Coach Richt answers The Celebration questions

"...and when we score, we're going to celebrate right over there."
At SEC Media Days, Richt was asked if The Celebration may have intensified the rivalry with the Florida Gators. His response (per the AJC):

"I don't think there's any doubt it's intensified the rivalry," Richt said Thursday. "But what intensified the rivalry is that we won. OK? I mean, that's the reality."

"You know, people want to talk about streaks in that game. The way I see it, we won last year. We won two out of the last four," Richt said.

"And if you want to start going back in history, you might as well go back to the beginning of the history of the series and see where Georgia is there. I don't know why everybody wants to go just 15 games back. I mean, if you want to go back, go back to the beginning. If you want to talk about recent history, let's talk about last year, the last few games, you know."

In other words, 47-37-2. So check yourself.

John Kaltefleiter at the ABH wrote this, and I loved the wording:

As for Meyer's retaliation plans for Nov. 1, who knows? One thing's certain, though — what was a one-sided rivalry for the last 18 years is now all-compassing. For the first time since Georgia dominated the series before Steve Spurrier's arrival in Gainesville, Florida has more venom for Georgia than any of its other opponents.

Shouldn't it be that way every year with these schools?

More more Georgia vs. Florida headlines:

-- Winning grows the rivalry - AJC
-- Meyer's Grudge Good for the Rivalry - ABH
-- Georgia / Florida looking toward November match-up - USAToday
-- Win spiced up rivalry - ESPN
-- Urban Vows to Get Even - Orlando Sentinel
-- Richt's Wrong Ploy - Gainesville Sun (Pat Dooley)
-- Richt: "I shouldn't have done that" - Gainesville Sun (beat writer)
-- Gators still miffed - Tampabay.com
-- Richt's Regret? - Rivals.com
-- Meyer still irked - Palm Beach Post
-- Let it go already - Columbus Ledger
-- Coach finds his fire - Kentucky.com

PWD

The Celebration "flips the script" in Jacksonville

Thank you Urban Meyer. Thank you for continuing to help Georgia re-write the script on the Cocktail Party. In Meyer's newly released book entitled "Why I'm Such a Raging Asshat and Douche Bag" "Urban's Way," Meyer discusses the excessive celebration penalty following Georgia's initial TD in Jacksonville. Per the AJC:

"That wasn't right. It was a bad deal," Meyer says in the book, which is scheduled for a September release. "And it will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and in the mind of our football team. ... So we'll handle it. And it's going to be a big deal."

"It was uncalled for," he said. "First of all it's against the rules. If you really look at it, some players could have been thrown out the game for leaving the bench. "As for the impact on the game ... I understand the motivation of it. It was a big deal. It was just a big deal."

According to the AJC article linked above, the player interviews at SEC Media Days continued this theme of Gators being pissed about The Celebration.

The Past 17 Years
During the weeks leading up to the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, the media had to find a parade of different ways to ask the same questions about the streak and the Gators "ownership" of Georgia.....

"How frustrating is it for you to have lost to the Gators seven in a row.....or 12 of the past 13....or 13 of the past 15, etc."

That sort of constant reminder of repeated failure wears on a team mentally. Especially when your fans have been asking you and the teams before you the same questions that the media asked year after year.

Don't think those questions are a big deal? Try reading the annual quotes from Georgia Tech players about their similar frustrations associated with losing to UGA 14 of the past 17 tries. The Albany Herald's interview with Tech's Vance Walker shows a man with a seething desire to win, and how many times have the Jackets wet themselves against Georgia? Just wanting revenge isn't enough.

Going Forward:
You can pretty much forget the 15 of 18 questions for the Bulldogs this year. This season the questions leading up to the game will center around one primary topic. The Celebration.



The script has been re-written.

And SO WHAT if the Gators bring their "A game" to Jacksonville. Bring it. The problem Georgia was having for the bulk of the match-ups (post '98 when the talent mostly evened out) was mental anyway.

Let the other guy pissed. As long as Georgia matches their intensity, I'm more than eager to watch UGA take the other guy's best shot.

I. Can't. Wait.

See Also:
-- More "It's not in their heads" - Blutarsky

PWD

Mikey Henderson's Catch vs. the Gators

Scott Howard with an exceptional call of the action. This catch was directly in front of me, and it's one of the best / toughest big game catches I've seen up close. The endzone view was even more impressive.



By the way, watch how two Florida linebackers and a safety react to the play action fake to Moreno. That's the power of establishing a running game.

Another one uploaded by ugahairydawgs.

PWD

Howard and Zeier call The Celebration

I love Eric Zeier's reaction to realizing that this was all planned.

"Well, let me tell you. I've got goose bumps over my entire body. I hope we do that every time we punch it in the end zone." - Zeier

I thought Scott Howard did a rock solid job last season. Zeier was sort of all over the place, but I think he earned his pay with this call alone. Hearing it through Howard and Zeier's eyes and also Buck Belue (CSS), gives you an even greater appreciation for the job that Gary Danielson and the CBS crew did with the game. Folks can bitch about their Tebow love affair, but Danielson nailed the situation immediately as planned.

File Uploaded by ugahairdawg's.

PWD

PS - Give the file an extra second to load. I linked to the high quality version of the file.

A Series Lost, But No Ground

It was bound to happen. Georgia hadn't lost an SEC series this year, but Florida took the Saturday and Sunday games from the Dawgs to win this weekend's series 2-1. The Gators got timely hitting, good baserunning, and a slew of double plays to thwart Georgia's offense at every turn. Florida's pitchers didn't really shut the bats down, but it seemed every time the Dawgs were threatening, something would throw cold water on them, a double play, a key strikeout, or a baserunning error. The team just wasn't as sharp as them been during their SEC winning streak. Trevor Holder and Dean Weaver were again solid on the mound. Josh Fields got the save Friday night after getting the team out of an eighth inning jam.

Despite the series loss, nothing changed about the Georgia lead in the SEC standings. It still stands at 3.5 games, the same number as when the weekend begins. The Cocks got swept in Baton Rouge, while Vanderbilt and Ole Miss also lost two this weekend.

The next two series are SEC West leader Ole Miss in Athens and a loaded Vanderbilt team in Nashville. Those two teams are right on Georgia's heels in the standings, so wins would go a long way toward winning the conference. The Dawgs have no midweek games, so they'll have some time to sharpen up before the Rebels come to town.

Quinton

Weekend Baseball Preview - Cocktail Party Edition

The baseball team takes its 3.5 game SEC league lead down to Gainesville this weekend to take on the Gators. Baseball doesn't get the attention that the Cocktail Party would, but the series is just as important to the Diamond Dawgs as the football game is to Richt and the football team. Florida is 10-8 in conference and in third place. The Gators led the SEC for several weeks earlier in the year, but have stumbled lately. They haven't won a conference series this month and have lost five of their last seven. A series win this weekend would hurt 'em, bad. The Gators still have South Carolina and Vanderbilt to go. If we win two of three, it doesn't look good for the Gators. And, a series win should put us in prime territory for a full frontal assault on the SEC crown.

The Dawgs will use their normal weekend rotation of Holder, Dodson, and Moreau. The Gators are saving their best pitcher (at least statistically) for Sunday. Second baseman Josh Adams leads the Gators at the plate. Adams is a freshman, but he's having the type of season seniors envy. He's batting .354 with 40 RBIs. The rest of their lineup looks solid, but not spectacular. Brandon McArthur (returning from a torn ACL this weekend) and Matt den Dekker are good hitters, but the Gators don't have much else that pops out on paper.

Sun Sports is broadcasting the first two games of the series this weekend, if you get that channel.

See Also
-- Huge Team Profile on ESPN.com

Quinton

Dawgs Land A Big One From Florida

Quick. Name the last big offensive recruit Richt & Co. plucked out of Florida. Tony Wilson? Mike Moore? Those guys were considered good players, but nothing like shiny new commitment Aaron Murray, who pledged to the Dawgs this morning. Murray is a top quarterback recruit out of Tampa who was named first team All-State as a junior. He was also the first quarterback invited to the Elite 11 QB camp this year. Murray picked the Dawgs over finalists Florida and UCLA, but the guy had offers from seemingly every other national program. He's a midyear grad, so if the commit holds, he'll be on campus for spring practice next year.

The general consensus is that this is a huge, huge pick up for Georgia. Not only do they grab a top flight quarterback, a position the Dawgs need to sign this year, but we get one from Florida's back yard. It's not often that UGA goes heads up with the Gators for a Florida guy and the Dawgs land him. It happened today.

Here's a rather lengthy highlight package.


He looks mobile enough to escape a rush, accurate, and releases the ball in a flash. He may not have Stafford's or Mettenberger's gigantic arm, but he's got enough to hit the big plays. The knock on Murray is his height. He's only 6'1". Not to put too much pressure on the kid (but, come on, this is recruiting and it wouldn't be complete without ridiculous comparisons and laughable hyperbole), but UGA's done well with short quarterbacks.

Quinton

Do the Jorts Fit Better...

I was having a Cocktail Party flashback this morning when I thought of this song. It's by John Radcliff, and it originally aired on AOL's Fanhouse.



PWD

Georgia vs. Florida Tonight in Hoops

Don't forget that UGA takes on the Gators tonight in basketball at Stegeman. Actual tip-off time is 7:36 pm; however, the game will be broadcast on CSS via tape delay at 10:00 pm.

Leading up to the game, the Athens Banner-Herald has an article about Bliss' strong year. Apparently, his back is healthy for the first time, and the results are paying off for him. In conference play he averages 8.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 25.8 minutes. (source: ABH)

On the other end of the spectrum, Chip Towers of the AJC points out that the final five games of the season (including the SEC Tourney) are Do or Die for Felton. I agree that Felton needs wins in the worst way imaginable.

He actually needs three more wins this season to avoid coaching two of the three worst UGA teams (based on number of wins) since Hugh Durham arrived in 1979.

See Also:
-- Losses tough to get used to - Macon Telegraph

PWD

License Plates, Lady Vols, and Burlington Coat Factory Salesmen

A few oddball stories caught my eye today. First, the Georgia Legislature is again embroiled in controversy about college athletics. This time its those logos on state license plates. The noble lawgivers in the House voted overwhelmingly to stop selling Georgia license plates with out-of-state school logos on them. This move is the only logical choice after UF alums got Gator license plates approved by the Georgia department of motor vehicles. If Florida alums can have a Georgia plate, then it's time to shut the whole operation down. The ban extends only to those schools in states that won't allow Georgia schools on their license plates, which is basically everywhere but Tennessee. This whole thing is silly, since you can basically get any logo you want on your Georgia license plate. The state just wants your $25 fee. Is it me or does the Georgia legislature just not know how to let things go? I mean I get it and I guess I like the spirit of it all, but don't those guys have other things to do?

Candace Parker, Lady Vol superstar, is skipping her senior year to go pro. I think that's a first for women's basketball, but I'm not sure. Is the WNBA that lucrative?

Lastly, if you want to be the AD at LSU, please submit a resume. It doesn't matter if you have no experience in sports administration or even upper management. Besides the actually qualified applicants, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports that a "mortgage loan officer in Georgia," a "self-employed fitness coach," and a "former Burlington Coat Factory salesman" have already applied for the job.

Quinton

Two Random Tidbits after Last Night

"When we score, we're gonna celebrate right over there."**
The Georgia Bulldogs are 6-1 against the defending national champions since 1965. Kyle King at DawgSports.com was the first to tip us off to that stat, and now we're just sorta giddy keeping up with it. Why do I mention it? We're playing at Baton Rouge next year the week before the Cocktail Party. So we've got that going for us.

UGA vs. Defending Champs:

2007: UGA vs. UF (neutral) - W
2004: UGA vs. LSU (home) -- W
1999: UGA vs. UT (away) - L
1997: UGA vs. UF (neutral) - W
1991: UGA vs. GT (away) - W
1982: UGA vs. Clemson (home) - W
1965: UGA vs. Alabama (home) - W

The second unofficial tidbit...next year when LSU plays at Florida it will only be the fifth match-up of back-to-back national champs over the past 30 seasons. The first such meeting in 18 years.

2008 - LSU ('07) at UF ('06)
1990 - Miami ('89) at Notre Dame ('88)
1989 - Notre Dame ('88) at Miami ('87)
1982 - Clemson ('81) at Georgia ('80)
1979 - USC ('78 Co-Champs) at Notre Dame ('77)

I said "unofficial" tidbit for the second set of information because I had to look that up by hand. I think I nailed it, but if you're aware of other instances let me know. There were several such meetings in the 70s usually involving Notre Dame, Southern Cal and/or Pitt. (Note: I only counted UPI or AP titles prior to '98).

Sources:
-- National Champs of the Past - Wikipedia
-- Historical Schedules - College Football Data Warehouse

PWD

**I love recycling that caption.

Dumb Rumor: The Canes Want Willie?

The Miami Herald is quoting unnamed sources saying that Randy Shannon, Miami Hurricane Head Coach, would love either Charlie Strong or Willie Martinez as his defensive coordinator now that he's fired Tim Walton from that gig.

Why doesn't he just ask for a pony and one of Mr. Wonka's Geese?

Willie made $260,000 in 2006. I couldn't find his salary for 2007, but it's probably just south of $300k. That's about what John Chavis makes at Tennessee and considerably less than what Tenuta made at Tech; however, Tenuta was one of the highest paid DCs in college football. In other words, he's paid an aggressive yet competitive wage.

But back to why this is a dumb rumor.
At this point, Strong is a Gator. He has coached under every Gator Head Coach since Charlie Pell including Pell, Galen Hall, Gary Darnell, Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook and Urban Meyer. He has left before, but he always goes back. Much to UGA's dismay. More importantly, he has done an excellent job of taking progressively better jobs at virtually every stop.

The Gators lose more money between the seat cushions in Urban Meyer's office couch than the Hurricanes have seen in years. Shannon is the 53rd highest paid coach in college football, and the Hurricanes are just as cheap in paying their assistants as their head coach. In fact, Miami blogger "Canes Rising" says their defensive coordinator job is "not very attractive" because of their compensation history.

Why would you leave the Gators when they are near the top of the mountain to rebuild the Canes on the cheap?

As for Willie
Martinez will likely get a hefty bump in pay this year from the Dawgs. Heck, all of the assistants will. Hopefully, Searels will get a golden, fatted calf, but I digress. Martinez is a Cane alum, but the odds of Shannon pulling him out of Athens while we're on the cusp of a HUGE run over the next two years are long.

The Canes don't have a financial pot to piss in, and Shannon is eyeballing coaches at two of the richest programs in football? Yeah. That makes sense. Luckily for them, UCLA's outgoing DC is also on Veruca Salt's Shannon's list.



BTW -- There's no indication whatsoever that Willie has been contacted. In fact, Richt said the other day that only Eason was being courted.

PWD

Heisman Fark

Just in case it got lost in the noise and clatter of the Teblow love-in this weekend, I only saw him play once in person this season and I wasn't all that impressed:

But, in Teblow's defense, he looked great against Florida Atlantic, so there's that.

Why the Gators Suck

We take a break from Hating Tech for a few minutes to bring you this moment of bliss (ht - Scalp 'eM). This is why the Gators suck.

Speaking of sucky Gators. Georgia Sports Blog reader Malcolm Newton asks this regarding Tim Tebow's Heisman campaign

Has the Heisman ever been awarded to a player who cries after he loses a game or three? How about a player who spends most of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party on his butt? Oh yeah, Spurrier won it way back when under the same circumstances.

pwd

Richt to Meyer before the game....

"You see, when we score first we are going to celebrate right
over there . . ."



"THEN. we are going to beat your ass, sack your "Heisman QB" 6 times, throw two bombs for touchdowns, run a Redshirt Freshman for almost 200 yards and laugh the entire time.

Oh and tell Tebow to stop crying after he loses. What a home schooled crybaby!"

(ht - dawgnoxious...this is a great email that's going around)

Red October (By JeromeFromDecatur)

(30 penalty yards? Acceptable risk. Exit Visitor Sideline. At my command.)

Several days later as talking heads and message board pundits scold and blovate on a touchdown celebration and the Decline of Western Civilization, I kept hearing a distinct voice rattling in the back of my head. Have heard it since Saturday afternoon around four o’clock. Only while watching the game’s replay on Florida’s Sun Sport Network did I realize the voice in my head was the ex-Soviet sub commander (with an Irish brogue) Captain Marko Ramius.

Ramius once sandwiched between two super powers wanting his scalp, consoled himself with history and the fact that when Cortez reached the new world, “…he burned his ships. As a result his men were well motivated.” Ramius, who hopefully caught the game while relaxing in a fishing cabin in Montana or Maine, was surely smiling on Saturday.

As I watched Trinton Sturdivant wiggle and wag his head and Joe Cox beat his chest, I thought back to those Spanish soldiers from so long ago as walls of flames licked the night sky, turning to ash their only way home. It’s not hard to think of what those Spanish soldiers said. I imagine it was similar to what I and so many of Georgia people were saying Saturday as our team came sashaying onto the field—“Oh sh*t. This sh*t is on.” Except the soldiers said it in Spanish, which, of course, probably sounds a lot better.

Watching the Gator replay, I was able to finally make out that voice in the back of my head when color commentator, former Florida defensive back Barry Ackerman, reacted to the celebration. Ackermann, who played on Spurrier’s first team at Florida, immediately said how Spurrier preached how the Gators had to believe they could beat Georgia. Ackermann got nostalgic about how beating Georgia was Psychological. He suggested Richt was doing something similar. The comparison—an unintentional slip—was telling.

Spurrier would go on to spend the next decade doing this whole ship burning thing, conducting blunt and brutal Psy-Ops against college football and targeting UGA with particular menace. Each year after the WLOCP, Georgia fans were disgusted. We were outraged. We were surprised. We complained. And while we spoke of class, Florida spoke of victory.

At the end of the broadcast when it was clear a Florida defeat was imminent, Ackerman changed his tune. He offered the requisite Broadcast-Speak of congratulating Georgia, but then he went on to recall the “celebration” from the fist touchdown. He said he felt both “disgusted” and “surprised.”

Both of those emotions are accurate. Only one of them is relevant.

See Also
-- Gator Fans of the Week - DeepSouthSports
-- A Beautiful Sight - Dawgsonline

JeromeFromDecatur

A final, final word on The Celebration

I keep wanting to say that I'm finished with this story, but it keeps lingering. My favorite article so far is Tony Barnhart's article about The Celebration with current and former coaches. All the former coaches interviewed LOVED the move including Pat Dye, Terry Bowden, Danny Ford and others.

On the parody front, the folks over at CSTV have published the letter that Mark Richt should have written to SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, and Senator Blutarsky has been covering this story like his own personal Watergate.

The new CSS show "Dawg Report" with Buck Belue, Matt Stinchcomb and Matt Stewart saw a great point come to light. Stewart asked, "How is this any different than a baseball manager throwing a tantrum on the field in an effort to get thrown from the game and motivate his team?" I liked that analogy.

Personally, I keep coming back to the single most important point. We won. Gators lost. Amen.

Speaking of winning and enjoying the fruits of our victory, the Georgia Sports Blog store just got some new stuff in. They've got two more designs for Victory T-Shirts. One in Red and one in white. I still can't believe that they don't have Moreno Jerseys, but what are you gonna do?


Click to learn more.



Click to learn more.

PWD

CBS on the Florida Game

Some interesting comments railing on Florida's safeties. Also solid comments on Richt going after the Gators from the jump.

PWD

Georgia vs Florida Wallpaper: 2007

The Pork Whisperer (aka Iron Chef Turducken) took the following pics during the UGA vs. UF game. Click to enlarge for Wallpaper sized version.











Thanks for sending the pics!

PWD

A little more on the celebration thing

Chip Towers is expecting Coach Richt to receive a fine and/or a reprimand of some sort from the Southeastern Conference. I'm also expecting something along those lines. Frankly, I'd be shocked if Richt wasn't fined, and it'll be worth every penny.

(Image: Just after "Camera Incident" that drew the second flag. Photo by IronChefTurducken. Click to enlarge.)

If Mike Adams wanted to finally get some fans on his side, he'd match the fine to the charity of Richt's choice. He would then publicly back his coach in writing to the SEC. He could be polite and civil about it, but he should back his guy.

Around the Blogosphere:
-- UgaMummra has put The Celebration to music. Instant classic.

-- Senator Blutarsky has a series of articles on Class and The Celebration. I find myself in near total agreement with everything he says. In one of his articles, he points to Spurrier's smart ass comments on the situation.

-- Mark Schlabach gives the whole incident some historical perspective without coming down or endorsing the situation. On the other end of the spectrum, one blogger called it the most classless moment in college football history. Now, there's some OMG! HYPERBOLE!11!!1! Personally, I'm a fan of Woody Hayes punch on the Clemson kid or the GT 222-0 score against Cumberland for the most classless ever moment, but I'm open to other nominations.

See Also:
-- Stomp the Yard - Kyle King
-- When the Going Gets Tough - Doug Gillett
-- A tech fan with no concept of what class really is - StingTalk

PWD