Monday Links (4/19)

Once again, a big thank you to the readers who chimed in on this morning's post. It's absolutely refreshing to read thoughtful and usually fair comments that don't reduce a complex discussion to its lowest common denominator. I'm very grateful.

Now, as a reward, some links (many of which do not involve Zach Mettenberger)...

-- David Ching writes that this decision had to be particularly difficult for Mark Richt to make. Given how hard I know the situation with Montez Robinson was for him, April has probably been an awfully trying month for the Richt household.

-- Chris Low writes that it's Aaron Murray's show now, and he'll need to be ready.

-- Bernie was rummaging through my archives and came across a rather poignant quote from Mettenberger from last spring.

-- Dancing in the End Zone wonders about a question that did cross my mind, too: Should we read more into Mettenberger playing exclusively with the No. 2 offense on G-Day now that he has been dismissed? It's a hypothesis that has some legs for those conspiracy theorists who choose to believe, but I still find it hard to believe Richt keeps anyone around for a few practices if he knows the end result is a dismissal. My guess, given how cautious Richt was to say it would be "at least a one-game suspension," is Richt had an idea more might be coming but was not aware of the severity until the last few days.

-- T Kyle King has learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of optimism.

-- Dawg Stephen addresses one of those elephants in the room that gets swept under the rug a bit because it's so pervasive an issue: Alcohol is the common factor in virtually every one of Georgia's non-scooter offenses of late.

-- The AJC talks to Hutson Mason about what Mettenberger's dismissal could mean for his future when he finally arrives in Athens this June. Mason was close with Mettenberger -- as he told us a few months ago -- so I can only imagine talking about the issue is tough. Still, you have to love hearing a kid his age offer such a mature response as this:

“Once you get to college it’s kind of a job. Every single player in college football is out for themselves. So now it just opens up a door for me. It opens up a door for Aaron. It opens up a door for Logan.”

-- Battle Hymn Notes looks at the prospects of having Mason as the team's No. 3 QB this fall.

-- One day before the QB battle got less interesting, Ben Dukes wrote a particularly interesting -- and fair -- piece on how much fans may have undervalued Joe Cox last year.

Most regular readers know I was probably one of the most vocal advocates for Joe last year -- through much of the season at least... there's only so much that can be said about the Kentucky game -- and I think Ben does a nice job of illustrating that the problem wasn't so much that Cox didn't meet expectations, it's that expectations were set too high.

-- How about some news that doesn't involve off-field problems? I had a story in Sunday's Telegraph on the essential role that offseason workouts will play in getting the defense ready for the fall.

-- There was some good news over the weekend: Georgia added another strong recruit in athlete Devin Bowman.

-- Some interesting thoughts from Vince Dooley on the NFL future of Tim Tebow over at the Legends Poll.

“He’ll have to get with the right coach and the right team, and I think that it might marry that way,” Dooley said. “Maybe, on paper, some will ask some questions about him being drafted high, but those that really know him will go ahead and do it despite the fact that, on paper, he might not be the model of who is a first-round quarterback draft choice.”

-- Mark Fox addressed students at the Terry College of Business last week, and you can watch the full video of the event on the school's Web site. (h/t David)

-- So let's say you're a Georgia fan who is the market for some bad news, but you're tired of reading about Mettenberger. Well, friend, you're in luck... it's the Georgia baseball team!

-- Georgia scores an entry in this list of most obscure online courses offered for college credit.

-- Valued at an estimated $450 million, Forbes ranks the Braves as the 13th most valuable team in Major League Baseball. (The Cubs and Phillies rank fifth and sixth, respectively.)

-- Wondering when you can catch the season finale of your favorite shows? Here's a complete list.

-- Apparently there's still a chance "Flash Forward" will be back for a Season 2. Personally, I gave up on it months ago.

-- Cinematical has a list of the best comedy movies centered around dead bodies. What, no love for "Weekend at Bernie's 2"? The body had a voodoo curse put on it that made it dance to island music and lead criminals to a sunken treasure? How can it get any better than that?!?!?

(*Note: I've had heated arguments as to which was the more absurd story line for a movie: "Bernie's 2" or "Roadhouse." Both great films, so hard to pick one. But for fun, try explaining the plot of each to someone who has never seen either movie. It's really an enjoyable experience.)

-- And finally, here's a great story on former Seattle Mariners pitcher Brian Holman, who 20 years ago this week lost a perfect game to the final batter he faced. And who was that batter? Well, George Steinbrenner's baseball people thought it would be wise to trade Jay Buhner for him.