Bill Bates on Herschel Walker

The payoff at the end is excellent. Thanks to our "Daryl Strawberry" (in the comment section of this site) for the heads up.

Catching up with Bill Bates.

PWD

Dawgs are Overrated says Former Vol

Last week, Will Overstreet (former Tennessee Vol defensive lineman) obliterated the University of Georgia Bulldog football team on Tony Basilio's radio show. It takes a second to load.



To me, this is basically the Tennessee version of Pat Dye's "Man Enough" bit. Only on a smaller scale. (ht - ScenicCityDawg) I look forward to Pulpwood Smith's retort.

PWD

Anti-Fulmer Sign Lands Man in Jail

A Chattanooga man, Jeremy Boyd Eaker, was arrested for having the words "F**K YOU FULMER" displayed on a visible sign in his car window. The cops said the offensive language was visible to anyone who passed the car. My favorite line from the article

It was not clear whether the sign referred to a neighbor or to the Tennessee football coach.

The article doesn't mention the fact that Mike Dubose, Ronnie Contrell, and 146,543 Alabama fans have already ordered replicas of the sign for their own cars.

I wonder what his earlier rejected drafts were for the sign? Feel free to provide suggestions in the comments area.

PWD

(ht - Dawg fan in Chattanooga)

I hear you brother

This dude really hates Tennessee. (ht - EDSBS and SEC Football Bloggers)



Hey...speaking of football. Blutarsky has a good article up about non-conference scheduling.

PWD

What the Girls Need: Animal Killing Tenacity

The women's basketball team bowed out of the SEC tournament tonight after a 57-50 loss to Kentucky. For the first time in five years, the girls won't make it to the semifinals of the tournament.

What happened to our team? Going into the year it looked like we were stacked. A talented backcourt, an experienced frontline, and a seasoned star in Tasha Humphrey should have added up to a deep run in the NCAAs. The team can still pull it together for the big dance, but it looks like Andy Landers will have to cast a spell on them and turn them into a team that gives a damn. We've got talent, we just don't have the want.

Pat Summitt, meanwhile, walks her dog with more intensity than anything our team's done all year. No, seriously. She dislocated her shoulder attacking a raccoon who dared to look at her dog sideways. This is both the greatest Tennessee sports story ever and the scariest women's basketball story ever. If your coach is willing to attack a raccoon to protect her dog, imagine how she'd treat you if you don't box out against UConn.

"Bring it, Summitt."

Maybe Andy should fight a opossum who's trying to get into his pomade to show the girls what desire looks like.

Quinton

Fark of the Day

Hat Tip: Hunkering Hank


(Update: Don't blame the Georgia Sports Blog for the spelling. It's Fulmer's advertisement. That's how they spell it in Knoxville)

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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

Steps UGA has taken to keep the Orange Out on Saturday

I spoke in passing to a friend in Butts-Mehre. The discussion centered around how many UT fans would show up to the UGA vs. UT game in Athens on Saturday. My assumption (despite much hand wringing by some UGA fans) is that the number wouldn't be overwhelming. (Capacity is 10,500) Here's the gist of that conversation

Knowing that this was on a Saturday and how UT fans have started to follow their team, we went ahead and scheduled several things for this game in an effort to [keep UT fan attendance to a minimum].

We’ve sold close to 900 tickets to fraternities and sororities who are having their parents’ day at Saturday’s game, over 250 tickets are being used by former basketball lettermen as part of our annual reunion game and a lot of our endowment donors will be in town as part of donor appreciation day.

When you take into account that we sold 2,600 single game tickets for the UT game and you take out the 1,300 above sold to UGA groups, it really only leaves about 1,300 tickets that would be available for single game ticket sales. Out of the 1,300 remaining single game ticket sales, it is tough to say how many were bought by UT fans.

Also, UT got their contracted 100 tickets for their player/family allotment. Unless a lot of Georgia fans have given/sold their tickets to UT fans, then 1,300-1,500 is the max that UT could have in the house. Probably closer to 1,000 in the house as I don’t think all other 1,300 single game sales were sold exclusively to UT fans.

Nice planning by the good guys. Way to protect this house.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Update: I want to address some things in the comments section. This info was NOT positioned to me as a "point of pride" by anyone in the Athletic Department. It was simply stated as fact. As in, this is how we're working to minimize our risk and maximize attendance of UGA fans for this game. And hey...there are fans who are wondering if we're going to get over run by Vols on Saturday.

This is clearly not the best solution for filling up a stadium with Dawg fans. In my opinion, the best solution for selling tickets is winning a heck of a lot more games in SEC play. However, the marketing, ticketing and administrative departments at UGA aren't responsible for winning games. (Those are my words. Not theirs or anyone else's)

Separately -- Per the question raised in the comments area...I agree that the camera angles are on the wrong side of the gym given the pathetic showing by alumni who hold premium tickets in Athens behind the benches. However, it's important to remember two things. First, the SEC does not allow student sections to be behind the player benches. Secondly, most schools have the TV cameras facing the player benches just like we do. Cameron Indoor Stadium is the most notable exception to this practice as they flip the camera angle to show the students. Therefore, our issue here is primarily that we're not winning enough to make people with great seats show up. That said, I would flip the camera angles if it were up to me.

PWD

UGA vs. Vols in Hoops Tonight

At 7:00 pm the Georgia Bulldogs (11-5/2-1) will take on the #3 ranked Tennessee Volunteers in hoops on FSN in game that's unlikely to tell us much of anything about the state of this year's Dawgs.

Dennis Felton is roughly 5-28 in SEC road games at Georgia, and he's going to play a team with more talent and depth at every position. The Vols should be pissed off following their road loss to the Wildcats and will likely give us a focused effort. Shocking the SEC and winning isn't out of the question, but the odds are long.

That said. It doesn't matter. This is hoops where a single loss doesn't ruin a season. It's not tonight that could define this season. It's the next three games that will give us incredibly clarity into which direction this team and program are heading:

Wed. Jan 30 - South Carolina (Columbia)
Sat. Feb. 2 - Kentucky (Athens) on CBS
Wed. Feb. 6 - Vandy (Athens)

Those are three must win games regardless of what happens tonight. If UGA can exit the Vanderbilt game at 5-2 in SEC play and 14-6 overall, the season gets interesting.

Our RPI is currently 122nd according to RealTimeRPI.com. Even a loss on the road against the #1 RPI Vols will still probably bring up our score. Our RPI could jump 40 spots in the next two weeks if we play with intelligence and intensity.

After the Vandy game, the schedule takes a turn for the brutal with only three of our following eight games at home.

My point: If we lose by 10 or more tonight, don't read much into it. It's not "jump off a cliff time"...yet. Tennessee is just really damn good. Although, I would love to see a heap better effort than I saw in person last time we went up there.

See Also:
-- Humphrey Leads Dawgs - DawgPost.com
-- Georgia faces tough challenge in Knoxville - AJC
-- Controlling tempo key for Dawgs - ABH
-- Price is Right - UGASports.com

PWD

As the Vol Turns: Trooper Taylor to Oklahoma State

Per Blutarsky in the comments section. Tennessee's best recruiter just signed on as the new offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. Joel is bumming. Westerdawg is thrilled.

PWD

Why the Hobnail Boot Play Matters Most

It all starts with this.

We had a post and comment thread last week talking about the Top plays of 2007. The thread evolved into a conversation around the Top Plays of the entire Richt Era. Some were commenting that Michael Johnson's catch vs. Auburn is the most important play. Someone else said that the decision to celebrate in Jax might be the most important or second most important play.

For my money, it all starts with P44 Haynes. With six seconds left we hit the Hobnail Boot. After the 2004 season, I talked with one of the graduating players about his career at UGA. (This was pre-blog so no linky). We talked about buying into the Richt System, and he said it was in Knoxville (his FR year) that the entire team finally bought in.

Prior to that blessed catch by Verron in 2001, there were still doubters. Most of the seniors had bought in during Mat Drills because they had no other choice. They could either try it Richt's way or spend the next 12 months in agony. Three games into the season, significant pockets of the rest of the team still had their doubts.

But a win in Knoxville...for the first time in 20 years...in the face of a bloodthirsty crowd...with a freshman QB...in his first road game...in the wake of Travis Stephens' 62 yard catch and run for the ages...our guys Finished the Drill. As the senior told me, "That was when I said, 'Ok, this is worth it.'"

If that rally falls apart, who is to say that the team holds it together that season? Especially after Richt's brain fart vs. Auburn. We would've likely finished the season in Shreveport against Iowa State struggling to get above 7 wins. One less than we had in Donnan's final year.

Why bring that up now?
Look to our West. Today, there's a large article in the Montgomery paper talking about Saban's failure to get the team to buy-in. There are rumblings that St. Nick will have to dump as many as a dozen players who never bought into his "process." Consider this quote about buying in:

Junior safety Rashad Johnson said close losses by the team -- Alabama lost all six games by seven points or less -- could have been reversed if more players did what was expected of them from the beginning.

"It could've been a totally different thing," he said. "Right now, we're talking LSU in the national championship game, a two-loss team. Every game we lost this year was by seven points, just about. I mean, we won a couple like that, but it could've been a totally different season. Totally different."

"When you're playing teams like LSU, Auburn, even Mississippi State, the little things would have really won the ballgame," Gilberry added.

So, today is as good a day as any to be thankful for that senior class who decided to get on board early, and for a well worn pair of Hobnail Boots. The play that started us on the path towards football righteousness.

PWD

Delighting in the misery of others: Vol Edition

The AP is reporting that Cutcliffe will be named head coach at Duke today. The Knoxville News says the press conference is at 5:00 pm today, and Cutcliffe will remain Offensive Coordinator for the Vols through the Outback Bowl.

Joel at RockyTopTalk says, "Cutcliffe will likely take [Vol] running backs coach Kurt Roper and tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Matt Luke with him over the mountain." This matches the rumors I've previously seen on all the Vol message boards. So it's gotta be true right? (insert rolling eyes making fun of myself)

Actually, it makes a ton of sense. Luke played and coached for Cutcliffe at Ole Miss. Roper also coached with Cutcliffe at Ole Miss, and then he came to the Vols with him in 2006. Roper's wife is also from High Point, NC so the move would probably be great for her family.

From a personnel standpoint, Jerod Mayo, Arian Foster, Anthony Parker, and Britton Colquitt have all submitted their paperwork to the NFL for evaluating their potential draft status. Per Scout.com:

Mayo, a first-team Coaches All-SEC pick, was the 2007 Vols leading tackler with 127 stops. Foster was the team’s leading rusher with 1,162 yards. Parker was a second-team Associated Press All-American and Colquitt was a second-team All-SEC selection.

None of those guys sound especially eager to jump to the league. So that sucks.

As for Dawgs exploring their options, Brannan Southerland, Dannell Ellerbe and Jeff Owens all submitted their paperwork to the NFL for evaluating their draft status. Southerland says there's no way he's leaving. He was just curious. I can't realistically see the other two being graded high enough to make the jump worth their time. Stranger things have certainly happened. Update: Owens and Ellerbe say they're staying.

See Also
-- Vol Coaching Bios - UTSports.com

PWD

More Good News from Vol Land: Trooper Taylor Leaving?

Ace Tennessee Vol recruiter Trooper Taylor (WR Coach), will interview for the offensive coordinator job at Baylor. If David Cutcliffe leaves UT for the head coaching job at Duke (he hasn't yet), Taylor would also be a leading candidate to take over as Vol player caller.

One rumored scenario has Taylor as co-offensive coordinator with former UGA TE coach / current Vol OL coach Greg Adkins. Another less credible rumor has the Vols considering New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Marrone for the job. I can't see how moving from NFL OC to College OC under Fulmer is a promotion. Thus, I don't buy that second story.

If Cutcliffe stays put, Taylor would do well to consider the Baylor gig. If Cutcliffe moves on, he'll have the Baylor job as leverage against Fulmer to take the entire OC position at UT.

Taylor is one of the best recruiters in Knoxville since Rodney Garner left Fulmer's staff in the mid-90s. To see Fulmer without both Cutcliffe and Taylor would be exceptional news. I doubt we get both things to break out way though.

PWD

David Cutcliffe to Duke?

Keep your fingers crossed tonight. One of the biggest thorns in Georgia's side could be removed tomorrow. Tennessee Offensive Coordinator David Cutcliffe appears to have been offered the head coaching job at Duke according to The Knoxville News. The paper also reports that he's prepared to accept the position.

Phil Fulmer's record vs. Georgia when he doesn't have David Cutcliffe on staff is 2-5. However, Fulmer and Cutcliffe together have produced a staggering record of 10-0 9-0 against the Dawgs.

Coach Martinez gives his opinion on this story
If he should accept the position at Duke, no one will be happier than Willie Martinez. Hell, Willie could've provided a reference for the guy.

See Also:
-- Will it be Cutcliffe? - Winston-Salem Journal
-- Cutcliffe to Duke - RockyTopTalk
-- UGA fans rejoice? - FanBlogs

PWD

Apologies to Bryant Hahnfeldt (Or, How I Cost Us a Trip to Atlanta)

(AP Photo/Wade Payne)

It's all my fault. I cost us the SEC East crown last week. At 14-9, I thought it was too early. At 17-9, I started listening to the UT radio broadcast. At 24-9 with 9:00 left in the third, I pulled the trigger. I started writing a post about how we had clinched the SEC East and were heading to Atlanta to face LSU. It was a great story about how much we had overcome this season, the inexperience, the inconsistent play, the beat down in Knoxville. From the depths of despair to the SEC Championship game, it was a story of inspiration and triumph. But Phil and the boys in orange just wouldn't let me post it. UT's 16 point fourth quarter comeback put the Dawg champagne on ice, at least for another week. It was bad form. Mistakes were made. Etc.

The real victim is Bryant Hahnfeldt, Vandy's kicker, who had no idea my football karma was swirling around him, guaranteeing he would miss that kick. I vow to you, loyal reader, and kickers everywhere never to begin a post until the score goes final.

Quinton

Well, Tripp Chandler Looked Good

The defense that couldn't tackle, tackled. The team that couldn't run, ran. The team that couldn't stop the run limited Georgia to two first downs in two quarters of football. The coach who was close to being nudged out ran circles around the coach who was supposedly unbeatable on the road. Saturday's theme was redemption and, unfortunately, she was clad almost entirely in Big Orange.

The Vols have picked up a lot of criticism over the past few years as unmotivated, undisciplined, and poorly coached. At crucial times, this reputation proved true. The counterargument to that reputation might as well be the first two quarters of Saturday's game. Tennessee looked unstoppable in the first half. Arian Foster was Roger Craig, running downhill, all knees and elbows, refusing to submit to Georgia's version of tackling, which was all hugging and cuddling. Because Foster was gashing us up front, Erik Ainge didn't feel any pressure and completed passes seemingly at will. David Cutcliff took advantage of Georgia's young, fast defense by running counters, cutbacks, and a masterful trick play keying off the fact that our defense is so eager to pursue that we lose discipline quickly. The result was the worst half of football that Georgia has played since Ronny Daniels made us publicly and shamefully cuss our own players in 1999.

First, the bad. Our defense looked soft as a fat baby's cheek. For the third time this year, we couldn't stop basic inside and off tackle runs. When our D-line did stop up a hole, Foster easily cut back for big gains. There are times when we absolutely cannot get off a block. And we evidently prefer to nudge rather than tackle. On offense, our line looked like we were playing a bunch of freshmen. The old adage is that you can count on a loss for every freshman lineman you play. We have one more loss coming, at least. And that was against the 110th ranked defense in the country. Look, there are a lot of things to write about here, a blocked punt (off another missed block against UT by Lumpkin), penalties, etc. Frankly, you guys are going to write about the bad in the comments, so I'll let you do your work.

The good? Demiko Goodman made a hell of a catch and Tripp Chandler caught everything thrown his way. Anything else? No, everything else was bad to average.

So where do we stand? We're a better team than what we played like Saturday, but there are some disturbing truths about the Dawgs. We are now 1-6 in our last seven games against SEC East opponents. Atlanta is now all but impossible. In fact, we should stop even thinking about SEC championships for the foreseeable future. As Richt said, we have to focus on beating Vanderbilt. We still lack a bankable win over a legitimate opponent. We don't do anything consistently well. The good news is that every game remaining on the schedule is winnable (it's true). The bad news, if we play like we did Saturday, every game is also eminently losable.

Quinton

Nothing Positive Can be Spun

Dawgnoxious and I were there in living color. There is nothing positive that can be drawn from this debacle. As for the Vols. Congrats, you kicked the complete and total crap out of us. I'm only sorry that we bored your fans with such an uncompetitive performance.

As for us. Right now, I'm not pissed. I'm worried.

This team and this program have deep rooted flaws that have shown themselves intermittently over the past seven years. But most of the time, our toughness, strength of will, overall talent and team leadership would overcome those issues. In fact, I wrote a piece before last year's Colorado game talking about my basis of faith in the program and what makes it special. I think many of those strong foundational points are shaky right now. Although, they can be righted.

In losing to Vandy and UK in 2006, those flaws came to the surface like festering sores. To use Dawgnoxious' line...the final three wins of 2006 seem to have simply "wallpapered over" the big issues of last year. Well, they're back. They didn't go away with the miracle ending to last season.

Dawnoxious, Quinton and I aren't posting anything else tonight or most of the day tomorrow. Personally, I think everyone in the Dawg Nation needs to cool off from this. I've seen the message boards, and it's not pretty. This place has never turned south like those sites, and it's not starting tonight. I turned off comments for the night. Your existing comments haven't been deleted. They are just invisible for now. I'll turn commenting back on sometime Sunday.

It wasn't pretty execution. It wasn't pretty effort. It wasn't a pretty result. Naturally our reaction as fans won't be pretty. But it doesn't have to be instant.

Update: Commenting is on again.

PWD

Georgia vs. UT Video Flashbacks

From years past...

UGA Perspectives on the Game: Blogger Roundtable

As I referenced earlier, Doug Gillett and I swapped Q&As with Vol Bloggers. Doug and I have our answers up on RockyTopTalk. We're not nearly as Doom and Gloom as our Vol guests were. Speaking of Vol opinions, Doug has some final Q&As with Joel and Andy.

Kyle King has his thoughts on the UT Running Game and Passing Game, and Get the Picture talks about the reasons for concern and optimism for this game.

PWD

Vol Week: Flashback Photos

The Gambler Live in Neyland 2005
In 2005, Georgia visited Neyland Stadium and saw a truly bizarre half-time extravaganza. Kenny Rodgers performed along side the Vol band. The photo above isn't a fark. It's taken directly from the scoreboard. For more on Kenny's '05 Performance and the Alternate Vol-Centric Version of "The Gambler," check our Kenny Rodgers story archive.

My personal all-time favorite fan reaction shot is this one taken during the 2003 Tennessee vs. Georgia game directly after the Sean Jones Fumble return.


That photo is photographic evidence that half the fun of college football is delighting in the misery of others. If you just enjoy winning, you are clearly missing half the fun.

And if you need a little motivation, just remember what happened last year. From the cover of Sports Illustrated:



PWD