Orange is Evil

PAC 10 Threatens to Secede.

2007-07-31T09:29:00.000-04:00

In a bit of an odd statement the Pac 10 Commissioner said that if the other BCS conferences continue to push for a plus 1 playoff format, then his conference will drop out of the BCS. All hail the might Pac 10.

I'm not sure what this statement was supposed to bring about. Everyone already knew that the Big 10 and the Pac 10 were not in favor of the Plus 1 format. In fact both conferences would rather go back to playing in Rose Bowl and have nothing else to do with the BCS. Again I'm not really sure why. Maybe its because I grew up in SEC country and don't understand the significance of the Rose Bowl. I mean don't get me wrong its a great game, and the Pac 10 vs Big 10 is cool, but I fail to see how it is more relevant than the Sugar Bowl or any other large bowl.

Let's see big game in a large stadium, with over priced tickets, so the average fan can't afford to go...actually I have seen that before.

After the what the crap did he just say factor wears off you realize that the Pac 10 Commissoner either suffers from serious delusions of granduer or he's just running off at the mouth trying to use scare tactics to get his way. Its kind of like the little kid who gets mad when they don't get to be on best team, so they just take their ball and go home. Of course the statements made by the Pac 10 make it sound like the Big 10 is on board with all this, but with the talk of adding a 12th team and a championship game I hate to be the one to break it to the Pac 10, but their only ally in this might be the Big East and they certainly aren't going to opt out of the BCS pay day.

On behalf of the Confederacy I am happy to welcome California and the Pac 10.

At the end of the day there really isn't anything to any of this. If the Pac 10 pulled a southern confederacy move and seceded from the BCS union you'd have a lot of confused rednecks unsure of how they feel about California, and an opening for a BCS bowl. I'm sure the bowl comittees in Atlanta, Dallas, and Orlando would be crying if their bowls got added to the big boy rotation. Plus with the exception of USC what has college football really lost without the Pac 10? I think the Pac 10 and the Rose Bowl would be the ones to find themselves irrelevant and begging to get back into the BCS.

Richt gets political.

2007-07-27T14:21:00.000-04:00

Georgia Coach Mark Richt went on record today during the final day of SEC Media Days and, made a statement that will no doubt shock the Conservative Republicans who make up a large part of the Bulldog Nation.

"It's time to bring our boys home."

Richt in a move that certainly goes against the party line of supporting the President and the established traditions associated with the Event Formerly Known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. This is certainly the first time that anyone directly associated with the program has even hinted that the traditional location of Jacksonville, Florida may not be as neutral as it once was. Particularly for the boys in red and black.

Oh you thought I was talking GW? Nah, I was talking about good ole MF.

Now I'm no fool. I am well aware that the reason the game has never been moved out of Jacksonville, except for the 2 years when Alltell was being renovated is, because both schools make a lot of money off the game under the current agreement. The WLOCP is a nationally telivised game every year. Not just because its two of the better teams in the SEC going head to head, but also because of the "event" the game has become. Much like practially no university president or AD will come out in favor of a playoff system, because of a fear of losing money. Neither of the schools involved in the WLOCP have ever made more than a "yeah thats something to consider" comment about moving the game out of fear of it just becoming another college game. There is also the argument that the "old money" alums are all in South Georgia and can't make the drive to Athens for a normal game. Which is a bunch of BS. If they are "old money" enough that they can afford to get tickets to what is one of if not the hardest ticket to come by every year, then they can afford a hotel room and probably a private jet to Athens for 6 or 7 Saturday's a year. Besides its not exactly a secret that there are a lot more UGA Alumi in the Atlanta area than scattered around the farms and small towns in South Georgia.

Of course the article from the AJC is just a few lines of Q and A. There may very well be nothing to the comment. The question before this may have set it up, so that Richt was speaking about a completely hypothetical situation, but for the Head Ball Coach to come out and say we should consider moving the game to Atlanta as another "neutral" site I believe it really says a lot. Maybe the coaches and hopefully the administration are starting to see that there is nothing neutral about a game played less than an hour and half from Gainesville. Say what you want about tickets being divided or the "event". There is a lot to be said for being able to sleep in your own bed and go through your basic normal game day vs having to do everything on the road. Its time that the Cocktail Party became a truly neutral event again.

Poor poor Tubby.

2007-03-28T10:05:00.000-04:00

Poor poor Tubby. I was torn last week when the announcement came out that Tubby Smith had accepted the head coaching job at Minnesota. Ending what had been 10 years of being not quiet good enough (or maybe it was white enough) for Kentucky fans. When Tubby decided to leave UGA for Kentucky I couldn't really fault him. Afterall UGA is a football school. I'm not sure that anything will ever change that, but had he stayed at UGA and continued winning at the level he was going. They would be naming buildings after him by now.

In Kentucky he took one of the top jobs in the country. There are not many schools that have the passion and tradition of Kentucky Basketball. However, no matter how well Tubby's teams did they never lived up to Ketucky expectations, which are always nothing short of National Championship. So, Kentucky has managed to run off one of the classiest coaches in the game, because he couldn't win enough. What Kentucky doesn't seem to realize is they no longer have the invincible aura that once surrounded the program. I remember the days when playing Kentucky for anyone else in the SEC was a guranteed L. You just hoped to keep it close and be competitive so that you didn't get embarassed. What Kentucky fans don't realize is the SEC today is not what it was in the 80's or even the 90's. The SEC is now a power conference in basketball as well as football. The defending national champs hail from the SEC and are playing in the Final Four this weekend. Kentucky is no longer the only team in the SEC and never will be again. You can expect Florida, LSU, and it appears UT to be annual threats for not only the SEC, but National Championships. Kentucky fans much like Alabama fans in the past still live the glory of yesterday. The days of one or two programs dominating any sport are gone. Now there will be up and down years for every program. Unfortunately for Tubby the fans in Kentucky just don't understand that.

So here's hoping that Tubby finds success at Minnesota and is able to thumb his nose at all those Wildcat fans who said he wasn't good enough the only way a classy guy like Tubby can. By winning.

Burrrr! Don't forget about DST!

2007-03-08T17:07:00.000-05:00

2007 The Year of Gay Photos

2007-01-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

Okay, you do it once and I'm willing to overlook it as just something that only warped individuals like myself would pick up on, but you do it twice and it starts to be a trend.
Only 2 days after the longing passionate embrace pick of Tony Dungy and on Peyton Manning, in which Petyon looks to be waiting axiously for Dungy to plant a wet one on him, the wonderful people at CNNSI.com have given us another gem.

I'm not sure if that face is supposed to excite or strike fear into whomever he's apparently yelling at, but to me it looks more like he was in mid yell when someone suddenly jammed something up his back side. I know that getting a picture at a sporting event can be difficult, with everything in constant motion, but come on. This is the best somebody at SI had to offer? What were you drinking so much that you realized at the last minute you had to get a photo to justify your tickets and expense report? I'm not fan of the NBA or Steve Nash, but the guy deserves better than this. Nobody deserves to be immortalized on the internet for a pose like that.

As if anybody needs another reason to hate the Vols.

2006-10-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

Its not like most people, epescially me needs another reason to hate the Vols, but now their coaches have taken to taking cheap shots at guys on the side lines. A video review of the UGA vs UT game clearly shows that Roderick Moore, UT’s associate strength and conditioning coach delivered a nice shoulder charge to Tre Battle at the end of a play. The Knoxville News Sentinel even has a video clip of the play. Of course all the offical responses in Knoxville claim the hit was accidental as if Coach Moore suddenly forgot he was at a football game and didn't notice the guy in the bright red jersey and helmet running down the sideline. UGA's offical response is of no complaint that stuff like that happens, but really what else do you expect from Richt its not like he can do anything about it if the SEC and UT won't.

Coach Moore shows another unsuspecting DB who's the man.

It's not really like anyone has ever accussed Tennessee of running a classy program with young men who are great examples to the youth in the community. In fact the off field antics of the UT program are legendary, but when it comes to the coaches you don't generally expect the thugish behavior to be shown on the sideline. Woody Hayes was fired for hitting a player and there are plenty of people who like to talk about how hickish and trashy Ohio State is, but at least they followed through and fired the greatest coach in their school's history. At UT its apparently perfectly acceptable to strike an opposing player as long as you don't acknowledge him and just claim you never saw the player running down the sideline.

Living Up to the Stereotype

2006-10-16T14:31:00.000-04:00

All I can say is LOL. A friend of mine routinely makes the comment that social and racial stereotypes exist for a reason. That reason is that somewhere down the line the associated behavior has proven to be true more times than not, and while it may not be fair to classify a whole group by the action of a few it's hard not to sometimes. That would be the case of the brawl Saturday night between the "U" and FIU. As if its not bad enough that the fight is a huge embarrassment to both football programs and universities the comments made by former Miami player Lamar Thomas are the icing on the cake. The only thing Miami players could've done to reinforce the already well established stereotype of a thug school would've been to flash a few gang signs during the brawl and mug a few of the fans in the stands or stop the team bus on the way back to the dorms to knock off a liquor store before hitting the showers. The only funny thing is that when my Dad saw the fight during highlights while watching the Florida Auburn game he said that anywhere else that would be a disgrace, but at Miami the fans are probably proud. Little did we know that as the fight was going on Thomas was cheering on his boyz from Thug U as they brawled with FIU even insinuating that the fight was not only a positive thing, but just what you should expect when playing football vs Miami.

I've always been a bit of a Larry Coker fan, but if you need any more evidence that he has lost control of his team, then look no further than what happened Saturday night. At most schools that would've been the nail in the coffin for a coach already on one of the hottest seats in the country. Of course we are talking about the U here, and with great Alumnus like Michael "coke head" Irvin and Thomas a fight like that could be just the thing to get Coker one more year.

Dawg's Put In Place, Again!

2006-10-14T16:07:00.000-04:00

That's what the AJC should have on the front page of the AJC again this Sunday. For the second week in a row the UGA team got embarrassed at home, this time by a Vanderbilt team that failed to even beat Ole Miss. All that Georgia can do now is play for pride and try to be a spoiler in 2 weeks in Gainesville. Once again our soft zone had us getting lit up on defense. While the team did play somewhat better, when it came down to it they couldn't make a play to end the game. Granted some of that blame falls on the kicker who missed the go ahead field goal, but that's always been the story for Bailey. Good Kid, good leg, decent accuracy, but chokes under pressure. Then that could be the slogan for this year's UGA team.

Purdue begs for Bulldog Vote

2006-10-10T10:15:00.000-04:00

While my political views are far from unbiased especially, when it comes to the Govenor race in Georgia. You need only have wittnessed my "No Way" response to the 2 or 3 dozen volunteers handing out Bulldog's for Sonny stickers before the Colorado game to know where my loyalty lies. And the fact that Perdue takes every opportunity to remind everyone that he in fact once played for the Bulldogs is nothing new. Even though as big a deal as he tries to make it you'd think he was an All-American not the walk on he actually was. Despite all this I was still a little surprised to see the article on the front page of the AJC.com today about Perdue's apparent letter of protest against AJC for their Sunday headline belittling the Bulldogs. Personally I didn't read the Sunday paper. To fresh was the memory of what happened Saturday night that in my state of denial I attempted to block out the memory of the night before and the nightmare of what happened to my Bulldogs. However, the fact that the AJC chose to run a not so nice headline about the total and complete collapse of the UGA football team in the second half really shouldn't surprise anyone, since that's what happened. Our good Governor however saw the headline as such a crime against not just the University of Georgia, but the entire state of Georgia that it warranted a written reprimand. I personally wonder if the letter of protest came escorted by a group of Ben Franklin's in protest, and for the face time it provided the good Govenor. Anyone who can't see Govenor Perdue's letter of protest as anything more than blatant pandering for votes is not doubt of the same crowd that believes that Mark Taylor is in fact doomed to Hell, because he is not a Republican. To such people all I can say is I worked for Gov. Perdue for over 3 years and in that time I received an unpleasant kick to the balls for all my hard work on an annual basis even when the economy improved. So forgive me if I'm not willing to give the good Govenor 4 more years to kick his employees in the balls.

Come on its just a kick in the balls. How bad could it really hurt?

Oh the Horror!

2006-10-09T09:30:00.000-04:00

There is perhaps no evil greater than that of the Big Organge Empire to the north. While in recent years the dogs have seemed to have an uncanny ability to upset and all together fluster the the Great Pumpkin and his legions of Orange clad followers. And through the first two quarters of Saturday nights game much to my surprise it seemed that the forces of evil were again going to be foiled. For an entire half of football the Big Orange Nation was in shock as the Dawgs pounded them in every way imaginable. Its hard to believe that anything could've gone more in our favor during that first half, with the exception of stopping that final drive that allowed UT to cut our lead to 17. However with a 17 point lead and the way our D had been playing lights out for the first part of the season victory was almost assurred, but for one wicked prophecy from the Great Orange evil who must not be named. Going into his locker room to regroup and replinsh his powers with a fresh bucket of KFC the Great Pumpkin made a comment not of despair, but of fortold evil to come by proclaiming that it was not a matter of stopping UGA, but rather would the forces of good ever be ever to slow down the offense of the Great Orange Juggernaut. Of course we all laughed. It was like the threat of condemned man shouting curses to the multitudes gathered to watch his execution, and then to our horror it came true.

I'm not entirely sure where the blame or the praise for what happens belongs. Was it a complete inability of the Georgia team to do anything right on O or D, or was it purely superior execution by the other team. My biased opinion is that our own mistakes and inability to react to what was being thrown at us was our undoing, but that is probably due to not being able to acknowledge a job well done by anyone wearing the Orange and White. The truth is probably somewhere in between. A little bit of exploitation of our bend and never firm up defense versus our supposed experienced QB making mistakes you expect from one of the more talented Freshmen. At least the freshmen have the talent to awe you, where as the less gifted Senior if he is not consistent and safe gives you nothing to work with. Our heretofore, stellar Defense was as pourous as swiss cheese. Our soft cover 2 defense designed to keep everything in front of the safeties was a virtual playground for the UT QB and receivers who ran freely anywhere they wanted until they found space to make catches for no great amount, but just enough to move the chains. So in theory our defensive scheme was a success. UT had no big plays like they've used to score versus other teams instead they were content to widdle away the yardage, and let our defenders make tackles after a pitch and catch of 8-12 yards.

The most gut wrenching part of the entire things is not that we lost (I for one expected that), but rather that we allowed hope to rise to euphoric levels only to have it all crushed just as quickly as it came to be. Our own mistakes and inablility to make the required adjustments were our undoing, and unfortunately it is not a problem that is new to anyone who has followed UGA football. Willie Martinez may be a very capable defensive coordinator, but he is far from a superb DC. He is able to create a defensive scheme that can stop less talented teams and hold them in check, but against an offensive play caller with equal or greater talent Martinez is out matched. His bland play calling and conservative to the point of ineffective formations will continue to be our undoing. I for one have long been a critic of Mr. Martinez, and have felt that our drop in defensive production is directly proportional to loss of coaching talent that occurred, with the loss of Brian Van Gorder. I do not believe that Richt would ever make a coaching change unless he forced into it, and think Martinez will always do enough to keep his job, but that loyalty may also be the very thing that will always hold UGA back from being a truly top tier program.

Evil Genius just evil?

2006-09-01T10:32:00.000-04:00

The 2006 College Football Season offically kicked off last night. With several games across the country. The majority of the games were small conference and non Division 1 games, but it was football none the less. The night was highlighted by the SEC opener between South Carolina and Mississippi State.

One of the mysteries that I've been unable to understand all offseason is the obsession with the media that says South Carolina will be much improved and some people (Lou Hotlz) actually predict them to contend if not win the SEC East. My question is how? Lets face it the Gamecocks were a decent team last year, but they could've lost every game they won if the ball had bounced the other way on a couple of plays. Not to take anything away from wins over Florida and Tennessee, but lets face it both of those, epsecially the Florida game, were a case of the other team wetting the bed and getting lost in all the hype about the Ol' Ball Coach. Carolina returns basically the same team on offense that they had last year. They are improved at RB according to the media, and they have a stud at WR in Rice, but I know another team up on North Avenue with a super stud receiver and its never netted them more than 7-5. The problem with a stud wide receiver is that he only touches the ball x number of times a game. If the QB can't get him the ball or if the D just cheats to his side and constantly doubles him up it can be virtually impossible to get the ball to your superstar, unlike a QB or RB who can touch the ball practically every play. Perhaps Spurrier was holding back and not really showing anything for Georgia to study on film, but I saw a very pedestrian offense that looked like they had a hard time moving the ball or protecting their quarterback. The only thing USC had to their advantage was they were playing MSU.

The Generic Bulldogs as I've always called them. Look like they will duke it out once again to stay out of the SEC cellar. Their defense looked like world beaters. I'd expect everyone to have trouble with the Bulldogs this season, of course whether they are as dominant on the road will probably be the difference between a lot of blow outs or a lot of close losses. On the otherside of the ball however they looked atrocious. They had no offense to speak of especially in the passing game. If the Bulldogs had been able to move the ball even a little, then they'd have won that game last night. The cubbard isn't bare and their freshmen running backs looked to be very good, but its tough to win in the SEC when you are as one dimensional as they were last night. I'd say they can expect 9+ men in the box from almost everyone they play.

A good way to start the day

2006-08-29T08:25:00.000-04:00

I'm basically just ripping this off somebody else's blog, but the video was to good to let it go without posting a copy of my own. My only complaint with the video is it starts a little quiet, and I can't turn my speakers up here in the office, which of course might be why I can't hear the beginning.

Go DAWGS!

Stafford will be the one

2006-08-23T16:44:00.000-04:00

In an article in the Tennesseean of all places today there is a brief interview with Jay Cutler. The author of the article said he recently asked Cutler, who had been a "coach" at a recent quarterback camp, who was the best quarterback at the camp, and specifically what he thought of Tim Tebow and would he be the next great SEC quarterback. Cutler's response should make any UGA fan excited about the future.

“The best was the kid going to Georgia,” Cutler said. “That kid is the real deal. He was by far the best out of the group.”

I tend to agree with the author of the article in that who better to assess talent and determine who has what it takes to be sucessful in the SEC, than the guy who did it at Vanderbilt of all places.

Decision Day

2006-08-18T08:10:00.000-04:00

According to the AJC today the final decision on who will start Georgia's opening game on September 2 will be decided by the end of this weekend. While Richt still isn't doing anything to tip his hand it seems they have a good idea of who the starter will be, but they are waiting until after today's scrimmage to make their decision. Everything still points to Richt and his coaching staff going the safe route and playing the senior, Joe Tereshinski, with Stafford and possibly one of the other guys getting some snaps in the opener. The general opinion appears to be Tereshinski will be given his chance, but the first time he slips up or fails to get a win, then the Stafford will move in. The more I read into the situation though I'm starting to wonder. If theat was the case why not just name Joe the starter and Stafford the number 2 and go with it. I think the Richt would like to see one of his quarterbacks really step up and win the job out right. I have no idea if anyone has done it, but I have a hunch that Stafford will be the starter. To me thats the only reason to keep dragging out this decision is that the freshman has shown enough that the coach's are ready to see him play sooner rather than later.

The starter on opening day? My spider sense says yes.

Be the squirrel

2006-08-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

For all those schools currently seeking new mascots thanks to the NCAA cleaining up the image of college football by ridding us of any mascot that might be considered offensive. I offer the ultimate answer. BE THE SQUIRREL! Not only can you make easy money off all those stuffed animals you can sale to the kiddies, but lets face it squirrels are a dime a dozen. How hard could it possibly be to take care of a squirrel. Plus lets face it they basically all look the same you could replace Ole' Nutter and who would be the wiser? Of course nobody wants a mascot just because its cute. However, after a squirrel in Florida held an entire park hostage as he attacked anyone who entered his territory. Granted that squirrel met a sad fate at the end of the day, but that's the scarriest part about squirrels. They're everywhere....

Prize Recruit Stolen from Tennessee

2006-08-08T10:53:00.000-04:00

This rumor first began its dance around the internet earlier this morning, but it was made offical at a press conference today. Oklahoma has found a replacement for Rhett Bomar for next season. For anyone who has lived in a cave for the last week you might have missed the fact that Bomar was suspsended for accepting money for work he didn't do. To Bob Stoops credit he quickly dismissed Bomar from the team and dashed the National Championship dreams dancing in so many Sooners heards. While this season will still be a long difficult road that will no doubt see Oklahmoa struggle to equal its record from last year there is now a beacon of hope for all the Boomer Sooners drowning their sorrows.

AP Photo: Uncle Rico Commits to OU.

Uncle Rico has comitted to Oklahoma. Uncle Rico had been close to comitting to Tennessee, until the details of the Bomar scandal came out. Apparently Uncle Rico had a change of heart. Uncle Rico had this to say at his press conference with Bob Stoops: "I'd really like to appologize to the Big Orange nation. I was looking forward to moving to Knoxvegas and seeing some of that southern hospitality first hand. There's nothing that gets my blood boiling like big bangs and spandex, but this is a once in a life time oppourtunity. Do you realize how much spandex you can buy with a deal like this. I mean getting paid for not working. Thats the American dream."

Stoops who was not allowed to comment on Uncle Rico until after signing day made the following statement: "A guy like Uncle Rico could really come in and turn this program around. I look forward to working with him next spring."

When asked when he might be making the move to Norman Uncle Rico commented that he had already gassed up the van and was planning to be there by Thursday night. When asked why Thursday night, he made the following statement as he climbed aboard his van; "Lady's night. Lady's night every Thursday how can a guy miss that?"

Clip from Uncle Rico's recriting video

NIck Jone Article

2006-08-08T08:21:00.000-04:00

The AJC has a great article today about Nick Jones. Eventhough he's undersized for a lineman in the SEC Jones has moved from guard to center for UGA this year. I thought I had fairly small hands, but according to the article Nick can still wear his little league glove. Not that I'd ever make fun of a guy who could basically eat me as a snack or anything, but 6'3" and 296 with hand the size of an 8 year old is...well freaky.

Nick Jones forced to use 2 hands to recover the ball.

Like anybody who's ever played in the SEC with a smaller than average build, Nick is all heart. Which to be perfectly honest aside from being smart and recognizing blitzes and shifting the line accordingly there is nothing more that you could ever ask from the big guy. Here's hoping he can do his part to get those young pups ready to go on the offensive line.

More Marcelo Balboa for everyone!

2006-08-01T12:38:00.000-04:00

According to ESPN, John Harkes has joined Bruce Arena as an assitant for the NY Red Bulls. Harkes is one of the best players to ever put on a US jersey eventhough thats probably the equivalent of saying he's one of the best players to put on a Vandy jersey. Not that it takes anything away from Harkes, but US Soccer isn't exactly a factory of world class players. Just the same he was always one of my personal favorites. And a lot of credit goes to guys like Wynalda, Harkes, and Tab Ramos for laying the ground work for today's US team. It will also be interesting to watch the rebuilding project going on in NY and see how long it takes Areana and company to turn things around. The only draw back to Harkes moving to the side lines is the seat he vacates in the press booth. While Harkes isn't the John Madden or Harry Carrey of calling soccer games, he is miles ahead of his former US teammate. I for one was hoping that following the World Cup maybe Harkes would bump Balboa and friends from the "#1" broadcast team, however now it looks more like soccer fans in the US will be treated to a smorgasborg of Marcelo Balboa stupidity.

Just looking at this picture will make you soccer IQ drop 50 points.

Landon Donovan: Poster boy of US Soccer

2006-07-20T16:39:00.000-04:00

Nothing is more true. Landon Donovan is the face of US Soccer and the MLS. No other US player represents the full spectrum of ups and downs that the US has experienced over the last 8 years. He has gone from being a player not good enough for european competition to a potential world class star, back to being the best player on a mediocre team. The ESPN article describes it very well. To his credit Landon admits his play at the World Cup wasn't what it should've been. He made no excuses except to say the US team didn't play as well as it should've or could've. Probably the hardest part is the World Cup only comes along every 4 years. So Donovan and the rest of the US Soccer team will have to wait another 4 years to prove to the world that 2002 wasn't a fluke. That they really can compete with the best in the world on any given day. If what Donovan said in the ESPN interview is true and he really did learn as much as he says he did from the World Cup maybe there really is hope for the US in 2010. Unfortunately 4 years is a long time and a lot of things will chage between now and then.

Sometimes he really is that good.

Another QB to UGA

2006-07-19T08:32:00.000-04:00

I'm not really sure how Richt is pulling this off. I can't really remember any team having so many highly rated quarterbacks committing year after year. Of course maybe I'm just tainted from the Jim Donnan era, when he felt the need to run off all other quarterbacks and certainly didn't recruit them unless they were needed. But for the 4th straight year Richt has recruited another top tier QB. Logan Gray is ranked in the top 11 by Rivals, and was highly sought after by a lot of schools, but particularly Auburn. Of course maybe that is part of the strategy behind recruiting so many top tier QBs. If they are sitting on your bench they can't help the other guy beat you. While its really early in the game to be thinking about Georgia's recruiting class for 2007, assuming that nobody jumps ship or fails to qualify it looks like the Dawgs are on their way to landing another top class.

How old do you think I am?

2006-07-19T07:58:00.000-04:00

"The Beaneaters keep popping up every afternoon," Cox said. "Way back. I wasn't around then. It's kind of strange to be talking about those kinds of records, at all."

That has to be one of the funniest quotes I've seen in a while. The fact that Bobby Cox felt the need to let reporters know he wasn't around back, when the Beaneaters were setting records in 1897, just strikes me as funny. I'm sure he said it as a joke, but it kind of makes you wonder just how old is Cox if he needs to clarify he wasn't around in 1897.

There can be only one!

And just how long does he intend to be the manager for the Braves and does he use a tomahawk to chop off the heads of his enemies?

Germans are a lot like elephants...

2006-07-12T08:22:00.000-04:00

They don't forget. Unfortunately for the German soccer team, their coach hasn't been in America long enough to be as forgetful as they had hoped. Just a few months ago Jurgen Klinsmann could've resigned and very few German fans would've cared. In fact after a 4-nil loss to Italy a lot of people were calling for his head. If the German team had lost to the US in a friendly back in the spring, the odds are pretty good that Klinsmann would've been run out before he even got the chance to coach in the World Cup. He didn't and Germany went on to an amazing third place run. The German press compared the Germans run to the US mircale on ice hockey team. I think thats a bit of a strecth, after all the German team is filled with professionals and has 3 or 4 international superstars, but they are a very young team. Take away Lehman, Ballak, and Kahn and the rest of that German team doesn't really get you excited. Klinsmann had a lot to do with that run too. He changed the way Germany plays soccer. From the sometimes boring and robotic to a more fluid and exciting form. I guess thats surprising considering that would describe pretty well how Klinsmann played the game.

Oh yeah, Klinsmann was a playa.

Klinsmann offically announced that he would not resign to coach the German team yesterday. In a lot of ways it makes sense. That thrid place run meant Germany played way over thier head. The odds of Klinsmann getting them to play like that again in Euro '08 or the World Cup in 2010 aren't very good. Plus with the third place finish come the expectations of "you finished 3rd last time the next step is a championship." Eventhough I think it had more to do with all that talk about canning him back in the spring. Personally I'd kindly give the finger to my critics and walk away a winner too.

Of course all this opens up an interesting scenario for US Soccer. A lot of people have jumped off the Bruce Arena band wagon following the World Cup.

The Bruce Arena Bandwagon is a lonely place these days...

Even the head of US Soccer hasn't said anything definate about Area's future. It was even rumored in the Brittish press that Klinsmann was offerred the US job during the tournament. Obviously Klinsmann and the head of US Soccer both denied that claim, but it would be an interesting combination. Klinsmann who has now had success with an underperforming and under-talented German team would seem a pretty good fit for a US team that may have come as far as it can with its current coach. Klinsmann already lives in California and would have a better idea of how to work with US athletes as opposed to other European coaches. I would think within the next couple of weeks we'll hear one way or another, but if he's willing to take the reins of US Soccer I think Klinsmann could be a good fit, and might be what the US team needs in order to take the next step and be competitive against the world powers of soccer.

The void that is July

2006-07-11T12:47:00.000-04:00

Its finally here. The most dreaded month for any sports nut, July. It's time once again to pretend you care about Nascar, middle of the season MLB, or if you really want to stretch it golf or tennis. July has to be the single worst month for sports. Not to mention its freaking hot outside, so who wants to do anything besides sit on couch.

Maximillian is taking your sports fun and throwing it in his Black Hole called July.

Granted July 2006 has had the World Cup to help ease the pain. By the time most of us realize we are in the nothingness of July it will be half over. There's still those last two weeks though when the only thing you can count on to keep you sane until the bliss of August and college football is alcohol and NCAA 2007.

The only thing good to come out of July

Unfortunately NCAA 07 was pushed back two weeks and isn't coming out until next Tuesday July 18. Until then I guess I'll try to fight off the shakes and nightmares that come with sports withdrawl.

Leave Zidane Alone!

2006-07-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

At first I was a little suprised to see an article from Dr. Z about the World Cup game. I have to admit I try to find time to read his columns on pro football just because I like the fact that he's different from what you read from almost anyone else. So of course I had to read his article about the Zidane blow up. I was actually suprised to see Dr. Z defending Zidane.

Dude his chest ran right into my head!

Everything else I've read has talked about how his legacy is now tainted and he missed his chance at greatness. You don't acheive greatness by one good game or even one good tournament, and I don't think you cease to be a great player, because you lost your head one time. The ESPN/ABC coverage has been horribly hypocritical (on top of just being horrible for the most part). They'll cry about the sins of diving for 15 minutes and then when, a "star" takes a fall a gets a call it suddenly become a good sale. Sorry to disappoint Marcello Balboa, but maybe you should go back to working on cars or whatever it is you do, when the national team isn't on TV(get a hair cut). Its still a dive even if its Ronaldinho, Henry, or Beckham. You can't call it a dive for Portugal and a part of the beautiful game, when its one of the media darlings. The same rule applys to Zidane's greatness. For the past 3 games its been almost sickening to listen to the commentators climb all over themselves to see who can praise Zidane the most. I was waiting for them to announce that he had been annointed to sainthood by the Pope. Now suddenly he gets mad as he has had a history of doing throughout his career, when he fells like the other team is taking cheap dives or playing dirty and he instantly goes from St. Zidane to some sort of demonic figure who will no doubt bring about the ruin of soccer as we know it.

Heart of a champion

2006-07-06T09:50:00.000-04:00

Ah nothing screams champion like the tearful cries of a bunch of soar losers. Which is exactly what the Portugese team is coming off as from the post game interviews of their players. They (and by they I mean Ronaldo and Ricardo Carvallho) state that their team was just as deserving of a win as France, but the Ref called a bad game that unfairly favored the French side.

"But I'm the greatest diver in Portugal. How can you not give me the call?"

I think the Portugese just finally ran into a ref who didn't call every little flop and dive. Granted I'm not sure why. I posted after the US v Italy game that Apu was one of the worst refs I'd ever seen. I guess he read my blog, because he looked like a completely different ref. He made none of the bad calls and never went for a card until it was obvioulsy deserved.

This is not to say the Portugese played bad. They actually played a very competitive game. After all its not like France was ever able to put them away, and Ronaldo in particular was dominant in the game. It was probably his best performance of the tournament. I just disagree that the ref had anything to do with the outcome. Besides he saved us all from the fate of an Itallian-Portugese final and the specatacle that would've resulted...

Nothing says championship soccer like competitive diving!

So here's hoping that Zidane can finish out his amazing run, and maybe just maybe the commentators will give Henry some credit when he can't score on every ball hit to him. I know Zidane is a great player and this is an amazing run, but the dude isn't perfect occasionaly those passes that his teammates mishandle are because it was a bad pass and not the inability of Henry, Ribbery, or whoever else to skillfully anitcipate and handle the gift sent from Zidane.

Who's in and who's out at QB.

2006-06-30T08:08:00.000-04:00

The AJC had one of those quick hitter columns today about the quarterback situation at UGA. I always love these things. To me it looks like somebody came up with an excuse to get to go to Athens for the day on the company, and these little articles are what they turn in to justify the trip and the beer tab.

While short this one made me think. The short summary basically says who is going to transfer at the end of the year. Being a graduate of the class of '99 I was there for the Donnan years and the terrible fall out that happened when Donnan named Quincy Carter the QB over the guys who were already there. Within a year our deep talent pool at qb was reduced to nothing as all 3 back ups transferred out.

Any Dawg fans remember this classic?

Of course no Dawg fan needs reminding of how that whole story went. I still have nightmares about that 5 interception game vs the Gamecocks. While I don't think Stafford will be the next Quincy Carter, its easy to see a similar scenario unfolding. Anyone who watched the G-Day game this past spring knows that there was Stafford and then there were the rest of the qbs. Terreshinski will get his chance and will be the starter on opening day. How long he remains the starter is up to him. As soon as he slips up the Matthew Stafford era will begin. The problem with that is what about Blake Barnes and Joe Cox? Sure you have Joe T and Stafford for next year, but the following year the last thing I want to see is Stafford and a walk on or a true freshman as his back up. From the comments made in the AJC article though it sounds like Barnes has excepted that he's just a back up and is ok with that role. Cox on the other hand probably already has his transfer papers filled out. Not that I could blame either guy for transfering. They were both high ranked big recruits, especially Cox, and could easily go somewhere else and start. Lets just hope the cubbard isn't left comeplety bare next fall.

2006-06-28T16:02:00.000-04:00

Natalie's First Cereal

Natalie trying her best to spit out anything we put in.

That's just what we call Coach Speak Baby!

2006-06-26T12:47:00.000-04:00

Someone really should get somebody to translate for CNNSI. Apparently nobody with their soccer coverage has ever heard of coach speak.

That's just what we call "coach speak", Baby. - Bruce Campbell

The most kicked around names to replace Bruce Arena if he is let go has been Jurgen Klinsmen, the German coach. Aparently, some genius decided it would be a good idea to just ask him if he was interested in the job at the press conference following Germany's victory over Sweden. Klinsmen's contract is up some time this year, and he hasn't said what he will do afterwards, but seeing as his team is still playing at least through next weekend Klinsman answered the only way he could.

"That doesn't interest me at all," said Klinsmann, reacting to speculation in the German media Monday that he was been lined up to replace Bruce Arena after the U.S. team's first-round exit at the World Cup. "At the moment, I'm only interested in my job and that has to continue to the final."

For anyone who doesn't follow sports more than casually that's what is commonly referred to as coach speak. Meaning they give you the answer they are supposed and don't give anything away about what they are planning. Why would Klinnsman come out and mess with his team's head a couple of days before their huge game with Argentina, by putting into doubt whether he plans to coach them again. Here's a news flash for the geniuses at CNNSI. You could ask any coach in the quarter finals about what they are planning to do after the World Cup and they'd give you that answer almost verbatim. The only exception might be Sven Erickson with England, who is getting the boot after the tournament, and even he would only alter so much as to say that would be something to consider after the tournament. Nobody is talking about what they are going to do after the tournament, until they lose. Any coach worth a crap is focused on who they play next and how to get his team to the quarter finals or the semis. Nobody is going to go blabbing to the press about how they are considering 20,000 job offers instead of focusing on the job at hand and how to win.

Worst Ref Ever?

2006-06-19T09:51:00.000-04:00

I heard Alexi Lalas or Eric Wynalda one say that "Players can win games, Coaches plan to win games, but Refs can ruin games." It also reminds me of that old saying, "You never want to see a call decide the game." Well technically a blown call didn't change the result of the game. Eventhough it certainly took what looked to have the makings of a titanic clash and made it into something more along the lines of that action packed Saudia Arabis vs Tunisa match up. Granted its just kind of a thing with sports. Watch any sport long enough or follow any team close enough and eventually you'll get screwed over by a bad call or be left screaming at a ref, but generally its one or two things, and not the entire game. I think the worst part of the whole story though was that the same ref who took ref sucking to a whole new level was suspended before the last World Cup and not allowed to participate. So basically you suck it up and get suspended and then 4 years later they give you the chance to screw up all over again. What a wonderful organization Fifa is. :(

LARRIONDA Jorge
Nationality: Uruguay
Role: Referee
Date of birth: 9 March 1968
Height: 176 (cm)
Weight: 74 (kg)
Referee since: 1 January 1998
First international : Chile v Bolivia (20 June 1999)
Place of residence: MONTEVIDEO
Country of residence: Uruguay
Mother language: Spanish
Other languages: English
Occupation: Clerk
General interests: Breeding animals (birds, dogs, parrots, etc)
Best memory: FIFA Confederations Cup France 2003 semi-final: France v Turkey; 2004 Olympic Football Tournament Bronze Medal Match: Italy v Iraq

Thats the refs bio. Anyone else notice something a little "surprising" there. Look at his occupation. The dude is a convience store clerk. He works with Apu at the Quick E Mart. Besides showing that he has a high school education level, that means the bozo was selling smokes and gas, until the wonderful people at Fifa decided it would be a good idea to let him ruin a World Cup game.

The next great Fifa Ref?

Best Goal So Far?

2006-06-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

Best goal of the World Cup? Kid Rock thinks so.

This is possibly the best goal so far in the World Cup. The video shows a replay of the goal. Its made even more spectacular by the run of Puyols that leads to the assist. Its just a nice goal. You want real proof though, just ask my wife. Even she said that this is an awesome goal. This was a dominating performance by Spain. I've seen a lot of the games, and I really like the way the Spanish team played. Most teams get up 1 or 2 goals and hit the breaks. The spanish team just kept going. I kept waiting for the camera to pan to the sideline and show Spurrier talking into his headset.

Say it ain't so Jim Bob. Say it ain't so....

2006-06-06T13:52:00.000-04:00

Tennessee reserve quarterback Jim Bob Cooter, a fan favorite and one of the brightest players on the team, has been suspended indefinitely after his arrest early Saturday morning on a drunken driving charge near campus. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said Cooter, a fifth-year senior, would miss the Sept. 2 opener against California.
-- The Tennessean

While every fan college football fan in America has waited patiently for the day, when Jim Bob Cooter would take his riteful place as the Volunteer quarterback. Its a shame his day in the spot light comes only after spending to much time in the neon lights. Why they won't give this kid his shot is beyond me. With a name like Jim Bob Cooter he was born to play at UT.

Why America refuses to watch Soccer.

2006-06-05T09:05:00.000-04:00

Arena points to baseball and basketball, where U.S. teams have lost in international competitions but Americans continue to claim to be the best.

"We have our nice little, not little, our nice professional leagues where we call whoever turns out the winner the world champion, which is the most bizarre thing I've ever heard, and never win a world championship in any of these sports anymore," Arena said. "This [World Cup] is it. This is the real world champion.

"You don't understand that, because you're so used to Nashville beats Jacksonville, we're going to party in the streets. This is the best teams in the world in the most competitive sport in the world, and if we can build an American team to that stage, that's pretty impressive. We've come a long way in a short period of time."

That strange burning smell is the result of American sports fans taking a nice shot from Bruce Arena this weekend. The Coach makes an excellent point about the nonexistant dominance in sports that we supposedly win world championships in every year. When was the last time a US basketball team played anywhere near their supposed level of talent. And if anything the World Baseball Classic this spring showed just how far the US is from dominating anymore.

I've read alot of articles over the last week with one reason or another as to why US sports fans refuse to give any attention to professional soccer. While reasons like pace of the game and lack of scoring are all true to some degree, I think the truth of the matter is there is a little predjudice in any US sports fan. We want to believe that we are the best at anything. That we have the best athletes, the best fans, and the greatest teams. The truth is we don't even have those things in the sports we supposedly dominate. If you really take a minute to think about it. The reason the average sports fan doesn't like professional soccer is very simply we aren't very good at it. US sports fans don't like soccer, because we aren't the best, heck until the last World Cup we were a joke to the rest of the world. You can say what you want about the pace of the game, and all I'll say is Baseball. Talk to me about scoring and I'll say take a few hours and watch Brazil, Argentina, or one of the other high powered offenses at the world cup. There will be no shortage of scoring or at least offensively minded play. Plus there is always the argument of Baseball and Hockey for other low scoring games. (Say what you want hockey was on the rise, until those bozos killed themselves with a strike.)

In fact there is only one sport that the US can claim real dominance in. That would be American Football. Don't get me wrong I love football as much as anyone. When August comes along I swear off Sunkist and wouldn't be caught dead in anything orange. My heart bleeds red and black and I'll live and die with the fortunes of my team, but lets face the facts. The US "dominates" at football the same way Taco Bell dominates at making fast food mexican food. We are the only ones who play it, so of course we are the best. Plus anyone who trys to sell the greatness of football has to answer for NFL Europe and its low numbers as well as all the other spin off leagues that have had a go of it and failed. Granted it could just be the rest of the world showing the same prejudice for our football as we show for theirs, but its not like we can claim we don't deserve it.

All I'm saying through all this is sit down at some point over the next month. Find a schedule and then look up a good game. The Netherlands vs Argentina game on June 21 would be my must see game for the first round. Or if nothing else tune in to one of the US games. Personally I find nothing as exciting as the underdog Americans taking on the rest of the world at their game and winning, withe the rest of the world cheering against us.

The joke that is Barry Bonds

2006-05-23T14:12:00.000-04:00

Poor poor Barry. In his own little steriod blurred world I'm sure he's the good guy. He's never cheated (or at least done anything that everyone else wasn't doing). His latest is a classic though. Just three years after saying he'd erase Babe Ruth from all Baseball legend, Bonds has found that not everyone has the same short term memory loss he suffers from. So keep on shooting up Barry. I'm sure in a few years everyone will forget how you cheated your way into the record books. Nobody will remember all those accusations of steriod use and creams and needles. We'll all remember the good old days when you were a much smaller version of your current self. And say what a player. Yeah right.

A Proud Poppa

2006-05-17T12:46:00.000-04:00

Out of lack of anything else to post today I'm putting up a pic of Natalie.

UEFA Championship

2006-05-15T10:52:00.000-04:00

ESPN2

FC Barcelona vs. Arsenal FC
Wed., May. 17 at 2:30 pm ET

This game has serious deja vu. Its eerilly similar to last year. The underdog English squad versus the powerhouse from the european mainland that is supposed to clean their clock. This game features probably my two favorite players. Thierry Henry for Arsenal and Ronaldinho for Barcelona. Ronaldinho is hands down the best player in the world. His dribbling is just amazing, and he can do things with the ball that are just mind boggling. However, the more I watch Henry the more I like him. He's just a hard nosed player with so much talent. In Arsenals semi final match vs Villareal he basically had a poor game, but did what few stars, especially forwards, ever do. He tracked back on D. He even made a couple of key stops to slow down the Villa attack. In the day of me first egos and ESPN highlights. There just aren't many athletes in any sport who do the little things. I'm personally looking forward to this match. Its the Aresnal D, which hasn't conceded a goal the entire tournament vs the star power of Barcelona. It should be an awesome game.

No Twellman?

2006-05-05T08:20:00.000-04:00

The US World Cup Roster was released this week. In my opinion there was only one real surprise. No Taylor Twellman. I just don't understand how Arena chose Brian Ching over Twellman. I've seen Ching play several times on TV and once live, and have never been impressed. He seems to lack a finishing touch and never seems to able to find the back of the net, which for a forward is basically job 1. Like somone says in that article if Ching does well nobody will question Arena. If he struggles people will wonder why the choice was made. Of course its probably a moot point since McBride is starting and either Landon Donnovan or Eddie Johnson will be the other forward. I'd imagine Ching will only get playing time if the US is winning their group or if somebody gets hurt.

Revenge of the Techies

2006-05-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

While they aren't orange nothing gets under my skin more than a bunch of tech fans running off at the mouth. There's nothing greater than a program with a winning tradition slightly greater than Vanderbilt talking about how great they almost were. I know a few weeks back there was a lot of talk about the movie "We Are Marshall" being shot here in Atlanta. I was a little surprised to find out about this from CNN instead of the AJC, because surely a movie about nerds in college would have to have auditions for parts from the Nerd Factory on North Avenue.

One of North Avenue's Finest

Bruce Arena the Vince Lombardi of US Soccer?

2006-05-01T10:27:00.000-04:00

Grant Wahl of CNNSI has a great article about Bruce Arena. Its mostly excerpts from his article in SI this week, but its good read about what makes Arena such a great coach. While I don't really see the US team being able to turn any heads this year, the schedule probably means an early exit, I think in the next 4-6 years the US is going to score a major upset of the kind that will stand the soccer world on it's head, and Bruce Arena is going to be a major reason why. I'm not sure if it will come in the form of the US making the semis at a World Cup or if it will come with a signifigant win over one of the top teams. I think there will always be a little bit of a second citizen status for US Soccer, until they get that win. The rest of the world views the US the same way they view Nigeria, Korea, and even Mexico. Sure they have some good players and win a few games here and there, but they aren't on the same level as the elite teams of the world.

There Shall Be Wailing and the Gnashing of Teeth....

2006-04-27T16:03:00.000-04:00

That awful sound heard last Friday was not the sound of eternal judgement, but the weeping of the Big Orange Nation. It seems the second coming of Peyton Manning and the saviour of all things Volunteer has betrayed the love and affection heaped upon his brothers. Thats right Jimmy "Heisman" Clausen has given his verbal comittement to the Fighting Irish.

Thats Right Jimmy will be playa hatin'
in South Bend.

When reached for comment Phillip Fulmer could only make the following hand jester. The UT AD made a comment about feeding time as they cleared the room.

Believed to be sign language for Double Whopper extra everything.

European Soccer 101

2006-04-20T15:30:00.000-04:00

Granted this has nothing to do with UGA or any of its rivals, but I found this to be a very interesting read. I would say I'm one step above just a casual soccer fan, but no where near die hard. I even have a fantasy team for the EPL. Just the same this article does a good job of outlining the basics of European Football.

2006-04-20T10:18:00.000-04:00

What better way to make my first post than with a picture of Peyton on his most embarrassing night.