Moses Returns to Lead Children of Athens

"The team is made of bricks.
The strong make many,
the starving make few,
the dead make none."
- Quentin Moses in "The Ten Commandments of Mat Drills"
DawgPost.com's Josh Kendall has a great article on Quentin Moses drive to become more of a leader for the Dawgs. The more I read about this guy; the more I like him.

pwd

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Georgia Tech Pre-Spring Preview: Checking in with the Enemy

The second installment in the Georgia Sports Blog's series of interviews with bloggers from Georgia's rivals. The interviews look at pre-Spring expectations. Click here for the UT installment.

Today's featured guest is Nathan from GoldenTornado.net. Excerpts below:

- What are your expectations for Spring Ball for your team?
Honestly, I don't really have expectations simply because there's been so much turmoil around the program, and the rumors of an offensive scheme change (supposedly Nix will be taking over as full OC and using a spread offense - we'll see). I just hope we make it out of Spring without any serious injuries and that we have some kind of chemistry on offense.


Memories, sweetened thru the ages just like wine

- What is the most interesting position battle brewing for spring?
I wish I could say QB, but I have the sinking feeling that Reggie Ball can't lose the job no matter what he does. If we truly are moving to a spread offense, he's the right QB - but if not we really need to take a long hard look at Garner and see if he can get the ball down the field more reliably.

As for actual position battles? #2/#3 WR could be interesting, but to me it's all about who's in the mix for safety. We lost both starting safeties from last year, and it's going to be interesting to see if anyone steps in and fills those shoes. Tenuta's blitz schemes without solid safety play could be a recipe for disaster.


Give the devil his due. He can really play.

- What position do you feel most confident about?
No question, Wide Receiver. We have one of the deepest groups in the country, and this should be a solid strength of the GT team. Calvin Johnson headlines a group that is deep enough that talented freshmen Correy Earls and Demaryius Thomas might not see any time on the field. I have no idea why, but this is the one position that Gailey can recruit well (considering our struggles throwing the ball, that makes no sense but beggars can't be choosers).

I feel pretty good about the o-line as well, they are young but we have a pretty deep collection of what looks to be quality players in that group. Overall, this should be one of the better units we've had in Atlanta in a while.


At least one person on the planet is glad Greg Blue graduated.

- What position are you most nervous about?
Safety, by far. We got a whole lot of nobody there. Defensive line depth as well, we have quality starters but I'm not sure what's behind that. We simply cannot afford injuries or academic problems along the d-line like we had last year.


Darryl Richard missed last season, but he's very talented.

- Are you expecting any new wrinkles this Spring in scheme?
Well, we are talking about Chan Gailey ... so, no - I'm not expecting huge changes. Supposedly we'll see more of a spread look (which would make sense with our personnel), but I'm not holding my breath.


Given what WVU did to UGA, Gailey will probably get hundreds of copies of this video mailed to him by GT fans.

- Are there any big coaching changes that will impact your team this spring?
Nix will have more of a role in play calling (again, supposedly). We'll see how that works out, but it can't be worse than it was before. More importantly though, WE HAVE A NEW SPECIAL TEAMS COACH!!!!!!! Hopefully our special teams will be more excellent "special" than riding the short bus "special" like they have been in the past couple of seasons. We lost the UGa game this year on special teams play, and it wasn't the only one.


Not a DB

- What is the biggest question that you do NOT expect to get resolved this spring? (for instance at UGA it would be the QB battle)
Defensive secondary. I don't expect it to be answered at any point in the season. That's going to be a year long question mark.

- What is the #1 thing you're hoping to see at the Spring Game?
Lots of snaps for Jonathan Garner with the first team.


Gailey ponders life after football.

- Is there any program that you're following this spring other than your own? Looking for tidbits?
Georgia. If Gailey can beat them this year, he might save his job. If he loses his 6th in a row ... he's gone.

Thanks to Nathan for taking the time for this interview!

In the coming days, you will likely see a similar report on the Gators.

Photos and Captions by PWD

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Scholarship for Herschel's Sister Pays Off Again

The Georgia Women's Track Team won its first Indoor SEC Championship over the weekend.

Georgia has never been known as an indoor track and field powerhouse. Much less in women's track. We started our women's track program for the sole purpose of signing Herschel Walker's older sister Veronica thus giving us a better shot at signing Herschel.

When you have such lofty goals as signing running backs as the fuel for your women's program (not that I object to that logic mind you), it's no wonder we've never accomplished more in that area. Sure, we've had a Gwen Torrence now and again, but nothing consistent.

Even in the men's arena, we haven't exactly blown doors. An assistant track coach at UGA once told me something like..."Internationally, we sign kids that didn't know they should've signed with Arkansas."

Congrats to the Lady Dawgs. This is the biggest thing to happen to our women's track program since Herschel Walker inked his Letter of Intent...thus ensuring that Dooley didn't shut the program back down. lol


Gwen would be proud.

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NIT Looks Like Long Shot For Bulldogs

In the old days, a winning record in a power conference was all it took to qualify for the NIT Tournament. A month or two ago, the NIT selection process changed. The NCAA now owns the NIT.

If you're up to speed on the rule changes, skip down to "Why this is a problem for Georgia."

The biggest rule changes they implemented were:
- All regular season conference champions who do not win their conference tourney AND who aren't invited to the NCAA tourney now get an automatic bid to the NIT. For example, if IUPUI wins the Mid-Continent Conference regular season title, but loses the conference tourney to Oral Roberts University, then IUPUI would get the automatic NIT bid. Despite IUPUI's RPI of 146.

- Teams with losing records can now get invited to the NIT. This is primarily a win for major conference programs with Top 100 RPIs. Teams like Northwestern, Providence and South Carolina are possible beneficiaries of this rule change.

- Teams will be seeded 1-40, and home court will be given out accordingly. That means it's very possible that an SEC team like Georgia or South Carolina would open the NIT at Hofstra or Bradley.

Why this is a problem for Georgia
The NCAA Tourney has never been about inviting the Top 65 teams, and the NIT isn't about inviting the next best 40. Just because you have an RPI in the Top 105 does not mean you're in either tourney.

There are currently 8 teams slated to make the NCAA Tourney by ESPN's Bracketology guru that have RPIs outside of the Top 105. There are two more teams that will be added to the bracket after the play-in game is established. That's 10 slots outside of the Top 105.

So we're down to the Top 95 for the NCAA/NIT to pull from. Only there's a catch. For every conference that has an upset tourney champ, the pool gets smaller to pick from. If we have 5 upsets, the available pool shrinks down to around The Top 90 teams.

Georgia's RPI is currently:
Ken Pomeroy says 101
Real-time RPI says 114
Warren Noland says 102

And Georgia will likely fall further with games remaining against Florida and Arkansas. Two teams that are playing dramatically better basketball than the Dawgs. If Georgia finishes the SEC Regular Season at 15-14 as expected with an RPI around 115-120 and a non-conference strength of schedule of 240, we will likely need to win two SEC Tourney games to even get an NIT bid.

In other words, we scheduled so weak out of conference, that we're at risk of getting locked out of the NIT despite a winning overall record in a major conference.

It's frustrating, but if we had taken care of business against Auburn and/or Mississippi State we wouldn't be in this mess.

For an alternate view, try Steve's Georgia Slog.

pwd

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NFL Combine News

In no particular order:
- Shockley ran the 3rd fastest 40 yard dash of all QBs at 4.56. (AJC). Note: Scout.com's site didn't have him that fast.

- Q&A with Greg Blue (NFL.com / syndicated by the Falcons)

- Q&A with Demario Minter (NFL.com syndicated by the Falcons)

- Shockley will work out at WR and Blue at LB at the combine. (Scout.com)

In Nerd News. The "freakishly gifted" (air quotes work better than real ones) Demarious Bilbo ran a pedestrian 4.68 and 4.73 at the combine.

And the shocker to me...Brodie "Bad Knees" Croyle ran a 4.87. That's faster than uber hyped Omar Jacobs of Bowling Green. Who woulda thunk it?



pwd

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New Georgia Bulldog Blog

When you perfect pandering at this level, you get linked. There's just no two ways about it.

"As far as Georgia athletics is concerned, any blogger who hasn't read Georgia Sports Blog or believes Paul Westerdawg's superb column anyway deficient is either an ignoramus or an ass. Consequently, new blogs in this particular field must defend their existence. We hope one day to be Paul's best friend in the whole world. For the moment we want to offer a view of all things Georgia that's substantially our own, whether this means unparalleled coverage of women's equestrian or an idiosyncratic, family brand of irreverence and farce."

I present you the Bastard Sons of Mark Richt. They are just getting started, and they look pretty off the wall. But with that as a mission statement, I had to link. I had to.

Note: their site is a little more edgy than mine.

pwd

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UGA vs. Mississippi State...what went wrong

The short answer...Mississippi State has an SEC caliber big man, and they rode him like the last train to heaven in their 83-68 trouncing of Georgia.

Our inside guys struggled with fouls all night. Bliss didn't top his GT performance from last year in which he pulled 5 fouls in 4 minutes with a turnover, but he came close with 5 fouls in 5 minutes and two turnovers. I don't point that stat out to bash Bliss. It isn't his fault that he's a 6'10" version of Kris Nordholz (without the jumper). Nor is it his fault that he starts. He's giving it his all, and he's doing it while hurt.

It just is what it is.

The entire box score is a disaster:
- We missed 45 field goals and 8 free throws. Yet, we only grabbed 15 offensive boards to MSU's 34 defensive boards. (note: ESPN.com has us at 12 offensive boards)

- Georgia had 16 defensive rebounds to MSU's 14 offensive boards. Ouch

- We shot 14 percent from the free throw line in the second half.

- Mike Mercer went 0-12 from the field after starting off 2-2, and Gaines went 1-7 from the field after starting off 2-3.

- Mississippi State shot better from the field (58 percent) than we shot from the free throw line (46 percent) for the game.

On the bright side:
- Stukes had an OK game with 17 points on near 50% shooting. Also no turnovers.

- The team had 14 assists. Over half of Georgia's 25 buckets came off assists.

- We forced 13 steals to MSU's 2, and we only turned the ball over 10 times to their 19.

Bottom line:
If you can't rebound, shoot or defend, it's tough to win. We will still finish with a winning regular season, but we need post-season wins to finish with a winning record overall.

Otherwise, it was a good game.

pwd

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More Thoughts on Tech's New AD

Good story about Dan Radakovich, GT's new Athletic Director, in the AJC. The article discusses his background and his rise up from a family of steel mill workers. Interestingly, the article makes no mention of Radakovich's secret weapon during the interview process.

The Georgia Sports Blog has learned that Radakovich closed the deal when he promised to arrange for Georgia Tech President Dr. Wayne Clough, to meet Harlan Ellison and Gary Gygax. Bill Curry only promised an autographed photo of Mike Golic.

[Curry should have upped the ante]

With the Ellison/Gygax offer on the table, Clough had Curry tossed from the interview process so fast you would've thought it was a reenactment of the The Defenestration of Prague of 1618.

Radakovich comes from LSU where winning in football at the highest levels is expected. He has seen multiple SEC titles and a National Title. Now he inherits Coach Gailey. A man who last won anything of significance at Troy State. A man who's entire career as a head coach is marred in mediocrity.

I predict their relationship will have the same staying power as Mandy Pepperidge and Greg Marmalard's trist. If Radakovich is Mandy for the purposes of this analogy, will Tech's next football coach be Eric "Otter" Stratton, an even shorter term fling or Sen. John Blutarsky, the magical relationship that results in marriage? Who knows.


If Radakovich is Mandy and Gailey is Greg, then I guess Tenuta is Niedermeyer

Regardless, I think Gailey's got 9 months to produce or he's gone. Maybe one of Gailey's two star recruits will turn into the next Joe Hamilton. Sort of a modern day Jay Berwanger-style one man wrecking crew capable of taking GT to a level above 7-5.

Maybe. But I doubt it.

pwd

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Everything that's Good about Sports

This video made my day on Friday afternoon. I couldn't find a link to it on the CBS News web site that I could link to. (LINK UPDATED: Video embedded in story. It will load on the right side of the page) BurntOrangeNation found a workable link.

CBS ran an incredibly powerful story that brings you to your feet and just keeps on giving each and every minute into it. Jason McElwain, an autistic high school basketball team member in Rochester NY, served as the coach's assistant and spirit leader for several years. On the final game of the season the coach let him finally put on a jersey with the rest of the team. Watch what happens. CBS Evening News

It's a must see.

Update: here's a text article on the game.

pwd

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Georgia Spring Football Battle to Watch

Spring football for the Dawgs is just a few weeks away. I posted TennVolChamp's pre-spring look at the Vols earlier this week. Next week, I should have a look at the Gators ready to go.

On Thursday, Josh Kendall of the Macon Telegraph wrote an article about the WR battle brewing for Spring. The race to see who will fill the opposite slot from Massaquoi is an interesting one. But it's not the most anticipated of the spring for the Dawgs.

Without question the QB battle will be the subject of the most articles pre and post-spring. Richt recently went as far as to say that the race won't be decided until Fall.

I honestly don't think that Joe Tereshinski keeps the job despite entering Spring at #1. I don't think he has the skills. To me, it will come down to Joe Cox or Matt Stafford.

I think both freshmen will play this year with one leaving as a legendary Franklin D. Roosevelt figure and the other as sort of a John Nance Garner footnote in Georgia history. A valuable contributor, but not a legend. Stafford has me the most curious because I've seen more video of the Texas signal caller.

Either will do for me. And best of luck to all 4 QBs.



pwd

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Things that Make Me Roll My Eyes

I sincerely don't care what Felton wears (other than Orange) as long as we are winning and/or scoring points at a watchable pace.

In lieu of such lofty goals as scoring 50 points a game, well dressed coaches are not a substitute for well played basketball. If he was as good at marketing UGA hoops as he is his own personal brand, we'd be in great shape. this article annoys me.


Enough about me. What do you think about me?

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New King of the Blogosphere

And it really isn't close. We are all now competing for second place. The commentary, the pictures, the overall experience. It's what we all aspire to deliver in our blogs.



hat tip to EDSBS.

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Georgia Beats SC in Pillow Fight

Photo from Georgiadogs.com.

Georgia held SC to 16 first half points, and held on to win 48-47. I never thought that we would actually be able to win an SEC game while scoring less than 50 points. Bizarre.

It was a big win for Georgia because it ensures that the Bulldogs can't have a losing regular season. At worst, Georgia (15-11/5-8) would finish the season at 15-15 with a first round loss in the SEC tourney. Technically, if they went 15-15 and lost in the first round of the NIT, they could still finish sub-.500.

Anywho...they get a struggling Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville. MSU has lost 10 of their last 12 games; however, they've won their last two at home. A win in Starkville gives UGA a legit shot at the #5 seed from the East in the tourney.

Box Score Notes:
- Georgia held the Gamecocks to 36% shooting from the field. We played outstanding defense in the first half, and the Gamecocks couldn't throw it in the ocean.

- Georgia grabbed only 5 offensive rebounds despite missing 30 shots during the game. That isn't a misprint.

- Georgia's offense continues to struggle with ball movement, player movement and structure. The team managed only 6 assists vs. 17 turnovers.

- Seven minutes into the game, the Dawgs had managed two field goals.

- We heated up a little in the second half and played better on offense, but we let our defensive intensity down.

- The crowd resembled that of a rhythmic gymnastics meet. Not much of a showing for "Dennis Felton Appreciation Night." No idea what that means or who's brain fart that was, but it wasn't a good idea.

pwd

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Ian Smith Saga Gets a Name....

Orson Swindle deems it....

Turdgate

I also like the names Poogate, Crappergate and Floatergate.

But that's just me. Any other suggestions on names for the Ian Smith Ongoing Saga? (Keep in mind my dad reads this site). Orson says that the Georgia Sports Blog is "squatting on this story like a pro." Nice.

pwd

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If a Tree Falls Down Drunk in the Woods...

...will anyone make fun of it?

Cal-Berkeley security guards surround a drunken Erin Lashnits, the Stanford Tree, during halftime of this week's Cal - Stanford game. Erin blew a .157, and was dismissed from her position as Tree. Hat tip to RJYH. For the full story.


Security surrounds coterminal student, former varsity diver and Stanford Tree Erin Lashnits following halftime of the men?s basketball team?s Thursday night 65-62 loss to UC-Berkeley. Lashnits said her tenure was the best year of her life.

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Send him to the Sahara

If you missed SportsCenter last night it was a classic. They did an entire montage on Bruce Pearl's sweat at the UT vs. UF game in Gainesville. Bruce was in a full body lather. Not sure if this pic does it justice, but he actually had sweaty knees. Big win for the Vols as they clinched the SEC East. Pat Forde mentions the perspiration on ESPN.com.


Pic found at Dusty's Space. If anyone has a better pic from the game, let me know.

pwd

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Athens PD to create Ian Smith Task Force for Public Safety

In an effort to protect the citizens of Athens-Clarke County from the sleepy, turd laden exploits of Ian Smith, the ACCPD has created a Toilet Task Force to track and monitor this monster of a man. The DawgRun has all the details on this thread. Pay special attention to the inside info presented by Dawgspeare.

All of this comes in the wake of a second arrest of Ian Smith. It turns out that during the first arrest, he gave them the wrong birthday. A birthdate that would indicate that he was 21 instead of 19. Now he's on the hook for underage possession of alcohol and giving false information. In other words, it's the same incident -- not another drunken poo.



pwd

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Tennessee pre-Spring Preview: Checking in with the Enemy

The Georgia Sports Blog is working to pull together a series of interviews with bloggers from Georgia's rivals. The interviews will look at pre-Spring expectations. If you have additional questions you would like me to ask these guys, let me know.

We kick things off pre-spring by interviewing UT Blogger and regular GSB Reader TennVolChamp. Excerpts below:

- What are your expectations for Spring Ball for your the Vols?
Get this ship off the sand bar before the waves tear it apart. This team and program and fan base need some good things to talk about and feel optimistic about. Spring ball won't answer many questions but it's the chance to start purging the bad taste in our mouth from the disaster that was 2005 and reported below-par recruiting season. So far so good for the "off the field" side as we don't yet have any entries in the EDSBS's Fulmer Cup.


Fark by Gator "Big Mike" from EDSBS

- What is the most interesting position battle brewing for spring?
This has to be the QB position. After our inconsistent, often poor and rarely outstanding play in 2005, our much needed improvement on the offensive side of the ball starts here. The battle will be between Ainge (can he get his head re-attached) and red-shirt freshman Jon Crompton (who had off season shoulder surgery). Also, possibly in the mix could be the new Stephens kid, a signee from Texas who supposedly has a rocket arm but only played 1 year in HS. Jim Bob Cooter will still be relegated to the most famous QB name to never have played a down in a game.


We wall want to see a lot more Cooter on the field.

- What position do you feel most confident about?
This would be positions with "back" in their title. Running backs we feel real good about particularly with the way Arian Foster played the latter part of the season with 3 games over 200 yards. Defensive backs we feel good about with some experience coming back and what most people think was solid performance last year (except on some random 3rd and long plays). Linebackers, although we lost a couple of good ones, are solid as there were several younger guys who played a lot of time in 2005.

Fulmer has been quoted on the speaker circuit as saying our WR play last year was the worst he's seen in his tenure. Word is the younger guys (Briscoe, Rogers, Taylor) are really stepping up, putting pressure on the more experienced guys (Meacham, Smith and Swain). Also, there's been talk about the WR's losing weight to improve their quickness/speed.


Arron Sears, 32 year starter for the Vols welcomes his college roommate, David Cutcliffe, back to Knoxville.

- What position are you most nervous about?
It's not a "position" as it is the ENTIRE offensive side of the ball. We're just not used to averaging under 20 points a game (we're not Kentucky you know) so everyone's hope (or suspicion) is that the offensive will return to the productivity of the 90's where someone usually had to score 35 or more to beat us.


Cutcliffe. A man with no lips.

- Are you expecting any new wrinkles this Spring in scheme?
We're very curious if the return of David Cutcliffe to run the offense will result in many differences. We're not anticipating "scheme" changes as much as "execution" improvement. There has been a lot of talk about how demanding Cutcliffe is and how he runs practices with lots of discipline. Supposedly, in order for the offense to finish practice they have to run 10 plays WITHOUT error. Sounds like common sense to me but evidently wasn't something we'd been doing in the past.


Fulmer licks his chops at the idea of Cutcliffe's return.

- Are there any big coaching changes that will impact your team this spring?
Obviously with the departure of tobacco-chewing Randy Sanders (who is highly qualified to run a Kentucky-style offense) and the return of David Cutcliffe there's lots to talk about. Cutcliffe brought his TE coach from Ole Miss, who's supposedly also a strong recruiter. And lo and behold we hired the Kentucky QB coach. That's a move that's been viewed suspiciously - on paper who'd want any football coach from Kentucky? Trooper Taylor - super recruiter and Mr. Chest Bump RB coach - I think is now in charge of WR's. Also, on the chat board "Gridscape" there's been some discussion expressing disappointment we didn't hire another african-american onto the staff. That type of banter only rears its ugly head when you go 5-6.

- What is the biggest question that you do NOT expect to get resolved this spring? (for instance at UGA it would be the QB battle) Will the offense improve enough? You just don't know what the team will really do until they actually play in a real game.


Phyllis from Mulga and TennVolChamp both wonder. Who replaces Brodie?

- Is there any program that you're following this spring other than your own? Looking for tidbits?
Bama - What player will fill the role of gay college football icon (see boifromtroy) now that Brodie has moved on? If a new QB doesn't step up, how will Bama fans blame Fulmer and Tennessee for these problems?


Thanks to TennVolChamp for taking the time for this interview!

In the coming weeks, you might see similar reports on the Jackets, Gators, Aubies, etc. We'll see how it goes.

Photos and Captions by PWD

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Kyle on Football has a New Home

And it's no longer the Ghetto Fabulous / Xanga hangout. T. Kyle King has moved his blog, and it's all grown up. Today, he launched to DawgSports.com. All Hail the Mayor of the College Football Blogging Capital of the World.

PWD

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Hoops Scheduling: If I were in charge...

If I were in charge of Hoops Scheduling, I would seek out similar programs as Georgia. Teams from power conferences, who are building but aren't "there yet," and teams who would give us a home and home without requiring a two for one. My ideal pool of schools would include:

ACC:
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech
Florida State

Big 10:
Michigan (a reach, but not impossible)
Penn State
Minnesota

Big 12:
Texas Tech
Iowa State
Kansas State
Colorado

Big East:
Notre Dame (another reach, but not impossible)
St. Johns
DePaul
Seton Hall

Pac-10:
Oregon State
Oregon

Over an 11 game non-conference schedule, I would do the following:
2 Neutral Site Game in Atlanta and elsewhere
3 Home Games with the Above Teams
3 Road Games with the Above Teams
3 Home Cupcakes like Ga State, S. Alabama or Mercer

I just totally don't see the point of playing 8 or 9 home games against a complete slate of jobbers like Savannah State. Imagine a schedule like this:

Home - Georgia Tech
Home - Colorado
Home - Iowa State
Road - Clemson
Road - Florida State
Road - Penn State
Neutral - Texas Tech (Atlanta)
Neutral - Michigan (Detroit)
Home Cupcake - Ga State
Home Cupcake - S. Alabama
Home Cupcake - Murray State

As a point of comparison...our schedule in Harrick's last season was:
Home - Pitt
Away - Georgia Tech
Away - Minnesota
Away - Colorado
Neutral - Texas (NYC)
Neutral - Cal (Anaheim)
Neutral - Gonzaga (ATL)
Home Cupcake - Belmont
Home Cupcake - App State
Home Cupcake - S. Alabama
Home Cupcake - Wisconsin-Milwaukee

What I'm hoping for is something similar to what Harrick put together his last year. Only without the third neutral game, without the Top 10 Pitt and Texas teams (for now), and without 4 home cupcakes. We could have a balanced, aggressive schedule with better home games that wouldn't pose too daunting of a task.

Are we ready for a complete shift to the schedule above next year? No. But we need to start transitioning to this sooner rather than later. Felton says our fans aren't supporting the program as if we're a winner. To me, Felton's schedule says that he doesn't think we're a winner either. A team that schedules that soft is scared.

Next year, we need to see a better schedule to go along with a better product on the court.

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Vols Prepare for Checkboard Crowd

TennVolChamp provides the heads up on this one. Visit his site.



Very cool, fan friendly promotion.

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Georgia Tech Names Athletic Director

The Kyrgyzstan of college football has named Dan Radakovich as its new Athletic Director to replace the retiring Dave Braine.

Nathan has a solid take on things. And Scott gave his endorsement for the new guy before the announcement.

My favorite post on this topic came from GT blogger Dan at "What's the Good Word?" who proposed the following for Braine's retirement ceremony.

“In honor of the retirement of the venerable Dave Braine as Georgia Tech Athletic Director we are offering a family package on attendance for the retirement party. For just $40 dollars you will receive 4 tickets to the event, 4 cokes, 4 hot dogs, and a complimentary ‘Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya Where the Lord Split Ya’ t-shirt (distributed randomly in one of four completely different shades of gold.)

Personally, I'm going to miss Dave "TicketMaster" Braine.

All indications are that this is a good hire for Tech. A qualified guy from a BCS conference with experience at winning programs. A much more qualified guy than Bill Curry. And a guy who's name I'll rarely spell properly.

They did well. As for Chan Gailey, you can pretty much put a stopwatch on his tenure at Tech from here on out. There is almost no way he serves out his five years.

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Lawgivers, Big Dumps and Touchdown Mohammed

We take you around the Blogosphere

Kyle on Football continues to push "The Movement." The Movement is a grassroots campaign designed to get Damon Evans and UM's AD to schedule Georgia vs. Michigan in football. He's making progress with communication from both schools ADs.

The MZone proposes what Notre Dame would be like as a Middle Eastern Islamic University with Touchdown Mohammed.

Yost at the MZone also posts some thoughts on Classy Fans that he's encountered. He says that no discussion of Classy Fans should include teams from lousy programs so that leaves Arkansas off my list (even though their fans are beyond compare in the way they've treated us on my visits to Fayetteville. Personally, I have never had a bad experience in Tuscaloosa. Roll Tide.

ND Blogger "fightinamish" from House That Rock Built has begun the Great American Mascot Hunt. First stop Illinois.

And of course Orson Swindle at EDSBS has some fun with Ian "Tater Salad" Smith's "32 gauge cheek ripper" that resulted in Georgia gaining critical points in the Fulmer Cup Sweepstakes (awarded to the team with the most lawless and unruly offseason).

Lastly, Mayor Kyle has also ordained Brian Cook as The Lawgiver after publishing his guide to Blogging Ethics. It's a pretty good resource; although, my biggest area of discomfort with my own blogging ethics has been the intellectual property of photos hosted on other sites. I haven't found an area where I'm totally comfortable in that area. It's a moving target for me. I provide a great deal of courtesy if the photo is hosted by another dawg on their own server (like Groo or SeveredHead) vs. a photo hosted by Blogger.com or Flickr.

pwd

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They Call Him Tater Salad

Georgia offensive lineman Ian "Tater Salad" Smith was arrested recently for public drunkenness. According to the Red & Black, police had to hammer through a wooden door at Amici's restaurant in downtown Athens to get to Ian, who had passed out on the shitter with his trousers and drawers around his ankles. Perhaps--just perhaps--ACCPD overreacted.

[I don't want to be drunk in public. I want to be drunk in a bar. You threw me into public.]

At first blush, you might think 'PUBLIC drunkenness?'-- Could there be anything less public than locking yourself in the john to pinch a loaf? According to Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) section 16-41-11, public drunkenness is defined as

"a person who shall be and appear in an intoxicated condition in any public place or within the curtilage of any private residence not his own other than by invitation of the owner or lawful occupant, which condition is made manifest by boisterousness, by indecent condition or act, or by vulgar, profane, loud, or unbecoming language. [emphasis added]"

The Georgia Sports Blog will now hear the case of People vs. Ian Smith.

[Free Legal Advice Disclaimer: you get what you pay for.] May it please the court: There are two elements of this offense, both of which must be satisfied. There is the "public place" element, and the "made manifest" element.

The "public place" element of the statute is defined in case law to be broadly interpreted as "any place where the defendant's conduct may reasonably be viewed by people other than members of the defendant's family or household." (281 F3d 1346). Though it pushes the limits of the definition of "public", for the sake or argument, I'll spot you a the public place element. However...

[If he gave no lip, you must acquit.]

Merely being drunk in a public place does not constitute a violation of the statute because an "outward manifestation" must be shown. To convict, not only shall the defendant appear intoxicated in a public place, but the defendant shall also have also committed one of the "bad acts" enumerated in the statute. Being locked in and passed out on the shitter (even in a restaurant) does not constitute boisterousness, vulgarity, profanity, or unbecoming language within the meaning of the statute. (134 Ga. App. 820).

In fact, mere drunkenness manifested by extreme stupor or deep sleep is not a violation of state law. Id. A particularly ingredious dump may indeed be vulgar and offensive, but it was not the legislative intent of the General Assembly to include taking the browns to the super bowl within the enumerated manifestations or drunken conduct.

Pity the Fourth Amendment and the various contortions to which the noble amendment has been subjected. From said noble amendment's penumbras and emanations a so-called 'right to privacy' has been extracted. Assuming the right to privacy exists, if the right to privacy means anything it certainly means the right to be free from having ACCPD bash the door in with a hammer while you drop the kids off at the pool, no? So, not only has the state failed to prove both elements of the offense, the application of the statute to this particular set of facts is arguably unconstitutional.

What Athens-Clarke County needs is a level-headed law enforcement official to temper the giddiness of all the Deputy Fifes running around town. God bless Sheriff Andy Taylor for knowing how to handle imbibers. Would it kill the Athens police to give Ian a key to a cell and allow him to check himself out in the morning with his dignity and a headache?

[Ian, would it have killed you to light a match?]

Georgia Sports Blog finds Ian "Tater Salad" Smith not guilty. We are adjourned.

Dawgnoxious, Esq.
General Counsel
Georgia Sports Blog Legal Department

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Get that Car off Campus Now!

Line of the Day from Oldboy71 on ThePorch. After learning the Mudcat Elmore was arrested last night in Athens while driving with a suspended license.

"That car must be like 'Christine' from the Stephen King book. It got Ellerbe and Mudcat Elmore arrested. Can we have it removed from campus?"

Amen brother. Get that hooptie off campus now.


Friggin evil cars. Always holding good Dawgs down.

pwd

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Tailgating Trouble on the Horizon

Am I the only one to notice a string of University power plays lately? To that end, last week the Athens Banner-Herald ran a story that ominously hinted at new tailgating rules for game day that would "aim for a broad culture change in sports fan behavior", whatever the hell that means. The gist of the story was that UGA Keystone Cop Jimmy Williamson and a faculty committee have been looking for ideas to deal with "alcohol problems" on campus. The Red&Black ran a similar article today.

Among the lowlights in the article:

Over the next season or two, Williamson would like to see parking on sidewalks around the stadium eliminated in order to provide safe passage for pedestrians, who may otherwise risk an accident when entering the street to get around parked vehicles.

A long-term project could be to "create more of a buffer around the stadium" to improve queues and crowd control, he said. A buffer would include restricting parked and moving vehicles in that zone, which also would improve officials' ability to respond to an emergency or a homeland security alert, he said.

What is interesting to me is that the article lazily accepts Williamson's assertion there is a growing problem with alcohol-fueled misbehavior on campus. However, the "solution" of restricting sidewalk parking has nothing to do with alcohol or fan behavior. Neither does a "buffer" around the stadium relate to curbing public drunkenness.

The recommended solutions have no rational relation to the stated problem. What is more likely is that "fan misbehavior" is being used as a stalking-horse to implement more insidious changes about which fans would otherwise be belligerent.

One problem with Chief Williamson is that above all else, he is a University bureaucrat. Bureaucrats are particularly adept at two functions: (1) justifying their jobs and (2) expanding their budgets. By advancing a solution for the "problem" of fan behavior, he neatly sidesteps the debate whether there is a trend or actual problem with alcohol-related fan behavior. I'm sure more money and a few more officers on the force should solve the problem, right Clancy Wiggum?

What would a discussion of athletics be without input from Coach Michael Adams? Adams is all over this issue, predictably on the lookout for ways to micromanage and deflect blame. According to the article, Adams "condemned fans' drunken behavior, the excessive number of arrests and resulting garbage from the Nov. 12 Auburn game as 'despicable.'" More despicable than secret payoffs to fired football coaches? More despicable than the bungle in the jungle? Probably not.

I think the more realistic explanation for the unusual amount of garbage at the Auburn game is a combination of opponents' behavior and the logical fact that evening games generate more trash than a 1:00 PM kickoff. Of course because the University predictably failed to plan ahead by providing for additional receptacles to handle the additional garbage, there was nowhere to put trash by 6:00 PM. At our tailgate it is a point of pride that all garbage is collected, even if it can only be piled up next to the overflowing trash cans so it can easily be removed.

There are no new policies in place yet, and it is too early to tell how this little power play may manifest itself, but trouble is on the horizon.

Dawgnoxious,
Commissioner of Bourbon, Tailgating & Waste Management
Georgia Sports Blog


Photo: Mike Adams briefs reporters on a new blue ribbon panel to improve the game day experience. The group will be made up of well known tailgaters such as professors from the Department of Women's Studies, UGA's Risk Management Actuarials, and members of the Neo-Prohibitionist League.

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ATTENTION GEORGIA FOOTBALL PLAYERS: IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This Public Service Announcement brought to you
by the Georgia Sports Blog.
About 6 years ago, I was arrested for driving with a suspended license. The suspended license charge stemmed from an unpaid ticket. I forgot about the ticket, and then I moved to a new apartment. In the process, the State of Georgia mailed me a notice of intent to suspend my license....to my old mailing address.

Exactly 23 hours after my license was suspended, I was pulled over for an illegal U-Turn. The officer uttered the infamous six words that all people fear, "Please step out of the vehicle." I was in my early 30s when that happened. A successful, well paid guy was arrested for what amounts to being a dipshit.

I say all of that to say the following:
1. I feel your pain Marquis Elmore, Greg Blue, Darrius Swain, Reggie Brown, etc. I know what it's like to be locked in the cage. It hardens a man.

2. It can happen to anyone. Rich, poor, smart, wealthy, famous, UGA athlete, nerd, whatever. But that doesn't make you any less of a dipshit for letting it happen to you. It is 1,000% your fault, and it will make news.

3. Guys, please, please, please for the love of all that is decent and holy. Get your damn paperwork sorted out. It took me 3 full working days and almost $1,000 to get my act together after I got pinched. If I had just paid the ticket to start with, it would've cost me $60. Tops.

4. You will get busted. If you were dumb enough to get the first citation, you're dumb enough to get another one. Just get it done. I speak from experience. Just deal with it now.

By the time all is said and done, we invest over $100,000 per football player per year in the coaching, training, feeding, educating and housing of our athletes. As much as it would apparently make sense to have someone on staff who works as a DMV Liaison for the football team, I'm positive that the state government, University administration and the Athletic Department will never go for it. Just go get the fine paid or you will get arrested. And the whole world will call you a dipshit.

Anyway, here are some links of interest to the football players who lurk here:

Department of Motor Vehicles: Safety
Department of Drivers License Services
Department of Motor Vehicles: Revenue
Clarke County Sheriff Office
Clarke County Jail Report

You're going to get busted. Please. Please. Get your damn paperwork fixed.

Sincerely,

Paul Westerdawg

(Note: I was only in there for 2 hours and I guarded my corn hole with my life from the 300 lb sweaty mexican dude in the corner who was mostly asleep, but you get the idea)


Marquis Elmore...you are now a dipshit.

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In Defense of Dennis Felton

My patience with Dennis Felton's growth of the Georgia Basketball program took a big hit two weeks ago when Felton loudly complained about fan support surrounding the program. I had been much more willing to wait him out before his complaints.

You could sum up my thoughts by saying that I felt (and still feel) that Coach Felton should spend less time complaining about fans and more time finding a way to score points on a consistent basis and get us out of 11th place in scoring defense.

Groo from DawgsOnline/UGAsports.com has an article defending Coach Felton. He makes a reasonable point which is that Coach Felton is hired to be passionate. We want and need him to be frustrated that fans are not out in mass supporting the program. If he felt any other way, we hired the wrong guy.

Fair point.

However, Groo appears to agree with me that the best thing Felton can do to grow the program is get this team into the Post-Season. Any post-season. That will do more to grow the program than vocalizing his frustration with our support.

Check out Groo's comments. They make for a fair and balanced read. -- pwd

Note: In fairness to Felton, he is making an attempt to improve his fan relations. Before the disastrous home game versus Vandy, Felton went into the student section to shake hands and thank them for coming out. Nice move.


We all want what he wants. More net cutting. Less Rodeos. We just don't all agree on how to get there.

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More on Tony Ball - UGA's new RB Coach

I wanted to find out more info on Georgia's new Running Backs coach Tony Ball so I interviewed Virginia Tech blogger J. Kendall at Turkey Talk to learn more. He was kind enough to provide a great look at the coach, recruiter and person from the standpoint of a VT fan/blogger.

Edit: Joe Kendall actually writes for the Virginia Tech Student Newspaper along with Andrew from Turkey Talk.


Q) What kind of coach/person is Tony Ball?
A) Congrats landing Tony Ball...this guy is truly a class act and a great coach, in response to your questions...Tony Ball is a very thorough very results oriented coach. You can see that in our receiver play this year (last year Josh Hyman was our top option at wr but this year Clowney and a host of others stepped up)


Josh Hyman, one of Ball's WRs, in action

Q) What kind of recruiter is he?
A) Ball recruited mainly out of Maryland and does extremely well in that state. He should be a great addition to what is already an amazing recruiting program

Q) How well was he thought of by the fans? By Beamer? Is this considered a big loss for VT or a non-event?
A) Tony Ball is extremely well thought of in Blacksburg. As you know, Beamer has done all he can to keep his assistants in place. He worked as hard as he could to keep his top assistants with him. Unfortunately for VT and fortunately for UGA, Ball's heart was with the Bulldogs. You all got a fierce competitor; don't let anyone tell you different.

Q) What was his recruiting region?
A) Like I said earlier, we used Ball mainly in Maryland, and he did a great job there. He also helped recruit Luckett out of New Jersey, and he should help tremendously in your northern pursuits.

Q) What role if any did he play in coaching Virginia Tech’s legendary special teams?
A) I’m not sure of the role he played in special teams coaching. That’s usually Beamer’s field of expertise, but Ball trains receivers to be tough. Just look at Hyman/Morgan's pass blocking. Even Eddie Royal for a small guy can block his weight in gold so if nothing else you'll have tough guys on the offensive side of the ball. That can never hurt on special teams.

Q) What impact (if any) will Ball’s departure have on Virginia Tech?
A) Well hopefully Ball's departure will have minimal effect. But to be totally realistic, you can't lose a guy of his tenacity and vigor and not be hurt. We have a great receiving corps in tact and hopefully whoever steps in his place can do just a good a job, but guys like TB are one in a hundred.

[Photo: Coach Ball]

Q) Lastly, what sort of year are you expecting from Virginia Tech next year?
A) To be wholly honest, we aren't looking at a top fifteen team this year. God only knows who's gonna take the snaps [at QB], but I think that’s the kind of position VT flourishes upon. Just look at how we've performed when we're ranked outside the top-15 the last few years. We've underperformed when expectations are high, and we’ve excelled when not much is expected from us. Right now I think of us as Minnesota from last year, on the cusp of big things but still a year away, definitely a bowl team and probably a 10-win team (given the relative easiness of our schedule). But, not an elite team that’s going to contend for titles. Look for us to be overrated come midseason and suffer a big-time loss...


- - - - - - -
From PWD: Thanks so much to Joe Kendall for the info! Georgia Sports Blog readers should check out Turkey Talk if you get a chance. Very solid content. Andrew over there arranged this interview for me.

For an alternative/more cautious take on Ball's hiring, Kyle on Football has had several articles and comments on the topic.

pwd

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Tech to Give Nix Bigger Role in Offense

I don't really get this. I still lurk on The Hive (although nothing like I used to). The last few weeks over there have left me scratching my head. The rumor had Gailey moving more play calling responsibilities to Patrick Nix. It's a rumor that the AJC quasi-confirmed on Saturday. Basically, Gailey says the scope of the enhanced role for Nix will be larger, but he doesn't say how much larger.

Anyway, the article specifically confirms that:

Nix's responsibilities have skewed more toward managing paperwork and running meetings than making key decisions about strategy and play selection. Gailey has called the plays for most of the game, with Nix taking over for the two-minute offense.

Sorry, but hasn't the two minute offense been one of the things that Tech fans have been most unhappy with the past two seasons? Off the top of my head:

UGA vs. GT 2004: Nix loses count of the downs and tells Reggie to spike the ball on 3rd Down.

GT vs. NCSU: Tech calls timeout at the goalline followed by an INT. Instead of running one play and then calling a timeout.

GT vs. UGA 2005: Under two minutes, GT attempts zero passes to Calvin Johnson. Game ends on INT towards Bilbo.

It seems like the close games that GT has won have been with GT's defense on the field at the end. Games like Miami 2005. The biggest exception being the Clemson game in 2004; although, I'm not sure what role Nix played in the snap going over Clemson's punter's head.

My point is...why are some Techies eager to let Nix have a broader role in play calling? It looks to me like that's a good thing for Georgia. If his work with Reggie Ball and the GT two minute offense is any indication, I hope they give him carte blanche and a pay raise.

BTW -- The Tech "fans" at the BuzzOff Message Board wrote a lullaby in response to Patrick Nix's possible involvement in play calling. It's a must read for comedy.

pwd


Tech offense training video.

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Mulligan - Dawgs Lose to Vandy 72-55

There aren't many teams who can win an SEC game without their #2, #5 and #7 leading scorers unexpectedly out for the game. Mercer, Humphrey and Woodbury account for roughly 35% of Georgia's offense and 27% of our rebounding. Without them playing in this one, we never had a chance and the score reflected that.

Humphrey and Mercer were serving a one game suspension for violating team rules. Woodbury is done for the season with a stress fracture in his back. Here's to a speedy recovery.

[Photo: Woodbury in action.]

The Bulldogs are now 14-11 overall and 4-8 SEC. There are winnable games remaining against Mississippi State and South Carolina. Getting to six wins would be nice given that we only won two games last year in SEC play, but the much more important thing is having a winning record.

There are four regular season games remaining and at least one game in the SEC tourney. We're a front runner for the #6 seed in the SEC East and Arkansas is the front runner for the #3 seed from the West. We matchup very, very poorly with them, and we would be playing them twice in less than a week. That doesn't look like a promising game.

In other words, to have winning record we need to beat Miss State and South Carolina. If we only win one of those games, we'd have to win our first round game to have a winning season.

The challenge for Felton will be maintaining the focus of such a young team down the stretch.

pwd

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Tony Barnhart's Dandy Dozen SEC Players, Coaches and Moments

In honor of throwback weekend in the SEC, the AJC's Tony Barnhart has written an article about a dozen SEC players, coaches, teams and moments worth celebrating.

Georgia is referenced in items 1, 6, 7 and 12. Sadly, three of the four are deals where UGA comes up on the short end of the stick.


Image courtesy of DawgCandy.com

Oh, the Red and Black did a similar article. (ht)

pwd

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Third Down Analysis - Very Cool Tool

Brian Cook at MGoBlog has taken the raw data for all third down conversions in Div I-A Football from 2005 and he has: averaged them by distance (ie 3rd and 1 vs. 3rd and 10) for each team's offense and defense.

Basically, you select your team's name from the Drop Down Menu, then you select offense or defensive stats. Green is good. The team in question outperformed the national average in a positive manner. Red is bad.

Georgia Offense:
- We were in line with the national averages except for 3rd and 12 or longer. We outperformed the average there.

Georgia Defense:
- We did poorly on third and short.

Interestingly, check out Auburn's stats. They were absolutely incredible on 3rd down from almost any distance on offense or defense. Also, check out the defenses from Ohio State, Oklahoma, Miami and FSU. Very impressive.

Another jaw dropper is to see how poorly Texas A&M's offense and defense performed.

pwd

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Happy Birthday to Coach Richt (Feb. 18th)

In celebration of his 46th birthday, Coach Richt has continued on his tradition of focusing on others instead of himself. In that spirit, he published a Top 10 list to celebrate his birthday.

Top 10 Great Things About Being
Chan Gailey instead of Mark Richt

10. More frequent flyer points during banquet season. Yellow Jacket clubs in Newark, New Delhi & Kandahar rack up the miles!

9. More exotic bowl locations. New Orleans and Florida get boring after a while.

8. Instead of grueling hour-long coach's call-in show, program ends when calls stop

7. Scholarship limitations provide opportunity to learn players' names.

6. Has "hook up" on scholarship when he needs premium weed.

5. From past performance, each year it is almost too easy to meet and exceed expectations.

4. Reggie Ball Ok, who's kidding who.

3. Instead of late night calls from Don Leeburn, he only gets Carl Sagan impersonators

2. Office just blocks from the Cheetah III

1. No annoying Gatorade Baths!

Thanks to Kyle on Football for the heads up on the birthday!

By Dawgnoxious and Paul Westerdawg

.

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Dawgs lose to UK

Dawgs lose to UK.

That was the worst UK team since maybe Pitino's first year when they were on probation. We catch them on a night when they are totally disinterested in playing basketball. And we put forth...I don't even know what to call that. What a cluster.

UK was so bored, that they were literally giving us freebie turnovers. It was sad. The score doesn't properly reflect what happened. Go to this link and scroll to the chart. You can mouse over the flat red lines to see how long we went without scoring.

I just don't understand how ANY team can consistently go 5-10 minutes without scoring any baskets night after night. We have better talent than THAT.

Tonight we went scoreless in the first half from the 15:20 mark until the 6:53 mark. Roughly 8.5 minutes. At that point, we hit a free throw. Then another 30 scoreless seconds.

In the second half we scored 3 points (a FG and 1 FT) from the 10:18 mark until the 3:22 mark. That's 7 more unwatchable minutes. We were also held scoreless for the last 90 seconds of the first half and the first 90 seconds of the second half.

That's a total of 19 game minutes scoring only 4 points. That's almost an entire half of absolutely unwatchable basketball.

This wasn't the 1998 Wildcats. This was the barely Tourney eligible Mildcats. This wasn't the man eating Rupp Arena. It was as quiet as it's ever been for most of the night. And this wasn't the normal refs that we get for a game like this. We actually shot more free throws than UK (when has that ever happened).

This wasn't as low a moment as Auburn, but it was bad.

For a shorter and more to the point review of the game try BoDontKnowHerschel's recap.

This isn't a team of McDonald's All-Americans. But they are more talented than THIS.

On the bright side, Humphrey looked really good.

pwd

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Groundbreaking For Stegeman Coliseum Annex on Friday

On SaturdayFriday, UGA will break ground on a new hoops practice facility that is roughly the size of Stegeman Coliseum. The long overdue facility was one of the first things that Damon Evans approved when he took the job as an athletic director.

The $30 million facility will be the second largest single facility related investment in the history of Georgia Athletics. More interestingly, it will the most expensive facility ever built by UGA athletics that will not directly generate revenue to support itself.

Large recent projects of note:
$33 million - Sanford's Third Deck and Sky boxes (2003-2004)
$30 million - Hoops Practice Facility (2006-2007)
$12 million - Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall (1987)
$12 million - Sanford Sky Box Expansion (2000)
$11.5 million - Sanford Railroad Track End enclosed (1981)
$6 million - Sky Boxes Version 1 (1994)
$3.7 million - Enclosing bridge side of Sanford (1991)
$3 million - Stegeman Reseating/Stage Removal/Air Conditioning (1996)

Stegeman has also received roughly $2.5 million in face lifts to the sound system, flooring, locker rooms and lights since 1996. Bringing the total investment in hoops facilities since 1996 to more than $35 million. All of it was long overdue, but progress is finally being made.

In other words, should we as fans continue to complain about the past if we're finally making progress now.**

Right before Felton was hired, UGA announced tentative plans for a $34 million renovation of Stegeman which would include:
- a new roof
- club level and expanding the arena on three sides to allow for larger concourse areas
- more rest rooms and more concession stands
- new men's and women's practice courts
- a 14,500-square foot weight room
- a 15,330-square foot gymnastics practice facility.
- this proposal would *not* have added any net new seats
"The [practice and weight room] buildings would be added to the back of the Coliseum and have priority over the renovation of the main building."

That is a really important quote. By reading that article, it appears that the new practice facility has replaced the announced $34 million improvement. I say that because you can clearly see that we're spending $30 million on items 4-6 on that list. Good.

Hopefully, that means Damon's plans for Stegeman long-term are bigger and more immediate than what he pitched the Athletic Board on as recently as 2004. Good.

pwd

**yeah, I edited that line for content. It just seemed like a shot even when it wasn't meant to be one.

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Richt Names New Running Backs Coach

Tony Ball is the guy. Interestingly, he played at UT-Chattanooga for the late Jim Morrison (aka The Man in Black from South Carolina). He gives us great flexibility for the future in that he can coach running backs or wide receivers.

I'm trying to get more info on Ball beyond the press release.

pwd

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SI's Swimsuit Issue is Out

2006 edition. Here's to the inventor of the Swimsuit Issue. A great American. Do you realize that we get a day off of work to honor Christopher Columbus, and we don't get Swimsuit Issue Inventor Day off. That's what's wrong with America.



BTW -- they have an SI Classic Swimsuit Bracket up. You click on the chicks and then advance them in a playoff format.

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Football Scheduling with new 12 Game Season

The tricky thing with the NCAA's approval to move forward with a 12 game schedule is that they didn't give schools two off weeks. In the old model, you had 13 weeks to play 11 games. In the new model, you have 13 weeks to play 12 games.

The limited number of off weeks is causing some teams to scramble says Ivan Maisel over at ESPN. Several schools still have open slots for 2006. UGA is full for 2006, but still has a remaining slot for 2007.

Paul Finebaum's blog blasts several in the SEC for weak non-conference scheduling this year. Chief among them is Alabama who's non-conference slate is one of the worst I've seen. Georgia gets props from Finebaum for scheduling Colorado and Tech.

Note: Yes dad, Finebaum has a blog. You can read it while wearing your "I HEART Finebaum" Shirt.

Lest the ACC fans crow about their non-conference schedules, Maisel says that "the ACC schools took great pains to make the 12th game settle softly on the palate. Only four ACC schools play more than one nonconference game against a BCS conference school or Notre Dame." Georgia Tech is one of the four having scheduled UGA and Notre Dame next year.

Or as we like to call those games at the Georgia Sports Blog..."Two More Losses."

pwd

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UT AD: Vols Shouldn't Have Gone Into the Stands

Scout.com has this story from Josh Kendall. After UT's win over Georgia on Saturday, the Vol basketball players went into the stands at Stegeman Coliseum to celebrate with their fans. UT Athletic Director and basketball coach admit that it was a mistake, and they have apologized to Georgia.

Damon Evans, athletic director at Georgia, and Mike Hamilton have both handled this situation with a great deal of class and restraint. Without the normal posturing and chest thumping from these types of things.

The facts are it was dangerous and stupid to send players into the fans at a visiting stadium. But the apology was a nice gesture.

Although, I can't help but ask....why such a gesture when you just beat a team with a 4-6 record? Wouldn't you save a stunt like that for a win over UK, LSU or UF?

Odd.

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Hines Ward Changing the World (wow)

Pretty amazing article on the impact of Hines Ward in South Korea where being biracial is normally curse. He is being hailed as a hero. (hat tip)

The article first ran in the LA Times, and it is being syndicated across the country. Some tidbits:

"Ever since Hines Ward was named the most valuable player of the Super Bowl last week, the half-Korean Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver and former Georgia Bulldog star has been the toast of [South Korea]. People are talking about throwing parades in his honor. His name dominates the television and radio talk shows; his photo is splayed across the front pages of the newspapers.

Biracial men have been banned from the South Korean military, although the Defense Ministry announced Friday, in a move that some attributed to the Hines Ward phenomenon, that the policy is being changed.

In fact, South Koreans might get their chance to celebrate Ward's success. The MVP has said he will visit in April, perhaps with his mother. Already, the country's two leading airlines are competing to fly them over and foot the bill for the trip.

Many South Korean newspapers in recent days have run editorials calling for an end to discrimination. Among them, the JoongAng Ilbo opined that "pure hearts" are more important than "pure blood."

The paper called on South Koreans to "open our minds ... to raise the second and third Hines Wards in Korea."

The entire article is a must read. Interesting to see his impact in a country where his mother was spat on as recently as 1998 for the mere fact that she had a mixed race son.

Photo from AJC.com

Note to newbies: Hat Tip (or HT) is the acknowledgement for where a blogger finds a link. I don't do this nearly enough.

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Rodney Garner to Stay at UGA

Photo from Georgiadogs.com

Thank heavens. At least one more year of Garner working the phones and stocking the pipeline with talent. Garner is without question the most important assistant coach on Richt's staff right now.

pwd

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