Tuesday Links (2/23)

I had been meaning to mention this for a while now, but for some reason it always seems to slip my mind. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that you can befriend me on Facebook, but I should also point out that if I happen to be online, you can feel free to chat. A few of you have been nice enough to pass along some kind words and talk UGA sports every once in a while, and I definitely appreciate the interaction. Anyway, just passing that along in case you happen to catch me online and have a burning question you'd like to discuss.

Now, to today's links...

-- Usually I save the non-football stuff for the end, but this is important info you'll need right away this morning: IHOP is offering a free short stack to all customers today from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. as part of its celebration of National Pancake Day.

-- Pete Fiutak of Scout.com answers some reader mail, including a question about Mark Richt's competitive fire.

-- The Banner-Herald's Marc Weiszer has a blog post up that follows up on some of the recent discussion of a lack of leadership in the Georgia locker room a year ago. He quite rightly notes several instances in which players touted the "new leadership" a year ago. The bottom line is, players are saying the right things now, but that only matters if they're doing the right things later.

-- Jeff Owens has a Q&A with offensive lineman Clint Boling, who reveals his love for Rafferty's and Eva Longoria.

-- SI's Peter King gives some thoughts on Matthew Stafford, while Total UGA talks to the man himself (subscription required).

-- Stafford may not have completely solidified the No. 1 overall selection, but he had dinner with Lions' brass Thursday and coach Jim Schwartz said the meeting went well.

-- The AJC's Jeff Schultz ranks the Atlanta-area teams 1 through 10, with UGA football finishing behind the Falcons.

-- Georgia's new leadoff man, Johnathan Taylor, is off to a fine start, earning some SEC honors.

-- Georgia sprinter Torrin Lawrence is one fast man .

-- Three Bulldogs are headed into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

-- I decided a long time ago that the only people I would ever complain about my job to were other sports writers. The reason is, anyone who doesn't do this for a living would rightfully think I was crazy to nitpick the details of a job that allows me to watch sports for a living, so I rarely get much pity (nor do I deserve it).

Still, writing about sports is a tricky proposition. It's generally a tough balancing act when dealing with a competitive job, athletes and coaches who tend to have pretty big egos, and fans who occasionally are less than rational about their teams.

I am extremely lucky in that I work with many great reporters, deal with a staff and players at UGA who are genuinely good people and I have a great group of readers who so far have been extremely generous to me in their compliments and diplomatic in their criticisms. (SIDE NOTE: Apologies to Michael A for my failure to provide the appropriate spoiler warning regarding my link about "The Office" yesterday).

Of course, that isn't always the case, and you don't have to be in this business long to have a good "athlete who treated me like crap" story. For a few months early in my career, I was certain Chan Gailey had a personal vendetta against me. So this story from ESPN's Buster Olney (one of my favorite baseball reporters) brought a smile to my face if only because, while it was hardly unfamiliar, it's always good to remember that even the guys who have made the big time have had their low points, too.