Linebacker Derrick White was the Michael Lemon of the 2005 season. Just months after a bar fight earned White a suspension, he was arrested for DUI and dismissed from the Georgia team. White finished his college career at Clark Atlanta.

Fortunately the rest of the story is mostly positive for Derrick. Marc Weiszer points to a feature on White that tracks his progress in arena football and, more importantly, the turnaround in his life.

White is now married and a key defensive member of the AIFA’s Mississippi MudCats. He has also spent some time in the Arena League. He’s now focused on “setting a good example, being a good teammate and putting himself in a position to leave every game with no regrets.” That’s quite a turnaround for someone who was described by Coach Richt as having “a past history of behavior that does not represent (Georgia’s) program in the proper way.”

Not surprisingly, White speaks well of Richt.

The release of NCAA 2009 has lots of people excited, and it’s no surprise that the guys around whom the game is built are among those lining up to buy the game. When you think about it for a second, it’s at once flattering and bizarre that your identity could be boiled down to a few numerical ratings and controlled by thousands of couch potatoes across the nation.

Marc Weiszer talked to some of the Georgia players about the game and Georgia’s #1 ranking in the game. Coach Garner says thank-you-very-much for the recruiting edge of being the #1-ranked team and notes, “Anything like that with today’s kids, they’re all about electronics and the games.” It can’t hurt that every prep tailback can choose to be #24 in a black jersey for the nation’s #1 team.

I love reading the comments from the players when they see how they translate to bits and bytes. You’ll have freshmen and reserves tweak their ratings to make sure they’re in the starting lineup. It’s a very serious and hilarious business. There’s always bound to be this poor guy:

Linebacker Rennie Curran isn’t thrilled about one aspect of the game. He says they left out No. 35, which just happens to be his number.
“I think they messed up with my number,” Curran said.
Ellerbe knows the feeling.
“I got shafted last year,” he said. “They gave me Akeem Hebron’s number.”

I feel Dannell Ellerbe’s pain about needing a new system. “I’m probably going to go buy the Playstation 3 just so I can play the game on Playstation 3,” he said. The game isn’t available for my ancient X-Box, so I’m going to have to upgrade the hardware myself.

Ticket cutoffs are out, and it’s not pretty.

The report yesterday about first-time orders was true. A cumulative score of 10,651 points was necessary to become a new renewable season ticket holder. Additionally, we learn today that improving seat location took in the neighborhood of 20,000 points.

The reason for the high cutoff is simple scarcity. With the hype building for the 2008 season, all but 800 out of 53,000 season tickets (98.5%) were renewed. On top of that scarcity, many renewing season ticket holders sought to add seats up to the maximum allowed by their donation. Ticket manager Tim Cearley provided additional details to UGASports.com:

Of (the 800 available season tickets) only 698 were in pairs or groups as the other seats were scattered throughout the stadium by themselves. This is a continuation of a trend seen over the last few years as seat turnover has gone down from 1000 tickets in 2006 to 900 in 2007 and now down to 800 this year. With the season’s expectations being so high, many new contributors were trying to get tickets and many current donors were trying to add seats.

Point levels for away game tickets were also announced, and they are predictably steep. This is the first season where all games come with a cutoff. Usually UGA can fill all orders for a game like Vandy or Kentucky, but tickets for Georgia’s 2008 trip to Lexington will require a cutoff on par with Florida tickets.

• South Carolina – 22,000 points
• Arizona State – 27,007 points
• LSU – 30,415 points
• Florida Club 42,500 points
• Florida – 8,460 points
• Auburn – 25,850 points
• Kentucky – 8,405 points

UGASports.com also shares how the 92,000+ tickets are distributed within Sanford Stadium.

• 53,000: Season tickets
• 18,000: Students
• 10,000: Opponents*
• 4,000: Faculty/staff
• 1,000: Sponsors
• Remainder: Athletic department use – recruiting, player’s families, etc. Each player can request four tickets.

* – They say that 10,000 tickets are reserved for opponents, but we know that figure can vary based on reciprocity. Some schools probably get more and some surely get fewer than 10,000 based on how many tickets they make available for Georgia fans.

The numbers get a little fuzzy towards the bottom. If you do the math, that’s around 6,000 tickets available for the football team, and that seems like a lot even accounting for recruits, players, and families.

Anyway, read the whole thing. There are some very interesting insights into the ticketing process, information on when and how tickets will be mailed, and also a discussion about Sanford expansion.

According to an unconfirmed report on the DawgVent this afternoon, the Hartman Fund cut-off for first-time season ticket orders was 10,651.

If you are renewing your season tickets, this cut-off doesn’t apply to you. But for recent alums, your first-time season ticket application will be refunded if it didn’t come with a donation of over 10 grand.

Official cut-offs for season tickets and road games should be out later this week. This is the price of success, my friends.

But for those who will receive refunds, this isn’t necessarily bad news or the end of your chances of watching Georgia football in person. Tickets will be easy to come by for half of Georgia’s home games. Georgia Southern, Central Michigan, and Vandy tickets should be floating around on game day at less than face value. And for the rest (Alabama, Tennessee, Tech), you should be able to find tickets for a premium, yes, but I doubt your total would go over a few hundred bucks for those three games. Contrast that with a $10,651 donation on top of the cost of a ticket, and those who are forced to take the scalper route should come out well ahead.

If obtaining season tickets down the road is a priority but the one-time donation is too rich for your blood, contribute at whatever amount is comfortable and scalp your way in for a few years. Either your total will catch up to the cut-off, or the cut-off will drop if there’s a decrease in demand down the road.

The Washington Post looks at the ACC 5 years after expansion, and the reviews are, to put it kindly, mixed.

The Post does well to point out the biggest unintended consequence of ACC expansion – the rise of the Big East. Faced with losing Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College, even the Big East commissioner saw bad times ahead for that conference. But the result has been the rise of football programs like West Virginia and Rutgers. While Virginia Tech and Boston College have done relatively well in the ACC, their arrival hasn’t done much to boost the overall quality of the conference.

And in one of the most critical and unforeseen byproducts of the realignment, the rival Big East Conference — forced to expand in response to the flight of three of its schools to the ACC — has strengthened its standing as a big-time football conference and fortified the depth of its basketball programs to an extent the ACC has yet to realize.

The Post mentions the turnover among ACC football coaches as a factor that has held back progress on the gridiron. Some feel a similar upgrade in coaching talent is necessary to restore ACC basketball.

It is important to note though that while the ACC might be struggling in its competitiveness they are still, for now, bringing in the cash. The conference “has signed a seven-year, $258 million contract with ABC and ESPN — which nearly doubled the annual income of its previous TV deal.” From 2001-2002 to 2006-2007, the average revenue paid out annually per program has increased by over $2 million. There’s even a glass-half-empty reaction to that news. Outgoing UNC chancellor James Moeser said, “(The financial impact of expansion) has been positive, but not overwhelmingly.”

I can’t say it’s a surprise: Michael Lemon is off the team. He had been suspended indefinitely while facing a felony aggravated battery charge, and Coach Richt took the extra step to dismiss Lemon over the weekend.

“He’s been dismissed as a result of some poor decisions and conduct that is not in line with standards we have in place at Georgia,” said Richt. “I have had discussions with Michael and he understands the decision.”

Richt isn’t one to close doors, and he left open the (ever-so-slight) possibility of Lemon returning to the team.

“(Lemon) expressed a desire to find a path back to the team at some point but that’s a decision that will depend on several factors and will come at a later date.”

Whether “several factors” means a year away somewhere else and a favorable resolution to the criminal charges, I don’t know. If the University expels Lemon, it’s a moot point. I doubt we’ll see him back in a Georgia uniform for quite a while, if at all. But, pending the outcome of the criminal charges, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Coach Richt is working to help Lemon find as soft of a landing as possible.

For a team counting on defensive improvement, particularly in the secondary, to carry them back to the top, this isn’t good news.

University of Florida rising junior safety Dorian Munroe has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament that will require surgery. The injury to his right knee will force him to miss the 2008 season.

Meanwhile, fellow defensive back and rising redshirt senior John Curtis also suffered a season-ending ACL injury to his left knee. Curtis will miss at least the 2008 season. This is the third tear in Curtis’ left knee and he has had two prior surgeries on the same knee.

Munroe was projected to start. It’s likely that a true freshman will take his place.

We wish both men a complete recovery.

Georgia’s starting cornerbacks are juniors, so developing the depth at the position is on the to-do list for the 2009 recruiting class. UGASports.com reports that Jordan Love, a 6’0″ cornerback from Virginia, made his commitment public today and became Georgia’s 12th pledge for the upcoming class.

According to UGASports.com, Georgia coaches offered Love after viewing a single workout back in the spring. Love had 22 offers, but his top three became Georgia, Florida, and Penn State. A visit to Athens in early June put the Dawgs over the top, and he’s spent the past few weeks thinking things over.

With Love on board, you’d have to think that Atlanta’s Branden Smith would be the top remaining target at cornerback.

Can someone please keep him away from the kids? This time it’s in Thailand. (h/t Deadspin…welcome aboard to Clay Travis!)

Offseason attrition continues for the Georgia basketball program. Freshman forward Jeremy Jacob will leave the program and transfer. (Note that this is not Jeremy Price. Price was a regular starter on the frontcourt.) Jacob was injured early in the season and did not play in any SEC games. His injury qualified him for a medical redshirt, and he will have all four years of eligibility remaining.

If you want to stretch for a silver lining, it’s this: Jacob apparently doesn’t see much of a future for himself at Georgia. “Jeremy has expressed an interest in playing for a program where he can play a more prominent role than he believes he will play at Georgia,” said coach Dennis Felton. That’s a somewhat positive statement about the rest of frontcourt talent if playing time really is Jacob’s motivation. Still, he was a talented prep player and at least was going to provide some depth.

If a guy wants to leave, he wants to leave, and you can’t put this or Billy Humphrey’s DUI arrest on Felton. But the guy just can’t escape this kind of bad luck when it comes to his roster. Losing an obvious project like Singleton is one thing; now Georgia has lost its starting shooting guard and a four-star small forward.

If you had to guess the home of the SEC’s largest and shiniest HD video board, Mississippi State probably wouldn’t be in your first 10 guesses. With a capacity of 55,082, Davis Wade Stadium is the SEC’s second-smallest football venue behind only Vanderbilt. But by October 2008 the Bulldogs will have a 111 foot by 47 foot HD screen on a new scoreboard in the south (fieldhouse) endzone that will measure 152 feet by 135.5 feet in total.

The LCD technology used on the HD display will allow MSU to split the display as they like during the game for stats, announcements, advertising, etc.

By contrast, Georgia’s main video board installed in 2005 is 46′ by 25′ on a scoreboard of 76′ by 52′. It is not high definition.

MSU’s new board is even bigger than the 107′ by 30′ "Pig Screen TV" that was the centerpiece of Arkansas’ 2000 expansion. Only Texas, with a 134′ by 55′ main display, will be larger.

This is almost too pathetic to ridicule.

** Edit: As seen on TV! FOX5 News Atlanta ** I’m a 20 yearold GA Tech student who has never kissed. I have been going out with a girl online for the last 5 years and she’s finally coming down to see me on the 11th. She tells me it’s a big turn-off if a guy doesn’t know how to kiss, and she even dumped her last boyfriend because of this. I want to make a good first impression, but I’ve never kissed before! Please, I need a girl to practice kissing with, nothing else!! Just kissing lesson

Some have asked if I have terrible oral hygiene or something of that sort, so I included a picture of me showing my teeth!

Please help,
Never been kissed

I really hope it’s a hoax, but several people saw this on the news last night. Just damn.

UPDATE: Here’s more from FOX 5 Atlanta including video. The last sentence from this article is just unfortunate.

Georgia fans have been waiting to see how Mark Richt would react to this week’s arrests, and they got some answers this afternoon. Richt discussed the arrests and announced suspensions for some, though not all, of the players recently arrested.

"I’m certainly disappointed in a few of our players who have made poor decisions during the off season," Richt said. "It is of great concern and we take it very seriously. They will be dealt with accordingly and will pay a price. Each one will be disciplined based on the severity of their actions."

He went on to highlight the positive activities and behavior of the vast majority of the team which included everything from mission work to volunteer activities.

So for those keeping score at home, here are the suspensions and results of the offseason incidents as they stand now (in order of severity):

• DE Michael Lemon (felony battery): suspended indefinitely (per athletic department policy)
• OL Clint Boling (alcohol-related): two games
• FB Fred Munzenmaier (alcohol-related): two games
• DB Donovan Baldwin (alcohol-related): one game
• OL "Bean" Anderson (simple battery): no suspension announced (yet)
• OL Trinton Sturdivant (simple battery): no suspension announced (yet)
• DE Jeremy Lomax (concealed weapon): charges dropped, no suspension

Hopefully none of us have any illusions about the role of money in the modern major athletic department. But what does it say when there’s a pretty good indication that the pursuit of that money puts one of the teams at a competitive disadvantage?

Read here for the background.

By itself this might sound like sour grapes. But grumbles about the Nike equipment isn’t a new issue. Certainly Georgia has had plenty of success despite the bats, and Peisel’s missed grand slam opportunity stands out because of an otherwise outstanding pitching performance by Fresno.

It’s a bigger issue than one series or at-bat. It’s one of the most powerful athletic departments in the nation telling one of its teams that inferior equipment is “good enough” because Nike says so.

We’ve seen Central Michigan on our schedule before. They’ve been named Marshall or Central Florida or UAB or Troy. It’s that team that’s not quite a cupcake, made a bowl the year before, but they’re not BCS material. They’ll have a standout QB or receiver that racks up incredible stats in his conference and will likely have some pretty good numbers against the Dawgs too.

This time that guy is Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan’s junior QB. You’re probably sick of the dual-threat QB, but LeFevour definitely qualifies: only he and Vince Young have thrown for 3,000 yards and rushed for 1,000 in a season. He even caught a TD pass. There’s no question that the CMU offense flows through him, and HeismanPundit has named him a darkhorse if not for 2008 then for his senior season in 2009.

HP has an interview with LeFevour, and it’s worth a read. Georgia and Purdue are the big nonconference challenges for the Chippewas this year, and he discusses the team’s readiness for a game in Athens.

You’ve got a big game against Georgia coming up. How will you guys approach playing a game in such a hostile environment?

We’ve had some experience with that. We played at Kentucky last year. We’ve played at Michigan and Clemson and Purdue. We just need to remember that we’ve been in that situation before and carry it over to this game. As long as we are ready mentally, we should be ready to play.

The closest of those games was at Kentucky where CMU closed to within two points in the 4th quarter before falling 45-36. How about those other games? Michigan (41-17), Purdue (45-22), and Clemson (70-14) weren’t quite as close. There was also a 52-7 loss at Kansas to open the 2007 season.

Central Michigan can definitely be a dangerous team. They pushed Kentucky in 2006, and they came back on Purdue in the bowl game rematch last season once the Boilermakers went to sleep on a big halftime lead. Without breaking them down, the formula seems to be what it usually is against these kinds of teams: take the opponent seriously, jump on a weaker defense to put up some points, and don’t sleep on a lead. If nothing else, it will be a treat for Georgia fans to see someone of LeFevour’s talent competing opposite Stafford, Moreno, and Georgia’s own Heisman darkhorses.