Thursday, June 26, 2008

Audio Clip

If you are a Georgia fan and have a little time on your hands, this is a great listen from The Voice of Georgia Baseball and best friend of "T", Mr. Jaff Dantzler.

http://960theref.mypodcast.com/2008/06/HOME_TEAM_Post_Mortem_College_World_Series-120635.html

Georgia Athletics

Three national titles, No. 2 football ranking head accomplishments

By JENNA MARINA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 06/26/08

With the University of Georgia baseball team just completing its season, coming one win away from the College World Series title, we look back at quite a year for some of the school's athletic programs. It includes three national championships.

National Champions

The Bulldogs (27-3, 10-1 SEC) became the first team to win back-to-back NCAA tennis titles since Stanford (1998-99). They also captured their third consecutive regular-season SEC title. Georgia added to its 47-match home winning streak. They head into next season with the school-record of 52 (1971-75) in sight.

Gymnastics

Georgia (31-2) earned its fourth straight national gynmastics title and the ninth in program history. They tied Utah for the most titles held by one school. The Bulldogs won all three postseason titles — the SEC, Regionals and NCAA — without defending back-to-back NCAA All-Around Champion and Hall of Famer Courtney Kupets, who tore her Achilles tendon in early March. Eight different gymnasts earned a total of 16 All-America awards with their performances at the NCAA Championships.

Equestrian

Georgia (11-2) claimed the third national team title in school history, and its first since 2004. Bulldogs sophomore Sarah Locker claimed an individual national title in Western Reining.

Other Notable Seasons

Though they didn't bring back a national championship, Georgia (45-25-1, 20-9-1 SEC) did win the first four games of the College World Series before falling to Fresno State. The SEC champs set single-season records for hits (787), innings pitched (634) and strikeouts (528). They finish second in home runs (96), runs (512), RBIs (468) and fielding percentage (.971).

Football

The Bulldogs (11-2, 6-2 SEC) ended the season ranked No. 2 in the nation after a seven-game win streak culminated in a Sugar Bowl win over previously undefeated Hawaii. They were SEC East co-champions. The win-streak is the second longest active streak among Division IA teams and includes a victory against Florida for only the third time since 1990.

Men's Basketball

Not even a tornado could keep Georgia (17-17, 8-13 SEC) from earning its way into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. After compiling the SEC's fewest wins during the regular season, Georgia stormed through the conference tournament to earn an automatic berth. They pulled off two overtime victories and survived a double-header after a tornado damaged the Georgia Dome to knock off Arkansas for the crown. The Bulldogs bowed out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Women's Tennis

The Bulldogs (22-5, 9-2 SEC) upset Florida to win their second-consecutive SEC Tournament championship and reached the NCAA Round of 16 for the ninth time in 10 years. Coach Jeff Wallace earned his 500th win. Sophomore Naoko Ueshima tied former player Shadisha Robinson for the most doubles victories in one season (33).

Swimming and Diving

Both the men's and women's teams placed seventh at the NCAA championships. Men's coach Dan Laak was selected as the National Coach of the Year while coaching swimmers Sebastien Rouault and Gil Stovall and diver Chris Colwill to four individual national titles at the NCAAs. The women's team had a No. 1 ranking during the season with their ninth undefeated year (12-0) in school history.

Soccer

The Bulldogs (18-4-2, 8-1-2 SEC) posted their best regular season in school history with 15 wins, including a victory over No. 9 Tennessee. That win tied the mark for the highest-ranked opponent Georgia had ever defeated. The Bulldogs reached the finals of the SEC Tournament for the second time in school history. Georgia set or tied several school records, including: most wins in a season (18), fewest losses in a season (4) and third-fewest total goals allowed (19).

Softball

The Bulldogs (46-24, 14-14 SEC) advanced to just their second-ever NCAA Super Regional with an 18-player roster that featured 12 underclassmen. The Bulldogs earned their first-ever win over a No. 1 ranked opponent when they defeated Alabama on May 4.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Georgia Baseball 2008

Without a doubt I am one of the most disappointed people on the face of the earth. No one plays for 2nd place, especially Georgia. But I will let nothing tarnish this run or this team. It hurts real bad but it seemed to be fate for Fresno, and what a story it is. Georgia had its chances but we needed an 8th inning comeback in game 1 and were simply dominated in Games 2 and 3. I will remember the names Mendonca and Detwiler for a long time. But more so I will remember Beckham, Piesel, Olson, Fields, and every single member of this team. It may be corny but like Perno always said, there was something special about this team. SEC Champions, Athens regional champions over Georgia Tech, and Super-regional champions. One ray of light about the National Championship game was Gordan Beckham, THE greatest Georgia baseball player ever and one of the top 5 athletes in Georgia history, hit a home run in his final at bat. It put a cap on undoubtedly one of the greatest years in Georgia athletics. It wasn't our time, maybe it will be come January. Disappionting for sure, but I have never been prouder to be a Georgia Bulldog. Go Dawgs!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Wow


Fresno St. 19 - Georgia 1o
After Montgomery and Dodson didn't have it and were pulled, Georgia pretty much folded the tent by throwing the guys they did the rest of the way. Assuming Moreau starts tomorrow, both starters will be working on 3 days rest. The plus for Fresno is their guy is better on paper. Plus for Georgia is Weaver, McCree, and Fields will all be ready to go. Hopefully Moreau can keep it close and Fresno's bats cool off. Wouldn't hurt if ole Lady Luck made an appearance.

Monday, June 23, 2008

How Bout 'em

GEORGIA 7 - FRESNO ST. 6

"I'd gave up, you did too."


"I know I'm asking alot you guys, but Hunker it down one more time! ..."








Sunday, June 22, 2008

DAWGS v. DAWGS



Georgia will play for a National Championship in one of the "Big 3" sports beginning on Monday night........A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
Most Georgia fans, if honest, would say Fresno is probably the team they wanted to play rather than North Carolina. North Carolina undoubtedly had a better year and a deeper level of talent. However, no one is playing better than Fresno who beat #3 Arizona St. twice and #2 UNC twice. They wouldn't be at this point if they weren't really good.
Georgia's advantages:
Pitching staff is deeper and 1 game more rested than Fresno's. Georgia's rotation sets up perfect with Holder ready for game 1 and Montgomery for Game 2. I'd say game 3 would be a question. Beckham has yet to explode and you would like to think he will before he leaves Omaha.
Fresno advantages:
They are playing with more confidence than they have played with all year. Mendonca the 3B has probably been the best player at the CWS behind Akley from UNC. They will have a majority of the crowd support from the neutral fans who like the cinderella.
Questions:
Can Fresno's pitching staff hold up for at least 4 games in a row and pitch at the level they have been at for the past 3 weeks?
Can Georgia keep getting production from the 2B position which has been key in all 3 of the CWS wins?
Can Fields come through when put in a tight game or do you go/stay with McCree?
Monday -ESPN2; Tuesday/Wednesday- ESPN

Friday, June 20, 2008

...Celebrate we will Because life is short but sweet for certain


What Would Perno Do?


Georgia has been given another day off due to rain in Omaha and will now play on Saturday at 2:00 pm ET. The advantage Georgia gained by winning their first 2 is now gone. Stanford's staff will get an extra day off to catch up with Georgia's, and their 1.02 ERA ace will now take the mound after his normal 6 days of rest. 4 days off for Georgia seems like a day too much. However, come Saturday there will only be 4 collegiate teams in the country playing baseball and Georgia is one of them.

Now the question I have is, should the pitching rotation change? Holder was to be the starter on Friday with the idea that he could start Game 3 of the National Championship Series if Georgia is lucky enough to advance. Now, if he starts on Saturday I believe the most you could get out of him would be a couple innings of relief on Tuesday or Wednesday. Montgomery could possibly be ready on Sunday and Dodson will be in the Pen for at least the next 3 games. Knowing that Georgia could play anywhere between 2-5 games, I could see 3 different rotations being considered by Perno:

1. Saturday: Holder
Sun./Mon.: Moreau
Mon./Tues.: Montgomery

2. Sat.: Moreau
S/M: Holder
M/T: Monty

3. Sat.: Holder
S/M: Monty
M/T: Moreau

Any way you go Georgia is going to have a tough time scoring runs in the 1st one and the bullpen cannot be exhausted in the 1st match up because of a possible rematch on Sunday against a lineup which has shown it can explode at any time.
I go with option 2 in hopes of Moreau pulling out a win and Holder going in the NCS. But if not you have Holder in the elimination game.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Since We All Love Top 5's...

Thanks to barstool's recent post that alerted me to the ultra-convenient imeem.com, and in order to do my part in getting this blog updated regularly again, I'm introducing a new feature that I hope I'll remember to do pretty often: More Top Fives!

Here are my top five songs from the last couple of weeks:

1. Drive-By Truckers – A Ghost To Most

After kind of forgetting about it for a month or two, I decided to give the newest Drive-By Truckers album another spin last week. Not surprisingly, it's still the best thing I've heard all year and this is still easily the best song I've heard all year. The odds of hearing a DBT song is the only redeeming thing about setting foot in the place we like to call “The Beauregard's,” and I've got a pretty good feeling I'll be hearing this one if and when I can make it back to Athens sometime this fall.

A Ghost To Most - DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS

2. Duffy – Delayed Devotion

You've probably heard the song “Mercy” on the radio a lot recently, and yeah, it's pretty good and really catchy. But the rest of this chick's album sounds nothing like it, and I mean that in a good way. Most of it genuinely sounds like an old 60s soul record. You should check it out.

Delayed Devotion – Duffy

3. The Hold Steady – Sequestered in Memphis

I'm going to be honest. If I keep doing this top five thing on a regular basis, there's probably going to be a different Hold Steady song in there every time. They just recorded their fourth awesome album in the last five years, and it's the only thing I listened to for the first two weeks after I heard it. This is the first single, and I really hope one of you ends up enjoying these guys, because I desperately need someone to talk about them with.

Sequestered in Mephis - The Hold Steady

4. Mott the Hoople – All the Young Dudes

I have no idea what prompted me to start wanting to listen to this over and over recently. I probably just heard it on 105.3 or something for the first time in a while. But it also could be that I've realized it would be a perfect duet for karaoke. Just imagine. If you could find someone to handle the high parts, our dear friend Mr. Bunger would easily take it from there.

All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople

5. Feist – My Moon My Man

Barstool's posting that song Apple was using in its MacBook Air commercials got me to thinking about how some of our fellow contributors were enjoying their use of Feist's “1, 2, 3, 4” in some iPod ads last year. And that got me thinking about how I hadn't listened to any of Feist's music in a really long time. Then I decided this was the best song on her album “The Reminder.”

My Moon My Man – Feist

So that's the first top five, with another one to come in maybe a week, or whenever this five ends up getting replaced. Post yours if you've got 'em.

Monday, June 09, 2008


Athens — Georgia didn't care who it played in the College World Series.

The Bulldogs just cared that they would play in the College World Series.

The latter was assured about 8 p.m. Sunday. The former took a couple of hours more, but eventually Miami beat Arizona to set up the game between the No. 8 Bulldogs and No. 1 Hurricanes. Georgia will face Miami at 7 p.m., Saturday on ESPN.

"We have been pretty good against the ACC this year," said Georgia coach David Perno. "But whoever you play this time of year it is going to be a difficult task."It is about as difficult as it gets when it comes to Miami. The Hurricanes (52-9) are headed to their 23rd College World Series. Georgia has been to six. On top of that Miami has won 19 of its last 23 games. Only LSU has a better record down the stretch.

In addition, Georgia may have had two players selected in the first round of the MLB Draft last week. But Miami had three — first baseman Yonder Alonso (seventh, Cincinnati), second baseman Jemile Weeks (12th, Oakland) and pitcher Carlos Gutierrez (27th, Minnesota). Three more players were taken on the first day.
Then there is national freshman pitcher of the year Chris Hernandez. He is 11-0 with a 2.65 ERA.

But no matter the gaudy stats — Miami ranks top 25 in batting average (.329), scoring (9.0), and ERA (3.96) — Georgia appears calm. That might be because of what the Bulldogs have been through.

The team's darkest-before-the-dawn moment came almost three months ago.
Georgia, coming off a terrible 2007, was suffering through an equally disappointing 2008. The Bulldogs' record was less than .500 after playing a non-conference schedule that featured games against Arizona, Florida State and two-time defending national champ Oregon State. The Bulldogs lost the first game in the Southeastern Conference to Arkansas. And they were losing 10-1 in the second one.

Then, with a Bryce Massanari RBI double to right in the sixth, came the first crack of light. Georgia came back to beat the Razorbacks, 15-11.

"That was probably the most emotional I have ever been after a game," said Georgia coach David Perno, whose team won the SEC, before winning elimination games in the regional, and super-regionals.

"You play that tough schedule for a reason and that is to be ready for the postseason," said Georgia's Gordon Beckham. "And that is basically what helped us. It helped us build a lot of character. We didn't give up and kept chugging and look at where we are."


Sunday, June 08, 2008

GEORGIA BASEBALL 2008

GordO

PernO

JOsh

RynO

ThOms

DemperiO

POythress

JOey

Olson

CeriOne

HOlder

DOdson

MOreau

MOntgomery


Omaha

Friday, June 06, 2008

BRAVES

Amidst the excitement surrounding Georgia baseball, the Braves lost one of the most heartbreaking and miserable games I have ever watched. I love the Braves and will continue to, but I might get some heat from some people on the following opinion coming on 6-7-08.

This will not be a playoff year for the Braves.

It started on Opening Night with the walk-off win by the Nationals. It continued with Mike Hampton, the most effective Brave pitcher in the spring, getting hurt warming up for his first start. Soriano going down soon after. Brave great John Smoltz's season, and possibly career, coming to an end the same week a popup is dropped with two outs in the 9th inning up by 1 run against the division leaders allowing the tieing run to score. Then to add to the equation the tieing run for the braves gets thrown out at the plate on a bang-bang play in the 10th to end the game. I normally don't like to overreact to 1 MLB game in June, but the signs seem to be too glaring to ignore. This isn't the braves year.

I also think Bobby's time has passed. One of the greatest managers off all-time indeed. But how in the world do you allow Acosta to trot out there in the 10th in a tie game when he has given up nothing but HR's and extra base hits in his last 3 outings. Reminds me of his constant confidence in KLOB and Reitsma. Francouer has fallen off the face of the earth. McCann and Chipper can't do everything even though they almost are and for godssake will they please tell Lemke that its okay to tell the truth once in a while and its not okay to say that the breaks sometimes don't go your way when discussing a dropped popup.

Maybe I am overreating but the Braves have never frustrated me anymore than this outside of Reitsma blowing 8 saves in one week.

Solution:

Trade Tiexera for Wainwright.
Trade Kotsay to get Andruw Jones back because he smiles.
Trade Acosta for Michael Tucker.
Trade Ring and Resop to get Renteria back and play Escobar at 2nd and Kelly Johnson at 1st.
Trade Hampton for Joey Side.
Pickup Ozzie Guillen as bench coach.