UGA vs. Oklahoma State Kickoff Time Announced

Georgia vs Oklahoma State '07 (image: Hipple)
The Georgia Bulldogs will face the Oklahoma State Cowboys at 3:30 pm ET on Sept. 5th at newly renovated Boone Pickens Stadium. The game will be televised on ABC according to the Oklahoma State Athletic Department (times listed in press release are Central).

This means;

• Georgia's players will be in bed at a reasonable hour on Saturday night. They should be plenty fresh to face the Gamecocks in Week 2.
  
• JimFromDuluth was right on the 3:30 start. I thought it would be a twilight game.

See Also:
-- Ok State Game Travel Info - GSB
-- Pistol Pete holds up Bulldog Nation - GSB
-- About the Ok State Defense - GSB
-- About the Ok State Offense - GSB

PWD


BTW -- I'll do a postmortem on the baseball season later. Didn't feel like it after the drive back from Tally last night.

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SEC Bat Speed Too Much for Ohio State

Georgia destroyed the Big 10 Champs 24-8 to win Game 1 of the Tallahassee Regional. Georgia batters went 23 of 45 on the day with 7 HRs against only six strikeouts. Highlights include:

• Rich Poythress went 4 of 4 with three homers (including a grand slam), a double and seven RBI.
  
• Matt Cerione hit 5 of 6 with two home runs (including his own grand slam) and five RBI.
  
• Joey Lewis went 4 of 6 with two home runs and four RBI.

Perno used a batting order in this game I wasn't familiar with. He went with:

1. Cone - OF
2. Verdin - OF
3. Cerione - OF (typically hits 2nd or 3rd)
4. Poythress - 1B (typically hits 3rd)
5. Massanari - DH (typically hits 4th)
6. May - 3B (typically hits 3rd, 6th or 7th)
7. Lewis - C (typically hits 5th or 6th)
8. Hyams - SS
9. Demperio - 2B

Georgia has been getting nothing out of the bottom of the order for weeks. Shuffling the top of the line up around for speed so that we could push some power further down worked well. Due to lefty vs. righty match-ups we won't use this card every night, but I loved it.

Assuming the Noles take care of The Marist Fighting Mrs. Niles Crane's tonight, we'll face the FSU Clown College at 4:00 pm on ESPNU.


Go Dawgs. Not sure how much posting I'll be doing over the next few days. Quinton is without Internet due to logistical issues, and I'll be in Tally for the game tomorrow.

See Also:
-- FSU Circus School - FSU.edu

PWD

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More Dancing Fever

In case you missed it on other sites, Knowshon Moreno won the UpperDeck Rookie End zone TD Celebration Contest. His winning move is at the 1:35 or so mark of the video after the jump.

I loved Moreno's move, but I wish they had video for this one from Mark Sanchez:

...[Sanchez] hurried over to the end zone and went right to work. He even incorporated [Shon] Greene to help him perform an end zone “football birth” for the competition. With Greene lying flat on his back with a towel strewn over his legs, Sanchez served as delivery doctor and - calling out QB-like signals - pulled a football from between Greene’s legs. The crowd went wild, right up until Sanchez spiked the newly born baby football!

Comedy.

ht - TheZoneBlitz

PWD

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Brian Harman Putts Dawgs Into Final Four

In as dramatic a golf match as possible, senior Brian Harman (pictured) hit a four foot put on the 18th hole of this morning's match play quarterfinals to propel the Dawgs past Oklahoma State and into this afternoon's NCAA semis.  Harman and Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State were all square after 17 and the teams were tied at 2 matches a piece.  The hole, and hence the match, came down to Harman's four foot putt and Fowler's ten footer.  Fowler narrowly missed, leaving Harman a short, pressure putt for the match.  He smoothly lined up and dropped it.  Dawgs win.

Such a result looked unimaginable yesterday after the Dawgs posted a horrendous day.  After being tied for the team lead, they shot +12 yesterday. Terrible, but it was good enough for the very last spot to qualify for match play between the top eight teams.  Oklahoma State was the team score leader and led the field by 13 strokes.  Under last year's format, they probably would have won because team score was all that mattered.  Thankfully, it isn't last year.  The top eight advanced to match play today.

The Dawgs hit the course again this afternoon for a match play semifinal with the winner of the Arkansas and Washington.  You can watch live video here.  Live stats are here, but they have been having problems with their technology.

UPDATE: All the excitement of the the morning must have exhausted them because the Dawgs fell to Arkansas this afternoon in match play.  Anytime you're a top four national finisher, it's hard to complain.  By the way, Arkansas golfer David Lingmerth had a hole-in-one during today's match.  

Quinton

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UGA vs. UNC in the Georgia Dome?

ht - Dean Legge at DawgPost

The Charlotte News Observer reports that North Carolina State and Tennessee will face each other in the 2012 season opening Chick-Fil-A College Kickoff game.  The article goes on to say that UNC is working with the Atlanta Sports Council to get into the game in 2010.  Per the article:

UNC is negotiating a deal to face its own SEC opponent in the 2010 Kickoff game.  UNC has three possible opponents for the game -- LSU, Georgia or Ole Miss.

UNC's problem is the same as Georgia's in 2010.  They need six home games.  If they play a game in the Georgia Dome, they will only have five without pushing an existing non-conference road game to a later year.  The News Observer says UNC is working with Rutgers and South Carolina to move a road game while UGA would need to work with Colorado on the same problem.

LSU and Ole Miss both have existing commitments on their books for the 2010 opener.  However, both would be easier to move.  LSU has a game at Tulane, and Ole Miss has a home game against Jacksonville State.

The scenario to get UGA might be as simple as Colorado moving our game there from Oct. 2, 2010 to Sept. 15, 2012.  That would involve the Dawgs likely dropping the incredibly unappealing (to me) series with Louisville and opening a road date. And the Buffs moving their game at Fresno State around.  (See how many dominoes have to fall to get us into the Dome?)

ESPN works with the schools to navigate these problems.

At the rate at which UNC is recruiting and improving, they should be a big boy opponent in 2010.  If Jevon Snead bolts Ole Miss after this season, I anticipate the Rebels having more of a rebuilding year next season.  If I were the ATL Sports Council, my preference would be 1) LSU 2) UGA and 3) Miss.

PWD

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Dawgs vs. Ohio State at Noon on ESPNU

Just a reminder that NCAA Baseball Regional action starts today.

PWD

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Mark Fox Era to Launch on Auburn Football Weekend

Andy Katz of ESPN.com is reporting that Georgia will host New Orleans next season with an added twist:

New Orleans coach Joe Pasternack is hoping for some good karma in his opening game at Georgia. Billy Humphrey, who sat out last season at UNO, has a chance to go back to his former school and shine.

To add to Katz's info, the game will be the Home Opener for the Dawgs on Friday, Nov. 13th, the day before the Georgia vs. Auburn football game in Athens. Kudos to Coach Fox for leveraging the football schedule to give us the best possible opportunity for a quality crowd during his big debut.

The confirmed 2009-2010 schedule includes:

Georgia Tech - Home
New Orleans - Home
Illinois - Neutral (Gwinnett Arena)
Virginia Tech - Away
Missouri - Away
St. John's - Away (Big East / SEC Challenge)

For what it's worth, I'm also glad to see Billy Humphrey coming back to Athens one last time. Billy's not a bad kid per se, he just did something incredibly stupid (DUI) after he was already on thin ice for being around the wrong kid (Mike Mercer) at the wrong time. I look forward to giving the guy a round of applause. Hopefully, we beat them senseless, but I'm clapping for the kid regardless.

PWD

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Gordon Beckham Jumps Closer to Majors

Gordo's on a vacation far away
Go to Charlotte and get promoted
So many hits that I wanna see
You know Sox like their bats a little bit bolder
Huge Dawgly Baseball News...Gordon Beckham was promoted last night from AA Birmingham to AAA Charlotte. He's racing through the White Sox organization. The South Side Sox blog has the info (btw -- he's talking about a different Josh Fields in his article):

The White Sox top pick of the '08 draft -- a guy you've probably heard of, Gordon Beckham's his name -- was promoted to AAA following Wednesday's Annual Rickwood Classic game. Beckham was hitting .299/.366/.497 for the Barons, and .350/.380 (approx.) /.575 in his last 10 games since returning from an abdominal strain. At the time of his promotion his 17 doubles ranked second in the Southern League despite the time missed with the ab injury.

...the White Sox have three positions they could concievably use him at on the big club; 3B, 2B, SS (in decending order of likelihood).

See Also:
-- Beckham moves closer - SouthTown Star
-- Barons Lose Game and Top Prospect - Birmingham News
-- Beckham Moved to Triple-A - Chicago Sun-Times
-- Gordo Ends Career at Foley with Homer to 'Your Love' - YouTube
-- The Outfield "Your Love" - Gordon's Theme

PWD

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Go Gamecocks?

The State, South Carolina's largest newspaper, salutes the Gamecocks. If the measuring stick is "Didn't Fail Totally," they win.

They'll probably frame this for the SC Athletic Office and place it right next to the 45 Pre-Season National Champions Trophies. I wonder if the Athletic Director gets a ring for this that says .500 on it?

PWD

ht - sullydawg

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SEC Coaches Meeting Headlines

Sorted by Topic....

Coaches Poll goes secret:
-- Coaches go anonymous - Hale
-- Coaches Poll makes bad move - Barnhart
-- Heavy price for secret ballots - Pat Forde
-- Spurrier against secret ballots - TheState

Commish Slive's on BCS / Kiffin:
-- Slive gets his point across - ESPN
-- SEC Coaches will never play nice - AJC
-- I just don't get Kiffin - Blutarsky
-- Spurrier still has game - Finebaum
-- Slive to Congress: Mind your own Business - OS

Recruiting Rules:
-- SEC may end oversigning - Chris Low
-- SEC may change recruiting rules - Mobile Press Register
-- Too many signees? - AL.com
-- Richt and Meyer Unlikely Allies - AJC
-- Cap on Oversigning would Change recruiting - Cecil Hurt
-- Commish lays down the law - Tuscaloosa News

Other Stuff:
-- Richt (finally) Goes Silent on Jacksonville - AJC
-- Being Dean of SEC Coaches "weird" for Richt - ABH

My quick take on all of that....the secret ballot is ridiculous. Transparency and disclosure is a better policy in everything not involving national security and comments about your wife's butt size.

The over signing rules will hurt SEC schools. If we're talking about an NCAA rule that's one thing. Talking about an SEC rule is ridiculous. Instead why don't we just tighten the criteria for dumping a kid that's not "good enough?" That would stop Houston Nutt and Nick Saban from abusing the current system. The rural South is still in the stone age academically, and Mike Slive can't fix that. So limiting the recruiting base voluntarily seems idiotic.

And as for Richt on Jax...that's what he should've said to begin with. You can't lose a game 6 out of 8 times and complain about things like the average temperature. It makes you look small, petty and weak. And by the way....I checked...last year it was 3 degrees COOLER in Jacksonville than it was in Athens at Kickoff, and we lost by 39 points.

Prioritize fixing what's broken. Not what annoys you. It's a great rule of thumb.

PWD

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I wonder if Gene Chizik feels like Jan Brady?

"It's always 'Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.'" - Jan Brady

Do a Google News search for "SEC Media Days" and sort by date. Virtually every headline involves Lane Kiffin. His gaffes, his miscues, his apologies, his non-apologies, his confrontations, new rules to shut him up, etc. It's a bit much.

Even Gene Chizik -- who hasn't traded any barbs with Kiffin yet -- got asked about Kiffin by the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa papers. As Kiffin's mouth sucks all the media's attention, Chizik avoids his 5-19 record from being the #1 question of the weekend.

Of all the articles on the subject of MouthGate, The State in Columbia does the best job of covering the issue. Particularly of Spurrier in person responding to one of Kiffin's latest dumbass remarks.

What a freak show. I liked Orson Swindle's comparison a few days ago. He said Ed Orgeron is evolving into some sort of cajun-fried Dick Cheney to Kiffin's GWB.

On the flip side, Tony Barnhart is sort of giving Kiffin the benefit of the doubt for now.

PWD

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Dance Off

From the 2009 Big East Tourney it's USF vs. UConn. This is the byproduct of a five hour rain delay and the inherent comedy of college baseball.



Speaking of College Baseball...here are some articles about UGA's Regional:

-- Ohio State feels "slapped" by #3 seed - Columbus Dispatch
-- FSU disappointed about not getting national seed - Tally Democrat
-- Dawgs sticking with new pitching rotation - ABH
-- Ohio State a tough foe - ABH
-- Buckeyes vs. UGA - UWeekly
-- FSU's rotation in the regional - Tally Democrat

PWD

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Happy Memorial Day Part 2

Petty Officer 3rd class Justin Griffin and Petty Officer 2nd class Josh Muniz in Iraq. This was sent to me by the guy on the left's brother.


PWD

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UGA placed in the Tallahassee Regional as 2 seed

This will be tough to recreate given the schedule.
The NCAA just announced the bracket for the 2009 NCAA Baseball Tournament (as of 1:00 pm the bracket had typos affecting the right side of the page). Georgia has been shipped off to the Tallahassee regional. The teams slotted in our region include:

1. Florida State
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Marist

The Tallahassee Regional is bracketed with Oklahoma for the Super Regional. UGA vs. Ohio State airs at 12:00 pm on Friday on ESPNU.

By comparison, the Georgia Tech regional includes:

1. Georgia Tech
2. Elon
3. Southern Miss
4. Georgia State

They are bracketed against the Gainesville Regional for the Supers. UGA lands in the second toughest regional behind the UC-Irvine bloodbath, and Tech gets a pillow fight. On the bright side, Tech won't advance far. That's just how Coach Danny Hall rolls.

PWD

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Happy Memorial Day

The gentlemen pictured is NCIS agent, John Berkeley. This photo originally ran on the blog in December 2007. At the time, Berkeley was spending his days working with a Marine Riverine unit that patrols the Euphrates River as it cuts through Al Anbar province in Iraq. He flew the flag on behalf of US Marine Captain R. Brett Grayson (Deputy SJA, 2d MAW (Fwd)) the sole member of the Al Anbar Bulldog Club.

I don't have an update on any of those guys, but I thought the photo was appropriate for Memorial Day.

That is Haditha Dam captured in the background. Click to enlarge for a kick butt wallpaper.

ht - FootballHuddle.net

PWD

(Photo run in 2007 with permission from Captain Grayson)

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