Last time, you recall, both the Georgia men's and women's teams secured berths in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be held later this month. Both teams returned to the courts this weekend with wins. The men defeated East Tennessee State University 6-1 yesterday, and the women blanked FIU (again) earlier today.

Now that the Madonna concert is over, we can do a quick check on the proceedings. And if you want, you can return to the Super Bowl Sunday festivities here at Dawg Sports, already in progress.

The fourth-ranked men, now 4-0 on the season, swept the doubles matches against ETSU and won the first five singles matches to be completed. With the score at 6-0, the team victory already was decided in UGA's favor. Only the six spot remained unfinished, where Georgia's Campbell Johnson and ETSU's Jorge Veron fought a valiant battle, ultimately won by Veron 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9).

Our men's team has been switching things up this season: we have guys like Johnson stepping in for doubles play but stepping off the courts while someone else steps in for singles. That's some quality depth right there. I wonder if there's a shutdown cornerback among them. Next for the men is another home date: they take on William and Mary at 4:00 p.m. On Friday, 10 February.

The women faced off against FIU earlier today and, just like in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, shut out the Panthers 7-0, improving to a spotless 6-0 for the season. After takingthe doubles point with a sweep of all three matches, the Dawgs took all six singles, winning in straight sets in every match but one. The women next travel to Charlottesville, Virginia, for the ITA National Team Indoors and are set to play No. 14 Texas at noon on Friday, 10 February.

The Georgia men's tennis team improved to 3-0 on the season and qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships by defeating the VPI Hokies Monday in Athens. It was a bit more competitive than the previous match against TCU, but the result was the same: 7-0.

After the doubles pairs of Sadio Doumba/Ignacio Taboada and Hernus Pieters/Nathan Pasha secured the first point with wins, the singles matches mostly were closely fought by the visiting team. Several sets were decided by tie-breakers, but the Dawgs emerged victorious in all six matches to take the team victory in a shutout.

The win means that Georgia will follow the women's team to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia. The women's event is 10-13 February, while the men will play 17-20 February. Before that trip, the men will play ETSU on 2/4, followed by William and Mary on 2/10 and Georgia Tech on 2/14, all in Athens. The women next play Florida International on Sunday, 2/5, also in Athens.

T. Kyle King will be on ESPN Radio St. Augustine with John Frary at 5:37 p.m. to discuss Georgia sports, no doubt including recrootin'. Tune in if you're in the area, 1420 AM, or try http://www.1420sports.com/ on your Internet dial.

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The sixth-ranked Georgia women's team hosted the Missouri Tigers today as part of an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kick-Off Weekend. The match was the first between Mizzou and UGA, but will not be the last as the Tigers start SEC play next year.

The Bulldogs took the doubles point with wins by Chelsey Gullickson/Nadja Gilchrist 8-1 and Kate Fuller/Lauren Herring 8-3. Lilly Kimbell and Maho Kowase were leading the third doubles match 7-4 when it was suspended after the first two spots decided the point.

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The University of Georgia men's and women's tennis teams were in action this Saturday afternoon against two of UGA's oldest rival institutions. The 7th ranked women travelled to Atlanta to take on 13th Georgia Tech, while the 4th ranked men hosted No. 66 Clemson in Athens. Both ended well. Which is the good news and which is the better news is, perhaps, in the eye of the beholder.

Both matches started at 1:00 p.m. Weather wasn't a factor, as both were played indoors (although the storm did make the lights flicker in Georgia's Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Tennis Facility). The men made it look easy against the visiting Tigers, but the women had a tougher time of it on the Flats.

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Play in the SEC Coaches' Indoor Tennis Championships wrapped up yesterday, 16 January 2012, with Georgia's Sadio Doumbia playing for the singles title and the team of Wil Spencer and Garrett Brasseaux vying for the doubles championship. Host Kentucky's Anthony Rossi defeated Doumbia 6-4, 6-3, while twin Ole Miss Rebels Chris and Marcel Thiemann won the doubles competition over Spencer and Brasseaux 8-3.

via grfx.cstv.com

Sadio Doumbia de Toulouse

It's a disappointment not to repeat the conference indoor championship sweep from 2011, but reaching the finals in both singles and doubles for the third consecutive year shows the strength of the men's tennis program. Georgia opens 2012 match play against visiting Clemson this Saturday, 21 January, 1:00 p.m., at the Dan Magill Tennis Center. Be sure to check back early and often for all your Dawg Sports news.

GO DAWGS!

Due to ongoing technical difficulties chez NCT, your tennis results from Friday, 13 January 2012, are being brought to you from the Mechanicsville Branch of the Atlanta Fulton County Public Library System. And they're being brought to you late. We are, however, committed to offering news of all UGA sports, and T. Kyle King has already brought you the bad gymnastics news out of Tuscaloosa last night.

The men's and women's tennis teams fared a bit better in their respective outings as the women posted a team victory over visiting Kansas State, and three members of the men's team advanced in the SEC Coaches' Indoor Tournament in Lexington.

via www.secdigitalnetwork.com

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Well, friends, 2011 is fading fast, but we're getting to the best bowl games. Be sure to check out our thoughts on the remaining games in the "Don't Bet On It" series here and here. In the meantime, as we wait to see if Paul Johnson continues his fine post-season tradition when the Yellow Jackets meet the Utes tomorrow afternoon, let's make sure not to waste any of this year's news. Have a taste of some of these morsels and offer your own in the comments.

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Gee. For a guy that was on the hot seat just a few months ago, folks sure are hungry for rumours* about the future of Georgia’s head coach, a guy whose winning ways in the SEC might be able to help out a conference newcomer and whose broadly admired moral character might help stabilize a scandal-shocked program up north.

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Happy SEC Conference Championship Game Eve, everyone. It's December, there's a chill in the air, and the faint hint of a corn dog front that I detected earlier this week has become unmistakeable in Atlanta. If you've fallen behind in getting Too Much Information about the Bayou Bengals, no worries: T. Kyle King can hook you up with TMI One and TMI Two (check back for TMI Three later). And don't forget to get your drink on, brush up on your Pelican State knowledge, and dream big.

But we can't possible cover all the details here at Dawg Sports, so we are pleased to point you in a few directions so you can get your Friday fill of UGA news.

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Good morning, all.  It's bright and chilly here, and I'm still stuffed like yesterday's turkey.  Snack on a few tidbits of college sports and Bulldogs news along with the leftovers.

• There's a big game this afternoon out in Baton Rouge, in case you hadn't heard, that will help decide who represents the SEC West against Georgia in Atlanta a week from tomorrow. 
• And later tonight, Mark Fox takes the Hoop Hounds to Cincinnati to face #12 Xavier.  You may recall that the Musketeers ousted the Bulldogs from the NCAA tournament in 2008 after the Dawgs qualified only by making a miracle run through the SEC tournament.  They beat us last year, too.  You can learn more about tonight's opponent from our SB Nation colleagues at Banners on the Parkway.

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I learned last night that my home in the heart of Atlanta sits squarely on (or at most mere yards from) the Eastern Continental Divide: that line that travels through the eastern portion of North America dividing the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf of Mexico watersheds. 

Because I learned this fact this week, it of course reminded me of how much I hate Tech.  But it also reminded me of some reasons I have to celebrate this Thanksgiving.

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Before we get started, I'd like to pass along a child-rearing tip.  I don't have kids, but my UGA alumni parents did a fine job of instilling proper values in their sons (my many flaws are not attributable to my upbringing).  When I was a young child, my folks stressed to my brothers and me the importance of a quality higher education.  All three of us were expected to go to college.  The folks made it clear to us that we were to consider college our own responsibility, but they also made it clear to us that they would help us out as much as they could, and we could go anywhere we wanted.  But if we decided we wanted to go to Auburn, we were on our own.  That my two brothers both went to Tech with my parents' blessings speaks volumes, I think.

On y va!

It's a beautiful, crisp day; the autumn leaves are splendid; and the Yellow Jackets lost at home last night, eliminated by the VPI Hokies from a chance at Paul Johnson's first ACC championship.  I love the smell of schadenfreude in the morning.

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In which we take a quick look at how our 2011 opponents fared the preceding weeks

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Well, friends, we're a day away from the 2011 iteration of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, and it looks like tomorrow will be a beautiful day to feast on gator by the St. John's River.

In case you're somehow feeling a little bit optimistic, be sure to check out T. Kyle King's Florida edition of Too Much Information if you haven't done so already.

Just when you thought it was safe to assume that, while conference alignment appears to be chaotic, the folks in charge actually have it well under control, somebody prematurely pulls the trigger on welcoming Missouri to the SEC on the conference's official web site.  Our friends at Team Speed Kills breaks down the gaffe and what it means.  Or doesn't.

Yeah, about that 2007 end zone dance.  Would somebody please ask Chris Rainey at what point stewing in four year old "fake juice" becomes its own fake juice?

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In which we take a quick look at how our 2011 opponents fared the preceding week

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In which we take a quick look at how our 2011 opponents fared the preceding week

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So.  R.E.M. broke up this week.  The news hit me pretty hard, but not because I'm such a devoted fan that I can't live without them.  I don’t even have all of their albums: I’m missing a couple since the quartet became a trio.  I’m not wringing my hands over the loss of potential music.  It wasn’t some sense of loss that got me: it was more like the taste of a cake dipped in tea.  Now, I ain’t no Proust.  And there are others much more qualified than I to offer a retrospective of the band’s career, so I won’t try to do that here.  No, my ambition here is limited, my thoughts disjointed.  So.

Let's reconstruct a fable.

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In which we take a quick look at how our 2011 opponents fared the preceding week

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In which we take a quick look at how our 2011 opponents fared the preceding week

Before we get into our brief – and I mean brief – recaps of the Georgia Bulldogs’ opponents’ weekend outings, I have just a few words about our own weekend.

Word One: I wrote a couple of weeks ago that those of us going to Athens on 9/10 should count our blessings and that I wish I could take the rest of you with me.  After reading through some of the game thread and post-game vent comments, I really wish I could have taken some of you with me.  I am not going to tell anyone (well, not any of you, of course) the correct way to be a fan, and the way some of you enjoy your sports may have precluded your having the truly positive experience that I had on Saturday.  But after reading Kyle’s impressions, which were pretty nigh identical to mine, it’s difficult not to conclude that being at the arena made a big difference.  Moral victories, finding a way to lose, costly mistakes at the most inopportune times, and so forth.  But from where I sat stood, there was more heart in our team and our crowd than I’ve seen in a long time.  So there's that.

Word Two: After the game, I went downtown to hang with friends, one of whom was a designated driver to give me a ride back to Atlanta.  Jealous?   Related word:  This will not be the last time I mention this, probably, because it occurs to me on most game days as I observe our visitors enjoying Athens.  I am a staunch proponent of keeping the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville.  But if it ever is moved, it must not ever be a home-and-home series.  The price for beating my team as many times as the Gators have beaten the Bulldogs lately (yes, I think I'm old enough to refer to the last 20ish years as "lately") is never, ever again enjoying the best college town in the conference.  It’s not sufficient consolation for the series record in my adult life, but I feel very strongly about it.  I wish we could get the series in other sports moved somewhere else, too.  No Gators in Athens.

Word Three: I am hoping to convince a friend to contribute a couple of paragraphs after each home game in a series entitled, "The Game Day Portrait Norman Rockwell Forgot to Paint" based on actual scenes witnessed.  If I am successful, I expect the first installment to be called, "Girl Too Drunk to Go to the Game".  In oil.  Let me know in the comments if that sounds interesting at all.  If my friend won’t do it, I’ll take it on, but it was his idea, so I’ve got to give him the chance first.

And now a whirl ‘round the schedule.

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In which we take a quick look at how our 2011 opponents fared the preceding week

Just about everybody handled their season-opening mid-major cupcake better than Georgia did.  That’s a joke, son.  I say, a gag, that is.  Given the level of competition and the fact that it was the first week, it’s difficult to glean any useful information from how our 2011 opponents did, but at this point, I’ll take anything I can.

Brief – and I mean brief – recaps below.

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After I composed this Sunday and Monday, I decided not to post it, because I thought it was time to move on, and I did not want to continue to rehash the negative feelings of this past long, long weekend.  I also thought it might contain just a little bit too much information for consumption by the general public, but what they heck?  I've put myself out there at other times.

It honestly wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if you decided to skip past this and move on to the South Carolina game.  On the other hand, that's pretty much what this post is about.  Plus, there are a couple of phrases borrowed from Lanier and a somewhat obscure tidbit from Gone With the Wind  buried in here (well, to be honest, the whole damn thing is about what to do when Atlanta's been burned to the ground).  So there's that.

When I was growing up, my mother took her three boys to Gainesville, Georgia, to visit her family several times a year. It was a familiar journey from LaGrange, roughly parallel to rapid and fall, up to the valleys of Hall.  On one such visit, when I was no older than five, my mother and grandmother had some things to do that were better done without a young'n around. My brothers may have been at Athens Y Camp, and I was dropped off at Aunt Eunice's house out the Clark's Bridge Road. Now, I knew my grandmother's older sister, but I'd never spent a lot of time with her and certainly not alone. I wasn't familiar with her house and things. I wanted to be with my grandmother and mother or, at least, at my grandparents' house with its back yard woods, the creek at he bottom of the hill, Pop-Pop's train set and basement shop full of gadgets and dangerous power tools, my cool Uncle Kelly, and Kelly's dog, Dude (as boon an adventuring companion as you could ever know). But I had no choice in the matter. I was to stay with Aunt Eunice. I lay on her sofa and cried. I did not move the entire time I was left there, not even when I needed to go to the bathroom. [This is the part where I lean forward and hold eye contact for a couple of seconds to see if I need to repeat that last bit.] I remember the occasion like it was this weekend.  It was kind of like this weekend.

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The launch of SB Nation's iPhone app has been announced hither and yon.  The app itself can be downloaded here from iTunes free of charge.  Now that I've had it for a few hours and played with it some, I offer my thoughts.

via www.sbnation.com

I offer a few caveats first.  (1) I have just enough technical knowledge to be dangerous.  (2) I studied political science and French at UGA.  Even if there were real "science" in "political science", I got very little of it, since my emphasis was on theory.  I am much better prepared to discuss cities of God, social contracts, "thou shalt" dragons, and (perhaps especially) le meilleur des mondes possibles than anything I'd consider to be science.  (3) I love user manuals.  I read them cover to cover.  I find it a great sadness that technological advances have resulted in a world where so many of the products we buy (or, in this case, download for free) are boxless and manualless.  In this particular case, the app's use is self-explanatory enough that it does not matter, but still: I miss manuals.

With those warnings out of the way, on y va.

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So the Georgia fan made plans to travel to Capital City, and sat by his Facebook, and there made him a booth, secure in his beloved Traditions, till he might see what would become of the Silver Britches. And Crazy Old Testament God prepared a uniform of red helmets, red jerseys, and silver britches, and made it a comfort to the Georgia fan, that they might remind him of Glorious Days, to deliver him from 6-7. So the Georgia fan was exceeding glad of the Tradition. But COTG prepared a Swoosh when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the Tradition that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that COTG prepared a vehement glare of red jerseys, red pants, and shocking red helmet band that burned upon the eyes of the Georgia fan, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And COTG said to the Georgia fan, Doest thou well to be angry for the Tradition? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said COTG, Thou hast had pity on the Tradition, for the which thou hast not suffered a single two-a-day, neither blocked a Big Bad John; which came up in a night, and perished in a night, BUT ONLY FOR A NIGHT. And should not I spare the wishes of your team, those in the arena, wherein are more than fourscore persons that desireth the bada$$ Oval G and dog-collar motif on their left hand and their right hand; and also much Bronco-busting?