Party Time!

  The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is upon us. Las Vegas is liking the Dawgs by a slim margin-and I am not sure how I like that. On one hand I think that this squad needs all the confidence it can get and will benefit from having "somebody" on their side. On the other hand, this is not the game that you want to head into cocky-they need to remember to go out there and execute-hopefully they will get some good play calls to help facilitate the execution!
  I just read in the Jacksonville Times-Union that Meyer has said Chris Rainey will play Saturday (if you would like my opinion on the matter see the "Isn't that convenient" post) and the gator's kicker Sturgis will not play. Meyer is also reported as saying that Demps is as healthy as he has been in five weeks. It looks like Meyer and his bye-week rested team will be ready to try and prove Vegas wrong. BUT...
  CMR and the Georgia Bulldogs might have something for 'em this year. Georgia will be returning a few players of its own on Saturday. Caleb King and Branden Smith are set to return which help the Dawgs chances a bunch. Ealey needs to keep running the ball as well as he has the last few weeks and HOLD ONTO THE BALL. It will be great to have King back for depth though; I am thinking the UGA running game will have a great day. This will be Murray's biggest challenge yet-and since he hasn't really been the problem yet this season I think he continues to play great this weekend.
  I actually think the performance of the Dawgs D will be the determining factor. The D seems to be clicking, but it will be going up against a Meyer offense that, while not all that great, will have have schemed for two weeks. The Gator's O-Line has taken a beating on the local sports radio station, I hope that they have some more material to bash 'em with come the Monday drive-time show. I am curious to see how the new X-Factor is used by Meyer, and how the Dawgs D handles it. All in all, the D ought to keep clicking and help seal a Georgia victory.
  Both teams are having a down year, lets hope the Dawgs can take advantage of it!

Ready to Party?

Sorry I haven't been blogging the last couple of days. I am studying my ass off because I am going to the World's largest outdoor cocktail party this weekend. I feel like a two year old on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come down the chimney. This will be my first trip since 2007 and if I don't make it back to Charleston, it means we probably won.

One quick thought on our current team. I know we might be 4-4 and we aren't quite having the season I wanted, but I haven't seen a beat down of three teams like that since Shockley left in 2005. The teams we had from 06-09 might have been better than this years team, but almost every year we lost to either Vanderbilt or Kentucky. I'm glad we went out and layed the hammer on three teams that we were just plain better than. Go Dawgs!

UGA vs. UK (short) Preview and Predictions

Better late than never. Georgia looks to keep rolling with a win in Lexington tonight. The Cats should prove to be a formidable foe this weekend and will not be the pushover Kentucky of years past. Randall Cobb is nasty and could give the Dawgs D fits. While on the subject of the Dawgs D, Grantham's squad will have a chance to prove to the Bulldog Nation that his 3-4 can and will work. I think the change has been for the better but, this will be more of a challenge for the D than Vandy, La-La, and Tennessee-this is the game to prove that the D can dominate against a good team. It will also be HUGE if the Georgia Defense can leave this weekend and head into next weekend with a bunch of confidence. Lets hope the beards keep growing as the Dawgs keep winning the turnover battle-and win the game. Short post, however, note the new Score Predictions.

Chuck D: Dawgs over the Cats, 42-24
Will D: Dawgs over the Kittens 34-21

Isn't that convenient....?

Once again Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators will have an extra week to prepare for the showdown with Georgia. Not surprisingly Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators will also be able to prepare a gameplan that includes Chris Rainey. Recall that Rainey was kicked off the team earlier this year for telling a woman via text that it was "Time to Die". Well everyone should be pleased to know that Rainey was able to rejoin the team conditioned on his serving a 4 game suspension (note that AJ Green served a 4 game suspension for selling a game worn jersey to an individual who insists he was/is not an agent). As you may have guessed by the title of this post, Rainey's suspension will conveniently be completed by the time the Gators suit up against the Dawgs. I can't believe Meyer may let Rainey play. Actually, that is not true; I can ABSOLUTELY believe that Meyer will let Rainey play against Georgia because Meyer is a conniving, crybaby, snake. As always, I want the Dawgs to take the Gators behind the wood shed and whoop 'em come the end of October. But for now Georgia has to play what is sure to be a difficult game against the Kentucky Wildcats. I expect a let down game from the Cats coming off of their big win last weekend-whether or not CMR and the team will be able to take advantage of it is another story.

Urban Cryer

Can you believe Ms. State just beat Florida with a balanced second half attack of 25 runs to 1 pass. They were basically playing to lose and handing Florida the game yet, Florida didn't take advantage and lost one of the worst games in Urban's tenure.

There is nothing I like more than seeing Urban Meyer with his head in his hands at the end of game. I think Urban is the biggest baby in all of sports. "Oh no I lost three games in a row Wah Wah!" I might not like Mark Richt all the time, but I guarantee he wouldn't show his ass like that out on the field.

On another non UGA related note. I watched a little bit of the OSU vs WI game and I honestly believe we could beat both those teams. The Big 10 has slow players and the conference is so overrated.

Win #1 for Big Bad Bruce

Another great game today for UGA. I know a lot of people will say that it was just Vanderbilt, but that is the same Vanderbilt that has beat us within the last three years. We went out and took care of business exactly like I would expect Georgia to do.

Aaron Murray is the real deal. He has quietly compiled quite an impressive season up to this point. His stat line reads 1366 yds, 10 TD, and 3 Int. The 2-3 skinny posts he threw over the middle could not have been thrown any better. I was thinking today that he might be in the running for freshman of the year, but of course we will have to improve our record. Another thought concerning Murray is Chrsitian Lemay. If Lemay sees our freshman QB playing well will he still be willing to commit to Georgia knowing he won’t play for three years. Just an interesting thought to think about.

I know Ealey went over 100 yds, but it still looked liked he missed a lot of holes and doesn’t run North-South enough.

On the defensive side of the ball I also thought we looked good. I loved to see Grantham fired up and yelling at our players even when the score was 35-0. I like how Alec Ogletree looked and I am starting to think he should see some more playing time. I know Rambo and Boykin are supposed to be the two best players in the secondary, but it seems that they are the two who are always getting burned. I think they are trying to be heroes instead of staying in their spots.

I know this is crazy talk, but if we win out and USC loses to Florida and Arkansas we are on our way to Atlanta.

There's a new Dawg in town

Uga VIII - "Big Bad Bruce"

Move over Russ, there is a new Dawg in Athens! Russ you were a good interim mascot but it is time for new blood. Uga VIII (registered name "Big Bad Bruce") will become UGA's new Uga this weekend during the Vandy game. Here is the link to the AJC's article on the New One.

AJC on new Uga

The Potential Affect of Arrests on Recruiting

  By now everyone has realized that the Georgia Football team has some discipline issues. I believe the most recent count was at 11 arrests for the team this year. The short term affect on the team is apparent; arrests link to suspensions, which often equal loss of talent on the field. What may not be so apparent is the potential affect the slew of arrests could on recruiting. My theory isn't backup by science or studies (although there are probably some out there) but I think it is pretty logical and realistic.
  It is public knowledge that pressure is on from President Adams (who, for the record, is not held in high regard by this blog) for CMR to clean up the program. I speculate that this pressure will not subside after the season ends. While CMR already has next year's recruiting class established in terms of who is high on the list, there is potential for the long term affect of this year's arrests could start surfacing a year from now when the 2012 recruiting class is being assembled. Why? CMR and the recruiting staff will be pressured to evaluate potential recruits' character more heavily than years past. This is where there is likely some study comes into play: more talented players tend to have less character/more behavioral issues. This means that overall talent will be decreased, but overall good behavior will increase (good behavior doesn't really win games, but neither does being suspended). Follow?
  Additionally, and this could come into play as soon as this recruiting period, parents and guardians of potential recruits will require extra assurance that their children will be in good hands. I am sure that over the years CMR has snagged some prized recruits because the recruit's parents felt CMR was a good, church-goin' man who would watch out for the kid and keep him out of trouble. The recent rash of arrests, and increase of arrests over the past several years will likely diminish this "comfort level" parents have with Richt. So not only is there potential to lose talented but troubled recruits as a result of administrative pressure, there is also potential to lose out on talented and high-character recruits due to a lack of faith in CMR's ability to watch out for the players.
  President Adams isn't above getting his slimy scales into Athletic Association affairs, our new AD and CMR are already feeling-and will continue to feel-pressure to right the ship, and parents will steer their kids to schools and programs they feel are safe and stable. This theory may have some stretches, but let it simmer for a while and think about it. Y'all let me hear what your thoughts are about this in the comment section.

Bobby's Last Game

Even though the last two games tortured me, I still realize that Bobby Cox is a special manager that will be missed by all Braves fans. Bobby Cox was a manager who spoiled us with 15 straight division titles from 1991- 2005. I must confess that with all that success I, along with many other fans, started to take the playoffs for granted. That speaks to the greatness of # 6. He was such a good manager; we started to expect playoff baseball. That fact never became more apparent to me than this year as we volleyed for a playoff spot down the stretch. I was excited just to have that chance to watch the Braves play into October.

Bobby retires as one of the all-time greats and is a surefire hall-of-famer. He ranks fourth all time in career wins and second all time in playoff wins behind Joe Torre. Some say he underachieved, only winning one World Series after all those playoff runs, but I think he has brought us moments over his tenure that I will never forget. Two of my favorites are Sid Bream sliding into home in 1992 and Otis Nixon’s amazing catch at the centerfield wall.

Bobby was known as a player’s manager and I have never heard a former player speak one bad word of him. An interesting story I read on AJC talked of the time Gary Sheffield wanted out of town and signed a free agent contract with the Yankees. The next spring training Chipper and Gary were talking and he told Chipper he didn’t realize how good he had it until he left Atlanta. I think all of us Braves fans need to realize we have had it great the last 20 years. I am excited about the future, but I am proud to say I grew up rooting for a team coached by Bobby Cox.

Additional Thoughts on a Good Win

That was much needed! Nothing will reinvigorate a down squad and fan base like a putting a whoopin' on a hated rival. I just want to add a few of my own thoughts to my esteemed colleagues earlier post, and mention a few other noteworthy items.

• AJ is the best...see below.
• Murray again looked really good, I dare say great. I also think he is getting more comfortable with running the offense. I also like the fact that he can hurt defenses with his legs, and he is finally starting to do it.
• I couldn't agree more with what Chuck said about Caleb King. I am not sure if I posted on the fact that Washaun seems to do more dancing than running, and if I didn't than know that it has been a consistent thought in my mind. Caleb sees the field and makes the necessary moves (disregarding the spin move last week!) to get upfield and get yards. 
• I liked how the D played, granted Tennessee helped out a good bit, but the players still swarmed, wrapped up and made things happen. With regards to the long TD they gave up: Grantham and Latkos's defensive philosophy is more aggressive towards the ball and in play general; it opens the door for the D to make more BIG plays than a conservative style would. Conversely, it also tends to open the door for the opposing offense to make big plays-and that is what seemed to happen on that particular play. The DBs thought Simms was going down and they moved to the line, Simms escaped a sack and his receiver was open; at least that's what I thought about it. Good effort all around though.

In related news, apparently Boss Bailey, who served as an honorary captain, gave a rousing speech to the team Friday night. According to CMR and some of the players Boss "called them out" and roused feeling of what it means to play Georgia Football. It is a little disappointing that some of the players needed a reminder, and hopefully they won't for the rest of their college careers, but I am pleased that it woke the team up. They played great, Dawg football, and added an SEC win in the process. 

I still have a little bark left

What a great day to be a Georgia Bulldog. On my list of hated rivals Tennessee has always ranked 3^rd behind Florida and Georgia Tech. So, even though we are both currently fielding JV teams, I get fired up when we get to beat up on the Orange. Didn’t it feel great today? It was the first time in the last month that we have had anything to cheer for and we looked like we belonged in the SEC today. We looked ready to play and came out with fire in our belly. I thought we mixed it up well on offense and our defense played aggressive all day. It feels great to finally win again and I wish I could have been in the stadium to hear the battle hymn.

AJ Green once again proved that he is hands down the #1 receiver in the country. The play across the middle where he got yoked but still held onto the ball was just a great play made by a great player.

Aaron Murray looks like he is starting to get very comfortable with the offense. Today he looked like he was playing on instinct, which is something that comes once you know the plays and don’t have to think all of the time. I really believe that he could be a special player at UGA if he has a good supporting cast and good coaching.

I have also decided that Caleb King is by far the #1 tailback on this team right now. His field vision is far superior to Ealey’s. Am I the only one who feels like Ealey runs into the lineman on purpose?

"Were Improving Every Week"

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I don’t know how many people listen to CMR’s (Coach Mark Richt) radio show every Monday night, but for the last four weeks when asked about the state of affairs at UGA, CMR has responded with “We are getting better every week”. I cannot begin to explain how tired I am of hearing these words. Obviously, what you are doing ISNT WORKING!!! Why can’t CMR give us some opinions with some concrete ideas that he is using to fix this team? If I had my way this is what a hypothetical Monday press conference might sound like with CMR:

Caller: Well CMR your guys sure aren’t getting it done on Saturdays.

CMR: You know what caller you are absolutely correct. We look like a bunch of high school ball players.

Caller: What is your plan to fix this ugly situation?

CMR: As of Monday every position is open. Every redshirt is taken away. If I have to play 22 freshmen I will, if they are the players who show me that they want to play. Nobody’s job is safe (except Murray and Green) and I expect these young men to show me some passion.

Caller: That is the best thing I heard from you in a while.

CMR: Well thank you caller. I realized the way I have coached my team the last three years is leading us straight to the Big South conference and instead of just rinse and repeat like normal, I think it is time for a change.

This would make me respect CMR and want him to continue to be our coach. This past week when Alabama just got done demolishing Florida. Saban was asked about the performance and blatantly said we played like crap in the second half. When Dabo held his weekly press conference he ripped into the fans about not wanting to show up for a 12:00 game. This type of honesty is refreshing and I would probably have a heart attack if CMR responded in any of these ways.

On a different note I feel really bad for Aaron Murray. He has to be thinking something like “I am the QB who has lead UGA to a 1-4 record. I can’t believe this”. I think he should hold his head high because he has played admirably.

Also the AJC must have read my last post because Mark Bradley recently posted this article. What’s wrong with UGA? Sad to say, it starts with Mark Richt.

It Just Got Worse

  I remember Richt telling the team and media that "it could be worse," and he was right. Sure there were flashes of improvement during the game, but that will be discussed later. At the beginning of the season when UGA was considered a sleeper team in the SEC, I had a deep seeded fear that somehow this would be the year that Georgia makes it to the National Championship, and that it would be the same year a SEC team would finally lose to another conference (which would equal SEC embarrassment). This weekend I had the awesome fortune of realizing part of that initial fear-UGA would lose to a crap non-SEC team and embarrass itself and the SEC. It just so happened that the team Georgia lost to wasn't even the caliber team that an overrated OSU or Oklahoma tends to be.
  The game against Colorado established one thing for sure-embarrassment. I am 100% behind the TEAM, and UGA as a whole, but that has not prevented the huge feeling of embarrassment that arose as the last seconds of the game ticked away. I am embarrassed that Georgia is 1-3; I am embarrassed that Georgia lost to a middle of the pack Big 12 team; and I am embarrassed for the SEC because a down Georgia team may be mistaken for the cream of the SEC crop-and that is not the case at all. Georgia shouldn't ever lose to Colorado; hell, I would be mad if VANDERBILT lost to Colorado! The main point is that Georgia has been an embarrassment to itself, the SEC, and the fans. Sure the players played hard, but they should be embarrassed too! That isn't near the thrashing that I could give the Dawgs; instead I'll finish with a few points/observations that are only 50 percent or so negative (PLUS a juicy bit I heard through the rumor mill that should enrage several folks in the extensive readership!).

•  The Colorado cheerleaders (at least the ones I saw) looked like middle-aged, reference librarians at the Montgomery County Public Library - no offense to the Montgomery Co, librarians.
• When will a Georgia LB that is spying the QB actually make a play instead of getting a dump pass thrown over his head for a 10 yard gain?
• When will Bobo stop running up the gut to no avail on 3rd and 4, 3rd and 3, 3rd and etc. plays. According to one of the commentators, Bobo's 3rd and 4 to-go  rush up the middle play call in the first quarter was a "waste of a good opportunity with the ball."
• Understatement of the season - I think we missed AJ Green. AJ is the real deal, everyone who reads this is probably already aware of that fact-but in case you aren't, go back and take a look at his first touchdown (1 handed) catch.
• The special teams looked good. I also stand by Walsh; he is automatic and carrying the team on his shoulders probably wore him down. I do not think any blame should be placed on him for the loss just because he missed a kick. 
• Murray also looked good. He made some great touch throws-right in the bread basket in stride.
• I was in shock that our great Tight Ends got some looks-about 4 according to my count, which is about 3 more than they received in the other games!
• If UGA is in the redzone, or the game is potentially on the line-DO NOT hand it off to one of the running backs. Maybe McClendon needs to stress ball control a little more...or better yet, maybe the O-Coordinator should stress it...or better yet, maybe the Head Coach should stress it-oh well, probably won't be stressed.
• I swear I saw Richt smiling as he was leaving the field after the game. Maybe I was just delusional.
• And Finally, does everyone remember during the first game of the season when Grantham vigorously tore into the Defense with anger and hellfire? Apparently word on the Jacksonville street is that after the game Richt had a one-on-one with Grantham and requested that he keep a cooler head on the sideline. I know, if there is any truth to this-and I believe there is or else I wouldn't post it-then that is the last straw. What is disappointing is that if we get rid of Richt, then necessarily Grantham has to go because the new coach will bring in his own personnel, just plain disappointing. 
• I really want Richt to do well enough to change my opinion of him because I know he is a good guy, but what I-and the Georgia fans I know-want is a good COACH.

It could get worse, and it sure did on Saturday night. I hope the Dawgs can pull out a few more wins, but Richt was and still is right about one thing-it could get worse.