This head movie makes my eyes rain...

Oh, if only it were a dream. A while back I posted the State of the Bulldog Nation. Apparently the UGA football program decided to go in another direction. Same bad fundamentals, same inexcusable special teams, same God-awful horrible special teams. Richt is teetering on the edge. He looks unprepared against well-coached teams and seems to have no sense of game management. Right now, the only thing that would make me feel as if he even wants to be at UGA is if he were to come out and state, for the record, that he is naming himself Special Teams Coordinator. Field position has killed us since 2006 and it has to stop.

Enough is freaking enough!!

I have not heard or seen one thing from the UGA Athletic Department that would signal they were interested in Bobby Knight. Yet the assclowns at the Worldwide Leader reported that "rumors swirl" that UGA is interested in Knight. Bullshit. The 80 year old douche Furman Bischer writes some swill about Knight and UGA and now once again our basketball program is a national joke. If you wonder why I'm losing respect for ESPN and have lost all respect for The Nation's Largest Black Newspaper, this is why.

Chin up Dawgs

Yeah, it blows to lose to Florida in yet another contest. But seriously, did anyone really expect Felton's bricklayers to pull off the upset. It's been a rough year, but let's keep perspective. Last year, the football team finished #2, the basketball team won the SEC tournament, the Gym Dogs won another national title, tennis won a national title, and the baseball team made it to the finals of College World Series and were looking to win it before a HORRIBLE called 3rd strike resulted in a rally-killing double play.

Florida's on a roll right now, but we were on one just a year ago. Ride out the storm, it won't last forever.

We just want what's most beneficial for Georgia...

I lifted this from a 1982 SI article I found this morning. The crux of my post is that in 1982, UF was looking for a way out of its annual game with Miami and essentially was being called vaginas for it:

But the insults that most enraged the Gators were cries of "Chicken!" from Miami fans. Florida has indicated that its quest for greatness calls for a review of its schedule. That schedule, which includes six opponents from the Southeastern Conference as well as the state's other big-time football school, Florida State, might not have a spot for independent and private Miami next season, or ever after. It's not that Florida's afraid of Miami, y'understand. Florida wants to play Miami, but it prefers to do what, say,Alabama has always done. That is, load up the non-conference part of the schedule with cream puffs. No, no, not cream puffs, say the Gators. We just want to do what's most beneficial for Florida. Which is why Miami is calling Florida chicken. The Florida game is the biggest by far for UM, while Florida's opinion of the Hurricanes, though no Gator official would be caught dead saying it publicly, is "Who needs these guys?"

Now of course, Miami turned this back around on UF, playing the tried-and-true
tradition card:

Before this year's game, Schnellenberger said, "It's inconceivable in a series like this, that's gone 44 years with a one-year interruption for a major war, that suddenly there's a scheduling problem."

To which UF countered with "we don't really give a damn what you think because YOU are not looking out for OUR best interests":

At which Pell snapped, "Howard has never discussed it with me, and I don't like anybody telling anybody else what I think 'cause I'm quite capable of doing that myself." After that retort, Pell deferred all questions on scheduling to Athletic Director Bill Garr, who said, "We traditionally have played six conference games plus two intrastate rivals, and in 48 years we've never won an SEC title. Now, we're doing something wrong, am I right?"

Now, here's where I find this analagous to UGA's program. At this point, with 20 years of evidence at our disposal, I'd argue that playing Flordia in Jax every year isn't working anymore. While it would disappoint the people that go down to Jax for a weeklong drunkfest, it is in the best interest of our program to go home and home. Naturally, Florida and the national media, will give us hell if this happens. But, as was the case with Florida playing Miami every year when it already had a tough enough schedule, it doesn't really matter what people outside the program think. Go home and home, beat Florida roughly 50% of the time, and win a national championship after beating Florida either at home or on the road, and NO ONE will give a damn about having left Jax.

When will white embrace what's right?

When will black not be made to sit in the back? About 40 years ago.

When will brown stick around? Judging by the gas stations and hotels, not really a problem.

When can yellow mellow? Judging by the average Asian-American income, they can afford to mellow much more than I.

When can the red man get ahead man? When he puts down the bottle and finds some skills besides running a casino.

When will white embrace what's right? Like what? Freeing a country from a horrible dictator? Establishing the most prosperous country in the history of mankind? Facilitating the peaceful transfer of power? Freeing an entire continent from a fascist dictator? Embracing the only economic model in history what rewards innovation and hard-work?

Sorry, I didn't realize these petty accomplishments of white people were "wrong". God, I hate liberals.

The State of the Bulldog Union

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Bulldog Nation, Board of Regents, President Michael Adams douchebag, and Damon Evans, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak on the state of the UGA program, the year that was 2008, and our goals and expectations for 2009 and beyond.

2008 began for many in the Bulldog Nation in the Crescent City: eating sugary beignets, drinking 3 for 1 Bloody Marys at 9:30 a.m., and witnessing a #2 national finish. It is this Dawg fan’s wish that the 2009 season end, at worst, the same way.

2009 was supposed to began for the Bulldog Nation in Little Havana: eating plantains, drinking Mojitos, and witnessing our first national championship since 1980. As we are all aware, that did not happen.

The reasons why have been the subjects of much debate:

• Injuries. UGA was a walking M*A*S*H unit this year
• Line play. At its core, football is only two things: blocking and tackling. Both of those start at the line of scrimmage. Stacey Searles is the best O-Line coach in the country, but you can only coach around injuries and inexperience so much. I do however get a sense of optimism when I watch LSU’s offensive line, all recruited by and coached up by Searles. If we get that huge and that nasty, I’ll be very, very happen. And Ben Jones, I’m hoping you turn into the leader on the line I envision you being. The D-Line was another story. Certainly injuries hurt at well, especially to Owens. The Defensive Ends were banged up all camp and just didn’t get the practice they needed. Our Defensive Tackles coach is allegedly a great coach and recruiter, but this year there seemed to be a lack of talent and improvement at that position.
• Penalties. Call it lack of discipline, some bad luck, or even a payment for the 2007 Celebration and Blackout, but UGA got penalties in bunches in 2008. Watching the BCS National Championship game, we were reminded that both OU and UF were among the most penalized teams in the country. The difference this year was the timing of those penalties.
• Lack of Big Plays on Defense. Ironically, the most explosive offense we’ve had in 10 years was on the same team with a defense that just couldn’t get off the field when it mattered.
• Special Teams. This is a topic for a separate address. Lets just say they were….subpar.

Blow out losses to Alabama, Florida, and the GT debacle took the wind out of sails of a season that saw UGA open at #1. However, in retrospect, finishing the season #1 would have been a colossal accomplishment for this team. The brutal schedule we thought we had never fully bear its teeth, but it was still tough enough to be rated one of the hardest in the country. Of particular interest was not who we played, but WHEN we played them. We got Alabama after playing at Carolina and then having to travel ¾ of the way across the fruited plain. Then we got Florida after going to Death Valley. I could go on about our scheduling for days, but consider this: no SEC team played three consecutive road games. UGA however, played at LSU, in Jacksonville, at Kentucky, and at Auburn. Because UGA was the “home” team in Jacksonville, the league office didn’t consider our schedule as consisting of more than two consecutive road games. As you might have guessed, there will be more on this in the “goals and expectations for 2009 and beyond.”

Most disappointing about this season was that there never seemed to be any steady improvement as the year went on. Maybe that was due to having so many moving pieces with the injuries and line problems, but it is troubling as this was the first Richt team that I thought was better in week one than at the end of the year.

Having to watch UF win another national title is tough to swallow. Let’s not forget however, that a year ago UF’s situation wasn’t that different from ours today. Whether we make similar improvements will be a very telling sign about the direction of the program.

This brings us to the expectations for 2009. I personally feel that 2009, much like 2005, will be a defining year for the program. Winning when everyone is expecting a dropoff is the sign of a strong program. For that to happen, here are some things I want to see, along with some other general suggestions for the future of our program:

• Your new full time special teams coach: Mark Richt. Let’s not forget that before he was a head coach, Mark Richt was a hell of a coordinator. He knows X’s and O’s, he knows personnel, and he knows talent. Before he put in the “fast-break” no huddle offense at FSU, he didn’t know much about it. So he went to Buffalo, Tampa Bay, and other places that ran it and figured it out. He can do the same with special teams. Go to Virginia Tech, go to the Steelers, go wherever the hell you need to go, and let’s stop losing the field position battle in big games.
• A recommitment to sound, fundamental tackling. Our fundamentals started deteriorating around the same time Greg Blue decided he’d rather decapitate Steve Slaton instead of wrapping him up. The UGA identity must be hardnosed, fundamentally sound, physical defense. We’ve never won anything of any substance with any other formula. I know the injuries cut back the amount of live tackling in practice in 2008. Lesson learned; let’s never make that mistake again.
• Establishing a better home field advantage. Acoustics work against UGA, and there’s not a whole lot that can be done about that. The open endzone and the seats being so far from the field can’t really be changed. But there’s no reason Athens shouldn’t be as feared a venue as LSU, Auburn, etc. We just need to find a niche and stick with it. I thought the idea of the terrible towels in ’06 was good. But “I’m Georgia” was lame and the towels were too friggin’ big. At LSU and Auburn, the entire stadium uses the shakers. It looks awesome on TV and is noticeable to recruits. UF has the Gator Chomp. Even MSU has those stupid cowbells. We need to find something that is uniquely UGA that is instantly recognizable besides our mascot.
• A feeling that the team represents the ENTIRE state. GT doesn’t count. UGA is the state of GA. I mean running out with a state flag, more state flags in the stands, and an attitude that our state is better than our opponent’s, so our football team has to be too.
• Pissing in Florida’s cornflakes and not apologizing for it. The media loves Florida. Just like the news media would rather follow Barack to Hawaii than Bush to Crawford, the sports media is going to give Florida the benefit of the doubt no matter what. Before 1990, when UF had never won anything, the media still loved them and tried to convince everyone they were a football power. Now ESPN has Jessie Palmer, Erin Andrews, and Emmitt Smith working for them. Cris Colinsworth is on NBC. The Gator influence is everywhere. This is why it is CRITICALLY important for us to not take any shit from them. Punch them back. Call them names. Call timeouts in the last minute of any contest we’re beating them in. Do not apologize for it. Spurrier built UF into a winner primarily by understanding the importance of beating UGA. He got a bye week before UGA, and he beat us not only on the field, but in the media. In my mind, he single-handedly did more to create this notion that UGA isn’t UF’s equal than anyone else. 2007 was a start and I realize we had to eat some crow for it in 2008. But we CANNOT continue to treat Florida like they are better than us. THEY’RE NOT!! They just don’t waste their advantages and MAKE people beat them. Which is what we have to do. Getting the WLOCP to a home and home would be a great start.

Pure Class, Part the Second

If you happened to miss it yesterday, Tony Dungy retired. Dungy took over an absolute dumpster fire of a situation in Tampa and built one of the best run organizations in the NFL, then saw Gruden win a Super Bowl with his team. Thankfully though, the players on that team gave Dungy the credit he deserved.

Dungy then went to Indianapolis, had trouble getting past the Pats (although you have to wonder about Spygate now) and eventually won a Super Bowl. He did all this while carrying himself in a manner that was admirable and commanded respect.

The grace with which he handled the incomprehensible loss of his son in 2005 was unbelievable. As someone who LOATHES Peyton Manning, I still couldn't bring myself to dislike the Colts because of Dungy. If Mark Richt stays at Georgia and becomes the "Tony Dungy of College Football", that'd be fine by me.

Boomer Freaking Sooner!!

While I truly believe that Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer are running visor and hair gel with Steve Spurrier for the biggest asshole alive, their is no doubt who I'll be pulling for tonight. I'm hoping for a lot of Gator bitching and crying after the game. For anyone that's forgotten what that looks like, let me refresh your memory:

It's Worse than We Thought

I swear I didn't set out this week to bash Willie, but since Richt obviously isn't going to acknowledge the problem, I'm going to drop some more number on the blogosphere. This year's defense is worse than the Kevin Ramsey Project(KRP). No, seriously. Below are the scoring defenses in SEC games + Tech since I started following UGA football as an 11 year old in '92:

Year	Avg.	Median
1992	14.89	11.00
1993	24.22	28.00
1994	29.22	29.00
1995	24.11	23.00
1996	26.00	24.00
1997	19.89	15.00
1998	19.67	21.00
1999	28.33	30.00
2000	21.22	21.00
2001	20.00	20.00
2002	15.60	17.00
2003	15.30	15.00
2004	16.89	17.00
2005	15.80	14.50
2006	20.00	21.00
2007	20.89	17.00
2008	28.71	38.00

As you can see, this year's D is even worse than the KRP of 1999. How this is possible is beyond me. The median is even scarier, if that's your preferred measure of central tendency. Because this year's sample size is at least two games smaller than the other seasons, the median should come down more in line with the average as Florida's 49 points is right now a bit of an outlier. Regardless, this defense is bad. How bad you ask? As bad as Ramsey's. As bad as some of the mid-90's Goff disasters. And no question the worst of the Richt era.

For Richt to defend CWM on his job this year is delusional to the point of being scary to me. Special teams, offensive turnovers, and short fields unquestionably contribute to the scoring defense number and if Richt wants to acknowledge that as part of the issue, I have no problem with that. It most certainly is. But he can't bury his head and act like there hasn't been a huge shift in how our defense plays both in terms of production and attitude since BVG left.

On a side note, if anyone ever asks you when you think Georgia's current problems with Florida started, kindly direct them to October 31, 1992. The 1992 was Goff's best team and Spurrier's worst team, yet UF managed to win 26-24. That was their third straight in the series, but more importantly, it was the proof of what Spurrier had been preaching to his team for 3 years about having to believe they were going to beat Georgia no matter what. Zeier, Hearst, Hastings, and a defense that gave up 15 points/game (which is actually even better than it looks as they gave up 34 to UT when they fumbled like 1000 times) couldn't beat Spurrier. Up to that point in the series, it had always been UF that had its more talented teams beat because they played tight and Georgia KNEW they were going to win no matter what. That one game was HUGE for the psychology of the series and certainly caused a change in attitude both in UF's program and their fan's attitude when it came to the WLOCP.

My open letter to Damon Evans

November 3, 2008



University of Georgia Athletic Association
Attn: Damon Evans, Director of Athletics
1 Selig Cir.
Athens, GA 30602


Re: UGA/Florida game in Jacksonville


Mr. Evans,

I wish to begin this by commending you on the outstanding job you have done since accepting the position of Athletic Director at the University of Georgia. From the athletic results, to the continued academic development of the student athletes, and also to the incredible financial success of the Athletic Association, there is no other athletic department in the country that should not be envious of yours.

The purpose of this letter is to state my vehement opposition to allowing the annual football game with Florida to remain in Jacksonville. It is my understanding that the University’s contractual obligation with the City of Jacksonville expires in 2010 and that currently negotiations have begun for extending the neutral site game into 2011 and beyond. As an alumnus and loyal Bulldog supporter (my family’s season tickets are Section 117, Row 49, Seats 1-4), I strongly believe that this is one tradition that has run its course and needs to end.

My opposition to the game remaining in Jacksonville is twofold. First, from a competitive perspective, Jacksonville is no longer a neutral site. I realize our historical success there. However, as I am sure you can attest to, the Florida Athletic Department of the 1980’s and before is gone and is not coming back. In the last 30 years, the state of Florida experienced a huge population boom, and incredible economic growth. This can be expected to continue given the retirement of the Baby Boom generation. They are now a university with over 50,000 students, great facilities, a good athletic director and coaches, and the largest instate talent base east of Texas. Playing their most hated conference rival 75 miles from their campus in a stadium formally known as the Gator Bowl is frankly an advantage Florida no longer needs.

I understand the importance of the game to the South Georgia fan base and am sympathetic to what the loss of this game would mean to them. However, a home and home series with Florida would open up scheduling flexibility. As witnessed by the Alabama-Clemson game to open the year, neutral site games are in vogue right now, so I see no reason why we could not maintain a yearly presence in Jacksonville, just not against our most important conference rival.

The second reason I believe the Jacksonville agreement should end is to prevent an inevitable disaster. In 1992, Lewis Grizzard wrote an article for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution stating: “The universities of Georgia and Florida, both fine schools, need to make an immediate decision to move their annual football out of [Jacksonville’s] Gator Bowl before somebody gets killed.” He went on to add: “Jacksonville can’t handle this thing anymore. No city could….The taunting never stops. Some of it is fun, but most of it is not. This rivalry has become so intense, it’s primed for a riot.”

As I am sure you are aware, this rivalry has not mellowed with age. That was 16 years ago and rings even truer today. The behavior that takes place on both sides of the aisles in Jacksonville has a name in other parts of the world: hooliganism. Fortunately a European style soccer riot has not occurred in Jacksonville yet, but is there any reason to believe it could not?

I do not envy your position in making this decision. I have no doubt the backlash from breaking the Jacksonville tradition would be the most intense of your tenure. The Florida contingent and national media will criticize you harshly. They reacted similarly when Auburn refused to continue playing their annual game with Alabama an hour from Tuscaloosa 20 years ago. Considering that Auburn has a winning record versus the Tide since that decision, the media story has died down considerably.

I have no doubt that you will make the decision you feel is in the best interest of the program. For this supporter however, the right decision is perfectly clear.

Go Dawgs!!


Matt R.
B.B.A. Finance and Risk Management, 2004