Tuesday Links (11/17)

Happy Tuesday morning, folks. Before we get to the day's links, I had a few TV thoughts I wanted to share...

-- Interesting discussion that cropped up on the blog yesterday about purchasing a delay device so that you can listen to the radio broadcast of games while watching the television coverage. Note to ESPN: In a brutal recession, fans would rather pay to listen to the radio guys than listen to your broadcasters for free. What does that tell you?!?!?

-- Between football and a hefty DVR schedule, it had taken me a few weeks to watch first few episodes of the new season of "Friday Night Lights," but I sat down Sunday and watched all three back-to-back-to-back. I have to say, I'm thrilled with the storylines this year. It seems to be what they had hoped to do with Season 1 but never delved to deep into because every week was a quest for ratings. Now that they have this year and next year guaranteed, they can take their time developing the stories, and I think that will lead to an already great show getting even better. I won't be waiting three weeks to watch any of the remaining episodes.

-- Loved, LOVED, LOVED the last episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Seriously, how much did it make you wish they really were doing a "Seinfeld" reunion? The rehearsal scenes were so good and so funny, with all the pace and dialogue and humor of the real show that it was hard not to think of it as all part of the fake show within the show. The inside jokes were great: the ongoing joke about the first finale being awful, the twist on the joke that black people never watched "Seinfeld" (something Wilbon talks about on "PTI" all the time!) and the Michael Richards stuff. The mingling of the regular "Curb" characters with the "Seinfeld" cast was amazing -- Funkhouser's dirty joke or Leon's pep talk to Michael Richards ("Gotta recharge that Mitzvah!") and, best of all, Leon's reaction to Newman. It was all great. But I think my favorite part of this season has just been watching Larry and Jerry interact. You get a feeling of what it must have been like for them to work on the original "Seinfeld" episodes, and I would happily pay to just sit around and listen to them talk about how to make a TV show. It's been great.

-- And while I opened by bashing ESPN, I'll close with this... how great is it that they're showing 24 straight hours of college basketball games? Nothing like live hoops at 6:30 in the morning.

Now, onto the links...

-- You may not have noticed, but Geno Atkins has been a beast for the past four games, as I wrote about for today's Telegraph.

-- There are plenty of folks who would like to see Mike Bobo get the axe, but here's some statistical analysis that says he probably deserves a raise. Tough to argue with those numbers. (h/t Blutarsky.)

-- I gave some kudos to Joe Cox in my Grading the Game post yesterday for some intangibles, and Dawgs BUI takes a look at Cox from a more tangible approach.

-- Dawg Stephen gives credit where credit is due for Mark Richt.

-- Bleacher Report wonders -- like many of you -- whether Georgia's strong performance in the final three quarters against Auburn may have saved Willie Martinez's job.

-- Rex Robinson thinks Willie will definitely be back in 2010.

-- Chris Low looks at the rising stars in the SEC this season, but his list doesn't include any Dawgs. That's not a knock on the list, which includes plenty of fine performers, but just sayin'. If I were to pick one UGA player for this, however, I'd probably say Justin Houston belongs.

-- Speaking of which, Houston will get his shot to tee off on a freshman quarterback this week after Kentucky's Mike Hartline underwent surgery that will cost him the team's final two games.

-- Bubba N Earl deliver a reminder that Kentucky is not generally much of a threat at Sanford Stadium. It reminded me, however, that next year's game in Lexington comes in October, which means a trip to Keeneland. I can't wait.

-- Rich Brooks is on the hot seat? Yikes. Talk about fans with an undeserved sense of entitlement.

-- As coaching rumors go, this one has to be my favorite: Urban Meyer to... the Cleveland Browns?!?!? (h/t Jim)

-- Two of the three freshmen involved in the armed robbery at Tennessee have been booted from the team. Quote from Lane Kiffin about the dismissals: "It was all part of the plan." OK, I made that up.

-- Check out the convoluted mess the Pac-10 could turn out to be at year's end -- so bad that USC still has a shot at the Rose Bowl.

-- The Senator has done a great job over the last two years of convincing me I should want to support the BCS, but it's crap like this that makes it really tough. This stinks of the same B.S. that put Kansas in a BCS game over Missouri two years ago.

-- The Detroit Free Press credits Matthew Stafford for toughing out another rough season in the Motor City.

-- Roger Clarkson writes that Drazen Zlovaric might end up playing a bigger role than expected for Mark Fox's Dawgs this season. By the way, important to note that UGA capped a 3-0 weekend with Fox's first win Friday, the big win over Auburn on Saturday and a huge upset for the Lady Dawgs against Oklahoma on Sunday.

-- Look out over-40 single ladies of Brooklyn... Wally Backman is headed to town.

-- I've got to hand it to Paste. They are really going all out with these end-of-decade lists. Their latest? The top 25 American Breweries of the decade... and the brewery in my home state gets the No. 1 spot!

-- In honor of the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Street," this blog comes up with an extensive list of Muppet doppelgangers. I think my favorites are Pepe and Steve Buscemi and Rolf and Hurley.

-- And speaking of extensive lists, this blog counts down the 100 greatest quotes from "The Wire." Sadly, none of my favorites are fit for print on a family-friendly blog.

-- And in the "this is officially getting to be a bit too much" category... we have the best commercials of the 2000s. Thankfully, no appearances from the Free Credit Report guys.

-- Alan Sepinwall gives his thoughts on Sunday's episode of "Curb."

-- I've enjoyed "Community" this season, although I'll admit it hasn't felt like the show has quite developed its voice. For that reason, among others, the LA Times says it should be banished from NBC's Thursday night lineup.

-- Sad news... Ken Ober, who used to host "Remote Control" on MTV, died suddenly at age 52.

-- And finally, Wikipedia put a quick end to it, but here's a screen grab of the entry on Lorenzo von Matterhorn.