Georgia Sports Blog

UGA vs. Kentucky Kickoff Time Set

2009-11-09T12:13:00.004-05:00

The Georgia Bulldogs will face the Kentucky Wildcats in Athens on Nov. 21st at 7:45 pm (Source: David Hale's Twitter Page). The game will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2. Georgiadogs.com now has the full SEC TV schedule for 11/21:

Quick Thoughts from Fox's Debut

2009-11-07T09:53:00.002-05:00

I went to the Georgia vs. North Georgia exhibition game last night, and I would describe the experience in two words. Hope Inspiring.

Offensively it doesn't even look like the same team. We have a plan now. Under Felton's regime, how many times did Sundiata Gaines* bring the ball down the court and seem to aimlessly dribble out the shot clock or pass to a big man at the top of the key who would turn it over...because that's what big men do when they handle the ball at the top of the key.

It was maddening. We lacked player movement, ball movement and purposeful passing. Players were not put into a position to be successful offensively. That's not what I saw last night.

We pass. We move, and we don't dribble the air out of the ball. When Dustin Ware brings the ball across the court the passing takes over and the dribbling comes to a near stop. There's a plan of attack.

I'm not saying our ills are cured. They aren't. The team still has too many shooters and not enough makers. The opposition will zone us to death, and I'm not sure we have the shooters to punish them for it.

But we have an offensive plan now. And it's a plan that should bear fruit. Give this coaching staff a chance. Put your butt in a seat and cheer. Because the visually depressing product of the past few years is now one that inspires hope.

See Also:
-- Flashiness not Fox's Style - ABH

PWD

Oh yeah...Trey, Dustin, Leslie, Barnes and Price looked dramatically improved.

*Not a shot a Sundiata. He was doing what he was told to do.

Your picks are due

2009-11-06T00:49:00.001-05:00

Set your picks for the College Football Pick 'em. I'm doing epic suck this year. As usual. I'd like to blame my problems on the Dawgs, but my problems are way bigger than that. Mainly, I've forgotten to set my picks at least twice this year. When you do that, the system auto selects for you. And you're toast.

Quinton McDawg is having a killer year. He's #10 in the 457 people.

Rank	Selection	W-L	Pts
Overall Standings Through Week 9
1	scott's selections	90-31	718
2	hoeilaartdawg's picks	90-31	709
3	walkermydawg's picks	89-32	705
3	TomReagan's picks	89-32	705
5	ugafan's picks	92-29	701
6	crashbc	83-38	696
7	ohiogadawg's picks	87-34	694
8	Good Buzz	87-34	693
8	Repn GA from Tx	83-38	693
10	Quinton's picks	89-32	691

I'm thinking of adding a 15th game next week. What game would you like to see added:

PWD

ACC Announces Bowl Partnerships for 2010-2013

2009-11-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

They are adding the Sun Bowl and Independence Bowl to their mix (Source: ACC). The pecking order goes as follows:

Moving the Boise and Emerald Bowls out in favor of the Sun and Independence is an upgrade for their fans.

PWD

Mark Fox's informal debut is Friday Night

2009-11-05T12:39:00.000-05:00

The men's basketball team has an exhibition on Friday at 7:00 pm in Athens vs. North Georgia College. The game is a chance to get a first look at the Fox's Hounds. I'm expecting moments of real encouragement surrounded by moments of player confusion as they adapt to the new triangle offense.

Speaking of hoops, the AJC looks at the basketball recruiting base in Atlanta and Fox's challenges in cracking that nut. While the Red and Black talks about Albert Jackson's positive experiences so far with Coach Fox.

If you're in town for the Tennessee Tech game, swing by Friday Night for the hoops exhibition. If nothing else, it'll take your mind off our defense and QBs for two hours.

PWD

You know SEC Officiating is bad...

2009-11-03T14:56:00.004-05:00

...when it becomes fodder for the Onion: "SEC Replay Official Overturns Roe v. Wade."

Confirming the conference stood by the decision, an SEC spokesperson also said that officials would be disciplined for last week's Florida–Mississippi State game, in which a "grave error" was made when a replay call upheld both a Florida touchdown in which the ballcarrier had clearly fumbled before crossing the goal line and Brown v. Board of Education.

Rogers Redding is to competent officiating what the Buford T. Justice is to effective law enforcement.

SEC TV Schedule for Nov. 14th

2009-11-02T12:29:00.000-05:00

Auburn at Georgia will be a night game in Athens (per Georgiadogs.com). Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm, but the network isn't finalized yet. It'll either be ESPN or ESPN2. The full schedule of the SEC TV games for Nov. 14:

Here's hoping for a complete game by the Georgia squad.

See Also:
-- Auburn vs. UGA Tickets

PWD

So...about our talent

2009-11-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

While I was stuck in traffic post-game that was so bad I got out of my car and argued with two cops about the situation...remarkably not going to jail and actually getting them to more or less do what I wanted...I was partially listening to the 750 am post-game show.

During the show, Dantzler and Mike Cavan were talking about our talent level. It sounded like they were pushing the theory that it's not the coaching. Or maybe they were basically just saying that all our "Top 10 recruiting classes" were overblown. Either way, it sounds like we have huge talent problems per their conversation.

Dantzler's comment was that we're currently ranked 8th nationally by one recruiting service, but that's still only 5th in the SEC in recruiting. His shockingly lucid point being, that talent rankings are all relative.

We'll ignore the fact that 2 of the past 5 seasons, we finished higher in the Rivals recruiting rankings than the Gators. And just let Jeff's point stand on it's own for a minute. From there, I'll just agree the rankings are all relative. Moving on...

I don't care what we are ranked by Rivals, Scout or anyone else. I simply want us in the same living rooms as our rivals/peers, and I want us protecting our home state's top talent as much as possible. I figure if we're recruiting the same guys as UF, UT, Bama, LSU, and/or Miami, then we're usually recruiting the right guys.

With the exception of Cox and Gray, most of our current peers and measuring stick programs wanted most of our starters on offense and defense. Most of the elite programs can be wrong about a few players. But everyone can't be wrong about all our players.

I am not saying that this roster is as talented as the 2002 unit. There are typically less than two teams per year in all of college football that are as loaded on both sides of the ball as that group.

Nor am I saying that our talent is where it needs to be. At QB, RB and DE, we had multple recruiting whiffs that will only sort themselves out with time. As the better players aren't so darn raw or young.

But this roster ain't chopped liver either. We are most certainly more talented top to bottom than Oklahoma State and Tennessee. As well as Auburn, Kentucky and Georgia Tech.

QB is it's own fiasco right now. And that's not a trivial matter. But we're better than our record would suggest.

Or said more briefly -- we ain't the best 4-4 team in America, but we are damn sure the most talented one. And there's no trophy for that.

PWD

Res Ipsa Loquitur

2009-11-01T23:25:00.000-05:00

Quinton

So...about those uniforms

2009-11-01T19:17:00.004-05:00

It didn't work that day in Jax either.
(Image: Andrew Davis Tucker, ABH 11/1/98)
Preface: This is NOT my biggest issue from this weekend. If you wrote a list, this would probably be 20th on the list of 20 things. But it's topical and timely and I've already written about #1. But here's my thoughts anyway.

Blutarsky nailed this one. Well, technically Gator Ryan Stamper nailed it when he said, "That’s a bunch of fake juice."

You had an entire year to get mad about Meyer's timeouts. You had two weeks to prepare and get focused for your bitter rival. You had the excitement of playing the #1 team in the country.

And you felt that it would be a wardrobe change that would tip the scales in our favor? When they came out in their Halloween costumes, I was totally deflated. Because I knew that meant the coaching staff felt we needed a trick to give us an edge.

You know what gives real confidence?
Being prepared.

Mark Richt puts a great deal of emphasis on helping our players become good men, good fathers and good citizens. Aside from our inability to locate a nearby DMV office for drivers license related issues, he does a pretty good job. Michael Lemon's problems were an obvious glaring exception, but generally speaking Richt should be commended because he sincerely does care about his players beyond simply football.

But this is one area where he's doing them a huge disservice in preparing them for the real world and giving them a lesson about sports that will most certainly serve them well beyond the arena. And that's about preparation.

You want to be a better public speaker? Get more prepared. Know your material inside and practice your delivery. You want to be a better negotiator? Think about what your opponent or client wants/doesn't want and how you can handle his objections before the meeting. You want to be a better salesman? Know your prospect's business inside and out before making the first call.

You don't win in business by going shopping. There is no store that sells "Lucky Ties." Your lucky tie becomes lucky after you close a big deal. Not before you close your deal.

We didn't lose because we wore black outfits. We lost because we weren't prepared for the Gators. Maybe we lost because they are more talented. Maybe, but they aren't THAT much more talented. More importantly, there are teams with less talent than Georgia who gave them much tougher games.

If we win, no one cares about the unis. I only care because it screams desperation. It doesn't scream confidence. And this team needs confidence much more than it needs fake juice.

The other thing that erks me on this one. I think special uniforms should be worn by special teams. You beat the Gators, you can have a blackout against Auburn. You get a Sugar Bowl birth, you can have a blackout against Hawaii. You come into the Bama game undefeated with ESPN Gameday in attendance, then sure...a blackout is fine.

But 4-3 teams shouldn't get special treatment. They should just work harder. And by team, I mean coaches and players.

See Also:
-- You're missing the point of the uniforms - HacksawDawg (DawgVent $)

PWD

So...about that game on Saturday

2009-11-01T17:50:00.004-05:00

Yes. Joe played badly. Yes. Logan played badly. Yes. The turnovers were a contributing factor to the game getting out of hand and our ultimate defeat. However, the defense never really stopped Florida. So what did the turnovers do except accelerate our demise?

The Gators had 11 offensive drives. Two ended in end of half/game. And one ended because they dropped too many wide open passes. That leaves two drives where we held them scoreless, plus one commendable performance where we held them to only a field goal following a turnover.

Therefore my question is simply this....

If the entire defensive coaching staff had gone to Bermuda for two weeks and simply met the team at the stadium, what would have been different about our game plan or execution? Seriously.

If that question is too inflammatory for someone to ask Coach Richt, then my question would be...why did Arkansas and Mississippi State have a better game plan defensively than we did? They have far less defensive talent on their respective teams than Georgia does, and they each had half as much time to prepare.

That's where I come down on this performance.

After the game listening to the 750am call-in show with Jeff Danztler, Mike Cavan and I think David Greene, they kept saying that someone needs to grab this program by the ears and drive it forward. They made it sound like a player needed to do it. Like there's a player leadership void.

Maybe it is player leadership at the root cause. Two of those guys know more about lockerroom dynamics than I'll ever know. But from where I'm sitting, the person that needs to grab the program by the ears is Mark Richt.

PWD

Coach Fox gets first hoops commitment of 2010

2009-10-29T10:24:00.002-04:00

Scout.com and UGASports.com report that Cady Lalanne will sign with Georgia. He's a 6'9" 225 lb center/power forward from Orlando. The Mississippi State Scout site says that his stats from his JR year were:

Last year Lalanne averaged 17 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, and 2 assists a game while being named All-Orlando.

His other official visits were Ole Miss, UMass and Virginia Commonwealth.

UGASports.com says he has a roughly a 7'2" wing span and shoots the ball well. Rivals has him as the #142 ranked player in the country. If you're going out of state, they need to be Top 150 players. That basically means you're projected as a high major prospect. When we venture out of state to sign kids off the radar like Felton loved doing, it makes me want to put my fist through a backboard (if I could reach one).

In my opinion, the Dawgs desperately need a small forward / wing type player to go along with a beefy big man. I hear rumblings of at least one more Top 100 player that may sign, but I'm unsure of position. Fox plays it closer to the vest than Felton did with those around the program so info is tougher to come by.

Speaking of UGA hoops, the Macon Telegraph has an article about the defense today. Last week, they did a piece on the offense. Defense is going to come a helluva lot easier to this group than offense. The last coaching staff really struggled to establish or teach any sort of competent ball movement, player movement away from the ball or spacing. The triangle offense needs all three of those things. Oh...and makers instead of shooters.

I like where the basketball team is going, but it'll be a work in progress growing into the schemes. The rumblings I'm hearing are all positive.

I may not post again til Sunday. Jumping in the car heading to Jax shortly.

PWD

Ok...now, I'm pumped

2009-10-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

Uploaded by: captkool1447

PWD

"I'm going to go out there and play my heart out."

2009-10-28T12:01:00.000-04:00

The story of the day yesterday involved the players being asked about the timeouts at the end of the game last year from Coach Meyer. Of all the player responses, I appreciated A.J. Green's the most:

A.J. Green wasn't around for the 2007 game, but the even-keeled wide receiver seethes about the 2008 timeouts.

"That's motivation for me," he said. "That's a sign of disrespect. So I'm going to go out there and play my heart out."

At the end of the day, that's all I expect. I expect that when I lug my ass down to every game home and away to support the team. When I spend a tremendous percentage of my net income on the Dawgs and invest my time that the team is going to show up and plays their heart out for 60 minutes. When I don't see that, it sends me off the deep end.

I hope the team is pissed, and I hope they play like it.

If Georgia is focused and plays to their talent level for 60 minutes, there's now way that the 16 point spread holds up. This weekend is a formidable task for the Dawgs. They need to act like they belong on that field with the Gators and play to their ability. If it takes feeling slighted by the timeouts to make that happen, good.

Separately -- Tommy Tuberville on ESPNU picked Georgia to win this game. He thinks the Dawgs are rested, and UF is a beat up mess offensively (paraphrase).

See Also:
-- Tickets: World's Largest Cocktail Party

PWD

David Hale breaks down Coach Searels' Furlough Day

2009-10-27T12:30:00.001-04:00

Hale brings us a moment by moment break down of Coach Stacy Searels' state mandated furlough. My favorite part:

7:15 a.m. - 7:35 a.m. -- Breakfast with the family. After a few minutes of lackluster kitchen-table conversation, Searels revamps the seating arrangement in hopes of better results. When that doesn't work, he phones Josh Davis, who subs for Searels' youngest daughter for the remainder of the meal.

Nice.

PWD

If I were Bobo...

2009-10-27T07:56:00.000-04:00

AJ Green (Image: Hipple)
Upon further reflection, the most encouraging thing to me from the Vanderbilt game wasn't the play of the defense or the running game in the fourth quarter. The defensive intensity was nice, but it was Vandy after all. And I think the coaching staff's praise of the running game was pretty overblown given that Vandy's defense had already thrown in the towel by the time we started trying to pound it in the fourth quarter.

The most encouraging thing to me was Caleb King's touchdown on the screen pass. Stafford, Moreno and the offensive line did a masterful job the past two years of executing running back screens on the edges and the middle screen to our backs. Cox, the offensive line and the running backs have been a train wreck trying to execute those plays this year. Between missed blocks, dropped passes and bad timing, the screen game has been a mess.

I'm extremely skeptical that we're going to be able to run the ball against the Gator defense. We're going to have to throw it and throw it a lot to win this game*. However, we can't have Joe sit back there and try to pick them apart without something to slow the pass rush.

That's why seeing us execute the screen against Vandy was so encouraging to me. If I'm Bobo, I bust open the Oklahoma State 2007 game plan. I think we ran about 15 screens in that game. Here's what I wrote after that game:

Offensive Line Inexperience: The game plan by Bobo was brilliant. Use screens, flares, slants and quick outs to keep the defensive line off our young pups up front. After re-watching the game on DVR, I noticed a few plays where the entire OSU defensive front four stood straight up, took a step back and looked around for a screen. Only to see Stafford throw it behind them on a down field route. There were some moments of confusion and what appeared to be missed assignments up front, but overall...great effort and communication.

We need to run bubble screens, middle screens, swing passes to RBs, FB screens, rocket screen, tunnel screens, you name it, we need to run it. Hopefully, that'll open up the down field passes.

Also, my gut says that Florida isn't going to double team A.J. Green. Not at first anyway. They are going to play him on an island and dare Joe to get out of their blitz alive. Joe has to make them pay for that decision.

If we show up down there and run the ball successfully, I'll be thrilled. And shocked.

As for the defense plan...David Hale has some less than encouraging stats.

See Also:
-- Gator corners test for Green - ABH
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. Florida

PWD

*Special teams TDs and turnovers galore by the Gators would really help, too.

Tech Karma? Significant schedule conflict may emerge

2009-10-26T18:36:00.006-04:00

When it comes to basketball, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are one of the toughest teams for the Bulldogs to schedule. Tech's preference is to pick a date when the UGA students are out of town and our fans are ideally traveling to or from a bowl game.

Georgia Tech travels to Athens to play the Bulldogs on Jan. 5, 2010 at 7:00 pm. Kickoff for the Orange Bowl (home of the ACC Champion) is 8:00 pm on the same day.

Ideally, Tech won't be in the Orange Bowl. However, with Miami's epic bed wetting against Clemson and Tech holding the tie breakers on VT...things look extremely good for the Yellow Jackets to make it to the ACC title game. From there, they could face the 4th or 5th best team in their conference.

Karma's a bitch.

PWD

SEC Kickoff Times for Nov. 7th

2009-10-26T18:23:00.008-04:00

The SEC announced kickoff times for these games:

LSU at Alabama	(3:30 p.m. / CBS )
Vanderbilt at Florida	(7:15 p.m. / ESPN or ESPN2)
SC at Arkansas	(12:21 p.m. / SEC Network)
Memphis at Tennessee	(7 p.m. / ESPNU)
N. Arizona at Ole Miss	(7:30 p.m. / CSS)
Tennessee Tech at UGA	(1 p.m. / UGA PPV)
E.Kentucky at UK	(1 p.m. / Local Coverage)
Furman at Auburn	(1:30 p.m. / AU PPV)

No word on the Nov. 14th TV schedule. However, CBS does have a double header that weekend including a 12:00 pm and a 3:30 pm game.

My original expectation was that UGA would host Auburn at noon on CBS. However, you could easily have 6-4 Auburn vs. 5-4 Georgia. That doesn't sound much like an CBS game. Our combined failings could push the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry to ESPN or ESPN2. Leaving CBS to take Alabama vs. Mississippi State.* That would be fine by me.

It also wouldn't shock me to see a 6 Day Option used by one of the networks for the 14th.

See Also:
Georgia vs. Auburn Tickets

PWD

*Yes. I totally re-wrote this article after I posted it.

That's Mr. Adriel Jeremiah Green to you

2009-10-25T20:00:00.000-04:00

A. J. Green (Image: Hipple)
Yesterday, the AJC's Steve Hummer (who should write more columns about UGA football) put together a gem of a piece on A.J. Green. The article basically talks about what a good kid AJ is.

I've seen some discussion on UGA message boards about where AJ might fit in among great all-time SEC WRs. Let's take a look at some numbers.

A.J. Green Career to date (20 Games)

	Catches	Yards	TDs
Current Season	41	682	6
09 Projected Season	76	1,267	11

Current Career Totals	97	1,645	14
'09 Projected Career	132	2,229	19

With those numbers in mind, here are the all-time UGA and SEC records for receptions, yards and TDs in a season.

Single Season Receiving Records

	UGA Record	SEC Record
Catches	76 - Brice Hunter	97 - K. Edwards (VU)
Yards	1,004 - T. Edwards	1,740 - J. Reed (LSU)
TDs	11 - T. Edwards	18 - R. Anthony (UF)

As you can see, Green is on pace to match or top the three best receiving seasons in Bulldog history. As for career numbers, here are the record holders:

Career Receiving Records

	UGA Record	SEC Record
Catches	204 - T. Edwards	236 - E. Bennett (VU)
Yards	3,093 - T. Edwards	3,093 - T. Edwards (UGA)
TDs	30 - T. Edwards	31 - C. Doering (UF)

If Green goes for about 1,200 yards this season, he'll pass Lindsay Scott for 5th place on the all-time Georgia list for receiving yards in a career. Every other member of the Top 5 at UGA was in school for four years. He could enter the Top 5 in only 2 seasons.

Assuming he stays healthy, he has a very legitimate shot at taking down Terrence Edwards' career SEC yardage mark and Chris Doering's career TD mark. The record for catches is out of reach.

My point? We're watching a very special player, and we need to get him the ball a ton more.

See Also:
-- UGA's stars are mostly young - Chattanooga Free Press
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. Florida starting at $79*

PWD

*as of 4;45 pm today.

About that Auburn vs. LSU game....

2009-10-25T17:11:00.003-04:00

It looks like Chris Todd is back to his old, talentless self. Auburn had less than 150 yards of total offense vs. LSU until the final drive of the game quarterbacked by third team QB Neil Caudle. AuburnSports.com ($) says: "After throwing 12 touchdowns with only one interception the first five games, Todd has two interceptions and no TD passes in the last three -- all Auburn losses." Personnel changes appear to be forthcoming for the Tigers.

But it's not just Todd's fault. The entire offensive unit is a mess according to the Mobile Press Register. Also, Kevin Scarbinsky of the B'ham News wonders Who Drove the Gus Bus into the Ditch?

Auburn hosts Ole Miss at 11:21 am CST on Saturday. For Auburn's sake, they better hope Tuberville didn't leave his old alarm clock for Chizik's office. The Aubies haven't played worth a damn before 1 pm at home in a loooooooooooong time.

Speaking of Chizik, it's worth noting that his former team is now 5-2 on the season after their big win at Nebraska. That means Iowa State's new coach has caught Chizik on the Cyclones' career win total in only 7 games.

Does all of this mean that we'll beat the Tigers? Nah. But it's fun poking a stick at others who have problems.

PWD

Tebow Still Chasing Herschel's Rushing Record

2009-10-25T12:56:00.011-04:00

The TV guys last night said that Tebow tied Herschel's record for career rushing touchdowns in the SEC last night. That's technically true, but it's pretty misleading.

Herschel actually scored 5 more rushing TDs that aren't counted in the record books because bowl stats didn't start counting until about 10 years ago. He scored twice vs. Notre Dame, twice vs. Pitt and once vs. Penn State in the '81-'83 Sugar Bowls.

In other words, Tebow still has six more rushing TDs to go to break Walker's REAL record. Also, Walker played in 36 total games including bowls. With the longer seasons today, Tebow has already started 34 games in two and a half seasons. Additionally, he has played in 48 total games so far. So it's not an apples to apples comparison.

Nor did Herschel have any of the elite surrounding players that Tebow has played with.

That aside, Douche 3:16's stats really are amazing, and I do think he's one of the Top 3 SEC players in my lifetime alongside Herschel and Bo. I just have a problem with him getting that record under fairly uneven terms.

See Also:
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. Florida
-- Tebow very frustrated right now - Orlando Sentinel
-- Tebow speechless after throwing 2 TDs to MSU players - ESPN
-- Tebow is human - ESPN
-- Tebow works for tips - Orlando Sentinel

PWD

UGA to have a bye week before the 2011 Cocktail Party?

2009-10-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

RedStripe over at SicEmDawgs.com does a good job with future football schedule tracking. A few weeks ago, he found that Mississippi State announced some future dates for 2011. The implications of their announcement suggest that Georgia likely has an open date before the 2011 Georgia/Florida game.

It's possible that we'll play Kentucky that week like we're doing in 2010, but it seems more likely that the SEC wants to alternate bye weeks for UGA and/or Florida going forward. No team should have a bye week every single year. It's competitively unbalanced.

It'll also be nice to have 7 home games in 2011 for only the 2nd time since league expansion in 1992. The other years were 2002 and 2006.

See Also:
-- Tickets: 2009 Georgia vs. Florida Game
-- Unofficial 2011 Schedule - SicEmDawgs.com

PWD

SEC Suspends Officating Crew

2009-10-21T18:52:00.003-04:00

The press release below was posted to secsports.org late this afternoon:

SEC FOOTBALL OFFICIATING CREW SUSPENDED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (October 21, 2009) -- The officiating crew from Saturday’s Arkansas at Florida football game will be removed from its next scheduled assignment on Oct. 31 and will not be assigned to officiate as a crew until Nov. 14, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive announced Wednesday.

"A series of calls that have occurred during the last several weeks have not been to the standard that we expect from our officiating crews," said Slive. "I believe our officiating program is the best in the country, however, there are times when these actions must be taken."

Following each weekend, the conference office reviews games from the previous week, using video replays as well as interviews with officials, coaches and administrators.

"While only a few calls have been identified, the entire crew shoulders responsibility for each play. I have taken this action because there must be accountability in our officiating program," added Slive. "Our institutions expect the highest level of officiating in all of our sports and it is the duty of the conference office to uphold that expectation."

In addition, there will be an impact on eligibility for post-season bowl assignments for the crew.

Obviously it doesn't matter a hill of beans if you're a Georgia or an Arkansas fan, but at least the public pressure on Slive forced him to reconsider his position on "public hangings." I respectfully submit that public humiliation, when warranted, is an effective motivator for the rest of your work force.

In reality, the suspended crew is not much worse than any of the SEC's other crews. The suspended crew had the bad judgment to screw up royally in two high profile games, but plenty of non-outcome determinative but equally poor calls occur in any given game officiated by SEC refs. I submit Penn Wagers and his band of merry men are equally capable of such underachievement.

I get that it's a tough job and every call is objected to by one team or the other. But the ticky-tacky subjective stuff riles me like an off-ball foul in the final two minutes of basketball game riled Jim Harrick. When the Vanderbilt player tossed Joe Cox's hand towel in the air after sacking him, it seemed like an appropriate place to throw a celebration flag. I mean, some official had to be watching, or they wouldn't know the play was dead. The lack of uniformity and the lack of objective criteria for certain calls are something Slive and Rogers Redding should be tackling.

Tony Barnhart probably hit closest to the mark when he criticized the overall mindset of the league's officials. Credit Mike Slive for realizing the SEC's credibility was taking a pounding and doing something about it.

Hopefully this is the first of several steps the SEC will take to address the horrific quality of conference officiating.

Gordon Beckham Named AL Rookie of the Year

2009-10-21T12:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the Sporting News named Gordon Beckham American League Rookie of the Year after hitting .270 with 28 doubles, 14 home runs and 63 RBI in 103 games. Over a full season, you're talking about a kid on pace to hit 40+ doubles, 20+ home runs and 100+ RBI. Those are disgustingly impressive numbers for a guy that was only in the minors for about 350 days.

As the Chicago Sun-Times points out the Sporting News ROY Award is special because:

A panel of 338 major-league players voted the third baseman The Sporting News American League Rookie of the Year, making Beckham, 23, the ninth rookie in Sox history to be honored by the magazine. Manager Ozzie Guillen last received the honor in 1985.

As a manager, no one keeps it more real than Ozzie Guillen. So when he drops the following quote to the Sun-Times, it is truly enormous praise:

‘‘I wish that kid was a two- or three-year veteran in the big leagues because he has that attitude,’’ Guillen said. ‘‘He has that right frame of mind. He was a leader his whole life from when he was in high school, college. I think he wants to be the face of the franchise, and we need something like that. When a player thinks like that, doesn’t hide in the weeds, you don’t see many players come up from the minor leagues and think that way. It’s a big challenge. But I don’t have a doubt in my mind that he has the right tools to be one. Obviously, it has to come from help from myself, Ken Williams and the staff to make him a great leader.’’

What's next for Gordo? He wants to hit for more power next year, and he'll be hitting the weight room shortly.

PWD

UGA vs. Colorado 2010 Hotel Info

2009-10-21T06:01:00.002-04:00

Image by Jim Hipple
One of the things we try and do here at the Georgia Sports Blog is help out with road game travel plans when we can. With that in mind, I wanted to let you know that many Boulder Hotels for the 2010 Georgia Bulldogs vs. Colorado Buffaloes game are now open for booking.

The game is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010 according to the UGA Media Guide. Here's a sampling of some of the hotel rates I've found along with distance from the stadium per Google Maps:

Boulder Marriott

- $239/night

walk

Courtyard Boulder

- $99/night

Residence Inn Boulder

- $139/night

Homewood Suites

- $107-139/night

Holiday Inn Express Boulder

- $135-149/night

Quality Inn & Suites Boulder Creek

- No Rate

walk

There are other places that are fairly close, but I gave you recommendations (except for the Quality Inn) for the types of places I stay when I'm on the road with the Dawgs.

I travel a lot for work, and I don't like staying in 2 star hotels. If you want to stay at the Best Western or Ramada Inn in a college town, you're more than welcome. But I'm not. There's actually a Best Western very close to campus, but I didn't research it. I typically stay at a Hampton Inn for personal travel. In fact, there is a Hampton Inn in Boulder for about $110, but it's located about 6+ miles away so I didn't bother to link given the other properties nearby.

This trip, I'm staying at the Boulder Marriott because I love walking to the stadium for road games. The trip to Tempe spoiled me in regards to walking to the game. I only listed the Google Map distances from the stadium. A search from whatever bar district (if any) they have would likely also be useful, but I didn't check into that. The rates were based on my best efforts as of Monday, Oct. 19.

The team hotel is unlikely to be in Boulder. They usually stay further out than that, but I didn't bother checking.

As for air travel, I'm going to wait until the NFL announces the 2010 Football Schedule before booking anything. I wouldn't mind sticking around Sunday and watching Knowshon and Champ play if the Broncos have a home game that weekend.

Hope that helps.

See Also:
-- UGA vs. Colorado: Tale of the Tape - From 2006 (GSB)

PWD