In Other News

Men's Golf and baseball just got a little less deep:

• Closer Tyler Maloof will be out for at least a month with a muscle strain in his arm. Maloof tied the single season save record last year, but had a big ERA. We were looking to have him get stronger in close situations. Now we might not have him available until well into the SEC schedule. Blake Dieterich and Bryan Benzor are the top candidates to get the ball for now.
• Bryden Macpherson has decided to withdraw from school and take up golf as a profession. Macpherson qualified for The Masters with a win in last year's British Amateur Open. Macpherson was the SEC Freshman of the year and a big part of our National Championship runner up finish last year. I expect to hear some muffled 'Go Dawgs' when he tees it up in Augusta.

TD

Former Golf Dawgs Shine

With the news that All-Americans Harris English and Russell Henley were chosen for the USA Walker Cup (the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup) Team.  If you didn't know, Henley became the second amateur to win a Nationwide event with his win in Athens at the Stadion Classic.   Not to be outdone, English won the 2011 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, OH last month.

No word on if English got a free tattoo with that.

Good luck to two DGDs.

Dawgs lose to Jags in NCAA Golf Finals

Augusta State down the Dawgs 3-2 to win back to back NCAA Championships in Golf.  Russell Henley and Bryden Mcphereson pick up Georgia's wins in Stillwater. 

Congrats on a good season for Chris Haack's team.  With strong seasons from sophomores Mcpeherson and Mitchell, the future looks bright for the Men's Golf team.  Many thanks to Seniors Henley, Rob Bennett, Harris English, and Hudson Swafford, DGDs all.

No word on if the two teams will meet at Washington-Wilkes Country Club for a season ending rubber match.

TD

Dawgs Top Duke Blue Devils

Dawgs advance over Duke in the NCAA Golf Championship semi-final match 3 matches to 2.  They will face defending national champion Augusta State.  Yeah, I had to check to make sure I saw that right, too.  But the Jaguars won last year (I had to check the mascot, too) and advanced to the finals by defeating host Oklahoma State 3 matches to 2.

Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryden McPhereson won their matches to give the Dawgs the win.

Georgia faced Augusta State early in the season in a stroke play tournament in Macon in the Brickyard Invitational, besting the Jags by one shot to win the tourney.

Live scoring and video will be available at NCAA.com at 1pm.

Isner on Letterman

In case you went to sleep early or watch something else with your "late" nights, here's John Isner's appearance on David Letterman last night.



Federer in fifteen minutes, huh? Didn't Izzy take a set off the greatest tennis player ever in 2007 (right before the Oklahoma State game in Athens) at the US Open?

Quinton

Longest. Set. Ever.

In his first round match with Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, our boy, John Isner, was all even at two sets a piece yesterday when play was suspended.  This morning, the two simply needed to play the final and deciding fifth set to determine the winner.  That set, however, now the longest set in tennis history, still isn't over.  Play was suspended again tonight and Isner and Mahut will return to Court 18 tomorrow until a winner is decided or darkness interrupts again.  At Wimbledon, there are no tiebreakers in the final set, so the players simply keep playing games until someone wins two in a row.  They currently stand at 59-59.  Isner had four match points during the day, but Mahut had an answer for each.

I've seen the word "epic" floated about in describing this match, but that term is inadequate.  The longest match in pro tennis history was six hours and thirty-three minutes.  The fifth set of this match, which I remind you isn't over yet, is currently at seven hours and six minutes.  So, one fifth of this match is longer than the entire match of the former longevity record holder.

It's not epic, it's unbelievable in the most literal way possible.  Isner: "Nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever." The scoreboards not only couldn't handle the numbers of the score, they just plain broke down completely, going utterly dark at 48 all.  Even ESPN's scoretracker couldn't go above 50 games apiece.  The match stats, which I won't bore you with, are enough to skew a data set so irreparably that it becomes nonsensical or comical.  Both players broke the record for aces in a match.

You can follow a highly amusing account of the day at Wimbledon here, heavy on the crisp, dry British wit and highly recommended.

Tomorrow, they begin anew, both players looking for a single break point to capture a deciding advantage.  John Isner is everything you want out of a famous athletic alum.  He's always selling UGA on the tube and is always in a Georgia football hat off court.  Break him, Johnny!

Quinton

Dawgs Try Again at the DMTC

The men's tennis team faces the Gators today at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.  The match is one of the round of 16 in the NCAAs.  The team hasn't beaten the Gators this season (a recurring theme this athletic year), but the last match was closer that the final score would indicate.  I think we have a shot here, but the team has to be playing as well as it can.  Somebody has to step up a slot for Bo Seal's after he was suspended/kicked off the team for academic issues.

A big, frothing Bulldog crowd would help the guys, so get out there and enjoy some tennis today.  The match is scheduled for 6PM, but it looks like weather is going to alter that time.  Check georgiadogs.com for updated information.

For those of you not in the Athens area, you can watch the match here.

UPDATE: DAWGS WIN IT, 4-2!  Next match is Sunday at 5PM against rival Texas or former net dawg John Roddick and the Sooners. (That match is tied as I write this.)

Quinton

Non-Revenue Roundup

Georgia is used to a solid spring of athletic victory, but this year has seen mixed to no success.  Spring hasn't been all bad so far, but it hasn't been particularly enjoyable either.  Here's an update:

Baseball:  Ugh.  Where to begin?  The most obvious problem with the baseball team is that the pitchers can't get hitters out.  The team ERA is a titanic 8.52, three runs ahead of the the closest competitor.  When the opposition isn't hitting at the plate, they are walking.  We've issued 207 free passes this year, besting our closest competition in that stat by 40(!) walks.  You can't win with those stats even if you are hitting the ball well, which we aren't.  We're also last in the league in average and runs.  Our pitching coach, Brady Wiederhold, should take a long look at his work this year (and last).  Perno, in turn, should take a long look at Wiederhold. The numbers don't lie. 

Gymnastics:  After five straight national championships, losing one of the greatest college gymnasts ever, and the resignation of one of the greatest coaches in UGA history, a letdown was inevitable.  But this big of a letdown? The GymDogs didn't get out of their first round meet this year, much less to the Super Six.  

Men's Tennis:  The NCAAs are still upcoming, but the season ended with a wobble and thud.  The Dawgs were undefeated in conference before their final two matches against UF and UT, the best two teams in the conference.  Those matches resulted in two Ls.  It didn't help that freshman Bo Seal was suspended for the final leg of the season.  He stayed suspended for the SEC Tournament last weekend and the team fell 4-3 to Auburn in their first match.  It appears Seal won't be playing in the NCAAs either, which greatly limits the team's prospects.  Manny Diaz has signed two really good American prospects for next year, but we continue to get burned overseas by players who either go pro early or can't pass the TOEFL exam.

Women's Tennis: The girls fared only a little worse than the guys.  They lost in their first round match up in Athens at the SEC Tournament.  This isn't a championship squad, but the pieces are in place for an excellent team next year.  Gullickson and Gilchrist will be at the top of the line up, but Coach Wallace will welcome what should be the top recruiting class in the country.  He signed four bluechippers and the top prep player in Japan.  

Soccer:  Their season isn't until the fall, but the soccer program had some big news recently with the resignation of Coach Patrick Baker resigned abruptly to spend more time with his family.  It's a sad commentary when that stated reason leads you to suspect seriously malfeasance or perversion, but I haven't heard anything that would contradict Baker's stated reasons for quitting.  But, I wouldn't know anything about the soccer program other than scores.  Steve Holeman, formerly the HC at Ole Miss, will take over for Baker.  

It hasn't been a total loss, though.  We can all celebrate the equestrian team's national title in a sport that doesn't count in the Sears Cup and isn't recognized by the SEC. Hooray.  Maybe softball can brighten our prospects, but by all accounts, 2009-2010 has been a long year for athletics.

Quinton

Another Big Match for Men's Tennis

After dropping last week's hard fought match with USC, the men's tennis team welcomes their other big nonconference foe, No. 3 Ohio State, to the Dan Magill Tennis Complex tomorrow.  The match is set for 3PM, an hour earlier than originally scheduled.  Ohio State, like USC, is loaded with talented players and it will take a great effort to beat them.  Judging by the USC match, we have the capability to pull off the upset, but we'll have to play a small bit better than last week to defend our home turf.  If you can get away tomorrow afternoon, come out and watch the guys knock it around with the Buckeyes.

Quinton

Tennis Streak in Jeopardy Today

The tennis team takes on defending national champion USC today at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.  If you can break away from work and the basketball tournament, get out and support the tennis team.  

The No. 6 Dawgs have a 71 match home winning streak going, the second longest such streak ever.  The No. 3 Trojans are a worrisome opponent if we'd like to keep that streak going.  They have the best singles player in the country, Steve Johnson, four other ranked players, and all of their doubles teams are ranked in the top 50.  They are loaded.  Both Dan Magill and I have our doubts about the team's chances.  We'll need to play our best to beat them and some fans in the stands barking at the opposition can only help keep the streak alive.

Quinton

Tennis Update, Past and Present

The men's tennis team will barnstorm Alabama this weekend: Tuscaloosa on Friday and Auburn on Sunday.  The team's currently ranked 11th in the ITA rankings, which has to be their first double digit ranking since Isner's sophomore year (2005?).  The team tried to return to the finals of the indoor championships last month, but #1 Virginia swept us 4-0 in the quarterfinals.  No shame in that, as UVa is usually really good and is now #1.  But, the Dawgs then lost to UF in the consolation bracket by an embarrassing 4-0 margin.  UF's good this year, but they shouldn't be sweeping us.  The Dawgs currently sit behind UT (#2), UF (#7), and UK (#8) in the national rankings.

Despite those setbacks, the team is still in the hunt for the longest home winning streak ever.  The current streak is at 68 and the record, held by UGA teams of the Magill era, is 76.  I doubt we get there.  Kentucky visits on March 12 and that match will be a fight.  Even if we get past the 'Cats, #5 Southern Cal visits on March 19 and #3 Ohio State visits on March 25.  If we can get through those matches with the streak intact, we can do anything this year, including win a national title.  I just think that's too large a task for this year's team.  Big crowds will help, so stop by a tennis match if you can.

I should have mentioned this months ago, but tennis alum John Isner is starting to come into his own this year on the pro circuit.  He won his first ATP tournament in Auckland before making a nice run in the Australian Open.  During the Aussie Open, ESPN did this profile of John that features Manny Diaz and UGA prominently.  Last month, John reached the finals of the Morgan Keegan tournament in Memphis, but lost a hard fought match against fellow American, Sam Querrey, his doubles partner.  John's run has him currently at #20 in the world and the second highest ranked American.  Vanity Fair recently profiled him about the Memphis event.  The guy's a walking billboard for the tennis program and a Damn Good Dawg.


Keep up the good work, John!

BY THE WAY: Isner is representing the U. S. of A. on the Davis Cup team this weekend.  Tennis Channel will have live and replay coverage.  

Quinton

Early Signing Day Update

Today is the beginning of the early signing period, which is like Signing Day for football without the stupid hat tricks and unwarranted pomp afforded high school football players.  Coach Fox is expected to sign Florida forward Cady Lalanne, the nation's No. 142 overall prospect according to Rivals.  The fact that Coach Fox's first 2010 signee is a top 150 guy is promising, considering UGA has been largely absent from that list in prior years.  The bad news is that there are seven Georgia players on that list and we have signed none of them.  Only Jelan Kendrick, a national top 10 prospect and the top guy in state, remains uncommitted at this point.

Coach Landers also expects a good day.  Point guard Ronika Ransford, guard Khaalidah Miller, and center Ariel Johnson are supposed to sign with the Lady Dawgs.  Both guards are top 40 prospects.  It's another top 15 class to add to last year's stellar group.  It's nice to see the girls program getting a bit more recruiting attention.

In sports only I care about, blue chipper Kate Fuller signed with the women's tennis team.  Fuller was the 2008 Georgia Junior Tennis Player of the Year and is a top national recruit.  Alpharetta's Rachael Hart is also expected to sign with UGA.

Manny Diaz and the men's tennis program has commitments from two national recruits, but I don't know if they were signing today or not.  Garrett Brasseaux of Covington, Louisiana and Californian Campbell Johnson are both top 20 prospects and are committed to the Dawgs. 

Quinton

Reading for the Plane and a Few Notes

If you're heading out to Stillwater or just want to do a little cramming before Saturday's game, here's a few resources you should check out.

• The UGA Game Notes are here in convenient .pdf format. Page two is a handy, one-page depth chart for both teams. Print it out and there's your free, single page program. The rest of the file is made up of handy facts for the season and the Okie State game specifically.
• Here are OSU's game notes.
• The Poke athletic department has also put together this Gameday Guide that has some useful info on Stillwater and Oklahoma in general.
• If you haven't read Chris Brown's technical breakdown of Oklahoma State's speed option, you should read it before the game. It is his usual fantastic stuff.

A few other notes:

• The pregame handshakes went well last night. If you saw them on TV, it was just each player shaking hands with an opposing player, not a little league style high five line. The postgame handshakes didn't go so smoothly.
• UGA alum John Isner advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open and will face Andy Roddick Saturday. Last time we played Oklahoma State, Isner faced Federer in the third round during part of the game. That didn't go well for Isner, but did go well for the Dawgs. Coincidence?
  

If you're traveling to Stillwater, be safe and be loud. Otherwise, have a good Labor Day weekend.

PWD Update 2: ESPN and UGASports.com are both reporting that Joe Cox has the flu, but he's expected to play. One way or the other, looks like The Grayhound is playing.

Quinton

Brian Harman Putts Dawgs Into Final Four

In as dramatic a golf match as possible, senior Brian Harman (pictured) hit a four foot put on the 18th hole of this morning's match play quarterfinals to propel the Dawgs past Oklahoma State and into this afternoon's NCAA semis.  Harman and Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State were all square after 17 and the teams were tied at 2 matches a piece.  The hole, and hence the match, came down to Harman's four foot putt and Fowler's ten footer.  Fowler narrowly missed, leaving Harman a short, pressure putt for the match.  He smoothly lined up and dropped it.  Dawgs win.

Such a result looked unimaginable yesterday after the Dawgs posted a horrendous day.  After being tied for the team lead, they shot +12 yesterday. Terrible, but it was good enough for the very last spot to qualify for match play between the top eight teams.  Oklahoma State was the team score leader and led the field by 13 strokes.  Under last year's format, they probably would have won because team score was all that mattered.  Thankfully, it isn't last year.  The top eight advanced to match play today.

The Dawgs hit the course again this afternoon for a match play semifinal with the winner of the Arkansas and Washington.  You can watch live video here.  Live stats are here, but they have been having problems with their technology.

UPDATE: All the excitement of the the morning must have exhausted them because the Dawgs fell to Arkansas this afternoon in match play.  Anytime you're a top four national finisher, it's hard to complain.  By the way, Arkansas golfer David Lingmerth had a hole-in-one during today's match.  

Quinton

Brian Harman Putts Dawgs Into Final Four

In as dramatic a golf match as possible, senior Brian Harman (pictured) hit a four foot put on the 18th hole of this morning's match play quarterfinals to propel the Dawgs past Oklahoma State and into this afternoon's NCAA semis.  Harman and Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State were all square after 17 and the teams were tied at 2 matches a piece.  The hole, and hence the match, came down to Harman's four foot putt and Fowler's ten footer.  Fowler narrowly missed, leaving Harman a short, pressure putt for the match.  He smoothly lined up and dropped it.  Dawgs win.

Such a result looked unimaginable yesterday after the Dawgs posted a horrendous day.  After being tied for the team lead, they shot +12 yesterday. Terrible, but it was good enough for the very last spot to qualify for match play between the top eight teams.  Oklahoma State was the team score leader and led the field by 13 strokes.  Under last year's format, they probably would have won because team score was all that mattered.  Thankfully, it isn't last year.  The top eight advanced to match play today.

The Dawgs hit the course again this afternoon for a match play semifinal with the winner of the Arkansas and Washington.  You can watch live video here.  Live stats are here, but they have been having problems with their technology.

UPDATE: All the excitement of the the morning must have exhausted them because the Dawgs fell to Arkansas this afternoon in match play.  Anytime you're a top four national finisher, it's hard to complain.  By the way, Arkansas golfer David Lingmerth had a hole-in-one during today's match.  

Quinton

Girls Tennis Fights On

The girls tennis team is fighting it out with Duke today for a spot in Tuesday's NCAA finals.  They gutted out a clutch 4-3 win over South Carolina yesterday.  The bracket sets up good for them.  Northwestern, who was the big favorite all year, lost to Cal yesterday.  The Wildcats beat UGA in the indoor finals, but we won't get them again.  If UGA wins today, they get the winner of Cal and Notre Dame.  I think the girls have a good shot at the championship.  You can follow the action here.  If you have a good computer and the right downloads, that site has some really quality video feeds.

On the mens side, UGA fell yesterday to Texas, 4-2.  It was an odd match to say the least.  The Dogs won the doubles point Saturday before a large weather system moved through College Station, canceling play.  Play resumed Sunday morning, but the Dawgs weren't ready to play and lost four courts in singles play.  The Dawgs are usually hard to beat after winning the doubles point because of our singles play, but UT did it.  Overall, it was a fine year for mens tennis.  As we've mentioned before, they lost a couple of really good players from last year's squad and couldn't replace them through recruiting internationally.  Now we'll wait to see what Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg do, but we should have another solid team next year assuming they stay.  

Quinton

Girls Tennis Fights On

The girls tennis team is fighting it out with Duke today for a spot in Tuesday's NCAA finals.  They gutted out a clutch 4-3 win over South Carolina yesterday.  The bracket sets up good for them.  Northwestern, who was the big favorite all year, lost to Cal yesterday.  The Wildcats beat UGA in the indoor finals, but we won't get them again.  If UGA wins today, they get the winner of Cal and Notre Dame.  I think the girls have a good shot at the championship.  You can follow the action here.  If you have a good computer and the right downloads, that site has some really quality video feeds.

On the mens side, UGA fell yesterday to Texas, 4-2.  It was an odd match to say the least.  The Dogs won the doubles point Saturday before a large weather system moved through College Station, canceling play.  Play resumed Sunday morning, but the Dawgs weren't ready to play and lost four courts in singles play.  The Dawgs are usually hard to beat after winning the doubles point because of our singles play, but UT did it.  Overall, it was a fine year for mens tennis.  As we've mentioned before, they lost a couple of really good players from last year's squad and couldn't replace them through recruiting internationally.  Now we'll wait to see what Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg do, but we should have another solid team next year assuming they stay.  

Quinton

Tennis Update

As a heads up, the men's tennis team plays Illinois this morning at 10 AM.  This is the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament.  You can follow the action here.  If we get by the Illini, we'll play the winner of Tennessee and Texas for a spot in the final four.  We owe the Vols for bouncing us from the SEC tournament. 

The girls play Florida Friday at 1 PM and you can follow them at the same site linked above.  The team is the No. 2 seed and they are relishing that role.  The Gators beat UGA in the regular season, but Georgia got revenge in the SEC tournament. If they get through the Gators, they'll face the winner of South Carolina and Washington in the round of eight.  The guys are kind of a longshot for the title this year, but the girls have a good chance.  Northwestern has been No. 1 all year and already beat UGA for the indoor crown.  Let's hope UGA gets another shot at them.

Quinton

Tennis Update

As a heads up, the men's tennis team plays Illinois this morning at 10 AM.  This is the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament.  You can follow the action here.  If we get by the Illini, we'll play the winner of Tennessee and Texas for a spot in the final four.  We owe the Vols for bouncing us from the SEC tournament. 

The girls play Florida Friday at 1 PM and you can follow them at the same site linked above.  The team is the No. 2 seed and they are relishing that role.  The Gators beat UGA in the regular season, but Georgia got revenge in the SEC tournament. If they get through the Gators, they'll face the winner of South Carolina and Washington in the round of eight.  The guys are kind of a longshot for the title this year, but the girls have a good chance.  Northwestern has been No. 1 all year and already beat UGA for the indoor crown.  Let's hope UGA gets another shot at them.

Quinton

NCAA Tennis Draws Released

The tennis teams are back from the SEC tournaments.  The girls won their championship by beating Tennessee 4-0 in the final.  The guys didn't have such luck against the Vols, losing in the semis 4-1.  It wasn't an upset because the Vols were actually rated a spot ahead of us in the rankings, but still.  So, the girls charge into the NCAAs while the guys limp.

The NCAA brackets were released this afternoon.  The guys will face South Carolina State in the first round Friday, May 8. They are the #4 national seed and will host the first and second round.  The Vols and Texas are the seeds in the bottom half of our quarter of the bracket and #1 seed Virginia is the top ranked team on our side of the tournament.

The girls are the #2 national seed and also host South Carolina State on the 9th.  Florida, one of only two teams to beat the girls this year, is a possible third round opponent.  Of the two teams, one would reasonably conclude the best chance for a championship is with the girls.  They already won the SEC, made it to the finals in national indoors, and have only lost twice.  But, they are going to have to beat both the teams that topped them this year in all likelihood, Florida and Northwestern, to get that championship.

Quinton