Sidenote: QB race rerevisited

I am completely alone. I realize that. I must be the only person who thinks that Matthew Stafford is not the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Even opposing fans are saying, "Whoa, that guy's going to be great one day." Granted I'm not a football guru, but I have yet to see what everyone else sees. But he's the starter now, so let's update:

Game Five vs Ole Miss - Another game we should have lost. Joe Cox started, but Stafford finished. I think we all knew that would happen. Also, I remember reading from some pretty smart Dawg fans that we were in real trouble for the year.

Game Six vs Tennessee - Though we were up 24-7 with about two minutes to go in the 1st half, we wound up losing 51-33. Second biggest ASS-whoopin ever laid on the Dawgs at Sanford Stadium. Joe Tereshinski started this game (back fresh from his ankle injury), however it wouldn't have mattered if Brett Favre was the QB - we just could not stop them from moving the ball. Erik Ainge had his coming out party. Matthew Stafford was given some mop up duty their at the end ( 2 of 5 for 11 yards, 1 int), but I'm not sure why. Joe T wasn't awful, but it became apparent that even his great senior leadership was not going to do special things for this team.

Game Seven vs Vanderbilt - this is the game when things stated to get ugly. Joe T started and had (again) DECENT numbers (11of 17, 151 yards, 1 TD), but lacking the ability to have sustained drives has really started to expose some weaknesses in our defense, mainly because they are out there on the field way too long. This loss must have stuck in Richt's head because he named Stafford the starter two days later.

Game Eight vs Mississippi State - Another game, more mediocre play against an inferior opponent. I guess Richt has decided to stick with Stafford from here on out. Maybe Cox is just not cutting it in practice, maybe he sees that Stafford is really going to be da bomb one day ('cause he sure ain't now), but he's it for the rest of the year. Stafford still slings the ball around (20 of 32, 267 yards, 2 TD, 3 int) and though everybody says he has a lively arm, that "gun" doesn't seem to have any control.

Game Nine vs Florida - I was lucky enough to attend this in person. I thought we would get taken to the woodshed, but it was a close game until the last minute. Stafford was 13 of 33, 151 yards and 2 INT. These are the stats of the greatest Georgia recruit since Hershel Walker. Now I will tell you that I distinctly remember Mohamed Massaquoi having one drop and Martrez Milner having THREE drops. But take those away and he's still 13 of 29. Wonderboy, huh?

Game Ten vs Kentucky - We just lost this hours ago. I'm surprised I'm not back on the wagon. Stafford was 16 of 28, 230 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT. Last year right after the SEC Championship game, Coach Richt made mention that rebuilding this year would be harder than rebuilding last year. We just didn't believe him, did we?
For the year, Stafford is 96 of 186 for 1230 yards with 4 TD's and 12 INT's. Any questions as to who's heading up the turnover brigade?

Well, it doesn't matter, Stafford is it for the rest of the year. My only hope is that playing so much this year benefits him, and by him I mean US, next year. Blake Barnes has gone awol, maybe Joe Cox will give him a run in the spring.
I just gotta say it one more time - Joe Tereshinski, III was and is a DAMN GOOD DAWG!!!

Game Twelve: Revenge of the Nerds?

November 25^th

Vs Georgia Tech

Ask a Georgia fan to say one word about the Georgia Institute of Technology and you’ll likely get one word – Nerds. Or NATS (North Avenue Trade School). Or Yechs. Ok, so there’s no shortage of names to call those guys. What makes the last few years so interesting about this in-state rivalry is not that the Dawgs have won the past five. It’s that the Nerds, er, the Yellowjackets had won the previous three before then, yet had to “vacate” the wins because they played ineligible players. So truly, the last time Tech beat us was in 1990. That was the year they won the National Champ………I’m sorry, that was the year they won the CO-National Championship.

This year the game could go either way. Seems like Coach Chan Gailey over there has figured out how to win some big games. Well actually, he’s already done that (Auburn, Miami), but now he’s figured out how not to lose the ones he shouldn’t. Tech has an all-world receiver in Calvin Johnson. Even the sorriest of quarterbacks can get the ball to this guy. He’ll be playing on Sunday next year. But their defense keeps getting better and better and better. The only reason I like the Dawgs this year is that the game is at home and we have our only open date before this game. Two weeks to heal and strategize. Or, two weeks to lay around and get stale.

I’ll tell you one thing. Georgia fans sure will miss Tech QB Reggie Ball. He’s basically GIVEN us two games and was ineffective in the other. Does being a senior allow him to finally develop his leadership on the field? Does being a senior give him the experience to not make the mistakes that he’s made in the past? Who knows, but I’d rather stick 3 guys on Calvin than 2 guys on Reggie.

Am I optimistic? Yes. But the Dawgs have lost quite a few games that they shouldn’t have because the other team wanted it more. I just feel like it’s our turn. I’m sure Tech feels like it’s their turn, too. But to quote Bernie Casey in “Revenge Of The Nerds”:

“…..but I feel that I must tell you, you have very little chance. I mean, after all……you’re nerds”

Tom Glavine

Earlier this month, Tom Glavine won his 14th postseason game before the Mets bowed to the Cardinals in the NLCS. If I was a hitter in the majors, it would drive me absolutely nuts to watch him pitch day after day. He doesn’t throw high cheese, he doesn’t have one of those roundhouse curve balls. What he has is smarts.

Janurary 1991, Atlanta, GA. My college roommate was working as an intern for the Atlanta Braves. He invited me and my fiancé to a dinner honoring Legendary Brave Dale Murphy. Dale is my 2nd favorite Brave ever (The Hammer, to answer your question). Before the dinner started, my buddy pointed out a guy and said, “That’s Tom Glavine, they say he’ll be a pretty good pitcher for the Braves one day.” I distinctly remember looking at him; he wasn’t much bigger than I was. Most of these other players seemed huge (Murphy for one, who posed for a picture with me). After surveying Glavine, I thought to myself, “Man, I could take him……….”

Fifteen years later, many a batter has watched Glavine on the mound and thought the same thing. And most of them were as wrong as I was.

When Hell ain't enough

After the horrific events that have taken place the last couple of weeks, we begin to look for relief. Parents shooting their kids, adults shooting up schools, crazies cutting babies out of women……..this constant barrage of evil begins to sap the happiness right out of us.

So here’s what I do.

I like to imagine that even hell has standards. Much in the way that many of us imagine that St Peter is waiting on us at the gates of heaven to “confirm” our arrival, I imagine that Satan, Jr. is down below at the ‘Lake of Fire’ entrance to greet those who have ensured themselves a spot in eternal damnation. There will be a few who pass without incident. Lots of lawyers, a few referees, and that guy who invented artificial turf. But when that dude shows up and says, “Uh, yeah, I just shot 8 little Amish girls…..”. I would imagine Satan’s response is something like this:

“Oh SNAP!!! That was YOU? Damn, man, what’s WRONG with you? Holy crap, you’re gonna have to go sit by Hitler and McVeigh. Eight Amish girls, man, you must really be a special kind of prick.”

“Well, at first I was just going to molest them, but…”

“WHOA WHOA WHOA…you were going to MOLEST Amish kids? Ok, right away, I can tell you that you don’t get any porn privileges…..Geez Lou-ise, what is goin ON up there on earth? HEY! Bin Laden!!! Dude, I know you haven’t been here long, but will you show this asshole around? No, he doesn’t get anything to drink or any shoes, let his feet melt first, and give him an iPod loaded with Yoko Ono's Greatest Hits………”

Sorry. It’s the only solace I can get.

Game Eleven: Almost Home

November 11^th

Vs. Auburn University (Auburn, AL)

Man. Where do I begin. How about this. I think this will be our other loss this year. Let me just lay that out there. And the last time we lost three in a row to Auburn was ’99-’01. So get these stats:

Overall record against Auburn: 48-53-8

Total aggregate score: 1648-1650

Record @ home: 9-19

Record @ Auburn: 12-9-2

Record @ neutral sites: 27-26-6

Most amazing to me is that the UGA/Auburn rivalry is the oldest one in the deep south (they’ve been playing since 1892) and after all those years, TWO POINTS separate the total scores. Also, the visiting team has had the edge for a while.

Having said all that, Auburn is just really strong this year. Brandon Cox has developed into a really solid QB, though he’s gone largely unnoticed. Their defense is extremely fast and they have a running back, Kenny Irons (from Georgia, no less), who is a workhorse. I could go on and on about their talent. And hey, it’s not that the Dawgs don’t have talent either, but almost all of Auburn’s positions have definite answers. The Dawgs have questions at QB, receivers, and the secondary. We MAY have answers at those positions. We MAY not. So, while I don’t look for the humiliation that many are predicting, I think the rivalry keeps it close. The depth at the positions keeps it close. Coaching keeps it close (though I can’t STAND Tommy Stupidville, er, Tuberville). But the Tigers’ starting line up on both sides of the ball is worth at least an extra ten points. They are not struggling at any phase of the game right now. We are. The only way the Dawgs pull this one out is by playing the game of their lives. And by the time this game rolls around, the Tigers will be able to smell the national championship trophy. Seeing as how they got screwed two years ago, they are going to be on a mission.