Yes or no?
I'll take your lack of comments as implied assent.
Thanks!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Writer's block...good thing Blutarsky is around
As you can probably tell, I have been struggling to come up with the motivation to put together a lot of blog posts lately. Part of that is the lack of subject matter...not much else can be said about the fact the Braves are really good, football is in the last days of the dead period, none of the summer TV that I watch is good for blogging (until Mad Men comes back!), and I don't think many of you are nearly as interested as I am in the transfer period of the English Premier League.
So part of it is lack of content...the other part is that the stuff I WOULD be talking about, I don't really want to talk about.
Luckily, the good Senator takes everything I would have said and says it MUCH better, as is often the case.
Just click HERE for a great summation about how I feel about the "discipline problem" that UGA and Coach Richt supposedly have.
Oh, and...Paul Finebaum is an idiot.
That is all.
GO DAWGS!!!
So part of it is lack of content...the other part is that the stuff I WOULD be talking about, I don't really want to talk about.
Luckily, the good Senator takes everything I would have said and says it MUCH better, as is often the case.
Just click HERE for a great summation about how I feel about the "discipline problem" that UGA and Coach Richt supposedly have.
Oh, and...Paul Finebaum is an idiot.
That is all.
GO DAWGS!!!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?
Consider this a very public cry for help...
Ummm....
How do I say this?
OK, fine, just out with it...like ripping off a Band-Aid....
Ahem....
My name is Scott...and I have been watching a LOT of soccer lately.
There...it's out there.
And I don't mean just the World Cup...heck, everybody is watching at least SOME of that. (Right? What do you mean, NO?) ANYway....I have even been watching some of the stuff from overseas that comes on the Fox Soccer Channel. You know, the stuff that comes on in the middle of the day. Which means...I have been setting my DVR to record soccer every day and then watching it when I get home from work.
Yeah...it's like THAT.
All of this can only mean one thing...I am REALLY ready for football season to get here. The REAL football.
Luckily, today marks only FIFTY NINE days to kickoff. I know I have fallen WAY behind on the countdown, but yesterday was Clint Boling Day. I celebrated by being consistently excellent at everything I did, only to receive minimal recognition for my efforts.
Couple other "newsy" items that have happened while I was off watching Arsenal vs. Liverpool in an English Premier League match from last October:
- Nothing much left to be said about the Damon Evans situation. The saddest and most frustrating part of this story to me is this...if you had asked me a week ago what the ceiling was on Damon Evans' career, I would have struggled to come up with one.
SEC commissioner? NCAA President? Governor? Senator?
Seriously...all of that was on the table. This was a guy who was handed the AD job at one of the most prestigious athletic departments in the country at 34 years old, and has done a fantastic job with it in the six years he's had it. He was the Golden Child. Not only one of the most respected AD's in the country, but a flag bearer as the first black AD in the SEC.
Now? I don't think his career is "over" per se...he's too talented. He'll get another job, and if he keeps his nose clean for a few years he may even resurface as an AD at another (probably much smaller) school. But all of those other opportunities listed above? Gone. Completely off the table.
And, to me, even that knowledge pales in comparison to what he is putting his wife and children (11 years old and 8 years old) through, and the fact that he has probably lost his family.
And for what? A few drinks and a 28 year old "Asset Manager".
Wow.
Let this be a lesson, kids...what takes a lifetime to create only takes a few hours and a couple of bad decisions to destroy.
- The Jordan Love situation really ticks me off.
The situation as I've heard it (mostly from UGASports.com), for those who may not be aware (Hi, Mom!):
A bunch of students (including football players Jordan Love and Shawn Williams) are hanging out in a common area outside East Campus Village shooting off fireworks and lighting sparklers. A neighbor calls the police to complain (which...come on, seriously? It's 4th of July, you communist!). The neighbor then informs the group that the police have been called, and the group breaks up. Jordan and Shawn stick around to talk to the police, which I assume was because they didn't want it to look like they were "running" from them. Police show up, question the players, and ask for their name. Jordan gives his first and last name, but when asked for his middle name he initially says he doesn't know it, then says he DOES know it, but isn't sure of the legal spelling. For this egregious offense, Campus Police slap handcuffs on him and arrest him for obstruction of justice, and initial reports are that he was "uncooperative" with the police and "refused to give his name". He was released two hours later on $5000 bond.
The "rest of the story"...Jordan's middle name comes from his birth father, who he has no contact with. It's not listed on his driver's license. Jordan's mother, who is an FBI agent, has reportedly instructed Jordan that, when asked, to give his first and last name and then to invoke his right to remain silent if questioned further.
Campus Police Chief comes out the next day and says it was a "breakdown in communication" and plans on asking the Judge in the case to drop the charges.
Let's look a little deeper...
First of all, the arrest happened at 11:35 PM, which means that it couldn't have been any later than 11 when the fireworks were being shot. So the neighbor really is a dillhole.
Second, Jordan CHOSE to remain behind and talk to the police voluntarily, when he was well within his rights to leave the premises before the police arrived. So..."uncooperative"? I don't think so.
Third, even if the "rest of the story" wasn't what it turned out to be...THAT'S what you're going to arrest somebody for? Not spelling their middle name? So, because of that, he has an arrest on his record, had to go to jail for two hours, had his name plastered all over the papers, has to appear in court...ridiculous.
Way to go, Deputy Fife. That's some high quality police work right there.
Those of you who know me know that I am not one to play the race card at all...but I wonder if the player had been, say, Kris Durham, would it have gone down the same way?
Or, for that matter...what if it wasn't a football player at all? Think things would have been handled differently?
Whatever...I hear the Loves have acquired an attorney and plan on suing the University police. I say more power to them.
PLEASE...can we PLEASE just get the season started? I'm sick of talking about crap like this, plus I think I'm becoming a Euro pantywaist soccer fan.
Ummm....
How do I say this?
OK, fine, just out with it...like ripping off a Band-Aid....
Ahem....
My name is Scott...and I have been watching a LOT of soccer lately.
There...it's out there.
And I don't mean just the World Cup...heck, everybody is watching at least SOME of that. (Right? What do you mean, NO?) ANYway....I have even been watching some of the stuff from overseas that comes on the Fox Soccer Channel. You know, the stuff that comes on in the middle of the day. Which means...I have been setting my DVR to record soccer every day and then watching it when I get home from work.
Yeah...it's like THAT.
All of this can only mean one thing...I am REALLY ready for football season to get here. The REAL football.
Luckily, today marks only FIFTY NINE days to kickoff. I know I have fallen WAY behind on the countdown, but yesterday was Clint Boling Day. I celebrated by being consistently excellent at everything I did, only to receive minimal recognition for my efforts.
Couple other "newsy" items that have happened while I was off watching Arsenal vs. Liverpool in an English Premier League match from last October:
- Nothing much left to be said about the Damon Evans situation. The saddest and most frustrating part of this story to me is this...if you had asked me a week ago what the ceiling was on Damon Evans' career, I would have struggled to come up with one.
SEC commissioner? NCAA President? Governor? Senator?
Seriously...all of that was on the table. This was a guy who was handed the AD job at one of the most prestigious athletic departments in the country at 34 years old, and has done a fantastic job with it in the six years he's had it. He was the Golden Child. Not only one of the most respected AD's in the country, but a flag bearer as the first black AD in the SEC.
Now? I don't think his career is "over" per se...he's too talented. He'll get another job, and if he keeps his nose clean for a few years he may even resurface as an AD at another (probably much smaller) school. But all of those other opportunities listed above? Gone. Completely off the table.
And, to me, even that knowledge pales in comparison to what he is putting his wife and children (11 years old and 8 years old) through, and the fact that he has probably lost his family.
And for what? A few drinks and a 28 year old "Asset Manager".
Wow.
Let this be a lesson, kids...what takes a lifetime to create only takes a few hours and a couple of bad decisions to destroy.
- The Jordan Love situation really ticks me off.
The situation as I've heard it (mostly from UGASports.com), for those who may not be aware (Hi, Mom!):
A bunch of students (including football players Jordan Love and Shawn Williams) are hanging out in a common area outside East Campus Village shooting off fireworks and lighting sparklers. A neighbor calls the police to complain (which...come on, seriously? It's 4th of July, you communist!). The neighbor then informs the group that the police have been called, and the group breaks up. Jordan and Shawn stick around to talk to the police, which I assume was because they didn't want it to look like they were "running" from them. Police show up, question the players, and ask for their name. Jordan gives his first and last name, but when asked for his middle name he initially says he doesn't know it, then says he DOES know it, but isn't sure of the legal spelling. For this egregious offense, Campus Police slap handcuffs on him and arrest him for obstruction of justice, and initial reports are that he was "uncooperative" with the police and "refused to give his name". He was released two hours later on $5000 bond.
The "rest of the story"...Jordan's middle name comes from his birth father, who he has no contact with. It's not listed on his driver's license. Jordan's mother, who is an FBI agent, has reportedly instructed Jordan that, when asked, to give his first and last name and then to invoke his right to remain silent if questioned further.
Campus Police Chief comes out the next day and says it was a "breakdown in communication" and plans on asking the Judge in the case to drop the charges.
Let's look a little deeper...
First of all, the arrest happened at 11:35 PM, which means that it couldn't have been any later than 11 when the fireworks were being shot. So the neighbor really is a dillhole.
Second, Jordan CHOSE to remain behind and talk to the police voluntarily, when he was well within his rights to leave the premises before the police arrived. So..."uncooperative"? I don't think so.
Third, even if the "rest of the story" wasn't what it turned out to be...THAT'S what you're going to arrest somebody for? Not spelling their middle name? So, because of that, he has an arrest on his record, had to go to jail for two hours, had his name plastered all over the papers, has to appear in court...ridiculous.
Way to go, Deputy Fife. That's some high quality police work right there.
Those of you who know me know that I am not one to play the race card at all...but I wonder if the player had been, say, Kris Durham, would it have gone down the same way?
Or, for that matter...what if it wasn't a football player at all? Think things would have been handled differently?
Whatever...I hear the Loves have acquired an attorney and plan on suing the University police. I say more power to them.
PLEASE...can we PLEASE just get the season started? I'm sick of talking about crap like this, plus I think I'm becoming a Euro pantywaist soccer fan.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Random thoughts - Dawgs, Braves, a goodbye to one of the best in the business, other stuff...
TOLD you posting would be more sporadic now that I am back from vacation. Work has been kicking my butt pretty hard since I got back, plus some Father's Day traveling...so, yeah.
Some random thoughts that have been building up over the past week or so...
- First things first...The Dawg Nation is facing a big loss in the next month or so, as the magnificent David Hale is moving on to...um....well, let's just say different pastures, rather than greener ones.
Hale has produced a steady output of the kind of material that I wish ALL of the online "journalists" would aspire to...informative, entertaining, insightful, must-read articles, sometimes multiple times a day.
The two aspects that made him the best: First of all, he always seemed to ask the questions that we as fans would ask if given the opportunity, rather than just the typical cliches. I think that's harder to do than a lot of people think.
Secondly, his accuracy and integrity were never in question. Among all of us Dawg Tweeps, Bloggers, and 'Venters, there was one thing we knew for sure: no matter the situation (coaching change, position change, player suspensions, etc), it wasn't for SURE true unless David Hale had reported it.
Hale never attended UGA, but it's safe to say he is a DGD and will be missed by the Dawg Nation.
- My biggest regret about falling behind on my countdown to kickoff? I missed my opportunity last Saturday to post THIS:
Yep...Saturday was 77 days until kickoff, so we honor Trinton Sturdivant and his groovy dance stylings.
The other thing that means is that this week we are only TEN WEEKS from GAME WEEK! I can smell the ribs already! And the bourbon...and the VIOLENCE.
The more I think about this 2010 Dawgs team, the more excited I am. Only 73 days to go!!
- If there are any of you still reading this who were loyal readers of my American Idol recaps, I appreciate it...and you can rest knowing that you may have been witnesses to history. If this little news release turns out the way I am afraid it will, I will likely no longer even be WATCHING, must less recapping, so THIS was likely my last American Idol recap ever. With three daughters in the house, I hear plenty of 15-year-old marginally talented "singers" already...no need to expose myself to any more, thank you very much.
- U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!
That concludes the soccer portion of our blog.
(Even if you're not a soccer fan, check out the second video)
- Braves continue to play good baseball...but one of my favorite stories of the season so far is Stephen Strasburg. Between him and J-Hey, I feel like we are watching the first green shoots of two guys who may go down as some of the best ever.
Check out some of these numbers, courtesy of Buster Olney's blog on ESPN.com (daily reading for baseball fans, by the way):
"After opposing hitters have reached a count of no balls and two strikes against Stephen Strasburg, they are 0-for-20 with 16 strikeouts. That's not much worse than what happens after they fall behind in the count of 0-1: Opponents are 4-for-36 with 22 strikeouts after the first pitch goes for strike one."
"How unusual is Stephen Strasburg's efficiency? Well, consider this note generated by the Washington Nationals' staff: In 2010, only three pitchers have struck out 10-plus in a game but required less than 100 pitches to do so. Strasburg has two of these zero-walk, 10-plus K tallies. On April 6, Dallas Braden struck out 10 over seven innings against the Mariners, while throwing 91 pitches. On May 15, James Shields struck out 10 with 93 pitches against the Mariners. Then, in his debut, Strasburg threw 94 pitches against the Pirates and struck out 14 -- before striking out 10 with 85 pitches against the White Sox Friday."
Pretty amazing stuff...in fact, if J-Hey doesn't find a way out of this slump he is in, Strasburg might steal his Rookie of the Year award.
One thing I don't like about the guy...he's a Scott Boras client. And, even though Strasburg signed the largest contract in draft history, he was "undervalued", according to Boras.
Whenever the first contract negotiation between the Nats and Strasburg happens, I think Boras' end of the conversation may sound something like this:
"Our demands are these: $350 GAZILLION dollars. And a unicorn... Wait, not a unicorn...what's the one with the wings? Oh, right, a Pegasus. We want $350 GAZILLION dollars and a personal Pegasus. What do you mean, how many zeroes are in a gazillion? I don't know...that's for YOU to figure out!"
OK, that's about it for now...how about I leave you with this, just for fun?
GO DAWGS!!!
Some random thoughts that have been building up over the past week or so...
- First things first...The Dawg Nation is facing a big loss in the next month or so, as the magnificent David Hale is moving on to...um....well, let's just say different pastures, rather than greener ones.
Hale has produced a steady output of the kind of material that I wish ALL of the online "journalists" would aspire to...informative, entertaining, insightful, must-read articles, sometimes multiple times a day.
The two aspects that made him the best: First of all, he always seemed to ask the questions that we as fans would ask if given the opportunity, rather than just the typical cliches. I think that's harder to do than a lot of people think.
Secondly, his accuracy and integrity were never in question. Among all of us Dawg Tweeps, Bloggers, and 'Venters, there was one thing we knew for sure: no matter the situation (coaching change, position change, player suspensions, etc), it wasn't for SURE true unless David Hale had reported it.
Hale never attended UGA, but it's safe to say he is a DGD and will be missed by the Dawg Nation.
- My biggest regret about falling behind on my countdown to kickoff? I missed my opportunity last Saturday to post THIS:
Yep...Saturday was 77 days until kickoff, so we honor Trinton Sturdivant and his groovy dance stylings.
The other thing that means is that this week we are only TEN WEEKS from GAME WEEK! I can smell the ribs already! And the bourbon...and the VIOLENCE.
The more I think about this 2010 Dawgs team, the more excited I am. Only 73 days to go!!
- If there are any of you still reading this who were loyal readers of my American Idol recaps, I appreciate it...and you can rest knowing that you may have been witnesses to history. If this little news release turns out the way I am afraid it will, I will likely no longer even be WATCHING, must less recapping, so THIS was likely my last American Idol recap ever. With three daughters in the house, I hear plenty of 15-year-old marginally talented "singers" already...no need to expose myself to any more, thank you very much.
- U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!
That concludes the soccer portion of our blog.
(Even if you're not a soccer fan, check out the second video)
- Braves continue to play good baseball...but one of my favorite stories of the season so far is Stephen Strasburg. Between him and J-Hey, I feel like we are watching the first green shoots of two guys who may go down as some of the best ever.
Check out some of these numbers, courtesy of Buster Olney's blog on ESPN.com (daily reading for baseball fans, by the way):
"After opposing hitters have reached a count of no balls and two strikes against Stephen Strasburg, they are 0-for-20 with 16 strikeouts. That's not much worse than what happens after they fall behind in the count of 0-1: Opponents are 4-for-36 with 22 strikeouts after the first pitch goes for strike one."
"How unusual is Stephen Strasburg's efficiency? Well, consider this note generated by the Washington Nationals' staff: In 2010, only three pitchers have struck out 10-plus in a game but required less than 100 pitches to do so. Strasburg has two of these zero-walk, 10-plus K tallies. On April 6, Dallas Braden struck out 10 over seven innings against the Mariners, while throwing 91 pitches. On May 15, James Shields struck out 10 with 93 pitches against the Mariners. Then, in his debut, Strasburg threw 94 pitches against the Pirates and struck out 14 -- before striking out 10 with 85 pitches against the White Sox Friday."
Pretty amazing stuff...in fact, if J-Hey doesn't find a way out of this slump he is in, Strasburg might steal his Rookie of the Year award.
One thing I don't like about the guy...he's a Scott Boras client. And, even though Strasburg signed the largest contract in draft history, he was "undervalued", according to Boras.
Whenever the first contract negotiation between the Nats and Strasburg happens, I think Boras' end of the conversation may sound something like this:
"Our demands are these: $350 GAZILLION dollars. And a unicorn... Wait, not a unicorn...what's the one with the wings? Oh, right, a Pegasus. We want $350 GAZILLION dollars and a personal Pegasus. What do you mean, how many zeroes are in a gazillion? I don't know...that's for YOU to figure out!"
OK, that's about it for now...how about I leave you with this, just for fun?
GO DAWGS!!!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Catchin' up
Well, I'm back from Florida...which, of course, means that posting will actually be MORE sporadic, not less.
Go figure.
So...what's been going on?
- First of all, my long ago promised (and even longer overdue) apology to Troy Glaus. I was as hard on him as anybody early in the season, hitting him hard both on the blog and on my Twitter feed.
All he's done since then is win the NL Player of the Month for May and take over the NL lead in RBI.
So, maybe instead of apologizing, I should just say....you're WELCOME!
Just kidding...I was wrong, so I'll gladly admit it.
Troy Glaus for MVP!!
- While I was in Destin, the mighty Trojans of USC got as close to the death penalty as any program is going to get post-SMU.
To which I say, simply:
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! ::gasp, gasp::.....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, man, that's AWESOME.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
My favorite part was when Kiffykins said that the sanctions (loss of 30 scholarships over three years, two-year bowl ban, and most interestingly, the release of juniors and seniors to transfer to another school without sitting out) will have "no impact" on recruiting.
He followed that up with "DERP DERP DERPITTY DERP".
- Also, the Big 12 threatened to explode, only to be saved at the last minute thanks to Texas graciously accepting an additional $15 MILLION DOLLARS or so to stay put. Such a charitable gesture.
I was pretty out of the loop while all of the conversations were going on last week, so I will leave it to others to go through all the ins and outs and backroom politics. I just know that I was extremely glad that the rumored Texas A&M move to the SEC didn't happen. I really don't want to see the SEC expand at all, and I especially don't want them to make a move just because everybody else is and water down the conference by bringing in inferior teams.
I also don't like what SEC expansion would do to the schedule. I don't really want to see more than 8 SEC games on the schedule, so even if the conference was to only expand to two seven-team divisions, in order to keep from going to 9 SEC games you would have to drop one of the "rotating" games. So we would have 6 division games, the game against Auburn, and then only one rotating SEC game, which would mean we would go 10 years or more between games against LSU, Alabama, and the other teams in the SEC West. I don't like that.
Surprisingly enough, Mike Slive didn't ask my opinion, and I don't expect that to change when this comes up again in a couple of years. Expansion is inevitable, I'm afraid...I was just glad the SEC dodged the bullet this time around.
So...is the Big 12 (or whatever they will be called now) really going to go with just ten teams and no championship game? If so, can we take their automatic BCS bid away? Otherwise, won't the winner of the Texas-Oklahoma game just cakewalk to the BCS every year?
- Remember when I was so excited about the fact that the Hawks let Mike Woodson go, and maybe the team was going to go in a different direction other that stagnant mess we've seen over the last two years?
Yeah...never mind.
- Couple of key additions to the Dawgs over the last couple of weeks.
First of all, we got a big commitment from Nick Marshall. I absolutely love this story...this guy grew up a Dawg fan and Georgia was his dream school. We were recruiting him as a quarterback, as were most of the other schools pursuing him, but then we received the commitment from Christian Lemay and Coach Richt said we probably wouldn't take another quarterback in the 2011 class. The gnats were his second choice, so he came very close to committing to them...and then Coach Richt called and offered him as a defensive back. Nick JUMPED at the second chance to be a Dawg...my kind of guy.
On top of that, he is also one of the top basketball recruits in the state, and he will be playing for Coach Fox's Hoop Dawgs as well. The basketball program is making HUGE strides in the right direction under Coach Fox...with the talent we have coming back plus a couple of big recruits, I think we could really make some noise in 2010-2011.
Here are some highlights of Nick playing DB (h/t to Bubba 'n Earl):
Then, today the Dawgs got some more big news when Jarvis Jones decided to transfer to UGA from USC. Jarvis was very highly recruited in 2009, when Rivals had him rated as the 3rd best prospect in Georgia. He had a neck injury last season, after which USC released him from his scholarship, but all reports from both the USC and UGA medical staff seem to indicate that he is ready to play.
I think Jarvis fits in EXTREMELY well as an inside linebacker in Todd Grantham's 3-4 defense. If he does step in there and live up to his vast potential, we could be looking at a possible 2012 linebacking corps of Cornelius Washington (assuming he doesn't have a big enough year to jump to the NFL in '10), Jarvis Jones, Richard Samuel, and T.J. Stripling.
I'll take it.
Here are some Jarvis Jones highlights from when he was being recruited:
Getting fired up yet? Only 81 DAYS TO KICKOFF!!!
To celebrate, here is a very well done highlight video of the Dawgs win over TAMU in the Independence Bowl...our #81, Aron White, has a couple of big plays (at the 2:35 and 4:36 marks):
And, while I'm at it, since I missed yesterday, here is one of my favorite highlights from the career of #82, Fred Gibson...a fingertip TD catch against the gators:
Good to be back...
GO DAWGS!!!
Go figure.
So...what's been going on?
- First of all, my long ago promised (and even longer overdue) apology to Troy Glaus. I was as hard on him as anybody early in the season, hitting him hard both on the blog and on my Twitter feed.
All he's done since then is win the NL Player of the Month for May and take over the NL lead in RBI.
So, maybe instead of apologizing, I should just say....you're WELCOME!
Just kidding...I was wrong, so I'll gladly admit it.
Troy Glaus for MVP!!
- While I was in Destin, the mighty Trojans of USC got as close to the death penalty as any program is going to get post-SMU.
To which I say, simply:
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! ::gasp, gasp::.....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, man, that's AWESOME.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!My favorite part was when Kiffykins said that the sanctions (loss of 30 scholarships over three years, two-year bowl ban, and most interestingly, the release of juniors and seniors to transfer to another school without sitting out) will have "no impact" on recruiting.
He followed that up with "DERP DERP DERPITTY DERP".
- Also, the Big 12 threatened to explode, only to be saved at the last minute thanks to Texas graciously accepting an additional $15 MILLION DOLLARS or so to stay put. Such a charitable gesture.
I was pretty out of the loop while all of the conversations were going on last week, so I will leave it to others to go through all the ins and outs and backroom politics. I just know that I was extremely glad that the rumored Texas A&M move to the SEC didn't happen. I really don't want to see the SEC expand at all, and I especially don't want them to make a move just because everybody else is and water down the conference by bringing in inferior teams.
I also don't like what SEC expansion would do to the schedule. I don't really want to see more than 8 SEC games on the schedule, so even if the conference was to only expand to two seven-team divisions, in order to keep from going to 9 SEC games you would have to drop one of the "rotating" games. So we would have 6 division games, the game against Auburn, and then only one rotating SEC game, which would mean we would go 10 years or more between games against LSU, Alabama, and the other teams in the SEC West. I don't like that.
Surprisingly enough, Mike Slive didn't ask my opinion, and I don't expect that to change when this comes up again in a couple of years. Expansion is inevitable, I'm afraid...I was just glad the SEC dodged the bullet this time around.
So...is the Big 12 (or whatever they will be called now) really going to go with just ten teams and no championship game? If so, can we take their automatic BCS bid away? Otherwise, won't the winner of the Texas-Oklahoma game just cakewalk to the BCS every year?
- Remember when I was so excited about the fact that the Hawks let Mike Woodson go, and maybe the team was going to go in a different direction other that stagnant mess we've seen over the last two years?
Yeah...never mind.
- Couple of key additions to the Dawgs over the last couple of weeks.
First of all, we got a big commitment from Nick Marshall. I absolutely love this story...this guy grew up a Dawg fan and Georgia was his dream school. We were recruiting him as a quarterback, as were most of the other schools pursuing him, but then we received the commitment from Christian Lemay and Coach Richt said we probably wouldn't take another quarterback in the 2011 class. The gnats were his second choice, so he came very close to committing to them...and then Coach Richt called and offered him as a defensive back. Nick JUMPED at the second chance to be a Dawg...my kind of guy.
On top of that, he is also one of the top basketball recruits in the state, and he will be playing for Coach Fox's Hoop Dawgs as well. The basketball program is making HUGE strides in the right direction under Coach Fox...with the talent we have coming back plus a couple of big recruits, I think we could really make some noise in 2010-2011.
Here are some highlights of Nick playing DB (h/t to Bubba 'n Earl):
Then, today the Dawgs got some more big news when Jarvis Jones decided to transfer to UGA from USC. Jarvis was very highly recruited in 2009, when Rivals had him rated as the 3rd best prospect in Georgia. He had a neck injury last season, after which USC released him from his scholarship, but all reports from both the USC and UGA medical staff seem to indicate that he is ready to play.
I think Jarvis fits in EXTREMELY well as an inside linebacker in Todd Grantham's 3-4 defense. If he does step in there and live up to his vast potential, we could be looking at a possible 2012 linebacking corps of Cornelius Washington (assuming he doesn't have a big enough year to jump to the NFL in '10), Jarvis Jones, Richard Samuel, and T.J. Stripling.
I'll take it.
Here are some Jarvis Jones highlights from when he was being recruited:
Getting fired up yet? Only 81 DAYS TO KICKOFF!!!
To celebrate, here is a very well done highlight video of the Dawgs win over TAMU in the Independence Bowl...our #81, Aron White, has a couple of big plays (at the 2:35 and 4:36 marks):
And, while I'm at it, since I missed yesterday, here is one of my favorite highlights from the career of #82, Fred Gibson...a fingertip TD catch against the gators:
Good to be back...
GO DAWGS!!!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
83 days to kickoff!!
Couldn't find any cool Cornelius Washington video, so how about some video of a couple of guys who, if reports can be believed, are actually SLOWER than Cornelius Washington?
GO DAWGS!!
GO DAWGS!!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
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