Besides having a brother-in-law who is a renowned Georgia Bulldog player from a generation or more ago, I have many friends who remain among the Georgia faithful. All who have personal contact with Coach Richt speak so highly of him in every aspect.

The LSU members of the family have had the upper hand the past decade or so, but Georgia is due one. Not far from it in the SEC championship game of last season. What Richt does that fans don’t even normally know about, every day, is quite a lesson in character and heart. I would not reveal all I know because I know he doesn’t do it for publicity and I would not want to embarrass him, but numerous children with CF, MD, and other diseases he has gone out of his way to send them Bulldog memorabilia, visit them, and encourage them.

Several years ago, members of his staff on his instructions, communicated with us about our annual Christmas outreach and donated numerous items for the children. A really good man. His character was a source of ridicule for many when he wasn’t winning the games they though the Bulldogs should win. Some wanted to change coaches (sounds like some rabid sports talk show idiots in Baton Rouge and a few fans who were influenced by them just a few years ago about a certain coach for LSU). College coaching ranks are often fickle, but I join you in hoping he is at Georgia for as long as he wants to be.

Future SEC alignment and schedules are to be determined by the meeting this spring and following in Birmingham. Some proposals are absurd and appear to completely ignore traditional rivalries. My family and I hope saner and sounder heads prevail, and that Slive keeps all focused on the big picture and protects the historical rivalries. Most fans we know want those rivalries protected, if they seldom win the game, because as we know, things do have a tendency to balance out eventually.

JT, the best line you had was the final phrase “but will be better because of the attrition at the quarterback position.” Thank God…finally! Most LSU fans who are knowledgeable about the team, really hope for some changes on the offensive staff as well. The problems weren’t all due to JJ or Lee, nor all to Crowton. There needs to be some additional attrition in at least some of the offensive staff positions.

There will be more access for the fans to the team this spring and we look forward to a great spring game. We are hopeful major offensive changes will be seen at that time.

There are many other interesting teams we will be watching in 2012: USC, Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and others. This should be an entertaining year for many conferences, with new additions for many and new fan support.

This year, hopefully if health permits, may we be able to travel more and attend more games in the SEC and out of conference.

I’m hyped about the Cowboy Classic, but to win, Michigan must be much better in passing and a true running attack… that doesn’t feature Shoelace. Defense needs a nasty streak.

I’m confident we’ll see more improvement, but will it be enough? GO BLUE

After watching the title game, I’m not nearly as confident in LSU as everyone else. They played painfully below expectations. Still shaking my head.

One difference I see, though, is that ‘Bama team had an SEC ring to go along with the national championship one. Even though we celebrate the BCS title, there still seems to be a bit of a hollow spot without the conference title, too. Also, as JT pointed out, the Tide is not only not the overwhelming favorite to win it all again this year as it was in ’10, it’s not even the favorite to win the conference or even division, as LSU is picked by a majority of prognosticators once again. Perhaps this will be the motivation the Tide needs not to rest on its laurels and play every game with the passion it deserves.