I know most of the commenters and authors here at DawgSports don't follow the NFL. However, for those of us that do and happen to cheer for the Falcons, a trip to Columbia just got some icing on the cake with the Falcons playing in Kansas City that Sunday. I can't wait to welcome Mizzou to the SEC and getting to watch the Falcons on Sunday at Arrowhead after making the 2 hour drive is icing on the cake. Go Dawgs!

In college, I watched Boondock Saints far too frequently. Within that movie is a quote that I would imagine the Boondock Saints writers gleaned from a Biblical verse, or a Chinese Proverb: "Now we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." I thought about this idea – the danger of indifference – as I learned the gut wrenching details of the Penn State scandal.

There is no doubt that, if the allegations against Sandusky are true, Sandusky is an evil, evil man. Joe Paterno is not an evil man but he is certainly a man that showed indifference when dealing with this particular evil. That is the type of individual that might be the most dangerous – that’s the type of inaction we must fear the most. That is why Joe Paterno needed to leave. The danger of indifference is that it maintains the status quo.

Evil has a tendency to die out in the face of action. Evil empires – Gaddafi, Egypt, Pol Pot in Cambodia – fail and they fall. Evil people are jailed, killed, or changed when confronted by good people. It is the inaction of good men, of good people, of good institutions in the face of evil that allows that evil to continue.

Maintenance of the status quo, particularly with these types of allegations, is not acceptable. This is too common with child molestation allegations. The Catholic Church has exhibited carelessness in moving accused priests amongst parishes. Other institutions respond to allegations with disbelief, rather than investigations or change.  That cannot happen.

It’s easy for good people to keep their head down, do what’s right for themselves, their family, their church and the people they know. It is incredibly hard to stand up to evil when that evil is coming from a friend, a colleague, or a person you felt you could trust. But that’s what morality is all about. It’s about doing the difficult thing even though it is difficult.

For six decades, Joe Pa’ taught, trained, and led young men. For decades, Joe was a prime example of the type of person we as a society expect to do the difficult but right thing when faced with something like what Sandusky did. He is someone that the average person expects to do more than the average thing. He is someone we expect to stand up to and confront evil. He failed. The decision by the Board of Trustees to fire Joe Paterno is absolutely the correct decision.

Over the last three weeks or so, as Wednesday turned to Thursday and Thursday to Friday, I became increasingly anxious.  A feeling of dread gradually washed over me, despite the generally positive feelings I had about our team early on.  By Friday afternoons, I would be sitting in my office either: a) hitting refresh over and over on the NCAA website in one window, Seth Emerson on the other, and Dawgsports on the third to find out if AJ was in or out; b) Trolling the internet desperately trying to find some posts, some article, some opinion that'd make me feel better about our chances.  Both ended badly. 

This week, I did not have that feeling of dread.  It just never came, and I'm not sure why. 

Maybe it's my somewhat irrational confidence in the efficacy of the upcoming goat sacrifice.  Though I'm prohibited by work obligations and geography from attending the festivities, I will be there in spirit.  I'm having a handful of close friends over to the WindyCityDawg apartment and we're going to be cheering as if we were 4-0 and not 1-3.  I'll be yelling when you guys yell, clapping when you clap, and dying inside when you're dying inside.  Unfortunately I lack the yard and permits necessary to sacrifice a goat. 

Maybe it's the return of AJ Green.  With all the well-written, well-researched posts about us losing by inches, single plays, and slim margins, I find it hard to believe we would not be at least .500 if AJ had been around.  I'm looking forward to seeing the man back on the field.

Maybe it's my love of stories of redemption.  There's nothing I find more noble than facing true adversity and overcoming it.  Certainly these players have heard too much talk from the press and from us fans.  They've been told their season is over, though they have 2/3 of a season to play.  They've been told their coach is on the hot seat, though the man is nearly undeniably one of the two or three most successful coaches in Georgia history.  I hope this weekend they band together, look each other in the eye, and go out on the field and play for each other, not just for the approval of the fans or the AJC.  I'm hopeful our young team can get a little taste of redemption this season.

And maybe it's something completely rational: this is a young team that should get better.  I actually enjoy seeing how young teams respond, change, grow, and improve.  Though getting the opportunity to do so sort of requires a loss, or two.....or three, it's still an interesting and often great thing to watch happen. 

I like a lot of players on our team and I think we've got some truly great people in our program -- coaches included.  Instead of dreading what seemed inevitable, today I'm hopeful for what seems improbable: a win this weekend followed by success from here on out.

I like Kyle's recap of a painful Saturday, and have little to add to that in terms of game analysis.  Kyle brought up an interesting point, which I think is highlighted by Matt Hinton here: Saturday's loss puts Georgia at a crossroads, at least in terms of this season.  Kyle mentioned that the season could be similar to 1993 (5-6 overall, 2-6 in SEC play) or the team could bounce back and be like the 2007 squad.  I think a lot of people agreed that the Bulldogs, at the close of the 2007 season, looked like a top 5 team and could've hung with, if not beat, anybody in the country. 

So which do we think it is, 1993 or 2007?  We'll probably know after this week.  I was unable to comment during the game this week and I'm sure much of what's contained below has already been said.  However, in my humble and hopeful opinion, this year's Bulldogs will bounce back and finish in similar fashion to the 2007 season.  Here's why:

Continue reading this post »

Let me be clear: I love AJ Green.  In my humble opinion, he is the best receiver in Georgia history and is likely to go on to be one of the top 25 receivers in NFL history.  There are few individuals playing on Saturday here in this great nation that have more talent than AJ.  To top it off, he sacrifices his body for the better of the team every Saturday, without hesitation, without reserve, and without any thought towards his NFL future. 

AJ Green sold a game jersey.  To an agent.  There is no way that AJ thought this was okay.  In fact, he undoubtedly knew or should have known this was a violation of NCAA rules.  After the 2003 debacle wherein a number of our past heroes sold their SEC CG rings, AJ absolutely knew this type of transaction was against the rules.  He knew the rules and he violated the rules.  And he deserves to be suspended.

To top it off, the sale was not to some random person on eBay.  It wasn’t to some fan like….me….or any of my friends.  It was to an agent.  Frankly, the reports out now don’t even make it sound like it was that much of a mystery: it wasn’t a go-between or a friend of an agent.  The sale was to an individual defined as an agent under NCAA rules. 

The NCAA took a long time to reach a decision on this.  That’s because the infraction involved a) an improper benefit received by a player; b) that stemmed from an improper transaction; c) that involved an AGENT.  My guess is they investigated the sale, the method of sale, and the individual (who turned out to be an AGENT).  They probably spent another week figuring out the punishment.  I think this is an appropriate, albeit frustrating amount of time to reach a just conclusion and result.  Sale without an agent = 2 games.  Agent interaction, no money in hand = 2 games.  Sale + agent interaction = 4 games.  I don't see any problem with this.

I wish AJ was playing this week, but he isn’t and he shouldn’t be.  He shouldn’t play week 3 or week 4 either.  What he should do is apologize to his family first, his teammates second, and his fans third.  I hope he stays; he doesn’t owe anybody anything, but it’d be nice to have a full season of AJ Green before we see him off to his profitable and, hopefully, glorious NFL career.  I love watching AJ play, but this is an appropriate consequence of a poor decision.

The AJC already has a story up on him, so I suppose a post from me can't jinx him much more.  Searels makes it sound like he should get some late game reps this Saturday.

I'm not going to go too far and claim Trinton is going to be a starter by Arkansas, as some posters do on the AJC Blog.  In fact, I am somewhat superstitious, so I'm not going to say, what, if anything, Trinton is going to do this weekend or any weekend.  Still, I can't help but cheer for this kid given the tremendous adversity he's faced and the steps he's taken to overcome that adversity. 

I don't want to jinx the kid, but, frankly, I wanted to congratulate him for what he's accomplished already -- regardless of whether he makes it on the field Saturday, or ever again.  No doubt he has learned a tremendous amount about himself, and his own personal resiliency and tenacity -- important characteristics for any young person to develop in order to succeed over the course of life's trials and tribulations.  He deserves congratulations and praise for the work effort regardless of the ultimate results on the field.  Let's keep our fingers crossed/keep him in our prayers/yell loudly if he gets in the game -- whatever your style.  I want to see a return to those 2007 dance moves from the big man.  Great work Trinton.  DGD.

I like Kirby Smart.  I actually understood and appreciated the decision he made in staying at Alabama.  Saban was, sort of, correct in that a lateral move is not always great for assistant coaches.  However, it seems as though Kirby is going out of his way to twist the knife that was his rejection of his alma matter:

“The University of Georgia has a special place in my heart,” Smart said. “I spent five years there, coached there a year under Mark Richt, so I have an immense respect for him and the program. But I got a great opportunity here. Coach (Nick) Saban has been very good to me in the six years I've worked for him and I've learned a lot of football from Coach Saban. h/t Chris Low.

Seems to me there is an even specialer (sic) place in Kirby's heart for Nick Saban.