raised. Remember he earlier killed their mother. Just before this quote, Opie comments that the cage sure looks awful empty after the birds are gone. "Yes son it sure does, but don't the trees seem nice and full!" Indeed they do Andy. God Bless and God Speed. Andy Griffith: R.I.P.