MARIETTA, GA — From behind the control desk in the Radical Georgia Moderate War Room, Rusty announced the prize for his 2005 NCAA picks contest and challenged University of Georgia fans who run their own blogs to a friendly wager.

“I’m offering a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate to the winner of my picks contest,” Rusty said, holding an ice pack to his head and trying to avoid eye contact with the empty Gentleman Jack bottle on his desk.

The surly bastard, a University of Tennessee graduate, also found out this afternoon he made a bet with The Goddamn Girlfriend, who attended graduate school at the University of Georgia, pertaining to the Oct. 8 football contest between the Volunteers of Tennessee and the Bulldogs of Georgia.

“If UGA wins, I have to make my blog theme red and black for a week. If UT wins, she’ll have to make her blog theme orange and white for a week,” Rusty said.

And, giving an indication his brain might have been permanently damaged by the previous evening’s festivities, he extended the wager to any other blogger who is also a University of Georgia fan.

“For anyone else who wants to get in on the bet, I’ll add a week to the length of time I keep up the red and black theme if Georgia pulls an impossible upset out of its ass,” Rusty said. “That means you only have to risk a week of embarrassment to my multiple weeks or even months, depending on how many of you participate.”

Lack of technical expertise is not an excuse to pass up this wager, Rusty noted.

“If you can’t design your own orange and white theme, I’ll be happy to help you design one,” he said.

The deadline to accept Rusty’s wager is Sept. 16 for those who need technical assistance with their theme, he said.