The Georgia Southern Short Bus

Spotted in Augusta GA. Special Needs. Very Special indeed.

The Best News from Weekend 10

The best news all weekend (besides the Dawgs winning) was the fact that out of all the games I watched on ESPN, ABC, and CBS, I don't recall hearing Tebow's name being mentioned. After the Tebow overload from the previous two weeks, it was refreshing to say the least. I reluctantly mention this, because in mentioning it, I have now given him even less deserving attention than he got before.

I did hear McFadden's name mentioned in relation to the Heisman race. He had a heckuva game saturday, and eclipsed the 1000 yard mark for the year. But so did Moreno. They were both SEC players of the week this week - McFadden the offensive POTW and Knowshon the SEC Freshman OTW (again). A comparison of their stats from http://www.secsports.com/ is included below.

RUSHING GP Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
Darren McFadden 9 222 1362 48 1314 5.9 12 80 146.0
Knowshon Moreno 9 178 1032 29 1003 5.6 9 80 111.4

For future reference, it should also be noted that although Kentucky has no defense, they have a running and passing threats. Rafael Little has only played in 6 games and is averaging 113.7 yards per game rushing.

White Trash YARD Party

Since we decided we were too busy to make it to the Peach Bowl this year (and too poor), we're putting on what has now become a semi-annual event - a crawfish boil (or sometimes an oyster steam) with the game on the big screen. And by big screen, I don't mean a 40" LCD or Plasma TV. I'm talkin' 20 diagonal feet of High Def football, on a screen in the backyard, with 40 of somebody's (I don't have that many) closest friends. The guy I purchased the screen (tarp really) from specializes in custom sizes, but has admittedly THE WORST website in the world. He's had a bad run of luck with the cancer, so check him out if you need a tarp or screen.

White Trash folks eatin' mud bugs

This is our 5th year of throwing an event like this, so we've had a few practice runs. We've done some bowl games, and some away Dawgs games. This year should top them all.

I'll try to post a video on YouTube about the setup procedures, in the event someone wants to attempt this. Meanwhile, here's an almost-old-school pic I took of Brice Hunter from the 96 Peach Bowl, which I managed to attend.

Brice Hunter (RIP) - 96 Peach Bowl

Hatred for FL and the System

Ok, if you think we Dawg fans hate the Gaytors, you need to read some recent Michigan blog postings. Good putrid stuff. And funny - like this one on the Coach comparison between the teams:

"Urban Meyer, a inveterate whiner who goes purse shopping when not
running the local chapters of NAMBLA and the Communist Party. Also
points too much." MGOBlog

You just have to overlook the obviously uninformed comments about Georgia in the mix.

This one about the Harris Poll is also entertaining.

The debate over which team should go the national title game will not end until we have a playoff system (4, 8, 16, whatever) or a system like, as Herbstreet calls it, a plus one.

2006-2007 WTPP College Football Bowl Pool

It's that time again. The Second Annual White Trash Porch Party Bowl Pool is under way. Tell your friends, neighbors, mail carrier, and everyone else about the bowl pool. It's $5 per set of picks. For a pick sheet, please email me at

mabrown at knology dot net OR

collegebowlpool at hotmail dot com

Items of note this year:

1. There are 32 bowl games this year, as opposed to 28 last year;
2. The BCS is decided by a separate championship game, instead of being one of the 4 BCS games (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta) as in previous years;
3. Just to make it fair, I'll be playing the role of innocent bystander this year, since I took everyone's money so early in the process last year. I will, however, makes some picks and throw in 5 bucks I have left over from last year's winnings;
4. First through third place win cash. Last place gets a refund ($5);
5. Make sure you read the instructions. They have changed slightly since last year;
6. Don't' forget to pick the tie breakers;
7. Let the trash talkin' begin. Go Dawgs!

East beats West - Again

As much as I hate Florida, I'm happy to see the SEC East beat up on the West in the Championship game again, not to mention the fact that it probably helped the Dawgs stay at the top of the list for the Chick-Fil-a. USCs loss could have caused some problems with getting 2 teams in the BCS.

So, since the conference split in 1992, the score is SEC East 10, SEC West 5, and like it or not FL accounts for 6 of those. But we still have more conference championships than they do. The West gets way too much credit from the media, with LSU and Auburn being perennial media favorites. The West has three 10-win teams this year. The East, just one, FL, with more than 10 wins. But of the 18 head-to-head matchups between the East and West this year, it's all tied at 9-9. Face it Dawg fans, since the split, it used to be a slugfest between FL and TN in the East. No one else really made a difference. At least now, it appears to be a threesome.

Championship Breakdown:
2006 FL
2005 GA
2004 AU
2003 LSU
2002 GA
2001 LSU
2000 FL
1999 AL
1998 TN
1997 TN
1996 FL
1995 FL
1994 FL
1993 FL
1992 AL

BTW, does anyone else think Urban Meyer looks like he used to be a big fat fatty, then lost an eighth-grader and had to have that surgery where they remove your flabby skin, and make you look like you have the neck of a turtle because they stretched some parts too tight? I guess it's just me then.

UPDATE: FL is now going to the BCS Championship game. I still can't stand those punks, and especially Meyer. It would be torture to actually root for them. I tend to pull for the SEC in bowl games, but maybe if we win all but this one, the conference will still look good. Just not as good as if they did win. (*%$#@&$#*&, I can't stand it!

Advantage Kills More Than Fleas

Looks like the Dawgs got their flea and yellow jacket repellant treatment before last Saturday's game. Thank the good Lord for that. Surfing the blogs today, I noticed a large number of Techies faulting Reggie Ball for their loss and lamenting his having started for 4 years.

On the other side, the UGA fans are pouring on the "4 more years" sentiment for 'ol number 1, including a petition to the NCAA (HT Georgia Sports Blog). One post even suggested that the Dawgs were trying to get him transferred to Gainesville for those 4 years. Wish I had thought of that.

But the most interesting part of this debate is that no one seems to want to admit that a hundred other factors also contributed to Tech's loss, including many of the problems the Dawgs have had all year. Techs dropped passes and turnovers were one of the key factors in their loss - sound familiar Dawg fans?. I realize the turnovers were primarily Reggie, but he did'nt just drop the ball with no one around either. The Dawgs defense contributed to those turnovers.

Not only did they create turnovers, but Paul Oliver did an excellent job of covering Calvin Johnson. Richt and company had a good plan, that included trying to keep CJ out of rhythm by bumping him at the line instead of playing 10 yards off. Even so, Oliver never would have successfully covered him if the Defense wasn't able to pressure Ball. But when you pressure Ball, he can run for first downs. Again, the Dawgs had a plan for that.

As much as everyone on both sides wants to give the Dawgs the Advantage when Reggie Ball is playing, you also have to realize that he is a very good athlete. Notice I didn't say excellent, just very good. Many times, it takes the system to make a very good athlete look excellent. A number of Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks come to mind. Charlie Ward, Danny Wuerffel, Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke. They were very good athletes, very good quarterbacks, that looked like excellent quarterbacks under their coach's system. Conversely, a mediocre system can make an excellent player look less than excellent.

Calvin Johnson suffers from being involved in a mediocre system. Reggie Ball is a very good athlete, with poor discipline and a bad attitude, that doesn't have a system to make him look like an excellent quarterback. But he has had CJ to make him look like a very good quarterback. So the bottom line of this nerd equation is that Reggie Ball is a very good athlete, but only a good quarterback without CJ. At a school like Florida, he might have won the Heisman. I can see it 10 years from now, Reggie sitting in a homeless shelter in Midtown, trash talking to his trophy.