What's good for the goose...BUT...

• Fairley is a thug-but a dominating player

• I am proud that the offensive line stood up for Murray and retaliated for the low hit on the QB; I am also even more proud that the Dawgs took care of it during the whistle in the trenches and it was the Auburn players that elevated it to the point of penalties

• Nick Saban can send a thank you note to the Dawgs for helping facilitate the ejection (and subsequent first half suspension in the upcoming game) of two backup Auburn D-lineman.
• The Dawgs played a hell of a game and I am as pleased as I can be with a loss and (with the exception of Ogletree showing his youthful inexperience) I thought the team played well all around-and the play calling wasn't half bad either.
• I can't wait for Verne to retire to Florida.
• And finally...all I have to look forward to is whooping up on some...

Rivalry Time!

More "sources" are coming out with damning evidence against Cam Newton; so much so that it has gotten to the point that Auburn officials are doling out a "no comment" when asked about Newton's playtime this weekend. I think Newton will play, and I think Georgia will have its hands full. I think, and hope it will be a close game-after all this is the one series that CMR tends to dominate. But, I think the Tigers pull one out on the Dawgs. I am really looking for Murray to have a good game, and maybe AJ will make a few highlight catches. Either way it should be an interesting game, and I am glad I don't have to search through the tv guide to find out which channel it is on!

UGA 34 - AU 45

Sources: Cam Newton says "insert vague, out of context statement here"

Cam Newton is in the news again, but for something that original broke last week. An earlier post discussed the Miss. State pay to play discussion that supposedly occurred when Newton was being wooed. Now “sources” are reporting that during a phone conversation Cecil Newton, Cam’s father, mentioned that it would take “more than a scholarship” to get Cam to play at Auburn. “Sources” are also reporting that a dismayed Cam Newton told an individual that he would be attending Auburn at his father behest because “the money was too much.”

Do not construe this post as advancing the theory that Cam Newton is guilty of any violation or wrongdoing. I actually feel the exact opposite. The stories on Cam Newton from the past week are a clear example of the unsubstantiated claims being reported by unnamed sources as “pretty true” or “possibly true” – i.e. there is a continued slide towards the breakdown of journalistic integrity. Has anyone noticed that “more than a scholarship” and “the money was too much” are the only statements being quoted? Furthermore, has anyone noticed that only negative connotations are being attached to these statements? When I was considering which college to attend I considered more than just what scholarship I was being offered. I considered academics, the campus, girls, athletics – in effect, the school I choose had “more than a scholarship” to offer. Maybe Cecil Newton wanted assurance that his kid would be looked after by the coaching staff, or that he would have access to tutors, or any other number of perfectly plausible explanations, but ones you won’t hear on ESPN, Fox Sports, etc. With regards to the “the money was too much” statement – maybe Cam had to attend to Auburn because the alleged offer of money to play at Miss State was too much to get involved with, i.e. it was over the line. To clarify my point, what if Cam was offered money to play at Miss State and Cecil Newton, recognizing that his son had already encountered trouble, wanted to steer clear of any trouble that accepting money would possibly entail. 

Maybe Cam and Cecil Newton were up to no good a few years back, I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt. I would like to see a little more deference and discretion when reporting these so called stories. Heisman votes are already coming out and saying that now they won’t vote for Newton. If that is the case then the Heisman and the voters who determine the winner will lose a lot of respect in my, and probably a lot of other people’s, book. I won’t even go into how the NCAA has had this information since January and investigations are ongoing. 

Also, I am with Chuck in that I do not hate Auburn like I hate Florida, Tennessee, and The Nerds. Maybe it is because we have had Auburn’s number for the past decade. Although I am fairly sure that this year Auburn will have Georgia’s number…but, I’ll save those thoughts for another post.

DO WE HAVE A CHANCE?

Today’s game went exactly as one would expect. In the first quarter we came out flat, which isn’t unusual considering last weeks game, but we rebounded well and looked solid. By about the third quarter my mind was focused on Auburn. Does anyone think we stand a chance next week? I honestly haven’t decided what I think yet.

I think we can all agree that Auburn is the best team in the SEC. They have had a few close games, but they look like the Oregon of the East (scoring 60 on everyone). Cameron Newton looks like the reincarnation of Tim Tebow (except I don’t hate Cam Newton). He has 19 TD/ 15 TD rushing and receiving. To go along with Newton they have Michael Dyer (a great freshman RB) and Ontario Mccalebb who is like Carlton Thomas, only much more talented. If you put all of that together, I think Auburn scores 30 points easily.

So now the question becomes can we score 30 points? AJ Green was quoted after the game as saying that “they (Auburn) have not faced anyone like me and Aaron”. I agree and disagree with that. I honestly believed that if the playcalling goes well we have a stacked offense. If Bobo uses Murray, Green, Charles, King, Ealey, Durham, etc, etc correctly our offense can be extremely dangerous. However, Auburn has already faced Mallett/ Childs and Garcia/Jeffrey and beat them both. The whole season I have watched Auburn get destroyed on defense. There are a couple of reasons for that:

1.There offense is on the field for about 2 seconds every drive, so the defense stays out there a lot and stays tired

2. Nick Fairley is there only defensive standout and we have protected the QB pretty well lately

Add all of that up and I think we could easily score 30 points on Auburn.

We need to watch the film of the first half of the Clemson-Auburn game and watch how Clemson held Auburn to 3 points at halftime. With all of that being said, I think we can make it a good game, but I think we lose 42-31.

On another note the Georgia-Auburn game is the oldest rivalry in the South. For some reason I have never hated Auburn like I hate UF, GT, and UT. I feel like Auburn, Alabama, and Ole Miss are similar to UGA and at least have a little class. Needless to say, it makes watching the game a little easier.

Some NCAA knowledge for ya...

Note: If I don't post for a few days it is probably becuase the NCAA requested a copy of my financial statements to see if my use of the Cam Newton image below was any sort of violation...

Resident NCAA expert "La Gatter" on Cam Newton and the NCAA in general:

Thanks to Reggie Bush thinking that he could start a sports agency while at So. Cal. The NCAA now has a different set of rules for “high profile” athletes. “High profile” athletes are exactly what they sound like, athletes that are actually good and will likely go pro. The NCAA brands these athletes and once they are considered to be high profile, the NCAA then can investigate the financial background of the player his family, his siblings and his girlfriend.

The NCAA can do this because (1) the NCAA is a voluntary association for colleges and universities, (2) the NCAA is not a state actor, (3) there is no constitutional right to participate in athletics (even signing a letter of intent does not give you a property or liberty interest in your right to play), and (4) the privacy rights of athletes is lower because there is no right to participate, and so there is always the “option” not to play.

So, unfortunately I think we are on the verge of a new era of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions seeking out star athletes and probing into their past, their families and their personal lives without cause, because the NCAA has written a need for cause out of their own bylaws.

As for individual school’s athletic departments, the Committee on Infractions has said that any school must not only report infractions that they may find, they have to host an in-depth investigation and administer appropriate sanctions on that player/coach/administrator. If the school fails to do so, they face sanctions from the NCAA, which is also the case if the punishment does not fit the crime.

Now, how Rainey and Jacques Smith managed to escape all of this is beyond me.

In response to the Cam Newton article specifically, it sounds like Miss. State will more likely be sanctioned then Newton himself for not reporting any potential infractions. But the NCAA does what it wants and gets away with it, and this year it looks like they want to take down the SEC so there’s no telling what will happen next.

The NCAA is at it again!

Just came across this Cam Newton article on usatoday.com. Looks like the NCAA is after another one of the SEC's star players-again. I may have my resident NCAA expert post on the craziness that is the NCAA-such as the request that Cecil Newton provide financial statements.

Give me a break!?

  I just awoke from a depression induced slumber after this past weekend's GA/FL result. I don't really want to break the game down; it was exciting to watch, but in the end it was a loss for the Dawgs. I don't recall where I saw this but somebody said something that really resonated with me and it went something like this: We are to Florida what the Nerds are to us-overwhelming domination of the respective series in recent history. It is sad, but true.
  In other news, and the main point of this post-"Chokegate" 2010. It is a few days old, and this post is mainly in response to this article by Tony Barnhart. Tony would suspend Grantham, and fine him substantially. Are you kidding me. Grantham is the only UGA Football coach who displays any fire/passion on the sidelines; was the gesture a bit of poor sportsmanship? Yeah maybe, but he was just gesturing what every Dawg fan was thinking. I generally like or appreciate what Barnhart has to say, but he needs to get over himself on this topic.