Friday Links (2/13)

Only a few more Valentine's Day shopping hours left. I suggest this classy gift, and a nice batch of Georgia links...

-- Sic 'Em Dawgs wonders if Georgia's hoops program is better off now than it was in the wake of the Jim Harrick scandal. Talent-wise? Probably not. But the potential for a quick turnaround is at least there.

-- Georgia Sports Blog faces the inevitable possibility that the Dawgs could go winless in the SEC this season. A loss tomorrow to Florida would set the new UGA standard for consecutive defeats.

-- The AJC's Michael Carvell has lots of recruiting news in this notebook, including some good stuff on Orson Charles. Carvell also has a story catching up with Greg Reid to get the low down on why the Lowndes star chose Florida State over Georgia.

-- Chip Towers notes some positive signs for the UGA football team in his latest blog post.

-- Macon Dawg hands out some awards for the 2009 signing class.

-- 960 the Ref has a good podcast with Georgia's strength & conditioning coordinator, Dave Van Halanger.

-- Get the Picture notes that ESPN's Thursday schedule couldn't have worked out worse for Georgia.

-- Okie State is losing receivers left and right, which can only be good news for a UGA secondary that will have two first-time starters when the two teams open the 2009 season.

-- Total UGA has even more coaching hilarity courtesy of Lane Kiffin.

-- The Dallas Morning News has a story on Michael Johnson's training center, where Knowshon Moreno is currently prepping for the NFL combine.

-- Georgia Tech officially unveiled its football schedule for 2009, which includes dates with three SEC schools.

-- Access North Georgia has the story that the economic downturn has hit Tech, too. For anyone who wants to criticize Damon Evans, just remember that while nearly every athletics department around the country is looking to cut costs right now, UGA's was doing so well it was able to give $6 million to academics.

-- The Banner-Herald talks about one of the Gym Dawgs freshmen getting a healthy dose of confidence.

-- And finally, this book would have made an excellent Valentine's Day gift, too -- but sadly, we'll have to keep waiting a little longer.