Paul Finebaum interviewed Donnan a week or two ago about Mike Adams eagerness to rename the Cocktail Party. Donnan mostly resists the temptation to take shots at Adams; however, he does talk about how pointless the issue of the name really is. Click here to listen.
Actually, Donnan comes down on Adams' side as it relates to the issue of too much drinking by college students. However, he and Finebaum think it's hypocritical for university presidents to condemn drinking by adults on gamedays given that entertaining alumni givers always involves booze.
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May 31, 2006
Donnan Talks Cocktail Party
Richt Softens his Stance on the Indoor Practice Facility
Interesting read on the Indoor Practice Facility issue from Josh Kendall. This follows Damon Evans recent comments on the issue a few weeks ago.
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Wussification of American Sports Continues
Connecticut high school football coaches beware. According to ESPN, you will now be penalized for running up the score and face suspensions for wins greater than 50 points.
All the great quotes and stories of sport are about winning or losing. None of them are about the margin of victory. You learn more from getting blown out than you do many other activities in sports.
When UGA was getting blown out 28-0 in the Sugar, we learned that a Mark Richt team never gives up. When UT was getting blown out 41-7 in 2003 by UGA, we learn that a Fulmer team will quit when the going gets tough.
Does this sort of legislation stop at 50 points? Why not 40 or even 30 points? Who decides what is running it up vs. a blowout. I've seen fans defend a 70-0 score as not running it up, and then turn around and cry about a 51-7 score as running it up (I'm looking at you GT fans).
The story just shows how nancy sport is becoming. What's next? Will we add judges to sports and grade on form and degree of difficulty?
Bear would not approve
(hat tip to DawgFreak on DawgPost.com)
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May 30, 2006
WhatchuTalking 'bout Willis? (video)
While I'm stalling and you know...actually working at my job. A football video to placate you.
Certainly not the best hit of 2005, but definitely the best pure form tackle of last year. Ole Miss All-American linebacker Patrick Willis clobbers Justin Vincent.
hat tip: Deep South Sports
Spy School Rocked
A weapon unused is a useless weapon. Well, a blog unupdated is a .... well a typical blog really.
I'll be out from under the mountain of spam and paperwork soon. (I really don't understand where all this crap came from. I was only gone a day).
When I clean up some thoughts on the Diamond Dawgs, our Regional and National Seed. As for a breakdown on Spy School, Dawgnoxious and I are sworn to an oath of silence.
Note to Techies -- you dodged a bullet with us not being in your bracket. And you know it.
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May 26, 2006
Enrolling in Spy School
Dawgnoxious and I will be enrolling in Spy School effective immediately. Upon completion of our physical testing, we will be assigned to perform counter intelligence work surrounded by deadly Asian assassins for the next 4-5 days.
Like this. Only warmer.
Spy Code Translator: And by spy school I mean a casino. And by Asia I mean there will be strippers there. And by assassins, I mean ass. And by work I mean vacation. All this blogging has the Georgia Sports Blog team exhausted.
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May 25, 2006
Georgia Beats the Hell out of Kentucky in Baseball
Wyatt on the move
Georgia was down 3-1 at the top of the 4th inning when a truck carrying an explosive payload of Georgia whoop ass collided with a train full of Kentucky blunders. Two innings later Georgia led 10-5 and never looked back winning 16-10 and sending Kentucky home early from the tourney.
How's this for an odd box score:
22 - # of Georgia hits
21 - # of Georgia singles (only 1 double)
4 - # of UK wild pitches
2 - # of UGA batters hit by pitches
2 - # of UK errors
UK could do no right, and UGA could do no wrong. UGA may need to win one more game to stay firmly ahead of UK in the Super Regional race, but taking 3 of 4 from them in the final two weeks of the season has to count for something.
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More Rival Posters from HeyJennySlater
Doug brings us a handful of UT, AU, ND and GT posters. Along with some pop culture classics.
My favorite...
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Profanity: Bobby Knight's true artistic medium
No kidding when I say this. If you're bashful around extreme profanity, don't watch this. If you don't have headphones at work. Don't watch this.
But if you want to see an artist at the height of his game, check out these outtakes from Bobby Knight's golfing show. Un.Real.Profanity.
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hat tip to chappy from DawgPost.com
Auburn Fan Poster for 2006
Dawgnoxious put this one together using MotivationalBuck.com's site. It fits nicely with the GT Team Poster that I uploaded yesterday.
Feel free to make your own and post links to them here. I'll repost direct links to the best.
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Dogs Lose SEC Tourney Opener
The good news. It's a double elimination tourney, and the #1, 2 and 4 seeds lost.
The bad news. The #3 seed (UGA) also lost and now play from the loser bracket.
The really bad news. We've got to play UK to make get our feet back under us. Luckily, the Cats play better in parks smaller than The Met. Plus, we just took 2 of 3 from them.
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Ellerbe's Case is Resolved (non-joke)
Ellerbe has been suspended for three games by Richt, and will face probation and a 24 hour jail sentence. (GSB readers knew about it 4 hours ago as one of our readers gave us an update from the courthouse)
As expected the theft by taking charge related to Mudcat Elmore's car was dropped. The DUI charge was also dropped given that they never tested his blood-booze level. The other charges stuck.
I had predicted a 4 game suspension based on the possible DUI. Without a DUI three games is pretty fair.
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Georgia Sports Blog Sighting
So I had my first "sighting." A friend of mine calls me from the road on business recently.
- Him: "Yo Westerdawg, I'm in Nashville on business."
Me: "So?"
Him: "So, I was touring the offices of Rivals.com, and I saw three people reading your blog as we walked around."
Me: "Did you say anything to them?"
Him: "Yeah....I asked, 'Do you honestly read that trash.'"
No respect for Westerdawg.
If you ever have an unusual sighting of the blog drop me a note. Orson at EDSBS said his best "sighting" so far was a buddy calling him from Gainesville as he overheard two students discussing an article that they read on EDSBS that day.
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May 24, 2006
Looking Around for Interesting News
A tour of bulldog news from beyond the normal sources or topics.
Football:
-- An unoffical recap from the North Georgia Bulldog Club's meeting. Guest speaker was Rodney Garner. (Kdawg59 did the recap). If you happen to see other bulldog club recaps, shoot me a note.
Basketball:
-- Steve Newman and Billy Humphrey are in Brazil playing hoops with a Christian group that combines basketball and ministry. (hat tip to DaugMan)
Mascots:
Mayor Kyle is running a "How Not to Take Care of a Mascot" series. Part 1 and Part 2 are now up.
Comedy:
-- Non-Dawg, but Doug at Hey,JennySlater knows what Justin Timberlake is thinking right now.
Tennis:
The Dawgs lost the national title game in Men's Tennis to Pepperdine.
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Ellerbe gets Probation. Enrolls in Mixology Classes
Ellerbe after his INT vs. Boise
The University of Georgia has reached a verdict in the Dannell Ellerbe case. The UGA linebacker was given probation through Nov. 13th and told to complete a class called "Prime for Life," an alcohol education program.
Much to Mike Adams' disappointment, it turns out that Prime for Life is a mixology class where Ellerbe will attempt to become the athletic department's version of Isaac, The Bartender. Remember, football is a team sport, and everyone on the team has a role.
- Nick Jones is the leader.
- Dan Inman is the fighter.
- Quentin Moses is the playmaker.
- Thomas Flowers gets the girls.
- Mudcat Elmore is the driver.
- Martez Milner is good with explosives.
- Tony Taylor tells the jokes.
- Ken Shackleford gets the gravy.
They need someone that knows a Prime for Life drink isn't Jim Beam; it's Makers Mark. Someone that appreciates the fact that a cocktail properly presented makes more of a visual impact than one dumped into a plastic cup. Someone that understands that ladies don't respond to Spanish Fly as well as they do Hunch Punch. And more importantly, someone who knows which juice to serve with Gin and Juice.
Not so much this.
Dannell Ellerbe upon completion of the Prime for Life classes will be a better teammate and a better friend to the entire Georgia community. For that, the Georgia Sports Blog salutes him!
More like this.
Ok, seriously. Ellerbe is no where near out of the woods yet. He still has to deal with the Clarke County District Attorney and Mark Richt. Richt will likely wait to see how the case shapes up in court before ruling on playing time penalties.
Luckily, the theft by taking charge will be thrown out because it was his roommate's car. Mudcat Elmore won't push that issue enough for a conviction. Plus, the car he was driving is possessed by a demon. No jury will hold a man accountable for driving a possessed vehicle. It's like a law or something.
The giving false info charge, the DUI and the underage possession charges will be tougher to beat. Thus, he's got some heavy, well-deserved punishment coming from Athens-Clarke County and Richt.
Georgia Sports Blog prediction = 4 Game Suspension
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Georgia Tech 2006 Team Motivational Poster
Original fark by NoleDawg. Poster by MotivationalBuck.com
Peter at BurntOrangeNation turned me on to this poster builder tool from MotivationalBuck.com. Orson is using it too. Feel free to make your own and post links to them here. I'll repost direct links to the best.
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well my readers have crashed their first site....
Doh! Sorry about that.
The intense interest in the Financial info from the endowment post below caused *many* of you to download the PDF from the http://www.nacubo.org/ web site. Apparently, they couldn't handle the traffic.
There's probably an object lesson in there somewhere. Regardless, I took the link to the PDF down for now.
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May 23, 2006
While we're discussing Mike Adams
Speaking of University Presidents and Paul Finebaum, Paul Finebaum wrote a blistering article last Saturday concerning university presidents. The article particularly focused on Mike Adams' ineptitude.
Finebaum says:
Someone needs to help these poor people (university presidents) in the bowties before they seriously injure someone with their clumsiness and utter pomposity.Finebaum is correct. The double talk and hypocrisy from Adams is endless.
The latest case in point comes from the president of the University of Georgia, Michael Adams. To meet him is to immediately dislike him. He is supercilious and self-righteous, haughty and highbrow. And those are some of his better traits.
Instead of straight talk from our college leaders, we get drivel. We get presidents trying to talk down to us instead of directly to us. We get people who all speak from a particular manual. It's a basic course called Hypocrisy 101. It's being taught on almost every big-time college campus these days by the person sitting in the president's office.
Adams briefs reporters on the evils of drinking on game day (as long as you're not in his sky box)
While we're on the topic of Adams, Nathan at GoldenTornado.net talks about why GT fans should cheer for UGA in the classroom. When GT fans are pulling for you to get a new president because you're giving the entire state a black eye, things are bad.
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Orson Swindle Interviewed by Paul Finebaum
Orson discusses the Fulmer Cup on the Paul Finebaum radio show.
My dad (aka IHeartFinebaumdawg) is such a fan of the show that Orson has probably moved ahead of me on dad's "Favorite Son List." I was already running 3rd in a 2 son race. This probably puts me in 4th.
Dad is probably writing me an email right now that says, "When r u going to be on Finebaum? Your blog is now teh suxorz."
(note: Link fixed)
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UGA's Endowment Continues to Embarrass. Thanks to Adams
Sunday's New York Times discussed academic fundraising efforts across the country. Some highlights:
"The University of Virginia will announce a $3 billion fund-raising drive in the fall. New York University is in the middle of a $2.5 billion campaign. And officials at Columbia University say they are moving ahead with plans for the largest university campaign so far, a push to raise $4 billion over seven years."Look, I realize that Columbia and NYU aren't our academic peers. But where does UGA stand next to more similar universities?
"Money is the mother's milk of academic quality, because it pays for the people, which is to say professors and students, through salaries and scholarships, and it pays for the stuff, which is to say computers and libraries and laboratories and classrooms. Everybody needs more all the time."
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which tracks university fund-raising, 22 universities are in drives to raise $1 billion or more."
In 2005, the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) published its report that ranked the endowments of 746 reporting universities and colleges. (EDIT: Link to PDF temporarily removed b/c their site has crashed).
I took a look at our SEC peers, the public universities ranked near us in the US News University Rankings and other interesting regional players. The results are beyond disappointing.
8 years into Mike Adams tenure, and we're barely ahead of Furman?
Mike Adams' lack of progress as a fundraiser is staggering. Especially as it relates to our academic and regional peers. We didn't hire him for his expertise as an administrator of a large university. We hired him for his fundraising abilities.
I just don't see it.
hat tip to Ignatiusdawg from DawgChat.
May 22, 2006
NCAA 2007 Fake / Alternate Covers are Out
FanBlogs.com has the first batch of more than 150 alternate game covers posted on their flickr site. So far I only saw one for Greg Blue (see below).
However, if someone can find me the Template for this year's game and send it to me as a PhotoShop *.psd file, I'll start making some for the DawgNation.
Let me know if you find the template. My email is over to the right in my profile.
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Baseball Top 25 Polls are Out
Per Baseball America's Top 25 Poll, UGA is ranked 9th.
We've passed Kentucky and we remain ahead of Georgia Tech and Ok State. All of those teams are relevant as we inch closer to the Super Regional Bubble.
BaseballNews.com has us at #10. We're in striking distance of UK. Hopefully, the ACC won't have 3 teams host because UVA has a great resume.
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(hat tip to Ryan Jordan on the 2nd poll)
Bama Pre-Game Video
We just have a different bunch of excuses if we lose."
-- Bear Bryant
Way too long, but really damn good. Just posting because I'm in the mood for football.
Plus, I really wish UGA would make our pre-game videos easier to access.
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616* Homers. ESPN Page 2 looks at Bonds run at the Record
not so juicy
Interesting read from ESPN proposing a theory that Bonds without steriods would be at around 616 career home runs.
So, how did Page 2 place Bonds' "legitimate" total at 616 homers? In taking away 98 home runs since 1999 -- when Bonds' allegedly began using steroids -- we sought to quantify the performance-enhancing effects of steroids in four hitting-related categories: strength, stamina, longevity and confidence.The article closes with a good comment on Bonds. "Such is the shame in having to wonder: Without steroids, Bonds was a damn good player. With steroids, he's a good player damned."
To do so, we spoke to a swing guru, a major league scout, training and biomechanics specialists, and an expert on the physics of baseball. We looked over hit charts and home run distances, tabulating every Bonds blast from '99 to now. We even got help from a nuclear scientist (albeit a nuclear scientist who really likes baseball).
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Dawgs Still in the Running for a Super Regional Slot?
Dawgs need a hot start in Hoover
The Diamond Dawgs did what it took to secure the #3 seed in the SEC tourney, and they hung on to their hopes for an NCAA Super Regional host site by winning two of three from Kentucky.
As I suggested on DawgRun.com, here are my thoughts on locks, likely sites and the battle for the final spots when it comes to the eight Super Regional sites.
I based these on last week's polls, how the teams faired over the week (ie...Nebraska blew their shot a Super Regional) and WarrenNolan's RPI site. Agree? Disagree?
Locks (in order):
1. Rice
2. Clemson
3. Texas
4. Cal State
5. Bama (Champ of #1 overall conference playing tourney in home state)
Front Runners for the other 3 but can still blow it:
6. UNC (#2 team in #2 league)
7. Oregon State (Pac 10 Champ gets a site b/c of Geography as much as merit)
Final Slot Battling it out with chances to move up:
UGA - two SEC teams should definitely host given SOS. However, we still have to move up the polls.
UK - UK probably has never hosted a Super. That's a plus. However, stadium is smallish. If they can do some temp seating, they should be fine if they advance in the tourney. Needs a big tourney showing.
Oklahoma State - #2 team in a power conference. Geography isn't their friend b/c of Rice and Texas.
GT - Finished 4th in the ACC. Would just about have to win the ACC Tourney to host a super. However, they do have a ridiculously high RPI.
UVA - #3 in the ACC. Solid ranking and RPI.
Dawgs have to win on Day 1. Almost impossible to make any real noise in B-ham starting from the Losers bracket. Plus, we need to keep winning just to avoid being in Clemson's super regional.
BTW -- As of Sunday night, the Dawgs were the cover story over on BaseballAmerica.com.
I'm very new to college baseball blogging. I'm trying to cover this stuff, but my knowledge is not as deep as my interest. If you've got a great baseball bracketology site or others that I should be checking / linking to, please send me a link. Thanks!
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Richt vs. Spurrier - Comparing First 5 Years in the SEC
Check out this post on DawgRun.com for a comparison of the two coaches' first five years at UGA and UF.
Interesting. Richt stacks up very well.
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May 21, 2006
Evans Talks Indoor Practice Facility for Football
Interesting article on Scout.com last week talking about the Indoor Practice Facility plans for football. Damon says:
"I’ve heard a lot of schools say they don’t utilize it, and if you’re going to build something of that magnitude, you want to make sure you are going to utilize it and put it to good use,” he said.I said back in December that I'm passionately against the idea of an indoor practice facility for football because of many, many reasons. Damon's logical comment that other teams don't even use the ones that they built just adds to my list of reasons why not.
An indoor practice facility, which would allow the Bulldogs to practice out of the elements when there is rain or lightning in the area, could cost as little as $10 million or as much $40 million, Evans said.
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May 19, 2006
Six Degrees of Michael Adams
Somewhere there is a kid who didn't go to college asking himself, "how can I be on the Board of Regents one day?" You might be tempted to tell that kid that if you want to be on the governing body of the University System of Georgia, you should become knowledgeable about higher education issues, and it wouldn't hurt to be the graduate of a college or university, or even Georgia Tech. But, that would be naive advice. Because we all know that the road to the Board of Regents is paved with crony gold, but not necessarily diplomas.
No doubt in pursuit of job security, a Regent reluctantly recently turned himself in to the State Ethics commission for "inadvertently" violating Georgia's campaign contribution limits.
Like a fatter, more evil Kevin Bacon, there are just a few degrees of separation between Michael Adams and most dishonorable activity in Georgia. For example, the recent guilty plea of former State School Superintendent Linda Schrenko.
When you're compiling your night list of people to whom you are appreciative for allowing Michael Adams to destroy everything he touches remain president at UGA, include Board of Regents Chairman Tim Shelnut next to Don Leebern's name.
Regent/Adams Apologist Shelnut discovered his "inadvertent" ethics violation while preparing to be a witness in Schrenko's just-concluded federal corruption trial. Like fellow Regent/Adams Apologist Don Leebern, Regent Shelnut also does not have a college degree. I'm sure that fact is merely coincidental to why he & Leebern are complicit to allowing an undistinguished scholar and poor fundraiser from a small, obscure college to continue to run the state's flagship university in spite of behavior that would have been unbecoming more honorable men.
According to Bill Shipp (which admittedly is the factual and persuasive equivalent of beginning a sentence 'according to Furman Bisher'), Shelnut was "characterized by federal investigators as mighty cozy with former state school Superintendent Linda Schrenko. Shelnut’s name has surfaced as a money handler in the federal corruption trial against Schrenko."
So, hats off to Tim Shelnut. Stay Classy. Thanks for nothing.
Diamond Dawgs Roar Back to Beat Cats
Dogs come from 6 runs down to win
Georgia won its 13th game in a row as it stormed back from a huge deficit to beat the SEC leading Wildcats. Per Josh Kendall of the Macon Telegraph/DawgPost.com:
Kentucky led 8-2 when Josh Morris came to bat in the sixth, but he quickly trimmed that lead to 8-4 with a two-run home run that cleared the scoreboard in right field. The next inning, after Kentucky had gone ahead 9-4, he came up with the bases loaded and hit his 20th home run of the season over the center field wall.For Photos from the game, check DawgPost.com. For more stories, check UGASports.com and the AJC.
Lastly, JimFromDuluth has the SEC standings. If the Dawgs win the next two, we win the East. Bama won tonight so winning the SEC is going to be tough.
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Her first baby come out sideways
Pretty odd / funny article on our Softball Team's coach from the AJC. Georgia softball coach Lu Harris-Champer plans to perform her duties despite being due to deliver her third child Tuesday.
Honestly, the only reason I posted this was so I could quote Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Del: Are you Gus' son?So there's that. The Athens Banner-Herald has a similar story.
Owen: I'm Owen. You the shower curtain fella?
Del: Yeah. Yeah. Del Griffith. How are you? This is Neal Page from Chicago.
Neal: Hi.
Owen: Pleased to meet you both. I'm to drive you to Wichita to catch a train?
Del: Yeah, we'd appreciate it.
Owen: Train don't run out of Wichita. 'Lessen you're a hog or cattle. People train runs out of Stubbville.
Neal: That'll be fine.
Del: That'll be just fine.
Owen: Leave it be. Get your lazy behind out here and put that in back.
Del: No. We've got it. It's very heavy.
Owen: She don't mind. She's short and skinny, but she's strong. Her first baby...come out sideways. She didn't scream or nothing.
Del: Isn't that something? You're a real trooper.
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What Time is it in Texas?
DawgBone.net has its Old School Pic of the Week up, and it's Lastinger's run vs. the Longhorns in the '84 Cotton Bowl that put the Dawgs up 10-9.
Click to Enlarge
That was the last great moment for Georgia and Texas on the national stage for almost 20 years. It's safe to say that both are back. For more on this game, check out this article from the official Texas site or this article in the Dallas Morning News.
Click for the article. Registration required.
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May 18, 2006
Trailer Park Magazine: Athletic Department of the Year
From Trailer Park Magazine, the leading finance and culture publication for mobile home dwellers, we learn the following:
On Sunday, The Gamecock Athletic Department announced that they lost $2,656,084 in 2005, and that they expect to lose another $2.46 million in the academic year ending June 30, 2006. The school also announced that last summer they had $7 million in the bank as part of the "in case of emergency" fund. They are now borrowing at least $2.45 million from that fund to keep the lights on at the games.
So naturally.....on Wednesday, they announced that they are buying a $1.2 million video board for Williams-Brice Stadium.
Man, is there anything more rednecky than someone who can barely pay their bills, but says "Baby, what we need is a bigger TV! I'm talking WIDE SCREEN." Sadly, some Gamecock fan is probably reading this thinking, "You know that thang ain't worth a shit without a satellite dish."
Rendering of Future Gamecock Purchase
The whole episode reminds me of something out of the movie Major League. Maybe the new Gamecock AD has to lose a certain amount of money before he can move the football team to Florida. Which would make sense for Spurrier because he hasn't done a whole helluva a lot since he left that state in 2001.
Imagine poor old Sidney Rice. He comes in from a hard day of practicing his post corner routes and learning how to steal VCRs from the stadium like his teammates. All he wants is to give his tired bones a good soak in the whirlpool. Alas, there's no hot water....wait...there's no water. President Sorenson walks in and informs Rice that he's just going to have to get tougher.
Snipes as Sidney Rice in Major League IV: Revenge of the Gamecock
Yeah. Recruiting is going to be a breeze for old Stevie.
In unrelated news, Damon Evans swims in a gold plated pool underneath the Butts-Mehre Building as UGA posted a $23.9 million profit last year.
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hat tip to Old Dawg on DawgRun.com.
FAMU Band Pulls the Coolest Halftime Drill Ever
Ok, this is just too damn cool. The Florida A&M Band forms two football players on the field...one throws the football and the other catches it. Slick.
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May 17, 2006
The Simpsons, Pro Dawgs and Retarded QBs
The guys over at FootballHuddle.net have a variety of photos up from NFL Dawgs in pre-season camps. My favorite:
Veteran leadership
Doug at HeyJennySlater has updated his legendary Simpson Character list. He looks at which college fo