Herschel Walker's MMA Debut Video

Herschel Walker is the Alpha Human.

PWD

Dawgs lose to Gators

This wasn't really unexpected. I wasn't able to watch due to logistical issues so I can't comment much on it except to say that playing in Gainesville was one of the toughest 3 games remaining on our schedule.

This wasn't a yardstick game. It was a less talented team that has experienced extremely little success on the road over the past few years taking on a more talented team that's extremely good at home.

The game on Saturday vs. South Carolina is a more realistic opportunity for success. The Gamecocks did topple Kentucky at home earlier in the week, but they are still the Gamecocks which means from week to week you never know what you're going to get.

The SEC schedule makers did UGA no favors in booking our first five conference games against the best five teams in the league...with 3 of those games being on the road. But the schedule does become more manageable after the trip to Columbia. Consider:

Jan. 30 at South Carolina - winnable but tough
Feb. 3 - vs Arkansas (home) - winnable
Feb. 6 - Vandy (home) - winnable mainly because it's a home game
Feb. 10 - at Auburn - worst team in the SEC makes this winnable
Feb. 13 - South Carolina (home) - winnable because it's a home game

It's not out of the question for Georgia to take 4 of 5 from those teams, and that task looks a lot more manageable if we win on Saturday.

Not that you asked, but Georgia has the #8 strength of schedule in the nation according to WarrenNolan.com. Fox is trying to turn this program around the old fashion way...via blunt trauma. (kidding...I like the schedule)

BTW -- I know times are tough at newspapers, but not sending a single writer from the ABH or AJC to cover these road games? Seriously?

See Also:
-- Bulldogs take a beat down - ABH
-- Georgia Remains Winless on the Road - Red and Black
-- What happened? - Daugman

PWD

Coach Fox interview on 790theZone

SicEmDawgs.com has the link in downloadable and streaming formats.

PWD

Ranking the Difficulty of Remaining B-ball Games

To have any shot whatsoever at any post-season tourney including the NIT, CBI or CIT, would require a winning record which means winning at least 16 games. In reality, we'd need 17 wins to lock us in somewhere, but 16 would at least get us into the mix.

The Bulldogs were 8-5 through the non-conference schedule. The most realistic options for making it to 16 wins are:

Option A:
8-5 non-conference
8-8 SEC Regular Season
0-1 SEC Tourney

Option B:
8-5 non-conference
7-9 SEC Regular Season
1-1 SEC Tourney

There are other scenarios, but they are much less reasonable. With that in mind, here's my shot at ranking the difficulty of the remaining 12 SEC Regular Season Games.

Difficulty:	Date	Time	TV	Opponent
1	2/3	7:00 p.m.	CSS	Arkansas
2	2/13	4:00 p.m.	SECN	SC
3	2/20	4:00 p.m.	SECN	Alabama
4	2/10	9:00 p.m.	CSS	at Auburn
5	3/6	5:00 p.m.	FSN	at LSU
6	1/30	7:00 p.m.	FSN	at SC
7	2/27	4:00 p.m.	SECN	Florida
8	2/6	8:00 p.m.	FSN	Vandy
9	2/25	7:00 p.m.	ESPNU	at Vandy
10	1/27	7:00 p.m.	CSS	at UF
11	2/17	8:00 p.m.	SECN	at UT
12	3/3	8:00 p.m.	SECN	Kentucky

Just remember that every time we lose a game against a team with an easier degree of difficulty, we have to make up that win against a team with a tougher degree of difficulty.

One piece of minor good news...we only play two more road weekend games this season. In the SEC, the weekend crowds are much larger and tougher. It's not a big thing, but it's a little helpful. The bad news...we've only won 2 road games in the past three seasons.

In case you were wondering, we'd probably need 10 SEC wins plus two SEC tourney wins to make the NCAA Tourney, and we're a long way from talking about that. The next two games at Florida on Wednesday and at South Carolina on Saturday are big opportunities. Particularly, the game vs. the Chickens.

What are your thoughts? Do I have the rankings wildly out of order?

PWD

Hoops: Albert Jackson on the UT Win

After the big win over UT, Albert Jackson shared his thoughts with the media. David Ching of the ABH used his blog to carry the length of those comments. My favorite portion:

"That feels amazing to knock off two big-time teams. It’s a credit to the change in the program and I’m just glad my senior year I get to be a part of that change. It’s not known as the Georgia program of old – people getting in trouble, people getting kicked off. It’s Georgia basketball – they play hard, they play tough, they follow rules, they look clean-cut, they’re grown. It really feels good being a senior and have seen the worst to the best...

In a year’s time, everybody calls this year a rebuilding year for us and coach Fox. I personally, I don’t believe in rebuilding years. I feel like we can go as far as we want to go. With all the losses we have, I still feel like we can go as far as we want to go. I’m just excited about the next game coming up and the games after that, because I can just see my team and my teammates growing."

He also talked about the importance of the big crowd. Nick Parker of the Red and Black also wrote about the crowd's influence on the outcome of the game. Parker's article is good, but you should click on it mostly for the outrageously good picture of Travis Leslie's break away dunk. Travis Leslie is the Mayor of Posterville.

PWD

So...about that monsterous win over UT

Been away from the computer all weekend, but I'm back for a little lunch time posting. So...about that game on Saturday. I really felt like the Vols were a bad match-up for Georgia. Their full court pressure, their length and athleticism combined with their intensity just made me uncomfortable with the match-up. Boy was I wrong.

The Dogs totally demolished the Vols in every aspect of the game. After it was over, Coach Fox said (paraphrase):

"This is what college basketball is supposed to be. It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be a big home crowd going nuts supporting you as you topple a very good, highly ranked team. This is fun. And we've got more of this in our future.

I also liked that he continues to say that we can play better. The fact that he's not even remotely close to being satisfied is incredibly encouraging.

(Video Above: Leslie makes SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays again. What is that...his 5th or 6th appearance? In Felton's 6 years, we may have made the Top 10 Plays five times...and 3 of those were following the tornado at the Georgia Dome)

The reaction locally, regionally and nationally to the win...especially on the heels of the close losses to open the season...has been incredibly positive. My favorite comments came from Bruce Pearl (ABH-Ching):

"We didn't get beat because we came in overconfident. We got beat because we got beat," Pearl said. "They're a good team and they showed it tonight. It's only an upset because we came in ranked higher, but (Georgia) is a really good team.

"I was saying before the game that there were five teams that could make the tournament, but I think there may be six. I told my team that Georgia will definitely not finish last in the SEC."

Here are some of the headlines of interest from the weekend:

• Like a Fox - ESPN/Mark Schlabach
  
• Georgia's Success not Good for Vols - Knoxville News
  
• Mark Fox's Process just went into High Gear - AJC
  
• Electricity Returns to Stegeman - ABH
  
• Dogs Crush Vols - ABH
  
• Bulldogs Dominate Vols - Macon Telegraph
  
• Georgia Smacks UT in front of capacity crowd - Red and Black
  
• Bulldogs Overwhelm Vols - UT Student Paper
  
• Roundball wrap-up - DawgSports.com
  
• Georgia is the conference sleeper - Lexington Herald

PWD

Don't Play H-O-R-S-E with Mark Richt

Courtesy of SEC Twitterer of the Year (no joke) Mark Fox. (ht - UGA basketball Walk-on Conner Nolte's Blog)

great first half by the Dawgs

Up by 15 at the Half on Top 10 UT. Go Dawgs. Just have to finish.

Coach Grantham on 790theZone

Another strong interview with Coach Grantham on 790theZone. (ht - redstripedawg)

PWD

Huge win for Landers and the Lady Dawgs

The Lady Dawgs used a stifling defense to overcome an ugly offensive effort in toppling the #3 ranked Lady Vols. For all that Andy Landers has accomplished professionally, he has been cursed with the incredible misfortune of having the greatest coach in his sport's history as his in conference nemesis.

I've always compared Landers to Dean Smith...only imagine if Smith had been forced to play John Wooden 2, 3 or even 4 times per season...for 30 straight years. What would Smith's record and achievement list have looked like in that scenario?

What other Hall of Fame coach in any sport has faced such a burden? Regardless, Landers and his girls knocked down Summit and her boys for the big win. As David Ching said, they are back on the map.

If the Lady Dawgs take care of business against Ole Miss on Sunday, they should enter the Top 5. With a defense this tough, they could make a quality run in March.

PWD

Todd Grantham Interview on 680theFan

680theFan spent 16 minutes today with new UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham discussing his defensive concepts, recruiting and personnel utilization. It's a confidence inspiring conversation.

PWD

Ladies Hoops tonight: Landers v. Summitt

If you can get to Athens tonight, you should head to the Stegosaurus for the Lady Dawgs basketball game at 7:00pm. It's a match-up of top ten teams: #3 Tennessee (16-1) and #8 Georgia (17-1).

The AJC has an interesting look at the 35-year (!) rivalry between Andy Landers and his arch-nemesis Pat Summitt. The article makes it look like they've dialed back the personal animus --while never reaching Suzanne Yoculan v. Sarah Patterson levels-- with each even going to far as to give grudging respect to the other.

Andy Landers just threw up in his mouth a little bit.

Pat Summitt may be easy to caricature as a fire-breathing ballbuster (and PETA foe), but every basketball coach who ever lived not named John Wooden has to get in line behind her. Frankly, she'd have been a better hire than Lane Kiffin.

Even if women's basketball isn't your thing, this rivalry and these coaches should get your respect. If you can't get to the game, you can check it out on FSN. GATA, Andy.

More on Adams to NCAA rumors

Mark Bradley picks up where we left off regarding the rumor Mike Adams may replace Myles Brand as NCAA President. Bradley points out that Atlanta's own Parker Executive Search is spearheading the search to fill the position. Dan Parker is no stranger to personnel in Athens. His boutique was responsible for the searches to replace Charles Knapp, Vince Dooley, and Dennis Felton.

It doesn't take much imagination to see how Adams installment as NCAA president could be a fait accompli. Inside job or not, the ends totally justifies the means. His refusal to make a Shermanesque statement regarding his candidacy keeps hope alive.

Clay Travis blasts Lane Kiffin

This is a fun read about Kiffin's tenure in Knoxville. Good times.

PWD

Lakatos Hired as DB Coach

David Hale has the press conference notes from the Scott Lakatos hire. My overall reaction is mixed. He's qualified for the gig, and that's no small thing. Plus, Grantham knows/trusts the guy. Both of those things are huge in building a staff.

However, the lack of deep Southeastern / Georgia recruiting ties isn't ideal. The good news...not having in state recruiting ties isn't the worst thing (in small doses on the staff).

Georgia Football isn't like Georgia Basketball. Area high school football coaches will give you the time of day simply because of who you represent. Building the relationships from there..it's up to him. In other words, I'm not worried about the lack of southern connections as long as the guy is a lights out position coach AND he can build those relationships over time.

There is still one open position on the coaching staff. It will either be a full-time special teams coach, which I'm totally against due to a parade of reasons too long to get into tonight. Or it will be an outside linebackers coach with the staff sharing special teams responsibilities.

Update -- You guys in the comments asked why I'm against a full-time special teams coach. Several coaches have an area of responsibility in special teams currently. For instance, Searels handles field goals and extra points, Coach Ball (pretty sure) handles kickoff returns, and Fabris handled punt returns and kickoff coverage. Not sure who handled punting in general. All of our special teams are NOT broken. Kickoff returns coverage were badly broken and the coverage of fake punts were broken, and we fired Fabris who ran all of that.

The solution there isn't hire a new special teams coach to manage all special teams. The solution is hire someone better than Fabris. The solution is also to put better athletes on special teams which UGA started doing mid-2009, and the solution is to spend more time on special teams in practice.

Spending more time on special teams in practice is tricky. It's not an issue of coaching staff bandwidth. The problem is that the same players who are doing offense or defense drills are the same ones needed (except kickers) to do special teams drills. So, let say we're spending 20% or even 30% of our time in practice sessions on special teams. That means we're could be paying a special teams coach to spend 70-80% of his time either A. Standing with his finger in his ear. or B. Talking to the kickers. The kickers clearly are not the problem. So why hire a dedicated special teams coach to do nothing during most of practice?

In my opinion...if we have a dedicated special teams coach, then his name should be Mark Richt.

PWD

great take on the Grantham hire

Good read.

http://blutarsky.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/four-thoughts-on-the-grantham-hire/

Offline for a few days. Go Dawgs.

From the Department of Wishful Thinking

Speaking at a tribute to the late Myles Brand, Michael Adams said he said he expects a university president to be chosen to head the NCAA--but not him. In the widely carried story, Adams is coy about being a candidate for the job: ''It's a compliment to the university,'' Adams said. ''We're Georgians. We love it here. My family is happy here, and if the Regents will let me stay, I expect to be here. Is that clear enough?"

It is decidedly not a Shermanesque statement. And that preserves hope. Back in October Adams resigned as chair of the NCAA executive committee. Adams has always been more of a command-and-control aggregation of power type than one to voluntarily abdicate it, so it was widely speculated he stepped down in order to be a candidate to replace Myles Brand--and to avoid all the Dick Cheney jokes. Adams was replaced by Oregon State's president as chair of the search committee.

[Photo: AP/John Amis] pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but the non-denial from Adams may be nothing more than faux-modesty. Adams seems dialed in to the details, so he may have intel on where the committee is headed. ''It will be a broad, open search,'' Adams said, ''but I think Myles proved that it's a good job for a university president and it's good for the NCAA to have the university president. I would not want to say that exclusively, but I think there's a built-in presumption that's likely.''

I would assume the next NCAA president will be in place by this summer, in time for the 2010-2011 athletics year. If he needs recommendations, there will be no shortage of heartfelt endorsements of Adams' candidacy for NCAA President.

It's Grantham

Update: GeorgiaDogs.com has confirmed the hiring. They are doing a conference call with the media this evening.

From Grantham:

"I would like to thank Coach Mark Richt and Damon Evans for the opportunity for myself and my family to be part of the University of Georgia community," said Grantham. "I'm very excited about being part of a staff that will work tremendously hard to return Georgia football to one of the premier teams in the SEC. To the fans and boosters of the University of Georgia, I understand the passion and standard of excellence expected. I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." (emphasis added)

From Richt

"I'm excited the search is over, we have our man, and look forward to what Todd will bring to our defense, our team, and our University," said Richt. "I think it is particularly valuable that he has a wealth of experience on the defensive side of the ball at both the NFL and collegiate levels. Now we look forward to moving ahead with the home stretch of recruiting, finishing out the defensive staff, and getting ready for spring practice."

The hire has been growing on me the past few days. Especially as it comes out that he was recommended for the job by Frank Beamer and Nick Saban. He's good enough that Saban heavily pursued him to be DC for the Dolphins. Those are directionally good signs.

During his career Grantham has worked under several successful head coaches and defensive coordinators on both the pro and college levels including Frank Beamer and Bud Foster at Virginia Tech, Nick Saban at Michigan State, Romeo Crennel at Cleveland, Dom Capers at Houston, and Wade Phillips at Dallas.

More later. In meetings all day.

BTW -- Don't rejoice over the Cutcliffe rejection notice for UT. If the rumors I'm hearing are true, the Vols could end up with someone better than Cutcliffe (Duke), Calhoun (Air Force) or Kiffin. We'll see how this all shakes out. Hopefully, it ends badly for them.

In 1989, Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry (among others) turned down the UGA job, and we ended up with Ray Goff. That's the scenario we want for the Vols. Not the 2001 scenario where the conversations don't work out with Chan Gailey so we ended up with Mark Richt. You never know how these coaching searches will turn out.

Update -- I was asked in the comments to elaborate on what we were hearing re: UT...multiple sources are now saying that Kyle Whittingham was the runner-up for the UT hire behind Derek Dooley who got the job. The Whittingham rumor was the one we heard from multiple sources yesterday, and that was the one that worried me a little. I am certainly not worried about Derek Dooley. More on that later.

PWD

Hello World. I'm Sundiata Gaines

In his fifth career NBA game, Sundiata Gaines hits the game winning buzzer beater for Utah in their victory over Cleveland. Gaines didn't play until the fourth quarter when their staring point guard went down. He played 9 of 12 minutes in the 4th and posted 3-3 shooting , 9 points and the above game winner.

On the season, he has played in 5 games totaling 47 minutes, and he only has 2 turnovers against 7 assists. Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson Jr. and Kenny Smith couldn't say enough positive things about Yata Gaines last night. Great story.

By the way...Yata has only practiced with the Jazz once...yesterday. No kidding.

Now, it's time we add him to the NBA Wall at the new Stegeman Practice Facility.



Post Game Interview in the second clip.

PWD

Basketball Progress

Last night, the Basketball Team continued to show progress.  They lost, but they are getting better.  How close are we?

We have played three ranked teams in a row, and we're 1-2 against those teams. However, we were only down by 2 points with 1:05 or less remaining in both losses including the road game at Rupp Arena. For 39 minutes, we gave them all they wanted.  We're getting better, and we're competing with ranked teams despite wide talent gaps at several spots.  It'll be a long season, but there is progress there.

Another Positives:

• Travis Leslie - I don't think the SEC has a Most-Improved Player of the Year Award.  If they did, Travis Leslie would win it.  On the season, he's averaging 13.6 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game.  He's also shooting 76.8% from the free throw line.  Last season, he averaged 6.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and shot 57.5% from the free throw line...all while being in so much academic trouble that he missed about a month of the season to get his grades together.  He still disappears for stretches or makes mental gaffes, but he's a much, much better player. Plus, his Academic House is in order...as is his House of Dunk.  When players improve this much year over year, it gives you a keen sense of hope for the future.
  

• The Student Section -- The crowd also saw progress as we had the largest student section since probably the UK game in January of last year.  On game day, I heard from a pretty good source that they sold 3x the student tickets for this game at the Bookstore on Gameday as they sold for the Tech game. Unfortunately, the students have been away so long (and we've been bad so long), that many have forgotten that part of their job is to cheer and stand (although some sections...specifically WW in the upper level...did stand all game).  But that'll come back around as the team gives them more and more to cheer about.  By the way...if you're a student, you should budget your time for getting there more than 15 minutes early. The line for processing students is still long.
  

The SEC gave us a brutal schedule to start, and the trip to Starkville on Saturday vs. SEC West front runner Mississippi State is no joke.  But something positive is slowly happening in Athens for basketball. 

See Also:
-- Travis Leslie Erupts into Real Threat - ABH
-- Batman Needs a Robin - DawgPost
-- Bulldogs Fall in Back and Forth Game - RnB
-- Can't Overcome Rebels - Macon Telegraph

PWD

Why the Internet was Invented

LSU Freek on the UT situation.

PWD

Tennessee's Early Enrollees Can Still Bolt

Per Brent Hubbs, the early enrollees can bolt if they don't go to class tomorrow.



UPDATE: The hits keep on coming. Ed Orgeron reportedly told the early enrollees not to go to class tomorrow....so they could transfer to Southern Cal. Damn that's classy. Here's the AJC's update on three Georgia boys who committed to play for the Vols.

By the way, would someone PLEASE call Al Davis and get his reaction.

ht - Radi at UGASports.com

PWD
Georgia Sports Blog

UT Cops using Tear Gas on Students?

Renaldo Woolridge is a UT basketball player twittering from his dorm balcony about the situation at the UT Athletic Complex. Things are out of hand per his twitter feed. Multiple reports of "riot-like" situation with thousands of protesters outside the building and multiple reports of tear gas.

The fans are waiting on Kiffin to leave the complex. Damn.

Other reports that Tear Gas claim was overblown. Instead just lots of burning stuff in the street (thus the smoke). Should be video or pics up soon.

Lane Kiffin to Southern Cal

Breaking. And confirmed via multiple real sources. He's taking the entire family and Coach Orgeron to L.A. Holy shit. Best line of the night comes from a Vol fan on a rivals.com message board, "This is like divorcing a stripper."

Dear Southern Cal...if you're scared of the NCAA and looking for a sacrificial lamb like Mike Shula who will baby sit the program for 3-4 years while probation blows over, that's not a bad plan. You just don't hire a guy NCAA Compliance wants to kill to do the whole "under the radar low profile thing."

Chris Mortensen just nailed it on Twitter...they just about have to go after David Cutcliffe. Longer list of candidates is:

• Will Muschamp
  
• Gary Patterson
  
• Jon Gruden - grad assistant for vols in mid 80s. Probably a pipe dream.
  
• David Cutcliff

Chris Petersen of Boise is one weird dude. He's apparently not interested in this or much of anything other than Boise.

The Vols need to nail this in ~72 hours. That gives them almost 3 weeks to stabilize the class. The

As a buddy just said..."sort of makes our Defensive Coordinator search look like baby sh*t."

PWD

Sportsline: Fox has Dawgs on a Run

Gary Parrish has a great interview up on Sportsline.com talking about the sudden momentum of the UGA basketball program under Coach Mark Fox. It's an encouraging piece as we head into this big game against Top 25 Ole Miss on Wednesday at 8:00 pm.

PWD

The Human Highlight Film Turns 50

Damn. Dominique Wilkins is 50 years old. Happy birthday to one of the most underrated players in NBA history. So much more than a dunker...but the dunks were pretty bad ass. And a Damn Good Dawg.



Life Lessons Learned from Nique:
"Always go for the 50 in the first round."

PWD

Hoops: The Importance of the Ole Miss Game

Preseason I listed the Top 5 most important games for Coach Fox this year as (copied and pasted from the original article):

1. Georgia Tech (home) - I'm pretty sure that we haven't lost to Tech at home since 1976 (The series returned to campus in the mid-90s). Tech is loaded, but you still can't lose to them at home.

2. Alabama (home) - There's a segment of the fan base that will always compare Fox to Anthony Grant. This is a big game for perception.

3. Ole Miss (home) - The first SEC home game. The students will be back on campus, and there's a chance to give them a big show in a winnable game.

4. Florida (home) - I think this is the last SEC home game before the students go on Spring Break. More importantly, it looks like the highest profile winnable game on the schedule. There's an opportunity to show momentum and improvement by picking up a big win against the Gators at home.

5. New Orleans (home) - You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

So far, we're 2-0 against these 5 games. If I had to do that list over, I would put Ole Miss at #2. I had no idea the Rebels would be ranked as high as #21 coming into the game. The Illinois and Georgia Tech wins combined with the gritty showing in Lexington have caused some fans to finally give the team a look. Win and we start to finally get a little momentum and credibility within the fan base beyond the nut jobs and hard core types like me.

Lose...and it's tough to see where many wins come on the schedule until February. By the way, the SEC schedule maker deserves a kick in the balls for making us play 4 of our first six games away from Athens against 5 of the Top 6 teams in the league. Thanks for nothing.

We should have a pretty solid crowd on Wednesday night at 8:00 pm (SEC Network). Ole Miss is beatable. We just have to take it, and it's going to take a great crowd to help get us there.

Tickets on Sale Now

PWD

Georgia Tech Departures for the NFL

When you get past the frustration of yesterday's Kirby Smart news, you do get to enjoy the pain of our rivals who saw quite a bit of high end talent walk out the door.

Georgia Tech lost:

• Jonathan Dwyer- The best GT running back since at least Dorsey Levins. His replacement looks to be Anthony Allen...the only obviously projectable NFL player I can find on their roster.
  
  
• Derrick Morgan - The best GT defensive lineman since Marco Coleman. He accounted for 12 of Tech's 25 sacks last season.
  
  
• Demaryious Thomas - The most physical and most ideally suited receiver for this offense imaginable. He accounted for over 65% of the team's total receiving yards, and 59% of the catches. When it was third and long, he was Tech's get out of jail free card. Well...except for Thanksgiving Weekend with the game on the line.
  
  
• Morgan Burnett - Tech's #2 leading tackler leaves with 14 career interceptions. He's arguably their best defensive back since Ken Swilling. Although, that's not saying much. Tech's defensive backfield the past 10 years hasn't set the world on fire.

So how does Tech replace these guys? I just don't see the NFL talent on the roster to replace such high-end playmakers.

Don't get me wrong...Josh Nesbitt is an exceptional college QB for what Tech wants to run. But how much more can they squeeze out of Nesibtt? Last year, he ran for over 1,000 yards and 18 TDs. Does anyone seriously think he's going to emerge as a legitimate passing threat at this point in his career?

New defensive coordinator or not...I struggle to see how they have the talent to stop people.

PWD

I have no problem with Kirby Smart staying at Bama

Quinton and I both said numerous times throughout this search that we thought it was unlikely that Kirby Smart would come here. Not because of any mythical rift between Richt and Smart, but because it just made more sense for him to stay in Tuscaloosa. That's why, I don't have an issue with his decision to stay at Alabama.

What I most certainly do have an issue with is the way this was handled by Kirby. The job had been open since Dec. 2nd, and Kirby has known since at least Dec. 15th that Georgia was interested...if he was interested. That's the magic phrase in all of this.

UGA started the search process with Bud Foster and John Chavis because (A) they are more qualified for the job than Kirby, and (B) Kirby would be tied up until at least Jan. 7th. When the Foster and Chavis deals never materialized, Richt made his pitch to Kirby because he had reason to believe Kirby was legitimately receptive to the pitch.

If Kirby wanted to stay in Tuscaloosa, that would've been fine by everyone. He could've quietly and respectfully told Richt to move ahead with his search without him. There was positively no reason to wait 3-4 days to make up his mind when he had a month to ponder this scenario. Making Richt wait weakened the search process and took more shine off the position.

Bear Bryant was famously asked why he left Texas A&M for Alabama, and he responded, "Mama Called." Well, mama called, and as T. Kyle King said, "Kirby hung up." Georgia needed Kirby because of the timing and because of the prior rejects, and we went out on a limb for him. We were willing to make a 34 year old guy with only one year of defensive coordinator experience the third highest paid assistant in the country. In that scenario, you don't make us wait for almost four days to make up your mind.

So it's not the decision that pisses me off. It's the process and timing.

I respect his decision to stay with Saban. Professionally, I think it was the right move for him. It's lower risk, and as close to a frictionless path to a head coaching gig as you can find in college football. But he should also respect the anger and backlash that UGA boosters feel towards the way he handled this.

It's not just business when it's your alma mater. Not if you ever want to come back.

Where do we go from here?
The search was never about hiring Kirby Smart. The search was about finding someone better than Willie Martinez. That's the minimum threshold for success. And as I've stated before, the process from our end worries me less than the outcome. We can still hire someone terrific. Particularly, if we're willing to offer another viable candidate as much as $790,000 over three to four years.

Kirby wasn't Richt's soul mate for this job. There's more than one person that will work. We just need to move quickly to find them.

By the way....can we please stop with the "Damon won't pay anyone good" meme. The offer that UGA made to Kirby given his resume was wildly out of step with the broader marketplace. It was an incredibly generous offer.

Oh...and one last thought. Maybe it's Todd Grantham now. Maybe not. But what has Todd Grantham ever done to make you or I think he's the answer except have Pollack and Donnan throw out his name often enough to have Anthony Dasher start calling his agent?

If it's him, I'll be open minded, but I don't get the love.

PWD

Student Tickets for Basketball Games on Sale

Typically, Student Ticket sales for basketball happen pre-season in a season ticket block. If you missed that window, there were only week by week last minute options for obtaining tickets. That process totally fell apart for the GT game at home last week as many students arrived at the gate only 15 minutes before tip-off, and they were unable to enter the game in any sort of a timely fashion.

We spoke with the athletic department about this issue, and they heard your complaints and concerns. UGA has finally resolved this issue for students who want to pick up tickets to future games. If you're considering going to some of the big games the rest of the season, why wait in line for tickets when you can pick them up now!

Per the press release:

UGA Student Tickets Available Online For All Remaining
Home Basketball Games and Gymnastics Meets

University of Georgia students can order their single event tickets for all remaining home men's basketball games and gymnastics meets online starting at 5:00p.m. today. The original sales periods have been extended to provided UGA Students with as much time as possible to order their tickets in advance of each remaining home men's basketball game and gymnastics meet.

UGA Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the online pre-sale and day of event sales at the UGA Bookstore to make sure they have their tickets in advance and to avoid lines at Stegeman Coliseum on the day of the event.

UGA Students will have from now until 5:00pm on the day before all weeknight home events and Noon on Fridays before all home weekend events to order their tickets in advance online. The complete student sales schedule is listed below.

Student tickets are $2 for all single event tickets for men's basketball and gymnastics. When ordering online, UGA Students must use Mastercard or VISA. When ordering at the UGA Bookstore and Stegeman Coliseum on the day of the game, all sales are cash only.

For additional student ticket information, please visit www.georgiadogs.com/student-tickets. Order Now.

Online – Advance Sale Dates/Times
Game	Online Sale Start Date	Online Sales End Date
New Orleans, Wofford	Nov. 10 @ Noon	Nov. 12 @ Noon
UNCA, J'ville State, St. Louis	Nov. 19 @ Noon	Nov. 23 @ Noon
Fl. Atl., Pepperdine, Ga. Tech	Dec. 17 @ Noon	Dec. 22 @ Noon
Ole Miss	Jan. 6 @ Noon	Jan. 8 @ Noon
Tennessee	Jan. 20 @ Noon	Jan. 22 @ Noon
Arkansas, Vanderbilt	Jan. 28 @ Noon	Feb. 2 @ Noon
South Carolina, Alabama	Feb. 9 @ Noon	Feb. 11 @ Noon
Florida, Kentucky	Feb. 23 @ Noon	Feb. 25 @ Noon

Day of Game – Sales Dates/Times
Games	UGA Bookstore	Coliseum Booth #4
New Orleans	Nov. 13 @ 9am-3pm	Nov. 13 @ 5:30pm
Wofford	Nov. 17 @ 9am-3pm	Nov. 17 @ 5:30pm
UNC-Asheville	no sales	Nov. 24 @ 5:30pm
Jacksonville State	no sales	Nov. 27 @ 5:30pm
St. Louis	Dec. 2 @ 9am-3pm	Dec. 2 @ 5:30pm
Florida Atlantic	no sales	Dec. 23 @ 5:30pm
Pepperdine	no sales	Dec. 30 @ 5:30pm
Georgia Tech	Jan. 5 @ 9am-3pm	Jan. 5 @ 5:30pm
Ole Miss	Jan. 13 @ 9am-3pm	Jan. 13 @ 6:30pm
Tennessee	Jan. 22 @ 9am-3pm	Jan. 23 @ 3:30pm
Arkansas	Feb. 3 @ 9am-3pm	Feb. 3 @ 5:30pm
Vanderbilt	Feb. 5 @ 9am-3pm	Feb. 6 @ 6:30pm
South Carolina	Feb. 12 @ 9am-3pm	Feb. 13 @ 2:30pm
Alabama	Feb. 19 @ 9am-3pm	Feb. 20 @ 2:30pm
Florida	Feb. 26 @ 9am-3pm	Feb. 27 @ 2:30pm
Kentucky	Mar. 3 @ 9am-3pm	Mar. 3 @ 6:30pm

Kirby Smart staying at Bama

More later.

PWD

Make Plans for Wednesday Night in Athens

The Georgia Bulldog basketball team hosts #14 Ole Miss on Wednesday at 8:00 pm at Stegeman Coliseum, and great seats are still available. The game will be televised on the SEC Network (aka Peachtree TV in Atlanta).

This game is monstrously large as three of the four games following Ole Miss will be on the road. The Rebels lost their season opener at home to Mississippi State, and they only have one respectable road win so far this season (Kansas State). Despite being ranked so high, this is a winnable game.

Come out and support these guys. They are improving and playing some of their best hoops since the SEC Tourney two years ago. The first 10,000 fans get an autographed copy of my bar tab*.

Many of our weeknight home games start at 7:00, but this one starts a little later at 8:00. If you're like me and you're coming in from the Atlanta area for the game, the later tip off will give you more time to get to the game on time.

PWD


*Ok...Not really.

Well Coached. All Heart. Dawgs Give Cats Scare

When you're watching this Georgia team play basketball, forget about "moral victories." Instead, think about improvement and progress. Think about week to week and month to month momentum. Are we getting better?

On Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs went into Lexington to face an undefeated Kentucky team with an overwhelming talent advantage. The Wildcats were a 21 point favorite coming into the game, but the Dawgs were only two points down with 1:05 remaining. In fact, we were up by 11 points in front of 24,000 fans and three very loving blue striped refs.

It was progress, and it was incredibly impressive. Our guys played their hearts out, and they showed that they are most certainly getting better.

After the game, Coach Fox talked about our ability to play with UK saying:

"The members of the media voted us unanimously as the last-place team," Fox said to the media after the game. "If you guys are right, then this league is really balanced because Kentucky’s very, very good."

He's right. If we can play like we did Saturday...and cut the turnovers way down...we're going to be competitive with a lot of SEC teams.

Oh..and ESPN SportsCenter was right. Leslie's dunk over Cousins was the sickest dunk you'll see all year.

See Also:
-- Dawgs put up fight in loss - ABH
-- Get out the way! Leslie's Dunk on Cousins - ESPN
-- To the wire - AJC
-- Gritty Dawgs give Cats all they can handle - Red and Black

PWD

Video Uploaded by "vaLTmac101604"

Where to, Kirby? (Or Maybe, How Much, Kirby?)

Per the Tuscaloosa News, Kirby Smart has been offered the position of defensive coordinator at UGA.  So, Kirby must decide to either come back to his alma mater and make a boatload of money or he can stay on the staff of one of the best coaches in college football as his loyal DC after winning a national championship and rework his contract to get a boatload of money from Bama.  It's nice to be Kirby Smart right now.  Either way, he's about to get PAID.  I doubt Bama lets him go without a counteroffer.

The AJC says no announcement is imminent, according to Claude Felton.

Developing ...

Quinton

Bruce Pearl Dismisses Tyler Smith

It's official the Vols dismissed Tyler Smith. Smith lead the Vols last year in scoring and was second in rebounding. This year, he was second in scoring and third in rebounding as Pearl had worked to involve more players through the non-conference schedule. Said differently...he was arguably their best player.

The other players involved in the guns and drugs arrest are still suspended indefinitely. We're hearing rumblings that one of the remaining players will receive a substantially stiffer punishment than the other two.

The players already missed the Charlotte game, and they look to miss the Kansas game Saturday as well. We need them to miss four additional games to make it through our home match-up in late-January.

Why does this suspension matter to UGA hoops?
Every win in SEC play is precious for the Dawgs in any year, and this year that's especially true. For the Dawgs to make any post-season tournament (NIT, CBI, etc), we'll need at least 16 wins. That requires a 7-9 record in league play plus one tourney win. When you look at the schedule, that certainly looks like a stretch goal. Picking up a win at home against the Vols would go a long way towards making that goal more reasonable.

Right now, I'd take 6-10 in league play and a win in the SEC Tourney, and call it huge progress. So this is a big story to follow.

PWD

Coaching Trends: Gettin' Paid

Last night's championship game pitted two of the best coaches in the country leading their teams in a contest for the sport's biggest prize.  Those two coaches, Mack Brown and Nick Saban, are also now the highest paid coaches in college football.  This year, they certainly earned those fat salaries.  Mack Brown recently signed a contract extension making him the first coach to earn $5,000,000 per year.  That contract also provides for an annual $100,000 raise over the life of the contract.  Saban's most recent contract was for $4.7 million.  Does anyone doubt that Alabama's administration will top Brown's contract when Saban gets back to Tuscaloosa and talks to Jimmy Sexton?

All of that got me thinking about coaching salaries over the past decade and where we are heading.  In 2001, Steve Spurrier was the highest paid college coach with an annual salary of $2.1 million.  Only Spurrier and Bob Stoops made $2 million or more.  Mack Brown, by the way, made $1.45 million.  Today, twenty-five coaches make over $2 million a year.  In 2001, there were 22 coaches who made over a million bucks a year.  In 2007, that was the AVERAGE salary of a BCS conference coach.

So, in eight years, the highest salary in the country more than doubled from $2.1 million to $5 million.  If that trend repeats itself, in 2017, the highest paid college football coach will make $11.9 million.  I repeat, $11.9 million.  If you think that is crazy talk, I remind you that the competitive pressures of the SEC are quite possibly at an all time high just as its member institutions are about to reap an enormous increase in revenue because of a new TV deal.  Salaries are only going to go up.

Forget the economics of these deals, which I fully appreciate (the coaches make a lot of money because they generate a lot of revenue and good coaching talent is in short supply with high demand).  Think solely of the political pressure involved in a state university paying a football coach $10 million at a time of university budget cuts or state financial problems.  Is this trend politically sustainable?  Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has already publicly questioned the tax-exempt status of the NCAA and college athletic programs.  I can easily see other politicians joining Grassley's nascent crusade if coaches begin to be routinely paid like Wall Street bankers.  There will be a bunch of other concerns: upset faculty and university administrators, the heightened incentives to cheat, and even the pressure to allow the athletes to benefit from the athletic revenue just like the coaches.  None of this, I believe, is good for college athletics.  There's got to be a political ceiling on coaching salaries, but we haven't hit it yet.  What happens when we do?

Where are we headed with these salaries and is it good for college football?

Quinton

Mother's Memory Looms over Alabama

From Andy Staples of SI.com. This is a must read.

PWD

Congrats to Bama

Aside from the obvious of feeling bad for Colt McCoy, I really enjoyed the game last night. I started off pulling for Bama, but as the 3rd and 4th quarters rolled on I really was pulling for the UT comeback.

Now I know how the Russians felt in Rocky IV as they turned on Drago to pull for the underdog Balboa. In the end, Bama was just too much. Even with Colt McCoy, you can't beat a defense like Bama's being one dimensional. Furthermore, how do recruit in the state of Texas surrounded by so much talent and not find a running back and running game in Colt's entire career? I don't get it.

Back to us...I think we'll have our DC by Sunday at the latest.

PWD

Evil Genius or Harmless Genius?

As we tirelessly continue to document, Steve Spurrier's march up the list of Longest Tenured Coaches without a BCS Bowl Bid at their current school has reached a new high water mark. With the termination of Mike Leach (the former co-leader with a 2001 hire date) and the retirement of Rich Brooks, the head ball coach moves to 8th on the list.

The latest Top 10:

1.(T) Greg Schiano (Rutgers) - 2001
1.(T) Gary Pinkel (Missouri) - 2001
3.(T) Bobby Johnson (Vandy) - 2002
3.(T) Jeff Tedford (Cal) - 2002
5. Mike Riley (Oregon State) - 2003
6.(T) Randy Edsall (UConn) - 2004 Joined Big East
6.(T) Mike Stoops (Arizona) - 2004
8.(T) Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) - 2005
8.(T) Jim Leavitt (USF) - 2005 Joined Big East
8.(T) Mike Gundy (Ok State) - 2005
8.(T) Dave Wannstedt (Pitt) - 2005

In theory, Spurrier has a quality core of talent returning for the 2010 season. They return 9 starters on offense and 8 on defense (pending NFL departures). However, Garcia is still his quarterback, and this is the same core group that collapsed at the end of last season going 2-5 to close out the campaign. It's not like they were improving as they got older.

As for the Ray Goff comparison I continually make between Spurrier's tenure at Carolina and Ray's disastrous stint with the Dawgs...Spurrier needs 6 wins to surpass Goff's win total during his first six years in Athens. However, he'll need to go at least 11-2 to surpass Ray's winning percentage over the same number of years...by only .00079 percentage points.

All the Evil is gone. He's just a Harmless Genius now.

PWD

Sundiata Gaines Called Up to the Jazz

Through 18 games, Sundiata Gaines had dominated the NBA Development League for the Idaho Stampede. On the season he was averaging, 23.9 points, 6.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals and only 2.7 turnovers. I'm thrilled to report that Gaines has signed a 10 day contract with the Utah Jazz.

He may play tonight for the Jazz against Memphis. Good luck to Gaines. Hopefully, this turns into an extended gig. (ht - ciaran)



PWD

SportsCenter Top 10. Dawgs Make Highlights

Travis Leslie gets two plays in last night's ESPN Top 10 Plays from SportsCenter.

PWD

Suck it Nerds. Dawgs Win!

I love college basketball. I love Georgia, and I love winning. God Bless America. Georgia defeated Tech 73-66 in basketball tonight. The Jackets and Paul Hewitt were grossly out coached by Mark Fox, and the Bulldog players played as well as possible in the victory.

Tech probably has four or more NBA players on their roster, and we...well...don't. But we have a coach now. And we don't lose to Tech in Athens. Period.

As a friend texted me post-game. "Dear Dave Braine and Mark Carmony. Thanks for Hewitt's contract." Tech will owe Hewitt $5-6 million if they terminate him, and they don't have that sort of cheese laying around.

This was a big win for Coach Fox. He needed to show that the program has life in it. That we can play entertaining basketball again. That we can build a winner here. Tonight was directionally what the program needs to move forward and put the ugly past six years slowly into the rear view mirror.

Buy a ticket. Come watch the team. There will be nights on the road in SEC play where we look lost and confused (like the Missouri game on Saturday), but there's also going to be nights in Athens where much more talented teams will tumble just like Tech.

Why? Because we're well coach, and we play a smart brand of basketball that's fun to watch. Get to Athens and give 'em a chance.

More later, when I'm not so giddy. Oh...and GO HAWKEYES!

Great Moments in Schadenfreude:
-- The Hive Reaction
-- Stingtalk Reaction

PWD

Godspeed, Reshad Jones

Reshad Jones declared for the NFL draft today.  Although fans are sometimes quick to criticize a player turning pro early, whether because they think it a bad decision or are simply dismayed that a player would choose to move on to the NFL, you can't really blame Reshad.  He's already graduated and reportedly got a good enough evaluation from the NFL advisory committee.  Safeties with his size and speed usually do get good reviews from the pros.  With rumors of a salary cap in the NFL soon, I'd expect a lot of underclassmen to jump to the pros with Reshad.

Jones came to UGA as the No. 1 safety recruit in the country.  He redshirted a year and started all but one game from 2008 to the Independence Bowl.  Many will remember him solely for the nudge he delivered to Roddy Jones as he tightroped the sideline for a game clinching TD for Tech in 2008.  That is not entirely fair.  Jones played well this year, although not good enough to automatically assume he would be going pro.  He was second on the team in tackles and led the team with four INTs.  He also had a fantastic pick against Tech this year in what might have been his best game as a Bulldog.  We wish him well.

Bacarri Rambo has to be the odds on favorite to replace Jones next year based on his play this season.  The oft-injured Quintin Banks will likely back Rambo up if he gets healthy.  Yes, we also have a commitment from the No. 3 safety in the country this year, Alec Ogletree, but I'm not relying on a true freshman to come in and beat out Rambo for a starting slot, no matter how many stars are beside his name.

Quinton

The UT Basketball Case Gets Even More Weird

Thompson-Boling-Alcatraz (Image: Ross O.)

As we mentioned last week, four Vols were arrested and charged with various weapons, drugs and booze related charges. The intriguing part of the case involves the vehicle in question. It's a rental car purchased from Enterprise Rental Car originally rented in North Knoxville (Clinton Road). The Illinois license plates are irrelevant as it's a rental car.

According to published reports and arrest information, the players apparently admitted that they knew the guns were in the car. Most bizarre...the players say they went to Nashville to pick up the car (not from the rental car company but from another person).

Ok. Here are my questions.
1. Why do you drive 4 hours to borrow a rental car...that you allegedly know has guns in it.

2. If you have a car that can get you to Nashville, why do you need to borrow another car?

3. Why do four people need to drive to Nashville to pick up a rental car from someone? Isn't that a solo operation?

This entire thing stinks to high heaven. In case you are wondering, these four kids combine to average 32.4 points, 14.7 rebounds and 8 assists per game. Said differently, that's 39.8% of their points, 38.9% of their rebounds and 46.5% of their assists per game.

At UGA in this same scenario, they would be looking at mandatory minimum suspensions of 10% of the season for the drugs. In other words, 3 games on the bench (Charlotte, Kansas and Auburn). The weapons charges add a unique level of complexity because of the reported filed off serial numbers. No idea how UGA would deal with that aspect of this. It'll be interesting to watch how this unfolds.

For us to benefit from this in any meaningful way, we need a 6 game suspension. That would carry them through the Jan. 23rd match-up in Athens. Additionally, we could benefit if more bad news came out as Pearl is absolutely kicking our ass when it comes to recruiting in the State of Georgia.

See Also:
-- UT AD: "Tolerance has gone to Zero" - ESPN
-- Bruce Pearl says his team "has a lot of weapons." - SportingNews
-- Investigation centers on rental car owner - Knoxville News
-- Potential Identify of the Car Renter - WBIR
-- The worst case scenario - Maryville News

PWD

UGA vs. Tech tonight at 7:00 pm in Athens

There's a very big basketball game tonight in Athens. The talent edge is wildly in favor of the Yellow Jackets, but they most certainly have an empty suit coaching them. We need a great crowd for this one. Make an effort to come out and support.

Plenty of great seats available. Game starts at 7:00 pm. The game will be televised on CSS and ESPN360.

PWD

Spurrier's Nightmare Continues

The autopsy from South Carolina's season funeral bowl game is in. The cause of death is lack of effort. In fairness to the Gamecocks, just about any SEC team would've been a high risk candidate to sleep walk through a bowl game at Legion Field in front of 30,000 fans against a Big East also-ran.

However, the depth of ineptitude really is staggering from the game. Consider:

• 10 Play 5 Yard Drive - How exactly do you manage to work so cover such little real estate.
  
• 4th and Dumb - Spurrier turned the ball over on downs after going for it on 4th and 1 from his own 32 yard line. Your offensive line is a mess without a position coach, and you go for it on your own 32? UConn got an easy FG after that.
  
• Hot Potato - The Gamecocks couldn't catch...anything (~10 dropped passes, dropped INTs and dropped snaps for field goal opportunities).

The reviews from the lack luster affair have sort of poured in since Saturday's game. It's a fun read if you're into that the Schadenfreude scene. And I am.

• Gamecocks can't turn corner - Charleston Post
  
• Another dismal bowl performance - Myrtle Beach Sun
  
• Harder to Explain than Outback Bowl Loss - The State
  
• So Typical, So Carolina - Post-Courier
  
• Permanently Stuck in Neutral - TheState
  
• A coaching graveyard - Birmingham News
  
• Bowl Season Winners and Losers - Chattanooga Free Press
  
• Something old. Something News - Blutarsky

PWD

Outcome vs. Process: DC Search

Image: Hipple
All the hand wringing and bemoaning of the search process for UGA's defensive coordinator on message boards is understandable given the high priority nature of the hire. However, I don't agree with it.

So what if we got turned down by Chavis and Bud Foster? Or if we didn't? Let's say you ask out Miss September, and she turns you down. Then you ask out Miss October, and she turns you down as well. Who cares if you still end up with Miss December?

It's not like there's only one or two assistant coaches out there who can deliver a Top 10-15 defense in Athens. Mark Richt isn't out there looking for his mythical soul mate.

There's no candidate including Kirby Smart that doesn't have risks associated with him. In fact, hiring Kirby and switching to the 3-4 defense would likely involve a painful year one conversion as we work to re-tool everything we do. Even Van Gorder has risks. Name a truly elite defense in his career outside of his four years at UGA when he had 15-18 future NFL Players per year on his two deep...most of whom were either not recruited by him or fell into his lap almost by accident (See: Odell and Thomas Davis for excellent examples of nearly unrecruited kids falling into your lap). So everyone has risks.

I'd lose a recruit or three to get the right guy. But that's just me.

I get why people are frustrated. I do. I just think that when you step back from it...we're talking about a process...not an outcome.

See Also:
-- Smart Money isn't on Kirby - David Hale

PWD

Georgia vs. Colorado: 2010 Travel Info

Image: Hipple
The Colorado Dawgs have put up a blog for distributing information about the 2010 road trip to Boulder. The site includes hotel information, RV information and more.

See Also:
-- GSB Info on UGA Game

PWD

New Site Look

I'm redesigning the site. Almost finished? What do you think?

Check it on a Blackberry. It's much, much, much more usable on mine. I'm curious if it looks any better on an iPhone.

Breaking News: Vols In a Ton of Trouble

Hoop Vols arrested. Breaking;
http://sbnation.com/e/993543