This is a good thing.
PWD
June 21, 2009
You want personality?
Apparently, it was Warm and Fuzzy Week in the DawgNation. Lots of good human interest stories ran. Here's a recap:
- Katharyn Richt - She's going back to school to become a nurse. You know what I don't like about her? Nothing. Best First Lady ever.
- Marcus Washington - David Hale talks fatherhood with Marcus Washington. He has a Part II or Deleted Scenes for the story on his blog.
- DeMarcus Dobbs - The Macon paper talked with Dobbs about the need to put more pressure on QBs, and the staggering stat that our back-up DE was tied for #2 in interceptions.
- Howard and Zeier - It's official. They're the permanent football radio guys. The issue going forward will be naming the sideline and pre-game voices for football and the basketball voices. I'm guessing that Loren retires, and a guy like Buck Belue gets the sideline gig. Howard will obviously keep the basketball play by play job, but it'll be interesting to see who gets the basketball color analyst job. No inside knowledge here, but I wouldn't bet on Dantzler keeping that gig.
Pictures from the Georgia Theatre Fire (Part 2)
All of these were taken by Doc Eldridge, president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. Used with permission.
When you look at these, you really get an appreciation for our firemen.
PWD
When you look at these, you really get an appreciation for our firemen.
PWD
Pictures from the Georgia Theatre Fire (Part 1)
All of these were taken by Doc Eldridge, president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. Used with permission.
PWD
PWD
June 19, 2009
Georgia Theatre "Engulfed in Flames"
At approximately 7:00 am, Athens music landmark The Georgia Theatre caught on fire. As of 8:00 am there were 4 ladder trucks on the scene according to the AJC. As of roughly 9:00 am, the front facade, which is the most identifiable part of the venue, was still intact.
Update: Banner Herald image of the front of the building. That part looks good. Although, the roof is clearly gone.
I talked to Bryan Harris who was on the scene earlier, and he said it looked like the blaze wasn't spreading to other buildings. If they have good insurance, my guess is they'll come back better than ever.
The Fire from what looks like Broad at Milledge (Image: Chris' Camera Phone)My thoughts are with the owners, but more so the firemen this morning. As Sully told me this morning, "if you have a pile of wood soaking in alcohol every night for decades (i.e. the floor of the Georgia Theatre), it's going to be pretty flammable."
If you see updated articles, feel free to post them below. Or if you want to discuss your best memories from the theatre. For me...the best concert I ever saw there was Paul Westerberg during the 14 Songs Tour. I also remember watching some of the Braves vs. Pirates games there in the '91 NLCS, and it was just total insanity in there during those games.
What's your best memory?
PWD
June 18, 2009
Dawgly Headlines
Where to begin on a slow morning?
- Let's start with Kyle King launching a one man mission to have Erk Russell nominated for the college football Hall of Fame. Given that Kyle is now a member of the National Football Foundation, this isn't an unreasonable start to the process.
- Georgia inked an 8 year $92.8 million marketing and media rights deal with ISP Sports. Marc Weiszer wrote the only piece I've seen that really explains what the deal means to the fans. Here's the part that interested me:"Georgia will have a new media department of six to eight people that will ramp up the Bulldogs' Internet offerings at a redesigned georgiadogs.com. They will be employed by ISP.
Fans "will see more robust content to be delivered via non-traditional mechanisms, whether that be through the Web or wireless and handheld devices. ... and mediums that schools are just starting to reach into the realm of," said Alan Thomas, Georgia's associate athletic director for external affairs."
- RollBamaRoll has the best photo caption dealing with Bill Curry's return to Tuscaloosa in 2010 as Georgia State Coach. That game will be the biggest mismatch since Mike Tyson fought Robin Givens. As my buddy TheHootersWhisperer points out, "BillCurryFliesCoach.com" is available as a great GSU blog name.
- The 2010-2014 men's and women's SEC basketball tournament sites have been announced. The Georgia Dome will host two of the next five for the men, and the Gwinnett Arena will host three of the next five for the women.
- The Dawgs helped out at Camp Sunshine recently. Here are some great pics of our players working and playing with the kids.
- And according to the photo on AJC.com/sports page, it appears that Evil Dick from Big Brother 8 has a younger sibling, and he is now the GM of the Falcons.
June 17, 2009
Are You Experienced?
David Hale gets all charts and graphy in today's post about the returning experience in the SEC. Phil Steele would be proud of him; although, I'm sure the Man of Steele would suggest a smaller font size and removing the excessive white space.One of his best points relates to examining offensive stats without recognizing the changes in offensive line. His point being the offensive line at UGA should improve enough to support an overall increase in production at UGA. While a team like Ole Miss may miss a beat without bruisers like Michael Oher securing Snead in a snuggly, womb-like cocoon of safety.
It's good reading. And while I'm on the topic of returning starters, I have to say I agree with a comment Buck Belue made a few weeks ago about Joe Cox. He's not Matthew Stafford, but right now I'd take him as the third best returning QB in the SEC. Most years....that's good enough.
PWD
More on Yesterday's Recruiting Commitments
Yesterday, the Bulldogs landed two more commitments from Michael Bennett (6'3" 185 lb WR with 4.55 speed) and Demetre Baker (6'0" 200 lb LB). Both articles premium $.
Bennett is a consensus three star wide receiver by both recruiting services while Baker is 4 stars from Scout.com, and he's not yet ranked by Rivals.com. Baker, a Jacksonville product, made his recruiting videos available to the various services about two months ago so he's just now getting reviewed by Rivals. The UGASports.com guys said they expected that he'd be in the four star range. I've said before that the star system doesn't do much for me, but they do make a reasonable frame of reference for guys like me that follow recruiting at an arm's length.
One of the UGASports.com guys suggested that comparing Bennett to Kris Durham (I guess because he's white) isn't fair. They offered a comparison to Massaquoi based on the way he looks attacking the ball in the air. I don't know if he's got the wheels of Mo Mass, but it's a nice comparison.
As for Baker, I don't issue a lot of gushing praise on recruits. Hell, I don't even discuss every commitment. But this kid's video is ridiculous. He's an explosive hitter who will embed his face mask into his opponent's liver. Baker is a player that Coach Van Gorder would describe as "arriving at the ball carrier with bad intentions." In the video he tackles a little high, but that's coachable. What isn't coachable is the natural explosion this kid shows and the eagerness to knock the hell out of someone. He's roughly the same size as Odell Thurman coming out of high school.
Good week for Richt and crew. Four of eight kids from the State of Florida. (Most of the above links are premium content)
See Also (free articles):
-- Georgia adds 2 commitments - ABH
-- Bennett commits to Dawgs - AJC
-- Bennett commits to UGA - ESPN
-- Border crossing. Four leave state for UGA - Orlando Sentinel
-- Bennett and Baker join Georgia - Chattanooga Free Press
-- The Afterglow of Benedict - AJC
PWD
Bennett is a consensus three star wide receiver by both recruiting services while Baker is 4 stars from Scout.com, and he's not yet ranked by Rivals.com. Baker, a Jacksonville product, made his recruiting videos available to the various services about two months ago so he's just now getting reviewed by Rivals. The UGASports.com guys said they expected that he'd be in the four star range. I've said before that the star system doesn't do much for me, but they do make a reasonable frame of reference for guys like me that follow recruiting at an arm's length.
One of the UGASports.com guys suggested that comparing Bennett to Kris Durham (I guess because he's white) isn't fair. They offered a comparison to Massaquoi based on the way he looks attacking the ball in the air. I don't know if he's got the wheels of Mo Mass, but it's a nice comparison.
As for Baker, I don't issue a lot of gushing praise on recruits. Hell, I don't even discuss every commitment. But this kid's video is ridiculous. He's an explosive hitter who will embed his face mask into his opponent's liver. Baker is a player that Coach Van Gorder would describe as "arriving at the ball carrier with bad intentions." In the video he tackles a little high, but that's coachable. What isn't coachable is the natural explosion this kid shows and the eagerness to knock the hell out of someone. He's roughly the same size as Odell Thurman coming out of high school.
Good week for Richt and crew. Four of eight kids from the State of Florida. (Most of the above links are premium content)
See Also (free articles):
-- Georgia adds 2 commitments - ABH
-- Bennett commits to Dawgs - AJC
-- Bennett commits to UGA - ESPN
-- Border crossing. Four leave state for UGA - Orlando Sentinel
-- Bennett and Baker join Georgia - Chattanooga Free Press
-- The Afterglow of Benedict - AJC
PWD
June 16, 2009
Tailgating with the Vol Navy in Knoxville?
I personally think the Vol Navy is one of the cooler and more underrated traditions in the SEC, and I'd like to get a closer look at that signature Knoxville experience.In the past, I think that I've seen Dawg fans with boats docked at Neyland Stadium alongside the Volunteer Navy. So my question is...how do I tailgate with some of you guys? I'll bring the bourbon/beer, and I'd be happy to document your boat's awesomeness on the blog for the rest of the SEC to behold, admire and/or covet.
Shoot me an email if you're interested in talking:
decaturdawg (at] hotmail (dot] com
Heck...if you're a good natured Vol Fan looking to show off your boat pregame, I'd like to talk with you, too. Especially if you're the owner of one of the larger boats.
PWD
If SEC Coaches were out of work....
John Adams of the Knoxville News looks at alternative, fictional career paths for current SEC Coaches if they had to go looking for work in other fields. Some of the answers are dead on...like Richt:
Nice lunch time read regardless.
PWD
Mark Richt - The Georgia coach's calm demeanor would serve him well as a doctor. If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, it would be better to get the news from Richt than any other football coach in the SEC (unless, of course, you would rather hear Nick Saban scream, "You're outta here").The Lane Kiffin suggestion of "golf instructor" is dead on. Others are all over the map from funny (Les Miles and Dan Mullen) to head scratching (Spurrier as a judge?).
Nice lunch time read regardless.
PWD
A trip around the dial
Some headlines of note today:
- -- The Banner-Herald provides more insight into the commitment of Brent Benedict (4 star OT) to UGA.
-- David Hale has an interview with incoming JUCO kicker Brandon Bogotay. The kid's story is going to be a pretty interesting one to follow given his relative newness to football.
-- Blutarsky looks at the OL maturity for 2009 compared to '07 and '06 in the context of Joe vs. Matthew.
-- Kyle King will appear on ESPN Radio out of Gainesville, FLA today at 9:25 am.
-- In baseball news, Trevor Holder signed with the Washington Nationals.
-- And in hoops news Jodie Meeks (UK) is staying in the draft.
-- And I also want to join David Hale and others saying that I will greatly miss DawgBone.net. The site was a tremendous asset to the growth of this blog. Hopefully, he comes back after some sort of sabbatical. Damn Good Dawg.
June 15, 2009
Some recruiting nuggets
This and That on the recruiting front....
PWD
Georgia Sports Blog
$ = Premium Content
* = Sorry to the DawgVenter I popped off to last week about Luc. He's a bad dude.
- Offensive Tackle Brent Benedict (6'6" 290 lbs) committed to play for the Georgia Bulldogs today ($ premium) according to Dean Legge of DawgPost.com. The Jacksonville star is listed by both Scout.com and Rivals.com as a four star prospect. He's the sixth commitment of the season so far with 4 of the 6 coming along the lines of scrimmage.
- I'm particularly excited about the athleticism in this class so far at defensive end. B.J. Butler's (4 star DE/Scout.com) high school coach lists him currently at 6'2" 255 lbs. He's most intriguing to me because he's athletic enough to play a little QB in high school ($). His background (not body type) reminds me of a thicker Boss Bailey coming out of high school. Boss came in at 6'3" 225 lbs after playing QB and Linebacker. I'm also pretty interested in seeing Jalen Fields (DE) on campus.
- On the uncommitted front, the player that most intrigues me is five star all-universe middle linebacker Jeff Luc (6'1" 250 lb / 4.57 40). By all reports ($), Luc had an awesome time ($) at the UGA camp, and it really opened his eyes to the opportunity in Athens. One of the weaknesses at Georgia the past few years has been the lack of a punishing, brutal hitter at the MIKE position. Rennie Curran plays with the sort of violence the UGA LB corps needs, but he's at the WILL. The last true connisseour of well crafted collissions at MLB was Odell Thurman (before coming a nut case) and Tony Gilbert. Luc is bigger than Odell and faster than Gilbert. Two of the easier ways to make Willie Martinez look smarter would be to add devastating edge rushers and a mauler at MIKE.*
PWD
Georgia Sports Blog
$ = Premium Content
* = Sorry to the DawgVenter I popped off to last week about Luc. He's a bad dude.
Boise State's Indignation?
Boise State's Supreme Ruler
The little guys are once again demanding greater access into the BCS National Title Game. Last week, Boise State's president Bob Kustra talked about the inherent lack of fairness in the BCS system for non-power conference schools (ht - fanblogs). Here's the money quote:
"...you would think that when Boise State opens its football season against the University of Oregon on September 3, the dream of a national championship would beat in the heart of every player, coach, alumnus and fan. Instead, there will only be a faint pulse thanks to the constraints placed upon us by the BCS. An estimated 6,000 student-athletes play for football teams that have no realistic chance of competing in a BCS bowl, given the hurdles placed in the path of the non-BCS conferences and teams."My retort back in April to this sort of rhertoric was "Shouldn't Cinderella have to Earn her place?" I don't care if Boise State does go undefeated this season. They still shouldn't get a shot at the National Title in 2009. If you only play one BCS opponent, that's not enough. No where near enough.
Boise St. Home Schedule:
Oregon
Miami (Ohio)
UC-Davis
San Jose State
Idaho
Nevada
New Mexico State
Boise State Away Schedule:
at Fresno State
at Bowling Green
at Tulsa
at Hawaii
at Louisiana Tech
at Utah State
Oregon
Miami (Ohio)
UC-Davis
San Jose State
Idaho
Nevada
New Mexico State
Boise State Away Schedule:
at Fresno State
at Bowling Green
at Tulsa
at Hawaii
at Louisiana Tech
at Utah State
They had the scheduling flexibility to add another quality opponent, but they elected to play UC-Davis (Div I-AA) instead. It's not like playing UC-Davis in front of 20,000 fans in Boise would be worth more financially than playing a BCS team on the road. So it wasn't a financial issue.
It's unlikely that Boise will play more than two teams next year that would be ranked in the Top 40, but Kustra thinks they deserve a shot at the big banana if they beat Oregon?
If I were to run 30 meters at the Olympics and then lay down on the track, I wouldn't be eligible for the Olympic Gold in the 100 meter dash. That's basically what Boise's schedule is. It's an attempt to declare greatness for an incomplete body of work.
Utah had a strong case for upward mobility last year. They beat Oregon State, TCU and BYU, and they played Michigan (it's not the Utes fault that UM stunk). All three of those teams were legitimate Top 25-30 caliber opponents. Utah was nothing like the sham Hawaii team from 2007. Were they good enough to hang with Florida or Oklahoma? I seriously doubt it. But at least they had an argument.
There's an argument from Boise that playing more tough competition makes it to difficult to make a BCS Bowl Game like the Fiesta Bowl. My argument...if you can't beat three BCS teams (or their equivalent Top 25 mid-majors), then what right do you have to the big BCS payouts? Much less the National Title Game?
PWD
NIKE Rennie Curran #35 Replica Jerseys
Nike Georgia Bulldogs #35 Red Replica Football Jersey
Nike has the new UGA football player jerseys available in our store. Some player numbers are available in red, black and/or white. So far, they've stocked #8 AJ Green happens to wear (red, black and white), #35 Rennie Curran (red), #4 Caleb King (red and white), #22 Richard Samuel (black) and #7 Orson Charles* (red). As always the player names aren't on the back of the jerseys.
You can also make your own NIKE replica jersey with the number and name of your choice on the back in white or red via the store. However, sizes are a bit more limited currently in those two options.
PWD
*yeah...I know. It was meant to be a Stafford jersey, but the name's not on the back. So now, it's an Orson Charles jersey. ;-)
June 13, 2009
Update on UGA vs South Carolina Kickoff
The Athens Banner Herald says that the game is definitely going to kickoff at 7:00 pm on ESPN2. Not 7:45 pm start as originally reported by the Augusta Chronicle (and repeated by me).
Doesn't matter to me. Anything after 5:30 is outstanding.
PWD
Doesn't matter to me. Anything after 5:30 is outstanding.
PWD
