Wednesday Links (11/4)

Happy Wednesday, folks. Hope everyone has officially slept off their Cocktail Party hangovers by now, and while "turning our attention to Tennessee Tech" isn't exactly anyone's game plan for this week, perhaps we can at least talk about Florida a little less today.

I've largely enjoyed reading the comments from all of you during the past few days -- and all season, really -- but I do have one favor to ask: I realize many of you are upset. I realize that, to this point, the answers you've wanted to hear haven't been spoken by the coaches. I realize that Saturdays aren't nearly as much fun when Georgia is losing.

But, aside from the few pot-stirrers from other programs, you're all Georgia fans. You may have different ideas of what's best going forward, but keep in mind, they're just opinions about a football team. No need for name calling. No need for venomous responses.

One of the things I've enjoyed most about doing this blog during the past two years has been the rational manner in which readers have offered their thoughts and contributed to the overall discussion. Not all have agreed with me or with each other, but for the most part, it's been head and shoulders above the vitriol and irrational ramblings you'll see on some of the bigger message boards. Obviously, I'd really like to keep it that way.

So, outside of particularly vulgar name-calling, I haven't -- nor will I -- censored any comments. But I do ask for you to take the high road when leaving them if you can. I realize it's emotional subject matter -- heck, that's what makes UGA fans great is how passionate they are -- but let's keep in mind that at the end of the day, the vast, vast majority of you all want the same thing: Wins. It's just a matter of discussing the best way to get them.

I realize that plea will fall on some deaf ears. It's the age of the Internet, after all, and anonymous folks can type whatever they want without consequences, so invariably, some will. But I'm hopeful the majority take the high road. To paraphrase a very wise man, "Stay classy, Bulldog Nation."

OK, some linkage...

-- I have a story in today's Telegraph on whether or not Mark Richt is really too nice of a guy to handle such a rocky season.

-- Jeff Schultz thinks things have gotten a little too comfortable in Athens in recent years.

-- Get the Picture says Mark Richt has earned a chance to turn things around, but writes that Richt needs to be careful what direction he decides to take.

-- The funny thing is, Andy Landers perfectly summed up what both the Senator and Schultz had to say three weeks ago.

-- Tony Barnhart offers five questions Mark Richt should be asking himself at season's end.

-- David Ching wonders if we might see Mark Richt vs. Bobby Bowden in a bowl game at year's end.

-- Scott Wiedmer wonders if Richt might choose to leave Georgia rather than be forced to make changes to his staff.

-- Rex Robinson thinks it's ridiculous to bench Washaun Ealey after missing a block when it was Joe Cox who threw the terrible pass that followed.

-- Bernie has his locker notes for this week's game.

-- The Week 9 results of the Mumme Poll are in. A couple thoughts I have:

1.) I get that since Week 1, Oregon has played (and beaten) much tougher competition than Boise State. But we can't ignore the fact that Boise State not only beat Oregon in Week 1, but really dominated the Ducks. And yet, Oregon was the No. 3 overall team with 363 votes and 118 top fives. Boise, on the other hand, finished 10th and had just 65 top fives.

2.) There's a pretty strong consensus on who the top 11 teams are, but after that the voting is all over the board. Penn State at No. 11 picked up 300 votes. Pitt, at No. 12, had less than half that. Essentially, 83 percent of voters agree on the top 11 teams, but the 12th team got just 35 percent of the vote.

3.) Going simply by teams that people voted for the top five, Texas, Alabama and Florida were way out ahead, but the fourth place team was actually Cincinnati. In all, 13 different teams got top-five votes.

4.) Of those teams outside the top 12, five are coming off losses. But of those five, only Southern Cal was in the top 12 last week. What that tells me is there aren't a lot of teams moving up into the top tier, rather the same old teams sticking around regardless of a loss or two.

The funny thing about this season is that I'm not sure there is really a great team out there, but perhaps more than any recent year, we've pretty clearly identified who the really good teams are already. And oddly, 33 percent of them come from either the Big East or non-power conferences.

-- You think Mark Richt is failing to grasp the criticism of fans? The Ol' Ball Coach is getting downright snippy.

-- The Onion takes a jab at SEC officiating. Mike Slive then fined The Onion and suspended it for one game.

-- Well, college basketball season was fun. When's football start again?

-- There's a new record for the world's largest meatball.

-- Maggie Grace appears to be the lone holdout among Ex-Losties to return in the final season.

-- (h/t CNati) Here's an interesting article in the New York Times about how dogs' brains work . My dog displays an innate ability to know whenever a squirrel comes within 500 yards of our house.

-- And finally, Paste offers up its top 50 movies of the decade. What, no "Gigli"?