Notre Dame center Dan Wenger transfers to Florida

According to the Orlando Sentinel, an offensive lineman that Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis recruited to Notre Dame has transferred to Florida, his high school coach confirmed. Center Dan Wenger, a Coral Springs native, will transfer to Florida after an injury-plagued career with the Fighting Irish. "I'm aware of Danny Wenger transferring to the University of Florida," said George Smith, Wenger's coach at St. Thomas Aquinas. "It's a very good situation for both parties. "Dan Wenger's a great player. He's a great kid," Smith added. "He's a kid that'll work like heck." Wenger came to Notre Dame in 2006, Weis' second year as the Irish's head coach, but has dealt with injuries throughout his career. Wenger redshirted his freshman year. According to reports, he received a sixth year of eligibility after suffering two concussions early in the 2010 season. He did not play last year, and Notre Dame's medical staff did not clear him to return to football. Smith said Wenger plans to enroll at the end of June. He indicated that Wenger would get medical clearance to play. "It's all cleared, all cleared up," Smith said. Werner, a 6-foot-4, 298-pound center, would help Florida with one of its greatest positions of need. Florida has 13 scholarship offensive linemen and is replacing Mike Pouncey, who was taken 15^th overall in the NFL Draft, at center.

LSU fans...check this out by Chris Low

LSU Oozing With Young Defensive Talent - ESPN.com http://es.pn/jx9xCP

Garcia has changed.... should be back for summer workouts

Steve Spurrier indicated to the Charleston Post and Courier today, that Garcia, still serving the university-mandated terms of his fifth suspension following a drunken episode at a SEC violence prevention seminar, could return to the team in a limited capacity during summer workouts and Spurrier says it’s because the senior has turned a corner.

“It seems like he’s changed his ways,” Spurrier said of his quarterback. “I hope the university lets him back on the team.”

At this point, hoping is about all Spurrier can do. Even if Garcia is allowed to workout with his teammates, there is still no guarantee he will be suiting up for the Gamecocks this fall. Garcia reportedly still has a list of items he must complete before the university will reinstate him to the team. He is also apparently under the close supervision of medical professionals monitoring his alcohol abuse treatment program.

If Garcia is not reinstated to the team by athletic director Eric Hyman, sophomore Connor Shaw would likely take over the South Carolina offense.

UGA's Mark Richt says decision to sell Lake Hartwell property was Christian motivated

Freelance journalist Brooks Melchior, 43, of Los Angeles, makes the leap that Richt selling off his property surely must mean that Richt is in real trouble as the head football coach of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Writes Brooks: “Normally, I don’t subscribe to a coach putting a home up for sale as a sign of anything, but in this case, it might be applicable. . . . Richt doesn’t strike me as a guy out to flip houses, so I think it’s reasonable to surmise that last year’s 6-7 record, and the subsequent outcry emanating from Athens, may have something to do with the coach making over his real estate portfolio.”

“I was actually compelled to do this much earlier,” he added. “I made the decision to do it a while ago but I didn’t want to do it during the season or during recruiting because I knew it would be blown out of proportion. But it’s been on my heart for a long time, so we’re just going ahead and doing it.”

As for the book that served as Richt’s inspiration, you can read about it HERE. Stearns writes that 40 percent of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day and 15 percent of the world’s people, about 1 billion people, live on less than $1 a day. The United States, on average, lives on $105 a day, the book claims.

Auburn reportedly lands ex-Gator RB Blakely

Rivals.com‘s Auburn-specific website is reporting that the running back has enrolled at the university and will play for the defending national champions after sitting out this season. After satisfying NCAA transfer rules, Blakely will have four years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2012.

Auburn has yet to confirm the addition of Blakely.

Blakely, a member of UF’s 2011 recruiting class, was an early enrollee and was slated to take part in spring practice this year, but was sidelined by a shoulder issue. Rivals.com had Blakely rated as the No. 6 RB in the country this year.

‘Bama RB transferring

By way of the Birmingham News, North Alabama head coach Terry Bowden has confirmed via a statement that the running back will be joining his football program for the fall.

“We’re excited that Demetrius has chosen to finish his college football career here at UNA,” Bowden said in the release. “He comes with the highest recommendations from every coach I had the opportunity to talk to at Alabama in regards to his character, football playing ability and work ethic.”

As UNA is a Div. II school, Goode will be eligible to play immediately.

Goode, who has already received his degree from UA, has one season of eligibility remaining.

“I would like to thank my Alabama family for the greatest journey of my life,” Goode wrote on his Facebook wall. “I have learned many things and matured in many ways but everyday brings about change. Sometimes you have to move on to do better in life. I will be moving to North Alabama for football. RTR forever in my heart, the champion Tide, the fans that I will always love and never forget. I thank ya’ll for the support: ROLL TIDE ROLL. For life.”

Felony charge dropped against Ole Miss signee

Ole Miss signee Tobias Singleton is looking to get a disturbing the peace charge against him dropped if he completes an anger management course and an undetermined period of probation. Court documents obtained Friday show the malicious mischief charge was dismissed and the domestic violence charge was reduced to disturbing the peace.

If those conditions are met, the order, signed by Municipal Court Judge Stanley Stater, says charges "shall" be dismissed.

"We remain confident that a trial on the evidence would have exonerated Tobias and his family on the original charges, and we believe that the agreement reflects the probability of that outcome," Singleton's attorney, Stephen Montagnet, wrote in a statement. "Nevertheless, the family wished to avoid further publicity of harmful and dubious allegations that would have been a focus of the media."
Singleton would not comment on the plea arrangement when reached this week. But he said he was "close" to becoming academically eligible to play for the Rebels this fall and needs to take one more class in the summer. He hopes to enroll for Ole Miss' second summer term, which begins June 30.Ole Miss, which is coming off a disappointing 4-8 season, hopes he's there, too.

LSU football breaks record... 37,000 tickets sold to Cowboys Classic

When LSU opens the 2011 season against Oregon in the Cowboys Classic in Arlington, Texas, they will do so after distributing a school-record 37,000 tickets for the contest, assistant athletic director for ticket operations Brian Broussard said on Monday. The 37,000 tickets distributed for the game to Tiger fans through the LSU ticket office is the most ever for a regular season away game for the school, surpassing the 31,000 sold for the Tulane game in New Orleans in 2007 and 25,000 for the 2010 season opener against North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Classic in Atlanta. As a result of the 37,000 tickets being sold to season ticket holders, tickets for the Cowboys Classic game against Oregon will not go on sale to the general public through LSU, Broussard said. Broussard added that ticket requests from LSU season ticket holders for the Oregon game had already surpassed the school's allotted amount of 37,000. "We have never seen this type of demand for a regular season game," Broussard said. "There is obviously a great deal of excitement surrounding this game and it's a tribute our passionate fan base that we were able to sell our entire allotment."

LSU football season ticket holders have until May 31 to place their ticket requests for the game. Season ticket holders can make their requests for the game by logging into their account on www.LSUtix.net and clicking on "Season Renewals."

Razorback's Swanson named to watch list

Arkansas sophomore Travis Swanson was among 42 centers named to the 2011 Rimington Trophy watch list on Thursday. Swanson, who is one of five sophomores on the list, with enter 2011 in consideration for the award after starting 13 games as a redshirt freshman. The Kingwood, Texas, native was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman team last winter.

The Rimington Trophy honors the nation’s top center. Former Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs won the Rimington Trophy in 2007.

Bama's Marty Lyons, this year's college football Hall of Fame pick

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer)

In 1974, a kid from a small Catholic high school in Florida that only had about 28 football players on the entire team, left those kind of confines to come to Tuscaloosa, play in front of thousands of fans in the stands and millions on television. "It was all kind of breathtaking." Marty Lyons said of his first initial games. And he had a co-heart to spend his college days with him, another kid from Florida, Barry Krauss. Lyons worked hard and mostly kept out of trouble, Krauss his best buddy, usually was chasing women and finding trouble. They thought of themselves as Starsky and Hutch, but Ken Donahue, Alabama's defensive coordinator called them Mutt and Jeff, a reference to an old comic strip. Each were key contributors to the famous "Goal Line Stand" against Penn State. Lyons stopped them on one play and Krauss on the final play with help from Murry Legg. That won the Tide another national championship.

Lyons went on from the Tide's defensive line to the New York Jets where he played his entire 11-year professional career. Lyons was quick to give the credit to his success to Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant who taught him much more than football. Lyons is currently the Jets radio analyst and chairman of the Marty Lyons Foundation, that works with terminally ill children, providing them wishes. He has been previously enshrined in the State of Alabama Hall of Fame (2000), Suffolk and Maryland Sports Hall of Fame (2004) and the Tampa Bay Sports Club Hall of Fame (2007).

Lyons and his wife, Christine, have three children. Rocky, his only child from his first marriage, is a physician in Alabama.

Felony charge against Mississippi signee dismissed

FLORA, Miss. (AP)—A felony charge of malicious mischief against Mississippi football signee Tobias Singleton has been dismissed and a charge of misdemeanor simple domestic assault has been reduced to disturbing the peace. Singleton was initially charged with felony malicious mischief and simple domestic violence after a Dec. 13 incident in Flora in which he allegedly caused more than $3,300 of damage to a car. Flora Municipal Court documents show that the malicious mischief charge was dismissed and a guilty plea of misdemeanor disturbing the peace could be wiped away as well if Singleton completes requirements by the court.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound receiver played at Madison County High School and is rated a four-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com.

Irish paid big, big bucks to rid themselves of Weis

Speaking of big, Weis does fit that bill, in size and profit. Federal tax documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune show that Notre Dame made a termination payment of $6,638,403 to Weis sometime after he and the school parted ways. That was just an initial termination payment; the documents also reveal that Weis will receive “much smaller annual payments through December, 2015″ as part of his severance package.

Weis, who spent a year with the Kansas City Chiefs after his Irish departure and is now the offensive coordinator at Florida, signed a 10-year contract extension in the middle of his first season with the Irish in 2005 that was slated to run through the 2015 season.

So, here it is, for posting a 35-27 mark as the Irish coach, including an dismal 16-21 record his last three years in South Bend, Weis will receive in excess of $7 million above and beyond what he was paid in salary during those five years! Besides the fact that the school is also paying for a new head coach as well!

Not to mention the fact that Weis is also pulling in $765,000 in the first year of his new gig with the Gators, with contractually guaranteed raises of $100,000 in each of the next two seasons.

Yeah, it is a big benefit to be Weis...all the way to the bank!

Bulldog Nation supporting Hines Ward

Dancing with the Stars champion, this season will be NFL football player Hines Ward. Hines has taking the dancing seriously and with a smile the size of Texas he has surly gained fans from all walks of life. Hines' story is special for so many reasons. The son of a Korean mother and an African-American father, Ward made the most of being biracial and is an inspiration to so many people. Being with the Pittsburgh Steelers for so many years, many have forgotten his high school career at Forest Park High in Atlanta and his fantastic years playing for the Georgia Bulldogs. To say he did it all while at Georgia is an understatement. He played quarterback, running back and H-back before moving to wide receiver during his junior year. Ward was recently mentioned by Athlon's as "One of the Greatest Bulldogs of the Modern Era." After he became an All-SEC wide out, he was drafted by the Steelers. What he has accomplished in Pittsburgh is nothing short of amazing. A Super Bowl MVP, Pro Bowl selections, and he's also the Steelers' franchise record holder for receptions, touchdowns, and receiving yardage. The problem with being on a hit television show like "Dancing With the Stars"is Hines will be known more his dancing than his years of making plays on the football field. Through this whole experience Hines has shown the value of listening to his coach, who is this case is pro dancer Kym Johnson. "Kym is my coach, so I'm going to listen to what she says," said Ward, who now is in the finals is confident his team can win the mirror-ball trophy. "We work well together, and we're going to show it on the dance floor." Confident words from the former University of Georgia star, although it does know what it takes to be a champion. His former college teammates and the Georgia Bulldog Nation are all behind him hoping for a victory.

Rick Limpert covers sports, technology and politics in and around Atlanta.

Four Auburn players indicted on felony charges

Two months after being arrested for robbing occupants of a home at gunpoint, four former Auburn football players have been indicted on felony robbery and burglary charges by a Lee County grand jury. Michael McNeil, Antonio Goodwin, Shaun Kitchens and Dakota Mosley were indicted on five counts of first-degree robbery each, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of misdemeanor third-degree theft of property. The punishments stem from a March 11 incident in which the players were pulled over by police after five occupants of a mobile home reported being robbed at gunpoint. The four players were immediately dismissed from the team by head coach Gene Chizik. “We hold our student-athletes to a high standard of conduct on and off the field as representatives of Auburn University, and this kind of behavior is not tolerated,” Chizik said following the arrests.

Sugar Bowl CEO salary revealed

According to IRS tax information obtained by the Associated Press, Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan pulled in $594,000 during the 2009 season. That total was just 50k under the $645,000 Hoolahan received in 2008 when the Sugar Bowl hosted the BCS National Championship between Ohio State and LSU.

The tax records also show Hoolahan got bonuses of $140,00 and $80,000 in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

The salary by itself may not say a lot other than beg the question “What do I need to do to get that kind of money?”, but remember, half of the schools who participated in BCS bowls lost money.

Interestingly enough, though, the two schools who participated in this last season’s Sugar Bowl, Ohio State and Arkansas, were able to net a profit of $289,000 and $5,500, respectively.

You can see a breakdown of Ohio State’s expenses HERE and Arkansas’ HERE.

On the other hand, many schools who are netting losses in bowl games have begun to take belt-tightening measures in travel and guest invites.

But if a school still sees financial red, can you really justify a single person making so much, especially when all five BCS bowls experienced declining television ratings?

Wrongful death lawsuit filed by family of Ex-Rebel Bennie Abram

In a press release sent out Tuesday morning, the Lanier Law Firm announced that “a wrongful death lawsuit [has been] filed today against University of Mississippi head football coach Houston Nutt, the NCAA, the University of Mississippi and other defendants based on their respective roles in the 2010 death of student-athlete Bennie (Buster) Abram.”

Those “other” defendants are the university’s board of trustees, Ole Miss athletic department medical director Dr. Jeffrey Dennis, strength and conditioning coach Don Decker, the UMAA Foundation (the Ole Miss athletic booster club), and Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, Miss.

Abram, a junior college transfer, was taking part in an agility drill Feb. 19 of last year when he fell ill and, after being rushed to the hospital, passed away a short time later. It was later determined that Abram’s death was due to complications from sickle-cell trait with exertion and a contributing factor of cardiomegaly, an inflammation of the heart.

According to the release, the lawsuit states that coaches, trainers and athletic department officials at Ole Miss violated NCAA guidelines covering the intensity of spring practices, particularly for players with the sickle-cell trait like Mr. Abram.

Former four-star lineman leaving UGA

Georgia Bulldogs announced via a very brief press release that offensive lineman A.J. Harmon has decided to transfer from the program. Harmon is leaving for another unnamed institution for, the release states, personal reasons.

Harmon had been suspended for UGA’s Liberty Bowl appearance last year for what was later revealed to be academic issues. The redshirt junior had been trying for a starting job on the right side of the Bulldogs’ line this past spring, but exited the sessions as the No. 2 right tackle.

After redshirting in 2008, Harmon played in seven games the past two seasons. He was the No. 2 guard in the country according to Rivals.com and was given a four-star rating coming out of high school in Louisville, Ga.

Muschamp will experience rivalry with Ga. from unique perspective

Florida coach Will Muschamp returned to one of his old college stomping grounds Friday night — the stadium along the St. Johns River once known as the Gator Bowl. He does not have any fond memories. “They weren't good,” he said before speaking at the Jacksonville Gator Gathering at EverBank Stadium. Not as a player at least. Muschamp was a strong safety at Georgia in the early 1990s (1991-94) and was 0-for-3 against Steve Spurrier's Gators in Jacksonville. He also was 0-1 in Gainesville.

But Muschamp does have some good memories of this place as a Florida fan. He grew up a Gator fan in Gainesville, and made the short trip to the Florida-Georgia game several times with his family, including to the 1984 game — one of the biggest Gator victories in the rivalry.

“I watched that one,” he said. “I sure did. I remember it well.”

Having the unique opportunity to experience this rivalry from both sides, Muschamp says it's something special — and something that needs to stay at this neutral site. “There's no environment like it coming into the stadium,” he said. “Obviously, growing up in Gainesville, my mom and dad came over to this game. I came to several. And I remember coming as a young man and playing in the game. “The excitement of the Florida-Georgia game, there is a certain buzz at practice. You're going to feel it. It's a great rivalry. I'm for it always being in Jacksonville. You go back through the history of the games, it's a lot of fun.”

The two schools recently renewed their contract with Jacksonville, and the agreement runs through the 2016 season.

by Robbie Andreau