Recruiting: Dawgs Loading Up at Defensive End

The Dawgs needed to sign at least 4 or 5 DEs in this class, and they are off to a great start with their 3rd DE commitment of the season. Commitment stories from:

DawgPost.com and UGASports.com.

Entering this recruiting season, the Dawgs had several HUGE needs. Offensive tackle, running back and defensive end depth for FR and Soph classes had gotten scary thin for future seasons.

Why was DE so important in this class?
2006 signing day saw the Dawgs ink several big bodies who are sure bets to play DE in Brandon Wood and Demarcus Dobbs. And they have some more potential DEs sign at that position. However, Kiante Tripp and Clifton Geathers may end up at OT while Geno Atkins and Michael Lemon may end up at DT.

The 2005 class saw only one of the two signed DE recruits show up on campus in the form of Roderick Battle. In '04, UGA signed all-everything recruit Charles Johnson who is now starting for the Dawgs at Buck End. However, the other all-world DE recruit, Brandon Miller, is playing Linebacker. Brandon Lang never made it into school, and Jeremy Lomax has struggled to put on weight and stay off the training table.

In other words, Defensive End was critical in this recruiting class.

The Dawgs have responded with 3 of their first 11 commitments at DE. Conrad Obi, Justin Houston and now Neland Ball have verballed to the Dawgs. Additionally, the Dawgs look in great shape with South Carolina native Cliff Matthews and others.

All of which is good news for the Dawgs.

Other Links of Interest:

• Video on Ball from DawgPost.com
  
• 2007 Commit List - UGAsports.com
  
• 2007 Commit List - DawgPost.com

pwd

Was Ralph Friedgen a Candidate to Replace Ray Goff?

Image: ESPN.com
I was watching the 1995 Georgia vs. Georgia Tech game on ESPN Classic over the weekend. As you may remember, Georgia won 18-17 on the ugliest FG that I had seen to that point.

You also probably remember that it was Ray Goff's last regular season game at Georgia. It had been announced the week before that Goff wouldn't be returning to UGA as coach. During the game, Keith Jackson and Bob Griese called Vince Dooley up to the booth to talk about the search for a new head coach.

They asked Dooley (paraphrase), "What kind of coach are you looking for? A run offense coach, a passing coach, a young guy? What kind of coach?" Dooley laughed and responded, "Mainly, I want a winning coach."

After Dooley left the booth, Jackson, Griese and Lynn Swann compared notes on who was being rumored on the list. It wasn't pretty. The names they threw out were Dan Reeves, Dick Sheridian and then Keith Jackson said, "According to the LA Times, Bobby Ross might be a candidate; although, all of his ties are to Georgia Tech."

At that point, Swann interjected (paraphrase):

"I spoke with Tech's George O'Leary about Ross. He laughed and said that Ross has spoken to Dooley about the job. However, he wasn't listing himself as a candidate. He was recommending someone else."

Who could Ross have recommended? Well, I'd wager that man was Ralph Friedgen.

The Fridge and Ross had worked together at that point for 19 of the prior 23 years on the staffs of Maryland, The Citadel, Maryland (again), Georgia Tech and the San Diego Chargers. 12 of the past 14 years, Ralph had been his offensive coordinator. Who else would he have recommended?

Did Dooley ever seriously consider Ralph? Who knows. We ended up with Kansas coach Glen Mason for roughly 1 week before turning to Jim Donnan.

My knee jerk reaction to thinking about this was to announce to my living room (which was empty at the time) that Ralph was twice the coach that Donnan was. However, upon further reflection, the past 2 years at Maryland have been no great shakes after the blistering start in 2001 when Ralph won the ACC title and 2002 when Maryland took the Vols to the woodshed in the Peach Bowl. I thought...maybe ol' Ralph is a great play caller but a lousy recruiter. Well, Scout.com lists Maryland's recruiting classes as ranked:

2002 - 29th
2003 - 22nd
2004 - 16th
2005 - 25th

That's not too shabby for Maryland or any ACC team not named FSU or Miami.

Regardless, imagine Ralph's high flying offense with Mike Bobo, Robert Edwards and Hines Ward in 1996 and 1997. It's certainly interesting to think about. That said, I think Ralph working at UGA would've hurt GT more than it would've helped UGA.

Georgia Tech hasn't beaten UGA without Ralph Friedgen on the sidelines since 1985. 20 years. Without Big Ralph pulling the strings on "The Flats," the Little Joe flying Circus at GT wouldn't have been so impressive. It's one move that could've changed both schools direction quite a bit.

Donnan or The Fridge. Who would you have taken first...given what we knew in 1995. Not what we know now. And who would've been the better hire?

pwd


Unrelated -- but check out Kyle King's article on Mark Richt: UGA Coach for Life.

More rumors about a Oregon vs. UGA series

Autzen Stadium. Home of the Oregon Ducks.

This was talked about back in May, and it looks like the possible contract with Oregon is still alive. DawgBone.net tips us off to a Seattle Post article mentioning that Oregon is still working with UGA on a contract for a home and home series in football. Highlight of the article:

Oregon has fought hard to earn legitimacy, and the program's ambitions under Bellotti and athletic director Bill Moos have paid off with the ultimate sign of respect: home-and-home game contracts with big-time foes.

The Ducks are putting the finishing touches on a contract with Georgia, a program notorious for refusing to travel outside the Southeast. The Bulldogs will join a list of past and future Autzen Stadium visitors that includes Michigan, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The idea of consistently luring those types of teams to Eugene would have seemed ludicrous 15 years ago.

The original Athens-Banner Herald article from May said the series wouldn't begin until 2014.

UGA future non-conference foes (source: Sicemdawgs.com)

• 2006 - Colorado (home), GT (home), UAB (home) and WKU (home)
  
• 2007 - ??? (home), GT (away), Troy (home) and Western Carolina (home)
  
• 2008 - Arizona State (away), GT (home), ???, and Georgia Southern
  
• 2009 - Arizona State (home), GT (away), ??? and Appy State
  
• 2010 - Colorado (away), GT (home) and ???
  
• 2011 - Louisville (home), GT (away) and ???
  
• 2012 - Louisville (away), GT (home) and ???
  
• 2013 - Clemson (away)*, GT (away) and ???
  
• 2014 - Clemson (home)*, GT (home) and ???

There are rumors for 2007 and beyond of BYU in a 2 for 1, and Kansas State as a one time visit in 2007. But nothing definite yet. I know this much...the guys at our end have gotten much better at keep these things under wraps until the end. It's the other guys (like Oregon and Cincy) who've been doing much of the talking. Not that I'm complaining.

pwd

*That's not a misprint on the Clemson home/away dates.

Donnan on the SEC outlook

This is about 2 weeks old, but Paul Finebaum had Jim Donnan on for a solid 14 minute interview on the 2006 SEC outlook. Highlights:

• Donnan thinks the UF schedule is too much for any team to win the SEC
  
• He was higher on Bama than I expected him to be
  
• Thinks Auburn could have a special season

pwd

Difference between UGA and GT football (per the AJC)

Total. Comedy.

College Football in Georgia (AJC.com)


GT Football Fever. It's Chantastic. (image SI.com)

pwd

ht - jeromefromdecatur at dawgpost.com

Birmingham News on "FireCoaches.com" Sites

I'm linking ot this mostly because DawgNeil is interviewed as part of the story on "firecoach.com sites." He owns FireMarkRicht.com. He's a big Richt fan who purchased the site to prevent someone else from purchasing it.

Some owners bought sites to avoid criticism. Georgia fan William Neilson, a 23-year-old studying law in Austria, started paying $20 a year for FireMarkRicht.com after the Zook site became popular in 2002.

"Richt was coming off an eight-win season and I had a sneaking suspicion somebody would buy it," Neilson said. "I've gotten hundreds of death threats. It's really kind of scary. It's like, read the site, people."

The only words on Neilson's site: "Fire Richt? Why? He is the best thing to happen to this program since Herschel Walker. KEEP MARK RICHT!"

I'm linking to this b/c DawgNeil is also CajunDawg. The guy that uploaded almost all of the "Bulldog Moments of Zen" Video to YouTube.

Other FireCoach Sites:

FireRichBrooks.com
NuttSucks.com
FireCoachFulmer.com
FireCoachMeyer.com
FireMikeShula.com
FireLesMiles.net
FireSlyCroom.com

CanChan.com
SackLloydCarr.com

And unrelated, but a classic...
FireMarkMay.com

We've got it good.

pwd

Point Counterpoint -- Kyle You Ignorant Slut

Kyle King looks at the issue of "who to pull for in the GT vs. ND game," and he delivers a counterpoint to my argument that UGA fans should root for an Irish victory.

The convo went something like this.

Kyle: Paul, I know exactly what you're going to say: "Kyle, you ignorant slut! The Shah is our friend, he sent us oil during the 70's re-embargo. He's a fighter against Communism." Maybe so, Paul but what happened to the human rights you scream about every time a Saranski gets sentenced to some Soviet jail? Why is it wrong to torture a dissident and freezing Siberian Goulag, but okay to wire a leftist student's genitals in a baking Tehran dungeon? I only hope that someday someone wires your genitals, Paul. Then you'll be singing a different tune!

Westerdawg: Kyle, you poor, misguided scrag! Sure, the Shah's a jerk, but he's all we've got! Just look at the map. To the north, the Soviet Union; to the east and west, Afghanistan and Iraq. Both leftist radical states; and in the south, the Persian Gulf. Any idiot can see that Iran would be a prized stepping stone in an eventual Soviet takeover of the world. And when that happens, Kyle, those Cossacks will be coming over here with their broom handle, and we'll see how you'll feel then! Of course, you'd probably love it, you ignorant slut!

Wait...that's not the convo. It was this and this.

BTW -- Kyle's article posts the first known picture of me on these here internets.

pwd

More Media Days Coverage from Around the SEC

Ron Morris at The State starts things off saying that fans were cheated with the new 12 game schedule. Morris gives UGA no credit for scheduling Colorado to take advantage of the 12th game. No shocker there. (Image: TheState.com)

The Baton Rouge Advocate has an article on the NCAA's changes to clock management. They are working to speed up the game.

Fulmer and Vandy's Bobby Johnson trade barbs in the Nashville Tennessean. Johnson gets in a nice shot about Fulmer's recruiting budget. Good read.

The Gainesville paper has an article about Mark and Katharyn Richt's trying offseason.

And after reading all the articles about the QB Race, I feel like Stafford would REALLY have to wow Richt to beat out Joe T as starter for the first two games. Richt's talking about going with a guy that can best "manage the game" and "play to win right now." If Stafford can learn the playbook fast enough, he can take him. Otherwise, Joe T will end up starting the first few.

pwd

Moses and the Ten Plagues: By SaxonDawg

The famous Four Horsemen of Notre Dame galloped off the pages of the Book of Revelation. This year’s Dawg defense, however, promises go all Old Testament on its opponents. Consider:


The other Moses.
In the book of Exodus, the Israelites were led by Moses. The Dawg defense is led by Moses at defensive end.

The other anchor, Charles Johnson, is known to his teammates as “Darkness.” Darkness is also one of the Ten Plagues that Moses mojo’ed upon Egypt’s mummified butt. It is clear to any freakish Bible prophecy geek that this year’s defense will descend upon the ungodly as MOSES AND THE TEN PLAGUES.


10 Plagues of Egypt
So after Moses himself and Darkness, that leaves nine plagues...and nine UGA defensive players. Here are the plagues that are still not taken:

1. Water turned to blood
2. Frogs
3. Lice
4. Flies
5. Cow disease
6. Boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Death of the firstborn

All that remains is to match the player to the plaguer.

If you ask the team, everybody raises their hand to volunteer for "Death of the Firstborn." Nobody wants to be "Boils." Ray Gant is very eager to be Cow Disease; we’d rather not ask why.


Darkness Cometh. (Image: Jim Hipple)

We want to be fair about this. Can you [Georgia Sports Blog reader] make the remaining assignments?

One other note. In case of injuries and substitutions, we can use newer plagues, such as:

1. Body Odor
2. Boy Groups
3. Michael Adams
4. Beer Turned to Wine Cooler.

Share your thoughts on Moses and the 10 Plagues.

SaxonDawg
Guest Contributor
Georgia Sports Blog

UGA Debuts Maps for Family Friendly Tailgate Zones

A preview of the scene for the first game
Earlier this week, UGA announced its plans to "improve the tailgate experience" via its new site GamedayGameplan.com. During its initial launch, the site did a solid job of communicating and explaining the reasons for the changes. However, the missing piece of the puzzle was the map that shows the Family Friendly Tailgate Zones.

That's where the proverbial rubber meets the road, and we see how much UGA grossly overreached in its zeal to bring back the Temperance Movement.

UGA published the map today, and the Family Zones are positively massive. Approximately 40% of North Campus is now reserved for non-drinking tailgates, and the ENTIRE Brooks Mall is reserved as well.

Here's the Map:

Click to Launch the map in a larger window.

Here are the obvious problems with the map:

1. Are there really so many tailgates that involve ZERO booze that you need such a large chunk of prime tailgating spots? To tailgate in these areas, you have to be a teetotaler on gameday. No booze permitted whatsoever. How many folks tailgate 100% booze free for ALL members of the group? Note: I didn't ask how many ATTEND the game 100% booze free, but how many tailgate that way.

2. Will the non-drinker only tailgates move to the reserved prime spots? Well, obviously not if they had a decent spot to begin with. It's not like the Trail of Tears where all the non-drinkers are going to be herded up and forced to the family zones to free up spots for the displaced drinkers.

3. What happens to mixed groups? We have a large group, but 30% don't drink anything and another 40% don't have more than 1 or 2. Of the rest, we're talking 2-3 folks that get a really solid buzz going. But no one has gotten out of hand. Ever. Are the 10-15 people in our group that don't drink anything going to move to the new zone? No. Why? Because, it's the drinkers that plan, cook and organize the thing for everyone.

4. With all the breeders in our group, we probably have 5-7 kids under the age of 6 that tailgate with us. We are family friendly. And we drink. And we bag our trash. Yet, we can't tailgate over there. If any of our guests were uncomfortable with our drinking, they could start their own tailgates. And they haven't.

5. The presence required to keep people from drinking in the Family Zones means more cops won't be in the Drinker Zones. Given the upheaval in people moving around, there's going to be more conflict in the drinker zones than the non-drinker zones.

6. The shotgun start at 7:00 am creates an even greater sense of urgency and forces people to get there earlier to stake out a place. Thus, creating more conflict.

Why do I care about this? Because I tailgate near one of these two areas, and all of the displaced tailgaters from those massive areas are going to need a place to land.

As RoyOrbisonDawg (a non-drinker) said, "What's the point of putting grass on Brooks Mall if no one is going to tailgate over there?"

How frustrating. Basically, it looks like the people who tailgate on North Campus are being "punished" for the mess they made at Auburn last year. Which at some level, I can appreciate. However, instead of punishing EVERYONE, wouldn't it have made more sense to just fine the litter bugs, place more trashcans out and haul off the abusive drunks?

Why create new laws to pester everyone, when enforcing the old laws would've worked so much better? Or why not experiment with modest sized family zones before we move to lock down such large swaths of ultra prime real estate.


PWD

hat tip - The Anti-Orange Page

Deep Cut articles from SEC Media Days

"To the extreme I rock a mic like a vandal
Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle."
-- Mark "Ice" Richt
The Birmingham News writes a long, windy article called "The Great Divide" in which they talk about how and why the SEC was originally aligned and the power cycles the divisions have created and endured. Good read.

The article doesn't talk about it, but I sometimes wonder what would happen if Vandy or Arkansas ever left the SEC. If we ever lost 1 member, I think we'd look to replace them with these teams (in this order):

1. Georgia Tech - traditional and geographic fit
2. Florida State - beef up Florida TV market
3. Clemson - cultural and geographic fit
4. Louisville - would improve hoops and might beef up interest in Ohio TV markets
5. Miami - Logistical issues and AD fear keeps me from thinking they would be listed higher

The Texas schools would never come over, and West Virginia brings nothing in terms of TV or anything else.

AP article on UGA's losses from 2005 called "Bulldogs Still Confident After Losses." It seems like this article appears every year.

And the Huntsville Times talks about QB problems across the SEC, and it focuses on UGA's issues.

PWD

top image: georgiadogs.com

From the Mailbag: Ethical Issues Regarding GT vs. ND

From today's Mailbag. Confused in Atlanta writes:

Paul, I’m a daily (many times over) reader of your blog a day. I’ve decided to come to you for advice on how I should approach a situation.

See I have tickets to the Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame game on opening day. I don’t know what I should wear. I’m a protestant and I dislike Notre Dame almost as much as I hate Georgia Tech. What do I wear? Do I sport the red and black in enemy territory or just go neutral. I know we have 37 days to go but this is a question that needs to be addressed now. Thanks. - Confused

Dear Confused,

You turned to the right place. While I can't counsel you on picking a religion, I can guide you towards focusing your disdain and contempt. In this game, the Georgia Sports Blog will be pulling for Notre Dame to win by the widest margin of victory possible. Something on the order of 45-10 would be ideal.

In fact, the dream scenario involves GT fans throwing fish at Notre Dame fans and players, fighting with each other and showing their Total Person Class by booing the Tech players all the way back to New Jersey.

Back to your question of fashion. The obvious answer to your game day attire quandry is to wear neither GT or ND colors. Because frankly, they will look more or less the same in the crowd. Both schools have some form of gold, navy, and black in their rainbows. While GT doesn't have a true green, their "old gold" has often been reproduced as colors ranging from burnt sage to stale cheddar. Therefore, the obvious answer is to go with a Red and Black look for the game with a Georgia hat. Thus, you win either way.


It's an obvious call.
Now...as for who to pull for.

Why pull for ND:
1. We rarely recruit against Notre Dame - This year, GT has seen a resurgence in its recruiting. Some of this is fueled by Gailey's contract extension, and some of it is fueled by finally firing recruiting coordinator and resident misfit Dave Wilson and replacing him with a competent recruiter. Currently, Tech is off to their best recruiting season since the Darryl Lewis/Key Fox class. This might be the biggest recruiting weekend for the Jackets in 15 years, and seeing their fans show their true colors during a huge blowout is good for UGA.

2. ND as a Media Darling - What does UGA gain from an ND loss? It isn't like the Irish would fall in the polls after losing to Tech. And if they did, how far would they fall? From #1 to #1a?

3. Turn to Billy Joel for Guidance - Billy said:

"Come out Virginia, don't let me wait. You Catholic girls start much too late."

Billy wrote this song from the standpoint of a high school age guy and "starting late" would be a huge problem for a male in that demographic. Ahh, but I've seen your email address. You're a professional, older guy. It's no longer a bad thing for you. Now compare this to the great philosopher Bubba Sparxx who said:

"What you need to do, is just admit you love me. The South has always been Dirty but now it's gettin ugly."

Obviously, Sparxx (a lifelong UGA fan) was discussing his encounters with North Avenue women. So, you've got nice Catholic Girls or Tech girls that want you to dress up for DragonCon with them before visiting their parents in Istanbul.


Tech lady at DragonCon. Photo: AJC.com

Wear Red and Black, pull for a blowout and enjoy the game. Sincerely,


Paul Westerdawg
Advice Columnist / Sports Blogger
Georgia Sports Blog

It's sort of overwhelming...

The amount of Dawgly news today is overwhelming. I'm still sorting through the best of the best.

In the meantime, checkout DawgBone.net. He's got all umpteen jillion articles linked.

pwd

Jimmy Clausen's MySpace Account

Jimmy Clausen's MySpace Page
Warning: Extreme profanity.

I've seen some bootleg, foul mouthed player MySpace pages, and this is up there with the all-timers. Depending on your employer's stance on you clicking profanity laced web pages, this may or may not be workplace safe. Looks real enough for me. lol.

Stay Classy Clausen.

What isn't real, but is much funnier is this photo of Jimmy from EDSBS.

PWD

ht to bigsteegie from dawgpost.com

SEC Movie Blockbusters

Image Gainesville Sun

The Gainesville Sun looks at movie blockbusters across the SEC. The movie poster above is available along with several others.

This is the sort of thing that the Mzone guys should be farking.

pwd

It's Finally Here! SEC Media Days Start Today

Nick Jones will appear with Richt and Moses (Image: Georgiadogs.com)

It'll be a light day of posting til late, late this afternoon when we start recapping the Media Days reports. Here's the Schedule from SECSports.com:
Wednesday:
1:10 - Alabama
1:10 - Vandy
3:10 - Georgia (Richt, Nick Jones and Quentin Moses)
3:10 - Kentucky

Thursday:
8:40 - Ole Miss
8:40 - Tennessee
10:40 - Arkansas
10:40 - South Carolina

Friday:
8:40 - Auburn
8:40 - LSU
10:40 - Florida
10:40 - MSU

-- ABH Preview
-- Birmingham News Preview
-- Jacksonville Times Union Preview


Things to keep your eye on:
-- What fictious titles, awards or comparisons will Tuberville dream up for Auburn. Lately, he's dropped Harvard comparisons (based on a laughable APR) and called AU the winningest team in the SEC since 2001 (despite fewer overall and SEC wins).

-- Who will be Spurrier's whipping boy? Some have argued his own team. I look forward to the UF and UT shots. BTW -- Spurrier didn't bring Blake Mitchell to this thing. I find that odd.

-- UK - best story of media days would be the UK athletic director firing Brooks during his press conference, but it won't happen.


Totally unrelated, but funny. For the Best Photo Caption Contest. Ever. EDSBS looks at the gayest college football photo in years and challenges you to caption it. (from SI.com images). Note some profanity and all of the wall commentary. It's fairly safe for work the last I saw the thread.


pwd

ht - dawgbone.net for several of the above articles

Moment of Bulldog Zen: Minter's First INT vs UT 2005

Could he have picked a better moment for his first career pick?



Video uploaded by CajunDawg to youtube.

pwd

Photo of the Year Nomination (from ACC Media Days)

Outstanding.
From the Jacksonville Times-Union: "Jordan Rich, 11, of Atlanta has his Georgia cap signed by North Carolina State coach Chuck Amato on Monday in Ponte Vedra. Jordan said that he asked Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey to sign the hat, but Gailey refused. Photo Credit: WILL DICKEY/The Times-Union"


Effective immediately, the Georgia Sports Blog names Jordan Rich as UGA Fan of the Week.

hat tip - Old Dawg

Calvin Johnson Named ACC Pre-Season Excuse Maker of the Year

Image DawgPost.com
At ACC Media days it was revealed that Calvin Johnson was named to two pre-season award lists. 76% of the voters named Johnson as pre-season player of the year, and 85% of voters named him Excuse Maker of the Year.

Johnson, the only 9 star recruit in Chan Gailey's tenure at Tech, recently told SI.com

When asked who has been his toughest defender thus far, Johnson replies, “Me.” No one else comes close? “Nah,” he says with a chuckle. So is there any defender who can stop you, Calvin? He ponders for a second before responding, “Maybe if you told the guy I was running a go-route, and he stood about 40 yards downfield, then maybe he could stop me.”

That's absolutely correct. No one can stop Calvin Johnson...well except for:

• Demario Minter - 2 catches for 14 yards against UGA last year
  
  
• Eric Weddle - Utah CB who held CJ to 2 catches for 19 yards
  
  
• GT's Equipment Manager - Who forgot to bring the right cleats to the Emerald Bowl. "Man, it was a nightmare. The field was in terrible condition. We brought the wrong cleats. I couldn’t run a route without slipping," said Johnson.
  
  
• Chan Gailey - who told the AJC "Regardless of how stupid people think I am, I do realize he's one of the best players in the nation and we should be getting him the ball," Gailey said.
  
  
• Reggie Ball - who has a career completion percentage below 50%.
  
  
• And the tooth fairy

So he's totally unstoppable unless you're a quality DB, his head coach, his QB, or his equipment manager. Fair enough.

I think my favorite on that list is the equipment manager excuse. For a school so proud of its educational excellence, they certainly struggle with the basics. Like counting to four, or remembering to wear shoes.

Johnson is a big time talent, but give me a break on the weak smack. If you put the kid in a competent offense, with a decent QB he would put up ridiculous stats. But he had neither of those things. Nor the right shoes.

pwd

ht - dawgrun.com

Football, Religion, Clemson and Coach Richt's Kid

Football and Religion. Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

College Football Resource has unearthed a neat story about a t-shirt company that's making shirts for Bama and Auburn fans related to Bible Verses. They are considering developing Georgia shirts as well. I think one has already been developed for Dawg fans (Campus Crusade for Christ maybe?). They use this verse:

"So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens." -- 1 Thessalonians 3:1 (NIV)

You know that's how I roll. I bring it NIV style. (ht - Dawgsports.com).

While we're talking religion, Notre Dame's silly little slap fight with Clemson over a recruit has generated some humor. The HouseThatRockBuilt has obtained the secret memo that Charlie Weis sent a Clemson recruit that started the mess.


ND vs. Clemson academic smack talk. We all know how this ends.
Speaking of Clemson, MaconDawg's brand new blog gets started with two solid reads. He brings us his thoughts on Mark Richt recruiting his own son at QB now that Clemson has offered. The best line I've heard on Jon Richt's recruitment comes from DawgPost.com subscriber halfmoonrvierdawg,

"Rumor has it Mark is planning to buy him a car, shower his family with gifts, and sleep with the recruit's mother... apparently he's pulling out all the stops."

He also tips us off to Jim Harrick's new role as an AAU Coach. MaconDawg manages to weave Thomas Crown, Snoop Dogg and LeBron James all into one article.


I help young people. Wink, Wink.
Lastly, we go into the time machine to pull one out from last season about Joe Pa's driving from the MightyMJD.

pwd

Yet Another Auburn Fark

Photo found on the SEC Fanatics message board.

pwd

DawgBone.net's Old School Pic of the Week

Another classic from DawgBone.net.


Herschel Running track

If you're looking for a way to start your bulldog day, DawgBone.net is a great launch page. They aggregate UGA links from all over the country as well as the obvious choices such as Scout.com, Rivals.com, the AJC, Athens Paper, Macon-Telegraph, Columbus Ledger, Red and Black, and interesting blog articles of note from SI.com, ESPN.com, etc. It's less a science than an art. Ie...not all links are provided. But most of the best articles are there.

Often you can find gems like random articles on the Dawgs from papers across the Southeast and as far away as Korea.

They seem to update twice per day. Once in the morning around 7 am and usually once later in the day. If you see a great article from an unusual source, they've got a tool for submitting articles built into the page.

This is not a paid endorsement of DawgBone.net. Just a helpful tip.

pwd

Moment of Bulldog Zen: "The Fake" Vandy 2002

Greene to Edwards Rooskie.

Video uploaded to youtube by dawgterfeelgood. Hat tip to DAve.

pwd

You can almost smell football now...

"In My South" framing this is consider "art."
If you're not fired up for football yet (and frankly, if you're reading this blog you're likely way past fired up), Ron Higgins' article in the Memphis Commerical Appeal will push you over the edge. Some highlights:

IN MY COLLEGE FOOTBALL SOUTH:
By Ron Higgins

With apologies to the Turner South network and its "My South" promotion ...

We don't think we invented college football, we just believe we perfected it.

It's cool for women to call the Hogs and for men to bark like Dogs.

An RV is considered a fall vacation home.

It's an honor to be arrested for trying to tear down a goalpost.

Roll Tide, War Eagle, Hunker down Hairy Dawgs and Geaux Tigers are acceptable substitutes for hello.

A cowbell is a fashion accessory.

And Grandma, why is that live tiger in a cage sitting next to the bench?

Another great quote from the article comes from Jackie Sherrill:

"[College Football is] like a religion. It's like being a Catholic, or Methodist or Baptist or Presbyterian or Jewish. If you're an Alabama fan or a Florida fan or an LSU fan, you are true to that team always. You have an unshakable belief, a faith."

Amen, Jackie. Verily.

From that hellified start, Tony Barnhart gets us ready for SEC and ACC media days this week. He brings us his Top 10 questions for the SEC and ACC. His comments about the Gamecocks took me off guard saying the Spurrier "just wants to win more than he loses." That doesn't sound like the Evil Genius of days gone by.

Down on the Bayou, they're saying that the Tiger faithful are finally starting to warm up to Les Miles (Baton Rouge Advocate). He had some pretty solid one liners at the last stop on the pre-season Tiger Road Show including this zinger about the lack of deep balls last year.

He let on that he understood the frustrations of LSU fans who wondered why the Tigers didn’t throw enough deep balls to take advantage of the world-class track speed of NCAA champion Xavier Carter, whose swiftness on the track never translated equally to the football field.

“It was very difficult to design routes that were 100 yards or 200 yards,” Miles joked. “We won’t have that problem anymore.”

Back here in Atlanta, Mark Bradley bring us "All is Right with Richt." An article about just how well things are going for UGA right now. It's Bradley's best pro-UGA piece in years.


Yeah. We've got it pretty dialed in right now. Photo by Jim Hipple

And if you're interested, I did a little thing about coaching changes across the country. You know...from the Idle Speculation Department.

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Tremendous Head Coaching Changes Coming Soon Across the Country

Auburn's Borges will be on a bunch of lists soon. (Image: AL.com)

I saw an article in the Birmingham News about Auburn Offensive Coordinator Al Borges' desire to become a head coach. Apparently, he has been an OC for the past 20 years, and he still hasn't gotten his shot. (ht - jimfromduluth). A conversation on DawgRun got me to thinking that his shot at being a Head Coach may be closer than he thinks.

Consider all the jobs that could open up in the next 2 years that will cause a musical chairs situation like the 2001 season when around 25 coaches changed jobs including traditional powers such as Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Miami and USC.

New faces on the horizon (in no particular order)

Big 12:

• Texas A&M
  
• Missouri
  
• Nebraska

Big 10:
• Penn State
  
• Michigan State

SEC:
• Kentucky
  
• Miss State
  
• Arkansas


Ken Whisenhunt, Steelers OC and GT's dream candidate to replace Gailey? (Image: NFL.com)

ACC:
• Miami
  
• Florida State
  
• Georgia Tech
  
• NC State
  
• UNC

Consider that someone is going to have to fill all those jobs, which may open up jobs at:

• Louisville - the huge contract was symbolic as the buyout is only $1 million. Any Top 10 program could come in and offer a little more cash and pick him off.
  
• Auburn - Tubs a top candidate at Texas A*M and Miami
  
• West Virginia - Being talked about in Tally. And if PSU goes outside of their family, they would do well to look in Rich Rod's direction.

In other words, Borges -- who has ties to the SEC, Pac-10 and Big 10, could finally be close to getting the shot he wants.

Other articles of interest on this topic:

• TSN (via MSNBC) - ACC Coaches on the Hot Seat
  
• Houston Chronicle - CUSA Coaches on the Hot Seat
  
• The Tennessean (via the Jackson Sun) - Ranking the SEC Hot Seats

Compare all of that pending instability, with what we have here with Richt. Good times indeed.

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Uga VI -- Will He Retire in 2006 or 2007?

Uga VI. Image Georgiadogs.com

From the Department of Idle Speculation:

Saturday was Uga VI's eighth birthday. He took over the family business from his father at a Passing of the Bone ceremony before the South Carolina game in 1999. Since then, Uga VI has won 67 games and two SEC Championships, and he has a career record against our big rivals of:

GT - 5-2
UT - 5-2
AU - 2-5
UF - 1-6
LSU - 3-2
SC - 5-2
Clemson - 2-0

This year Georgia celebrates 50 years with the Uga mascot line, but might we see another Passing of the Bone this season? The average life span for an Uga Mascot (not counting Otto, Uga IV's brother who filled in during an injury, is roughly 8.8 years:

• Uga VI - 8 years
  
• Uga V - 9 years
  
• Uga IV - 9 years
  
• Uga III - 9 years
  
• Uga II - 7 years
  
• Uga I - 11 years

Bigger dogs tend to live shorter lives, and Uga VI at 55-60 pounds is about 15 lbs bigger than his old man. That said, Uga I would beef up to 85 pounds during the offseason and trim down to 65 pounds for the first game; yet, he had the longest tenure of any Dawg at 11 years.

Obviously, we all want Uga VI to live forever just as we all want Munson to call games forever. Additionally, the Seiler family will, as they always have, make the right call. But...if they are targeting a Passing of the Bone ceremony this year, I have a suggestion. Let's pick the Georgia Tech game.

Why? Well...Uga VI has the best record against the Vols in our history. Let's don't mess up a good thing. Although a good argument could be made to have the event at the Vandy game. That way he could beat the Vols and switch off before the Cocktail Party. Heaven knows we need to try something new down there, and from the looks of things damn near any animal with a collar can beat a Yellow Jacket.


1999 Passing of the Bone. Image Georgiadogs.com (I think)

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Update; Some guys over on the dawgvent are talking like this is a done deal that he retires after this year. So who knows.