ACC Post Mortem

For those who don't know (and really, you should), Matt Hinton, former curator of the now-defunct Sunday Morning Quarterback, is now getting PAID, yo. He has taken his considerable skill over to Yahoo sports in his new blog, Dr. Saturday. Same tremendous output, new lame blog title.

Today, he is commenting on the horrible, embarrassing performance of the ACC this past weekend. Remember when Miami, BC, and Virginia Tech all joined the ACC and they were supposed to be the new superconference? Well, the #1 team in that conference just got annihilated by a mid-level SEC team, which is what Bama is until they prove otherwise. Meanwhile, if not for Mississippi State laying an egg against Derek Dooley's boys, the SEC would have been undefeated this week. Come on, Croom, step it up!

Regardless, check out Dr. Saturday...the amount and quality of posts are unrivaled...especially by me. Seriously, why are you still here?

Some leftover thoughts from yesterday...

Usually after a 24 hour cooling down period, I feel differently about the game from the day before. Not so much this time. I do feel a little better about the performance of the defense after being reminded that all of the touchdowns came after we were already up 38-0, but they did allow the Eagles to venture within our ten yard line two other times on long sustained drives before the INT and the missed field goal. We were just not nearly as dominant on D as I thought we should be. The good news is that I don't think the guys on defense were real happy with that outcome, either...look for them to tighten up next week.

Other than that, this was one of those games where we jumped out early and then seemed to lose interest a little. I would have preferred to see the team keep their foot on the gas emotionally, even with the reserves out there, but I'll take 1-0...only 13 more to go!

Looks like Owens is definitely out for the year...we need to get Weston back as soon as possible. Until then our two deep is Atkins, Irvin, and...who? Tyson? Wood? Crawford? Even when Weston does come back, we will most likely be counting on a true freshman in the 4-man rotation, unless Wood or Crawford steps up what have been pretty nondescript performances up to this date. Certainly not a death blow...most teams DON'T have top-tier quality among their top 4 DT. But this team did, until yesterday.

How about Bama last night? That was some good old fashioned, line up and hit you in the mouth, SEC football...and Clemson was NOT equipped to handle it. Halfway through the 2nd quarter, that Tiger team wanted nothing else but to get OUT of that dome as quickly as possible. Very poor job by the Clemson coaching staff, I thought. I mean, Bowden said going into the locker room at the half that they were being outworked, and that the Bama players were hungrier...so they came back out in the second half and played EXACTLY the same. What exactly did they talk about in there at the half? Not that it would have necessarily made much of a difference, but I would have expected to see at least a little more fire out of that team in the 2nd half.

It was nice to see the supposed best team in the ACC being dismantled by maybe the 5th best team in the SEC. Is it too late to take the automatic bid away?

Most impressive team to me yesterday was USC. Let's get on a plane, fly all the way across the country, take the field in what is really an early game for us (noon PST), and COMPLETELY destroy a team that actually was a bowl team last year. That sounds like fun. But then again, what conference was that bowl-level competition from? Oh yeah, that's right...

Old school rasslin' post of the week

Missed this yesterday...I was a little distracted. I probably need to move this weekly feature away from Saturdays, huh?

This one is LONG, but for guys my age this one will really bring back memories...The Four Horsemen with JJ Dillon vs. The Road Warriors with Paul Ellering, Dusty Rhodes, and Nikita Koloff in the first ever WarGames match. Enjoy the carnage...

Observations - GSU

If you asked Dawg fans what they hoped the team would accomplish against Georgia Southern, I think most of them would have said, A) Look sharp, and B) Stay healthy. I would say they were about 70% effective on the first one, but the second one is not looking very likely. Here is my take on the game:

THE GOOD:

• The #1 offense looked sharp. When the #1 offense was on the field, they seemed to move the ball at will. Stafford was very accurate with the ball, made good decisions, and was generally the play maker/field general we need him to be. Knowshon was a man among boys...I don't think he was brought down by the first or possibly even second defender he encountered all day. The o-line was good enough...a lot of big holes, I don't remember a sack, and a lot of plays ended up with our o-lineman laying on top of GSU defenders. I remember particularly the screen play that Moreno took for about 40 yards, GSU defenders were being eliminated from the play all over the screen...it was a beautiful thing to see.
• We played a LOT of guys. There were a lot of guys out there in the 4th quarter that I had never even heard of, especially along both lines of scrimmage. Logan Gray flashed the athleticism that will bring an added dimension to this offense once he is the guy at QB (which I think he will be sometime in the next two years). He was even out there once to return punts, but they kicked it out of bounds...obviously scared of the white quarterback returning punts. TONS of wide receivers played, too many to even keep track of. Good to get some guys some game experience, and it was nice to see some of the 5th-6th stringers get what is probably the only action they will see on the field all year.
• The freshmen. We played a lot of freshmen, and many of them were very effective. AJ Green showed signs of the playmaking ability we get to witness for at least the next three years...the first catch he had was a pure mismatch where he just ran by his guy on a skinny post and then caught a PERFECT pass from Stafford. The TD catch was a very athletic play where he had to twist his body and leap to catch the ball...very nice. Both Caleb King and Richard Samuel got plenty of carries and they were both very effective when they got any blocking at all. Samuel is definitely more of a north-south guy, and when he sees the hole he hits it running downhill. As for Caleb, he made several right-analog stick type moves, and generally looked like the big-play tailback we were all hoping for. Marcus Dowtin made several plays, DeAngelo Tyson was able to get in a tackle or two, and Blair Walsh...well, he deserves his own bullet point.
• Blair Walsh looks like the real deal. Yes, I know it was just GSU, and it's not like the game was on the line or anything, but he stepped out there for his first game-situation kick, from a LONG 52 yards out, and promptly blasted the ball right down the middle, into the stands. Perfect on PATs, and effective on kickoff...I just wish the coaching staff would let him blast the ball through the endzone every time like he did on the opening kick.

THE BAD:

• ELEVEN penalties. Absolutely unacceptable. We HAVE to play a lot smarter than that. It would be one thing if they were penalties of aggression, but it was stupid stuff. Offsides, false starts, lining up wrong...sloppy. I like what Zeier said on the post game. You may say it's "typical first game problems," but this team should not be striving to be typical...we are looking for this year to be SPECIAL.
  
• The defense didn't dominate. Against a team like this, the defense should have overwhelmed them with speed, power, and numbers. That did not happen, even before we emptied our bench in the second half. The first team gave up two touchdowns, and needed an INT in the end zone and a missed field goal to keep it from being worse. The d-line, especially, disappointed against the run...they seemed to be out of position a lot, either because they over-pursued or because they got blocked out of the play. That should not have happened today, at least not against the first team.
• Jeff Owens' injury. If I was doing the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, this would have been the only item in the Ugly. We haven't heard anything definitive yet, but all the quotes from the staff and players lead me to believe that this could be a long-term thing. This one will really hurt...the depth at DT is one of the things I really loved going into this season, and it looks now like a huge cog in that depth may be gone. I know that we can plug Weston in, probably next week, but it hampers our ability to continually rotate guys in and out, which was really going to help us make it through this brutal schedule by keeping guys fresh and healthy in the middle of the line. Dawgspeed, Jeff....Dawgspeed.

I know I'm forgetting some stuff, since this is all pretty top of mind. Overall, I was actually pretty pleased. I don't think you can really learn anything about your team for certain in these type games. I think it actually works out pretty well...it was a dominant enough win while still giving our coaching staff plenty of ammo to keep the team from feeling too good about themselves.

OK, off to cheer on the Tide...SEC SPEEEEEEEEEEEED, BABY!

GAMEDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally...I didn't think it would EVER get here.

GO DAWGS!!!!!!!

Uga VII revealed...

...apparently for real this time.

Here is the link to the story and pictures on Georgiadogs.com.

Ummm...what just happened?

Oh. My. Goodness.


This little bit of brain-blowing stereotype affirmation is apparently Tech's new pre-game video. I NEVER want to hear Dawg fans complaining about Teenage Wasteland again.

Dr. Lou

OK, first the pep talks, and now this...Lou Holtz is now officially the best thing about ESPN's college football coverage. I NEVER thought I would say those words.

Things I observed last night

Good googly-moogly, it was great to have college football back last night.

Some observations:

- Tommy Beecher will NOT be the starting quarterback that we face on Sept.13. I know, I'm really going out on a limb there. Seriously, if you made a list of "Ways to Make Steve Spurrier Hate Me," I believe Beecher would have hit every one of them last night except "Take the field wearing Red and Black." Horrible decisions, taking off and running at the first sign of trouble, and the worst one, missing open receivers. You know it just kills Spurrier when one of his ball plays works perfectly, he's got a man wide open...and his QB overthrows him by four feet. Saw a lot of that last night.

- South Carolina doesn't scare me as much now as they did this time yesterday. The offensive line really struggled to make holes and keep their QB upright, and that was against NC State. Our DL should be able to wreak havoc.

On the defensive side of the ball, even though they pitched a shutout they seemed to struggle with the same type running plays that we like to call...misdirection/draw type plays. This is an area where they can be coached up to stay in their gaps and hold to their assignments, and you know they have the talent, but I feel pretty good about our ablility to move the ball on the ground against them. Just don't run right at Brinkley...make him chase, and I think we'll be in pretty good shape.

Overall...least impressive 34-0 win EVAH!!!

On the Tech game:
- Paul Johnson's offense still works against 1-AA talent.

- Tech's new uniforms are UGLY. I thought maybe they would look better on the field than they did when they were unveiled originally, but I was incorrect. It doesn't help that the helmets no longer match the uniforms in any way.


Haven't watched the Falcons game yet, it's on my DVR. From the reports I've seen and heard, it doesn't sound like DJ did anything to LOSE the job, even if it wasn't always pretty. 50% completion rate (after a 1-6 start), no turnovers and a touchdown sounds pretty solid. Final cuts are tomorrow.

One more day to go!! Can't believe it's finally here!!!!!!!

GO DAWGS

Some love from the WorldWide Leader

Chris Low, who BTW does a very good job as the SEC blogger at ESPN.com, lists the top 25 things he's looking forward to this year here.

Quite a bit of love here for the Dawgs, including the top three...

1. Larry Munson's call to arms: Munson's legendary voice sends the Georgia fans into a frenzy at Sanford Stadium just before the team hits the field with his "Glory, Glory to old Georgia" montage. Munson is truly an SEC treasure, and it's great to see him back for another season of calling Georgia's home games.

2. Pregame warm-ups for the Florida-Georgia game: Think there might be some jawing going on? The anticipation for this one is off the charts. Can't Nov. 1 go ahead and get here?

3. The first touchdown in the Florida-Georgia game: A wild end zone celebration a year ago after scoring the first touchdown turned the Bulldogs' entire season around. What can we expect this time?

19. Georgia's Tasmanian Devil: Sophomore linebacker Rennie Curran is listed at 5-foot-11, but he's probably closer to 5-9. It doesn't matter, because he's one the surest tacklers in the league. If he gets his hands on you, you're toast.

AMEN to all four of these...and then, just because..

16. Ric Flair on the sideline at Williams-Brice Stadium: The Nature Boy and the Head Ball Coach are buds.

WHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More video

I promise, I plan on this blog being more than just poaching video from PWD over at Georgia Sports Blog, but this one was just too good...it was obviously done a couple of years ago, but there are a lot of GREAT memories here.


UPDATE...here's part 2. At least I got this one up before PWD did!

We were bamboozled!

All of the talk regarding Knowshon returning punts has died down, and now it looks like the Carlton Thomas/Logan Gray talk wasn't entirely accurate either. According to the depth chart released yesterday, Asher Allen and Prince Miller are listed as 1-2 at punt returner. I think Asher is electric with the ball in his hands, and I love this decision.

I was glad to see that Knowshon won't be our regular punt returner. I wouldn't mind seeing him out there doing it every once in a while, but I never could get comfortable with the idea of him standing back there 4-5 times a game with the other teams gunners bearing down on him, no matter how many logical arguments I saw that argued for having him back there. The only time I almost changed my mind was when I found out that I was in agreement with Terrence X on the issue, but even that horror did not sway me. I mean, we've all seen Knowshon play...is there any real chance that he's going to be calling for many fair catches?

As for the Logan Gray experiment, I was excited about seeing him on the field in any capacity...still am. He seems to be very quick, and he has great speed, at least based on the scouting video and his performance in the G-Day game. I wouldn't be surprised if he did get some shots returning punts early in the season, and I'm pretty sure we'll see him in other special teams responsibilities.

I still think Carlton Thomas is the future for this team at PR/KR, but it's always nerve-wracking to have a true freshman fielding punts.

Three more days!

More love for the Gators

Love it...

Thanks, Josh, for the clip..

THREE MORE DAYS

This is my SECOND favorite clip from the Florida game last year, in large part due to Scott Howard's call. There is certainly no doubt in my mind that he will be and should be the man to attempt to replace Munson in the coming years.

h/t to Paul Westerdawg for the clip.



GO DAWGS!!! LEAVE NO DOUBT!!!

I think I just sprained my brain

If there was ever any doubt that Chris Brown over at SmartFootball is the man, well check this little doozy of a post out. Pack a lunch.

SmartFootball drops some knowledge.

More get ready stuff...

From the AJC, via Brent.

Fun interview with Matt Stafford.

Link

GET READY!!!

Thanks to the mix-master, ugamummmmmmmmmmmmrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaa.

h/t, as always to Georgia Sports Blog.

Disgraceful

THIS is an utter disgrace.

This is the kind of crap that makes me wonder how much longer we are going to remain the "lone superpower" in the world. It seems that more and more, the trend in this country is to punish achievement and promote mediocrity. It's one of the reasons I love football so much, I think...it's one of the few places left where you still hear words like competition, toughness, will, strength, hard work, accountability...I know, I know, I'm starting to sound like Lieutenant Kendrick.

I feel bad for the kid, for his parents, but most of all I feel sorry for the children who have the misfortune of having these cowards as parents. Thank God I had no such disadvantage...my Dad's advice if I had to face this kid would have been something along the lines of "Do your best, and if that's not good enough, work hard and get better." Not, "This guy is too good, so he shouldn't be allowed to play." This story makes me very angry and very sad.

OK...back to your regularly scheduled game week programming.

Get fired up...it's game week!

Those of you who were there know what I mean...this is EXACTLY how I remember the Blackout entrance. Anticipation, wondering will they or won't they, slight disappointment when the captains come out (you can actually hear somebody near the camera here say "Nope, we're in red" at about the 0:26 mark)....and then absolute delirious, glorious pandemonium.

Great read on Stafford

...although THIS particular line in the article has a sort of "Chuck Norris" quality to it.

When Matthew was about 4, he noticed that a sweep on a television game
failed because the tackle did not pull. Two seconds later John Madden repeated
that analysis on the broadcast.

That part seems a little hard to believe, but the article itself is an interesting insight into Stafford's growing up in Friday Night Lights country.

Here is the link.

$EC

Wow...check this out from PWD at Georgia Sports.

He covers all of the high points, but here are a few of my favorite parts:

ESPNU becoming part of the basic cable package...I already pay extra for the Sports Tier with Comcast, and I still didn't have ESPNU.

These two lines:

With this cash infusion, we could essentially buy out Georgia Tech and sell
their program for spare parts.

Also, the last Notre Dame / NBC contract was rumored to be worth $9 million a year. Their recent extension of the deal to 2015 doesn't have announced terms. But how much better can it really be than the $15-17 million per team deal that the SEC teams just inked?In other words, does Mississippi State now have a more lucrative TV deal than Notre Dame? (ht - Matt at SportsCrack for that question)

Good news on the Falcons front

Matt Ryan is named the game 1 starter.

As I've stated before, I wasn't in agreement with this pick when it happened, but I understood why they made it. They needed a quarterback in this draft, because next year's QB draft class looks pretty weak (outside of a certain young man from Highland Park, TX) and they thought Matt Ryan was far and away the best in his class.

Now that he's here, he needs to be on the field. It would be one thing if we were looking to make a playoff push and we were afraid the rookie QB might cost us a chance at a playoff spot. This year is all about building for the future, and that future is not JoChris Redmington.

Different take on the S-word

Finally, somebody gets it.

DEPTH

David Hale of the Macon Telegraph is doing an outstanding job covering the Dawgs here. One of the regular features that he has been running has been looking at players who may not necessarily start or get a lot of attention, but who he believes will play a key role in the upcoming season. These are all good reads, and you should check them out if you're a UGA fan...the most recent ones are Kade Weston and Tony Wilson. Jody Yarborough is doing a similar series here.

What strikes me about these series is what I believe is one of the primary reasons this is going to be a very special season for the Dawgs...we have more quality depth right now than I can EVER remember. Just look at the depth charts at places like DT, DE, RB, CB, and especially WR and LB. Even on the OL, where there has been an awful lot of hand wringing by a lot of scribes talking about the Dawgs, you're still looking at Tripp, Vance, Davis, Glenn, and Boling (after suspension) with backups like Josh Davis, Bean Anderson, Ben Jones, Tanner Strickland, and Ben Harden. Most if not all of these backups would probably be starters at most SEC schools (with the exception of UT...that OL scares the bejeezus out of me).

I think this is one characteristic of this team that is being sorely overlooked by the college football "experts" over at the World Wide Leader. They look at us losing Trinton and having some early suspensions/injuries, and they say there's no way the Dawgs can overcome that. They don't bother to look deep enough to notice that the folks we are plugging into these roles are players of the highest quality. They look at the schedule and say there is no way we can run that gauntlet. They don't notice that we have the key ingredient to having the best shot at doing so...the ability to rotate players in at virtually every position that would be starters at 98% of Div IA schools, and therefore have a better shot at keeping those players fresh.

I'm not saying that the "obstacles" being talked about by much of the media aren't real. If the Dawgs run through this year with the amount of success we are all looking for, they will certainly have earned every accolade that will be thrown at them. I just think that of all the pieces needed to overcome these obstacles, we have possibly the most important one. This team is DEEP.

LEAVE NO DOUBT!!

Funny commercial

Love this commercial...oh, no you dinn't!

Offensive line finalized

Per the practice reports from today, the OL is set for the GSU game:

LT - Tripp
LG - Vance
C - C. Davis
RG - Glenn
RT - J Davis

I gotta think that Boling ends up in one of those spots on the right side after his one game suspension. I would have said RT, but with a true freshman lining up at RG for the first game, maybe he fills that spot when he comes back.

I think what may end up happening by mid-season is that freshman Ben Jones improves enough to step in at center, allowing C Davis to move to guard, where I think he is more comfortable, and Boling is the RT. I'll take my chances with Tripp, Vance, Jones, C Davis, and Boling and have a good shot of whipping you.

Practice report from UGASports is here.

From the same report, Coach Richt sounds pretty pleased with the way the team has looked in both of the last two practices. Good tempo, great attitudes, and the team was actually excited about going full speed Friday after Thursday's scrimmage. I believe the GSU Eagles are in for a VERY long day next Saturday. I think the team has heard all of the national media pooh-poohing them ever since they were named #1, especially after Sturdivant's injury. I think they are as sick of hearing about have they have no shot against that schedule as we are. I think they are tired of hearing about the injuries, the suspensions, the ridiculous notion that we have a behavior problem on this team, etc, etc, and I think they are going to EXPLODE on the Eagles Saturday.

If I were in charge of picking the team motto, I would say this...LEAVE NO DOUBT.

Less than one week now...our long wait is almost over!

Weekly Old School Rasslin'

Quick Falcons thoughts

I thought they played pretty well, actually. I really like the game plan of short passes and running game, to keep our defense off the field. I think our big plays this year will probably come from the running game/screen passes. We need to go downfield occasionally just to keep the defense honest, of course, but until Ryan gets comfortable I like what we're doing.

Ryan missed a couple of sure touchdowns at the end of the half...two good play calls, great routes, and the passes were just overthrown. Maybe got too excited? I think those plays will come as he gets more experience.

Great to see Thomas Brown get in the end zone, and he looked good on KO return, too.

That was the best I've EVER seen Adam Jennings return punts.

Defense as a whole played a good game. I continue to be impressed by Grimes...where did this guy come from? Coach BVG put together a good game plan, which is something to watch for this year. I always thought he was an excellent game planner, and few were better at halftime adjustments when he was with UGA. If you had success running something against him in the first half, you better be ready to do something else in the second.

Overall, I was encouraged...most of the things I posted earlier about things I wanted to see were pretty evident. I still think 5 wins is a realistic expectation. I feel good about the future and direction of this team, as we rinse off the stink of the last couple of years.

Falcons expectations

Just curious...what do those of you out there in my no doubt rapidly growing audience (thanks for adding me to your Blogroll, Mack!) see as realistic expectations for the Falcons this year?

Here are the things I hope to see:

- Competitive play. I honestly do not care about wins and losses this year. I just want to see the team compete and look like they belong on an NFL field. I think 5 wins is probably a fairly realistic goal, but I don't know that they'll get there. Let's at least go down swinging.

- A new attitude. Over the last couple of years, this hasn't been a really "rootable" team, with few exceptions (Warrick Dunn the most notable example). We have lopped off a lot of dead weight over the last year or so in terms of veteran guys who didn't always seem to be buying into the whole "team concept" (I'm looking at YOU, D Hall, Alge, and most recently Joe Horn). The veteran guys who are left have a huge responsibility in teaching the young guys who have replaced them what it means to be an NFL player...the effort that has to be given at ALL times, the professionalism, not to mention the little things fundamentals-wise that take you to the next level, from serviceable to good or from good to great. Guys like Keith Brooking (even though he's a mustard jacket), John Abraham, Lawyer Milloy are good guys to have around for things like that, and from what I've seen from the coaching staff, I expect this team to resemble the professional teams of Dan Reeves moreso than anything we've seen from them since.

- Thomas Brown returning kicks. I love this kid, and seeing him on the roster and playing a significant role will begin to erase the horrid memory of the Hines Ward debacle (I mean, come on...JAMMI FREAKING GERMAN?) The Falcons seem to have moved away from their inexplicable avoidance of UGA players (Tony Taylor, Martrez Milner, Brown, Shockley), but it's going to take a LOT to wash that particular bad taste out of my mouth.

As for DJ, I'd love to have him in town, but I don't know if that's the best thing for him. The Falcons just drafted a QB #3 overall...that's their QB of the future. Since we should be starting a rookie (more on that in a minute), the 2nd stringer will probably have to be a veteran guy (most likely Redman). It may be better for DJ to get a chance to go somewhere where he can play, rather than holding a clipboard.

- Matt Ryan at starting QB from day one. I was not on board with this pick...I wanted Dorsey. But I will be the first to admit that Thomas Demitroff has forgotten more about evaluating college talent than I will ever know. So, we've made the pick, we've spent the money...let's put him in there, let him learn the ropes, take his lumps, and build for the future. It does us no good to have JoChris Redmington back there. What, are we going to win 5 games instead of 4? If Ryan's not mentally strong enough to go through that process, he's not the right guy, anyway.

Offensively, I think we may be better than a lot of people expect, as long as Ryan doesn't completely wet his pants. However, that defense....yuck. LB is the only place that can't be called a disaster, in my opinion. Jamaal Anderson does not seem to know how to play DE at this level (thanks, Rich McKay!), which means that John Abraham (when healthy) will be facing constant double teams. I like Grady Jackson, but he's a run stopper, not somebody who is going to get pressure on the QB. All of that means this...our VERY young and inexperienced secondary is going to be asked to cover NFL receivers for a LONG time. Not good.

We need to run the ball with Michael Turner/Jerious Norwood, keep it simple for Matt Ryan and try to shorten the game for our defense. Come up with a big play or two on special teams, and maybe we squeeze out 5 wins.

Thoughts?

Eight days to kickoff...AJ Green day

Who has 8 inch pythons, runs like a gazelle, and catches everything thrown in his zip code?

THIS GUY....




Happy AJ Green Day, everybody!

The Heidi Game, part deux?

Anybody got a reasonable explanation for this?

UPDATE: Never mind...AJC has updated the story. Has to happen, due to the game not being sold out.

Are...you...READY????

I can't stand this guy

Check out this excerpt from Chris Low's (ESPN) interview with every Falcon fan's favorite guy, Bobby Petrino (with my comments added):

How much do you think your image has been tarnished by the way you left the Atlanta Falcons before the season was over, and is that something you've spent much time thinking about?

BP: I feel like my image is important. There's no question about that. (That's a little strong...is there really NO question? - sg) I've worked hard at it in the state of Arkansas and the people that are important to the University of Arkansas. I certainly feel like the situation in Atlanta and all the criticism afterward ... that some of the criticism was warranted. (Really, Bobby? You think SOME criticism of a man who backstabs a man who is bending over backwards to be good to him, and then sneaks away in the dead of night because he's too much of a coward to face the men who have sweat and bled for him...you think SOME criticism of such a man is warranted? - sg)The timing of the whole deal was something you don't wish on anybody. (I love this...this wasn't WISHED on you Bobby, it was a situation YOU CREATED! - sg) But the people that know me and the people that take the time to get to know me understand where I'm coming from. (This one's too easy...since when do you stay in one place long enough for anybody to "take the time" to get to know you, Bobby? - sg)

If you could have done one thing different about your exit in Atlanta, would it have been telling the players personally and not leaving notes for them on their lockers?

BP: Yes, absolutely ... if you could have. But there was just no way. It was a situation where you couldn't do it. There was no way to have it work out that way and still have it work out here. (Sorry, but this is a big steaming pile. Does he really expect us to believe that if he stayed with the Falcons ONE MORE DAY, just long enough to man up and face his players in person, that Arkansas would decide to go another direction? Bull stinky. - sg)

Many of your players over the years have said your coaching approach is more business-like and no-nonsense. How much has that changed over the years?

BP: A big part of coaching in college is to get young kids in here at 17 and 18 years old and help them grow up and be able to face what's in front of them when they're done playing. We do approach the game as a business. We do approach our practice and all of our meetings that way, but I've certainly had a lot of players walk through that (office) door with things bothering them. That's one of the fun things about college coaching, all the different things that come up. (I shudder to contemplate my child going to this scumbag for advice. Also...young people come to your door with problems, and that's "fun" for you? What kind of psycopath is this guy? - sg)

Do you think you're a better communicator than you've been painted to be?

BP: I don't know how I've been painted, but I think I'm a good communicator. I think I communicate real well. (OK, first of all..."real well?" Is that irony, including a grammatical error while discussing how well you communicate? I always get confused about what irony is...hold on, let me ask Alanis...
Second of all, EVERYBODY who I have heard talk about this guy says he's a HORRIBLE communicator. Really, that's what counts...if you are a good communicator, someone other than you will think so. - sg)

How many prospects' homes have you gone into where they quizzed you about the Falcons' situation?

BP: I'd guess probably just about everybody I recruited last year asked me about it. It came up continually, but they felt good about the way it was answered. We had a great recruiting class. I'm very fired up about the freshmen we have. Unfortunately, a lot of them are going to be playing. But it's a great class to build around. (Let me rephrase for ya, coach: "Everywhere I go, people want to know if I'm as big a scumbag as they've heard. I was able to squirm around the answer well enough to convince a lot of them that I'm only about HALF as big scumbag as they had heard...luckily, most of my recruits and their parents aren't real bright, ya know? So we got a lot of suckers coming in...I need to go ahead and play them this year, because who knows if I'll even see their sophomore year? Whoever the next guy is is sure going to have some talented, although kind of gullible, guys, I'll tell you that! WHOOOOOOO!!! PIG!!! Ummmm...what's the next part again?" - sg)

When you're going to play as many freshmen as you are this year, what's critical?

BP: That as a coaching staff we're patient and don't ask them to do too much and everybody understands that we have to get better each week in practice. I've always believed that winning is the end result of doing everything right in practice. (Actual answer...trying not to get too attached to them, since I'll likely only know them for a year or so. That way when I quit on them via laminated ditto paper, it might not tick them off as bad, ya know what I'm sayin'? - sg)

Don't you think your interviewing for the Auburn head job while Tommy Tuberville was still the head coach (in 2003) also factors into that image of you being a nomad?

BP: Yes, it probably does. But the only thing I can do anything about now is what happens from here. (Yes, the fact that you backstabbed yet another fellow professional is nothing you can change now...we just have to wait and see who the next victim is, don't we? - sg)

Great stuff

There is of course a big post coming soon about everything I love about college football, but stuff like this is certainly the kind of story that makes the sport great. It's not unique to college football...I've read similar stories like this related to baseball, as well. But down here in God's country, this type of story really rings true in regards to how we feel about our college football teams.

DARRYL!!! What are you THINKING???

If you go away, who is going to keep Michael up to speed on the latest African American lingo?

I find it interesting that he "appreciates" the opportunity to have his charges dropped, but he never actually admits that he made a mistake or vow to get clean and never do anything like this again. That doesn't bode well for his future.

Oh, well...dinkin flicka, man. Dinkin flicka.

A new thing I don't like...

Too many new rules like this one...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3544920

I understand we want to protect players. But this is football, not line dancing. If we keep making plays illegal that have the potential to cause injury, Rennie Curran is going to have to start picking Tim Tebow up and laying him gently on the turf so as not to bruise his sensitive, cherubic flesh.

What DON'T I like?

Pre-season college football polls. It's one of the few things I don't like about college football.

Here's why I'm not a fan:

Everybody seems to approach them differently. Some people view them as a sort of "power poll" where they rank the teams based on their relative strengths, the "who would beat whom if they played on a neutral field" approach. BTW, if pre-season polls are going to be done, then this should be the premise, in my opinion. The problem with this scenario is that very few who put these polls together have a really good picture of what a team is going to look like after attrition, injuries, new freshmen, new coaches, etc.

Others view pre-season polls as a predictive tool. They look at the returning teams, and try to predict where they will finish based on the returning team, schedule, etc. This approach is the most frustrating to me as a fan, especially since I'm a Georgia fan. I've heard several pollsters use this rationale for ranking the Dawgs anywhere from 3rd to 7th, even while acknowledging that the Dawgs may be the most talented team in the country. The reason this is frustrating is because you KNOW that if the Dawgs lose, these same pollsters will be dropping them in the polls, which means they are effectively punishing the Dawgs twice...once because they anticipate a loss, and then again for the loss that they anticipated.

Obviously, this hasn't seemed to hurt the Dawgs too bad this year, because we are the consensus number 1. The reason it still irritates me is that in the non-playoff world of college football, the decision as to who gets to play for the National Championship is determined in the court of public opinion, and I don't like the narrative that's being written. The first time the Dawgs lose (and it's darn near impossible to go unblemished against that schedule), I'm afraid the media reaction is going to be, "See, they were overrated in the first place...look at that schedule!" and drop us further than they would otherwise.

My solution? Nothing groundbreaking, as it has been suggested many times...no polls until at least 4-5 weeks into the season. Give teams the chance to establish themselves, give the pollsters a chance to see what the teams can really do, and then let's start deciding who would be ranked where.

This will, of course, never happen. Number one, it makes too much sense, and the NCAA ain't all about that. Number two, TPTB love the pre-season polls, as it gives us something to talk about for the 3-4 weeks leading up to the season. And with this post, I'm feeding that beast.

More stuff I like...

Stuff I like

Wow...

So, I'm blogging now.

Cool.