Dennis Dodd of CBSsports.com is one of my least liked national college football writers, for a variety of reasons dating back to the time he wrote Eric Crouch should win the Heisman Trophy because he came to media day at Nebraska every week. Dodd does have a big platform though, and his annual coaching hot seat ratings get a decent level of attention. I have no problem with most of the guys he has on the hottest seats, but some of this is just absurd. The four SEC coaches whose seats Dodd feels are warmest are at 3.0 on his scale of 0 to 5 - which translates as "on the bubble -- you never know". They are LSU's Les Miles, Georgia's Mark Richt, South Carolina's Steve Spurrier, and TENNESSEE'S DEREK DOOLEY. Let me get this straight - in Dodd's mind there's the same chance Tennessee will dump Dooley and embark on their third coaching search in three years as there is Les Miles will get the broom after a third straight underachieving season in Baton Rouge?! That's insane. Derek Dooley can go 0-12 and he's not going anywhere this year. It would cost UT millions and devastate their program for years. Short of Dooley personally pulling a stickup robbery at a convenience store, he's as safe as Nick Saban. Spurrier's not going anywhere either unless he chooses to, which isn't what this is supposed to measure (hence Urban Meyer's a 0 and Joe Paterno a .5 even though there are some questions about each's future). The idea 91 coaches are safer than him and Richt in their jobs is ridiculous. Now you see why I'm not a big Dodd fan.
The news of Jarvis Williams death was a stunner to everyone yesterday. I never interviewed Williams, but over the years when people of his era talked about him it was always with total love and respect. He was a terrific college player and had a nice career with the Dolphins as well. It's shocking to think he's gone at 45 - just another reminder to all of us that there's no way to have a clue when your time might be up.
The NCAA is trying to reform the process by which recruits get themselves academically eligible to come in and play college ball. As a result, they have announced they'll stop taking credits from two correspondence schools effective August 1. It's a start, because both of these have been abused in the past (especially the BYU one) but it's not enough. There will always be more diploma mills and eligibility shortcuts popping up to take their place. If they really want to do something about this, here's my suggestion: no more than one "internet" class credit will be accepted for any recruit. If they're so far behind academically that they need more than one of those to qualify, they'd be better off going to prep school/junior college or repeating classes at their high school than trying to do college level work while adapting to college life. Being a year or two older when they start their college careers won't hurt them a bit, especially on the off chance they actually want to take advantage of the opportunity to get an education rather than just stay eligible.
The food cops at the Center for Science in the Public Interest have issued their "Xtreme Eating Awards". This is the annual exercise where they break the shocking news that bacon cheeseburgers are still not healthy. Thanks for the update, guys! Would have never been able to figure that out without your help. What annoys me about this is it assumes people are eating fat laden high calorie foods not because they wanted to but because they're somehow oblivious to what they're doing. Would we be healthier if everyone ate skinless chicken and salads without dressing while drinking only water and juices with no sugar added? Yes, we would. People know that yet will continue to eat things which are bad for them at times, and no amount of scolding is going to change that. Maybe if the CSIPI actually told us something we didn't know, they might succeed in helping solve America's weight problem. Their powers will be useless against the upcoming onslaught of pizza consumption though, thanks to the exciting news we will now be able to get an NBA logo baked right into the center of our pies. Who among us hasn't dreamed of eating pizza with a Charlotte Bobcats logo on it?
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Dodd's list looks about right. Sure, there are a few ratings one could quibble with (especially in the middle). But at least half of the 5.0 guys will be gone next year while all of the 0.0 guys will be back if they so choose so. Dooley - as should every new coach - should be a 0.0. But if the Gamecock fans ever get tired of going 7-6 Spurrier could find himself in trouble.
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