If you watched any of the Georgia high school playoffs in December, you no doubt noticed a trio of standout players for tiny Emanuel County Institute (ECI).  This school of just 500 was a 6-5 team just two years ago, but they’ve only lost one game in the past two seasons.  They brought home the school’s first state title in 2007, and the trio of rising seniors RB Washaun Ealey, LB Dexter Moody, and DT J.C. Lanier has had a lot to do with ECI’s recent success.

Two of those three became Georgia’s first commitments of the 2009 recruiting class on Monday.  Ealey, the first junior to be named the AJC’s player of the year in Georgia, and Moody made their commitments after Coach Richt and Coach Fabris extended offers during a visit last week.  Georgia hasn’t offered Lanier yet, but he’s definitely on the radar.

A third commitment broke on Monday evening:  Chestatee linebacker Chase Vasser gives the Dawgs two outside linebacker commitments in one day. 

Here’s the thing:  UGA doesn’t have a lot of room in next year’s recruiting class.  A full class of 25 in 2008 will bring the Dawgs right up against the 85 scholarship limit, and space is tight enough that Georgia is having to turn away four-star offensive tackles in the 11th hour.  If you look at the roster by class, there are only 14 seniors on next year’s team.  Even if you figure some attrition, maybe an early NFL entrant or two, and carry the one, it’s going to be tough to sign more than 20 in 2009.

So with today’s news of three commitments – well over a year before the 2009 signing period – Georgia looks to have at least 15% of its class on board.  It’s possible that one spot is already there for offensive tackle Bobby Massie, a 2008 prospect who is going the prep school route.  This quote from Vasser is telling:

“I saw (ECI linebacker) Dexter Moody committed and that is good and I was ready to join him. Coach Jancek told me if my scholarship was ever in jeopardy, then he would call me, so I thought I would call him first.”

Smart guy.  Georgia isn’t going to jeopardize scholarship offers twelve months before Signing Day, but the word seems to be out:  if you get a scholarship offer from Georgia and want to be a part of this program, you’d better jump on the opportunity.

Andy Landers became just the third women’s basketball coach to win 700 games at a single school on Thursday evening.  With an 82-55 win at Florida, his career mark in Athens is 700-218 (a .763 winning percentage).  By beating Florida, Landers raises his career mark against the Gators to 41-7. He needs just 17 wins for his 800th win as a collegiate head coach.  With 918 Division 1 games under his belt, only three others were faster to 700 wins, and only two others (Pat Summit and Jody Conradt) have done it at the same school.

While the game was significant as an achievement for Landers, it also stood out as Georgia’s most complete effort of the season.  The Lady Dogs were 1-3 on the road this year and had look pretty dreadful in their two SEC road contests to date.  They badly needed a road win and a solid performance to shake off some of the self-doubt that surely creeps in after a few sub-par games away from home.  Against Florida the Lady Dogs took control from the beginning and put together a 22-2 run after the game was tied 6-6.  Ashley Houts scored 21 of her career-high 25 points in the first half, and Tasha Humphrey took over in the second half to finish with 23.

“We were solid from beginning to end,” said Landers postgame.  “We dropped the big hammer on them early…we clicked on both ends.”

Houts had struggled with poor shooting and turnovers in the past couple of games, but she came to play in Gainesville.  “Tonight there was an opportunity for Houts to assert herself, and she did,” said Landers.  Her turnovers were down, and she added six rebounds, six assists, and five steals while shooting 50% from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from outside.

“He’s the main reason so many of us chose to come to Georgia, not only now but throughout his career,” Houts said. “To play for him when he won his 700th –  and to play for him every game – is an honor.”

Humphrey had her second-straight impressive performance.  After setting a season high against Alabama, she recorded her second-best output of the season against Florida.  Though sidelined with foul trouble at the end of the first half after scoring a quick 8 points, she poured in 15 in the second half.  Freshman Jasmine Lee was impressive in 11 minutes of relief for Humphrey.

Landers took a moment to reflect on the 700th win.  “The thing that pleases me most is that we’ve been able to do it all at Georgia. We haven’t jumped around. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of great people and a lot of great people surrounding me in Athens. That’s what I and my family are most thankful for.”

The Lady Dogs don’t get long to celebrate.  After a day back home in Athens, they’ll head west to play at #11 Oklahoma on Sunday evening at 5:00 p.m. in front of a national television audience on ESPN2.  Oklahoma is the highest-ranked opponent for Georgia to date this season.  The game will surely be billed as a Tasha Humphrey vs. Courtney Paris showdown; the two have been a couple of the best post players in the nation over the past four seasons.  But in games like this, it’s often the supporting cast that determines the outcome.  Will Houts, Robinson, Darrah, and the others be the difference in a game with big national significance?

The Brian VanGorder story continues to get better and better as the move causes ripples through the SEC.

The latest development? Brand-spanking-new Arkansas defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson has resigned to fill the vacancy at South Carolina. Johnson makes VanGorder look like Joe Paterno in terms of longevity: VanGorder was announced as the Gamecock defensive coordinator on Steve Spurrier’s Web site on December 19th. Johnson was introduced the coordinator at Arkansas on January 4th. 20 days on the job – not bad.

Petrino noted that "(Johnson) and his wife are both from South Carolina and many of their relatives still reside in the state," and that explains the reason for the move. Of course this news comes just hours after the Arkansas Democrat Gazette runs a lovely story profiling Johnson and noting that "his wife Caroline was eager to live in Northwest Arkansas after hearing about the area for years." Not that eager, I guess.

This story can only end with VanGorder following Petrino’s footsteps and leaving the Falcons to become the Arkansas defensive coordinator.

Please, oh please, let this happen:

Sources have confirmed to CSTV that newly hired South Carolina defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder is likely to leave Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks and return to the NFL as the defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons.

Brian Curtis of CSTV has the scoop. The Falcons hired Jacksonville defensive coordinator Mike Smith, and the two worked together when VanGorder left Georgia to become Jacksonville’s linebacker coach after 2004 which was about seven jobs ago for VanGorder. VanGorder left Jacksonville after one year to take the head coaching position at Georgia Southern. From there – you know, I kind of lose track. I think he had a stint with the World League, briefly took over for the Atlanta Thrashers, and had begun taping a reality show on Food Network before Spurrier came calling.

VanGorder’s four-week stay in Columbia would be kind of short even for him.

UPDATE: South Carolina’s Rivals site confirms the news. “Sources close to the USC football program have confirmed to Gamecock Central that VanGorder will be named the new defensive coordinator for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.”

I think this is a pretty easy prediction to make. It might not play out when Fisher follows Bowden at FSU or when Phillips follows Brooks at Kentucky, but one of these arranged succession plans is eventually going to explode in a program’s face. Some team is going to end up in one of these situations:

• The program fires the current staff before the old coach has a chance to step down, leaving the successor without a job he assumed was his.
• The fan base grows weary of the outgoing coach and everything about the old program. The successor is seen as a slipcover on worn-out furniture.
• The successor loses luster as an assistant before the transition can take place, leaving a program stuck with a guy they didn’t even want as an assistant.

I think the third scenario is most likely.

Georgia was “lucky” to beat Hawaii according to a former Warrior player,

As a former player, I’m tired of hearing fans and the media say that we were overmatched by bigger, faster, stronger players.
Georgia players are no different than us; the problem was they came to play and we didn’t.

There’s no question that Georgia was more prepared to play in a BCS bowl game than the deer-in-the-headlights Warriors, but the difference between Georgia and Hawaii players showed up on nearly every play. This former player attributes Georgia’s success in this game of evenly-matched teams to…scheme.

Georgia was dominant, not only because they were good athletes, but because their scheme put them in the best position to win.

Interesting – all we heard coming up to the game was fawning over June Jones’ run-and-shoot scheme which gave Hawaii the ability to succeed at a level the program had never seen. There was nothing innovative or unique about Georgia’s scheme on either side of the ball, especially on defense unless the unheard-of strategy of getting pressure with the front four will now be the new hot thing in college football.

Georgia got lucky, and I say that from a player’s point of view. We gave up big plays, which at the end killed us.

Okey-dokey. I appreciate the fight and spirit and the pride in the program, but to borrow a line from Gladiator, a people should know when they are conquered. Good luck against Florida though.

The AJC reported several days ago that Herschel Walker is coming out with a book in which he details a secret struggle with multiple personality disorder.

Meanwhile, everyone from Frank Ros to Vince Dooley to Herschel’s own father has said that Walker’s revelation is news to them.

Like Dooley, I’m curious to see what the book has to say. While mental illness is very real and often goes untreated and under the radar of even our loved ones, there is no shortage of fraud and quackery in the business, especially when it comes to “repressed memories.” If Herschel really has dealt with this condition privately his whole life, coming forward in this very public way is truly a significant act. I just hope for his sake that someone isn’t out to make a name off of Herschel Walker.

We found out over the weekend that two Bulldog football players were suspended for at least the season opener due to alcohol-related arrests, but the circumstances around Fred Munzenmaier’s arrest led Coach Richt to double Munzenmaier’s suspension.

“I’m adding a second game to the original one-game suspension after reading the complete police report and discussing it with Fred,” said Richt. “The way he handled the situation with the police officer was totally inappropriate and demonstrated a lack of respect for authority. We expect our players, just like my children, to show total respect at all times for those in authority and especially police officers.”

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Munzenmaier allegedly “thanked the arresting officer from Athens-Clarke County for ‘costing him two games,'” and didn’t stop there.

Munzenmaier told the officer it was obvious that “we” have it “out for them,” according to the report, and that police have a point system for athletes. The officer told Munzenmaier he had no idea that he was an athlete when he stopped his vehicle, nor did he care. Munzenmaier later used an expletive to tell the officer to shut his mouth because he didn’t want to make small talk, according to the report.

As Ron White would say, Fred had the right to remain silent…but he didn’t have the ability.

Two quarterbacks with high expectations entering 2007 are seeing the story end a bit differently than they had hoped:

• Oklahoma State’s Bobby Reid, who drew faint comparisons to Vince Young before the season, will transfer to Texas Southern rather than enter the NFL draft. Reid earned the OSU starting job in 2006, but a poor performance at Georgia and an early-season injury saw him give way to Zac Robinson.
• Georgia Tech’s Taylor Bennett will apparently graduate and head elsewhere now that Paul Johnson’s option offense is coming to town. Bennett still has a year of eligibility remaining, but he has burned his redshirt year. The NCAA post-graduate transfer rule has been rescinded. If Bennett wants to play, he’ll have to do it at the 1-AA level or lower.

We continue a high-level look towards the football season by acknowledging that winning even an SEC East title in any season is a difficult challenge with very little margin for error. Other than the usual caveats about injuries, these factors will be potential obstacles for the Dawgs in 2008:

» The schedule. It’s going to be tough. In the SEC part of the schedule, you replace Ole Miss with LSU. That LSU trip comes a week before the Florida game. The Dawgs will have three interesting and challenging nonconference opponents: Central Michigan pushed Purdue in the 2007 Motor City Bowl. Georgia Tech will present a unique offensive scheme to challenge the defense at the end of the season. Then there’s the trip to Tempe.

Playing Arizona State will test the Dawgs in three ways. First and most basic, the Sun Devils are a quality program, and Dennis Erickson looks to have injected some energy into the program. The game will also bring a tremendous amount of hype; it’s Georgia’s first regular season trip outside of the southeast since 1965, and that fact alone will add to the circus of a quality midseason lineup. Finally, there’s the human element. The Dawgs must play at South Carolina (often a night game), return, prepare for, and travel to Arizona State, absorb that game and the effects of cross-country travel, and then prepare to host a motivated Alabama team the next week. Should they survive that three-game swing, a bye week awaits before Tennessee comes to town.

Georgia will face nine teams next year that played in a bowl this season. The two 2008 Division 1 opponents that aren’t coming off a bowl trip are South Carolina and Vanderbilt – two teams that gave Georgia plenty of problems in 2007.

There is one bit of good news peeking through the schedule gloom and doom: no SEC opponent will have a bye week before they play Georgia.

» The offensive line. Hear me out. Stacy Searels and his troops were magnificent this season. But we’re not out of the woods yet. As young and inexperienced as line was in 2007, the Dawgs still had a rock to anchor that line: senior center Fernando Velasco. Velasco’s contribution to the success of the 2007 squad might be one of the most underrated stories of the year. Senior Chester Adams was also a key; his versatility at guard and tackle enabled the coaches to experiment until they found the most effective combination of linemen.

Those two seniors will be replaced by another round of newcomers. While the Dawgs might have the "luxury" of using redshirt freshmen instead of true freshmen this time, the difference in experience is marginal. Where the line, and even the entire offense, could look to Velasco as a leader, that role will now fall to sophomores Boling, Davis, and Sturdivant. Vince Vance, a junior reserve tackle, and senior long snapper Jeff Henson will be the lone upperclassmen on the line.

» The hype. There’s no escaping it. There will be no going under the radar. Big things will be expected of the Dawgs next year. Expectations are always high at Georgia, but the Dawgs will have the additional glare of the national spotlight. Teams can wilt easily under that pressure. On the other hand, we’ve seen plenty of instances where a team can get full of itself and try to coast on its ranking. Embracing and coming to terms with high expectations will be a key factor of success in 2008.

I think that Mark Richt has had the right attitude so far when asked about high preseason rankings: it’s a good thing. Teams want to be ranked high, and it’s every team’s goal to play for the national title. Why field a team if that opportunity doesn’t excite you? But Richt is quick to caution that a high ranking entitles a team to nothing. Sure enough, Georgia won’t be the only SEC team with a top 10 ranking. If the team approaches the expectations with the right mindset, the hype will be motivation for the offseason. "We got a taste of just how close we might be to getting that ultimate goal," Mark Richt said. "And everybody’s gonna be really working hard toward that end."

See also:

• Things in Georgia’s favor in 2008
• Embracing expectations

Mark Richt didn’t have to turn very far to find his new tight ends coach. UGASports.com is reporting this afternoon that Richt’s friend and former Florida State colleague John Lilly will accept the position left vacant by David Johnson’s departure to West Virginia.

While some of Richt’s past hires have required a bit of connect-the-dots to make sense, Lilly was an obvious target from the beginning. He was offered a position at Georgia in 2001 when Richt originally assembled his staff, but he chose to remain at FSU. Seven seasons later, Lilly has decided to make the move and will join Richt and Dave Van Halanger in Athens.

News of this move breaking before Signing Day is a little surprising; Lilly has a reputation as an outstanding recruiter, and his departure will surely have an impact on the Seminoles’ recruiting efforts. He has been FSU’s recruiting coordinator since 1998. With Georgia’s 2007 recruiting class more or less finished, Lilly won’t have much of an impact this year except perhaps to shore up the commitment of TE Dwayne Allen.

For future classes the addition of Lilly will give the Georgia program an impressive roster of recruiters. Rodney Garner is still Georgia’s recruiting coordinator of course, but Lilly gives Georgia some flexibility down the road. Garner is happy at Georgia, but we can’t blame the guy for eyeing his dream of a head coaching opportunity. In the meantime, Garner, Lilly, and Bobo are as good as it gets as recruiters, and they all complement Mark Richt well.

Lilly’s challenge on the field will be to continue the recent legacy of successful Bulldog tight ends that goes back over a decade now. Brandon Warren was a freshman All-American tight end at FSU in 2006, but he left the Seminole program before the 2007 season.

I was impressed as anyone with Georgia’s win over Arkansas on Saturday. There were so many things to note: Humphrey’s continued development inside the perimeter. Woodbury finally started to find his shot. Price and Bliss are becoming an effective tandem when Bliss plays well.

It was interesting to hear analyst Eddie Fogler note that Arkansas didn’t strike him as a very bright team. You could see that play out as Arkansas willingly got into Georgia’s preferred up-and-down style. The Dawgs were able to hit layups and jumpers, often in transition, and passing was generally sharp.

As pwd observes, we’ve seen flashes like this from the Dawgs before. Putting it together against Arkansas is one thing. Keeping it going in consecutive road games at Tennessee and South Carolina is another. We know that this team is an off-night from Humphrey and/or Gaines away from an ugly loss, but Humphrey especially has become more and more consistent of a scorer, and that’s just what this team needs to be successful. Now with Woodbury seemingly coming around and a nice supporting cast developing, are we foolish for starting to get our hopes up again?

One thing is becoming clear after a few weeks of SEC play: Georgia might be a sure tournament team if they played in the SEC West. There is some awful basketball being played over there.

You’d think that a game at Tennessee wouldn’t be the place to expect much consistency, but hopefully the guys will hold themselves to a better standard. A lot has happened since last March, but Georgia pushed the Vols to the buzzer in the 2006-2007 regular season finale. They are more than capable of playing with the Vols.

SEC Men’s Power Ranking:

1. Tennessee: Handling the role of favorite well for once.
2. Florida: Still a very quality club.
3. Vanderbilt: Need to beat better teams to be taken seriously.
4. Mississippi St.: Good start, solid defense.
5. Kentucky: Best of the rest?
6. Ole Miss: Shaky SEC start after undefeated non-conference slate.
7. Georgia: Can we play them all at home?
8. Arkansas: Disappointing start for preseason West favorite.
9. Auburn: Good upset win at home over Ole Miss.
10. South Carolina: Stole one at Arkansas; Odom’s farewell tour begins.
11. Alabama: More than missing Steele behind their 0-4 start.
12. LSU: Is John Brady still coaching this team?

Lady Dogs

Andy Landers had been stuck on 698 career wins at Georgia for over a week, but a return home to Stegeman served to put the Lady Dogs back into the win column. Ugly road losses at Auburn and Vandy gave Georgia a 1-2 conference record and three losses in their last four games. Behind 25 points from Tasha Humphrey, Georgia beat Alabama 71-53 on Sunday. Angel Robinson added 12 points and 14 rebounds.

I’ll say what the team couldn’t say in the press. Alabama isn’t good. They’ve improved slightly from last season when they were embarrassingly bad. A win over Bama isn’t much cause for celebration these days, and the fact that the margin in this game hovered around ten points for much of the afternoon isn’t a good thing. Georgia out-talented Alabama, and that’s about it. Turnovers in particular were devastating. Guard play, especially on offense, is becoming a big concern.

This is an important week for the Lady Dogs. They’ve lost three of their four true road games this season, and those three losses haven’t been pretty. They go on the road to face Florida this week. The Gators have been surprisingly good in conference play with a first-year coach, and they surely have to see a shaky Georgia team as a great opportunity to make some noise in the SEC. This Sunday the Lady Dogs head out to face Oklahoma in a nationally-televised battle of ranked teams. It’s billed as a Tasha Humphrey vs. Courtney Paris showdown, but the supporting casts will likely mean the difference.

A win in both these road games would be significant to right the ship, and beating Oklahoma would be noteworthy on the national scene. Landers’ next win will be his 700th at Georgia.

SEC Women’s Power Ranking:

1. Tennessee: A class of their own.
2. LSU: Defensively dominant with Fowles. Offense can sputter at times.
3. Vanderbilt: 2-2 with losses to UT and LSU.
4. Kentucky: Solid win over Auburn has them at 3-1 after some bad nonconference losses.
5: Georgia: Got a needed win over Bama, but still vulnerable. Key week for them.
6. Auburn: Win over Georgia the sole bright spot lately. Depth and suspensions taking their toll.
7. Florida: Playing well, first back-to-back SEC wins since 2006.
8. Ole Miss: Nice upset of Arkansas.
9. Arkansas: Unimpressive in conference play after soft nonconference schedule.
10. Mississippi St.: Embarrassed at LSU.
11. Alabama: 22 losses in last 23 SEC games.
12. South Carolina: Unacceptable loss to Alabama.

Like a lot of football fans I watched some of yesterday’s NFL playoff action (Go Giants!!!), and I don’t think I was alone in reacting to the weather in Green Bay with a mix of amazement, horror, and admiration for those out in the sub-zero temperatures. A week earlier, we saw Green Bay beat Seattle in a blinding snowstorm.

As a kid who spent plenty of winter afternoons playing backyard football in the snow, I have to say I love watching games like that. You haven’t lived until you leap over a three-foot snow drift serving as goal-line defense. At the same time, I have to ask if watching football in such weather is a worse product. The weather is more often the story instead of the skills of the players.

Dealing with the elements is part of the game, and it certainly adds a bit of humanity to the game to see a receiver track the ball through the snow or a running back try to get his footing in the mud. That’s entertaining to a point, but in a sport where speed and precision play such a role, is it really such a great thing that weather can do so much to equalize the game and keep the stars from performing at their top level?

The Super Bowl will be played in Arizona. Weather won’t be a factor. Instead, the game will be about Brady to Moss. Manning to Burress. It’ll be about Seymour and company trying to shut down Jacobs and Strahan finding a way to pressure an untouchable quarterback. As much as a game on the Frozen Tundra is a fascinating novelty, I prefer it when games are decided more by the players and not the thermometer.

All that said, I couldn’t help watching those games yesterday and thinking about some of the colder Georgia games I’ve been to since I began following the Dawgs in 1991. My wife nominates the 1987 Liberty Bowl when fans were setting fires in the bathroom sinks to keep warm. This is my list, though, so here we go. Is it coincidence that four of them were losses? Does sitting through a loss just make it seem colder?

My Five Coldest Georgia Football Games:

1: 2001 Music City Bowl. Going by my recollection of the crowd, you probably skipped this one. Other games might have had worse weather, but no game I’ve attended matches this one for sheer bitter cold. I had never been too cold to tailgate until this day, and portable heaters were useless. Still, there was Uga VI on his bag of ice…

2: 1991 Florida. America remembers the weekend of this game as the dates of the "Perfect Storm" later made (in)famous by Hollywood. Much of the East Coast was in the grip of a large storm off New England, and Florida was no exception. Friday was nice enough, but those of us at the beach were already dealing with the strong winds. By Saturday, the strong storm off the coast was bringing cold arctic winds straight down the entire East Coast and into the Gator Bowl. Incidently, other than 1992, the weather for my four Georgia-Florida games as a student was pretty damn crappy…just like the outcomes.

3: 1995 Auburn. This game was noteworthy for the plummeting temperatures as the day went on. The morning started off relatively mild for mid-November as rain ended and the skies began clearing following a cold front passage. By the time the game came around, fans – many of whom were dressed for the warmer temperatures of the morning – were facing not only rapidly dropping temperatures but a gusty, biting northwest wind that came right in through the open end of Sanford Stadium unimpeded.

4: 2000 Ole Miss. It’s not often that a Georgia home game is accompanied by frozen precipitation, but it happened here. Tailgaters dodged sleet and then a cold and miserable rain. It seemed like another cold, soggy loss was on the way when Ole Miss went up 14-0, but the Dawgs bounced back for a 32-14 behind Musa Smith. The weather wouldn’t improve much before Georgia’s next home game…

5: 2000 Georgia Tech. Maybe it was the outcome. Maybe it was the fitting end to a disappointing season. Maybe it was the unthinkable third-straight loss to Tech. All of that only served to make the day’s cold rain seem that much colder and more miserable.

I wrote just a few posts below that “our glee over a low attrition forecast has to be tempered with the acceptance of the likely offseason suspension or two.”

As it turns out, it didn’t even take the weekend to get to the “or two” mark.  In separate incidents, defensive back Donavon Baldwin and fullback Fred Munzenmaier were arrested and will be suspended for at least the season opener against Georgia Southern.

Because both incidents were alcohol-related, a second offense down the road could result in a semester-long suspension from the University; that was the punishment for Akeem Hebron for a second alcohol-related arrest while on University probation for his first offense.

Both arrests have an element that makes it a bit tougher to shrug them off.  Baldwin was arrested for DUI, always a serious thing.  Munzenmaier allegedly decided in his late-night drunken stroll (in sub-freezing temperatures) to pop off at the Athens Clarke-County officer and accused the APD of having it in for athletes.  Some misguided fans probably agree with him.  It’s no shock for a football player to think he’s above the law, especially after a few drinks.  But if it’s a common belief among Georgia players that the Athens police are out to get them, one might think that they’d be a little smarter about going out of their way to draw attention to themselves after a bender.

We can hope this is the end of it, but as Carter Strickland notes in the AJC, this is the third consecutive season that Georgia has had a January or February arrest that has impacted the subsequent season.  There’s a long way to go until August.

A former player also was a casualty of the weekend.  Terreal Bierria was arrested for DUI and speeding in Athens.

In what I guess is a conciliatory gesture, President Adams has written writing our vanquished bowl victims and patted them on the head for a job well done.

The University of Hawai’i has much about which it can be proud — its academic program, its successful alumni and, yes, its football team. But what will remain for many of us from this year’s Sugar Bowl is the warmth and graciousness with which UH fans conducted themselves.

You’d think he’s campaigning for something. Did we send a similar note to the Roanoke Times last year?