Joe Shad is now reporting on twitter that the Poulan Weedeater Sanford MainStay Investments Petrosun Advocare 100 Independence Bowl has officially selected Georgia and Texas A&M.  Kyle has done an excellent job of documenting the series history between the Bulldogs and the Aggies, and I have to say that I am looking forward to meeting the Texans far more than I would have to meeting the Cyclones from the state of Iowa.

No one is going to be happy about heading to beautiful northwest Louisiana 3 days after Christmas, but it would be worse to go there and lose.  So, men, prepare for and play the game like it's the national championship game.  And fans, get behind the team like they're playing in a game we would normally actually care about.

These are still our Georgia Bulldogs, and we still want to send our seniors out as winners.

Go Dawgs!

Ok, it's Thursday, so I should really probably start getting motivated about the Tech game, though even Jujdog now agrees that there is no chance that the Bulldogs will emerge victorious 2 days hence in Atlanta.

It doesn't take too much digging to learn about all the tomfoolery that has occurred off the field between the respective fanbases (and student bodies) of these two schools.  One of my favorite "quid pro quo" incidents, however, happened around the time I first matriculated in Athens (well, actually a year or two before)... and I simply cannot find much mention of it at all.

The Tech side of the prank is at least well-documented for posterity... which is to say, Lewis Grizzard wrote a column about it.  During the 1992 season, Georgia painted a logo at midfield for the first time possibly ever, but certainly in my lifetime.  The logo commemorated the 100th season of Georgia football, and looked something like this:

(Note that I had to take this picture myself from the cover jacket of an old VHS tape and upload it to the interwebs.  Apparently nobody on the entire internet has any interest in posting pictures of things that were associated with Georgia football back in the 1990's... not that I blame them)

At halftime of the 1992 Georgia Tech game, the Yellow Band from Golden Tornado Land took the field and covered the new Georgia logo with a green tarp, on which was painted the Tech "GT" logo. The seranade of boos was loud and immediate, and lasted throughout the entire halftime show.  (It's the first, and still only, time that I have ever heard a band drowned out for the entirety of a halftime show by boos... and that includes the old Virginia "pep band" that was so monstrously pathetic and offensive.  You old-timers that went to all those UGA/UVA bowl games know what I'm talking about.  Even the UVA fans used to boo those guys.)  There was actually some entertaining back and forth exchange when the Georgia cheerleaders ran out onto the field and ripped the logo off, followed by a few nerds replacing the logo shortly afterwards.  Nevertheless, it has remained an indelible image in my mind of the rivalry.

Not willing to be out-pranked, the Redcoat Band had been planning a similar gesture in 1993, but was sternly warned not to do so by the presidents powers that be.  So, instead, every Redcoat Band member very discreetly took a red pom-pom with them to the game and stuck it in their uniform somewhere.  Then, at the end of the "spell Georgia cheer," they simultaneously dropped the pom-poms at the previously-agreed-upon time.  Thus, as the band marched off the field, a group of about 300 pom-poms was left spelling "G-E-O-R-G-I-A" over about a 60-yard area.  This, also, was not incredibly popular with the 50% of the crowd that were Tech fans, as you might imagine.

Alas, however... after many long hours minutes seconds minutes of searching, I have not been able to find any pictures of either of those days on the intertubes.  I mean, did people not take cameras to the football game back in those days?  Those little Kodak disposable cameras existed back then... I mean, come on, people.  Preserve important things like this so they will be remembered by history! 

Does anyone else remember this exchange, or am I somehow remembering events from that "1985A" timeline from Back to the Future?

Update:  At the last minute, my search-fu finally met with a limited measure of success, and I discovered this video footage of the 1992 Tech Band prank. The cheerleader/nerd interaction starts at the 2:58 mark. Still no word on the redcoat retribution, though.

I understand... you're upset.  You're incredibly frustrated, upset... and mad.  It's a natural feeling... the second step in the grieving process... just after denial and isolation, and just before bargaining.  After we get 51-7'ed by Tech and you have a week or two to get over that anger process, the "bargaining" phase will begin.  You'll say to yourself, "Well, if we can win the Music City/Independence/Liberty Bowl and get things turned around next year, maybe things won't be so bad."  Or, "If we just fire everybody on the staff and start from scratch, maybe things won't be so bad."

Also, let me be clear... I feel, like virtually everyone else, that change must be made.  This Saturday is the first game I've ever witnessed in the Mark Richt era where we've gone into a game and I've felt that we have absolutely zero chance to win. This, obviously, is completely unacceptable.

The question is which changes should be made. When you're losing, all the fans who think they know everything come out of the woodwork and want to fire both the offensive and defensive coordinators, every position coach, and some geniuses even want to fire the head coach.  Well, forgive my bluntness, but get your damn head on straight, people, before you barrage the internets with your ignorance.  (Either that, or go and comment on a Jeff Schultz or Bill King column on AJC.com.)

First of all, no one will argue that Willie Martinez must be replaced as the defensive coordinator.  Our defense's average PPG has gone up every year since he's been here, and no matter how many times we give the other team a short field, the defense simply can't use that as a crutch when they drive and score a touchdown every time (as Kentucky did).  Kentucky had no field goals all game... every time they were in scoring position, they scored a touchdown.  Allowing more than 30 points in even 1 game in a season isn't really acceptable... allowing it a dozen times in 3 years means you lose your job.  I'm sure Willie is a great guy, and it seems like many of the "insiders" I've heard lately think he really is a good secondary coach, but the bottom line is that in major college football, this is a results-oriented business.   CWM's results have sucked out loud, and he's going to have to answer for them.

Second, the fact that Joe Cox sucks is incredibly inconsistent is not a reason to replace Mike Bobo as offensive coordinator/QB coach.  For the record, that bootleg play that many people have lambasted worked the first 2 times he called it, didn't work the third time, and the fourth time there was an open Tavarres King ready for a touchdown run if Joe Cox puts it in the right place (which he didn't).  Mike Bobo has also coached David Greene and D.J. Shockley, and it makes me laugh when people say he wasted Matthew Stafford's talent. 

Stafford was a cocky kid who relied 100% on his talent, and Mike Bobo built up the kid's fundamentals, footwork, and judgement.  I mean, look at his progression from a freshman to a junior.  Yes, he still made a bad judgement call every couple of games and threw a pick 6, but he was able to find more open receivers... his footwork was much better, resulting in better, more accurate throws... Mike Bobo made Matthew Stafford better.  The fact that Stafford continued to rely on strictly his talent sometimes instead of what he was taught isn't Mike Bobo's fault.  Finally, Bobo runs almost exactly the same plays Richt would if he were calling the plays.  If you're going to fire Bobo, you might as well fire Richt, because he isn't going to bring in anyone who will run a substantially different offensive scheme.

Finally, to wrap all this up, Mark Richt knows better than anyone else that the complete turnover and upheaval of a staff is one of the top factors that can truly bring a great program (and, more importantly to him, a great coach) down.  He's seen his friend Tommy Tuberville at Auburn have stability for a while, and then replace both his offensive and defensive coordinators following a bad season, and then get fired himself the next year.  He's seen his mentor, Bobby Bowden, lose his best offensive and defensive coordinator (himself and Chuck Amato), and then get sent into a death spiral from which he certainly will never recover.  He will not replace everyone except himself... mark it down in pen and chisel it into a stone tablet... as long as he is the coach at Georgia, it will never happen.

I see poor mistakes on the offense, but those mistakes are bad judgement from the quarterback and not knowing what the plays are as a freshman running back... those aren't lapses in coaching.  I see poor mistakes on the defense, and those mistakes are a senior not knowing where the hell to run... not adjusting your own schemes when the offense adjusts theirs, and not tackling in a fundamentally sound way.  These mistakes are at least 90% attributable to coaching, and they have been consistently seen over multiple years since our current defensive coordinator took charge.

We need a new defensive coordinator.  We need a full-time special teams coach.  And, since that new DC will probably not be Rodney Garner, we need a new recruiting coordinator.  I don't know who would make a good ST coach (although I know it's not Fabris), but I think the new DC could be Dick Bumpas, and the new RC could be Ron Zook (he'll be available at the end of this season).  I mean, we're Georgia, dammit.  We should go after people who are the best in their fields.

According to ESPN.com, Bobby Petrino's brother and offensive coordinator, Paul Petrino, is now interviewing for the Western Kentucky head coaching job. 

I guess the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, eh?  Or, in this case, brothers are sometimes cut from the same mold... interviewing every time there's a position open.

Congratulations, Paul, for keeping the storied Petrino family legacy of bolting at the first available opportunity alive and well.

First off, let me get one thing straight.  I have no particular beef with the beaver state per se. I have never graced the Pacific Northwest at all, but have heard many stories of how beautiful it is, and how accomodating the people can be... and I look forward to experiencing Eugene first-hand in 2015 when Georgia comes calling.  I do have a major problem, however, with the trend that has been started by the state's flagship institution of higher learning regarding alternate uniform combinations.

It wasn't more than a few years ago that Oregon was considered outlandish, crazy, or just plain weird for wearing a different uniform combination in virtually every game, including that migraine-inducing all-highlighter-yellow look.

This is not progress in college football.

Since Oregon decided to offend every fashion sensibility imaginable, other schools have gotten in on the action, too... trotting out weird-looking new uniforms every year (with Georgia being no exception). I mean, for God's sake, we've even seen the University of North Carolina trot out of the tunnel wearing Duke blue.

Now, no less than Mr. Sweater Vest himself is getting a piece of the action.  Ohio State has announced that they will be wearing throwback uniforms from 1954 when they take the Michigan Stadium field 48 hours hence.

  The uniform in question is the 1954 uniform... top-right.

Now, I can appreciate that this is a historical uniform, not just an Oregon-like poor attempt at a visual abortion. Really, though, haven't we had enough uniform-basket-turnover?  Just after the Florida game, I argued that the best programs didn't need to stoop to the level of creative uniforms to motivate their players and entertain their fans... and I considered using Ohio State as an example.  Alas, I have been proven wrong (again).

What's next... Penn State running out of the tunnel wearing all blue and a big lion logo on their helmets?

I first saw this story in the Athens paper last week and thought to myself, "This will not end well."  Sure enough, Dan Jones, the newly-minted Chancellor of the University of Mississippi ordered the marching band this week to stop playing the popular song From Dixie With Love at all athletic events. 

Now, don't get me wrong... I actually like Ole Miss.  I also would like nothing more than to see Ole Miss football rise to a high level again, because that would mean more TV exposure, and you can never get enough TV time for the ladies of the Grove.  (I actually  mean the ladies of the grove... that's not a backhanded slap at the football team.)

From Dixie With Love combines Dixie, the de facto Confederate Anthem, with the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which we are all familiar with, and which was one of the most popular Union civil war songs.  The furor and outrage has come because during the Battle Hymn portion of the song (at the point which Georgia fans would yell "G-E-O-R-G-I-A" or, possibly, "To hell with (insert team currently being played here)), many Ole Miss fans yell, "The South will rise again."

This chant can be heard in the following video (props to Paul Westerdawg for "braving" the Grove to get this):

Continue reading this post »

I figure it's now time for a post along the lines of, "we looked good beating a 1-AA team last week, so let's revive some hope for the season."

Not really, of course, but if you look at Georgia's position in the newly-mediocre SEC standings (and potential bowl destinations)... it's really not that bad unless we keep losing.

Georgia's SEC record is currently 3-3, which is good for sole possession of second in the SEC east.  (Tennessee also has 3 losses, but only 2 wins thus far.)  That speaks to how weak the SEC East is this year, obviously, but even if we were in the SEC West, we'd be tied for 3rd place with... you got it, Auburn.

So, if Georgia manages to pull it together and somehow beat Auburn and Kentucky, we'd be 7-4 and have a final record of 5-3 in the conference.  Nothing any of us are going to be writing home about, but not shameful, given where we are now.  If we lose to Tech, as I think we will, that puts us at 7-5.  Florida and Alabama will both go to the BCS, which leaves a 2-or-3-loss LSU team for the Capital One bowl and a huddled mass of 7-5 teams for the remainder of the top-tier SEC bowl choices.  (Auburn would be 7-5 if they lose to Georgia and Alabama, S. Carolina will finish no better than 7-5 in a best-case scenario, and neither will Kentucky or Ole Miss. Tennessee just might, but they're the only ones.)

So, Capital One goes to LSU, and the Outback selects the next East team.  They'd probably take Tennessee, since the Vol fans would be more likely to travel in greater numbers to Tampa to play some sucky middle-of-the-pack Big 10+1 team than Georgia fans this year.  The Cotton Bowl takes a West team... Auburn or Ole Miss... and that leaves the Peach-Fil-A Bowl.  A 7-5 or 8-4 (if we manage to beat Tech) Georgia team would be attractive to the Atlanta Bowl, mostly because they know they'd be virtually guaranteed a sellout. And if you told me at the beginning of the year we'd end up second in the East with an 8-4 record and a Peach-Fil-A Bowl birth... I would have taken it.

Nobody would be happy about it, and I imagine there would be quite a bit of hand-wringing about whether or not this would save Willie Two Thumbs' job (I don't think it would), but at this point, it's our best-case scenario.

What about a worst-case scenario, you say?  No thanks... I'll stick with my very-guarded optimism until the result of the Auburn game is known.