Disgusting Finish

I love the Dogs. I'm a totally committed fan. As such, I cannot point to a game in the last few years where we played worse and made me feel more helpless and dismayed.

Who was that? Was that the Dogs? Was that Mark Richt?

Holy Freakin' Curse Word!

A losing record? Nice!!

Whatever, man. Let's just move on. Our players are not interested in following rules, our coaches are not interested in discipline, our overall TEAM is not interested in the fact that the fans travel and PAY to see them perform on a mediocre level. Go Dogs. Thanks for a great 2010 season. 6-7 is fantastic.

I'm embarrassed as a fan....when are you going to be embarrassed as a program?

You think you're ready for Boise State? I don't.

A couple of posts ago I committed to a new attitude and mindset of patience. Wow. What a test. I'm always a positive fan of the Dogs but I will now have a bitter pill to swallow until Sept.

Argh. Get a new ATTITUDE, DOGS!! Wake up! You are embarrassing.

Bring in Russ

Not sure how serious the illness is...but today, Russ will subbing for UGA VIII today. I hope the little fella feels better soon.

So what do we say about the game today? Not much really. Caleb King and two others managed to bookend the season with punishment. That's nice.

UCF is not a team to take lightly. Hmm...what else? AJ Green is an NFL draftee at around 7:45pm tonight. Aaron Murray has a chance to break some records today for freshman Bulldog QBs.

Basically, the Red & Black take the field today. While the game means nothing...perhaps that's the thing that makes it mean something. Can you go out and execute when you have no reason to care? Yes is the answer I'm looking for here.

Go Dogs!

Finish strong.

The New Enemy is Here!

I graduated from the University of Georgia in 1994 with an ABJ...that's Georgia-speak for a half-assed degree in journalism.

Today...Florida announced that they have found a new coach, Will Muschamp. In reading up on him...I realize that not only is he a former Bulldog player (I kinda remembered that)...but he graduated in 1994!

Behold...the enemy is here and he is familiar...and I feel OLD.

It's sorta like the first time you realize that the Playboy centerfold was born in a year that made you count on your fingers (including your thumb) to verify that you are a dirty old man. "1990!!?? I was in college!!"

Anyhow...this Muschamp putz was a classmate of mine and I didn't realize it until now...and given my continued interest in the success of Bulldog football...it puts him in a special place of contempt. How could you Will? We went to school together, dude!

I'm guessing his answer would be related to tons of money, national fame, wild success, and the opportunity of a lifetime. I don't really care about that though. It's Florida, dude.

You are the traitor that walks among us. You drank big beers from the dirty taps at the Georgia Theater. You told people that you saw R.E.M. for 5 bucks at the 40Watt. You rode the Milledge bus with us. You went to Sonstock instead of freshman English class on a Tuesday afternoon. How dare you, sir? How DARE you?

You played between the hedges. Now you stab us "between the shoulder blades".

Congrats to Will Mus"chimp".  Or should I say, Mus"CHUMP"?

Either way, we will be glad to put an asterisk next to your name during the glory years when you recorded a half tackle and no wins under Ray Goff.

Good day to you sir...I said..good DAY!

New Mindset

So here's my goal. I believe what I need and what the Dogs need is a good change in overall mindset. Far too often we relish in "I told you so". We love to point out problems and throw our hands in the air when they bite us in the ass or repeat. That's human nature. It helps us improve to some degree but without the shift in attitude it only recycles itself.

Learning from past mistakes depends on reconfiguring your mental acceptance and response as well.

We need to be patient with Richt....patient with the new defense....and patient with the current set of circumstances. All the pieces are there to succeed.

Coaching - check
Talent - check
Fans/Support - check
Recruiting - check
History - check

I believe the Georgia fan base is dangerously close to a false positive. In other words, Richt has had two bad seasons and we are ready to conclude that it is time to move on. We expect coaches and athletes to be strong in the face of adversity. Why then do we feel entitled to react like spoiled brats at the first sign of trouble?...myself included.

How about this..? Let's let this thing breathe. Let's instill a sense of confidence in our players and coaches. Let's support the Dogs thru thick and thin.

Yes...I'd like to see CMR get pissed off a little more often.
Yes...I'm tired of the offseason disasters.
Yes...I'm tired of losing to Florida.
Yes...I know we have been our own worst enemies. I get all of that.

I would submit, however, that if you realize that you are your own enemy, and shift your mindset to become your best ally...the culture of winning will prosper again between the hedges.

It is not because of outside forces that we are in this place. It will not be due to outside forces that we get back up and fight again.

Before You Let Your Guard Down

Ok...so some of you may be content with the mere fact that Florida (more or less) sucked this year.

Please don't forget that they beat us. UGH!! Yes, they beat us. I just vomited. Let's move on.

In the end though...I believe that we, as Georgia fans, tend to forget that we hate every other SEC team...especially Florida.

Here's a vivid reminder of how awesome they are. Just great. Good for you, Gators....good for you.

By the way...dude at the beginning of this video looks JUST like Cam Newton.

**Note. This video has been eradicated from the face of the Earth (or at least youtube). If you know who I need to thank, please comment below. Part of me wishes it was still here so that you could fully grasp the horror.**

Lesson Time

I'm not a college football coach. I'm a putz with a blog (redundant?).

But why is it that this statistic jumps out at me?

UGA under Richt: 40-3 when....? What?

When are the Dogs 40-3 under Mark Richt?

When we have an individual with a 100yard rushing effort.

Aaron Murray is a fantastic QB with a ton of potential. Imagine if we helped him out by handing the damn ball off to one of our talented RB's. Ealey and King have a ton of upside. Sure they've fumbled in key situations, but that's not a reason to forget the running game.

Dear Coach Richt:

Run The Damn Ball.

Sincerely yours,
Dude that writes a blog called, "Run The Damn Ball".

Thank You.

My System at Work: Season 2

I outlined a system last year by which we have a short playoff that incorporates existing BCS games. It worked last year. Let's see how it would stand up this year. Remember...you must win your conference AND be ranked appropriately in the BCS.

1. Oregon
2. Auburn
3. TCU
4. Boise

If they schedule based on current rankings, it would look like this:

#1Oregon vs #4Boise - Fiesta Bowl - Jan 1.
#2Auburn vs #3TCU - Sugar Bowl - Jan 4.
#5LSU vs #8Ohio State - Orange Bowl
#6Stanford vs #7Wisconsin - Rose Bowl

Winner of Fiesta vs Winner of Sugar = National Title Game. Glendale, AZ - Jan 10

Any problems with that?

Hypothetical

Imagine if you will...you are Auburn. Here is your 2010 schedule:

Va Tech
@Wyoming
vs Oregon State
@New Mexico State
vs Toledo
@San Jose State
vs Louisiana Tech
vs Hawaii
@Idaho
vs Fresno State
@Nevada
vs Utah State

Now imagine that you are Boise State:

vs Arkansas State
@Miss State
vs Clemson
vs South Carolina
vs Louisiana-Monroe
@Kentucky
vs Arkansas
vs LSU
@Ole Miss
vs Chattanooga
vs Georgia
@Alabama
TITLE GAME: vs South Carolina

In a vacuum...which schedule do you choose?

Yeah...that's what I thought. Better yet...would Boise State or TCU like this run...?
vs UNC
@Florida
vsWVU
@Auburn
vsAlabama
@Arkansas

That's only HALF of LSU's schedule.

Piss off if you don't believe that there is a difference in the strength of schedule between teams like Boise State and big conference teams.

The question is not whether or not Boise is a good team. The question is...how good would you be week in and week out with the big boys? Of COURSE you can go toe to toe for one freakin game. We are tired...you are not. You've been playing weak teams. Bottom line.

Seriously...look above again...tell me Boise State's record after playing Auburn's schedule.

By the way...the answer is 7-5.

BONUS ROUND:

You are TCU....here's your schedule...you get a SIX game schedule for all the marbles...ready? go:
@Arizona
vsPenn State
@Michigan
vsWisconsin
vsMichigan State
vsOhio State

Well...!? How did TCU fare thru this schedule? I'm sure they were undefeated, right? Huh? No freakin way. That's the answer.

For what it's worth...the above schedule is a 6 game sample from Iowa's actual schedule this year.

Let me say it again...you do not compete like the big boys do. Sorry.

Cooler Head

Ok. I've had a chance to lighten up a little. Pretty fired up last night at the CBS presentation. The Braves played the Mets after 9-11. The Falcons played the Saints after Katrina and the Dogs what? Oh...they played Cam Newton after a week of being accused of doing bad things...who was then treated like a messiah.

Again...I hope he's not guilty. I hate the idea that his reputation is tarnished. However, I think we have seen a gross pendulum swing the other way. Now what we seem to be hearing is..."See, he's a great football player. He can't possibly be guilty of anything. Look at him go!!"

As for the game, we put up 31 points on the #2 team in the nation. Our offense represented themselves well. Murray is going to be really fun to watch for a few years. Our defense needs some tweaking and we need to recruit guys that can excel under this system. I think what we have now is good players trying to figure it out for the first time. Anyhow...I'm not worried about it. We've done some really good things this year and I'm hopeful for our immediate future.

We have put ourselves in a position to win each and every game until at least the mid fourth quarter. I think the Dogs can hold their heads high.

One more against the Jackets and done. I think the program should turn down a bowl bid but that's just me. I'm not a senior on the team so it's easy for me to be cavalier about such things.

Complete and Utter Nonsense

First off...I'm O.K. with our team being the inferior team on the field of play. What I'm REALLY sick of, though...is the CBS worship session for Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Florida. Holy Sheep Shit!

Gary Danielson and Verne Lundquist are the worst sycophant suck jobs I've heard in my entire life.

UGA lost today. They got called for 4 huge 15-yard penalties. We saw ZERO replays on those penalties. What we did see though was the alleged push off on Green and the "hilarious" face punch by Newton on the defender. Huh? That was illegal and described by Danielson himself as, "unnecessary". We also got to see the pivotal moment where our defender almost picked off Cam Newton but the defender interfered. OOPS! Nevermind..they called it on Rambo. Argh.

Oh..and did you notice that the kicker not only tipped it off his calf but also touched the ball with his left hand before recovering the onside kick? Nah? Neither did the officials or the CBS crew.

To top it all off, chop blocks and dirty hits were celebrated all day long for Auburn.

While I don't want to see Cam Newton wrongfully convicted in the court of public opinion, I also do not wish to see a thug celebrated in the face of public decency.

I now fear that the thug scenario is the more likely. Sorry...but the CBS crew was entirely too satisfied to watch Cam Newton win today.

I'll say this. Cam Newton is a great player. Auburn is an average team...with Cam Newton.

It's official. I despise the CBS SEC crew. I cannot watch them. They are total whores.

They care nothing about the ACTUAL GAME....they cheer openly for the "story". F*&k the story. Call the game.

Auburn. Game Day

No live blog today. Gonna be knee deep in hot wings and cold beer at the house.

One thing is for certain. Verne Lundquist is going to be really annoying. I mean legendary.

I used to love listening to him call college football. Now he is insufferable. Stick to golf, Verne.

Ten bucks says he'll refer to Cam Newton today as, "Cameron Newton"...and he's got a prepared "off the cuff" call for when Newton scores his first TD. Ugh. I miss Keith Jackson.

Slow motion replay of Cam Newton scoring a TD....CBS music kicks in...silence...Old Fat Verne, "Cameron (pause for effect) Newton. Wow." Cue the Geico commercial.

Old Verne packed a special leather cleaning kit in his bag this week...ready to buff up Newton's satchel. Somebody kill me.

Oh...by the way. Dogs win this game. Did I mention that?

It's 3:15pm. Time for the Verne show. He might actually pull the Jim Baker and cry. Stay tuned.

Ha!!

The game hasn't even started and Verne just did the serious, "Cameron...Newton"...

What a putz. Go Dogs.

For the record...he just did it again.

real thoughts about the actual game on the next post

Let's Be Fair

I know it's fun to slag on opposing teams and their fans....but let's be fair here.

Absolutely no one has proven that Cam Newton did anything. It drives me mad in today's society that public conviction requires only that one "source" throw out a nasty allegation. The rest takes care of itself.

"Where there's smoke there is fire." Nonsense. Especially when the smoke is concocted by a gutless accuser and there is no proof we're even smelling real smoke. It offends the agreement reality that we've been living in as a country for a couple hundred years. It offends due process and presumed innocence...and it sucks.

Make a hero. Tear down a hero. Just because it's compelling conjecture and there is a 24 hour news cycle to fill in order to keep the masses well fed does not justify taking shots at a person presumed to be innocent.

The "developing story" makes me sick sometimes. This is one of them.

Let's assume we learn that all of this is correct. Fine. Why could we have not just collected all of the info and come forward with it when we've got enough to take the guess work away? In other words..."Cam Newton found guilty of X, Y, or Z".

The sad part is that if we find that he did nothing wrong...we've put him through months of torture in the name of the "public has a right to know". Perhaps it does but we should get ahold of when the public has a right to know.

Approaching it with suspicion and pre-conviction public shame unfairly rips the character of the accused for weeks or months. If and when he's exonerated, it will be a boring blurb scrolling by in the lower third of your screen.... and we'll have already moved on to a new witch hunt.

Another Reminder

War Eagle Logic

This is an interesting video. It's ESPN's Mark Schlabach reporting from Auburn. The reason they're yelling at him? Because he has the sheer audacity to actually report a timely story alleging that Cam Newton may have asked for money to sign a letter of intent.

From their intensity, you'd just as easily guess Schlabach was actually kicking a puppy during his report about how to beat up senior citizens. I sorta wanted to go to the Auburn/Ga game this week but this video reminded me that Auburn fans will be there.

"Tell us the truth!", says one woman.

You live in Alabama and you cheer for the second best team in the state. There's a trampoline, a huge satellite dish, and a bad baby-jesus-plastic-manger scene in your front yard. There's the truth heatin' up, kitten. Want me to go on?

**Update**

As of the morning of Tues. Nov. 9th...new stories are surfacing that Cam Newton may have faced expulsion for cheating at Florida...in addition to the stolen laptops and in addition to the allegations that he wanted money to sign.

I'm sure the Auburn faithful will easily defend this by yelling, "War Eagle" at the nearest reporter. It seems to work for them in the clip below.

Idaho State Game

Any chance this will be a nightmare game wherein we lose to an opponent to a lower division? I think not...and god I hope not. Not sure how much of the game I will cover but here goes:

Kick off coming to Boykin. Go Dogs.

Murray takes the offense onto the field. Here we go. Nice fake up the middle. Pass to Green for 13. Next play is Branden Smith out of the backfield. I like when we do this. Wish we'd do it more often with him. Caleb King picks up a bunch of yards. We look good so far. We should. We're playing a team that we should destroy. No reason to disrespect the efforts of the ISU Bengals in explaining why...we should just destroy this team.

Hmm...drive stalled at the 20 for field goal.

Dogs 3 Bengals 0

For some reason, we feel as though it's mandatory to give up 40 freakin yards every time we kick off. Here comes ISU on offense. 3 and out.

Dogs ball. Moving it pretty well. Inside ISU territory. Long pass to Green incomplete. For what it's worth, I have noticed a lot of no calls and bad calls against Green. A few TDs that were disallowed and guys holding and shoving him like he owes them money.

Oh boy. Murray just got sacked. That should be enough for Richt to pull the entire O-line. Don't believe me? He just got sacked again. Mostly a coverage sack but we should not be at 3rd and 17 due to two sacks. Oh...make that 4th. He just got hurried into a bad pass. Time to punt on the 1-7 Bengals (from a lower division).

Decent defense. ISU punts. Dumb penalty on us. We've pinned ourselves deep in our own territory. Couple run plays give us some breathing room. This would be a good time to start pounding the ball on every play. Shocking that I would suggest a thing...I know.

Dogs with a few nice runs. Bad call against ISU for a phantom late hit. Murray looks bad throwing the ball. He was hurried. Again. Ugh. 3rd and 10 and guess what? They hurried Murray again. He made a terrible throw. Time to kick a really long FG. Walsh hits 53 yarder.

UGA 6 ISU 0

Our kicking game is great but we need a guy that can kick it into the end zone every time. I'm tired of dudes catching it on the 10 or 15. Not a great way to let them start.

Dogs ball near the 50 End of the 1st Quarter. UGA 6 ISU 0

2nd QUARTER

Nice play to Tavarres King. He gets up limping. Nice pass to AJ Green. Negated by a holding penalty. Nice run by Caleb King down to the six. No bad news to even things out. Go Dogs. Caleb King is in for a TD.

Dogs 13 Bengals 0

We kicked off into the end zone. Bengals take over.

Pick 6 for Rambo. I wish he could've caught the one against Florida last week with the same results. Ugh. What could have been. Ok...I'm back to this game. Go Dogs.

Dogs 20 ISU 0

Decent defense for a couple plays. Boykin INT return to the 4. Dogs have 1st and goal. TD for AJ Green.

Dogs 27 ISU 0

Looks like my wife will be dragging me from the friendly confines of the couch out into the real world for something called, "lunch". I can hardly wait. Until then...Go Dogs. Put in some youngsters to give them some reps.

Ok...blah blah blah and a bunch of shit happened and the Dogs win 55-7.

Next week is Auburn. I believe we will knock them off their high horse. I believe Cam Newton is the best player in college football but will have an off day. We'll knock him around and confuse him to create a miserable Saturday for Tiger fans.

Go Dogs!

A Couple of Views

Here's the view from the hotel:

Here's the view from the game:

Here's the view from a confused fan:

How can you win with that many turnovers? How many times can I complain like an old lady that the 2010 Georgia Bulldogs collapse on the absolute verge of success? How many "woulda coulda shoulda" games can we play in?

Couple of random notes:

-the Georgia/Florida game is a great rivalry
-the tailgating at the Georgia/Florida game pales in comparison to any ol' Saturday in Athens
-Jacksonville, Florida is a visually interesting city with a cool layout. The river. The beach. Great concept. Somehow it manages to have no perceptible soul to the average visitor. But hey....thanks a lot for Limp Bizkit.
-The Omni is a decent hotel unless you get the "upgraded" room that I got...meaning absolutely NOT the room I prepaid for a few months ago but rather a smoking room that smells like a witch's taint and has one less bed than the printed confirmation would lead you to believe. I would rather lick a cigar stained ash tray than return to that hotel.
-The Landing is great on Friday afternoon...only. It blows goat from then on...

Alright...I'll finish on positive notes:

-We almost won, even though we didn't play a great game
-Red and Black still kicks the shit out of any team colors anywhere
-we've got great fans, a great band, and a great program...the team is pretty good...it needs to get great to match the rest
-Mark Richt is not on the hot seat. He's been frustrating for a year and a half. Everyone relax. Great coaches have ups and downs like everyone. If we suck ALL YEAR next year...then we can talk.
-Murray had a decent game with a couple bad mistakes. He's a first year starter. It's OK. Everyone relax. It's a big game. A couple of the INT's were tipped. Not the end of the world.
-A fall college football game is and always will be the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
-I'm OK with calling this year the year of Murray's development. Let the kid go wild. Start dialing up crazy plays. Turn him loose. To hell with it. Break all the eggs now.

Go Dogs.

p.s. - We WILL spoil Auburn's season. You heard it here on Oct. 31st.

Final score: Fla 4, GA 1

Thank you for standing up sir. Now we know who the real Slim Shady is.

It ain't the one who went 3-0 the last 3 weeks

It aint' the one who had a +8 turnover margin in those games (9-1)

It ain't the one who averaged 182 yds on 40 rushing attempts...

Nope.

It's the one we saw yesterday. Dropping wide-open passes, missing wide open receivers, playing well at times - especially the 4th qtr - but showing very little in the way of consistency.
Throwing 3 picks & losing a fumble.

Rushing for 126 yds on only 34 attempts.

Great game? One for the ages? Sorry you media cheesedicks but this fan vehemently disagrees.
Just because a team shows some grit & comes back from an 11 pt deficit in the 4th qtr to send it to OT - that does not make it an "instant classic".

Did you stop & think to yourseleves that if UGA had thrown 1 less pick, or fallen on even 1 of those Fla fumbles that Larry, Moe or Curly could have recovered (hell, even Shemp could have come up with 1 of those balls), that this game is in the bag, & that 11 pt deficit never exists?

Here's some good news. We had only 2 penalties the entire game...that has to be a 1st.
Bad news? One of them was a horseshit late hit call in the 1st qtr that led to a score.

In virtually all of the games in this rivalry, despite records, momentum, talent, etc. the team that runs more & for more yds wins the game.
It really is that simple.

So Coach Richt, on the slim (shady) chance that you read or even hear about this blog, next time tell your star receiver to go pound sand when he whines & pouts about not getting the ball. Tell him to wait until the next game when he'll have 12 receptions for 150 yds & 3 TD's.

But in this game, he's a decoy, a blocker & maybe a guy who gets a couple screens thrown his way. Period.

Next time coach, just run the damn ball.

Florida

Headed down to Jacksonville on Friday. Omni. Landing. Tailgate. Game. Victory celebration. In that order.

Is it foolish for me to have hope? Am I silly for thinking we have a chance here? I think not. I think we have a real shot to really pound a despised rival. If we don't...oh well then. I just like our chances and I like how our team is developing this year.

Again...win out and wait for SC to self destruct. It would make for an interesting home stretch of the season.

In lieu of actual meaningful analysis I leave you with this telling image...It says it all really.

Next week? Slim Shady vs Fla

ok, so maybe this is a bad idea.
invoking Eminem before the Fla game...don't know if it's ever been done, but damn it - here goes!

In Georgia's last 3 games, here are some important things to note re: rushing yds, rushing attempts & turnovers:

UGA vs Tenn
* Rush yds - UGA 136, TN 9
* Rush attempts - UGA 36, TN 26
* Turnovers - UGA 0, TN 3
- GA wins 41-14

UGA vs Vandy
* Rush yds - UGA 232, Vandy 58 (hey it's better than 9!!)
* Rush attempts: UGA 45, Vandy 27
* Turnovers - UGA 0, Vandy 2
- GA wins 43-0

UGA vs Kentucky
* Rush yds - UGA 177, KY 70
* Rush attempts - UGA 39, KY 31
* Turnovers - UGA 1, KY 4
- GA wins 44-31

So, can anyone find Waldo here?

Last 3:
UGA avgs 182 rush yds, & the opponents avg 46. UGA avgs 40 attempts, opponents avg 28. UGA has 1 turnover, & forces 9.

By this time next week, someone's 3 game streak will end, & if the UGA of the last 21 days shows up, it will not be ours.
If not - more of the same misery in JAX.

The Gators haven't lost 4 in a row since 1999. That may not seem like a lot, but 11 yrs ago, Blake Lively was only 12. Now she's, well she's Blake Lively.

So, which is it fellas?
Won't the real Slim Shady please show up, please show up, please show up?

Kentucky Game

Late to the live blog. Oh my god! Absolutely nobody on this earth cares or noticed. Perfect. Woo WOO!

Any-freakin-how....

Dogs up 14-3. We've given up huge third down conversions...but...we've gotten huge turnovers and we returned a kickoff.

Blair Walsh missed yet another field goal. I'm really OK with that...as long as it isn't in the clutch.

UGA 14 UK 3

fourth down for UK. here goes a big stand for the D. and....?...stopped? wow. It's close. Ugh..Freakin refs with a great spot. Oops!!! Didn't get it. Ha!

The yellow line lies!! Bulldogs get the ball.

Dogs slug it out. They push and shove for a first down. Ealey seems to want to be the guy.

END OF FIRST QUARTER
UGA 14 UK 3

Ealey runs for 9 more. Dogs in the red zone.

Murray swings it out to Green. Down to the 2. Ealey tripped up at the 2.

2nd and Goal for the Dogs. Ealey walks in.

I could've handed off to my fat aunt Sally for a TD there. Nice!

UGA 21 UK 3

Good D by the Dogs. We force the punt. We get the ball.

Murray moving the chains. Dogs up 21-3 ball on our own 41. Randall Cobb jogs to the locker room. He's an absolute beast for the Wildcats. I hate to see a guy like that headed to the locker room. I may despise my opponent but I don't wish ill on their players.

Murray scrambles and falls short of the 1st down. Time to punt. Sorry to be excited about a punt but, dude. Butler flips the field for us yet again. Wildcats ball inside their own ten. That matters. Sorry, the punter matters. And we have the best in the country. Another Butler. Go Dogs.

Cats from the 2. Stuffed. 2nd down and 8 from their own 2.
Fumble. Dogs ball. Go Dogs.

I'm not the Offensive Coordinator but I say, "I wide right hand off to my fat aunt Sally".

Argh...lame throw to Green. 2nd and Goal.
Ugh. Lame handoff to Ealey. 3rd and Goal.
Pitch to Ealey. Third TD. Suck it, Wildcats. Just Suck IT!!

UGA 28 UK 3

Ok...so we sputtered and stammered on defense...Eventually we gave up a big TD pass. That is not OK. I know we're winning but that is a big problem for us. We keep doing this. It doesn't matter at this very moment. But it sure as hell could matter later.

UGA 28 UK 10

1:00 left in the 2nd Quarter. Don't forget that UK had a huge comeback against us last year. Just a reminder.

Let's not lose our focus.

HALFTIME. UGA 28 UK 10
THIRD QUARTER

Dogs will get the kickoff to start the 2nd Half.

Programming note: Telemundo: Tigre contra Pumas
CNBC: Suze Ormond
Fox: 2 and a Half Men

Dogs running it to start the 2nd half. Ealey looks good so far. Go Dogs.

We swing it out to Green. 34 yard pick up. Wow. Pass to Wooten. Down to the 2 yard line.

Hand off to Ealey. 4th Touchdown. Holy Shit. Suck it, Cats. Sidenote: Blair Walsh just missed an extra point. This kid is solid gold. Why he is missing kicks lately is beyond anyone's guess. Argh. Come on kid...wake up. You have a chance to be one of the all time greats at UGA.

UGA 34 UK 10

Kentucky drives. We get an INT in the end zone. wow. Dogs looking good.

Our efforts sputter out. Punt by Butler. Cats take over on their own 34.

Cats moving the ball. This is a good test for the Defense. We stopped them on 3rd down and guess what? We had a freakin penalty that kept their drive alive. SHOCKING!

I know...it's really crazy that a Georgia team would kick itself in the nuts. But we did. Kentucky now has the ball deep in our territory as a direct result of our own friggin stupid play.

So...Ball on the 21. Nothing.
3rd and 1 from the 22. Standby. Let's see if we just give it to them again.

Jesus Christ. We didn't exactly just give it to them but they threw it into the end zone and some asshole stopped and grabbed it for a TD. That's what happens when you let the other team hang around. They pull a rabbit out of the hat.

UGA 34 UK 17 (assuming they hit the extra point)
START OF THE 4th QUARTER

Completed pass to Green. Dogs at the UK 11.

Ealey to the 1yard line. Another hand off to Ealey. 5th TD of the night. He just tied the record for TD's in a game. Go Dogs.

UGA 41 UK 17

Not sure what happened other than the Cats got the ball....had a bunch of big plays and ran the ball down the field against us for a TD.

UGA 41 UK 25

For the record. It's a 2 possession game for UK. We seem to be comfortable with dicking around and letting Kentucky do good things. We need to fall out of love with that idea. Time to step on their throat.

Dogs ball on the 20. Ealey got dropped. Ugh.
2nd Down. Here we go...and...Ealey picks up 7 or 8. Not so bad. Murray converts the QB sneak.

Ealey is over 100yards for the day. Ealey picks up another 7. 2nd and 3.

Chapas stopped for nothing. 3rd and 3.

Ealey gets the first but goes down hard. He is grabbing his knee.He went down awkwardly.

Thomas comes in to the game. Thomas gets a good 6 or 7. Nice run. Wow. Now he sticks his head into the pile and pounds out a first down. Run. The. Damn. Ball. Go Dogs.

Damn it. Ealey is down again. I hope it's only a cramp. At least he isn't being arrested.

Dogs have 3rd and goal. Ugh. Thomas got stuffed. Time to kick.

And the kick is good.

UGA 44 UK 25

Go Dogs.

2 minutes left and we seem to be getting sloppy. We just had a roughing penalty and then gave up an 8 yard run. UK may get another score. That sucks. We're kicking the shit out of them. Don't let them score and make it appear closer.

ARGH!! We let them throw a TD pass.

Now it's UGA 44 UK 31

Here comes the onside kick. We should have stopped those bastards.

It will surprise no one on this green earth that Kentucky recovered the kick. Why we can't close...I'll never know.

Dogs get the win.

Just For Fun

Sitting here looking at the standings and looking at the rest of our season I let my mind wander a little. Just a thought...if South Carolina loses twice and we take care of bidness against Kentucky, Florida, and Auburn, we could find ourselves in Atlanta playing for the SEC.

Now...I understand that a simple plan doesn't mean it's an easy one.

Simple plan: Climb that mountain.
Easy plan: Take a helicopter to the top of the mountain
Simple and Easy: Sit right freakin here and drink beer while watching someone do it on TV.

Which is about my level of involvement in the aforementioned "Win the SEC" scenario I've so irresponsibly laid out.

Look...you have to have goals. Mine is to not break something the next time a potentially game winning drive stalls at the four with a fumble. The Bulldogs should huddle up, look at the schedule and rededicate themselves to winning the SEC.

I'm sure they don't even need to RE-dedicate themselves. It has probably always been the goal. I'm just saying that the first "dedication" didn't seem to light the fire we hoped to see.

As a fan I like to see us still in the mix. I wish we didn't have to cheer for so many other teams to hopefully lose...but isn't that just being the fan of an SEC team?

Vandy Game

A little late getting started here. The rundown so far:

Most importantly: We welcome UGA VIII.

We called all three of our timeouts within the first 5 minutes of the 1st Quarter.

Murray looks pretty good. He missed Green once and Green dropped a pass.

We've gotten a couple bad breaks. Points taken off the board on a play called back....then we pinned them inside the 5 on a punt and committed a dumb penalty to put them out to the 20. Nothing earth shattering.

Run game just scored in 2 plays. Nice!

UGA 10 Vandy 0

Overall, we look good. Just no tempo to the game yet. Lots of hiccups with timeouts, flags, reviews and such. Oh well....we're up and it looks like we came to play today.

Bad snap over the Vandy QB's head! Ball goes into the end zone..we recover.

For the 2nd time today the crowd goes apeshit on a defensive touchdown and instead...the call is overturned...taking points off the board. Ugh...they rule it a safety instead. We can't seem to celebrate without having an interruption...be it a flag..a review...whatever.

Whenever we do something good, I don't even bother clapping...I look for the flag...for the "hold everything"...it's now happened twice today.

Ok...done bitching about that. It's points. We get the ball.

Murray looks good scrambling. 11 yards. END OF QUARTER

2nd QUARTER - UGA 12 Vandy 0

Ok..back to bitching...some goon for Vandy just fully speared into Murray pure helmet on helmet contact, leading with his freakin head. NO call. As they showed slow motion helmet to helmet, Murrays head snaps back and the stupid announcer goes, "hmmm...I'm not so sure that couldn't have possibly been a potential helmet to helmet shot..." Oh really? Potentially? We're watching slow motion proof, dingleberry.

Next play...Vandy guy drapes all over Green NO flag.

We punt. We finally get a freakin call. We've got Vandy trapped inside their own ten.

Ok...we've got the ball back at their 40 due to good field position, bad Vandy punt. Go Dogs. We need points that don't get called back.

Nice run for Ealey. Of course that means he gets up limping. Perfect. Holy smokes man. No good play or break goes unpunished. Carlton Thomas looks good on the next run. First down.

Ealey back in...Chapas gets first and goal. Drive looks good. Let's stick it in the end zone.

Nice! Kris Durham. TD.

UGA 19 Vandy 0 - UGA VIII = already napping. Good boy.

I know it's Vandy, but our defensive looks pretty good today. We've given up a couple big pass plays but overall I'm pleased with the intensity and tackling.

Good play developing. We're moving the chains. Ealey looking really good today.

Ok...I am SO freakin sick of this review or not review, catch or no catch bullshit. AJ Green just made an amazing catch. They ruled it no catch. They showed the replay. He freakin caught it. It makes me nuts that they didn't even bother to review it. On top of that, these assbag announcers are sitting there making these excuses for it not being a catch. Any putz could tell you it was a catch or at least worth reviewing. Good God, man. So now we have to settle for a field goal. Piss off. I'm so tired of catch (or no catch) calls being so damn arbitrary....and it always seems to take points OFF the board for us. We're up to 21 points so far just today.

Anyhow...to hell with it.

UGA 22 Vandy 0 - HALFTIME

Wow...Kris Durham snatches the ball out of triple coverage for a 22yard 3rd down conversion. Bad idea for Murray to throw it. Great play to come down with it.

Geez...AJ Green just grabbed one and took it straight to the damn house. 50 something yards. Man oh man I am gonna miss this dude. Think we could get a miracle and he stays next year? nah...me neither. It'd sure be nice though.

UGA 29 Vandy 0

Yet another good long sustained sensible drive that leads to a TD.

I know it's Vandy...but if we weren't romping...you'd be saying, "it's VANDY!! we should be romping!"

In short...this is the UGA team we have been waiting for. It's a complete effort for the 2nd week in a row. I love to see us playing at our level instead of lowering to the competition...which we've done several times in the last few years. SEE ALSO: Kentucky game last year.

UGA 36 Vandy 0

Interception. Georgia marches down and scores again.

UGA 43 Vandy 0

3 and out for Vandy. Long day for the Commodores.

Here come the Dogs again. Let's see if Richt pulls the starters for the 4th Quarter. It would be the smart thing. Yep...Hutson Mason is in. NICE!! I like this kid.

Mason leads a nice little drive. Walsh with a rare FG miss. Glad that wasn't for the game.

Not much going on now. Still hoping for a shutout. We have 40+ two games in a row. Defense looks great when they don't get burned for huge plays. Good job getting off the field today too.

Stopped the 'Dores on 4th down. Should be a matter of a couple runs and a punt for a complete game and impressive shut out. Go Dogs!

Another impressive win. A shutout for the defense. A Tennessee sweep for the Dogs this year. Always nice.

Dogs looked pretty damned good today. Gotta say. Pretty freakin good. I am hopeful for the rest of the season.

FINAL
UGA 43, Vandy - Goose Egg

Good Dog/Bad Dog

Bad Dog: Caleb King. Does that make him UGA 11? 11 arrests. That's enough to field one side of a football team. Top notch work.

Good Dog: UGA VIII.

Best mascot in sports. A new one makes his debut on Saturday in Athens. A Thank You to Russ for filling in. Not that he realizes he filled in...he's a freakin' dog, afterall. Oh well, I'm being stupid. I'm writing a blog to thank a dog. Ok, time to stop.

Go Dogs. UGA VIII is on duty.

Rocky Bottom

It's usually bad form to celebrate the misfortunes of others. In this case...I'd even say it's bad form to celebrate the misfortune of a team that wears orange. There is not one team in the ranks of college football that wears orange that I would pity.

I will say this instead. I am really thrilled at the incredibly fortunate turn of events that allowed the Bulldogs to put together a complete and utter ass whooping on an SEC opponent today.

I hope the Tennessee faithful care about their team enough to be as miserable as they should be. That damned "Rocky Top" is the bane of my existence. I hate it on a level I cannot describe. Watching them play that song with such glee while we are down justifies my smug, contemptuous satisfaction today that the Volunteers laid an utter and complete turd sucking performance in the middle of the field and wallowed in it. Meanwhile...the Dogs righted the ship. We're still in the storm but we've aimed our bow at blue skies.

Suck it Volunteer fans...Just suck it. I am so happy that it's your turn to cry.

I have broken my rule. I am man enough to admit it. I am happy that you are shaking your head in disgust.

Oh...and by the way. Bama goes down today. Sorry Tide. You can suck it too.

Tennessee Game

I've literally been afraid to start my semi-live ranting today.

We just scored another nice TD to go up 34-7 on Tennessee. It almost makes me nervous to jinx it by blogging.

Overall...Dogs look good today, Vols look like stir fried donkey turds.

8 minutes left in the 3rd...as I write, Tenn just completed 58 yard pass.

I think I'm done for today. I'll write what I hope is a victory summary soon.

I Love The Dogs

Seriously...

No sarcasm here. I truly love the Dogs. We are 1-4 and I am still thrilled that it's football season. I've already let go of the dream. I've already let go of the what-ifs. I've already let go of salvaging the season. Now it's just Bulldogs football. It's the colors. It's a fall Saturday. It's Athens. It's the best time of the year.

I can still grill and drink beers.
The weather is still great.
The Red and Black combination is still the best.
The "G" still makes me happy.
I am making a pledge to enjoy the games ahead...I sure know I haven't enjoyed much thus far.

I have figured out what drives me crazy about the Dogs...now it's time to remember and celebrate what makes me a fan in the first place.

Go Dogs.

No TV coverage? No problem.

Evening folks.

So the Dogs just flubbed another game. Stumbled & fumbled their way to another loss to another inferior opponent.
The stomach is too turned to watch - reading Emerson's rantings & "watching" on ESPN.com (at this point, UGA ain't even good enough to warrant a blip on the ESPN3 radar. Nope - can't even see it on the old computer. Relegated to viewing the award winning graphics created by the geeks in Bristol).

Living outside of SEC viewing territory is usually annoying as all hell, but today it was a blessing. All the furniture is still intact, the dog still has all 4 limbs attached, & my knuckles ain't bleeding.
And I got to see some great games - Dartmouth & Penn went to OT in a real a nail biter/barn-burner. Edge of my seat.

But it's not all bad, as I was able to watch both Ga Tech & Alabama, & was extremely impressed by both teams - for very different reasons.
* GT - not much of a showing on the ground for a Paul Johnson team, but they were down 2 scores in the 4th qtr & pulled off a 3 pt win. Showed tons of grit, never lost focus or confidence & showed how to get it done despite playing poorly against a very mediocre team.
* Bama - wow. You just don't do that to Florida. Especially Urban Meyer's Fla team. Bama pounded them like a screen door in a hurricane. Yeah the Gators did have some stupid turnovers, & "held" the Ingram/Richardson beast in check for much of the 2nd half. But good grief. Even Bama's 3rd string RB looked like a Heisman candidate. They are the epitome of a true SEC team & exactly what I dream about when I fall asleep on the couch reading The Economist.
They play defense - really well
They run the ball - really, really well.
They force turnovers - often.
(are you reading this Mark?)

It does not seem possible nor plausible that anyone will be able to put together 4 qtrs good enough to beat the Tide.
I just don't see it.

Coach Richt - take note. Have your staff make a few dozen copies of each Bama game & give them to all your coaches. Make them watch them - every day. The whole season. They should watch as much Bama film as they do on the upcoming opponent.

That is an SEC football team, & that is what the Dogs need to strive for. Nothing less.

Colorado Game

Almost time for kickoff. Colorado is not really that good this year...but neither are we so who knows?

For what it's worth...running that stupid Buffalo is kinda cool.

1st Quarter

We kicked off. Touchback.

Lot's of empty seats in Boulder. Probably a great town for other stuff...but a bit of a shit town for college football, yeah? Can't fill a stadium in college football?

Nice...we just gave up a huge gain on a freakin' QB sneak. We've given up a TD on the opening drive THREE GAMES IN A ROW.

COLORADO 7 UGA 0

PROGRAMMING NOTE: "Good Burger" just cranked up on ABC Family.

2nd and Goal for Colorado: Touchdown. Flag on the play. Nevermind. It's on us. Everyone celebrate in Boulder. FOUR GAMES IN A ROW....we give up a TD on the first drive.

I switched to "Good Burger". Somebody call me if we do something good...

Good drive for the Dogs so far. We're in the red zone already. Bring it.

Oh well...we sputtered out. Time for a field goal.

COLORADO 7 UGA 3

...wow..."Good Burger" is under appreciated comedy gold. Aw man...wiping the tears. Hey...are the Dogs on TV yet?

Oh great...one of our guys just went down and blew out a knee. If it's not an arrest, it's an injury. Mark Richt has been given the shittiest hand in college football this year.

Just heard that CMR is one of 7 coaches to go 90 games or more without losing 3 in a row. We've now lost 3 in a row...working on 4. Argh. Go Dogs.

3 and out for Colorado. If I'm a cynic, I'm worried that we'll rough the kicker or fumble the kick. Neither happened.

Dogs have the ball. 1st Quarter still.

Hmm...3 and out for the Dogs. Time for a punt. We've got field position, at least.

Nevermind...Colorado has crossed midfield.

SECOND QUARTER - COLORADO 7 UGA 3

Colorado has the ball on our 45. 1st and 10. Let's go D.

3rd down for Colorado. HUGE PLAY...down to the 1. Wow. We suck.

We had them at a third down. They got a big play. Then an easy TD. Who are we? Are we the Dogs?

Hold up. Play under review. Is it a TD?

I'm such a cynic. I KNOW it's not a TD...but i KNOW they'll give it to him. Standby...

Yep...told ya. They gave it to him...even though the announcers totally agreed that it was most certainly NOT a TD. God bless America...

COLORADO 14 UGA 3

End around to AJ Green. Nice run for 30+ yards.

Caleb King just bulldozed and shoved his way for 20 yards. First and goal for the Dogs.

Now 3rd and goal. Big point in the game here.

Are you kidding me? If you thought AJ Green didn't matter, then watch this play and tell me he's irrelevant. The booth is reviewing this. If they say it's not a TD then I will lose all faith in football. Go Dogs.

...and by the way...best catch in college football this year goes to AJ Green.

COLORADO 14 UGA 10

So we dominate Colorado and force them 3 and out but miraculously they call roughing the passer on a busted play on 3rd down. Good God almighty...I'm tired of penalties that keep drives alive. It may seem small but it's not. Also...Colorado just got away with a HUGE hold. UGH!!! Akeem Dent is now injured...could a series of unfortunate events bone us harder? Holy smokes.

We had them OUT and punting from their goal line. NOPE!! Penalty called on us. Penalty NOT called on them. Injury to a major player. Colorado just marches on down the field unaware of their magic pixie dust.

I know I am a cynical homer for the Dogs but how can you watch these games and not conclude that we are really hexed at times. Big third down again. They throw a prayer and the crowd and Buffs can't believe that we didn't get flagged. PISS OFF!

Wow. 44 yard return and NO FLAGS! We have good field position and the zebras didn't hurt us.

UM...huge play to AJ Green for a TD. No flags. Suck it

UGA 17 COLORADO 14

OK...so I missed a big group of plays. We drove and threw an INT int the end zone. Then..they threw a pick to us.

Now..We have the ball with a minute and change trying to score before the half.

Nice play call. We complete a 3rd and 10 to Aron White for a first down.

Less than :30 left in the half. Bubble screen to Green. Nothing doing. Time for a FG.

Snap. Hold. Miss. First miss of the year for the Dogs.

So...we miss the opportunity for a TD and miss the opportunity for a FG. That's 10 points boofed in a couple minutes. If you don't believe that we do this as a habit then read my blog. We always find a way to drive to the cusp. The cusp of greatness is where we do our bed shitting. Unreal. I love the Dogs but that's the solid truth comin' at you. We blow it at the moment of greatness.

HALFTIME
UGA 17 COLORADO 14

We'll get the kickoff. Let's see what happens. We've really let them hang around, to be honest.

Here we go...

3rd QUARTER

Blown up at the 15. Ugh.

Busted play. Murray scrambles. Steps out of bounds 1 yard short of the first.

Long pass to Green. He's covered. No matter. He hauls it in. May have gotten away with a bit of offensive pushing. Dogs in the red zone. Nice run by Thomas. Chapas for a first and goal. Time to score, boys. Can't whiff on three drives.

Verge of success...here goes...

Holding on CU. 1st and Goal from the 2 for the Dogs. Standby for the update...

All signs would point to awesome for UGA. Will we convert? These are the situations that kill me as a Dogs fan. Jesus...Go Dogs.

And....

1st down - No gain.
2nd Down - Touchdown. NOPE. Flag. Illegal shift.
2nd Down again - Murray runs for nothing.
3rd and Goal - Touchdown!
...and...
No Flags! It actually counts.

Sidenote: AJ Green is laying on the sidelines in pain with trainers around him. Sweet. Always some bitter salt with the sugar.

UGA 24 COLORADO 14

Vance Cuff just delivered the hit of the year for the Dogs. Lit that bastard up. Nice!

So a big play for Colorado. 68 yards. Flag on the play. Nevermind. It's on us. Are you surprised? I'm not. Wow. 1st and goal for them again, suddenly.

Huge play: 3rd and Goal for Colorado. They're down 10. Let's see what we've got.

We had the QB sacked at the 12. He scrambles for a TD. There's your answer. We've got nothing. Oh...and they tricked us for a 2pt conversion. We're only up 2 and they've got the huge swing of emotion and momentum. Jesus Christ it's hard to be a Bulldog this year. It truly is...

UGA 24 COLORADO 22

I am going to predict a fumble on the kickoff or a really stupid play on our part. Will it be an onside kick? Will it be a holding call? Will it be a stupid play that traps us at the one? Who knows? I'm just saying we'll do something monumentally stupid here.

And...my prediction...? Wrong. Decent return to the 30 or so. Go Dogs.

Two bad runs and a sack. AJ Green on the sidelines. Time to punt. Crowd goes crazy. Trouble for the Dogs, folks.

Oh look, we got burned big time for a huge play and the other team is in the red zone on us again. Shocking.

Ok. Big 3rd Down. We stop them here and we're in business. Hmmm...big play for a catch at the one. They rule it as no catch.

So...every single time I've ever seen a catch like this ruled on...it's been called "no catch". Ha ha! No catch. Piss off. Personally...I think it was a catch. However, if it was ruled as such, it would run counter to all the calls I've seen lately.

No matter. Colorado hits a field goal after a huge stop...and...FLAG!!!

So...now Colorado gets a MIRACLE call that puts them in a first down situation from the 10. Nevermind going ahead by a field goal...they get a TOUCHDOWN!!!!

COLORADO 29 UGA 24

I am officially a pessimistic realist.

I absolutely cannot stand it. I cannot believe it. Every time the Dogs get something good, it's negated. Including the fact that AJ Green is currently sitting in the locker room with some mystery injury. Including the fact that crazy plays keep going against them. ALL YEAR LONG!!!

Ok...it's now 3rd and long. All momentum is lost. Green is out and we're losing. Here goes. Time out UGA because we were gonna get a delay flag.

Here goes again. 0-3 Colorado suddenly looks like Alabama. Awesome.

Sacked. Perfect. Go Dogs. So we're punting from our own end zone.

Colorado has the lead. The momentum. The ball. Field Position. Luck. And home field.

2 minutes and change left in the 3rd.

COLORADO 29 UGA 24

3rd and 7. Can we stop them?

Yes. Nice job. Time for Colorado to punt. Can we get a break? Can we actually drive the ball without penalty or turnover?

Let's see....

So far. So good. First down. Good running plays. Nice toss to Orson Charles. Dogs on the move. End of the 3rd.

FOURTH QUARTER
COLORADO 29 UGA 24

AJ Green...STILL in the locker room. Really? We haven't been punished enough? Seriously? THIS is the time for bad luck? Wow. Injuries. Penalties. Arrests. It's always one or more of these. ALWAYS.

Ok...my old lady rant paid off. Here comes Green. We're back in the red zone. Nice run by Caleb King. First and Goal.

2nd and Goal - incomplete to Green. He got mugged. no flag. awesome.
3rd and Goal - batted down. and...flag on us. Time for FG.
4th and Goal - FG is good.

COLORADO 29 UGA 27

Can I say it enough times? Can I? EVERY SINGLE TIME that we are on the verge of something good we screw it up. GOD BLESS it. Every time. Sputter out. Flag. Interception. Missed field goal. Turnover. Alien invasion. Menstruation. Something.

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Sabado Gigante on Univision. Bull Riding on Versus. Hannah Montana Forever (Double Dose) on Disney.

CU fumble. No worries. They not only recover...but it's good for a first down! WOOO!!!! YES!!

Huge sack. They threw a flag on us but waived it off. Miracle. Jesus.

Ok...huge play coming up. 3rd down and 13 for Colorado at their own 28.

We tie him up. Huge coverage sack...nevermind...their QB scrambles. Missed tackle. HUGE COMPLETION FOR A FIRST!!

We suck. We cannot get off the field. This is the most frustrating UGA team I've ever watched. Colorado has burned at least 5 minutes. Clock still ticks. 4th Down.

Colorado goes for it and gets it. Wow. They are gonna run the clock from over 12 minutes down to about 3 minutes or so and score. Jesus.

Another 3rd down. Can we make them kick? It's close. Let's see. No way. He's short. Stand by for the refs to screw us...and..

YEP!!! They screwed us. No way in hell he got that.

Tick Tock. Down to 5 minutes. They're at our 25.

Big hit by Boykin. Run play gets nothing. Tick Tock.

3rd and long. Can we stop them? Yes. We finally stopped them. I'm surprised there is no flag against us. Dowtin crushed the QB. Still time for us to screw up on fourth down. No worries.

SITUATION UPDATE: COLORADO 29 UGA 27
4 minutes left. 4th down for COLORADO at our 30 something. Kick or punt? Or...go for it?

They are kicking a FG....here goes....no good. Suck it!!

SITUATION UPDATE ON THE SITUATION UPDATE:

Our ball on our own 35. 3:42 on the clock. Just need a FG to win.

I want to be an optimistic, awesome, positive, fun UGA fan...but I'm not. I'm a realist and a bit of a bastard. I want us to win so badly but I am afraid (based on performance) that we'll mess it up.

Here we go:

1st Down - Complete to T. King. 10 yards.
1st Down - Complete to C. King 4 yards.
2nd - Complete to Chapas. First Down.
1st Down - Caleb king run. first down.

GAME NOTE: I had Bison stew for dinner. Total coincidence. My wife brought Ted's Montana Grill home for dinner.

So back to the Dogs.

Situational Update to the pessimistic fat bastard update to the angry dogs blogger ranting update:

We are close enough to kick and win. There's just over a minute to go. We should run 2 or three times, kick and win. Let's see if we can get out of our own way and actually succeed. Here goes:

1st Down. 1:59 left. Ball on CU 25.

We fumble. They recover.

Colorado runs it out to the 44. Missed tackles. The crowd goes wild. We call our last timeout.

Colorado will snap two more times and win.

Can I say this more? Can I be more clear? We fail at the critical moment. It is unreal. It is not possible. It is out of control.

FINAL
COLORADO 29 UGA 27

By the way...Colorado fans stormed the field. Really? You just beat a 1-3 team....boosting your record to 1-3. Great win boys.

Adversity

Today we are as bad as we have been in 17 years. Today we stare into the intimidating eyes of adversity. There is nothing fun about it. And there are only two choices. Blink and give in, or take a deep breath and decide to keep staring until the confidence to take a step forward arrives. That step may be small. It may be clunky. But forward is the only direction to move when faced with adversity. It defines teams. It defines character. It sets the tempo for change. Everyone knows how they react when things are going well. How do we act when we face adversity?

Well, I can't quantify it via the metric system but I'd safely assess that the size and weight of our current adversity quotient is hovering somewhere between a lot and a shitload.

Go Dogs. Move forward.

And for those of you calling for Richt's job, please find another team to cheer for immediately. Critique and comment? Yes. Call for his job? Suck it. Not this year. Not next.

Same Old Story

I don't know how many times I can say it...or in how many different ways.

We are a team that does great things...only to be negated during the celebration.

There's a classic moment of jubilation interrupted by..."huh?"...flag on the play. This play is under review. This good play for you is about to be called back. It's crazy. Read my game blogs if you don't believe me.

If it's not that, it's us giving the other team a huge play when we just shouldn't. When we just need to buckle down for one play. That is the moment we teeter on the verge of greatness and fail.

Just...fail. Just...ugh...screw it. We have been our own worst enemy.

Murray looks fantastic. Our O-line looks awful. Our mental mistakes look typical.

Miss St Game

I'm late to the blog again but it's the same old story. We've turned the ball over and committed stupid penalties and given up dumb big plays. We're down 7-3 with 8:48 left in the second.

Before I could even finish the sentence, I see that we give up a huge game breaking 20 yard play to put MSU into our red zone.

Hold everything...we got an INT with a 15 yard boost on top. Go Dogs.

For the record, there's a rule in college football that stipulates no artificial noisemakers are allowed. Somehow the NCAA doesn't count drunk rednecks with cowbells as an infraction of that rule. Whatever. Maybe we should hand out vuvuzelas in Athens. Ugh.

We got a couple of lucky breaks. Murray just dove for a first down. We have to make the most of the gifts given by the other team. Let's turn this into points.

4:37 left in the 2nd Qtr. 7-3 MSU

Nevermind. Dumb penalty on us. Move 'em back, move 'em back wayyy back. Ugh.

Programming Note: Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift is in full swing on TBS. Andy Griffith Show on TVLand.

Aaron Murray just ran for a crazy first down. All heart. All effort. Nice work.

Big play for the Dogs. HUGE play. NOPE...coming back. Why? Because of a penalty, of course. Un-freakin-real. I actually clapped and thought, "no flags...woo hoo!!". Yeah..there was a flag.

I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to be a Georgia Bulldog fan. I've watched 14 points worth of really nice, big plays turn into a mediocre 6 points worth of two field goals. We deserve to suck. Whatever.

Scroll down on this blog...I've said it before. We are always on the verge of greatness. In fact, we actually do great things...but right at that moment of greatness something happens to negate it. Penalty. Fumble. Crazy play that screws us. Big play for the other team. It ALWAYS happens when we are right there. Ready to finish it. It's unbelievable really. There should be a shock factor statistic to record this freakish reality.

HALFTIME: MSU 7 UGA 6

Should be 14-7 at least. But there is no "should" in college football.

Third Quarter:

So we got an interception!...Nevermind...we were offside. Shocker. A big play negated by stupidity. Next play? First down for MSU. Awesome.

I cannot believe the consistency of our self destruction.

Big play! Fumble. NOPE! Went out of bounds and MSU keeps it. We've got great luck don't we?

I said it last week. We've got NO Rhythm. There's no sense of constant, methodical progress. It's just a series of big plays against us...or big plays BY us that get called back. There's no boring forward motion. We haven't even touched the ball this half.

HUGE FUMBLE! Nevermind....MSU recovered. Shocker, right?

We are going to actually receive a punt now. Last time, we fumbled. This time we got a fair catch at the 11. Great.

Can we put together an 89 yard drive for a TD? I think so. Let's see how many penalties we commit. Or will it be a turnover?

PHILOSOPHICAL NOTE: I'm ready to stop with the whiney, bitchy pessimistic nonsense. GO DOGS!!

First and ten for the Dogs. Here we go...

Good run by Ealey. Is he hurt?

3rd and 2. Can we convert? Murray is a bad ass. He earned that with heart.

By the way...I obviously like that we're running the ball a bit...but where is the run dominance that we should be establishing?

Murray has now thrown 2 INT's and neither was actually caught by MSU. Phew. This is a long and boring drive. I like it. Nevermind. It stalled.

Let's Go D!

We used to be able to make big plays on D. Can we tonight? Where's the intensity?

Positive attitude. We are stopping them...they are grinding but we are stopping them. Problem is, we're stopping them at 3 yards per play. Two huge 3rd down conversions for them. Check that...3 conversions in a row.

The 3rd Qtr has flown by...

FOURTH QUARTER
MSU 7 - UGA 6

Here's the situation....

MSU has a huge sustained drive taking up most of the third quarter. They are inside our 30 and they'll most likely score. We've done nothing to show them that we came to play.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Suze Orman. Glenn Beck. Two and a Half Men. All of these shows are airing now on competing networks. That's a trifecta of american whoop ass television. Go on and watch one of those...I'll keep you posted on our self destruction.

MSU 10 UGA 6

Wow...we had a return and field position with no flag. I will wake up from the dream any minute now.

GO DOGS!! We are so much better than MSU. It's all about our lack of execution so far. Just make the plays that you are supposed to make. We should win this game by three touchdowns.

Ok...so this is the biggest third down of the game. They just converted a bunch in a row. No problem. Can we? Yes! Brown! Nice!

Nice run by Carlton Thomas. We're in the right mode here. Moving the ball. Let's go.

Nice play to Kris Durham for the 1st Down! Nevermind...we got a flag for holding. Back it up and make it harder. Are you kidding me!!!?

God BLESS it!!! Stop screwing up huge plays.

I can't say this enough. Once again we succeed...only to find out that we got a penalty and it negated a HUGE play. 1st and goal? NOPE! We had to punt.

I really want to hang in there and give you the play by play emotion...but it's ALL BAD. What the hell?! Everything significant is significant in the way that moves us toward failure. GOOD GOD!! Let's get a good break. Let's have a big play that goes our way. Let's have a good play that isn't negated by a dumb penalty or turnover. CUT IT OUT!!

This is the biggest play of the game. It's 3rd and 2 for MSU and they're up 10-6 late in the 4th. Convert here and you can make us burn ALL of our timeouts and run out the clock. I can't believe we've let ourselves get backed into this corner. Here goes...

HUGE PLAY!!! WOOO!!!..for them.

Yeah...they converted, of course.

We have absolutely no sense of the moment. Here goes another 3rd down for them. We've got them trapped in their territory. And....they're short by 6 inches....

They go for it and they get it. Are you kidding me? They started this drive with 8-plus minutes. Are we really gonna let them do this to us? Really?

They just ran it 20 yards up the middle. Wow. Who are we?

Answer: We suck. They just scored a HUGE TD. Big pass play.

MSU 17 UGA 6

That was a TEN PLAY 93 yard drive in the fourth quarter when we just needed ONE STOP!!

Yikes. Let's go Murray.

By the way...I predict a Dog 4 and out. Wanna freakin bet?

1st Down incomplete. Still want to bet?
2nd Down - 4 yards.
3rd Down - Ball batted down. Shocker! Still wanna freakin bet? God...
4th down - Here's the game. PERFECT!!!
WE complete the pass ...BUT...FLAG on us..
now it's 4th and 10...and...take a wild guess...nothing.
We lose the game. Shocker.

INSULT ON TOP OF INJURY: They scored another TD.

INSULTING INSULT ON TOP OF INSULTING INJURY. A big penalty to negate a decent return...even though we've already lost.

INSULTS continue...we've had a nice drive at the very end. Murray looks awesome. He completed a huge pass only to have it called back because some ASS BAG on our team got called for clipping. Even in defeat, we can't do it.

Nevermind. Huge TD by UGA. Great play. WHERE'S THE FLAG!!??? Jesus...are you sure we're allowed to score?

Aha...there it is...we let Murray get crushed on the 2pt attempt AND we had a stupid penalty. Geez, I thought for a moment we would succeed at something.

FINAL: MSU 24 UGA 12

The Pain Has Subsided

I'm a passionate Dogs fan. I won't apologize. I get frustrated when we fail. I'm ecstatic when we succeed. I wish I were more in the middle...but I'm not.

Now that the pain has subsided, I will be honest about the team and the game.

I'm proud of our effort to bounce back from 14 down.
Richt is too passive.
We aren't as good without AJ Green.
Murray has great potential.
Our running game could use a boost.
We give up crazy amounts of huge plays when the other team REALLY needs a big play. It's unreal.
We tolerate mediocre play.
We lose focus. A lot.
We miss tackles.
We don't, "Finish the drill".
We've got a top ten recruiting class every year...and...wait for it...thud. Nothing to show.
We've got the best stadium, team colors, uniforms, traditions, fans, and campus in NCAA football...especially if you score it as an aggregate.
We couldn't time our mistakes worse. I've never seen a team self destruct at crucial points like we do.
We are three plays away from being 3-0 right now.
We're going to win 9 games this year...including Florida and Auburn.

Arkansas Game

First off...

Suck it, Petrino!

Ok...now we'll get started. I'm late to the keyboard. It's 7-7. We got burned on a long TD pass, looked good on an offensive drive, and got lucky on a dumb penalty negating a run back.

Dogs don't look bad so far, but we're lucky it's still tied.

:58 left in the first. Huge throw and catch for Arkansas. I guess great Qbs get lucky ass breaks. Ugh...and now a gain of 23 before I can finish my first thought. I'm going to be extremely sick of these ass kissing announcers.

END OF FIRST QUARTER

In case you haven't heard, Ryan Mallet is 6 foot 6 and he shoots magical pixie dust out of his ass...and lives under a rainbow with a unicorn. I can't wait until we sack him or pick him off to hear about how awesome he is for letting us do that.

Wow. We got really lucky that they didn't rule Mallet in for a TD. Bad call. Go Dogs.

Ugh. Ok...time to be a pessimist....Bad tackling. Dumb penalties. Missed assignments. Secondary torched. Dumb luck allows first downs on penalties and crazy plays. This might be a long season.

Last of the complaining...then I will only be optimistic to the point of stupidity. Here goes: We can never seem to get in a rhythm. It's always like.."hey we looked good...time for them to punt...oops penalty. Oops dumb luck first down. Oops big play for the other team. Oops 3 and out for us..." It just seems like I watch and wait for "when do we get started?" Ok...as soon as we get the ball back...oops. Ugh. It never ends. Its a series of "next time" until the game ends. Ok...done bitching. GO DOGS!!

Murray is looking really good. I don't care if we lose the game due to a dumb play by him. I'm ready to test his limits. Time to put it in drive.

Murray just did a great job of eating the ball. Great read. Suck it up and punt. Nice work.

I'm not going to complain about that facemask penalty. The announcers have it right...the Arkansas player grabbed ours first.

Great 3rd down stop. Arkansas going for it. Let's stop 'em boys.

Situation: 7:14 left in the 2nd Quarter. Arkansas up 14-7. Hogs going for it on 4th and 5..somewhere around our 35 or so. Big turning point right here. Never mind....Hogs punting.

Need a nice drive here. Murray got a little jacked up last drive. Him and Bobo both bleeding today. Tough game already, huh? Geez.

Programming note: If the Dogs start looking bad a double shot of, "That's So Raven" just cranked up on ABC.

Wow. Petrino is such an ass bag. We just made it on a 4th down dive and they give that putz the timeout instead. I seriously deplore that guy.

We went for it again and got it. Suck it Petrino.

Prediction: If we don't fumble on this drive...we will get into the rhythm I've been looking for...

Argh...great defense on three plays in a row for the Hogs. We lost our composure there. Need a stop to end the half and then we get the ball back.

Wow...Butler is unreal. We just took a penalty to back him up to our 40. He still kicked it into the end zone. What a weapon to have that leg on our side.

Nevermind...we just gave up a HUGE pass play. Come on boys.

ARGH!! Rambo! You gotta catch that! Rambo drops an interception. Damn.

Situation: :26 seconds. Hogs trying to score before the half. Mallet just got away with murder on a grounding call. Wow.

This will be an important play. :09 left. Time for a FG.

We called timeout to ice the kicker. I hope that doesn't give Petrino a second thought to bring on Mallet. Ugh...48 yard field goal is good.

ARK 17 DOGS 7

We are now behind the 8 ball.

HALFTIME

Quick thought about this game and Mark Richt. Here it is...

GET. PISSED. OFF.

For God's sake Coach. What the hell is going on here!? Let's see a blip in your heart beat. I'm tired of your cool, calm bullshit. You are NOT cool and calm. You are indifferent. It matters that the players see you shrugging it all off. Get pissed off and break something in the locker room. If you don't give a shit then neither do I.

Don't say the wrong thing in lieu of honesty. Say the wrong thing because it's honest. Piss somebody off. Get your team fired up. Some people like hot tea. Some like iced tea. Nobody ever asks for it room temperature. You are brewing room temp tea, dude. Cut it out.

END SOAPBOX RANT HERE.

Go Dogs.

THIRD QUARTER NOTES BELOW. or..."A Tale of Two Halves".

I'm ok with the interception. The dumb ass Arkansas player taking his helmet off makes it a premature punt. Let's go D.

Game Note: Murray is with a trainer trying to point out where his should hurts.

Good stop by the defense. Great quick kick by Mallet. Lucky for us it rolled into the end zone.

Programming Note: If the Dogs sputter out, there's a double dose of "America's Next Top Model" on Bravo.

Game notes: We are literally watching Aaron Murray learn and our defense figure it out.

For the 2nd time today our opportunity for success was derailed by a penalty. We start at our own ten yet again.

Nice play calling. We're out to the 30. Go Dogs.

Third down for the Dogs. Murray audibles and completes for a first down. Best play of the game thus far.

Good drive. Excellent. Got points. Let's go.

Ark 17 Dogs 10...near end of 3rd.

Prediction/Hope: Time for the Bulldogs to take the ball away.

UPDATE: If our LBs could catch we'd have 2 INTs.

Definition of Ga Bulldogs Football: Team on the verge of greatness gives up huge back breaker of a play against all odds. Lets other team position itself for success.

PROOF: We gave up a huge third down. On first down, they burned us for a back breaking TD.

I'm looking at YOU, Grantham.

Nice pass and catch for the Dogs. Good on ya. Followed up by the best run of the year. Keep it up boys.

Ugh...we went for it. We failed. No flag, huh?

Again...good plays...on the verge of something meaningful...and...FAIL. What the hell is going on here? Wake up Richt. Get these guys pissed off will ya?

Alright...down 2 TDs. 10 minutes. We've got the ball. Totally and completely within reason. Let's go.

I'm going to scarf down an overcooked Bubba burger and some Ore Ida fries and yell at the TV. Until then, I expect greatness in the making from the Dogs. This is the time for Murray to show us the future.

Hogs up by 7. 5:30 left in the game. 3rd and long. Go D.

WOW!!! We stopped them AND the penalty for once was against "them". Woo Hoo!

FORK IN THE ROAD MOMENT:

Our ball 5 1/2 left. We can tie it up. Nice throw to Durham. Go Dogs.

Is Durham hurt? He's a tough kid. Has also had injury problems.

3rd and 5. Biggest play of the year.

First Down!

Huge. Let's make a mark here, boys. Stick it in the end zone.

There it is!!

Dogs 24 Hogs 24

Prediction: We will cause a big turnover. We've been on the verge all day. Everyone will stay at home and the Hogs will try to get clever.

Good stop. Nothing stupid here boys. Fair catch and let's get a FG.

AWAY TEAM KUDOS: This kid Broadway for Arkansas is awesome. Credit where credit is due. He's made some big plays for the Hogs.

PHILOSOPHICAL UPDATE: We don't need a big play anymore. They DO. Don't let them have it.

Not sure I like our 3rd and 4 call. Murray got crushed. Had no outlet. GREAT job to hold onto it.

:47 left and we give up a HUGE play. Then ANOTHER! What the hell? We're gonna lose on a field goal.

Good news...we didn't lose on a field goal.

Bad news...we gave up the third big play embarrassing TD of the day with :13 left.

Dogs lose a heartbreaker. I'm really mad at our coaches.

AGAIN...we are on the verge of greatness and we blow it on a huge, unbelievably bad, impossible, horrible, heartbreaking play. WHY!??

It happens as a regular matter of course! WHY!?

I should've watched, "That's So Raven".

PS- Murray just chucked it 65 yards in the air. It got tipped and then dropped. What? Dude! You gotta come up with that.

I'll Blame the Hat

Here's a tough thing to accept and admit. We got beat fair and square on the field of play. Hats off to South Carolina. I don't really have any major complaints. Aside from the crazy phantom first down call that was reviewed and confirmed...I believe it was a well officiated game.

The Dogs looked a little sluggish, our defense was vulnerable in the middle but tightened up in the second half. Murray looked good. He made good decisions and didn't lose the game for us. The fumble was a back breaker but I am choosing to blame something else.

The hat.

I knew it when I bought it. It's the hat that cursed us. I had a beautiful, traditional straight up red Georgia hat in my hand at Dick's Sporting good last weekend. It was a few minutes before kick off and I needed a new good luck hat for the season. Inexplicably, I stopped, turned around and started eyeing the black one. Why would I do that? I've been down this road before. I actually threw away my black one at halftime of a game because it was such bad luck. Why on earth would I purchase the same hat!? I've never had a traditional red one. This could have been the year. Suffice it to say that I ignored my gut, put down the red one, picked up the black one and proceeded to curse the Dogs for another year.

I apologize to players and fans alike. While I love the look of the all black Dogs hat, I must retire it for good and just get the damn red one like the rest of the loyal fans. Ugh.

Go Dogs!

AJ Green

If I'm being "holier than thou", I would submit that AJ Green should make better decisions, not let down the team and be accepting of his punishment. If I'm being cynical I say, "here we go again". I have chosen, rather, to be what I feel is realistic.

We've got a game to play...once again we're missing key personnel. It's frustrating as a fan. I can think of no other sports organization in recent history that has suffered more setbacks for crazy reasons involving critical players. Whatever.

If we believe what we preach, then this is the time for CMR to talk to his team about adversity. How do we respond? I don't care that it's self-inflicted...the rest of the team has to go out there and make up the slack. It's not moments spent sailing in calm waters that define a team. It's what you do after you get slapped in the face or kicked in the dirt that reveals team character.

We're in a tough stretch of early make-or-break conference games. We're allowed to put 11 guys on the field at a time. Let's do that and make sure that each knows the other 10 are counting on them.

AJ will be back soon enough. He did something silly and got an excessively punitive punishment considering the "crime". No time for that. Let's play ball.

Go Dogs.

Bring on Garcia

Last year we managed to make Stephen Garcia look like Joe Montana. He tore us a new one and I thought it was the beginning of a new era in South Carolina. I now believe it was a bit of a fluke. I think he's a solid, tough kid with a lot of upside. I also think Spurrier is too big of an egotistical turd masher to allow the kid to relax long enough to succeed. Spurrier is a college football classic but his achilles heel is the belief that somehow scaring the shit (and confidence) out of a kid is actually good for the team. "I won the Heisman ya know...I won the SEC and National Title multiple times ya know...?" Good job Steve...but I'm starting to think that it may have been miraculously in spite of you.

Look, It's tough to work (or play) for someone who used to do what you now do. It should be great because the supposition is that they'll understand the nuance of what you deal with and will have the insight to understand and encourage you through those tough spots. Instead, they tend to revise history, forget how hard it can be, and tell war stories about how they did it with one arm tied behind their back. In other words...it's actually worse to deal with because of this very fact.

Spurrier was a great QB but he should calm down and give these dudes a break. He never had to remember the number of plays...get hit as hard...deal with the amazing athletes...or deal with the popularity of the game. Since broadcast TV and the internet have exploded, the hyper-awareness of the average fan is out of control. Spurrier thrived in the time of relatively low expectations.

I respect Spurrier and South Carolina and wish them well on other days...but on this particular Saturday I want to see someone lay a mullet flapping, chest hit on Garcia-douche that plunks the ball on the ground 2 seconds before the visor on the sideline skips onto the field.

Creed Lead Singer To QB Cocks

LA-Lafayette Game

A beautiful Saturday in Athens. A new QB takes the reins and has a great outing.

CMR got pissed at Murray for running in the TD before the half. Murray had a half-assed quote that indicated he is willing to pretend he understands.

Only bad moment was the deep TD pass for the Ragin Cajuns. We got burned. Oh well.

Sorta bummed that AJ Green had to sit because somebody somewhere said someone did something...

Huh?

Why make the kid sit? If we aren't careful...he sits the SC game next week too. Bullshit.

Anyhow...the point I'm here to make is this...The Georgia Bulldogs took the ball away, scored when they should score, didn't kill themselves with penalties, and played hard for 4 quarters.

See you next week. Go Dogs.

Number 9

I'm not going to dwell on it too long. Just wanted to mention that the 9th Bulldog this year was arrested. Alec Ogletree. Let's hope he didn't do whatever it is they said he did. I have no new thoughts or feeling on the subject. Go Dogs.

The Richt era

So...where to begin?

With the exception of last year, Mark Richt's tenure at UGA has been an incredible success - no matter who's measuring & how they measure.

Wins? check.
here are some stats taken straight from http://www.markricht.com/....

* 90-27 in 9 seasons (not a math major, but I believe that comes to precisely 10-3)
This is the 6th best winning % (.769) among active coaches
* 2 SEC titles, & 4 SEC East crowns
* 2 time SEC COY (02, 05)
* 3 Sugar Bowl appearances & 2 wins
* 7-2 in bowl games
* 33-6 record in opponent's home stadiums - that is amazing.
* 39-4 vs non conf opponents - also amazing.
* finished the 2007 season ranked #2 (11-2)

Enough stats - we know the man can coach & he wins games with regularity.

Now the hard part - how much longer will he be the head coach in Athens?
Looking at the above, the logical answer would be "for as long as he wants to be there". Big time schools in Big conferences are all about the W's, & we all know it.

Then why bother asking the question?
Because of the continued trend of arrests, transgressions, mistakes, etc by his players - that's why.

As most of us know, Richt is a passionate, dedicated Christian man. In fact you could almost say he's 50% coach & 50% minister. Few coaches preach the word of God more & thump the bible harder than MR.
He's open about it & proud of it & good for him.
If I was a regular church-going kind of guy - I am not - he is precisely the kind of man I would want looking after my son for 4 yrs.

But take away his Christian beliefs for just a second. By all accounts he & his wife are wonderful, generous people regardless of their faith. They spend good chunks of the off-season volunteering in impoverished countries (most of which are not Christian countries), helping bring medicine, clean water, educational materials, etc to kids in desperate need of these things.
They are not trying to convert these kids, or show them "the path to Heaven". They are helping those in need & those less fortunate than they are. Plain & simple.

Richt is basically an older, wiser, much less annoying version of Tim Tebow.

This is where it gets tricky.
For all of his amazing on & off-field traits, accomplishments, etc, why do his charges continue to drive drunk, get in bar fights, brandish weapons, get charged w/sexual assault, etc. etc?

As Mr. Emerson has pointed out previously, we are all guilty of jack-ass, knuckle-headed deeds - especially in college.
I cringe when I look back & think of some of the things I did/said while in Athens. It's not pretty.
A friend & I once spent an entire evening pretending to be bouncers, sitting in chairs outside of a bar, checking (and confiscating) ID's & only letting in hot girls. I did not work there, I did not even know anyone who worked there.
We were just really drunk & thought it would be fun - which it was.

(For the record, I never brandished a weapon or assaulted any women. As for the rest, I plead the 5th).

See: houses, glass.

Certainly we see this behavior at dozens of other schools - large & small.
Despite the reputation of Athens being "a drinking town with a college problem", it is not just a UGA thing or an SEC thing...it's pervasive across the sport & across the country.

See: University of Southern California, University of North Carolina.

The hard part is figuring out "why"? Why so many UGA players? Why every year? Why are the same mistakes made over, & over & over?
Well some would say that if the former AD, Mr. Damon "I don't know how those panties wound up in my lap" Evans exhibited this behavior, how can we expect 18 to 20 yr old kids (and yes they are kids. Do not think otherwise for even a second) to be any different?
Too easy, I say.

Getting back to Richt, if he leaves or is asked to leave anytime soon, it will be a huge step backwards for our program. I don't care if he's replaced by Nick Saban, Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Mack Brown - whomever.
He cannot be replaced. Perhaps his win/loss record can be replaced & even surpassed. But it is near impossible to find someone with his combination of coaching prowess & character.
Lou Holtz maybe? Mack Brown?

But why, Mark? Why do your kids keep screwing up?
It's sad to think about but could it be that you are too nice? Too forgiving? Too willing to give a 2nd chance? Maybe but I think it goes deeper.

Yes I know you booted Zach Mettenberger (great call), suspended Washaun Ealey (good call), & have generally dealt w/these transgressions well. That is not the point.

The point is why? Why do the same problems arise year after year? Why does it seem like the new crop of recruits have goldfish-like memories & cannot recall what happened to their peers 6-9 months earlier?
Why do these kinds of kids "slip through the cracks" & make it to Athens?

Now w/the LeMay situation, is it even worth bringing the kid to Athens when he will have gone a year w/out playing in a game?
I say no. Pull his scholarship & give it to another kid who, while he may not be as talented, is also not as stupid.

At some point, if this trend continues, the only common denominator is you - Coach Mark Richt.

We want you to stay, we know you're a good coach & a better father/husband/man.
But coach - come on. Do something before the decision is made for you. It won't be this year or even next unless things get even worse. But despite your consistent 10 win seasons, & BCS bowls, & top NFL draft picks, the scrutiny will only intensify unless things get better soon.

Please do not misunderstand me people. By no means am I advocating for a coaching change, even if we could get Saban.
The last thing we need is some Woody Hayes-like prick, or a slimy Barry Switzer type, or just a plain old asshole like Kiffin.
No sir. We need Mark Richt.

But we also need more accountability. We need you & your staff to do a better job of recognizing & identifying potential problem kids before they are "in the pipeline".

We don't expect perfection or anything close - we just expect improvement. There will always be kids who say & do all the right things, have great GPA's & all kinds of accolades. Then they arrive at UGA & discover that they are placed on a pedestal - or at least on a step stool - because they wear shoulder pads on Saturdays.

Hell it happened to Stafford....remember the keg hoist pics at Talladega? (Frankly I think the more egregious error in his case was not the fact that he was half in the bag, lifting 40 lbs of beer over his head while under-age, but that he was at a NASCAR race...in Alabama).
At least his obligatory "bonehead move" was off campus, off-season, & did not result in an arrest.
The fear here is that unless you reverse this behavioral pattern in your players & recruits, that the unthinkable may happen.
That a giant of a program like UGA, in the most difficult conference - bar none, will replace their coach, & not because he didn't win games.
This coach will have an avg of at least 10 wins per season, multiple conf crowns, & multiple BCS bowl wins.
That he will be shown the door despite winning more than 3/4 of his games.

That he will be forced out because he was not willing or able to handle the problem kids before they became "UGA problem kids".

Don't let it come to that.

Christian LeMay

Alright...so the next big name at UGA is Christian LeMay. He is the next big QB recruit for the Dogs.

Come to find out he will not be allowed to play his senior season at his high school. Why? Hmmm...strange. He has been suspended for misconduct. Rumors allege (and all but confirm) it's because of a sexual act witnessed by school officials, yadda yadda yadda.

Now...we're all superior when it comes to what we did in the past. We brag about our misconduct back in our youth. We dismiss our own shitty behavior when it comes to the mythical, "good ol' days". Right? It was OK when we did dumb stuff, but we're judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to "kids these days".

The answer is yes. Sorry. But it is yes. The stakes are higher in this day and age. So is the scrutiny. If you are a major recruit at a major sport for a major college and you've been deemed such a shithead that you can't even play your senior season at your high school...then perhaps the college that recruited you should pull the offer.

Not Georgia. We are standing behind the kid.

Wow. Really?

We can find great athletes elsewhere. Seriously...let this one get picked up by Florida or Alabama. Leave it alone. We've got tons of recruits fighting for top arrest headlines next summer. Why pursue one?

I wish LeMay the best of luck in getting his life together. I'm just confused at our willingness to stand behind a recruit that is in trouble a year before he gets to Athens.