I will, of course, be back soon with the recap of yesterday's immensely satisfying win over the gnats...but in the meantime, I found THIS to be absolutely hilarious:
The comments on Dr. Saturday's blog are pretty funny, too...basically a bunch of UCLA fans and other pansies calling Pete Carroll "classless" and other not-so-nice words.
Whatever.
First of all, it's up to you to stop the other team from scoring, PERIOD. But if you want the game to be over, then don't call timeout with less than a minute to go when the other team is trying to run the clock out. By calling timeout, you're basically saying you're not ready for the game to be over. And Pete Carroll said, "Fine...if you want to keep playing, then let's keep playing."
I love college football.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
And, we're back....(sports edition)
As you can probably tell, I've had a little case of Blogger's Block over the last couple of weeks. Every time I start to write a post, I realize I don't have the energy to say all that I want to say, at least when it comes to my beloved Dawgs. Just know, loyal reader, it's not that I've given up on them, or have "jumped off the bandwagon". No, I've stuck by them through worse times than this. The truth is kind of the opposite...I find it hard to write about them right now because it hurts too much. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated as a fan, not so much by the NUMBER of losses (although five is way too many) as the MANNER of losses. Above all else, right now this team is dumb. We make dumb penalties, commit dumb turnovers, operate with dumb ideas with regards to our mindset in all three phases of the game....we are a dumb team right now, and that frustrates me more than anything else.
And that's all I have say about that.
- As for this week...this week is all about the hate. I think that the entire Dawg fanbase is starting to understand why so many of us still count the trade school as our most hated opponent. One win in 8 years has somehow convinced them all that the tide has turned as far as football dominance in this state. It's like I have always said...there's no team I'd rather beat than Florida, but there is no team I hate losing to more than the trade school.
And, this year, there is even more reason for hatred...their classless, tasteless, and inhumane reaction to the passing of Uga VII (I almost linked a couple of them here, but why give them the traffic. Just imagine the most disgusting, vile, classless response you can think of...and then try to come up with something worse). What kind of person do you have to be to make fun of a lost pet, which is ultimately what the Uga's are for all of us in the Dawg Nation?
I think Bernie said it best...while the Seilers grieved, they laughed. And that is just one more reason why I'm glad to be a Dawg, in spite of whatever this season or any other season has brought or will bring. I could not handle being part of a fan base so pathetic.
I have a hard time coming up with a scenario in which the Dawgs win this game...but if we somehow pull it off, it will go a LONG way towards washing the stench of this season away for me.
- Here's one more reason I have sworn off the AJC for good...yesterday Mark Bradley tweeted a link to his AJC article with this as the message:
Turns out Matthew Stafford, once of UGA and now a Detroit hero, has a heart after all. Fooled me.
OK...now I know that Mr. Bradley works for a particularly pathetic and sickly dinosaur in a business that is on its last legs (and I am NOT going to help by linking to him). And I know that they are DESPERATE for traffic. But what in Stafford's history would lead any rational person to believe that he has no heart?
Was it when he kept getting up and playing his guts out in his freshman season, even when games ended with him looking like this?
Was it the way he kept leading his teams down the field against the trade school last year, despite his defense letting him down over and over again? Was it how he never gave up in ANY game, for that matter, no matter what the situation was? Was it the fact that he never missed a snap at UGA due to injury despite playing some of the toughest and hard hitting defenses in the country?
It's one thing to question somebody's ability. But to question a guy's heart with absolutely no justification, well....it's no wonder that his is a dying business, with that kind of "journalistic" "integrity".
Mr. Bradley, my sincere wish for you and the pathetic rag you work for is that you live up to your reputation and go the way of the DoDo Bird sooner rather than later. Moron.
- I want to get this on record...I know the Falcons are 5-5 right now, and all of us old school Falcons fans are starting to get a serious sense of deja vu. But I think the schedule works out very nicely for the team from here on out, and I say we not only finally see the first ever consecutive winning seasons for this franchise, but we will be in the playoffs...and NOBODY in the NFC will want to play us.
At the same time...can somebody please locate John Abraham and tell him that Aundray Bruce has stolen his jersey?
- If you're not watching the Hawks, you should be...an exciting young team who plays a very entertaining brand of winning basketball. They are really starting to turn some heads, and this is shaping up to be a nice diversion until spring football practice rolls around.
Sorry to have been gone so long...I missed you guys! I'll be back later today or possibly tomorrow with the Non-Sports edition...aka all Geek-TV, all the time.
And that's all I have say about that.
- As for this week...this week is all about the hate. I think that the entire Dawg fanbase is starting to understand why so many of us still count the trade school as our most hated opponent. One win in 8 years has somehow convinced them all that the tide has turned as far as football dominance in this state. It's like I have always said...there's no team I'd rather beat than Florida, but there is no team I hate losing to more than the trade school.
And, this year, there is even more reason for hatred...their classless, tasteless, and inhumane reaction to the passing of Uga VII (I almost linked a couple of them here, but why give them the traffic. Just imagine the most disgusting, vile, classless response you can think of...and then try to come up with something worse). What kind of person do you have to be to make fun of a lost pet, which is ultimately what the Uga's are for all of us in the Dawg Nation?
I think Bernie said it best...while the Seilers grieved, they laughed. And that is just one more reason why I'm glad to be a Dawg, in spite of whatever this season or any other season has brought or will bring. I could not handle being part of a fan base so pathetic.
I have a hard time coming up with a scenario in which the Dawgs win this game...but if we somehow pull it off, it will go a LONG way towards washing the stench of this season away for me.
- Here's one more reason I have sworn off the AJC for good...yesterday Mark Bradley tweeted a link to his AJC article with this as the message:
Turns out Matthew Stafford, once of UGA and now a Detroit hero, has a heart after all. Fooled me.
OK...now I know that Mr. Bradley works for a particularly pathetic and sickly dinosaur in a business that is on its last legs (and I am NOT going to help by linking to him). And I know that they are DESPERATE for traffic. But what in Stafford's history would lead any rational person to believe that he has no heart?
Was it when he kept getting up and playing his guts out in his freshman season, even when games ended with him looking like this?
Was it the way he kept leading his teams down the field against the trade school last year, despite his defense letting him down over and over again? Was it how he never gave up in ANY game, for that matter, no matter what the situation was? Was it the fact that he never missed a snap at UGA due to injury despite playing some of the toughest and hard hitting defenses in the country?It's one thing to question somebody's ability. But to question a guy's heart with absolutely no justification, well....it's no wonder that his is a dying business, with that kind of "journalistic" "integrity".
Mr. Bradley, my sincere wish for you and the pathetic rag you work for is that you live up to your reputation and go the way of the DoDo Bird sooner rather than later. Moron.
- I want to get this on record...I know the Falcons are 5-5 right now, and all of us old school Falcons fans are starting to get a serious sense of deja vu. But I think the schedule works out very nicely for the team from here on out, and I say we not only finally see the first ever consecutive winning seasons for this franchise, but we will be in the playoffs...and NOBODY in the NFC will want to play us.
At the same time...can somebody please locate John Abraham and tell him that Aundray Bruce has stolen his jersey?
- If you're not watching the Hawks, you should be...an exciting young team who plays a very entertaining brand of winning basketball. They are really starting to turn some heads, and this is shaping up to be a nice diversion until spring football practice rolls around.
Sorry to have been gone so long...I missed you guys! I'll be back later today or possibly tomorrow with the Non-Sports edition...aka all Geek-TV, all the time.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I feel like a proud parent
Full recap to come later, after I re-watch the game, but my initial thoughts are that I couldn't be prouder of this team. There were still a lot of distressing aspects of that game, but the bottom line is that the guys showed tremendous heart and fought like true Bulldawgs.
I admit that when we went down 14-0 early a part of me gave up. Luckily, these Dawgs are made of sterner stuff than I am, because they in NO way gave up, and continued to fight and work and pulled off an extremely satisfying and needed victory.
GO DAWGS!!
I admit that when we went down 14-0 early a part of me gave up. Luckily, these Dawgs are made of sterner stuff than I am, because they in NO way gave up, and continued to fight and work and pulled off an extremely satisfying and needed victory.
GO DAWGS!!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The You Tube Bowl
I'll say this about the UGA-Auburn games...they have been the source of some of my highest and lowest moments as a Dawg fan, as well as the source of some of my favorite Dawg You-Tube clips...
For example:
And, I don't know why this one can't be embedded anymore, but it is maybe my favorite video of the Blackout entrance.
Tonight should be a great, well fought game...hopefully some more great Dawg memories!
GO DAWGS!!!
For example:
And, I don't know why this one can't be embedded anymore, but it is maybe my favorite video of the Blackout entrance.
Tonight should be a great, well fought game...hopefully some more great Dawg memories!
GO DAWGS!!!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Cool new Pearl Jam song
Actually, I don't know how "new" it is...I admittedly am not really "hip". Yeah, I know, that comes as a shock.
Anyway, I love this, and it's very different from what I expected when I heard "new Pearl Jam song".
Anyway, I love this, and it's very different from what I expected when I heard "new Pearl Jam song".
Monday, November 9, 2009
Recap - Tennessee Tech
This should be short and sweet…I was actually at the game on Saturday, and I haven’t watched the CSS replay yet, so these are just some random thoughts from the game. Obviously, it’s hard to tell much about the team when the opposition is so blatantly overmatched, but it was still good to see the Dawgs come out and take care of business rather than let a lesser team hang around, as we have been known to do in the past.
- What a great day for football…you could not ask for better weather, the leaves are turning, cool crisp air. Felt great to be at Sanford again.
- The Battle Hymn still makes me tear up. Every. Single. Time. 8-0, 4-4, whatever…I’d still rather be a Dawg than anything else.
- I was pretty impressed with the crowd, actually. Decent turnout for the Dawg walk, and the stands filled in pretty impressively even before kickoff. It was obviously a MUCH quieter crowd than normal, but I didn’t expect anything different due to A) the disappointment of the last few weeks; and B) the opponent. But I was proud of the Dawg Nation for at least coming out and showing support.
- Although the fly-over was late, it was still doggone impressive.
- That was as dominant a first half as I can ever remember the Dawgs having, no matter the opponent. Up 28-0 before TTU even had a first down. Good to see the defense get after it…Montez Robinson and my man Cornelius Washington both had big games. Those guys are going to be the ones we are relying on next year to terrorize quarterbacks.
- The running game has actually looked much better the past few weeks, beginning with the Vandy game. Washaun and Caleb are a very nice 1-2 punch, and the revamped offensive line FINALLY seems to be jelling. (gelling? That always confuses me).
- Branden Smith is VERY fast. I know you knew that already, but…wow. From my seat in in 124, I knew as soon as he took the handoff on the end-around that he was gone…there was nobody on the corner, and I knew as soon as he got the corner there was not a Golden Eagle that was going to catch him.
- Very few times can I watch any college football player and say, “I could do that.” In the case of the Golden Eagles punter…I could do that. That was the worst punter I have ever seen. He had a SIX yard punt that actually went OVER the hedges to the right. Seriously…I could do that.
- First extended play for Logan Gray so far this season. I’m not going to blast the guy, but…I really hope Aaron Murray is as good as advertised.
- I’m not too concerned about the penalties. Most of them came after the game was well in hand (which was by the middle of the second quarter), and I imagine there was some breakdown in focus. I can’t blame them too much, considering the environment and the opposition. It was good to see the coaches holding people accountable, though.
This week will be the true test of our character. Can we come out and play Bulldawg football against a quality opponent when nothing is on the line except pride?
- What a great day for football…you could not ask for better weather, the leaves are turning, cool crisp air. Felt great to be at Sanford again.
- The Battle Hymn still makes me tear up. Every. Single. Time. 8-0, 4-4, whatever…I’d still rather be a Dawg than anything else.
- I was pretty impressed with the crowd, actually. Decent turnout for the Dawg walk, and the stands filled in pretty impressively even before kickoff. It was obviously a MUCH quieter crowd than normal, but I didn’t expect anything different due to A) the disappointment of the last few weeks; and B) the opponent. But I was proud of the Dawg Nation for at least coming out and showing support.
- Although the fly-over was late, it was still doggone impressive.
- That was as dominant a first half as I can ever remember the Dawgs having, no matter the opponent. Up 28-0 before TTU even had a first down. Good to see the defense get after it…Montez Robinson and my man Cornelius Washington both had big games. Those guys are going to be the ones we are relying on next year to terrorize quarterbacks.
- The running game has actually looked much better the past few weeks, beginning with the Vandy game. Washaun and Caleb are a very nice 1-2 punch, and the revamped offensive line FINALLY seems to be jelling. (gelling? That always confuses me).
- Branden Smith is VERY fast. I know you knew that already, but…wow. From my seat in in 124, I knew as soon as he took the handoff on the end-around that he was gone…there was nobody on the corner, and I knew as soon as he got the corner there was not a Golden Eagle that was going to catch him.
- Very few times can I watch any college football player and say, “I could do that.” In the case of the Golden Eagles punter…I could do that. That was the worst punter I have ever seen. He had a SIX yard punt that actually went OVER the hedges to the right. Seriously…I could do that.
- First extended play for Logan Gray so far this season. I’m not going to blast the guy, but…I really hope Aaron Murray is as good as advertised.
- I’m not too concerned about the penalties. Most of them came after the game was well in hand (which was by the middle of the second quarter), and I imagine there was some breakdown in focus. I can’t blame them too much, considering the environment and the opposition. It was good to see the coaches holding people accountable, though.
This week will be the true test of our character. Can we come out and play Bulldawg football against a quality opponent when nothing is on the line except pride?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
This video makes me ridiculously happy..
If you ever get a chance to check out The Office webisodes on NBC.com (or Hulu), they are well worth the time. The webisodes are a great opportunity to focus on some of the hilarious characters that are often relegated to the background while the focus stays on the "core" group.
Kelly and Andy are probably my two favorite Office characters, and I have been really impressed with how well Erin has fit in to the show as well...and B.J. Novack's arrogant cluelessness is never more on display than it is here:
STRAIGHT OUT OF LACKAWANNAAAAAAAA!!!!
Kelly and Andy are probably my two favorite Office characters, and I have been really impressed with how well Erin has fit in to the show as well...and B.J. Novack's arrogant cluelessness is never more on display than it is here:
STRAIGHT OUT OF LACKAWANNAAAAAAAA!!!!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Thank you, Hulk Hogan..
Because you are delusional and pathetic enough to try and start a new wrestling promotion in Australia, the world is blessed with THIS:
Ahh...he's still got it.
"I only THINK I'm the man? Ask your ex-wife! I REEK of being The Man!"
WHOOOOO!!!!
Ahh...he's still got it.
"I only THINK I'm the man? Ask your ex-wife! I REEK of being The Man!"
WHOOOOO!!!!
What passes for a Florida recap these days...
By now, I guess almost everything that can be said about the Cocktail Party last week has been said…this will probably be more like my take on the current state of the Dawgs program, and then an “announcement” regarding what you can expect to see in this space going forward…
Once more, into the breach…
- Joe Cox. What a great kid. Loves the Dawgs, bleeds red and black, takes great pride in wearing the G. His teammates love and respect him, the coaches talk about him in nothing but glowing terms.
Unfortunately, all of the admirable attributes that he possesses don’t cancel out some inherent weaknesses in his game. What we heard about Joe from the coaching staff coming out of camp was that he may not have great physical skills, but he makes good decisions with the ball and he is extremely accurate. I can’t tell you that they were lying, because I wasn’t invited to watch practice for some unknown reason, but I can tell you that these reported strengths have not translated to the field once real bullets started flying. Aron White said recently that mistakes are made during games that you don’t see during practice, and maybe that is what is happening with Joe. Whatever the case, he is throwing interceptions at an alarming rate, and for every one that you can point to and say may not be his fault (like a couple of them on Saturday), I’ll point to three more that were thrown into coverage and SHOULD have been picked off but weren’t, oftentimes because multiple defenders are going for the ball at the same time and manage to play effective defense against each other.
We are not the only team that recruited Joe when he was in high school…he was an Elite 11 quarterback, after all. Maybe if he had been in a situation that allowed him to get more playing time over the last four years he could have developed into a big time quarterback. But the weaknesses in his game…locking onto receivers with his eyes, throwing the ball late and high, failing to identify where defenders are in relation to the passing lanes…those are weaknesses you don’t expect to see out of a 5th year senior, until you are reminded that the 5th year senior is also a first year starter.
What I mean to say is that I don’t think it’s fair to label Joe a “bust”…but I think we can say at this point that at best he has been average this year, and at times he has been worse than that.
So, going forward, what do we do about the quarterback situation? Many fans are screaming for the staff to bench Joe and start looking to the future (I may have even been guilty of that myself during the Florida massacre…so much of that day is a red haze, so I can’t say for sure). Coach Richt came out this week and said that Joe is the starter, and I can’t argue with his reasoning.
See, we as fans have the option of chalking up this year as “rebuilding” and start looking to next year…Coach Richt, rightfully so, does not believe that to be an option, as it sends the message to THIS year’s group of Dawgs that we have given up on this season…the season that, for most of the seniors, will be the last time they ever don pads and play a competitive down of football. How can Coach Richt look guys like Jeff Owens, Michael Moore, Geno Atkins, Bryan Evans, Prince Miller, and Joe Cox in the eye and say, “Sorry, guys…I know you have busted your butts and sweat and bled for this team for the last 4 or 5 years. But even though there are 4 (hopefully 5) games left in your Dawg career, we’ve decided those games aren’t that important, so if you’ll step aside it’s time for these young guys to play.”
I couldn’t do that. Maybe if I’m an NFL head coach, but not to these kids. If that makes me some sort of pansy, or “too nice”, then so be it.
So what you’re left with is this: Joe Cox, despite his shortcomings, is the best chance this team has to win right now. Until somebody else earns that away from him, he should start.
And don’t start telling me about what we are losing by not playing Gray and Murray now…if this season had gone like we all hoped it would, they wouldn’t be getting playing time right now anyway, right? So their progress is not being stopped, or even slowed. They are all on the same schedule as they were when the season started.
- Having said all that…why is Bryan Evans still getting playing time over Bacarri Rambo? Again, Evans is a great guy, by all reports, and has willingly played anywhere the coaching staff has asked him to. But, at this point, can anybody give a reason why Bryan Evans gives this team a better chance to win right now than Bacarri Rambo? As physically gifted as he is, he has never shown the ability to cover anybody in man coverage, and is consistently out of position when we are in zone. Rambo is a playmaker…don’t we need those guys?
- Nice to see at least some semblance of a running game. And as good as Washaun has looked, I’m OK with Caleb being the starter, based on his effectiveness in the passing game. It's not like the Evans-Rambo situation where one player is obviously more effective and we are going with the less effective one for some unexplained reason. Caleb being the starter doesn’t mean that we are not going to see a heavy dose of Washaun.
An aside…Washaun has said that when Evans leaves, he is going to ask for his old HS number back. We’ve been trying to find a replacement for our last #34 for 25 years now…maybe a combination of #3 and #4 will be the secret next year?
- Let me get this straight…we have two weeks to prepare, and the best we can come up with against a struggling Gator offense is more of the same soft-zone-give-the-receiver-six-yards-of-space crap we serve up every week? Can we PLEASE find a way to utilize this abundance of talent we have on defense?
To me, what this team is missing on defense more than anything else is ATTITUDE. Any kind of edge or nastiness that is REAL, not contrived. This team is so far removed from the "Junkyard Dawgs" that Erk wouldn't even recognize it.
The defense wasn’t as bad as the 41 points may indicate…but we never showed a consistent ability to slow them down, and they were able to score EVERY time they needed to. Kind of like every other big game we have played the last two seasons.
- Stupid penalties. Turnovers. Continuing to bang our head against the directional kicking wall, when we have a kicker who has more than enough leg to boom the ball into the end zone. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Sometimes, I hate being right.
- So, who is the MVP of this team? Drew Butler or Blair Walsh?
- Brandon Spikes is a low-life, and his hypocritical, lying, sack-of-crap coach is even worse.
- I didn’t forget the stupid, gimmicky, circus-stunt, embarrassing, low-rent, bush-league, desperate, cringe-worthy decision to try and “Blackout” this game. I’m just trying REALLY hard to do so.
- The only thing that can salvage this season for me at this point is to beat the Gnats in Atlanta.
- Bottom line…14 months ago, this team was the number one team in the country. Now, I can’t tell any difference in where we currently are as a program and where we were in the Donnan years. Tremendously talented, but manages to find increasingly stupefying ways to mutilate itself on a consistent basis.
I love Coach Richt, and there is nobody I would rather have representing the University of Georgia. I don’t want him fired, and if you do, don’t bother telling me because I probably won’t even waste my time trying to convince you of what an idiot you are.
That being said, there have to be changes made. I’m glad I don’t have to be the one to make them. Here are two that, as a fan, I want to see:
o Coach Martinez should do the honorable thing and step down. Coach Richt obviously considers Willie to be a good friend. If he is as good a friend as Coach Richt thinks he is, he will not put his friend in the awkward position of having to continually defend why he has not fired the man who has been the overseer of a precipitous decline in output ever since he got the job.
o Coach Richt should at least get more involved in the play-calling, if not take it back completely. Coach Richt made his reputation calling plays for some of the most prolific offenses in NCAA history. I understand the advantages of not having that responsibility anymore when it comes to time management, etc, but I’m starting to think that it may have been too much too fast for Coach Bobo.
This program is not in shambles. There are still a lot of tools in the toolbox. But, without a doubt, there needs to be a change in mindset, and that ALWAYS starts at the top.
GO DAWGS!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, for the promised announcement: I don’t know how much “Dawg” blogging I am going to be doing in the near future. Don’t get me wrong…I still love this team, will be pulling like mad for 9-4, and I still live and die with this bunch.
That’s part of the reason why I haven’t blogged as much and may not blog as much in the future. I started this blog for one reason only…to have fun. I write about the things I enjoy. In doing so, I have been lucky enough to gain a (very small) audience and have had this blog added to blogrolls of Dawg fans and linked by the Benevolent Geniuses at Dawgbone. As flattering as that is, I feel like I put pressure on myself to be the type of writer that people who would get to my blog from those links would want to read, so I felt like I had to do a recap of every game, or try and weigh in on every Dawg-related issue, whether I wanted to or not, while at the same time maybe NOT post other things that interest me but may not interest somebody who got here through Dawgbone.
The point is, posting about the Dawgs started feeling like something I HAD to do, rather than something I WANT to do.
On top of all that, some things happened with my work schedule and environment that have kept me from posting as timely as I would have liked, so I felt like by the time I actually got a chance to weigh in on anything, it had already been said (and almost definitely better) by guys like Hale, Bernie, Doug, Mike, DawgSports, etc, etc.
I don’t want to post just to post. I also don’t want to post a lot about the Dawgs when I’m ticked off, because I don’t want to add to what has become a very negative atmosphere at times (not due to the guys mentioned above, btw).
So, here’s the deal…I’m still going to post about the Dawgs, when I feel like I have something to add to the conversation. But I’m probably also going to be posting about a bunch of other, non-Dawg stuff. I watch TONS of television. I read LOTS of books. I love ALL kinds of movies. I have WAY too much stupid, random stuff running around in my head. Hopefully, out of all that, there will be enough to keep you coming back. If not, I’ll just keep firing posts into the blogosphere for my mom to read.
Once more, into the breach…
- Joe Cox. What a great kid. Loves the Dawgs, bleeds red and black, takes great pride in wearing the G. His teammates love and respect him, the coaches talk about him in nothing but glowing terms.
Unfortunately, all of the admirable attributes that he possesses don’t cancel out some inherent weaknesses in his game. What we heard about Joe from the coaching staff coming out of camp was that he may not have great physical skills, but he makes good decisions with the ball and he is extremely accurate. I can’t tell you that they were lying, because I wasn’t invited to watch practice for some unknown reason, but I can tell you that these reported strengths have not translated to the field once real bullets started flying. Aron White said recently that mistakes are made during games that you don’t see during practice, and maybe that is what is happening with Joe. Whatever the case, he is throwing interceptions at an alarming rate, and for every one that you can point to and say may not be his fault (like a couple of them on Saturday), I’ll point to three more that were thrown into coverage and SHOULD have been picked off but weren’t, oftentimes because multiple defenders are going for the ball at the same time and manage to play effective defense against each other.
We are not the only team that recruited Joe when he was in high school…he was an Elite 11 quarterback, after all. Maybe if he had been in a situation that allowed him to get more playing time over the last four years he could have developed into a big time quarterback. But the weaknesses in his game…locking onto receivers with his eyes, throwing the ball late and high, failing to identify where defenders are in relation to the passing lanes…those are weaknesses you don’t expect to see out of a 5th year senior, until you are reminded that the 5th year senior is also a first year starter.
What I mean to say is that I don’t think it’s fair to label Joe a “bust”…but I think we can say at this point that at best he has been average this year, and at times he has been worse than that.
So, going forward, what do we do about the quarterback situation? Many fans are screaming for the staff to bench Joe and start looking to the future (I may have even been guilty of that myself during the Florida massacre…so much of that day is a red haze, so I can’t say for sure). Coach Richt came out this week and said that Joe is the starter, and I can’t argue with his reasoning.
See, we as fans have the option of chalking up this year as “rebuilding” and start looking to next year…Coach Richt, rightfully so, does not believe that to be an option, as it sends the message to THIS year’s group of Dawgs that we have given up on this season…the season that, for most of the seniors, will be the last time they ever don pads and play a competitive down of football. How can Coach Richt look guys like Jeff Owens, Michael Moore, Geno Atkins, Bryan Evans, Prince Miller, and Joe Cox in the eye and say, “Sorry, guys…I know you have busted your butts and sweat and bled for this team for the last 4 or 5 years. But even though there are 4 (hopefully 5) games left in your Dawg career, we’ve decided those games aren’t that important, so if you’ll step aside it’s time for these young guys to play.”
I couldn’t do that. Maybe if I’m an NFL head coach, but not to these kids. If that makes me some sort of pansy, or “too nice”, then so be it.
So what you’re left with is this: Joe Cox, despite his shortcomings, is the best chance this team has to win right now. Until somebody else earns that away from him, he should start.
And don’t start telling me about what we are losing by not playing Gray and Murray now…if this season had gone like we all hoped it would, they wouldn’t be getting playing time right now anyway, right? So their progress is not being stopped, or even slowed. They are all on the same schedule as they were when the season started.
- Having said all that…why is Bryan Evans still getting playing time over Bacarri Rambo? Again, Evans is a great guy, by all reports, and has willingly played anywhere the coaching staff has asked him to. But, at this point, can anybody give a reason why Bryan Evans gives this team a better chance to win right now than Bacarri Rambo? As physically gifted as he is, he has never shown the ability to cover anybody in man coverage, and is consistently out of position when we are in zone. Rambo is a playmaker…don’t we need those guys?
- Nice to see at least some semblance of a running game. And as good as Washaun has looked, I’m OK with Caleb being the starter, based on his effectiveness in the passing game. It's not like the Evans-Rambo situation where one player is obviously more effective and we are going with the less effective one for some unexplained reason. Caleb being the starter doesn’t mean that we are not going to see a heavy dose of Washaun.
An aside…Washaun has said that when Evans leaves, he is going to ask for his old HS number back. We’ve been trying to find a replacement for our last #34 for 25 years now…maybe a combination of #3 and #4 will be the secret next year?
- Let me get this straight…we have two weeks to prepare, and the best we can come up with against a struggling Gator offense is more of the same soft-zone-give-the-receiver-six-yards-of-space crap we serve up every week? Can we PLEASE find a way to utilize this abundance of talent we have on defense?
To me, what this team is missing on defense more than anything else is ATTITUDE. Any kind of edge or nastiness that is REAL, not contrived. This team is so far removed from the "Junkyard Dawgs" that Erk wouldn't even recognize it.
The defense wasn’t as bad as the 41 points may indicate…but we never showed a consistent ability to slow them down, and they were able to score EVERY time they needed to. Kind of like every other big game we have played the last two seasons.
- Stupid penalties. Turnovers. Continuing to bang our head against the directional kicking wall, when we have a kicker who has more than enough leg to boom the ball into the end zone. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Sometimes, I hate being right.
- So, who is the MVP of this team? Drew Butler or Blair Walsh?
- Brandon Spikes is a low-life, and his hypocritical, lying, sack-of-crap coach is even worse.
- I didn’t forget the stupid, gimmicky, circus-stunt, embarrassing, low-rent, bush-league, desperate, cringe-worthy decision to try and “Blackout” this game. I’m just trying REALLY hard to do so.
- The only thing that can salvage this season for me at this point is to beat the Gnats in Atlanta.
- Bottom line…14 months ago, this team was the number one team in the country. Now, I can’t tell any difference in where we currently are as a program and where we were in the Donnan years. Tremendously talented, but manages to find increasingly stupefying ways to mutilate itself on a consistent basis.
I love Coach Richt, and there is nobody I would rather have representing the University of Georgia. I don’t want him fired, and if you do, don’t bother telling me because I probably won’t even waste my time trying to convince you of what an idiot you are.
That being said, there have to be changes made. I’m glad I don’t have to be the one to make them. Here are two that, as a fan, I want to see:
o Coach Martinez should do the honorable thing and step down. Coach Richt obviously considers Willie to be a good friend. If he is as good a friend as Coach Richt thinks he is, he will not put his friend in the awkward position of having to continually defend why he has not fired the man who has been the overseer of a precipitous decline in output ever since he got the job.
o Coach Richt should at least get more involved in the play-calling, if not take it back completely. Coach Richt made his reputation calling plays for some of the most prolific offenses in NCAA history. I understand the advantages of not having that responsibility anymore when it comes to time management, etc, but I’m starting to think that it may have been too much too fast for Coach Bobo.
This program is not in shambles. There are still a lot of tools in the toolbox. But, without a doubt, there needs to be a change in mindset, and that ALWAYS starts at the top.
GO DAWGS!!
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Now, for the promised announcement: I don’t know how much “Dawg” blogging I am going to be doing in the near future. Don’t get me wrong…I still love this team, will be pulling like mad for 9-4, and I still live and die with this bunch.
That’s part of the reason why I haven’t blogged as much and may not blog as much in the future. I started this blog for one reason only…to have fun. I write about the things I enjoy. In doing so, I have been lucky enough to gain a (very small) audience and have had this blog added to blogrolls of Dawg fans and linked by the Benevolent Geniuses at Dawgbone. As flattering as that is, I feel like I put pressure on myself to be the type of writer that people who would get to my blog from those links would want to read, so I felt like I had to do a recap of every game, or try and weigh in on every Dawg-related issue, whether I wanted to or not, while at the same time maybe NOT post other things that interest me but may not interest somebody who got here through Dawgbone.
The point is, posting about the Dawgs started feeling like something I HAD to do, rather than something I WANT to do.
On top of all that, some things happened with my work schedule and environment that have kept me from posting as timely as I would have liked, so I felt like by the time I actually got a chance to weigh in on anything, it had already been said (and almost definitely better) by guys like Hale, Bernie, Doug, Mike, DawgSports, etc, etc.
I don’t want to post just to post. I also don’t want to post a lot about the Dawgs when I’m ticked off, because I don’t want to add to what has become a very negative atmosphere at times (not due to the guys mentioned above, btw).
So, here’s the deal…I’m still going to post about the Dawgs, when I feel like I have something to add to the conversation. But I’m probably also going to be posting about a bunch of other, non-Dawg stuff. I watch TONS of television. I read LOTS of books. I love ALL kinds of movies. I have WAY too much stupid, random stuff running around in my head. Hopefully, out of all that, there will be enough to keep you coming back. If not, I’ll just keep firing posts into the blogosphere for my mom to read.
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