College beats the Pros anyday

I rarely watch pro football, and when I do, it's to see a former Dawg play. Last nite, I was hoping to see Shock play a little. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. Buy hey, Charles Grant had a heck of a game. The coolest thing about last nite's game was seeing number 41 again. Not current Redshirt Freshman DE Roderick Battle, but GHW Bush. GW got interviewed before the game, and tossed the coin at the beginning. Gotta love it.

I told you so

I can't believe we almost lost to Colorado. I can believe that Colorado was pumped for this game, after reading all the naysayers in the Colorado and Georgia papers claiming that CU didn't have a chance, and wouldn't score more than six points against a stingy Georgia D. Well, they were apparently more motivated than the Dawgs, even with bulletin board material (HT Dawgbone.net).

Too much time was spent discussing the CU mascot Ralphie IV and watching that beast run on the field in Sanford Stadium. Even Larry, Hondo, and Loran couldn't focus on the matchup during the pregame show. They started out discussing Ralphie, which merged into discussions of Loran's intern in an elevator with Larry. I hate to say it, but I told you so. We can't overlook any team, and we especially can't look ahead to TN. After yesterday, I think we'll have a difficult time winning against TN, FL, AU, KY, and even GT if our offensive line blocks the way it did in the first 3 quarters, and our receiver drop passes, and we have stupid penalties like we did on the previously flawless special teams.

Tailgating Test 2 and 3

I didn't post this last week, well, because I'm lazy. So here are photos of the tailgate, as well as the family friendly zone adjacent to us on North Campus. These early games are killing me. UAB at 1pm and Colorado at 12:30pm - ridiculous. I reckon this is Adam's way of cutting down on the trash, which is really the reason he put the family friend zone where it is on North Campus. More trash cans would do the trick, not forcing fans from the most popular tailgating areas.

South Carolina notes

Feeling under the weather kept me from attending the GA vs SC game, but I did watch it on television. I'm sure I got a much better view, considering that my seats in the Oven Bowl were on the top row in the corner. I guess I need to give a little more to GEEF - ( I didn't get Auburn tickets this year for the first time in 10 years).

Anyway, Stafford looked exceptional at times, and just average at others. He's a tough guy who doesn't appear to have any quit in him. I just don't want everyone getting a big head and pumping the team with talks of going 5-0 before playing TN at home. I hate that talk. It gets a team in trouble. More on that later...

Old Codger Talk

I happen to agree with The Hobnailed Boot about the idiocy of Lou Holtz. I was watching the pre-game College Gameday crew for the Miami vs FSU game last nite, and this question was posed by Chris Fowler to the Gameday crew: "What did we learn from the first weekend of College Football?" I don't remember the response of Corso, Herbstreet, or May, but I do remember what Holtz said. It went something like this:

"I learned that if Georgia wants to compete for the SEC or National championships, they need an offensive that can produce more than 295 yards against a I-AA opponent."
Lou Holtz paraphrased

What Lispy failed to note is that the Dawgs managed to score 48 points, which was the largest point total of any SEC team this past weekend. Two points I would like to make here;
(1) You play to the level of your opponent - As much as most players don't like to admit it, it's true;
(2) Playing with a comfortable lead allows you to play 2nd and 3rd string guys, which often results in less offensive output, but helps you in the long run.

I also decided to compare statistics on SEC games from last saturday, just to make myself feel better about my opinion on this subject. I compiled these from available data on secsports.com:

Game 1 - Dawgs vs Hilltoppers

UGA vs WKU - Tailgating went fine, especially since we had a parking pass to the North Campus parking deck. They apparently weren't sold out, since we sat close to the entrance and noticed the parking deck attendants letting cash customers in for a while. The next tailgating expericence will be at the Dawgs vs Chickens this Saturday in Columbia, so it'll be a little different than Athens. It's difficult to find a tree near that stadium, and impossible if you park at the fair grounds. We'll be tailgating with some rowdy SC fans, but I'll still post pics here.

Other positive notes from the game:

• We appear to have more offense than I expected, although it was against a I-AA team.
• We have a pretty good defense.
• We apparently have an outstanding special teams.
• Matthew Stafford looks to be the future of GA football. AJC article here.

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin Dies

This is a little off the normal topic, but Crikey! Stingray barb to the chest. I guess he died doing what he enjoyed, but at 44 and with two young children, that really hits home. Links below.

UPDATE: Links have been removed since this now has major news coverage. I discovered it around 1am this morning when I couldn't sleep, and the story was only a couple of hours old. God Bless that man's family.

Tailgating Test Number 1

UGA kicks off the season tomorrow against Western Kentucky (woohoo). It's a 12:30 game, so the tailgating scene would normally start early. Not this year. Unpopular UGA president Michael Adams continues to annoy the sports fan - alumni or not, with the implementation of several gameday changes that will affect Georgia football fans tailgating. I understand the intent of most of these changes, and they probably might not affect me. Some of the changes are as follows...

• No tailgating setup before 7 am I can't get my butt out of bed in time to meet my brother at 8 am for the 1 1/2 hour drive, so this won't be a problem.
• Family Friendly zones have been setup where there will be no alcohol allowed. One problem with this is the North Campus Family Friendly zone is immediately adjacent to where I always tailgate, which means those punks that normally drink there will be pushed into my area.
• No parking on the grass - I might have parked on the grass once in the past 14 years. This, however, has already affected me. I had to fork over $146 for a parking pass on the North Campus parking deck to assure me and my friends a spot, since the grass parkers will be searching for a spot elsewhere.

We'll see what the affect is before the game tomorrow.