I hope none of you were alarmed by Athens’ sudden increase in middle-aged men wearing ugly sportcoats earlier this week. It was just the Biennial Institute, a three-day conference where University of Georgia professors try to teach state legislators how to not mess up Georgia any worse than it already is.

NABF: All about the cheddar

One of the nice things about the conference is that everyone who’s anyone in state government is all in one place, so it’s a great opportunity for some very interesting conversations.

Many of those conversations, at least for me, revolved around the NBAF; specifically, why Athens didn’t get it. The consensus is Gov. Sonny Perdue’s assertion that the dirty hippies are to blame is flat-out CYA (cover your ___). Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Kansas’ congressional delegation beat their Georgia counterparts like a drum. Their larger incentive package, cheaper construction and operating costs, larger incentive package, emphasis on livestock research and full-court recruiting press made all the difference compared to Georgia’s mediocre incentives offer, poultry emphasis and lackadaisical recruiting efforts, everyone I talked to agreed.

On the other hand, the biotech boosters are undeterred, judging by a panel discussion on economic development Monday. It’s worth noting, though, that panelists talked up Georgia Tech and Emory more than UGA, and Athens was never mentioned at all. Goes to show you how far off state officials’ radars we really are.

I should’ve brought my binoculars

GDOT Commissioner Gena Evans should know better than to confuse lawmakers with her big words and fancy numbers.

Evans came armed to a Tuesday transportation seminar with the densest PowerPoint presentation I’ve ever seen, full of charts, graphs and type too small to read, even blown up on a 10-foot screen.

All she really needed, though, was one slide that said, simply, “WE’RE SCREWED!”

Gloating will get you nowhere

Evans, a Tech graduate, also should know better than to taunt lawmakers, most of who attended UGA.

From infighting between Perdue and House Speaker Glenn Richardson to raunchy e-mails to raining on elected officials’ parades by ending the ruse that GDOT could pay for all the projects on its books, she’s always had a target on her back and is lucky to still have her job. But she couldn’t resist pointing out the Yellow Jacket purse that sat on a table beside her.

“I can’t help but plug my team, because we won this year,” she said. “Don’t hold it against me at my budget hearings, please.”

A voice behind me called out, “You know we will.”

A similar joke from another Ramblin’ Wreck, Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch, also fell flat. She opened her speech Monday with a timid “Go Jackets.”

“Oh, well,” she said. “Once in every seven years. One must take advantage of it.”

Blake.aued@onlineathens.com