Dismal

I had the misfortune of attending yesterday's debacle at Sanford Stadium and it just furthered the depression I have been feeling about our football team. There are a million details to go over and discuss but as has been the case recently, I simply do not have the energy. It comes down to the basic problem that we are incapable of playing enough defense to win. Our offense by no means was perfect yesterday but we scored 42 points. If you can't win with that, you don't deserve to. I preface this by saying that I love Mark Richt, I would want no one else as our head coach and I hope he stays as our head coach until he is ready to retire...

However, in my opinion yesterday was the 5th time he was out coached this season. Now I am aware that he does not set the defensive game plan nor call the plays but he is the man in charge and the buck stops with him. We came out flat in the second half and gave up 26 unanswered points in the 3rd quarter, I find that unacceptable-particularly allowing that to happen at the hands of a team where we have far superior physical talent. It is baffling, depressing, ridiculous...

The other games I feel he got out-coached in:

-Alabama-Came out unbelievably flat, we weren't ready to play. 31-0 in the first half, really?
-Florida-Granted they probably had us out maned but to be dominated that badly, and for there to be murmurs that the team gave up or quit, hmmmmm.
-Kentucky-Not a bad team, tough game. But again, we have far superior talent and the team got lackadaisical. Where's the killer instinct?
-Auburn-An awful team this year, seemed to be more ready to play than we were and nearly got us.

Again, I love Richt and realize he can't help players not doing their jobs, his assistants not having their units properly prepared, etc. I just know he can do better and I think we've got the talent here to do so. I don't know what exactly needs to be done, but something has got to change.

And now, we have no fun bowl game to look forward to. Ohio State is likely now in the BCS since Oregon State lost so I would assume we will have the distinct honor of playing Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Whoopty damn doo.

Anyway, one thing yesterday's game did do for me was re-ignite and further my hatred for GA Tech. They are like a little brother trying to be as good as his big brother. I despise that school and their fans, case in point...

A young GA Tech fan and his girlfriend are in the UGA alumni section where I am sitting. He is probably 22 or 23 and is loud and obnoxious the entire first half. He felt it appropriate to turn around to us and point after 1st downs and to taunt us after big plays. After we took the lead 28-12 a brawl nearly ensued as he was unmercifully taunted by about 10 UGA fans, yours truly included but we aren't talking about drunks here-other than a couple of younger guys-most of our fans were 40-60 and dead sober. This jackass continued to run his mouth in the second half and again nearly incited a riot when he grabbed a probably 17 year old 'kid' in front of him to taunt him. This 'kid' was probably 275 lbs and the Techie was probably 5'9", 165 lbs, so no match. The 'kid's' dad had to be restrained and was within inches of killing the Techie. Other than a couple minor dust-ups that was pretty much the end of his obnoxious behavior, but I was just baffled. How do you think it would be appropriate to go into another school's section and talk trash to everyone and taunt them? Did he really think he wouldn't get his ass kicked?

Regardless, that idiot and others I encountered re-ignited my hatred for Tech and I can't wait to beat them again and go reign blows upon their fans. This picture below about sums it up...

Oh and one other thing. I caught to 16 year old Tech fans discussing doing something similar to this player. Let's just say physical harm was threatened and would have been carried out should they have gone through with it.

And now...the finale. Oh and other stuff too

After a very frustrating UGA season where expectations were not met, we now are about to close out the regular season.

I'm not saying this has been a bad year, can't complain about 10 wins but my main gripe has been the fact that I finish every game feeling like we could've played much better. I just feel we have so much talent and the right coaches to really be a much stronger team. That being said though, we've been decimated with injuries and 2 gut wrenching blowouts yet have still managed to take care of the rest of our schedule. Let's hope we can finish it off right with 2 more wins.

Now I'm not even close to being 100% correct with my opinions or predictions on anything but I'd say my initial gut feeling is right quite often. The past 2 seasons I verbalized my gut feelings about the Florida game and was correct both years. This year against Alabama I had a negative vibe, I still thought we'd win but something was there deep inside my 'chi'. I say all this because that feeling of misery and doubt has again creeped inside me this week as we host the biggest bunch of Nerds this side of Mars. I don't want to say I think we'll lose but I just have a bad feeling. Our defense has been nothing short of inconsistent and our offense has issues finishing drives. I'd love to think we'll have this corrected by Saturday but I just don't know. I fear that we may need to summon the ghost of Reggie Ball to help us pull out a victory, but we shall see.

I've had difficulty summoning the passion to write about UGA football lately but it is never far from my mind. As we near the finish of this year we face the uncertainty of this year's "Who's Staying/Who's Going?". I pray that both Knowshon and Stafford stay for a potential run at a title next year but I'm not holding my breath. With the rookie salaries in the NFL likely to dwindle after this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see them both gone. I have another 'gut' feeling that Stafford is the more likely to stay but again, who knows? I can't talk about it anymore, it's making me upset.

And now I'd love to share a random thought/idea of how to enhance the human experience. Given that this would likely be considered a hazard and highly illegal by law enforcement, I can only offer this idea as a hypothetical but I would secretly support it to the max should any loon actually put it into action.

The idea is this: 'Interstate Dance Party'
Many Americans sit in gridlock traffic on our highways on a daily basis. Many of these highways have 4-6 foot median walls that could easily be stood or even danced on. It would provide me, and I imagine many others, much pleasure to see a group of activists attempt to cheer up the traffic by having an interpretive dance party on the median walls. Granted, this may cause accidents but I certainly would look forward to my commute knowing that some broke hippie may be waiting to entertain me through the art of dance on my way home. This really is hard to explain my vision of how humorous this would be, hopefully some of it came through.

One final thought/story/rant:

I'm walking through a Mall food court last week and pass a black gentleman as he approaches a black female pushing a stroller. I am right beside him as he smiles at her, a total stranger, and says "Change is Coming" and continues walking. It is certainly understandable for there to be excitement that a black man has been elected President, but how pathetic is it that people like this guy are so focused on race that they feel the need to say something like that to a stranger who just happens to be the same race as him (3 weeks after the election no less). Our country will never move past these issues until people realize a few things:
-We are all human
-We are all equal
-People can't help what color they are born-you can only help how you act
-You can't change the past, just affect the future
-Asian people hate us all, don't trust them

God Bless.

Massacre on the St. Johns

My lack of posting as of late has been a disgrace to the handful of friends who apparently enjoy the ramblings on this blog. For that, I apologize.

I had a lot of positive thoughts a couple of weeks ago after the Dawgs trounced LSU but in all honesty my joy was short-lived. I woke up on Sunday after the LSU game with the realization that we were in all likelihood going to get overwhelmed on Saturday against the Gators. I just had a bad feeling in my gut. Now I tried to envision some positive scenarios and even sought some advice from some sages (Scott,Karl,Matt T.,Mookie) but nothing I heard could give me any true relief from my gut feeling. Unfortunately the feeling I had was correct. We were out-manned, out-coached, out-everythinged...

I can't even bring myself to watch a replay for any insight into this game. Did we play bad? Yes. Is Florida that much better than us? No. It was just one of those days. They had a better game plan, had more intensity, got the breaks, etc. Was it classless of Urban Meyer to call 2 late timeouts? Yes. But you know, what really irks me is that it even came to that. We have too good of a team and too good of a program to play against ANYONE and have that be an issue. We should never have been down 49-10 like that but... it is what it is.

One area that the Gators lost in, at least in my experience of the weekend, was partying. I saw some of the most hardcore partying (not the porn site) I have ever seen and the majority of our group is 4 + years out of college. We had a lovely little home a block from the beach on St. Simons and turned that place into an absolute breeding ground of mayhem and destruction. We had an absurd Halloween party w/ ridiculous costumes which included; Joe the Plummer,John McCain,Sarah Palin,a Construction worker,2 Scottish horndogs,an inmate,an 80's mom and prom queen,Tequilla Man,Superman,Wonderwoman, and my personal favorite-some sort of Richard Simmons-esque fitness class leader. Too much happened to go into but I am stunned the house was still standing at the end of the night.

Saturday culminated with a lot of hangovers and the arrival of a bus to take us to Jacksonville. The ride was filled with a lot of people dealing w/ very full bladders and no bathroom. Of the numerous exits off the bus to urinate on the side of the road, the best had to be a female who got off the bus and attempted to enter a doctor's office to pee. When the door was locked she decided to squat behind a column about 5 feet from the door of this office. Oh, and in case you were wondering-the lobby was full of patients who no doubt were in sheer amazement at what they saw. Among other events yours truly also nearly incited a riot with some ill-timed remarks in bad taste which I truly regret making, but it was dealt with and the day went on. Oh and before I forget, another favorite moment from the ride to the game involved our man Mook-Dawg getting off the bus on the highway to keep a Gator's car from merging into us.

Let's skip the game. Had great seats and watched us get killed, I think someone lost their girlfriend and some other folks about got in about 60 fights over a 2 hour period but that's neither here nor there.

And then came the ride home. Never in my life have I seen such a scene:
-Nearly 30 drunken people yelling and dancing to any music that came on the radio.
-At least 4 impromptu dance parties where probably 10+ bus patrons got off the bus and attempted to seduce pedestrians and other vehicles with their erotic and exotic dancing.
-A man who we believe to be 30+ years old stripping down nude and giving almost every single person on the bus a lap dance and swinging all up and down the bus with his over-sized package flopping around
-A gas station stop with 10 men peeing on the side of a Subway
-Two men hanging from rails at the top of the bus engaging in the single most acrobatic simulated dance/sex act I have ever seen and will see. Words cannot begin to do this particular scene justice.

I'm sure I forgot some things and events worth noting but hopefully the feeling of the weekend will come through in the words that have been written.

And onward we go; we've still got 3 regular season games left and a chance to get back in the top 10 w/ a 10-win season. Then we can spend 8 more months talking about how next year will be 'the year'. I, for one, will savor the rest of this season though. I still love this team and want to see us start to realize our potential.

God Bless,

Les

Week 6

Because I was at a wedding, I missed much of the UGA game on Saturday. I saw the 4th quarter but not enough to get a real feel for the game.

From what I saw, heard, and read it sounds like we dominated but made some ill-timed mistakes. As always; an SEC win is sweet no matter who you play or what the score.

Unfortunately, I don't have much more on that but I am excited for these next 3 weeks. Just 3 weeks to decide if this will be a Capital One or Outback Bowl year or a possible SEC/National Championship year. We have not played anywhere near our potential yet, lest us forget-we hadn't at this time last year either. Not to say we will run the table, but who's to say we can't and won't. If we play how we can, there is no reason we can't win the rest of these games and go to Atlanta to play for what should be a birth in the National Championship.

The rest of the season starts this week. It's time to buckle down and look good on both sides of the ball and on the line of scrimmage. I'm looking for a blowout against Vandy with us converting touchdowns out of good drives, not field goals. Then, it is off to the races, should be exciting...

Week 5

"Black-out Saturday" quickly became "Black Saturday" just after 8 pm on Saturday night. The first half was a shocking display of dominance by Alabama and an absolute horror to see for UGA fans. I will not be watching a replay of this game to gather my thoughts or attempt to analyze what happened, emotionally I cannot take it.

I can't bear to look at pictures of the game so no picture for this week's wrap-up.

Alabama is very good and deserves all the credit for their win but I still feel UGA is a top 5 team in contention for the National Championship. We knew going into this season that going undefeated probably wasn't going to happen. Well, we lost a game and yes...the first half was worse than anyone could have dreamed. However, we won the 2nd half convincingly and I promise you-the coaches of Alabama DO NOT want to see us again.

The most concerning/distressing thing for me in the game was our lack of defensive intensity in the first half. I hope Willie Martinez finally realizes now that we are not going to be successful sitting back in zone coverage against teams that have talent. After the debacle in the first half I think we got aggressive and pinned our ears back and went after Alabama; but too little, too late.

Did we get dominated on the line of scrimmage in the first half? Yes
Did we look terrible on both sides of the ball in the first half? Yes

However, the 2nd half was better in many regards. I've already written more about the game than I wanted to, this is one of those that will be discarded into the 'forget about it' tank.

We've got 2 weeks to re-group and get back after it. Hell, we win the next 4 weeks and I assure you we are right back in this thing. Things are not as bad as pessimists think right now, positive energy will revive this thing.

Week 4

Going out to beat Arizona State to was kind of like having to ace an addition test on a Monday morning after being drunk all weekend, it is only tough because of the circumstances.

UGA was clearly the better team on Saturday night and would be on any night against the Sun Devils, but the fact that we traveled across the country to do it made it more impressive. This was, as Coach Richt described, a 'business trip'. The Dawgs definitely took care of business.

The Dawgs came out slow offensively but the defense showed early and often that Arizona State was not going to be able to run the ball. Rennie Curran played outstanding once again, showing his uncanny knack to move laterally with the play and then explode to the ball to make a stop. I was very impressed with the defensive line as well, the got solid pressure on Carpenter all night and racked up 4 sacks.

On offense, AJ Green made it official, he is a bad man. He made a couple of beautiful catches across the middle which really kept two of UGA's 2nd quarter scoring drives going. Stafford was excellent as usual, I can't imagine ever saying anything to the contrary. He threw all over Arizona State and as usual, would have had even better numbers if people could stay on their feet or catch. Knowshon...what can I say? His first touchdown was simply an amazing athletic feat. Taking off from the 4 yard line to land a yard + deep in the end-zone, are you serious Knowshown? Do we need to get you a cape? Also, Moreno should've had 3 TD's, the refs screwed him on one in the 4th quarter.

Speaking of the refs...I hate to be the guy to cry about officiating but for heaven's sakes, they were terrible. Granted we made too many mistakes and did commit some dumb and costly penalties, but they made numerous questionable calls and missed a number of infractions committed by Arizona State. I saw a number of blatant holds by Arizona State that were not called. One in particular was on 2nd down and goal on AZ State's first drive of the second half. They ran a screen pass out right and their receiver blocking had his arms completely extended with a fist full of jersey. If that call was made, they likely end up having to kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown on 3rd and goal from the 2 yard line. Anyway, it doesn't matter I guess. We won, we dominated, we were better, and so on and so forth.

And now the fun part starts. A blackout in Sanford Stadium for a night game against a Top 10 opponent. Alabama has looked good, they are very strong and powerful on their offensive and defensive lines. UGA will have to play very well to win and I expect them to do just that. I heard Mark Richt addressing the team and coaches on Saturday night after the game. He talked about going all out for one week, everybody just toughing it out for 7 days with their best effort to get ready for Alabama. For some reason, the energy of him and in the room put me at ease. I am calm and feel we will play well and win fairly handily on Saturday night.

One final thought: Being that everyone knows Saturday is a blackout and that the team will wear black jerseys-is it kosher to berate and belittle any UGA fan not wearing black?

Week 3

It could not have been a more typical UGA-USC matchup than what we got on Saturday. A lot of good defense, a lot of missed opportunities, and a low-scoring game where the outcome was in question until the end. While I had hoped that this would be a coming out party for our offense against a quality opponent, it wasn't meant to be.
Unfortunately we left ourselves with too many tough 3rd down conversions to really put together a solid rhythm. I blame the offensive issues on:
1. South Carolina's defense: Clearly those outside the SEC don't agree but I'd say they are a top 15 defense in the nation, probably top 10.
2. Mike Bobo: Worst game he's called since last year's Kentucky game. I don't
want to completely say it was him though since Stafford has so much freedom at
the line, but there were a few real bad play calls. (QB draw from the 6 on 3rd
down ring a bell?)
3. Tripp Chandler: His dropped pass on the first drive for UGA cost the Dawgs at
least 3, if not 7 points. He had another 3rd down drop later in the 1st, it
was highly frustrating. Others dropped passes-this isn't a bash fest on
Chandler, but I wouldn't be being honest about my game thoughts without
mentioning him.

However, we still fought hard and our defense played fantastic to keep us in the game and take us to 3-0. I thought Rashad Jones looked fantastic all day, I found it fitting that he would be the one to make the final pick to end it. Rennie showed again why he is the man with his forced fumble on the 1 to keep UGA ahead 14-7 in the
4th. The D-Line was good against the run but we've got to get more pressure on the QB without having to blitz. I'm sure that will be a point of emphasis going forward.

All in all, a SEC win is something to celebrate. Everyone will play close games during the season, we just had one sooner than the media darlings USC and Oklahoma. I think the intensity of that game and the fact that we did not play anywhere near what is expected will bring a sense of urgency to the team that otherwise would not exist. I now expect full focus against Arizona State and I really think we win by 17 + points out there. Then we come home and should put a whooping on Alabama, I think Saban will again be embarrassed in Sanford Stadium as he was in '04 with LSU. Certainly the Dawgs have some areas of concern and some issues to address but there's no need for panic just yet. A good couple of games in the next 2 weeks will get us right back where we need to be.

Week 1

Well, the season finally got here and the Dawgs took care of GA Southern as we expected. I've read/heard mixed reviews of the game. Some are positive and focus on our 38-0 lead; others are negative and focus on the fact that we gave up 21 points. I tend to lean toward a positive feeling from week one, but that's just me.

Tickets were few and far between for the game on Saturday; in my 20+ years of attending games I have never seen so few tickets available. I've also never not gotten into a game I went to Athens to see, 2 firsts I hope to never repeat. The fact that UGA was a pre-season #1, playing an in-state opponent, and the game not being shown on TV may have played a factor in the lack of tickets. I certainly hope those were the reasons, I fear that this may become a regular occurrence but I'll be positive and hope that is not the case.

Regardless, I was able to watch the replay of the game last night and I took a lot of positives away from the game. I think Matthew Stafford looked like a different man, almost every throw was perfect and his audibles and play calls at the line seemed to be flawless. Knowshon was Knowshon-he only had 10 touches but had over 100 total yards and 3 TDs. AJ Green looked like a young Randy Moss: tall, lean, athletic, and aggressive. Caleb King also had a good first showing, runs a lot like Knowshon-never a bad thing. On defense I thought we looked good as well. Obviously the loss of Jeff Owens is going to be a test but I thought the young rotation of players filled in nicely and got a lot of pressure inside on both running and passing plays. The 'dynamic duo' of Curran and Ellerbe looked like a force to be reckoned with-I can see CBS drumming up some stupid nickname for them at some point this season. The secondary also looked good-hard hitting safety play with good aggressive corners; I was particularly impressed w/ Jones and Evans.

Finally, I was very impressed w/ Blair Walsh. He seems to be confident and knocking down a 50+ yard field goal in his first game is a great sign for the future. I'm sure we'll need him to be clutch if we are to make a run at the SEC/National Title.

Looking forward, I think it is important to build off the performance of our offense and put up a big number against Central Michigan this week. I think it will be equally important to allow fewer points to build some confidence moving into the USC game in 2 weeks. All in all, I really couldn't be more pleased with our week one performance. Richt isn't going to run up the score on people; we got some good work in and let a lot of young guys play.

P.S.

I'm not mentioning the rankings, I know we dropped to #2-who cares.

Gustav

I don't know why the people of Louisiana are so concerned with this 'Tropical Storm' Gustav.

Gustav hitting them is not an absolute certainty. The only certainty in those Cajuns future is that a Hurricane will hit them on October 25th. And they thought Katrina was a catastrophe....

Clarification

This morning, I heard an intelligent local radio host say that the national media and coaches are 'drinking the UGA kool-aid' to have them # 1. His point was that the SEC media clearly has a better grasp on the teams in the SEC than the members of the AP and Coaches Polls. He couldn't believe UGA was picked #2 in the SEC east and then #1 nationally. This has not been the first I have heard or read about this, I've been hearing it from idiot South Carolina and Florida fans since Media Days. Frankly though, I don't really care, I just get frustrated by the lack of common sense.

At Media Days, the SEC media picked the favorites in the conference. They were to take into account the schedules played.

The AP and Coaches Polls rank who they think the best teams are going into the season. These Polls are not in any way a prediction of anything. They are not supposed to take into account scheduled games in the future, they rank teams based on expectations in the preseason, the roster, returning players, etc. Then in the season they rank them on who they feel is best combined with wins and losses. Even in the season though--teams don't move up or down based on who they play the upcoming week. You don't hear, "Well, Alabama was 9-0 and ranked #4 but moved down this week to #8 in anticipation of their final stretch of games vs. LSU and Auburn."

While I disagree w/ the SEC media since I'm a biased fan, they were completing a task where one must look at the schedule to make a prediction. This is completely different than ranking the top 25 teams in the country. I imagine many of the SEC Media would tell you they would rank UGA higher than Florida but b/c UGA's schedule is so tough and grueling; they picked Florida to win the SEC East.

If you're going to try and belittle or 'hate-on' UGA, at least use an argument with some common sense.

And I think I am 'ranted-out' for awhile. I just get so worked up with all this anticipation for the season.

We're Less than two weeks away...

Christmas is here on August 30th when we can finally see the beloved Dawgs take the field. Gone will be all the preseason questions, assumptions, predictions, rankings, etc. I can't say I'll miss it, I love getting excited about the season but with the high expectations for UGA this year, it has been ridiculous. I'm sick of reading and hearing every 'expert's' opinion based on what he's read, heard, etc. Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one and some of them stink. And now for a dose of hypocrisy as I write my opinion looking forward.

In looking to what UGA needs I'll just throw out some general things I think. Obviously we need to take it one game at a time. I think we'll know what we're made of after week 5-will we be 5-0, 4-1, 3-2? Hopefully 5-0 but an early upset to say USC or Arizona State doesn't necessarily sink the ship. We were the hottest team in the nation last year, had we woken up 3 weeks earlier we certainly would have been in the national championship. I think the way the team looks and plays/avoiding injuries will be key. If we come out looking like we did against Troy or Vandy last year-I will not be feeling good. If we come out like we did against Florida or Auburn-I will be encouraged. This is not to say b/c we start or don't start well that it guarantees a good or bad rest of the season, it is just my opinion that if we are going to compete for a national championship-the team will have a tangible intensity that we will notice each and every week.

I say all this because starting with the Florida game last year I honestly could feel a different energy/intensity from the team. Even against Kentucky when we played poorly, I still felt it. I have never felt that intensity/focus from a UGA team before, its not something I can specifically point to but it just 'felt' different. Even years ago when the two David's took us to Jacksonville undefeated, I felt like we were flying under the radar, questioning if we belonged in the upper echelon or were ready for the hype. Same thing w/ Shockley's team of 2005, but starting with Florida last year I felt no doubt that we were of 'Top 3' caliber and believed it/played like it. That will be what I want to see early to really hold out hope that we can navigate our brutal schedule. I'd rather be 4-1 and see that same intensity than be 5-0 with a couple of crappy games where we squeak by but play down to the competition like we have in years past. Obviously I hope we'll be 5-0 and focused/intense and eventually 14-0 w/ me sitting in the Dade County Jail for streaking down South Beach after the Orange Bowl.

Finally, even though its a 'curse' and means nothing and I hate that teams are ranked before October....

This is kind of cool, never seen this before:
#1 in AP
#1 in Coaches

and...

Quit Hating on People, People

I wanted to talk about UGA football today but Trinton Sturdivant, our best offensive lineman, got hurt so I don't feel like it anymore. From what I'm seeing it appears the Bulldog Nation is freaking out. This annoys me because we have great depth and talent at OL and probably have the best OL coach in the country. While this does hurt, I would not go as far as to call it a catastrophe. I'm sure more fans have a decent perspective than I've been seeing but a lot of the stuff I've been reading today is ridiculous. We as fans need to understand that we are indeed 'fans'-not experts, coaches, part of the team, and that there is no award for being 'the biggest fan'. And mark my words, people who try to be 'the biggest fan' probably aren't life-long UGA fans, real fans or alumni, and are potentially band-wagon fans who aren't quite as vocal or interested during down years.

Anyway, there is more to discuss but like I said, I don't feel like it.

Instead I'd like to discuss one of the 5 greatest actors of the last 30 years, Tom Cruise. The one time 'biggest star' in Hollywood has now been relegated to some sort of laughing stock. I honestly do not understand why people have such hatred for the man. People hate his religion, his views on worldly topics, his personal life, and more recently have begun to attack his acting. I can appreciate that people don't like his personal life, it is not a lifestyle most people can comprehend or relate with. What I do not get is why his acting seems to have been under attack. Not even 5 years ago he was widely considered a top actor, now he's viewed as a former 'box-office draw'. It's one thing to say he's gay or something b/c you're jealous of all the women he's had and his current wife, but to question a legend like Tom's acting...absurd.

Top Gun
Rain Man
A Few Good Men
Jerry Maguire
Magnolia
The Last Samurai
Mission Impossible I and III

And these are just a few classic performances...

The man is a superstar and I don't care about actors or athletes personal lives. I am a man who appreciates talent and Tom Cruise has more than enough to go around. Just look at this picture, it tells all you need to know about Tom, a simple fact that should be evident to anyone...T.C.'s game is pimp-tight.

A weekend of Bulldogs and Braves, not so much beer

So UGA looked great in my opinion on Saturday, even though the schedule is absolutely hideous this year, the team should be solid. As Buck Belue said about it 'you know you're in good shape when the head coach implies his only area of concern is the placekicker' position. Although the team does look good I am still trying to stay grounded, even pessimistic. The SEC is always the toughest conference and I have heard 'this is the year' quite a few times growing up as a fan. I was a year late on getting to see the last time it was 'the year' so I'm not wasting energy on anticipation anymore. If the team plays well and a few breaks go our way, who knows. If things don't go right we've still got a great young team and should be in good shape for the forseeable future.

The Bravos bounced back nicely this weekend, topping of a 'sweep' of the Mets by beating the golden boy, Johan Santana. Smoltz looked absolutely awesome which was good, but I am still concerned w/ his health. He doesn't need to be messing around with that shoulder and end up blowing it or his elbow out, that's Mike Hampton's job. It's way too early to say this but I'm saying it... If Chipper Jones plays 140 games and is moderately healthy, he will win the MVP this year. Hopefully a good road trip is on the way this week, a good win streak could really help set the tone for the season.

Oh and I forgot to update visit 2 to Turner Field for the year...
The Godfather scored tickets on the 11th row on the first base line for the 2nd home game last week. The seats were awesome and the weather was great. I am also happy to say that the Miller Lite flowed freely and they didn't run out this time. And w/ the luck already flowing for us, we ran into a friend who got us into the 755 club for the 8th and 9th innings. Not only is the view great from the club, they don't stop selling beer until something like 30 minutes after the game. Fortunately, the Braves pulled this one out to bring our record to 1-1 on the year as attending fans, not bad after going well below .500 last year.