Cocktail Party Kickoff Set for 3:30 on CBS

Mike Adams can kiss the crack of my ass call it whatever he likes. To us, it already has a perfectly good name, and now we know how long we'll have to get our Bulldawg on that day. The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has been set by CBS for 3:30 October 28 in Jacksonville.

Just remember, when cocktail parties are outlawed, only outlaws will have cocktail parties. GATA!

Dawgnoxious,
Bureau Chief,
Mike Adams Accountability Division

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Decision Time on World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

UPDATE: It looks like the game will stay in Jax. Tim Tucker reports Damon is expected to recommend a six-year contract to the Athletic Board. Damon: "I strongly believe staying in Jacksonville at this time is the most appropriate thing to do." Il Duce is "in full support" of Damon's recommendation. Now all we have to do is win. GATA!

***Original Post***
The AJC reports that the UGA Athletic Board is scheduled to make a decision on the location of the Georgia-Florida game at its meeting today.

The location of the game has been a matter of intense debate among Georgia fans for several months now. PWD persuasively argued in March against moving the game. Go re-read PWD's take, because he nails it.

I am cautiously optimistic that this quadrennial waffling on the part of UGA is just a negotiating tactic for getting a better deal from the City of Jacksonville. Back in June future NCAA President Il Duce said, "[t]here are things we want yet out of the city of Jacksonville that can even the playing field a bit.” Like better coaching and better players over the last two decades? That's hardly Jacksonville's fault, but I digress.

This photo never gets old. Courtesy of Josh Massey.

Georgia has been successful posturing to leave Jax in the past. For example, we currently get $100K more than Florida to defray travel costs. However, I will be deeply disappointed if the Athletic Board votes to move this game out of Jacksonville. Neither of the other options are very appealing. The Georgia Dome is smaller and has the atmosphere of a podiatrist's office, and the notion of bringing those asshats to Athens every other year is repulsive.

It's hard to predict what Adams and his Board values more. By moving the game he gets a belated victory in his war to scrap the WLOCP moniker, but keeping the game in Jax generates UGA about $1 million more every two years. I'm guessing we'll see another 4 year deal to stay in Jacksonville.

When cocktail parties are outlawed, only outlaws will have cocktail parties

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Rumor: UGA vs. UF game time to change

There is a rumor floating around (ht - Kit Kitchens) that CBS may pass on televising the Georgia vs. Florida game at 3:30 on Oct. 27th. It's just a rumor, and it's hardly triple checked. However, it fits into something I was thinking about on the ride home from Knoxville.

If CBS were to pass on the Cocktail Party, they would likely select the South Carolina (#7 AP) at Tennessee (#25 AP) game. This would free up Georgia (#24 AP) vs. Florida (#13 AP) for ESPN to televise our game at night. Here's the SEC Schedule for Oct. 27th:

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville)
South Carolina at Tennessee
Mississippi State at Kentucky
Ole Miss at Auburn
Miami University at Vanderbilt
FIU at Arkansas

CBS would likely make the call on which games to televise that weekend this coming Monday. In between now and Oct. 27th:

Georgia plays Vandy and then gets an off week
Florida gets an off week and then plays at Kentucky
Tennessee plays at Miss State and then at Alabama
South Carolina plays at UNC and then Vanderbilt

If the favored team won all of those games, you would likely enter Oct. 27th with SC ranked in the Top 5 vs. Top 20 UT. Or you would have #10 (or so) Florida vs. #21 (or so) Georgia. The SC/UT game could go a long way towards deciding the SEC East while the UGA/UF game would essentially be a battle for third place. It'll be interesting to see if CBS tries to use another Six Day Option. I thought they were out of those, but who knows.

To the best of my knowledge, the Cocktail Party has only been played at night once -- 2002. If there have been any other night games, they must pre-date my first trip in 1990.

CBS still lists UGA/UF as tentative.

Update: Both teams haven't entered the Cocktail Party with 2 losses since 1989. UGA entered the game that year 5-3. The Gators entered 6-2. Goff beat Galen Hall in that one, but both teams finished the year out by going 1-3. UGA finished 6-6 after losing to Syracuse in Fulton County Stadium for the Peach Bowl. The Gators lost Washington in the now defunct Freedom Bowl. Hall was fired before their bowl game, and Gary Darnell was his replacement.

The point of that....what a different world that was for both schools.

PWD

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Mailbag: Should the Cocktail Party Leave Jacksonville

Image: Josh Massey
I get asked this quite a bit. Given our lack of success, should we move the Georgia vs. Florida game out of Jacksonville. The scenarios proposed are usually:

A. Go home and home with the series
B. Go to a Jacksonville / GA Dome Rotation

First off, I don't think the location of the game is the problem. Nor do I think that bye weeks, schedules or talent are the problem. The problem (in my blow hard opinion) is that our team pisses itself upon crossing the Florida state line. Right now, we could play Florida in Gainesville, Tokyo or Peru, and it wouldn't matter. Until our coaches and players decide that enough is enough, it's going to stay like it is. Venue isn't it.

And if you're a player reading this and getting mad. Go ahead and get mad. Then take it out on Florida. But back to the question at hand.

I don't think that Option B is an option at all. I don't see the game ever making a long term rotation through the Georgia Dome, and here's why:

• Seating Capacity - The Georgia Dome's official capacity is 71,250. Attendance for the most recent UGA vs. UF game in Jacksonville was 84,649. That's a difference of over 13,000 seats. Or 6,500 fewer seats per team. That's roughly 15% fewer tickets per fan base.
  
  
• Sky Rocketing Hartman Fund Cut-Off Levels for UGA Fans - If you moved the game to Atlanta every other year, you would be moving the game closer to the largest segment of the UGA fan base, and you would logically anticipate dramatically higher demand for tickets. Greater demand + fewer tickets would create an upwards explosion in ticket cut-off scores. It's not hard to imagine the cut-off jumping from 8,300 Hartman points to well over 20,000 immediately. The current Cocktail Party is a relatively accessible ticket by comparison.
  
  
• Gator Geography - South Georgia is close to Jacksonville. Atlanta is not close to North Florida. The Gators aren't coming all the way up here. They like the game in Jacksonville because it's close every year, and they are winning. If the game left Jacksonville on a yearly basis, they might as well just play it home and home.

If we leave Jacksonville, it's because we're chicken shit, cowards, and we let the Gators run us out of the state. That is completely unacceptable to me.

Furthermore, Mark Richt complains about other teams playing a neutral site game in Atlanta. He feels that the presence of that season opening Georgia Dome game opens recruiting doors into the fertile Atlanta market for our enemies. By that logic, why would we ever leave a neutral site game in the fertile Florida recruiting area?

Leaving Jacksonville in any scenario other than a 5 game winning streak on our side of the ledger is indefensible. Especially, now that the team can fly out of Ben Epps Airport directly to Jacksonville next year. That means our team's "commute" to the game by plane would only be about an hour longer than the Gator bus ride to the game.

(Note: The game is scheduled to stay in Jax for several more years. This post is a reaction to the question I get via email. It's not a reaction to an immediate discussion from UGA about moving the game.)

Am I crazy? Is there another way to see this?

PWD

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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

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The World's Largest Indoor Cocktail Party?

Image: DawgBone.net
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that the Atlanta Sports Council and the Georgia Bulldogs are in discussions about possibly moving the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to the Georgia Dome at least once every four years.

(UPDATE: The AJC talked to Damon Evans. He says that there are no discussions to move the game. The rest of this post is the original note on the subject)

I'm pretty sure that the current contract expires in 2010, but all parties involved like to have the contract renewed before Year 3 of the 4 year deal starts. In other words....now.

Here's why I'm against this:

• We don't lose because of the location - The City of Jacksonville didn't cause Terrence Edwards to drop a game tying catching in 2002. It didn't cause Quincy Carter to throw the INT before the half in 2000. It didn't call timeout in the rain in '93. It didn't fumble the kickoff to start the second half in 2006. It didn't bust Shockley's knee before the game in 2005. We lose when we go down there because we don't play well. We could play the Gators on the moon, and we will lose if we wet the bed at first sight of an Orange helmet with script letters.
  
  
• Access to Tickets in Atlanta - The current cut-off for tickets is over 10,000 Hartman points. Some of the demand for tickets is suppressed because it's logistically and financially cumbersome to get to Jacksonville from the Atlanta area -- where the vast majority of our fans live. There would be dramatically more demand for tickets to a game in Atlanta. The listed ticket prices, the secondary market and the Hartman cut-off for the tickets would explode due to increased demand.
  
  
• The Dome is Smaller -- Capacity at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium is 84,000 for UGA vs. UF. The record crowd at the Georgia Dome is 75,000. That's roughly 11 percent fewer seats. Cutting 4,500 tickets out of the UGA allotment would be a real problem.
  
  
• The Dome has ZERO personality -- Part of the appeal of the game in Jacksonville is the party. 75,000 people can't tailgate in Atlanta the way we do in Jacksonville.
  
  
• Access to Florida Talent -- I'd like Mark Richt to explain how Alabama and Clemson playing games in Atlanta is good for their recruiting in Georgia and bad for UGA. While UGA playing games in Florida isn't a good thing for us.
  
  
• We're chicken shit if we leave -- This would be the first step in running us out of Jacksonville.

Georgia fans didn't complain about the location when Dooley won 17 of 25 contests against the lizards.

I assume most of this is posturing for a better deal from the City of Jacksonville. I'm all for that especially in light of what other neutral site games are paying their participants. But a long term move away from this most excellent tradition makes no sense to me.

Recruit better players. Win the game. Stop making excuses.

See Also:
-- Another reason to stay in Jax - GTP
-- Orson's take on this - EDSBS

PWD

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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

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Mike Adams Again Tampers with World's Largest Cocktail Party

In a joint announcement with Florida President Bernie Machen and Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, Mike Adams revealed the first truly amazing and absolutely groundbreaking idea of his entire tenure as UGA President.

The three men announced Adams' plan to bring Escort Services to the Jacksonville Landing to presumably help students get laid. It's an idea so maverick and bold in its nature as to stand at the precipice of brilliance.


Best. Idea. Ever.
From the release:

ATHENS --- The University of Georgia, the University of Florida and the city of Jacksonville have agreed to measures to improve safety for students and others who attend the annual Georgia/Florida football game this year. The institutions hope to reduce the possibility of accidents and violence that have marred celebrations during the game weekend over the past several years, including the deaths of two UF students.

The city and the two universities will establish a "Student Safe Zone" near Jacksonville Landing, where students and others can find assistance, meet missing friends and access support services. Students also will be able to find first aid, maps and an escort service modeled after those already existing on the two campuses.

My initial reaction to a Safety Zone where drunk college students can stumble in and safely seek female companionship for hire if they strike out inside The Landing...Where was this idea 10 years ago when I was in school?

However, let's look at how Adams might screw this up.

Ways he could blow it:

• He could forget to bring women -- The launch of Mike Adams' Family Friendly Tailgate zones was a complete failure...apparently because no one invited the families. If he forgets the chicks and all we're left with is a bunch of dudes doing their best Julian Kaye impressions, I think the Jacksonville Cops would have a riot on their hands.
  
  
• He could order escorts from Frogtown, Minnesota -- The legendary St. Paul, MN police department's prostitution arrest page has showcased the internet's ugliest women of the evening for the past 10 years. If Adams goes shopping there, the whole idea is a bust. He needs to be thinking more Julia Roberts and less Julia Child.

It would be just like Adams to go cheap on us and bring in the bus station skanks.
And while we're at it, did you notice the phrase..."escort service modeled after those already existing on the two campuses." I'm a bit shocked that UF's President Machen (aka The Stormin Morman") and Adams had sneaked such a program past the blogosphere.

There was such an uproar when they tried to put condom vending machines on campus that I would've figured a true shit storm would've been unleashed when they launched a hooker program. Oh well...the things you learn via the Internets.

The Cocktail Party will never be the same.

PWD

Note: It is the official position of the Georgia Sports Blog that paying for sex is like paying for parking. Why pay for it if you work a little more, you can get it for free.

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Donnan Talks Cocktail Party

Paul Finebaum interviewed Donnan a week or two ago about Mike Adams eagerness to rename the Cocktail Party. Donnan mostly resists the temptation to take shots at Adams; however, he does talk about how pointless the issue of the name really is. Click here to listen.

Actually, Donnan comes down on Adams' side as it relates to the issue of too much drinking by college students. However, he and Finebaum think it's hypocritical for university presidents to condemn drinking by adults on gamedays given that entertaining alumni givers always involves booze.

pwd

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Why I hate the Gators

In 1990, I made my first trip to the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. It was the first of many journeys to The City That Hygiene Forgot.

The 2005 edition of the Georgia vs. Florida game will be my 12th Cocktail Party and my 13th time watching this matchup.

I've only missed the 1993 Game (aka "Timeout Florida") and the 1994 Game (aka "The Debacle in the Swamp). I even sat through the 1995 "Beat Down in Athens" in which with 5 minutes left I yelled:

"Spurrier, You Son of Bitch.
You're not Getting 50. Not in OUR HOUSE!"
[Quiet for 3 minutes]
"Well...You're not getting 55."
I hate the Gators for the same reason that most Gator fans over the age of 40 hate Georgia. My frame of reference is one of pain, hatered and long bitter rides home on Sunday mornings.

Older Gators know this same feeling. From 1964-1988, Georgia went 17-7-1 versus Florida. During those years, the Gators saw every dream, every hope, and every potential title fall at the hands of the Dawgs. But then something horrible happened to Georgia. Dooley retired.

After that great Vince Dooley run, which not coincidentally ended in the Gator Bowl, the Dawgs went 3-13. The Dawgs kept their swagger for 1 year after Dooley retired. Winning in Ray Goff's first year. Then the wheels fell off.

The winds of change blew again into Jacksonville as Spurrier retired after the 2001 season. Just as the Dawgs enjoyed the momentum of their ownership of Florida for 1 more year after Dooley left; the Gators enjoyed two more years of ownership of Georgia after the Evil Genius walked away.

Now we enter this weekend's game.

The young Gators are new to failure, mediocrity and five loss seasons. But the older Gators know that their entire athletic trophy case now works in Columbia, South Carolina. The ONLY man to ever make the Gators Growl as a player or a coach is gone. And the man who is filling the Head Ball Coach's job has devised an Orange and Blue offensive system that has done more to stop the Gators from scoring points than anyone since Tom Osborne.

What will this matchup bring? I don't honestly know. With Shockley gone anything can happen.

All I know is that the monkey is off our back, and the expectations are off our back. All of the pressure is squarely on Urban Meyer's Gator Squad. A team that is quarterbacked by a QB who wants to show up for the game wrapped in bubble wrap. A team who can't run the ball against anyone outside of the Bluegrass state. A team who's defense's greatest claim to fame is falling on LSU and UT fumbles.

[Photo: A reinactment of the 1995 Fiesta Bowl.]

If the Dawgs protect the ball we win. And not only that...we begin another Dooley like run of dominance. This series has NEVER been about balance. It has always been about domination. And Gators brace yourself because if we win under these incredibly adverse circumstances, we're going to settle into victory lane for the long term.

The Very Long Term



All Farks Courtesy of the World Famous Sooner Fark Board.

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Contest: Name the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party's New Title Sponsor!

The Jacksonville Paper has an update on the details of the new 4 year contract signed by UGA, UF, the City of Jacksonville and AllTel Stadium.

Included in the deal is news that the game will take on a Title Sponsor in 2007. In an attempt to help the City Founders of Jacksonville, I have proposed a few title sponsors. Others are welcome to add to this list via the comments field.

Proposed Title Sponsors for the Border War between Georgia and Florida

Jim Beam Presents: The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party
(idea courtesy of UgasTexan)

Kleenex Presents: Georgia vs. Florida
- Tagline: Because Gators Don't HAVE to Eat Boogers!

Levis Presents: Georgia vs. Florida
- Tagline: Come on Georgia fans! We've already got the Gators!

Jacksonville Bail Bonds Presents: The Border War
- Tagline: Offices Located at The Landing, AllTel Stadium and Waffle Houses across North Florida

Other ideas?

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Opinions are like....

Three solid editorial pieces and tidbits around the Dawg Blogs. Here are some highlights:

-- Initial Thoughts on UF - Dawgsonline
-- Georgia's RedZone Stats - Get the Picture
-- Separated at Birth rides again - HeyJennySlater

In looking at those articles, I was most impressed with our redzone stats from Get the Picture. Go ahead...write down what you think our TD and overall redzone conversion percentage is this year on a piece of paper before you do the link. you'll be shocked.

And here's a video for you. Our kicker commitment for next year Blair Walsh (who will likely get a 4th star soon if you care about that sort of thing), has a video up on Scout.com's myspace page (Ht - Scott Kennedy). Per the caption:

"Cardinal Gibbons Kicker Blair Walsh doubles as a punter, and he took a brutal late hit against St. Thomas Aquinas. The personal foul put Cardinal Gibbons into field goal range, and Walsh got his revenge with a 45 yard field goal, just three plays after the hit. Walsh is Scout.com's #1 Kicker in the country and is committed to the University of Georgia.

Kickers aren't tough...

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Non-Dawg, but MGoBlog wrote an exceptional piece a few weeks ago that I refer to as "I call Rock." Brian Cook, the writer for MGoBlog, talks about the mentality of Michigan's offensive coordinator. Anyone who has ever been frustrated with stagnant play calling should read it. It's well done.

Related Merchandise and Tix:
-- Stomp the Chomp: UGA vs. UF Official T-shirt - FootballFanatics
-- Ticket Prices are dropping for the Cocktail Party - Stubhub

PWD

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2007 Football Season: Off Week Travel Suggestions

So...12 regular season football games in 13 weeks isn't enough for you? You're looking to see some football beyond the UGA schedule? Well..it just so happens that the Georgia Bulldogs have the week of Oct. 20th off this season. You can either:

A. Take 2 weeks off for the Cocktail Party this year
B. Spend time with your wife, children, mistress, etc.
C. Visit a college football game at another location

If you're interested in Option C, your choices are below. The list was compiled from information available at LSUFootball.net. My recommendations are based on the quality of the match-up, the venue / road trip and the cost:

Southern Cal at Notre Dame
-- Positives: Watch a game in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus. If you fly into Chicago, the airfare is cheap.

-- Negatives: Extraordinarily expensive ticket. Scarce hotel rooms. High probability of a blowout. The Emu. Women rumored to look more like the catholic school girl on the right than what you were hoping for.

Auburn at LSU
-- Positives: Should be one of the top 2 or 3 SEC games of the year. Stay in New Orleans and eat ridiculously well. Airfare is cheap from Atlanta and Birmingham.

-- Negatives: Georgia is going to play at LSU in 2008. Do you really want to go there back to back years? The drive sucks.

Miami at Florida State
-- Positives: Classic rivalry played at mid-season. Easy / cheap trip south. Watching Patrick Nix's Miami Offense score 7 to 10 points whether they need 'em or not. Cowgirls.

-- Negatives: Tallahassee isn't exactly a tourist destination. Syphilis.

Texas A&M at Nebraska
-- Positives: One of college football's great venues. The Tunnel Walk. The two teams have only played seven times in the past 35 years.

-- Negatives: It's generally a $500 ticket to fly non-stop from Atlanta to Omaha. You would have to commit to this trip soon. What the hell does someone do for fun in Lincoln? Seriously.

Oregon at Washington
-- Positives: One of the most scenic venues in sports with the stadium overlooking the water. The seafood in Seattle is incredible. Airfare can be landed for $350 for non-stop flights from ATL to SEA.

-- Negatives: You would probably want to leave Thursday so that you wouldn't feel like you spent your whole trip on a plane. 11 total hours in a plane. It's unlikely to be a great game. This would just be an excuse to go to Seattle. Frankly, if you just want a vacation, see the next option.

Colorado State at UNLV
-- Positives: Vegas baby. Vegas.

-- Negatives: Odds of actually making the game are slim and none. Plus, you know...the whole dead hooker thing.

Michigan State at Ohio State
-- Positives: The Horseshoe. You can finally see what Big 10 action is all about. Plus, Michigan State has a knack for giving these guys fits.

-- Negatives: You can finally see what what Big 10 action is all about.

Tennessee at Alabama
-- Positives: It will be a complete and total nut house when Saban, Inc. plays Fulmer in Tuscaloosa. Depending on how ESPN uses its wild card, this could be a night game. There's no NASCAR race that weekend so traffic should be manageable. Unlike UGA's last visit to T-town in 2002.

-- Negatives: Georgia plays Bama on Sept. 22nd. You were just there a month ago!

Not on the List:
Michigan, Texas, Penn State, and Virginia are all on the road that week. I'd be interested in catching games at any of those venues. Actually, I've been to PSU for a game, but I'd go back for some sort of OSU or Michigan level showdown.

As for Me:
Personally, I'm contemplating the FSU/Miami or USC/ND games.

PWD

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Thoughts on the Cocktail party

Image: Josh Massey

My confidence in the team and program is pretty low. Sure, I'm looking forward to this weekend's tailgate and festivities, but the game...entirely different story.

The pluses:
1. Martinez has actually kept Meyer's squad in check the past 2 years allowing only 2 offensive TDs each year.
2. We can catch the ball from time to time, and the Gator pass defense is average at best.
3. Florida can be beaten. See AU and LSU.
4. Knowshon Moreno

The minuses:
1. This isn't the '05-'06 UF offense. Tebow and Harvin are sick.
2. We haven't caught the ball consistently for any extended period this year.
3. We don't have LSU or AU's defense. Not by a long shot.
4. UF's run defense is pretty damn good.

I'm generally a sunshine pumper or at worse a realist. I rarely go into my dark cave of pessimism. But let's look at facts. In 2007, we have struggled with teams that have equal or lesser talent. The Gators are most certainly more talented than the Bulldogs, and you'll have to make one helluva argument that they aren't better coached right now.

My expectation:
Everyone loses football games some times, and it's completely unfair to hold this team accountable for what happened during 15 of the past 17 games in the series. It wouldn't kill me to lose the game, and honestly a win wouldn't totally shock me. Not this season when the entire college football world is upside down. But I do have an expectation or two...

My expectation is that the team compete.
I expect 60 minutes of balls out effort.
I expect UF to know they played UGA at the end.
I expect us to not play dead when it gets tough.
I expect us to not cross the Florida line and wet our britches.

I'm still showing up. I'm still giving 100% as a fan. I'll scream my lungs out win or lose, and I'm not leaving early no matter what. But I'm not excited about the real possibility of driving all the way down there to get the hell kicked out of us and have us look like we don't belong on the same field as them.

We are in Year Seven of this coaching regime. There are talent gaps that are legitimate and they are real, and regardless of how they came to be (a topic for a different post) they aren't going to change over night.

But talent gaps don't explain away what happened in Knoxville. And despite the complete lack of a transitive property in football (Just because A beat B and B beats C doesn't necessarily mean that A beats C), talent gaps alone don't explain how a team we beat (Alabama) could dominate a team (UT) that made our guys look like a novice JV Squad.


The gameday cure for my lack of confidence

I'm discouraged and worried about this game, but I'm not flying the white flag of surrender or giving up hope. I hope our team plays in a way that we can all be proud of. That's all I expect and want at this point. I want progress. Because the last two seasons haven't been about progress. They've been about week to week survival and working to not blow ourselves up followed by inexplicable moments of giddiness and then more buffoonery.

Some consistent upwardly mobile progress would be really nice at this point. Win or lose.

Go Dawgs.

See Also:
-- Moreno's example provides inspiration - ABH
-- WLOCP: Tale of the Tape - Get the Picture
-- Dawgs Brace for Tebow - Macon Telegraph

PWD

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About the Bye Week

Image: DawgPost.com '07
Obviously, Florida isn't going to just roll over and play dead for us, but you wouldn't know it from reading some of the message board posts or reviewing the betting line.

Think back to 2007. Georgia was coming off a bad 2006 season, and it entered the 2007 Cocktail Party in a very flaccid fashion. The South Carolina loss was bad followed by the 28-0 halftime Volunteer lead in Neyland. All followed by barely beating Vanderbilt in Nashville. The only legitimately positive sign that season was the big win at Bama.

But Georgia took advantage of the bye week to get its act together and beat the defending national champs senseless.

There's no reason to think that Florida...despite all their problems...can't do something similar. It's not like they are without talent. They just have to pull their heads out of the sand in order to give us a war.

And to clarify...This post isn't some subtle pre-game excuse making way of saying "Florida will win because of the bye week." That's a bullshit excuse on par with bitching about the weather (as Blutarsky mentioned on Monday). The Dawgs had the bye last year before UF and in 2008 before the Tech game, and it did them no good. It's simply to say that the Gators are probably tired of hearing how much they suck, and they will play their best game of the year against UGA. Much like UT did in 2007 after their bye week.

Also the Dawgs should be very thankful we didn't have the bye week this year. Georgia needed the extra week to build more momentum and confidence. Plus, Caleb King would've been suspended for the Gator game if we had the bye on Saturday.

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Cocktail Party Video Highlights

UgaMummaRa has knocked it out of the park. Don't miss his Superman themed video.

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They were lead by 2 freshmen running backs

#1 Florida vs. #17 Georgia
1985 World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party



God Bless America

Go Dawgs.

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SEC Expansion: Bama and AU to the East?

If the SEC expands to include Texas A&M plus another school slotted for the West, I expect Alabama and Auburn to both move to the East.

SEC East:
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
South Carolina
Kentucky

SEC West:
LSU
Texas A&M
Arkansas
Miss State
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
TBD

If the league slots FSU or Missouri caliber program in the West, the balance would be reasonable. If they go after Virginia Tech again, then the divisions would basically stay the same as they are now and Bama/AU wouldn't move.

A nine game SEC schedule would likely be a part of a 14 team league. Especially now that the Pac 12 and Big Ten are going in that direction.

What's the benefit to UGA beyond more quality home games? Well...we would get a balanced SEC home/away schedule of 4 home, 4 road and 1 neutral. Today, Georgia has a 4-3-1 SEC schedule on odd numbered years and 3-4-1 on even numbered years. It would actually be easier to keep the Cocktail Party in Athens if the SEC expands to 14 teams and goes to a 9 game league slate.

Imagine a slate like this on an even numbered year:

Home:
UT
Alabama
Arkansas
Kentucky
Georgia Tech

CUSA Team
Div I-AA Team

Away:
Auburn
Texas A&M
South Carolina
Mississippi State

Neutral:
Florida

What's your take?

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Pre-season...if I told you

If I told you that we'd play the #8 team in the country without the following preseason starters:

LT - Sturdivant
RT - Tripp
FB - Southerland
DT - Owens
DE - Battle
MLB - Ellerbe (gone after the 3rd play last night)

Do you think we win that game? In retrospect, I was either way overconfident about our ability to absorb those personnel loses or maybe I underestimated Bama. More likely a little of both.

Bama is good, and we got whipped up front.

Some of what happened to our offensive line was the payment of the bill that comes due when you go three years while recruiting and enrolling extremely few quality offensive linemen as Georgia did from '04-07 (2004 recruits like Chester Adams would've been a senior this year). Over those three years, Georgia recruited 8 kids, and only 1 contributed last night. Some of that is on Richt. Some on Garner, and some on Callaway.

Some of what happened on the DL was injuries and personnel. I said two weeks ago that Marcus Howard "ain't walking through that door." And our pass rush would have issues until we figured out that personnel problem. Not having Rod Battle back from his neck injury by now, isn't helping fix that.

Some of it was scheme. It wasn't a good a plan on either side of the ball. Someone on a message board said, "Why didn't Willie adjust?" I would've liked to have seen more blitzes just like you, but how do you "adjust" for losing your run stopping All-SEC middle linebacker on the third play of the game? That's not exactly the easiest thing in the world to adjust.

It was a whooping.

The Good News:

• The East -- We can definitely still win the East. Florida has major problems offensively and defensively, and we match-up better against them and Auburn than we do Bama or LSU. Auburn, Tennessee, Vandy and Florida are all as flawed as we are. Just different kinds of flaws.
  
  
• Ticket Prices -- Well, the price for Cocktail Party tickets probably just got a lot cheaper. I was really sweating landing that ticket before yesterday.
  
  
• Injuries Heal - It sucks entering a bye week without momentum from a win; however, this banged up roster needs a rest.
  
  
• The Crowd - The opening of that game was as unglued as Sanford has ever been, and it was up there with some of the great SEC crowds that I've experienced in 200 or so games attended in person. The fact that so few booed and so many stuck by the team during the 3rd quarter attempted rally says a lot about how far the program has come.

The Bad News:

• Injuries - We don't know how severe things are yet.
  
  
• LSU's OL and DL is better than Bama's. Ricky Jean Francois is licking his sizable chops.

There are worse things than losing a game, and having most of your goals still obtainable.

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ESPN Giving the Dawgs More Love

Mark Schlabach has a Hot or Not article up, and Georgia is all over it. Moreno, the Cocktail Party, Richt and the overall program momentum among topics listed as "hot." Bar Brawls...not so much.

Separately, Bruce Feldman lists Brannan Southerland among his 10 Best Kept Secrets for the 2008 football season. If you're a fullback, you're not going to get better praise than this from the national media, "His toughness and technique also can get into a lot of defenders' heads and slow them down before they even try to make a play."

They also have a cover story up featuring Georgia up as well.

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