With Gray now playing (and impressing) at WR, that leaves us with Murray, Mason and some walk-ons. Richt has discussed the QB situation a little bit, but it is probably to early to make a hard decision. However, I wanted to see what the DogNation thought about the situation at this point. So here is your chance to make the call (Note: Making the wrong or right call could put you on the "hot seat".)

I couldn't think of any other choices, but if you are smarter or more creative than I am, please leave your option in the comments.

Poll

What should UGA do with Hutson Mason?

56%

Don't redshirt him. Try to play him against ULL, Idaho St and other games as permissible.

45 votes

2%

Redshirt him at all costs.

2 votes

20%

Try to redshirt him, but use him first if necessary (i.e. injury)

16 votes

21%

Try to redshirt him, but use Gray first if necessary (i.e. injury)

17 votes

80 votes | Poll has closed

Now that the season is over, I was thinking about what could have been. Losing players is a reality of the game and with Jones taking off for the NFL and Curran possibly joining him, who did we miss this past season. Sure there could be arguments for Sturdivant or Battle, but just looking at the guys who left early, who would have helped us the most?

Stafford would have been an upgrade of Cox.

Even though we finally got the running game going, there's no question Moreno would have help and take pressure off Cox.

Allen would have helped out with a woeful defense.

Poll

Which of the players that passed on their senior season did UGA miss the most this past season?

86%

Stafford

19 votes

9%

Moreno

2 votes

4%

Allen

1 votes

22 votes | Poll has closed

First, let me state that this isn't really to find out what the best solution, it is more to see who receives the bulk of Georgia fans' disdain at this point. Obviously, if Richt is fired, then none of the other coaches would probably keep their jobs and so on. All is not an answer, so you will have to weigh your choices and pick just one.

Time to fill out some pink slips.

Poll

If one coach has to be fired this season, which one would you want to see relieved of duty the most?

14%

Richt

16 votes

71%

Martinez

80 votes

6%

Bobo

7 votes

1%

Fabris

2 votes

5%

Fabris, but only from special teams

6 votes

0%

Other

1 votes

112 votes | Poll has closed

I was watching the UGA-Tenn Tech game online and heard Buck Belue make a comment about a lack of senior leadership and talent, especially on the offensive side of the ball. He said that 4-6 years ago, someone really dropped the ball in recruiting.

I had observed the same thing. So tonight I did a little bit of hasty research. Please feel free to correct this if I made any mistakes.

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There is a saying especially with computer programmers (which I am not), that if you put bad data in (garbage) then you will get bad results (more garbage).

Unwillingly, I have come to the opinion that darker days are ahead for the Bulldog Nation. For quite a few years now, I, like other Bulldogs, have been frustrated and dumbfounded by the performance of the team and coaches. However, like some of the more level-headed bloggers and commenters, I have tried to rationalize the mistakes and subpar showings of the Bulldogs. I realize that the offense has put Martinez' squad in bad situations with turnovers and poor play. I know there have been days with Bobo's squad have tallied more than enough points to secure a win, but the defense managed to surrender more points. I (still) think Richt is a great man and a really good coach. However, I have reached my breaking point.

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I never thought I would ever take this side, because the thought of people like Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens makes me sick. I hated "da U" when they were the big show-boaters. I can't stand it when players make a huge fuss over a sack of loud tackle. However, I have decided to make camp with the enemy, because the enemy of my enemy is my friend... or at least for now. Right now, the greater evil is the NCAA Rules Committee and the referees that subjectively interpret the NCAA's rules.

The following is what I found when I search the NCAA rules on celebration:

NCAA Football Rule 9-2, Article 1(a)(1)(d) prohibits "Any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves)"; in addition, Rule 9-2, Article 1(a)(2) asserts that "After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot." [2] Additionally, if a player's actions is considered "unsportsmanlike conduct" the result is dead-ball foul; a "flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct" foul requires player ejection. If a player’s nonfootball-related act (e.g. taunting or cursing) causes an opponent to physically retaliate, it is considered fighting and both players are ejected. [3]

The timing may sound like sour grapes, but I vividly remember about ten years ago when Fred Gibson caught a long TD pass to go up on Tennessee in a pivotal SEC East match up, turning and saying to Kirk Herbstreit, "What is up with the celebration call?! It's a huge game. Let the players play." And he nodded in agreement (I was on the sideline working for a TV station at the time and Herbstreit and the Gameday crew were in town for the game).

Again, today, when UGA scores a late TD to go up on a top 5 team in SEC play, we got hosed again. Now, I didn't see AJ committing the penalty, but a friend and LSU fan working for CNN said on the unedited feed you could see Green later go toward the crowd in the endzone and mouth off, thus getting the flag for celebrating. However, do we really expect a player who just made a potentially game winning catch in a huge game to "immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot" and walk calmly off the field?

Furthermore, I think the celebration penalty called on Charles Scott was complete crap and probably called out of guilt rather than good officiating.

And while The '07 Celebration was fun at the time, it was wrong, just like the V stomp was wrong. I loathe stupid gestures like that, but I am willing to put up with that if it means an end to frivolous calls that strongly influence games.

The subjectivity we face from officials is getting out of hand and we will see more of this garbage affect not only the Dogs, but every team. Therefore, I would like to see the rule changed or done away with. I would propose the following rule:

Excessive celebration penalty of 15 yards will be charged upon any choreographed act including outside objects or unchoreographed act that harms another player or simulates a violent action (such as slashing the throat or shooting a person) by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves). in addition, if a player’s nonfootball-related act causes an opponent to physically retaliate, it is considered fighting and both players are ejected.

So dance around like an idiot, spike the ball, do your stupid Omega sign, moonwalk, wave your hand to your ear a la Hulk Hogan, dial up the LSU fanbase after scoring a TD, whatever! As long as you don't physically hurt an opponent or ref, pull your cellphone out of your sock or act like your are decapitating someone, you are okay. The rule is clear and enforceable and should prevent gray areas getting the best of teams and allow teams to settle it on the field by their play.

Rivals posted an article that has Rex Robinson talking about what he thinks happened to Blair Walsh this year. Since the 3 easiest ways to get lots of comments are:

1. Post about CWM's job as a defensive coordinator

2. Post something about the BCS vs. Playoffs debate

or

3. Post about UGA's crappy kickoff coverage...

I decided to throw this up on the wall and see what sticks. Rex makes some good points. Enjoy.

I was reading an article about the upcoming draft that listed who is probably staying, leaving or undecided. The article which was on ESPN's site, but now I can't find said they are expecting a record number of underclassmen to enter the draft. It cited two main reasons. The first, is the rookie cap expected in the near future. "The second factor is a marginally talented senior class. Most underclassmen are aware of the competition at their respective positions and have some idea where they stack up in relation." It seems like that statement: "marginally talented senior class" or something like that gets batted around every year. Seriously, I would venture to say that 3 out of 4 senior classes have marginal number of talented or high-profile prospects. But what else should we expect when 25-50 of the top underclassmen bail for the NFL each year?! Of course there are less seniors to choose from because 1/4 - 1/2 of the really good ones left a year or two ago. So stop blaming the seniors and blame their peers who cut and ran... for the money.

16, 2, -2, 2, 3, 8TD, 4, 0, 3, -2, 5, 3TD, 2, 10, 27, 4, 11, 0, 2, -9, 1, 1, 0, 30, 21

Those are the yards for each carry that Moreno had against ASU. A lot of people have been talking about what a great game Moreno had and when you look at 149 yards and 2 TDs, it certainly looks impressive. However, when I was watching the game I felt underwhelmed... not so much by Moreno, but by our running game in general. If you take out the 51 yards at the end which weren't exactly "junk yards", but were after ASU had pretty much conceded, you are looking at a sub-100 yard game with quite a few stuffs.
3 runs for negative yardage
3 runs for no gain
8 runs for 3 or less yards
= 14 runs that were for little or no gain

Yes, he had the spectacular leap into the endzone, which reminds me of the insane body control Moreno has. Yes, he did have flashes of great moves, a few of which that were only ended because of facemasks to bring him down. And yes, Moreno should have had a 3rd TD (against 12 defenders), which the refs blew... But I thought ASU did a pretty good job of slowing down Moreno until the last 5 minutes of the game.

I don't think it was Moreno's fault, I think most of the blame is on the OL. Running up the middle was tough. And 24 had defenders on him before he got to the line of scrimmage several times. I just think that it wasn't as good of a day as it will look on paper 2 weeks from now.

Did anyone else see it that way or just me?

from Josh Kendall, Dawg Post

ATHENS – Uga VI, Georgia’s beloved English bulldog mascot, died Friday night in Savannah, Cecelia Seiler confirmed to Dawg Post Contributor Josh Kendall on Saturday morning.

“He didn’t suffer,” Seiler said of her 10-year-old dog. “He lived right here in my den with me for 10 years. He was a happy dog.” Uga VII’s readiness to take the field for the 2008 football season is a topic for school officials, Cecilia Seiler said, and none could be reached immediately Saturday morning. Sonny Seiler, whose family has owned all the dogs, was at his office Saturday morning, his wife said, and could not be reached for comment or to add details on the dog’s death. Uga VI took the reins from Uga V early in the 1999 season. He turned 10 in July and would have been the only one of the dogs other than Uga I to serve past his 10th birthday. The line of mascots has long garnered national attention, culminating with Uga V’s appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which named Uga as the nation’s best mascot.

From Athens Banner Herald:

By Lee Shearer  

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
John Rauch, one of the University of Georgia's greatest football players, has died at the age of 80.

Rauch died unexpectedly in his sleep late Tuesday night at home in Oldsmar, Fla., said Jane Rauch, his wife of nearly 61 years.

When his four-year college football career was over in 1948, quarterback Rauch was the NCAA's career passing leader with 4,044 yards and had led UGA to two Southeastern Conference championships and four consecutive bowl games.

After a brief stint playing professional football, Rauch began a long career in college and professional coaching, including tenures as head coach of the Oakland Raiders and the Buffalo Bills.

In 1967, Rauch was named the American Football League's Coach of the Year after taking the team to the AFL championship and the second Super Bowl. The Raiders lost to Green Bay in Vince Lombardi's last game as the Packers' coach.

He is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Published ion OnlineAthens.com on 061108 <!--EndFragment-->

As SG Standard noted the blogosphere can be likened to sports talk radio. While there is probably less screening of commenters on blogs, if you have listened to any talk radio for 15 minutes, you have definitely heard some lame callers. And with blogs, you don't have to deal with "Hey, Paul, love the show, how are you?", which begins EVERY freakin' call (if the last 5 callers asked, you don't have to ask also).

And as MaconDawg noted, the best bloggers usually rise to the top and get the most traffic. People who offer something more than just the ordinary opinion or schlock, get readers (just like newspapers or viewers for TV).

And as Joel noted, there is definitely a misconception that all journalist are qualified professionals. As a J-school grad, I can tell you that the only things a "professional journalist" learns that someone else might not learn is:

1. What makes something newsworthy?
   
2. Make sure you find a second or multiple sources.
   
3. Laws regarding slander and libel
   
4. Writing techniques, like using active voice

Frankly, the newsworthiness standard has been blurred when you consider all the "news" that gets espoused on various media outlets.
I think some of the blogosphere does come short on #2 at times, but there are some very responsible bloggers as well.
As Orson and the proprietor of this blog noted, just about all of you are lawyers, so hopefully you all understand libel and slander.
Finally, good writers will always attract readers.

But as SG Standard and DavetheDawg noted, probably the bigger issue is the massive change that is occurring in the media.

I agree with what most of Dave said. As someone who worked for 9 years in small and medium TV markets in the southeast, I can attest that ESPN has changed the face of local coverage of sports. I have argued with station management about this with little avail. Specifically, I remember when the station I was at decided to permanently drop the sports tease in the 6pm news. For those of you who don't know, that's when they are about to go to a commercial break after weather and say, "The Braves were in another game decided by 1-run, did it turn out like the other 1-run games this season? Fred will have the answer in sports." When I asked why the station had made this decision they said viewership in sports was down and so they weren't putting as much emphasis on it. My response was, "if you draw less attention to sports, it isn't going to gain any viewers. Why not try to improve the product?" There are 2 ways that most TV stations have addressed the sports issue caused by ESPN and the internet's emergence: 1) cut time allotted, cut staff and reduce coverage or 2) go more local in your coverage. Unfortunately, many stations chose the former. I prefer the latter. In big markets, this usually means a lot of stories about the local professional franchises, which ESPN may not have time for. In smaller markets, it means more coverage of local colleges and high school sports. If you haven't noticed, Friday nights in the fall are a big deal at some TV stations (thankfully).

But a more recent trend is the effect caused by the increase in the speed of information transmission. We can get info very fast these days and in news, being faster is important. Unfortunately, it is becoming more important that being right or being good. "Get it on now!" has replaced "Is this important?" or "Is this quality journalism?" And it is not just small market "bush league" stations that are guilty. If you watch the nightly news, you get coverage of a campaign chalked full of polls instead of coverage of issues (of course, you also get a hundred ads for pharmaceuticals, but that is another issues). I fear, and maybe Bob and Buzz do to, that journalism is in decline, as news operations have become assembly line purveyors of "fast food" information. Maybe the blogosphere does serve up its fair share of junk food, but it isn't any worse than what is becoming the norm in papers and on TV stations. I think rather than collectively bash the bloggers; maybe Bob and Buzz should talk a look at their brethren and focus on improving that group.

However, the blogoshere is subject to the pitfalls of the need for immediacy. Since many bloggers are not full-time journalist and writers, it is quite easy for someone to run with a story or photo without having good or complete info. While there is some need to prevent carelessness among bloggers, I think that in many cases, readers can discern what is true and what is not or what is farked.

As Kyle and others noted, there is room for the mainstream media and the blogosphere to work together or at least compliment each other. I think you only have to look at ESPN to see that is true. Like him or not, Simmons is a blogger working for "The Worldwide Leader...". And what is SportsNation, but a community much like that built up by Orson, Leitch, Bean, King, PWD and others.

I use a Mac OS X and Safari to surf and lately I have been having problems, but I noticed most of them are related to this website. When ever I click on comments or try to link to another site from this page, my Safari inexplicably quits. Are there any other Mac users that experience this with Kyle's site.

(Obviously, if you can use links on Kyle's posts, they you lose the effect of reading Kyle's stuff).

I saw someone else comment on Ole Miss' tradition this week and basically they said, "I don't think there is another program out there with a more inflated sense of who they are in the world of college football." (I'm sure whoever said that had a momentary lapse of memory and forgot South Carolina, but I digress.)

Seriously though, what has Ole Miss done since JFK was in the White House?
Scanning the "History" page on their official website, I see 3 National Titles, which is great, but they were all between 1959-62.
The last of their 6 SEC titles was in 1963 (with a 7-1-2 record I might add).
The last bowl 2 of significance they went to were the Cotton Bowl in 2003 and the Gator Bowl in 1991. Since '91, it's mostly Independence, Liberty, Music/Motor City and such.
In the past 15 years, Ole Miss has posted a 98-89 (.524) record.
Overall, the have a record of 594-453-33 (.565) which ranks them 48th among Div 1-A schools (in there were San Diego St., Hawaii, Stanford and UNC).

So, I guess Ole Miss does have a tradition- a tradition of mediocrity. Sure, there was the OLD tradition of winning, one that doesn't count for much in today's college football landscape.

After reading Kyle's piece on why he is a Georgia fan, I decided to write about my journey, which in a way is similar, but quite different.

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