Tuesday Links (8/18)

Happy Tuesday, folks. Georgia gets back to work today with an afternoon practice session. I'm scheduled to talk to Orson Charles and Rantavious Wooten, so if you have any questions you want me to pass along, add them in the comments section here or email me at dhale@macon.com.

Now, some links...

-- Paul Westerdawg links to my special teams story on his blog today (and somehow manages to do it from his phone... Paul is way ahead of me technologically) and includes a good exchange from two of my top commenters. In some ways, I think that might be the real story, and so does Senator Blutarsky.

-- Rex Robinson, who I think has had the best read on the problems with Georgia's kickoffs, adds some tongue-in-cheek humor to illustrate his point about the Bulldogs' skewed take on directional kicking.

-- A big tip o' the cap to Marc Weiszer who puts an end to what continued to be a ridiculous ongoing controversy.

-- Roger Clarkson catches up with Richard Samuel and illustrates what I think is the biggest reason Samuel is destined for success this season. The kid just loves learning the game of football.

-- Bleacher Report adds to the chorus of folks about to jump off the Caleb King bandwagon. I'll just say this: Two weeks ago, all the reports coming from players and coaches sounded extremely encouraging about Caleb. Then he tweaks his hamstring, and everyone's asking if it's time to give up on him. It's not. He'll still have another crack at playing time.

-- An Oklahoma State tailback will miss the season with an ACL injury. Unfortunately for Georgia fans, it's not Kendall Hunter.

By the way, if you cruise over to The Oklahoman's sports page, there are a ton of stories and video up about the opening of the new Okie State stadium. Perhaps Mike Gundy has his troops well prepared for all the hooplah, but between the House that T. Boone Built, the high preseason ranking, the Sports Illustrated cover, the national attention on the game and the big-time out-of-conference opponent, there is an awfully big (and possibly distracting) spotlight on the Cowboys right now. Reminds me a little of the Georgia-Alabama game last year where it might just be a big advantage to be the road team. Now if only Okie State would agree to wear black uniforms.

-- The Stillwater News-Press wonders if Zac Robinson's injury might not be a bigger problem than the Cowboys are letting on. (BTW, Robinson is set to return to practice today after sitting out more than a week.)

-- It doesn't sound like there will be a winner of Tennessee's quarterback battle. You know the old saying about having two quarterbacks, right...

-- Jeremy Fowler has a bunch of updates on Florida's injuries and depth-chart battles from fall practice.

-- ESPN's Chris Low lists his top five villians in college football.

-- Cousin Walter likes Low's list, but has an updated version of his own that includes a notable name at No. 5 who managed to rile up some Dawgs this offseason.

-- And my excitement for the Syracuse football season officially ends..... NOW.

-- Phil Fulmer isn't ready to call it a career just yet.

-- Be sure you read this story from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Miami walk-on Chris Hayes. It's a great piece of writing, but an even better story. (via Deadspin)

-- I know my departure over the weekend meant a little bit lighter posting on the blog, but as you can see, it was all for a I was very busy at my other job. (h/t Ben W.)

-- During my two years in Albany, I definitely found far worse in my yard than this.

-- The hot rumor seems to be that "24" only has one season left, which has its writiers working on contingency plans.

-- Meta Filter has clips of original auditions by several of the greats from "Saturday Night Live."

-- Here's an interesting tidbit: Quentin Tarantino's favorite films from the past 17 years.

-- And finally, no link yet, but according to Jeff Owens' Twitter page, he'll actually be back to blogging again today. We shall see...