SI's 50 Richest Athletes - GT Represented...

Sports Illustrated released an article with the 50 highest paid American athletes of 2009. GT had Starbury and Teixeira represented on the the list at #17 and #14, respectively. I went through the list and broke down the players by college/conference. It's pretty interesting seeing the way sports pay their players as well. No surprise to me is that 22 of the 50 athletes are NBA guys, 14 are from the MLB, 9 from the NFL, 3 from the PGA, and Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon finish the list off. The highest paid is obviously Tiger by almost double.

8 of the top 50 are from the ACC, which ain't too shabby. Especially considering it's three different sports. The Pac 10 has 6 of the top 50, the Big East has 5 all from the NBA, the SEC has 4, and the Big 12 and Big 10 both have 2 represented. This means that 20 of the top 50 highest paid American athletes didn't attend a four year university before going pro. Pretty interesting.

The most represented university on the list of athletes was UNC with 3. GT's 2 were tied with Tennessee, Syracuse, and Arizona. There were 19 Division I universities with only one representative in the top 50. No one from uga made the list...

I thought the article was interesting. Any thoughts?

The smell of pigskin is in the air...

In case you didn't know, that's Calvin in a stripped down Lions uniform. Also, NFL Minicamps started up yesterday. Football, at the highest level, starts in 46 days on Hall of Fame Weekend. I'm pretty excited. I know Dane hates the NFL but you gotta love seeing old Tech players succeeding (sort of) at the next level. Calvin is getting mad hype and exposure. If the Lions hadn't drafted a QB first overall to temporarily distract the media, Calvin would've been the only "positive" story in Detroit this year.

Also, I hear furrer4heisman had a good time in the ATL hanging with Dane/Winfield. I'm glad. I miss that town...

MNF crew changes

So Tony Kornheiser is done with Monday Night Football and is being replaced by exiled Bucs coach Jon Gruden... Damn. I was finally used to the current threesome. Jaworski was the genuine, intelligent football guy. Tirico is an excellent play-by-play. And Kornheiser was the witty color guy.

Someone explain to me how Jon Gruden will balance this crew. I can only see him as the cherry-faced asshole running up and down the sidelines. Oh well, we'll see. I'll still watch MNF's. I just have a feeling it won't be very good and will be filled with lots of awkward silence. I imagine a scenario where Gruden starts barking about poor footwork on the part of the defensive backs and calls them a bunch of turd-eating asshats. This is followed by a completely stoic Tirico stating, "Yes, in fact, their footwork looks a little off tonight." And Jaworski is just silent.

If I hear anything from Redskins fans saying they think Theismann should be back in the booth, I'll punch them directly in the face. Theismann was a piece and was flat out mean to Kornheiser. I don't think JT respected a comedic approach to announcing NFL games. Entertainment ≠ Theismann. Dennis Miller was simply not good.

"Who?"

So I was hitting up the Tech message boards like I've been known to do in my free (and not so free time), and over at Stingtalk I ran across this article on running back prospects for the 2010 NFL draft.

It doesn't surprise anyone who watched him play, but Jon Diesel Dwyer is #1, named a future franchise star in the Scout article.

So, if you have never heard of Jon Dwyer, it's because you are an overrated douchebag, not because Jon Dwyer isn't absolutely amazing.

Pro Bowl season but nobody cares

In case anyone has noticed, Calvin Johnson, the highest ever NFL draft pick out of GT, is destroying the NFL this year. His team, however, is being destroyed by the NFL. Calvin is fifth in receiving yardage and second in touchdown grabs even though he's barely in the top twentyfive in catches. When his QB has enough time to get him the ball, Calvin generally takes it to the house (1 out of every 6 catches is a TD).

Calvin is a fantasy football beast and may not make the Pro Bowl due to no one givin' a lick about the 0-fer Motor City debacle. Even worse, Calvin still has four years left on his contract before he moves on or [gasp] resigns.

Other GT alum havin' a damn good year: Keith Brooking has 59 tackles this year and is playing like his hair is on fire. Daryl Smith is TCOB down in Action-ville leading the Jags with 2.5 sacks.