Gotta say the Matthews story is getting funky

Now Trigga Tray is talking:

A classroom disruption that Tray Matthews admits to causing forced coach Mark Richt’s decision to dismiss the sophomore safety from the UGA football program, Matthews said Wednesday.

You know I don't typically link the AJC, so it is compelling.

Anyway, Matthews is saying he was leaving anyway. So which is it? As a UGA fan, and I say this as sincerely as possible, good damn riddance.
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SEC Teams as Big Lebowski characters

It's been fifteen years since the greatest movie about bowling, White Russians, and/or rug stealing was released.

The Dude still abides.

• The Dude - Georgia. Probably slightly unintentionally misogynistic. Loves booze. Willing to go on wild goose chases. Makes things harder than they have to be.
• Walter Sobchak - Texas A&M. Unstable. He's the crazy friend you definitely want in a fight with you, but is just as likely to convince you to 'go kick that big guy's ass because he was looking at you funny' while he hangs back and finishes your filet at Mortons. Because he's a pacifist. That big guy turns out to be Mike Tyson.

• Donny Kerabatsos - Vandy. Shut the fuck up, Jamie!
• The Big Lebowski - Tennessee. Vastly over states their wealth. They are always talking about what they have achieved, but also thinks all they have is not good enough. Fat.
• The Nihilists - South Carolina. Obsessed with squiggly johnsons. Likely to lose an ear soon. Definitely is the type to burn someone's car just to prove a point or get a decent tailgate spot.
• Jesus Quintana - Florida. Wears terrible clothes. Can't be appropriate around children. He makes bad hair choices. Both Quintana and Gators refer to themselves in third person too much and mispronounces their own name.
• The Stranger - LSU. Mistakes non-sense and a twinkling smile for 'nowldege and sage behavior. Bonus: affinity for chewing on grass.
• Jackie Treehorn - Alabama. Everyone thinks they want to be him. Everyone hates him. Pretends to not know what is going on with their business, but we all know Jackie is about The Process, too.
• Maude Lebowski - Auburn. Highly vaginal art is a good way to describe their defense, amirite?
• Knox Harrington - Missouri. Always has a glass of wine and is an effete hanger-on.
• 73 Ford Torino - Arkansas. Was slightly cool at one time. Now a 12 year old could totally own them. Likely to be set on fire by Kraftwerk wannabes.
• Brant - Ole Miss. Seems incompetent and daft, but are they in on the gig?
• Bunny Lebowski - Kentucky. Everybody has had a piece of them, usually on film. Ole Miss wouldn't mind watching, either.
• Woo - Mississippi State. Always a threat to piss on someones rug, then never to be heard from again. Just pray it ain't your rug.

That rug really tied the room together.

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Christmas Eve Football

Y'all, I'm so glad it isn't 2000. Christmas Eve football from Hawaii is quite not interesting. In that vein, despite my gripping and belly aching and everything else, I am very happy Mark Richt is our football coach.

That could change at any time, but that makes me firmly in the majority of Georgia football fans. For now, I fully understand how fortunate we are he is our coach.

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All quiet in bowl practices

The only interesting thing coming out of bowl practices so far is the news that Malcolm Mitchell will be a full time defensive offensive player going forward. Unless, of course, he isn't.

Anyway, I thought letting the team play wiffle ball on Sunday was genius. Putting aside the camaraderie and such of doing something unexpected, it allowed the team to play a game that let's them put the hard loss in Atlanta aside. Murray and others faced down the questions about spiking it, the hit, what they would do differently, 20/20 hindsight second guessing ad nauseum. They had fun on Sunday.

Playing a simple game allows the team to have a fresh start to prepare for Nebraska. Blutarsky said it best when he said

Lose to Nebraska and all that momentum that’s been building since the Cocktail Party – even through the SECCG loss – dissipates like a fart in the wind.

It took me a minute to get to this point. I was viewing the Capital One Bowl as nice little exhibition that wouldn't matter much. However, after thinking about opportunity for the team to go against another quality opponent and have a quality win to point to headed into next season could be key to any sort of run we might make.

We fought the real and perceived notion that Georgia couldn't compete at the highest level any more. Win against a 10 win team and do so convincingly, you give yourself some serious breathing room against those that write and say those things.

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Running of the Bulls

(Image:Boston.com)

I go back and forth about good ways to spend the summer. One way that consistently intrigues me is the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Which is funny considering I won't consider doing things other don't find so intimidating like skydiving, scuba, bungee jumping, or drunk dialing ex-wives.

For some reason, the thought of running with the bulls doesn't seem so intimidating when you have walked through Baton Rouge after a win over LSU, which is what a lot of the pictures of the San Fermín encierro remind me of.

Anyway, just a random musing for a Thursday morning.
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Damn you, James Franklin

Due to your sps team's 'refusal to be disrespected', I can't really find myself enjoying the potential for a Vandy win over Tennessee in Knoxville tomorrow.  At least I can revel in Florida 'having' to have the win against Furman to ensure bowl eligibility, right?
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Yes, at least about losses

Coach Richt asks a rhetorical question of reporters:

Richt: "Does everybody want to see me snap? Is that what it is? ...You guys want me to throw a table or something and smash a camera?"

Coach, I believe speak for most of the Bulldog Nation when I say it comes to losses, game mismanagement, lollygagging, and poor play, the answer is a resounding yes.

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(h/t @FletcherPage)

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Marching In

My God, it is game day.  Many have gone before.  Many will come after.  The chosen few are here today.  See you in the Dome, y'all.  I'll be the loud one with red on.

Go Dawgs!

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Boise State: I Thought There were only 50 States

(Image: Copyright Bsuorangecrush. Click to enlarge for a massive pic)If you've ever been to Idaho, there are three things that stand out to you. First, it is a visibly stunning state. Mountains, the greenest fields I have ever seen, desert, 500 feet high sand dunes, beautiful lakes. Truly incredible. Second, the poverty there is abject. Plenty of trailers, shacks and the assorted living arrangements you would see in West Virginia or another third world country. As a bonus, they get 5 feet of snow a year. Third, Idahoans have a severe inferiority complex.

As someone once told me, "Idaho is the Mississippi of the West."

Raise your hand if you remember Boise State installing the Blue Turf. Keep them up if your first thought was "aww, how cute". Now, they pack in 34,000+ to Bronco Stadium. By the way, the picture above is from the night they set the attendance record against Oregon State at 34,137. For reference, that would have been broken in 1949 when Sanford was expanded to 36,000 seats.

I use all of this to preface this: Boise State isn't a joke. We can act disdainful, but their successes are real, even if they are against lesser opponents than what Georgia would play on 7-9 Saturdays a year. In many ways, they are the nouveau rich, but their money spends just the same as the old money does. They may play on blue turf, but they have won 38 of their last 40. They have a QB that will likely catch and pass David Greene (42 wins) and then Colt McCoy (45 wins) as the all time winningest college QB.

Oh, believe me, I'm going to make jokes about the trailers, the education system, hillbillies, being just behind Tennessee in 'educashun' spending, blue and orange, that horse, flat billed caps, drinking cheap beer, how few people actually care about football there and for thinking Oklahoma is the South. If the 4200 fans they are bringing want to know about SEC football, I am happy to oblige them. That doesn't change the fact that they should be the favorite to win.

So, Georgia has to win this for pride, for Greene, for the old money. But mostly for pride.

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