Typical Tech

You know, my feelings about Ga. Tech are kind of hard to verbalize. It's a really weird mixture of hate and pity, and I hate and pity them for the same reasons. Stories like this one sum it up perfectly.

Seriously? You're so fascinated by us that you commemorate your ONE WIN IN EIGHT FREAKING YEARS by putting it on your rings? That is truly pathetic.

As a point of comparison, can you imagine UGA putting the score of last year's UGA-Florida game on rings? Yeah, it was a nice win, but I hope our program never sinks to the point that ONE WIN over our rival merits this type of recognition.

So, like I said...I hate them because they are so pathetic, but I pity them because they're so pathetic. It's a paradox wrapped in a mystery, surrounded by an enigma.

Merry Christmas, Everybody!!!

Hope you all have a blessed day!

What I've been watching

Well, we have reached the midseason break for TV, and there is NOTHING on now, so now is as good a time as any to deliver on the long ago promised TV report, I guess.

I am actually listening to the latest LOSTcast on ODI right now as I type this...less than a month to go before LOST comes back!!

I watch a LOT of TV (thank you, DVR!), so this is going to be a long one...

So, without further adieu, here are my thoughts on what I've been watching this season, organized by what night the show airs...feel free to chime in with comments!

SUNDAY:
The Amazing Race: I've been watching this show for about 6 seasons now, and I was pretty disappointed with this season. It was kind of boring, I thought.There weren't really any teams that I absolutely HATED...although I did despise one half of the Terrence/Sarah matchup. Any of you who watched could probably tell me which half...Terrence. What a needy, whiny, childish little twerp. Constantly had to be told how good he was doing, while doing nothing but criticize Sarah, continually telling Sarah to SLOW DOWN so they could be together...hey, dude, you're in a RACE!!! Ugh. They did provide one of my favorite moments of the season, though, with this little Freudian exchange:

Terrence: Who's my girl?
Sarah: You are...I mean I AM!!

HA!

Only other team I really didn't like were the Divorcees, but they at least provided the fun of trying to figure out how they were going to royally screw up every week. I've never seen a team have such a hard time READING THE FREAKING CLUE. Every week, they would start out saying, "We learned on the last task to take the time to read the clue and really pay attention," and the next thing you know they were bumbling off in the wrong direction again.

Speaking of bumbling...how 'bout those "Frat Boys?" First of all, they unfortunately were like most of the "frat boys" that I've known...the fact that they had to keep referring to themselves as "Frat Boys," and talk about how manly they are, and how much beer they drink, and how they can't do "girly" tasks like ironing or dancing, etc...gee, guys, overcompensate much? By far the worst team to ever make the Top 3, at least as long as I have been watching. Every week they seemed to benefit from some other teams mistake and squeak by, never more so than in the next-to-last episode. We've seen a lot of huge mistakes over the years, but losing your money and passports in the middle of Russia the way Toni and Dallas did has to rank as the biggest and most fatal.

In the end, Nick and Starr ended a DOMINANT season by winning the $1M in the most unsurprising ending since the Yankees swept the Padres in the '98 World Series. At least Starr was hot.

Desperate Housewives: Yes, I watch this show...what of it? I pretend it's only because my wife makes me, but I actually enjoyed this season, after totally losing interest last season. The writers made a great decision to shake things up by moving ahead five years. It really made some characters and situations interesting again that had grown stagnant. Let's break it down couple by couple:

Gabby/Carlos: Consistently my second-favorite married couple on TV (behind Coach and Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights). The Carlos-is-blind story could have been really dumb and over the top, but I think they have done a good balancing act with it...there have been some humorous moments, but they haven't lost sight of the tragedy that losing your sight would be. Plus, Eva Longoria is hot, no matter how hard they tried to convince us otherwise.

Bree/Orson: Orson is the star of this pairing, in my opinion...he steals every scene he's in.

Susan/Mike/Jackson: Blech. I can't stand Susan, and I try to avoid any scenes that involve her. Annoying, selfish, immature, nagging hag.

Lynnette/Tom: One of the most realistic couples on TV. They go through a lot of conflicts/arguments, and I don't CONSISTENTLY agree with either of them...from week to week, they take turns making sense, and I think that's pretty much the way it works.

Dave/Edie: Kudos go to Neal McDonough...it's been pretty obvious for a while now where this storyline was headed (he's here for revenge on Mike/Susan for the car crash that killed his family), yet he has still managed to create a compelling character that can give you the creeps and invoke sympathy at the same time.

Mad Men: Look, I can't say it enough...WATCH THIS SHOW. Here, I even found a great deal on season one for you. This show is pretty close to perfect television. Superbly and subtly written, wonderfully acted, and on top of everything else, very beautiful to look at. This past season, Matt Weiner did a masterful job at adding layer after layer to the main characters, especially Betty Draper (January Jones). So much fun watching her become her own woman after being a doormat for all of season 1.
And Don's backstory...well, this quote pretty much sums it up:
"I have been watching my life. It’s right there. I keep scratching at it, trying to get into it. I can’t."
Wow.
Seriously...WATCH THIS SHOW. Have I steered you wrong before?

MONDAY:
Chuck: Sure, the primary storylines of Chuck as the reluctant spy/agent and the "Will they or won't they" romance between Chuck and the gorgeous Sarah are entertaining. But it's the ensemble cast that make this one of the most consistently funny shows on television. Morgan, Lester, Jeff, Captain Awesome, Anna...all hilarious, well-defined characters. I think this show really hit its stride this season, after a strike-shortened season 1.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: This show even manages to make Brian Austin Green cool again. I am a huge geek for the Terminator universe, so of course I love this show. I just wish John Connor would start acting more like the savior of humanity and less like a typical whiny teenager. Summer Glau, on the other hand, is a gorgeous killing machine. She does a good job of portraying the human/robot duality of the Terminator models, and her delivery is pitch perfect.

I wasn't on board with the "Riley" storyline until the twist at the end...now I'm interested.

Heroes: Ugh. Where to start? First of all, I love this show, and I really WANT it to be good. But this season has been a trainwreck of epic proportions. I often find myself wondering if the writers are actually WATCHING the show. I have no idea what the motivations are for ANY of the characters any more, and I don't see how the actors can either. One week Sylar is evil, the next he's just misunderstood, the next he's PRETENDING to be evil, then he's back to evil again. All with little to no explanation as to why, at least not one that makes sense. I mean, was it Angela's idea to pretend to be his mother? Then why was Arthur going along with it from the minute Sylar showed up at Primatech? Would it not have better served his purposes to let Sylar know that Angela was lying in order to turn him against her? How come the first time Sylar tried to kill Elle, her electricity knocked him out, but the next time he was able to pull it off without a hitch? Once Hiro went back in time and took the catalyst himself, shouldn't that have created an alternate timeline in which Claire never even knew what the catalyst was? And why did they keep saying that everybody's powers manifested themselves during the eclipse in Season 1? That is completely false...Claire has had her power since she was a baby, Nathan got his when he was driving down the road before the accident that took his wife's ability to walk, etc.

ENOUGH. I could go on and on (as I'm sure you can tell). Do they not have anybody on the writing staff who is paying attention? Don't they know that the geeks (like myself) who are their target audience are NOTORIOUS for noticing obvious gaps in story logic and continuity like this?

Good news is that Bryan Fuller is coming back to the show later this season...maybe he can inject some sort of order to the writer's room. This season started with a bang, but every week since then has seemed like the writers are just throwing as much random stuff on the screen as possible and saying, "How about THIS? This is cool, right?" Well, yeah, it is...it just doesn't make any sense.

***UPDATE****
This is from TelevisionWithoutPity.com...a more detailed version of my rant:

Peter: I hate to say it, but Peter was one of the most consistent characters this chapter. While many of the choices he made were moronic -- deciding that the only way to stop his brother from making a decision in the future was to murder him in cold blood; deciding that taking Sylar's power was the best way to help the world, which resulted in him murdering his brother in the future and almost doing the same to his mother in the present -- he was focused on preventing the future from containing millions of people with artificially-given powers, and, in pursuit of that end, stopping his father once he turned up. But the self-righteousness combined with the "acting"? Tough to take.

Nathan: Ugh. First off, a technical point I've mentioned before: I assumed, when Linderman appeared after Nathan miraculously recovered from his mortal wounds, that he was responsible for the mysterious happening. Only later we learned that it was Maury projecting an image of Linderman, so how did Nathan recover? Leaving that aside, Nathan was the most irritatingly wishy-washy, spineless character this season produced, as he allowed himself to be led around like a dog on a leash by both Tracy and his father who TRIED TO HAVE HIM KILLED AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS WIFE'S PARALYSIS. And it looks like he's going to be the biggest player in the next chapter, so I hope he at least commits hard to evil, because otherwise? Zzzzz.

Angela: Oh, Lord. So this episode reveals that she knew Sylar wasn't her son, but she thought she could manipulate him into doing her bidding. Let's think about that. For one, what did she need him for? Just to be a Company agent? She didn't even know about Arthur at that point, so it hardly seems worth it. On top of that, let's recall, she sacrificed an innocent girl just to feed him. At the time, it seemed like she did so out of desire to care for and protect her son, but now we know it was just a cold-blooded murder. Not only that, but she didn't know that Sylar would learn to control his "hunger," so how many people would she have ended up feeding to him? The season wanted us to believe that Angela was leading the righteous party here, when in fact she was the most awful stealth villain of them all. Great job!

Hiro: Could effectively have stayed out of the season altogether. First, out of boredom, he managed to single-handedly cause not one but both halves of the formula to fall into Pinehearst's hands. Then he stabbed Ando with a fake sword, did a drug trip that distracted NeoIsaac enough to get him killed, turned into a ten-year-old, and lost the catalyst inside of five minutes after he took it from his dying mother. Yes, this episode finally gave him something positive to do. What was the first twelve's excuse?

Arthur: Would have had more depth if he'd been drawn by Looney Tunes. But this episode brings up an interesting point: Knox and Flint rebelled because they didn't want tons of other people to have powers, which would make them less special and less relatively powerful. Why wouldn't Arthur, a paranoid murderer, share that sentiment? And what had he told Knox and Flint to get them on his side originally? I realize I'm looking for meaning from a character who made Peter and Mohinder's line readings look good by comparison...wait, that's it! I've stumbled on the point of Arthur!

Sylar: Ye gods. So Sylar takes Angela at her word and believes that she and Arthur are his parents. Let's think about all the ways this turned out not to make sense. First off, in the future Peter saw, Sylar still believed they were brothers. Surely in four years he would have discovered that wasn't the case. Secondly, when Sylar showed up to Pinehearst, the first thing Arthur did was to tell Mohinder that Sylar was his son. Do you grant that in that very short period and with all the chaos of Peter running around that Arthur read Sylar's mind and decided to roll with the lie that Angela told him? I think it's highly dubious, especially since an attractive alternative would simply be to tell Sylar of the lie and turn him against her once and for all. But that's not the biggest problem -- Arthur teaches Sylar to be empathetic, but then Elle gets him to kill a random civilian who didn't even have powers; Sylar has sex with Elle, but when Bennet tells him he's not a Petrelli, he kills her, and not because of the "hunger," since he knew how to control that and also already had her power anyway. I mean, he was less boring to watch than Nathan, but no more consistent, that's for sure. Speaking of which...

Sylar's Power: First off, another technical point. Sylar lost a bunch of his purloined powers when Hiro stabbed him back in Season One. Fine. At the beginning of the chapter, he attacked Claire with his telekinesis and took her regenerative power, which restored him to full health. You'd think that would have restored those powers as well, since he learned how they work and all, but no. So the logical conclusion is that the sword blow permanently erased the powers he had stolen and left him only with his original ability -- except telekinesis wasn't it. It's true he was telekinetic at the beginning of the series, but it's this vague ability to "understand how things work" that's his power -- as "Six Months Earlier" showed us, he stole the telekinesis from that guy Brian in the watch shop. On top of that, though, there's the "hunger." We learn from the past that Sylar was able to control his "hunger" when he was feeling warm and fuzzy for Elle. Then he was able to control it when he thought Angela was his mother. Then he was able to turn it into something else entirely through empathy. (Remember Arthur had Sylar's power too, or should have, from Peter, and we never saw him afflicted by the "hunger.") Then he became a killer again anyway. On top of that, Peter took his power because he thought "understanding how things work" would help him save the world. But that power is complete and utter crap-- Sylar didn't know jack about how things work, or he might not have been used as a pawn by Arthur, Angela, and even Elle.

The Formula: Why didn't Primatech destroy it? I asked this in the very first episode, and it was never answered. If it could only be used for evil, why didn't they simply get rid of it? Anyone? Bueller?

Mohinder: Look, you saw it for yourself.

OK...this post is obviously going to be too long to finish in one sitting...be back later to continue!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...

The Falcons are in the playoffs.

The FALCONS. Are in the PLAYOFFS.

Nope...seeing those words in print don't make them any more believable to me.

Think about where this team was this time last year: No coach (after Petrino did what Petrino does...selfishly bail on his team). No GM. No quarterback. The only defensive playmaker was a locker room cancer. The only offensive playmaker...well, outside of occasional bursts from Jerious Norwood, there WAS no offensive playmaker.

And now THAT team is in the playoffs.

First kudos go to Arthur Blank and Rich McKay for hiring Thomas Dimitroff. EVERY move Dimitroff has made has worked. How's this for a perfect offseason?

• Hire Mike Smith - He's been perfect for this team. Just focused on the job, none of the surrounding crap.
• Put together a fantastic coaching staff - Mike Mularkey on offense. Brian Van Gorder on defense (man, do we miss him in Athens). An unsung hero named Paul Boudreau to coach O-line (2nd in the NFC in fewest sacks allowed, 1st in the NFC and 2nd in the NFL in rushing yardage). Just a great staff who has done a remarkable job working with this young team.
• Get rid of ME-angelo Hall. This guy was the cancer I was referring to earlier. I have NEVER seen a more selfish football player in my 25+ years of watching football. Add that to the fact that his skills appear to be diminishing for some reason (as evidenced by the fact that he's already on his second team after being traded), and it was an obvious move to trade him. But here's the cherry on top...we packaged the pick we got for him to move up into the first round and draft Sam Baker, who will be our o-line anchor for many years to come. Which leads me to...
• Have a perfect draft. 1st round - Matt Ryan (Rookie of the Year - more on him in a second), Sam Baker (your left tackle for the next 5-7 years at least). 2nd round - Curtis Lofton (sometime starter, big contributor this year, and MLB of the future). 3rd round - Chevis Jackson (saw a lot of time this year at nickel back), Harry Douglas (big time contributor both on offense and special teams). So...out of your top 5 picks, you got 1 franchise player, 3 starters, and 5 impact players. THAT is a perfect draft.
• Sign Michael Turner. The perfect free agent for what this team was doing. Takes pressure off your rookie quarterback, grinds out clock and keeps your questionable defense off the field for long stretches of time. The Falcons identified him as the guy they wanted, and called him at 12:01 AM the day free agency started. All he's done is be near the top of the league in rushing yards all year and set a new franchise record for rushing TDs in a season.

Wow. Any chance Dimitroff sold his soul or something, and this is all going to come crashing down next year?

And I think I've said it here before, but I was wrong, wrong, WRONG about Matt Ryan. Remember that perfect draft I described a minute ago? I missed the whole thing, because I turned the TV off and whipped the remote across the room in disgust when the Falcons drafted Ryan. I wanted Glenn Dorsey. Anybody heard from him lately? Guess that's why I'm a financial analyst and not an NFL GM.

Ryan has been EVERYTHING the Falcons told us he would be and more. He makes EVERY throw, he's tough, he's smart, and (perhaps most importantly) he's a LEADER. He understands what it means to be QB1, that you can't be the last guy at practice and the first one to leave (which is what #7 used to do, reportedly).

One of the most impressive things about him is how the coaching staff trusts him enough to run the no-huddle as often as they do, even on the road. That's an unbelievable level of trust, especially for a rookie. That shows that he is putting in the time in the film room and completely understands both the offense and what the opposing defense is doing. Did I mention he's a ROOKIE?

Two more sentences I never thought I would write:

• Roddy White is a Pro Bowler. I don't remember seeing a player make "The Leap" as quickly and completely as White has. Two years ago, he couldn't catch a cold and had ZERO confidence and a bad attitude. Now he's a legitimate playmaker and frontline receiver. In my opinion, this transformation was at least in part to the Falcons getting rid of MeAngelo and Vick and replaced them with real leaders. Roddy is simply following the new leaders.
• The Falcons are tied in the NFL for the fewest dropped passes. Used to be, you could count on White, Jenkins, and Finneran to rack up at least 4-5 drops a game. This year they're catching EVERYTHING. So what changed? The quarterback. Makes a huge difference when the ball is delivered accurately and on time.

Also...nice to see what John Abraham can do if he stays healthy all year. Completely unblockable, and the fact that he was left out of the Pro Bowl is a joke. Why do teams continually try to block him one-on-one?

So, thank you to the Falcons for helping dull the sting of the Dawgs disappointments this year. Looking forward to MEANINGFUL football in January.

Let me try it again...the Falcons are in the playoffs.

Nope, still can't believe it.

I'm starting to get the shakes...

Check out the new promo for LOST...

As usual, for my parents, SPOILER ALERT. Now hurry up and watch season 4, so I don't have to worry about it anymore!

Why I'm addicted to IMDB.com

Ever have those moments when you're watching a movie, and you know you recognize one of the actors, but you can't remember what movie he was in, and it drives you so crazy that it ruins any chance of enjoying the rest of the movie? That used to happen to me ALL the time, until I discovered IMDB. com. This site is amazing.

So I'm flipping through the channels last night right before I go to bed...always a mistake, because inevitably I find something that grabs my interest and end up staying up another hour or so and seriously regretting it the next day. Last night was no exception - I stumbled across THIS, one of the most awesomely disturbing scenes in cinematic history:


And I think, Holy Crap! That's Erica Hahn! (non-Grey's Anatomy watchers have no idea, but stay tuned...it gets better). So I look the movie up on IMDB, just to confirm, and while I'm there I click on Buffalo Bill to see who played him...HOLY CRAP. It's CAPTAIN LELAND STOTTLEMEYER!! You know, MONK'S BOSS!!

I had no idea. Can we not go back and give Ted Levine an honorary Oscar or something? How did THAT guy go on to become that OTHER guy?

A man after my own heart

Big news today...Jeff Owens is in fact returning for his senior season, according to David Hale's blog.

This is, of course, FANTASTIC news. It's going to be tough to find a better 4 man DT rotation anywhere in the country than Owens, Atkins, Weston, and Tyson. Now, if one of the DE's can PLEASE step up, we may not be trying to push Coach Martinez out the door this time next year.

My favorite part of the article was this quote from Owens:

"I didn't have a senior year like I wanted. We lost to (Georgia) Tech, and I
can't leave losing to Tech. I've got to get revenge on that."

That's what I like to hear. Well, not the "We lost to Tech" part...that part still makes my heart hurt. But I can see the disappointment of this year maybe being a source of motivation for next year's team, especially team leader types like Owens.

GO DAWGS!!! Only 259 more days until kickoff!

I love this woman...

Since the final season of BSG is right around the corner, here is a little Starbuck for you. It's amazing to see the difference in her off-screen...shows what an amazing job she does with the character. Also cool to see some Season 1 stuff in these clips, as well...our little baby's all growns up.

This is the one celebrity that I can publicly admit my undying love for without making my wife all yell-and-screamy. Probably because she has a bigger crush on her than I do.

I know most of my readers probably haven't watched a second of this show...trust me, you're missing out. Go back and watch from the beginning...you won't be disappointed. It's one of the smartest, coolest, well-written, well-acted shows around.

Fringemas

Busy...

In the home stretch of the house remodel, so posting is spotty.

Luckily, this coincides with a pretty dead period...the Dawgs are obviously not playing, plus a lot of TV shows are on hiatus until January.

Be back soon with thoughts on Hawks, Falcons, plus a "mid-season" TV report!

Blogosphere united

Wow, I have NEVER seen the entire Interweb community marching in lockstep the way they are over the Chizik situation at Auburn. I have yet to see ONE positive blog post or column regarding the hire. And now, it's starting to take on racial overtones due to the fact that Turner Gill apparently never received an offer (that's per Barnhart). Charles Barkley is on ESPN.com saying race was "the number one factor."

Normally I don't buy into the race card, just because I think it gets played too often. But in this case, I tend to agree. Lining up the two candidates, what reason is there to choose Chizik over Gill? Record? Merit? I'm not seeing it...

This has got to be putting a damper on the recruiting season. We'll see what happens as the staff is filled out. I'm hoping that Stacey Searles' and Rodney Garner's phones get accidentally dropped down a well.

Great news on Idol...

According to TV Guide, American Idol is cutting back a week of the audition rounds, and adding a week to the Hollywood round. Also, no Idol Gives Back this season.

Both of these are EXTREMELY welcome developments, especially the added Hollywood round coverage. Hollywood is always one of my favorite episodes, and I would MUCH rather see the drama and backstabbing of the Hollywood auditions than another week of idiots and retards.

Old School Rasslin' post of the week

Makes me feel old that this might be considered "old school," but it was over ten years ago. In the world of rasslin', that's an eternity.

OSRPOTW this week is one of the greatest sports entertainment performances of all time...enjoy.

What is Auburn thinking?

Being reported everywhere (Doc Saturday, ESPN, Rivals, etc) that Auburn has hired Gene Chizik as their new head coach.

So Tommy Tubs wins an average of 9-10 games a year for around 8 years (as well as going 7-3 against Bama), makes one bad decision (the Tony Franklin debacle) that torpedoes this year. And rather then let this proven quality head coach try and correct his own mistake (I was going to say "turn the program around", but it was ONE BAD YEAR...does that constitute needing "turned around?"), you fire him. With absolutely ZERO backup plan, apparently. You get publicly turned down by guys like Boom Muschamp and Gary Patterson, you inexplicably decide not to hire Turner Gill, you interview guys who obviously have no shot at the job (Patrick Nix and Rodney Garner). And now, you hire GENE CHIZIK. Who is 5-19 at Iowa State. And is currently riding a ten game losing streak.

From Tommy Tubberville to Gene Chizik. That's impressive.

It's funny/sad that this whole thing started with concerns that they were going to be out-recruited by Saban, which led to the Tony Franklin hire. So Gene Chizik is going to ride into town and start cleaning up in the recruiting battles with Saint Nick?

I went to Auburn message board on Rivals and they are in total MELTDOWN mode. Can't say as I blame them.

So as we Dawg fans are wallowing in our "disappointment," we can at least think about UT and Auburn's situation and realize it could be worse.

Much worse.

UPDATE...Blutarsky says it better than I can.

It's Great To Be a Georgia Bulldawg

Attention all Dawgs: If you feel the sudden urge to pick up a mic and bust a rhyme regarding your undying love for Matt Stafford, or the wonders of Willie Martinez's marvelous defensive schemes, please, for the love of Erk Russell...DON'T VIDEOTAPE IT!!!!

I love Rennie Curran as much as the next guy, but I DON'T want to see any of you rapping about him on the YouTubes.

I'm telling you, between this little monstrosity at timtebowsong.com (thanks to Brent for the link)....

**UPDATED WITH VIDEO!!**


And, of course, THIS:


Let's just say I'm still glad to be a Dawg fan, even with the disappointments of this season.

No reason...

...other than I was just thinking about this today.

One of my favorite all time moments from The Office. I think it captures both the hilarity and the heart of this show at the same time. Plus, Andy Bernard is teh awesome.

Smart Football is back

I always learn something reading Chris Brown over at Smart Football.

This week's post about Urban Crier's offense is no exception.

As much as I hate Urban (and trust me, I do), you can't argue the fact that he truly is an offensive genius. I thought Alabama played them about as well as you can play them on defense Saturday night, and there was still no doubt in my mind that the gayters would score touchdowns when they needed to. And that was without Percy Harvin.

Meanwhile, the Sooners continue to hang 60 points on folks like they're playing Playstation. The rest of the BCS matchups may be garbage, but the title game should be a lot of fun.

Old school rasslin' post of the week

When in doubt, it's always safe to go with the Nature Boy...

Hate to give him credit, but...

...this is a very telling quote from Urban Crier. I wonder if he didn't just pass out in jubilation the week leading up the Cocktail Party. From Chris Lowe's SEC blog on ESPN.com...

The first thing Florida coach Urban Meyer does every week when he starts
preparing for a game is check out the opposing team's kickoff return
unit.
He says it's his little ritual every Sunday morning. He does his
television show and then flips on the tape.
"I watch their kickoff return,
and I know exactly what kind of team we're getting ready to play," Meyer said.
"If it's sloppy and disorganized and unmotivated, I get really excited because I
think we're going to beat the mess out of that team.
"If it's a team that's
hungry, works hard and you can tell there's an attention to detail on their
kicking team, then I know we're in for a long day. That means every phase of
their team is going to be very well organized."

Hubris, thy name is Carroll

Is this Pete Carroll's version of "I'll beat you with one hand tied behind my back?"

No news here, but...

...only 50 days until LOST is back!

And...only 45 days until Friday Night Lights and BSG are back, as well!!!

Whoo Hoo!!

Blutarsky did my work for me...

I was planning on doing a lot of research to see how our 2008 opponents fared against us vs. what they did the rest of the year on offense.

The Good Senator did the work for me.

Nothing really shocking, other than that the 49 points the Gayters put up against us was their SIXTH best offensive performance of the year.

Daaaannnnggg.

From about the Alabama game on, our defense was CLUELESS. We gave up 41, 38, 49, 38, and 45 points. And we don't play in the Big 12, either. One of those 38's was Kentucky. KENTUCKY!!

I don't like calling for people's jobs...after all, these guys have families. But this defense has gotten progressively worse since Van Gorder left, and this year was (hopefully) rock bottom. I just think a message has to be sent somehow that this is NOT acceptable at the University of Georgia.

Blown assignments and missed tackles have become the M.O. for this defense. And, I'm sorry, but that has nothing to do with injuries, or the schedule, or any of the other excuses that Coach Richt was throwing out there yesterday.

Pathetic

This season is now an unmitigated disaster.

I love Coach Richt, but if Willie Martinez is still here next year then Richt deserves whatever criticism is thrown his way. We just lost to a much less talented team, and the blame falls squarely on Richt's BFF.

Stafford threw for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns, MoMass had what seemed like 30 catches (both in their last game in Sanford Stadium), and we lose because our defense can't stay disciplined and refuses to wrap up on tackles.

Embarrassing.

So, in this "dream season," we have been embarrassed by our two biggest rivals, and we don't have a signature win for the entire year.

Ugh.

Hate week

I hate Georgia Tech. Like in an irrational way.

I get unreasonably angry when people say things like, "I want Tech to go 11-1, with their loss to the Dawgs, to make the loss hurt more." Not me...I want Tech to go 0-12, with their final loss a 40 point loss to the Dawgs.

I'm not even sure where the hatred comes from...it's just always been there. As long as I can remember loving the Dawgs, I can remember hating Tech. My hatred really ratcheted up, though, in 1997. I got my first computer, and really discovered the internet for the first time. I can remember going on the old Dawgnation.net site after the Tech game (that was the Corey Allen game), and reading post after post from Techies filled with hate, whining, lies, excuse-making...it was pathetic. As much as I disliked them before that game, that just made it that much worse. Then, in '98, I was at Sanford Stadium when they stole a game (Little Joe was NOT DOWN...that was a FUMBLE), and had to walk through a group of techies tearing apart our hedges. I was running a fever of 103 that day, I was miserable, weak, sick as a dog...and I literally had to be pulled out of there by friends in order to keep me from taking on the whole group single handedly. That's the last time I've even been close to being in a fight, and if that situation presented itself again, I don't know that I've matured to the point that the outcome wouldn't be similar.

The Jasper "fumble?" Don't even get me started...

I was also at the 2000 game, and that was the most miserable experience I've ever had in Sanford Stadium. Cold, wet, infuriating. If I could have found my way to Coach Donnan, I would have fired him myself.

I guess what I am trying to say is...while I'd rather beat the Gayters than any other team, there is no team I hate losing to more than the Gnats. (Which reminds me...why would you CHOOSE to name your team after an insect? Really? That's what you want to represent? Yard pests?)

I hate them, and I wish nothing but bad things for the entire program.

And I'm VERY nervous about tomorrow.

As I posted the other day, I don't like our matchup tomorrow, because I think Tech's strength matches up very well with our weaknesses. To play effective defense against the triple option, you need to play disciplined assignment football and not miss tackles. I sincerely hope that during the off week, we have rediscovered the defense that played early this season, and have exorcised the demons that I think have tortured this defense since the game against the gayters. Ever since that game, the defense has just looked tentative to me, like they're scared to get beat...and that's how you get beat.

On the other side of the ball, I think the news is better. Tech has not seen anything like the offense they will see on Saturday. Nothing this balanced, and nowhere near this much talent in their ACC schedule. They are also beat up in the secondary, which bodes well.

I'm going with my heart...Stafford leads a game saving drive in his last game in Sanford Stadium, and the Dawgs win 34-28.

GO DAWGS!!!!

Help on the way?

Check out David O'Brien's blog on Braves pitching phenom Tommy Hanson.

This is impressive:

Including the title game, Hanson finished 5-0 with a 0.74 ERA and stunning
64 strikeouts in 36-2/3 innings, with only 13 hits, 10 walks and three earned
runs allowed.
Please keep in mind he was facing fairly advanced young hitters
only a step away from the big leagues, not Class-A and Double-A lineups that
might have included three or four hitters with little chance of ever seeing a
major league field.

This was AFTER dominating A and AA ball to the tune of 11-5, 2.41 ERA, .175 opponents batting average against, 163 strikeouts and 52 BB in 138 innings. And a 14 strikeout no hitter.

This guy is why we don't have Jake Peavy...the Padres asked for Hanson in return and the Braves said no dice. I can see why.

The first step is admitting you have a problem

Remember when I said that I watch a LOT of television? Beginning Thursday night, through last night (Sunday), I watched:

House
2 episodes of Life
The Office
30 Rock
Numb3rs
The Mentalist
2 episodes of Bones
Grey's Anatomy
My Name is Earl
Life on Mars
Amazing Race
Pushing Daisies
Most of Oklahoma-Texas Tech (I just couldn't look away...like a train wreck, only if it happened OVER AND OVER AGAIN)
Falcons-Panthers

Also, Carrie watched Tropic Thunder and I drifted in and out of that as well.

Now, to make myself feel better, I also cleaned out my gutters, trimmed hedges, made two trips to the dump, did the laundry for my entire family, taught my Sunday School class, directed the music for both services on Sunday...so it's not like I was unproductive. But that is a LOT of television. So I just have to say....thank God for DVR technology!

I'm obviously not going to try and recap all of those...I'll be back later with the highlights (or lowlights, in some instances . I'm looking at you, Izzie).

Oh, and...Happy Hate Week! I will certainly have my thoughts on our little sister to the South, as well.

Dwight's perfect crime

I'll post full thoughts on The Office from last night later, but this was too good to wait...Dwight's description of his "perfect crime":

I break in to Tiffany's at midnight. Do I go for the vault? No. I go for the
chandelier. It's priceless. As I'm taking it down a woman catches me. She tells
me to stop. It's her father's business. She's Tiffany. I say no. We make love
all night. In the morning the cops come and I escape in one of their uniforms. I
tell her to meet me in Mexico, but I go to Canada. I don't trust her. Besides, I
like the cold. Thirty years later, I get a postcard: I have a son, and it's the
chief of police. This is where the story gets interesting. I tell Tiffany to
meet me in Paris by the Trocadero. She's been waiting for me all these years.
She's never taken another lover. I don't care. I don't show up. I go to Berlin.
That's where I stashed the chandelier.

UPDATE: Now with VIDEO!!!

Are you skurred yet?

Anybody watch the Tech game? Yeah...I had Jonathan Dwyer nightmares last night.

You know what the BEST kind of defense is to defend an offense like that? One that plays disciplined assignment football, and tackles well, since missed tackles turn into big plays due to the one-on-one nature of defending this offense.

Yeah. A disciplined, sure-tackling defense. Anybody seen one of those around Athens lately?

I just threw up in my mouth.

YES YES YES...LOST SEASON 5 PROMO

DON'T WATCH THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT SEASON 4 SPOILERS (MOM)!!

All others...watch, enjoy, analyze like the Zapruder film.

What I watched last night

Only one last night...Wednesday night is church night. As always, avoid this post if you have not yet seen the show and you don't want to be spoiled.

Fringe:

**********************SPOILERS**********************************************

Wow...to me, that was the strongest episode so far. I originally checked this show out because it was a JJ Abrams production (he was one of the creators of LOST), and because it starred Joshua Jackson (who I have always liked), Kirk Acevedo (who has been awesome in everything he's been in, including Oz and The Black Donnellys), and Lance Reddick (Matthew Abaddon on LOST and Lt. Daniels on The Wire). That's a pretty good foundation, for me at least. But for the first several episodes, I found myself checking out about halfway through. I may keep it on in the background while I'm doing other things, but it wasn't really holding my attention.

The past two weeks, this week especially, has been a different story. I feel like the show is really hitting its stride. One of the things I love about LOST is the "chill factor." You know, those scenes that give you chills every time you see them ("We're going to have to take the boy," first time you see Locke in a wheelchair, Desmond in the hatch, etc). This week's Fringe finally had a few of those...Walter seeing a version of himself in the asylum (a much more coherent version, at that), the little boy seeing his mother, and then seeing her start to decompose right in front of him, Kim explaining what happened to him as we see the same thing happening to the little boy (whose name I forget...sorry). A VERY enjoyable show, start to finish.

I also like how the Walter/Peter relationship is developing. It's nice to see Peter being a lot more patient with his father, and even proud of him at times. GREAT scenes between them last night...emotionally charged, well written and well acted. I also appreciated him being so protective of him early in the episode, and how worried he was about him throughout.

How about the abductress? Fakes her death, takes in all these coma patients, tries to torture the equation out of them, finally finds success and delivers it to the dirty agent from last week, and.......BLAM!! Thanks for coming!

Another cool part was the fact that the musical notes were translated into a mathematical equation, and vice versa. Very interesting idea. Also, you can tell JJ Abrams is VERY into numbers. I think he holds some belief that numbers/mathematics make up everything around us (based on his work on Alias and LOST), which is certainly a provocative thought. I am a Creationist (obviously, for those who know me), but I believe that God is a God of order (not the author of confusion), and I can see the beauty in the idea that everything can be broken down in an orderly fashion at its most basic level.

I was a little disappointed in the payoff, though...I guess the equation makes solid things non-solid? Pretty cool, sure, but I was expecting something more, considering everything the bad guys were doing in order to obtain the equation (abduction, virtual reality, faked deaths, torture). Maybe there's more to it...it is JJ Abrams, after all.

OK, off to watch some college football....GO CANES!!!

What a bunch of wankers

Thanks to Brent for pointing this out...

You know, I wasn't all that happy about the "Blackout" idea when UGA announced it for the first time last year. I thought it was a gimmick and hokey. But I went, all in black, to support the team and because the players asked us to. They had just beaten the Gayters...I would have worn a geisha outfit if they asked me to (and I would have looked FABULOUS).

For Tech fans, however, the sentiments are apparently different...

Best quote of the article? From a Tech fan...

“I was telling one of my friends that if we wanted to do something
original, we should have a geekout and have a football game at the library,”
Pritchett said, “because that’s where everyone is, anyway. It’d be a guaranteed
sellout.”

AWESOME.

This...is...AWESOME

OK, I stole this from Bill Simmons on ESPN.com, and it may be the single greatest thing I've ever seen on the Interwebs.

A little background...anybody remember Battle of the Network Stars? The Big 3 networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) would all send stars from their shows to compete in Olympic-style events. The winning team would get $20K per member, which in not bad money now and was certainly worth coming out back then. Plus, it was advertising for the shows and for the stars themselves. Howard FREAKING Cosell was the host, which you can just imagine...and the sideline reporter? Bruce JENNER!

On this particular episode, the NBC team, consisting of Robert Conrad and a couple of other folks I don't remember, broke the rules of the 4X100 meter relay by passing the baton out of the passing area. The CBS captain....wait for it...TELLY SAVALAS!!! YESSS!!! is NOT happy about it. What follows is EPIC.

Things to watch out for:
- Epstein from Welcome Back, Kotter...and his MASSIVE 'fro.
- Cosell: "Farrah, baby, I'm not in charge of the RULES COMMITTEE" (how funny is it that this thing had a RULES COMMITTEE?
- Richard Hatch (Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica and Zarek on the new BSG) trying to play peacemaker....to no avail.
- Lynda Carter in short shorts....YAY!!!!!!
- Ron Howard in short shorts....BOO!!!!
- How big a tool was Robert Conrad? Reminds me of those guys in the pickup basketball games who call phantom fouls every time they miss a shot.
- Telly Savalas was one of the coolest guys of all time.

Enjoy...

What I watched last night

Last night, I watched the most recent episodes of Desperate Housewives and Chuck. If you haven't seen these yet, feel free to skip to the next post...

Desperate Housewives: Another pretty good episode...I think the 5 year jump has really helped the show. All of the characters seem fresher, and I would say that even the writers seem to be sharper.

Is it strange that on a show called Desperate HOUSEWIVES that I actually enjoy the guys on this show more than I do the housewives? (Their characters, I mean...I certainly enjoy LOOKING at Eva Longoria Parker and Marcia Cross). Kyle MacLachlan (Orson) cracks me up EVERY time he is on the screen. The scene last night when Bree introduced him to the reporter was perfect. I wish I could find a clip of the look on his face when Bree offered snacks...a mixture of excitement and delight, like he's been waiting ALL DAY for such an offer. HA!!

Rihardo Chavira (Carlos) continues to get WAY too many laughs out of being blind. Last week it was "Yes, the pitch darkness here is much better than the pitch darkness at home." This week it was, "If I could see the exits I'd be running for them."

Gabby earned some points last night by refusing to sell out her kids...Grandma Screwloose is CREEPY. Kudos to Gabby for keeping some things sacred, even at the cost of the nutjob's millions. And my wife disagrees, but she still looks GORGEOUS, even though she's supposedly looking "rough" now.

As for the nightclub scenes...ever notice that the clubs on TV are MUCH quieter than they are in real life? I've never been to a club where I can carry on conversations from ten feet away the way Dave and the Doc did last night, and I don't think I'd want to. Also, didn't a whole bunch of people die in an actual nightclub fire like this not too long ago? As in, there was a fire and nobody could get out because the emergency door was locked? Maybe it was so long ago that they felt comfortable airing it, or maybe it really didn't happen and I'm just losing it.

Every time Susan comes on the screen, I would fast forward if my wife would let me. She annoys the crap out of me, and I can't be bothered to discuss her storyline.

I was glad to see Lynette remember that she's a good person and run back in and save the hussy who's having her son's kid. That is what I like about that character...even though she screws it up sometimes, in her heart she is usually trying to do the right thing.

Bree's scene with the reporter in the club was nicely done...I love it when characters have layers, and I think that is what was missing from last season.

Other than the crap with Susan, this was an enjoyable episode, and it sets up the rest of the season nicely...what did Dave mean when he told Mike "I'm not done with you yet," and with the Doc out of the way who's going to stop him? My money is on the McCluskey sisters.

Chuck: This remains one of the most consistently entertaining shows on TV. GREAT characters, especially Casey (William Baldwin). Last night he was priceless...the bellhop uniform, the "High C," followed by "What? I wasn't HATCHED!" And of course, "I'm not even interested in my OWN feelings, Bartowski, why do you think I'd be interested in yours?"

The old girlfriend thing has been pretty lame and predictable. Who DIDN'T know that this would end up going sideways for Chuck? Jordana Brewster is smokin' hot, though, so I don't mind her hanging around a little longer. Side note: when is Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah) going to get her teeth fixed? She's a gorgeous woman otherwise, but the teeth are distracting. I do find it interesting that they have found lots of ways to get her into various stages of undress this season. That's called "knowing your geek-boy fanbase."

Tony Hale (Emmitt) has been a welcome addition (and I just found out he's a proclaimed Christian - interesting). I love the "dual nature" of the show...the actiony spy stuff, and then the comic relief of the BuyMore. Morgan's conversation with Emmitt about "Buymoria" was hilarious...like Morgan has been thinking about this very topic for a long time. HAH!!

If you haven't checked this show out, do yourself a favor and do so. Consistently funny.

What I'm watching

OK, I told you there may be some different stuff up this week, since the Dawgs are off and I'm trying to figure out what this blog is going to be once football season is over.

I could pretend to be this super-interesting Renaissance man, but the truth is I'm pretty boring. I go to work, come home and be husband/daddy, follow the Dawgs as closely as possible, and watch TONS of TV. So one of the things I'll be doing as football season winds down is keeping up with the various shows I'm watching and giving my thoughts on them as I go.

Fair warning - if you're anything like me, you rarely watch anything live anymore. The DVR (or TiVo) is the second greatest invention of my time, behind only the interwebs. So, if you happen to be perusing my blog and you haven't seen something that I am discussing, you should probably avoid the recap if you want to keep from being spoiled. I am a HUGE Anti-Spoiler guy myself, so I will try to keep that in mind.

Here are the shows I'm currently watching, and will probably be providing thoughts/recaps on. Keep in mind that these are the days the shows currently run on, not the days I watch them, for the most part.

Sunday: Desperate Housewives, The Amazing Race
Monday: Chuck, Heroes, Terminator, Samantha Who (sometimes)
Tuesday: House, The Mentalist, Fringe
Wednesday: Pushing Daisies, Bones (haven't actually started this one...they are backing up on my DVR), Life, Dirty Sexy Money
Thursday: My Name is Earl (sometimes), Kitchen Nightmares (sometimes), 30 Rock, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Life on Mars

Fridays and Saturdays, I catch up on what I've missed over the week, for the most part.

Coming up after the first of the year, I'll be adding:
Lost
Battlestar Galactica
24
American Idol
Dollhouse (probably)
Friday Night Lights

And in the summer, it will be:
So You Think You Can Dance
Mad Men
Psych
Burn Notice (maybe)
Damages
Rescue Me
The Closer

So...feel free to use the comments section. Question my choices/manhood, leave your thoughts on these shows, suggest some others you think I might like, etc.

Why I love football...

Athleticism...



and Brutality.

Observations: Auburn

You know what? I am in no mood to go into a deep discussion of what worked and what didn't on Saturday. You all saw the game, there's nothing new I can tell you. I was there, so I had a birds-eye view. I'll just say this...the last few weeks have reminded me of nothing more than the Jim Donnan era, and those are NOT good times. Great athletes, dumb as rocks. Especially on defense.

Anyway, Doug over at Hey Jenny Slater really nails it this week with his thoughts on the game. I felt EXACTLY the same way watching the guys dance over on our sideline after the game. They were a LOT happier about that win than I was.

I can't add anything to what Doug says, really...the offense played fine, the defense stood up when it had to, but utter STOOPIDITY kept Auburn in the game. Specifically, our "special" teams play (insert short bus, special ed. jokes here) and dumb, moronic penalties. I'm so sick of typing those words. I should just create a macro for "moronic penalties" to use every time I'm recapping a Dawgs game this year.

Yes, I will take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day. Yes, I would rather have Mark Richt as our head coach than ANYBODY else. Yes, we are 5-0 on opponents home field this year, 9-2 overall, hopefully heading for yet another ten win season and a New Year's Day bowl. But what this year says to me is that we are not yet an elite program. This is a good team, not a great one...not by a pretty long shot. And next year there is a 90% chance (in my opinion) that we will be without Stafford and Moreno, the best 1-2 punch we have had at this school in my lifetime. Unbelievable that we will have had both of those guys at the same time and not even PLAYED in the SEC championship, much less won one. I'm afraid that this was the window for this team, and I can't help feeling like they blew it. I'm sure that another window will come along, but when you're NOT an elite program, you're not promised the chance to compete for the MNC on a regular basis.

Sigh.

For a slightly more humorous, but just as apt, description, check out Mackie's take.

This week will probably be a little different. With the off-week, I will probably start experimenting with what this blog will look like once football season is over. I welcome any feedback or suggestions.

As always...

GO DAWGS!!!!!

Old School Rasslin' post of the week

Wow...I miss the 80's.

Nice article on MoMass

Check it out here.

Mohammed has always been a class act, and we will miss him after this year. Sure, he had a "disappointing" sophomore year (I hate using that word about a kid who was 19 at the time), but he has made COUNTLESS big catches, been a true leader both on and off the field, never got into trouble, and has been a guy who has been mentioned many times by the young receivers as the one who has taught them the most (especially AJ Green).

I think he could go on to have a decent NFL career, and he's probably going to be a steal for somebody in the draft.

It's the only thing I don't like about college football...everything seems to go by too fast. Seems like we just started the season, and now there are only 2 regular season games left. Seems like yesterday that I was watching Massaquoi make his debut by skying to grab a DJ Shockley pass against Boise State, and now he's an elder statesman on the team and about to move on.

Maybe I'm just getting old.

Anyway...here's a little MoMass (and Munson) to cheer me up!

This is pretty cool

The funny part is that the guys are all congratulating EACH OTHER.

How do you improve on perfection?

According to this Variety.com article, someone is going to try. (h/t to Hale). Jaden FREAKING Smith? Are you KIDDING ME?

This could be a disaster of epic proportions. In case you have forgotten the genius of the original, check this out and then vainly try to A) NOT go around singing this song all day, and B) NOT kick the next guy you see in the face:



One of the most well-cast movies of all time:
Pat Morita - PERFECT. Wise, funny, mysterious, melancholy, and badass all wrapped up into one.

Ralph Macchio - Somehow was able to make you root for him and, at the same time, understand perfectly why people wanted to beat him bloody all the time. Now THAT is ACTING, my friends.

Elisabeth Shue - I was 10 years old when this movie came out, and I can honestly say that her character, Ali Mills, was probably my first true love. Scrumptious.

Billy Zabka - Come on. Has there ever been a more perfect villain than Johnny Lawrence?

And that's just the main characters. The entire Cobra Kai was perfect: "Get him a BODY BAG!!! YEAHHHH!!!" remains one of my most repeated movie lines to this day. I still say the most improbable part of the movie was when Daniel beats Dutch (the platinum blond dude). And John Kreese just personified evil.

So, again I ask: why mess with perfection?

************************************************************
UPDATE: Apparently Bill Simmons (ESPN'S The Sports Guy) agrees with me:

I'm a little torn because this flagrantly violates one of my Hollywood credos ("nobody should ever remake a movie that's still watchable and holds up"), only I'm the same guy who once wrote that, if we're remaking a movie everyone loved, it should only be remade with an all-black cast to make it a little different. The example I used was "Caddyshack," which bizarrely was remade as "Who's the Man?" with an all-black cast (starring Cedric The Entertainer) and it sucked. So let's dump that idea and stick with my Hollywood credo.

Here's the thing, Will Smith: Your movies have made something like $10 billion. We like you. We want to keep liking you. I just don't see the upside here. Everyone remembers the original "Karate Kid." It's on all the time. Everyone has seen it, and for kids of the '80s like myself, we've seen it 10 or 15 times. OK, 20. OK, 50. OK, I'm in the hundreds. For every male between the ages of 30 and 40 -- and by the way, we're the ones who would take our kids to see this stupid idea -- a "Karate Kid" remake is nothing short of a declaration of war. Really, is Hollywood that cooked? You're out of ideas to this degree? And beyond that, how do you think this makes Macchio feel? Or Zabka? Or Joe Esposito? If you're remaking a "Karate Kid" movie, remake "Kid II" -- that movie could have been good and instead sucked. Give that one another whirl. Or you could even do "Kid III" and delve into the homoerotic tension between Miyagi and Daniel-San a little more; maybe they could decide to get married and instead of the Crane Kick, your climactic scene would be their protest against Prop 8 on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. I don't care. But you can't remake the original "Kid." I can't allow it. The thought of Will Smith's kid feuding with Black Zabka on the soccer field as The Game's hip-hop remake of Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" blares in the background makes me want to kill someone. We can't let this happen.

State of the Defense

As usual, Doc Saturday pretty much nails it.

The big difference between this year's defense and previous Dawgs defenses under Richt/BVG/CWM is the scoring average. This is, obviously, the most important stat, but it is not always the most telling. Special teams breakdowns and offensive turnovers have led to some very short fields in 3 of our biggest defensive debacles (Alabama, UF, and UK).

It was downright disconcerting to hear quotes this week from players about lack of motivation, lack of focus, and lack of discipline. Some of that is certainly coaching, but at some point some of that leadership has to come from the players, and we don't really seem to have that leadership this year. Corvey Irvin appears to be trying to take on that role now, but it's a little late for that.

Like the good Doctor says, there is plenty of blame to go around. Coach Martinez certainly deserves his share...but how much is his share? Only one person gets to answer that question, and that's Coach Richt.

I will reiterate my position...the defense has to get better, fast (duh). But I think Coach Martinez has done enough to deserve another year and a chance to get this thing going again. One of the strengths of our coaching staff under Coach Richt has been its relative stability, and I think the reward of maintaining that stability outweighs the risk that the defense will continue on a downward trend.

Any thoughts?

News on LOST

The premiere date has been set...January 21! And it looks like a 3-hour premiere event, with a one hour recap and then 2 back-to-back episodes! Only 72 days!! Exclamation point!!!!!

SPOILER: DON'T WATCH THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET WATCHED SEASON 4!!!! MOM - THIS MEANS YOU!!!

Thoughts on the Kentucky game

Well that was...frustrating? Nerve wracking? Nauseating? Infuriating? Exhilarating? Seriously, it was like watching two totally different teams, and that really threw me out of whack as far as how I felt about the game.

Let's break it down: (why do I feel like I should be doing a dance solo right here?)

The Offense: A
Were it not for Massaquoi's two fumbles late, this would have been an A++++++++++++++. Virtually perfect game by Stafford. He was 17-27, and would have competed an even higher percentage if we had not been taking several early shots downfield on a very windy day. When the game was on the line in the 2nd half, and the offense had to score on virtually every possession, he was 9-10 for 211 yards and the game winning touchdown. That's clutch, big-time, manly quarterback play.

The receivers played very well all day, outside of Massaquoi's uncharacteristic dropsies. We seem to be having MUCH fewer problems with drops this year. Still happens occasionally, but that's going to be the case with every team.

O-line played decent enough, considering yet ANOTHER offensive tackle was lost to injury. Justin Anderson is out for at least a couple of weeks. Unbelievable.

Knowshon continues to amaze. Both of his touchdowns were just vintage...the first one, he just kept driving his feet and pushed the defense into the endzone with him. On the second one, he twisted, turned, stiff-armed, and basically just refused to give up on the play and got a TD out of it. I'm amazed every game by his balance...it's uncanny.

Overall, the offense was a thing of beauty, a joy to watch...probably the most complete game they've played all year, with the possible exception of the LSU game.

On the other hand...

Defense: D-
Why so high, you ask? Because on three straight possessions in the 4th quarter, including 2 "quick changes" after the fumbles, the defense had to make stops and they did. Before that, I probably would have given them a Q-.

My brother put it best...outside of Rennie Curran and Asher Allen, nobody on that defense looked like they had a freaking clue as to what was going on. They looked LOST.


Our D-line was being DOMINATED at the point of attack, which meant our LB's were dealing with offensive linemen all day, and that's not a matchup our undersized linebacking corp wants.

I was watching the game on tape, thanks to the previously mentioned yard sale last Saturday, and by midway through the 3rd quarter I just started fast forwarding past UK possessions until after they kicked the extra point. It was embarassing, and too painful to watch.

I'm not going to call for Willie Martinez's head on a platter, or even for him to be fired. The man has two SEC championship rings, and enough great performances by his defenses in the past to buy him more leeway than that. I'm just a layperson, and Coach Martinez knows about a gazillion times more about defensive philosophy than I do. I will, however, say this...if we don't have the personnel (read: pass-rushing defensive ends) to run what we normally run effectively, than we have to be willing to change up. I haven't seen that flexibility from Coach Martinez.

I'm also concerned that the running QB/option attack gave us so much trouble. Ummm....what two teams do we have left on our schedule? And what type of offense do they run? Yeah. Exactly.

Special Teams: F
Let's just move on...

Some other random thoughts:

- Glad to see Chapas finally have his hard work rewarded and get a touchdown. Clint Boling's quote (h/t to David Hale's Blog): "I thought he was allergic to the end zone. I'm surprised he didn't drop it." Always nice to have the support of your teammates.

- On the heels of possibly his most complete game at UGA, the issue has to be addressed: Is this Stafford's last year as a Dawg? I would put the chance at about 98.7%. He would probably be a top 5 pick...ask Brian Brohm or Matt Leinart how smart it is to turn that down. Not to mention the fact that, in all likelihood, a new collective bargaining agreement will be in place in time for the 2010 draft, and part of that will be much tighter restrictions on rookie salaries. Which means that Stafford could come back, have a MONSTER year, and still leave millions on the table due to the new salary structure. With the average NFL career being as short as it is, it's tough to ask someone to make that kind of financial sacrifice.

Anything going in the Dawgs favor here? Maybe...if Stafford leaves after this year, he will do so having never even PLAYED in the SEC championship game, much less won it. Maybe he comes back in hopes of winning a championship? Maybe. It's not like he grew up a Dawgs fan or anything, so I don't know how important bringing a championship to UGA is to him, to be honest.

Also...I don't claim to know anything about the financial status of his family. But they do live in Highland Park, which I understand is a fairly affluent part of Texas. Since his family doesn't necessarily NEED the money (but who DOESN'T need an extra $15-20 million?), maybe he sticks around for the fun of it.

He does seem to enjoy college life:


Maybe he listens to guys like Peyton Manning and David Pollack who say that they would take nothing for their senior year now. Maybe.

The smart move, in my opinion? Take the money and run. I hope he doesn't, but there's no way I could advise him otherwise.

- Ah, Raycom...I'll sure miss you. As will AJ Bryant and Josh Anderson.

Thoughts on the Florida game

VERY delayed thoughts on the debacle in Jacksonville...

Well, here's what I was RIGHT about in my pre-game thoughts:

- Neither defense could stop the other team's offense. When the game was still in doubt (all of the first half, into the third quarter), the Dawgs moved the ball up and down the field at will. But, just like in the UT game earlier this year, our socks looked like Swiss cheese we shot ourselves in the foot so often in the red zone. Florida didn't stop us...we stopped ourselves. We should have been tied or even leading going into halftime. Then, after Stafford threw the pick early in the third that the Gayters turned into a 21-3 lead, we could no longer run our offense. Against Florida, you can't come back on them by running the ball, punting, and playing defense, because their offense is virtually unstoppable right now. So, we had to throw in situations where we normally would not, which turned into more turnovers, which turned into more points. The game was lost in the first half when we failed to convert drives into points.

The Dawgs defense played pretty well in the first half, but constant short fields against that level of talent and offensive efficiency overwhelmed them in the second half.

- Penn Wagers' officiating crew stinks. Seriously, why do they keep showing up on my TV at 3:30 every Saturday? They are AWFUL, and even when they aren't missing calls, the games they call are just a mess. Multiple LONG conferences, instant replay reviews that seem to take 10 minutes, etc. There were some crucial blown calls in this one, most notably the obvious offensive pass interference when Louis Murphy pulled the Roller Derby move on Asher and pulled himself past him for the touchdown. But, again, you know what you're going to get when this crew takes the field...blatant incompetence. Unlike a lot of Dawg fans, I don't think Penn and the Gang are out to get us...they're too stupid to be crooked.

Bottom line...Florida is better than we are, but I still don't think they are 39 points better than we are. We bumbled our way to a 21-3 deficit, and that's too much to make up against a team of this caliber.

I hate Urban Meyer.

OK, I'm behind...

Massive amounts of work stuff, as well as yard sales in back to back weeks, has put me behind on posting...I've got TONS of stuff to talk about, so I'll be back later today.

Need a laugh?

You've probably already seen this, but after the events of the last 5-6 days, I figure we could all use a laugh.

Greatest Halloween costume EVAH.

This is great...

From David Hale's blog...for some reason, it always cracks me up that Coach Richt's nickname was "Boca" when he was at The U.

Busy watching Fox News...

...waiting to see whether we now live in a Socialist country or not. I plan on taking part in the looting and riots that will occur tonight regardless of the outcome...no reason I shouldn't at least get a TV out of the deal. "Officer, I'm not stealing...I'm just redistributing the wealth of this evil rich appliance store owner!"

Be back soon with thoughts on the disaster in Jax, the continually astounding Falcons, and some other random thoughts.

Somewhere, Johnny Majors is laughing....and drunk.

Fulmer, out.

Thoughts on the game

Well, the game we were all waiting for finally got here, and it was well worth the wait. That's right...last night was the Hawks home opener! YES!!! It was great to have basketball at Atlanta's Playoff Factory!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!11!!!!1!!1!

Joe Johnson was the MAN, once again. 35 points, including a three point DAGGER with 11 seconds left to put the game away. I love the PA announcer's catch phrase every time he scores..."And now you know." Pretty cool.

Josh Smith had a typical Josh Smith game...one half of not being able to get out of his own way (dumb shots, turnovers, etc) and one half where he plays like Scottie Pippen on speed. Big shots, rebounds, blocked shots...it was like his whole career encapsulated in one game.

Even got some production from the bench...Flip Murray stepped in for an ineffective Marvin Williams and played well and ZaZa continued his aggressive play that started when he went nose-to-nose with KG in the playoffs.

So, we're 2-0...it's a new era for Hawks basketball!!

Oh, the Dawgs played yesterday? I was so caught up in the Hawks game that I was unaware. Did we win?

It's finally here...

This is the one we have all had circled for a full year now. EVERYTHING that we have hoped for, all of the goals that we hoped to achieve...it's all on the line tomorrow. Add that to the fact that it is one of our most hated rivals, in a game between two of the top teams in the country, in one of the most celebrated and historic atmospheres in all of college football, and you have what may be the biggest regular season game in decades for the Dawgs.

Up until recently, I would have actually had Florida 3rd on my "Most Hated Rivals" list, behind Tech and Tennessee. I realized during the week of the the UT-UF game, however, that for the first time ever I was actually rooting for Tennessee. This week, as gametime has approached, I've realized that Florida is REALLY close to passing Tech. All because of one man...Urban Meyer. This guy sickens me. He is an arrogant, hypocritical, whining, lying scumbag. When Spurrier was there, I hated losing to him, but I respected what he had accomplished and was actually entertained by him a lot of the time. There are ZERO redeeming qualities about Urban Meyer. He lies to recruits, he applies discipline to his team only when it does not affect his own goals, he changed his story regarding last year's Celebration in order to sell books, he refers to himself in the 3rd person, he runs up the score unnecessarily...the list could go on and on.

Enough about that piece of trash...on to the game.

No secret here...this one is going to be a shootout. Two of the most prolific offenses in the country, trading haymakers for a full 60 minutes. I don't think either defense is capable of shutting the other one down, but I think the winner will get some big plays from their defense...in fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict another defensive score for the Dawgs. I'm not going to get into a full breakdown of the two teams strategy, strengths and weaknesses, etc...that's been hashed and re-hashed to death this week. I just look for an exciting game, with big time players making big time plays for both sides. I truly believe that if these two teams play 10 times, they probably split the games right down the middle. Tomorrow, I think the Dawgs make enough big plays to win...let's say 42-30. Sound familiar?

Speaking of familiar...I've seen reports that Penn Wagers will once again be the head referee for this game. Look for at least 4-5 blown calls and a minimum of half a dozen personal fouls. What is the SEC thinking let this incompetent crew referee ANY game, much less one of this significance? Even by SEC standards, this crew is subpar, and it would really be a shame to have a game with this much riding on it come down to one of these guys doing something stupid.

I'll leave you with this...early in the week, I was already sick of hearing about and seeing footage of the Celebration last week. However, I watched it again this morning with Scott Howard and Eric Zeier doing the commentary, and I was reminded how fired up I was when it originally happened. I will never forget this moment, and I think we will point back to it in a few years as the moment we turned this series around.

GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never gets old...

Nothing really new to post today, other than make sure you check out Jody's write-up at Viewfrom336.com.

In the meantime, there's always this...



Go DAWGS!!!

Falcons thoughts

Well, the Falcons lost the game on Sunday, but I think that was as expected. Philadelphia is a quality VETERAN team, used to winning, who had an extra week to prepare and was playing at home. At this point in the Falcons rebuilding process, it would have been a huge surprise if they won the game. We did learn a few things, though:

- Matt Ryan is still a rookie, but he is certainly progressing. Philadelphia presented many of the same challenges as the first two teams we lost to, Carolina and Tampa Bay. They were all on the road, and they all possess respected, capable defensive coordinators who like to blitz from a number of different angles and positions and put tremendous physical and mental pressure on a quarterback. This makes it especially difficult on a rookie, who is probably seeing many of these defenses for the first time, and especially at this speed. Ryan was noticeably more comfortable this time around. The INT in the end zone was poor...very underthrown. Other than that, I think he played pretty well in adverse conditions.

- Speaking of adverse conditions...the offensive line is NOTICEABLY weaker when Sam Baker does not play. Not sure what that says more about...the impressive impact that Baker has made as a rookie, or the otherwise mediocrity of this o-line. As a comparison, UGA is now on their 4th left tackle this season, and they are probably playing better as a unit than they have all year, while the Falcons O-line performance is considerably weakened when they lose their rookie left tackle. Hmm.....

- Roddy White is a legitimate big-time wide receiver. That's not anything we learned last week, I just like pointing out that the Falcons FINALLY have a legitimate big-time wide receiver.

- Keith Brooking, on the other hand, is one of the more overrated players in the NFL. Again, not anything new we learned, just something I felt like pointing out. This guy racks up more tackles 7-8 yards downfield than anybody since Junior Seau, and I don't think he could consistently cover ME at tight end. Plus, he's a Techie...enough said.

- The officiating in that game was horrid on both sides. We'll get to the "muffed punt" controversy in a minute, but the personal foul that Philly picked up for a supposed late hit on Ryan was brutal. I guess it was called a late hit...they called it a personal foul, but the guy had his arms wrapped around Ryan by the time he released the ball and then just fell on him. The defender would have had to defy the laws of physics in order for anything else to happen. He didn't hit him high, didn't hit him late...I guess he just hit him too hard. After all, that's what Hines Ward has been fined three times for this season...blocking too effectively. The Powers That Be are sissifying this sport, and it's disgusting.

- Now to the "muffed punt" - yes, the officials blew the call, but what in the world was Adam Jennings doing? Either field the punt or GET OUT OF THE WAY. Otherwise, you are just asking for trouble, and that's what he got. In real-time, I thought the ball touched him, too, so I can't really blame the refs...it was a tough call that they got wrong. But if Jennings had done what he was supposed to do, it wouldn't have been an issue. This guy is horrendous as a punt returner, and I really wish Thomas Brown wasn't injured so that we could see what he can do.

One more thing on that play...the TV announcers were blaming Coach Smith for not having a timeout left with which to challenge the play....ridiculous. He used his timeouts perfectly, and was about to get the ball back with 2:15 left on the clock, decent field position, and the 2:00 warning coming up to stop the clock. There was no way for him to PLAN on the refs blowing a call in that 15 second interval before it became an automatic booth review.

Overall, a tough loss, but not an unexpected one. If we can take care of business in Oakland, we hit the midway point 5-3, and I think ALL Falcons fans will take that...I know I would.

HATE WEEK IS HERE

This is, of course, Hate Week Part 1....part deux is coming the last week of November.

Mom and Dad...don't read this post. :-)

h/t to Dixie Dawg

Now THIS is a football coach...

Mike Smith is doing a GREAT job with the Falcons, don't get me wrong...but I would have LOVED if Mike Singletary had taken the Falcons job.

For those who missed it, 49ers TE Vernon Davis picked up a stupid personal foul penalty, and then was very nonchalant when Singletary approached him about it on the sideline. Singletary ordered him to the locker room, and this was his postgame press conference...classic stuff.

More yoo-toob goodness

Not sure how this turned into "pile on the Vols" day, since this is Florida week, but this was too good not to post.

h/t to Doc Saturday

The only thing UT has going for them right now...

This guy is amazing...sure do wish his dad wasn't a Vol, because he would have been a Dawg otherwise.

Observations - LSU

Well, THAT was fun...really, just an extremely fun game to watch. Big plays on both sides, both on offense and defense.

I said all week to anybody who asked that I thought our offense was on the verge of a breakout game, and I think this one certainly qualifies. Stafford really did look like a top 5 NFL draft pick, with mostly great decisions and some unbelievable throws. The throw he made to AJ on the touchdown, under pressure, was PERFECT, the throw to Demiko in the redzone was a laser, and so on and so on. He also threw ZERO interceptions, made the right decisions on audibles over and over, and just overall looked like a big-time quarterback.

Of course, he got a lot of help. First of all, whatever we are paying Stacey Searles is not enough. I've lost count of how many combinations we have started on the offensive line, we're on our 4th left tackle...and that OL just went into LSU and outplayed one of the best DL's in the country. Stafford was only sacked once, was not even pressured very often, and the Dawgs rushed for 194 yards. This from a line with three freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup. Unbelievable.

What's left to be said about Knowshon? Another jaw-dropping performance. Probably what impresses me the most is his amazing sense of balance. He is constantly bouncing off of defenders, keeping his feet somehow, and picking up extra yardage...about 60 yards of it on his touchdown run, where he bounced off a guy at the line of scrimmage, broke a tackle, and then outran Beckwith (despite Uncle Verne's claims that he "doesn't have great speed" - HA!). Loved the "call me" reference to the LSU student section...for those who don't know, somebody leaked Knowshon's cell phone, and the LSU students started prank calling him until he had his cell phone turned off in the middle of the week. They pulled the same stunt with Tebow last year, and he made the same gesture...those cajuns are slow learners.

Defense was kind of a mixed bag...gave up a lot of yards and points, but also made lots of big plays, including Gamble's pair of TD's. There was some poor tackling, even a couple of misses by Rennie, which you NEVER see. A lack of blitzing that would be disturbing if I hadn't been watching a Willie Martinez coached defense for the past several years. Overall, probably a C+ effort, and one that will have to be improved on next week.

Some other random thoughts...
- I would pat myself on the back for getting a couple of my predictions right (pick 6 for a touchdown, at least one big TD pass off of an LSU blitz), but I was nothing compared to Gary Danielson. Don't know if you noticed, but he called three of the touchdown plays before they happened: the screen pass LSU scored on, and both the fade and the QB draws that we scored on. Pretty impressive stuff...that is what makes a good analyst.

- Poor Shaun Chapas still hasn't scored a touchdown. Last week, he catches a pass, takes it all the way down to the 1, and then we hand it to Southerland for the cherry-pick touchdown. Then, this week, we go with three FB at the goal line...and hand it to Munzenmaier. Chapas continues to play well, and hopefully he'll be rewarded soon with a TD.

- How about the cajones of Blair Walsh? Freshman kicker, on the road in one of the loudest and most hostile environments in the country, and he nails a big 50 yard FG right before the half. Last week's struggles obviously didn't affect his confidence, which is a great sign.

- The message board negativity I've seen on the Dawgvent and Dawgrun is a little frustrating. This was a great win, against the defending national champs on the road in the SEC. Why do people want to find things to complain about in the aftermath of a win like that? I think that the message boards and sports talk radio have created an atmosphere where people think you only sound intelligent if you are being negative. Yeah, the defense could have played better, but the track record of this coaching staff speaks for itself, in my opinion.

It's great to be a Georgia Bulldawg...bring on the Gators!!!