Dawg Sports

UGA Softball Starts Tonight!

2012-02-10T21:30:07Z

Georgia softball's sixteenth campaign commences tonight against Army at Jack Turner Stadium at 7:00 p.m. This will be the first game of this weekend's fifth annual Red and Black Showcase, in which the Bulldogs boast an impressive 19-1 record. The rest of this weekend's opponents are:

Utah State, Saturday at 11 a.m.,
St. John's, Saturday at 1 p.m.,
Campbell, Sunday at 1 p.m., and
NC State, Sunday at 3 p.m.

The tenth ranked Bulldogs return four position starters and two pitchers from a team that finished 51-14 and advanced to the Super Regionals. Tune in to the audio broadcast at GeorgiaDogs.com to listen to the start of a campaign that could see Coach Lu Harris-Champer secure her 800th win as a collegiate head coach.

Go Dawgs!

Free Form Friday Is Bringing The Technology Of Tomorrow To The Tailgate Of Today.

2012-02-10T18:27:50Z

Sometimes, there's no football. And it sucks. But if those of us here at Dawg Sports weren't driven shrieking for the hills by watching the last 2 weeks of Georgia Bulldog basketball, the 2010 Georgia Bulldog football season, or most of the Nic Cage film collection*, you can rest assured it's going to take more than a football-less Friday to bring us down. We may get a little punchy and start posting musical selections bordering on the absurdist (or which passed absurdist 3 rest stops back), but we will endure. Because we're stuck on you, loyal readers.

Maestro, if you will, the unexpected musical selection that's significantly less odd than Lawrence Welk's High Times moment or William Shatner channeling Elton John:

I learned several months ago that the folks at DARPA are developing a robo...actually I don't know what it is exactly. Whatever it is they are now field testing . . .it. It's called Alpha Dog, but I've seen a lot of dogs in my time and that thing looks nothing like any dog I've ever seen. If anything it looks like a Star Wars At-At if it were available in a convertible model:

I'm hoping that like a lot of military technology the Alpha Dog eventually works its way onto the civilian market. I say that because I plan to go in with my tailgate buddies on one. Seriously, can you imagine the cache that will come with being the first tailgate in Tent City with a robotic beer mule capable of toting 400 pounds of party gear? I'm also already on the waiting list for the drone aircraft that will send back intel letting me know how long the line at The Varsity is and whether I should take White Oak Drive back to the Macon Highway.

Speaking of mobile beings capable of moving large loads, SB Nation Atlanta's Alex Shirkey thinks the Falcons may grab Bulldog Ben Jones in the 2nd round of this April's NFL Draft. I think that makes way too much sense, so instead thry'll trade 6 picks to move up and take a #3 receiver in the 1st round. Oh, nevermind. That was last year's move. As Alex also mentions, there seems to be a good bit of early interest in Cordy Glenn, who I thought could have been a 3rd or 4th round pick if he came out last year. He only helped his stock by getting in better shape and staying healthy through 2011.

And speaking of cutting edge science, it's worth noting that the folks at the University of Georgia, having put us a fair piece down the road to curing cancer, have now figured out how to mend broken bones with silly putty. Okay, it's not actually silly putty, it's an injectible stem cell compound, but still. . .scoreboard, dude.

Your move, Mizzou and Texas A&M. You want in on this conference? You're going to need to sign top 20 football recruiting classes, take your fandom to heights which no reasonable human being would consider sane or safe, and move medical science forward a decade or more with regularity. Did Mike Slive not put that in the introductory memo?

Speaking of recruiting, it's no secret that Mark Richt needs defensive backs in his 2013 recruiting class and he needs them yesterday. To that end, Sandy Creek cornerback Shaq Wiggins is expected to unofficially visit Athens today. Wiggins already holds offers from not only Georgia but also Auburn, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Missouri and Tennessee. He may be the top cornerback in Georgia for 2013 so it would be pretty nice if he went ahead and decided to pledge to Georgia, which already has a nice amount of star power for the class of 2013. We'll keep you posted if news breaks. Until later . . .

Go 'Dawgs!

*Seriously, part of the hazing ritual to get on the masthead here is watching every film Cage ever played in with the exception of Raising Arizona. Why? Because eating ground cinammon and walking barefoot on hot coals seemed too easy, that's why.

Friday Dawg Bites: February 10, 2012

2012-02-10T15:08:39Z

Good Friday morning, Dawg fans. (Well, not "Good Friday," per se, but good morning on a Friday, which we hope will be good for you and yours, and... well, let's just move on, shall we?)

Hey, you! Have a good Friday.

There are quite a few bits of news worthy of note today. To wit:

Former Bulldog Chris Sanders has officially enrolled at Georgia Military College, and though Mark Richt hasn't yet commented on the matter, Sanders is apparently under the impression that he may be able to return to Georgia after serving an appropriate penance in the (proverbial) wilderness. This leaves only Sanford Seay currently unspoken for.
BREAKING NEWS: James Franklin acts like a jerk, rails at an 18-year-old kid, then says he's sorta sorry (but not really). To ~~borrow~~ steal a phrase from tankertoad: Totally surprised.
ACTUAL, IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS: Greg McGarity confirms in a public statement that there is a very real possibility that the SEC will completely drop all permanent cross-division rivalries. This would mean the end of multiple annual rivalries that pre-date the SEC itself, including the ~~Deep~~ South's Oldest Rivalry (Georgia-Auburn), the Third Saturday in October (Bama-Tennessee), and the Ole Miss-Vanderbilt rivalry. (James Franklin gets b*tchy in 5... 4... oh wait, he already has. Never mind.)
UGA President Michael Adams thinks that an 8-team playoff is possible within the next 2 years. It wouldn't surprise me if he were the one pushing for 8 teams instead of 4 in a "plus one" format. Dang, I love that man. (Please note the sarcasm font.)

That's about it for now... MaconDawg's famous offseason-open-comment thread known as Free Form Friday is coming up soon, so until then, have a good Friday!

Go Dawgs!

Nick Marshall enrolls at Garden City Comm. College in Kansas.

2012-02-09T16:35:35Z

Nick Marshall enrolls at Garden City Comm. College in Kansas.

And with that, the first chapter of this sad saga has come to an end and the second chapter has officially begun for Nick Marshall. Garden City CC sounds really familiar to me, but a cursory Google search didn't turn up anything helpful. I suspect they're a regular destination for Division I transfers that are hoping to Cam-Newton their way back to Division I.

No word yet on Sanford Seay or Chris Sanders, though Georgia Military College was apparently potentially interested in at least one of them.

We wish Nick Marshall the best of luck as a Broncbuster at Garden City CC.

'Dawgs Drop To The Cellar In Latest SEC Hoops Power Poll.

2012-02-09T15:10:05Z

The latest edition of the SEC Hoops Power Poll is up over at Garnet & Black Attack and it bears unfortunate news for Bulldog basketball fans. The Fox Hounds have now fallen to dead last in the league on the um . . .strength? . . . of recent losses to Ole Miss and Auburn amidst a four game slide.

Remember that the voting for this week's edition of the poll closed on Monday night, before whatever that was that happened at the Stege last night. And while it remains to be seen whether that was the beginnng of a turnaround or a mere aberration, the fact remains that the Hoop 'Dawgs are a gosh-awful 2-7 in conference play. I'm frustrated about it. You're frustrated about it. Mark Fox is frustrated about it. But (he said, filling his tired cliche quota for the post) it is what it is right now.

Further up the ladder, there appears to be no question that the Kentucky Wildcats are the class of the conference. They've beaten all comers enroute to a 24-1 overall record, a pristine 10-0 conference ledger and a #1 national ranking. If anyone believes there's a better team in college basketball right now I would love to hear that person's argument. I would then dismiss it as the ramblings of a mad man or the delusions of an Ohio State fan.

Florida's only fault at this point is that they're not Kentucky. Assuming a strong finish to the conference slate, a good performance in the SEC tournament, and a slip by one or two other squads, the Gators are a decent bet for a top seed in the NCAA tournament, and should be no worse than a #3 barring some sort of collapse.

Speaking of the tournament, SB Nation's own Blogging The Bracket currently has 5 SEC teams making it into the field: Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi State, Vandy and Alabama. I can't really quibble with that, as there appears to be a large gulf between those teams and the Ole Misses and Arkansases* of the world. It's just not a very deep conference this year, which can largely be chalked up to the likes of Georgia and Arkansas rebuilding and acclimating to new systems. It's just one of those seasons.

Until later . . .

Go 'Dawgs!

*The next time I pluralize "Arkansas" will be the second time. So cut me some slack here.

Georgia Bulldogs 81, Arkansas Razorbacks 59: The Instantaneous, Ill-Informed, and Ecstatic Roundball Wrapup

2012-02-09T03:20:44Z

Huge game for Razorbacks tonight at Georgia. Must-win. Period.
Josh Bertaccini (February 8, 2012)

On a Wednesday evening that featured some top-tier college basketball around the country, Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs limped into their home date with an Arkansas Razorbacks squad that had yet to card the season’s first road win. Everything about what followed was shocking, as the Classic City Canines carded an 81-59 triumph. No, seriously.

Despite jacking up too many overly early ill-fated treys, the Fox Hounds held an 8-2 edge with 14 and a half minutes remaining in the opening period, thanks to a pair of Gerald Robinson layups---hey! getting to the basket works!---and a couple of jump shots by Robinson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The Hoop Hogs’ B.J. Young snarled the score with back-to-back three-point buckets, but another Robinson layup put the Red and Black back out in front, sparking a run during which Georgia appeared, not without exception but at least for lengthy stretches, to grasp the concept that working the ball inside effectively sets up good looks for the players on the perimeter, as evidenced by the Robinson-assisted Caldwell-Pope three-pointer that staked the Athenians to a 19-8 lead with a little over nine and a half minutes remaining until halftime.

Though the Bulldogs got a little sloppy toward the end of the initial 20 minutes, the home team held a 43-24 advantage at intermission. Georgia drained 18 of 32 first-half shots from the field (56.3%), knocked down five of twelve from beyond the arc (41.7%), dominated the glass with a 25-10 rebounding edge, and outscored the visitors in the paint (20-6), on the fast break (6-0), off of turnovers (7-2), and in second-chance points (9-2). However, the Fox Hounds sent the Razorbacks to the line twice as often as the Classic City Canines stepped up to the charity stripe, putting Nemanja Djurisic, John Florveus, Marcus Thornton, and Donte’ Williams in early foul trouble with two personal fouls apiece in the first half.

Though Arkansas made its momentary mini-runs in the final 20 minutes, the trends of the first half largely were sustained in the second half, as Georgia generally maintained a twentysomething-point cushion that kept the Hogs from creeping close enough to put the outcome in doubt. Four Classic City Canines scored in double-figures, led by Robinson’s career-high 27 points, with Caldwell-Pope, Djurisic, and Thornton contributing 18, 14, and ten, respectively.

A game that began with a bloodletting---from Thornton’s wounded nose---ended in one, as well. This unquestionably was the Bulldogs’ most complete performance of the season against legitimate opposition, and it couldn’t have come at a better time: Georgia arrived at the Stegosaurus on Wednesday evening trailing a four-game losing streak after having dropped seven of their last eight outings, but the Bulldogs proceeded to score more than 70 points for just the fourth time this season, and for the first time against opposition of this caliber.

Could this have been the breakout game we have awaited all season long? Maybe, though I doubt it; for now, though, it suffices that the Red and Black looked like a legitimate team tonight, which is more than I’ve been able to say most nights. Sustaining it for 40 minutes was a step in the right direction; now let’s try sustaining it for consecutive contests for a change.

Go ‘Dawgs!

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Georgia Bulldogs v. Arkansas Razorbacks Basketball Game Night Open Comment Thread

2012-02-09T00:30:01Z

Well, here we go again. Mark Fox's Georgia Bulldogs will be hosting the Arkansas Razorbacks in Stegeman Coliseum at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on the SEC Network. Should you be so inclined, you may track (though not watch) the game here.

The Hogs are an enigmatic team, having in the last two and a half weeks beaten the Michigan Wolverines and the Vanderbilt Commodores while losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers. Arkansas, which is still looking for its first win of the season on an opponent's home court, travels to Athens hoping to unleash "40 minutes of Hell," in honor of the roundball strategy, biography, and documentary of the same name, all of which are discussed in a recent podcast at Arkansas Expats, SB Nation's Razorbacks weblog and, I believe, the only blog in the network with "sex" in the URL.

If you can stomach another evening of Georgia men's basketball---and, honestly, at this point, no one would fault you if you couldn't---please join in the conversation in the comments below.

Go 'Dawgs!

A Word of Apology and Explanation Regarding Recent Network Outages

2012-02-08T19:00:43Z

As you undoubtedly noticed, Dawg Sports suffered a brief outage this morning, which, unfortunately, was not the first such outage in recent weeks. I would like to apologize to the site’s many loyal readers for our temporary inability to provide you with the thorough and reliable Georgia athletics coverage you have come to expect and we are committed to delivering. The outage was brief, but it affected many of the sites within the SB Nation network. Please be assured that our technical support team is working hard to correct these problems and to make sure such outages don't occur again.

I'd also like to apologize for the fact that, if such an outage had to occur today, it didn't occur during tonight's Georgia-Arkansas basketball game. Dawg Sports is concerned about your well-being and would have welcomed an interruption of service that excused us from watching another disheartening men’s basketball loss.

Hang in there, everyone. We’re all on the job; just bear with us. If necessary, feel free to blame Mike Bobo.

Go ‘Dawgs!

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