WOW

Looking at collegehumor.com i stumbled upon this mildly offensive valentine that im not one hundred percent was sumbitted by donnie. And by the way donnie if you have thought about it yet (although that is a rare possibility) this might be a way to lock up your number one girl with pretty hair.

Is it monday yet...

Merry Christmas everyone

The truth behind "The Murph"

Lhasa-Poo
(Lhasapoo)

Lhasa Apso / Poodle Hybrid

The Lhasa-Poo is not a purebred dog. It is a cross between the Lhasa Apso and the Poodle.

Hopefully this clears up any further confusion.

At Least People Are Talking About Oregon

According to the Uni Watch blog, Oregon will be breaking out new helmets for their bowl game tomorrow night, provided they all get shipped in time.

Check out these babies. Are those flames?

Livin' the Dream: 96-83

Who's "livin' the dream" this week? Why, it's the entire Georgia basketball team.

This is all they did on Saturday en route to a 96-83 win over Gonzaga on Saturday:

Levi Stukes: 25 points.
Sundiata Gaines: 21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals, 5 assists and just 4 turnovers.
Mike Mercer: 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists.
Rick Majerus said of Steve Newman: "He's got the body of a rec league player and the heart of a lion."

Here's what Mark Few had to say: “Georgia is a really good team. They are an NCAA Tournament team. The other Georgia teams we’ve played have been good too. This team has no weaknesses.”

And Mercer did this:

Dobbs Needs To Improve Toughness? No Way!

David Ching has a nice little rundown of all the guys who redshirted this year in the Columbus Ledger-Inquirer today, with comments from the starters. A couple of highlights:

QUINTIN BANKS

Projected 2007 position: Safety

Height/Weight: 6-2/192

Teammate's comments: "Typical Georgia safety, I guess. The big-hitting safety that everybody says we're missing this year. He has learned the game extremely fast, the playbook. He can answer the questions that coach asks that most guys at that point don't usually know. He's learned the package extremely well." ­ Georgia safety Tra Battle

DEMARCUS DOBBS

Projected 2007 position: Defensive end

Height/Weight: 6-2/270

Teammate's comments: "Great upside. A little quiet, needs to get more of a football mentality, a little more toughness. He has it, but he's a nice guy too, though. When he gets some of that jerk in him, then it's a wrap." ­ Defensive tackle Ray Gant

RESHAD JONES

Projected 2007 position: Safety

Height/Weight: 6-2/188

Teammate's comments: "Reshad's just a natural athlete. Anytime the ball's in the air, he goes up to get it. He may not know the playbook and the scheme as well as (Quintin) Banks, but athletic-wise, he's with the best of us as far as covering and ball skills. He's just a natural at it, you can really tell." ­ Georgia safety Tra Battle

KIANTE TRIPP

Projected 2007 position: Defensive end

Height/Weight: 6-6/272

Teammate's comments: "Perfect frame, perfect size. Big, strong, hard worker. He'll probably be an all-American before he leaves." ­ Defensive end Quentin Moses

Peachtree Ridge: Who Knew?

While watching the grand finale of the state high school semifinals at the Georgia Dome last weekend, Peachtree Ridge's 13-7 win over Warner Robins, two players stood out to me in particular. Neither one was the more highly publicized Cameron Heyward.

The first was Peachtree Ridge quarterback Zack Graham. He stands about 6'4" or 6'5", has a very strong arm, and can really move around. The most impressive thing about him was that he seemed to be a quarterback first, a runner second. And when he did run, he looked like a poor man's Vince Young (which is a huge compliment).

After a little more research, I found that he is a two-star quarterback prospect who is a highly rated basketball player as well. It's hard to tell whether schools have offered him for football or basketball, so maybe somebody can help me out there. Georgia has given him an offer, and I think it's for basketball. It was a little surprising to see him rated so low, so maybe I just saw him have the game of his life, and he hasn't really flown under the radar the way I first thought.

I tell you that to tell you this. The other player who impressed me was Peachtree Ridge's kicker, one of the best high school kickers/punters I've seen since Beers and the Dotsons were booting balls out of Memorial Stadium.

So it definitely came as a shock when I came across an Athens Banner-Herald column by The Greatest Bulldog Ever, Dan Magill, which identified that kicker as none other than Drew Butler, the son of The Greatest Collegiate Kicker Of All Time, Kevin Butler.

Anyway, I hope this kid gets preferred walk-on status at Georgia and follows in his father's footsteps. It would be a great story.

And here's another little tidbit from the article.

Drew wears No. 13 on his jersey. His dad wore No. 5 at Georgia and No. 6 with the Bears.

In an interview with Kevin Monday, I asked him why Drew wore No. 13, and he replied:

"My dad (Joseph Butler) wore No. 13 when he was a halfback at Benedictine Prep in Savannah.

Livin' the Dream: A Very Fratty Christmas

It's the holiday season, so you all know what that means.

Outlandish Christmas sweaters and comically oversized snow globes for everyone!

Straight Outta Tifton

Hey Roswell, this is what you're up against tomorrow night. Good luck to you.

The Multiple Occasion Celebration

Today is quite a significant day in our lives. It's the last day of classes for the first semester; tomorrow is reading day. Today is also the eve of Gannam Day; tomorrow is Fleming's first Gannam Day as a staff member of Benedictine. These things, along with the fact that both Duke and UGA only have one loss a piece call for a celebration. So tonight at #8 Tanyard (not 37 Tanyard), there will be a low country boil at 8 o'clock sharp. Drinks start at 8 and food will be served at about 8:30 after which some of us or maybe one of us will leave for Firehouse while the rest of us will stay to enjoy South Park. The only requirement for entrance is attire and attitude. Attire is class A. Attitude is "girls or bust into overdrive". No more big talking....

Livin' the Dream: One Last Thank-You

I hate to keep banging on Reggie Ball, but... wait a minute, no I don't.

Did you really think I could let the regular season end without featuring the orchestrator of Georgia's season-ending victory and Wake Forest's ACC championship at least once?

On Saturday, Ball completed 8 passes for 117 yards to Calvin Johnson. He completed 1 pass for 12 yards to everybody else. That's 15 of 51 for 171 yards, 0 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in the two biggest games of his career. If that doesn't warrant a Lee Corso "Yo," then I don't know what does.

The performance literally left Philip Wheeler and Joe Anoai in tears.


Ladies and gentlemen, your 2004 Champs Sports Bowl MVP.

Punctual Weekend Overview Haiku and Romantic Haiku

Shit load of driving
For no apparent reason
Least I saw Patton

I sorry Rickie
Did a little big talking
Dress up on Wednesday?

Willie Pulls Out

Willie Martinez has reportedly taken his name out of consideration for the Florida International job. Smart move by him. What an awful situation that is.

No D1 Recruits but...

We still have the Gold star! Today is the annual start of practice for R.F.I. speeches, another reason we are considered AN Honor Unit With Distinction.

"No umbrellas while in uniform," said R.O.T.C. instructor Stephen Carls.-SMN 3/18/03

Munson Call vs. Tech

LarryMunson.com has the final 20 minutes of the Tech game available for download here. It's a great one.

"We're not supposed to be doing this. We don't even have an offense."

"4 and 7/8 yards. We need 4 and 7/8 yards."

"How'd we do it? Well I'll tell ya, the guy from Texas did a lot of it."

"Loran could be lying on the sidelines dead. You can't tell from here."

More on Martinez

From the AJC: Martinez is one of five finalists for the FIU job., so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Of the guys they have listed, I take Randy Shannon, no questions asked. Not to say that Martinez, a south Florida guy, wouldn't do a good job as well.

Martinez Out?

According to 960 The Ref, Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez has emerged as the top candidate to replace Don Strock as the head man at Florida International.

More to come as I do a little research.

Livin' the Dream: 15-12

I don't think there's much question as to who's "Livin' the Dream" this week.

Rick may never call Mohamed Massaquoi "Mo Miss" again...



Paul Oliver was indeed "Lockdown" on Calvin Johnson...



And James Johnson may need therapy after finding himself on the receiving end of Kelin Johnson's hit of the year.

What They're Saying

Rather than bore you with my own thoughts on the weekend's games, maybe we'll all be better served if we try something a little different this week. Here's a quick look at what's going on around the college football world on this first day of what we call Championship Week.

In the aftermath of Georgia's thrilling 15-12 victory over the Yellow Jackets Saturday night, Reggie Ball is receiving more than his fair share of praise and blame for the outcome.

Doug Gillett says it much better than I ever could:

"For now, it's time to stand up and remind Tech Nation: Even at your best point in maybe the past decade, you still couldn't beat us. This is why we're Georgia and you're Georgia Tech. Go home and tell your children, so that they can be saved from the same kind of disappointment."

Mike Bobo called the plays on Saturday. No wonder Georgia was still running the ball in the fourth quarter.

The coaching carousel is picking up speed: Mike Shula is finished, Cincinnati's Dantonio is in at Michigan State, while Chuck's chest is completely deflated and the victim of a true mutiny, Dirk Koetter, is done as well.

And Tony Barnhart says that it's Georgia and Virginia Tech in the Chik-Fil-A.

That's all we've got for now.

Punctuality? Friday Haiku

Flair finally won
Cold turkey did not last long
Stafford likes ding dong

FLAIR Victorious at SURVIVOR SERIES

Another great pay-per view performance put on by the GREATEST World's Champion of all time. Enjoy the video (it has nothing to do with Survivor Series but it is entertaining).

Can We Please Have Four More Years of This?

People have and will do enough piling on Reggie Ball for his performance yesterday, but I would like to point out one quote that stood out to me in Mark Bradley's column in the AJC today:

Ball said: “Come on, dog. It’s a game. Georgia’s Georgia. They’re a good team, but they’re no speed bump.”

You're right, Reggie, they're not a speed bump. They're more like your own personal roadblock.

Week 13 Predictions: Tech Week

#9 LSU (Pick ’Em) at #5 Arkansas

Arkansas will try to keep its slim national title hopes alive and LSU actually has more to play for than you’d think. Not only do they have the opportunity to spoil a rival’s season, but they’re also holding on to some BCS hopes of their own. The Razorbacks will run into what is by far the best rush defense they’ve faced all year, but at the same time, it’s not as if the Tigers have faced an attack as potent as the one they’ll be seeing on Saturday either. McFadden will find room, but the key to this game just may be an underrated Arkansas defense. They shut down the LSU offense to keep the dream season intact.
Arkansas - 20, LSU - 17



#4 Florida (-9.5) at Florida State

The Gators can’t hold anything back for the SEC title game if they want to have any shot at receiving a bid to face Ohio State, because these close wins against mediocre competition simply aren’t gonna cut it. If Florida State were starting Xavier Lee over the truly terrible Drew Weatherford, I may have given them a chance in this game, but they aren’t. Their defense, coupled with Florida’s tendency to let teams hang around, will be enough to keep things from getting too ugly, but the Seminoles haven’t shown me enough in the past couple of weeks to prove to me that they can stay within 10 points for the long haul.
Florida - 21, Florida State - 10

South Carolina (+5) at #24 Clemson

South Carolina has actually played some of its best football of the year over the last several weeks, even if they have lost three of four. Clemson, on the other hand, hasn’t played so well since looking so good against Georgia Tech about a month ago. So the question is, will Blake Mitchell continue to look like a changed man or will James Davis and C.J. Spiller return to their earlier form? I think Clemson can pressure Mitchell the way they did Reggie Ball and exploit the Gamecocks’ weakness against the run with their great tailbacks. And if nothing else, Tammy Bowden sure does seem to know how to beat South Carolina with regularity.
Clemson - 27, South Carolina - 20



#20 Wake Forest (+1) at Maryland

Though they got knocked out of the division race with a loss last week, Maryland can still play the spoiler’s role on Saturday, provided Boston College takes care of business Thursday night. Both teams were exposed in a big way when they lost last week, but due to overall resume and just flat out playing better as of late, I’ve got to give the advantage to Wake Forest. While they have both found themselves on the winning end of tight games, the Demon Deacons have just been a little more convincing in theirs.
Wake Forest - 21, Maryland - 17

#6 Notre Dame (+7) at #3 Southern California

I’ve pretty much seen everyone take USC to cover in this game and, usually, that would have me all over Notre Dame to cover at the very least. However, when I look at matchups, athleticism, and overall advantages, I’m having a really hard time finding anything in the Irish’s favor. I like their coaches, but not any more than I do the Trojans’. I’d take Brady Quinn over John David Booty, but that’s just about it. Southern Cal is almost unbeatable at home, and they have a built-in advantage since this game is being played on an actual football field this year.
Southern Cal - 34, Notre Dame - 24



Warner Robins at Camden County

This isn’t your typical matchup of the state’s number three team, who’ve been to the Dome three of the last four years, and an unranked team who lost four games in the regular season and are in their first season playing AAAAA competition. As always, due to their region, you’re not exactly sure how good Camden is. That Brookwood win sure seems like a really long time ago. And the Demons’ record is a little deceiving, as their four losses were to four of the best teams in the state. It may be crazy to pick against a team as dominant as Camden always seems to be, but it just might be even crazier to bet against a team from Region 1 in any case.
Warner Robins - 28, Camden County - 17

Peach County at LaGrange

The top two teams in all of AAA square off in round two of the playoffs, as one of the very best teams in Georgia, regardless of classification, will fall quite short of reaching the semifinals in the Georgia Dome this year. The Grangers look to shut down a Peach County offense that hasn’t been held below 31 points by AAA competition all year. And I think they do it, just like they did against region foes Carver-Columbus and Shaw, and that experience in close games gets them to the quarterfinals.
LaGrange - 21, Peach County - 16



Griffin at Creekside

Undefeated and second-ranked Griffin pays a visit to undefeated and third-ranked Creekside. Does it get any bigger than this? This, I’m going to have to guess, is quite the rare occurrence in just the second round of the state playoffs. But that’s what happens when one team has to share a region with Northside-Warner Robins, I guess. Their only common opponent is Riverdale, whom the Bears beat 49-28 and the Seminoles beat 33-0. Otherwise, I like Seminoles’ strength of schedule a little better, so I’ll take them to win at home.
Creekside - 35, Griffin - 31

#16 Georgia Tech (+1.5) at Georgia

Matthew Stafford is the key to this game, as boring as that may be to say. If he plays as well as he did at Auburn, Georgia has a great chance to win. If he plays okay, and doesn’t throw any interceptions, I still like the Bulldogs’ chances. But, if he starts turning it over, Tech wins going away. Tenuta will do a good job disguising blitzes, so it’s imperative that Stafford makes good decisions and the line gives him time. It wouldn’t hurt if Lumpkin’s at full strength and Georgia runs him until he can’t run anymore. Anyway, call me what you want, but this year, Tech is stronger than the Bulldogs are at most positions. If they can’t win one when they have the better team, when will they?
Georgia Tech - 28, Georgia - 24


Bill Hartman and Dan Magill, The Greatest Bulldog Ever.

Week 13 Predictions: Other Games of Note

#18 Boston College (-4.5) at Miami

I can’t believe I’m about to write this sentence. Boston College looks to stay in the conference race by winning this game and hoping Maryland can eliminate Wake Forest to give them a spot in Jacksonville against Georgia Tech. Is this what John Swofford had in mind? I can’t believe I’m about to write this sentence, either. Meanwhile, Miami is an afterthought trying to avoid a losing season. I keep picking the Hurricanes week after week, expecting their supreme talent to take over and for them to somehow find a way to win, but you know, they just aren’t even trying anymore.
Boston College - 20, Miami - 13



Texas A&M (+13) at #11 Texas

The Longhorns have had an extra week to mull over their upset loss at Kansas State, which probably doesn’t bode well for Texas A&M, who are trying to come back from their own close setbacks, consecutive one-point home losses to Oklahoma and Nebraska. As we all know, Texas is somewhat weak against the pass and, when given the chance, Aggie quarterback Stephen McGee has thrown in pretty well. However, A&M’s bread and butter is the ground game, something Texas should be able to stop with little problem on Friday.
Texas - 27, Texas A&M - 10



Kentucky (+19) at #19 Tennessee

Thankfully for the Vols, quarterback Erik Ainge is back, even if it’s only been for perennial SEC East bottom feeders and “rivals” Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The passing game was severely hampered under backup Jonathan Crompton, even if he had to face a couple of pretty good defenses with LSU and Arkansas. And the Kentucky defense got torched to the tune of 40 points last week by Louisiana-Monroe, so why would you expect things to be a whole lot different when they play a Tennessee offense that should be hitting on all cylinders?
Tennessee - 38, Kentucky - 20



Mississippi State (+3) at Mississippi

The Egg Bowl is about as relevant this year as it has been over the last several. It pits a couple of teams with identically dismal records (3-8, 1-6 SEC), but who have been pretty competitive most of the season, against each other in an attempt to avoid the distinction of being the worst team in the SEC Western Division, if not the entire league. I think the Bulldogs have improved a little more as the season has gone on (looking at the numbers, Ole Miss had no business being in that LSU game), so I’ll take them to pick up their second conference road win.
Mississippi State - 24, Ole Miss - 20

Livin' the Dream: Georgia Tech Edition

I think you know where I'm going with this one...

Spurrier to Miami?

In a move that would shake college football, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier has been targeted as a leading candidate to succeed Larry Coker should he be dismissed as Miami head coach, a source close to the situation said Sunday.

Coker is expected to be fired after Thursday's game against Boston College.

Miami president Donna Shalala had hoped Coker could win the final two games of the season and then could argue to bring him back. But at 5-6 and with the team in danger of missing a bowl, influential trustees and boosters have begun inquiring about prospective replacements and identified Spurrier, the former Florida coach, as the top choice with the goal of making a splashy hire.

A person close to Spurrier said he is interested in the position largely because he can compete in the state of Florida against his former school and believes he could win a national championship there.

Spurrier makes about $1.3 million a year at South Carolina and has 5 years remaining on his contract. Miami would likely be able to pay him at least $500,000 a year more annually.

Joe Schad is ESPN TV's national college football reporter.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2668273

I don't know how I feel about this yet. It's a better situation, obviously, but would Spurrier really bolt after just two years? Maybe.

Haiku and 10 things about basketball

Rickie does not drink
Which is really bad for me
Dixieland delight?


NostraDamus says...

1: Georgia will make the NCAA's.
2: GSU will make the NCAA's.
3: LSU will not make it to the Sweet 16.
4: Benedictine will have a winning record
5: Ashley Houts will be a freshman all american.
6: Florida will not repeat.
7: Duke will win the national championship.
8: Murray will never beat me in 1 on 1.
9: Brady will never play basketball for fun ever again.
10: Younes will have a positive effect on Iona.

Go Blue

As I'm sure you all have heard, Bo Schembechler died today of a heart attack. It's obviously bad enough whenever we lose someone so important to this sport, but on the eve of this game, under these circumstances, it's just surreal.

Schembechler wasn't just any retired coach. He was still very involved with the Michigan program, which means the Wolverine players are probably taking this especially hard.

Normally, I'd expect a storybook outcome for tomorrow's game, and I do sincerely hope there is one. But you've got to think that, with this happening so close to the actual kickoff, the team may still find themselves in a state of total shock come 3:30 pm.

MGoBlog tries to make sense of it all with a great, great post.

High School Games

I’ve made my predictions in the state high school playoffs already, but here are the explanations for why I picked a couple of first round games the way I did.

Thomson at Carver-Columbus

Thomson faces a rare opening round road game as they cross the state to visit Carver-Columbus. Each team boasts a 9-1 record with a loss to perennial state powers Washington County and LaGrange, with the Bulldogs coming off of their first losing effort of the season. This is a tough pick, as the Tigers have a somewhat more impressive resume, but you can’t discount Thomson’s experience in the postseason. Carver’s a little new to this whole playoff thing, so I expect the Bulldogs to overcome the long trip and come away with the victory.
Thomson - 16, Carver - 13



Starr’s Mill at Ware County

After springing the big upset to secure the region’s number one seed, Ware County has to turn right back around and play host to a first round state playoff game. The Gators have been on a roll since losing to Effingham, but it may be a little misleading since they haven’t really played anybody (aside from Statesboro, of course). Starr’s Mill is a decent team, but they do seem to be a pretty secure four seed, seeing how they lost to all three teams seeded ahead of them. That also leads me to believe they’ll be taking their big flag and going home for the year on Friday night.
Ware County - 20, Starr’s Mill - 13



Union Grove at Windsor Forest

The Knights are actually hosting a first round game at Memorial Stadium this year, which is absolutely mind blowing in and of itself. But what really gets me is the fact that they got about the best draw they could ask for in doing so. At 6-4, Union Grove is hardly a great team, and by the looks of things, they don’t seem to have much of an offense, either. And Windsor has been pretty solid on defense as well, which means the Knights should be able to hang around for most of the evening. But in the end, they probably won’t be able to put enough drives together to advance against a team that has faced better competition this year.
Union Grove - 17, Windsor Forest - 7

YouTube Clip of the Week

Game of the Century

#2 Michigan (+6.5) at #1 Ohio State

While I don’t hear a whole lot of people giving Michigan much of a chance in this game, I just don’t see this game as being the slam dunk it seems to have been made out to be. These teams are much more similar than they appear at first glance, and the Wolverines actually do seem to have an advantage or two heading into this.

Ohio State’s most impressive wins are against a Texas team starting a freshman quarterback and a very average Iowa squad. Michigan has beaten an OK Notre Dame team and Wisconsin, a team the jury is probably still out on.

In the Buckeyes’ favor, they are playing at home, have arguably the game’s premier big game coach, and boast the best player on the field in the form of Troy Smith. But the Wolverines can run the football, and if this OSU defense has a weakness, it’s no doubt against the run.



And the more I think about it, the more I start to favor Michigan in this game. Their stable of big play receivers gives them the ability to match any big plays the trio of Smith, Ted Ginn, and Anthony Gonzalez may provide, and Mike Hart has absolutely gashed people at times this year. And I don’t think people really realize just how nasty the UM defense has been this season.

I know it’s iffy to talk about the second-ranked team in the country getting disrespected, but the Wolverines are getting slighted as much as any team in their current position can be. Tressell owns Lloyd Carr and all that stuff, but I just get a little nervous when no one gives a team as good as Michigan a chance in a big game.



I’m going against my usual criteria for picking games, sure, but maybe I’m just feeling a little upset-minded this week.

Michigan - 24, Ohio State - 22

Other Games of Note

The ACC somehow manages to have two somewhat notable games this week in the form of a couple of Top 25 matchups that greatly impact the conference race. And Cal-USC is a huge game in itself, but it’s being a little overshadowed by some game being played in Columbus, Ohio this weekend.


#21 Maryland (+7) at #22 Boston College

Don’t look now, but Ralph Friedgen and his Maryland Terrapins may be back. Ever since West Virginia blew them off the field in Morgantown early in the season, the Turtles have played pretty well, winning the tough games they’ve needed to stay in the conference race. This is a tough game to get a read on, because while both teams have had pretty solid seasons, they seem to have won most of their games largely by way of smoke and mirrors. So that said, I like Boston College at home, but very close.
Boston College - 20, Maryland - 18



#19 Virginia Tech (-2) at #14 Wake Forest

The Hokies haven’t really looked like themselves for most of the season, but in a down year for the ACC, it’s allowed them to run up a pretty good record anyway. The Demon Deacons, meanwhile, just keep on winning games they aren’t supposed to in one of the best seasons in school history. Again, I know they have inferior athletes and less depth, but I still have a problem with Wake being tabbed as the underdog in this game. Maybe I’m not picking with my head here, but I like the Deacons to keep the dream alive in a strange year in the ACC.
Wake Forest - 21, Virginia Tech - 20



17 California (+5.5) at #4 Southern California

The Golden Bears are looking a whole lot more vulnerable this week after losing at Arizona, which seems to have a lot of people scrambling to get off of the Tedford bandwagon. At the same time, the Southern Cal train continues to pick up speed since they’ve bounced back from the Oregon State game. I actually think Cal wins this game straight up. Here’s why:

1. Too much stock in the Arizona game. Like it or not, the Pac-10 is a big boy league, and it’s tough to go on the road and win in a big time conference. It burned USC, and it burned Cal. And don’t think Cal wasn’t looking ahead to this game when they looked so out of sorts in Tucson.

2. Cal always plays the Trojans tough. The Golden Bears have been the one team who’ve been able to consistently give USC fits. They took 2004’s “OMG best team ever” to the very last play, lost to the Carson Palmer team by 2, and beat the Trojans in 2003. I know these are different teams, but you’d better believe Cal won’t be scared going into this game.

3. Cal can run the football, and they can score quickly. If the Bears jump on SC in a hurry, they have the ability to control the clock with Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett. Otherwise, the key to playing the Trojans is being able to answer their offense once it starts clicking. With DeSean Jackson and the aforementioned tailbacks, it’s going to be very difficult to put away a team that can score in bunches.

Cal - 30, USC - 28

Other SEC Games

There are four intraconference matchups in the SEC this week, with the biggest by far the annual Iron Bowl in the state of Alabama. After a good lineup a week ago, you had to expect a bit of a downer, I guess.

#22 Tennessee (-8) at Vanderbilt

Both teams are reeling after consecutive losses, so something has got to give at Vanderbilt Stadium on Saturday. With the exception of South Carolina, the Commodores have played everybody in the league fairly tough, so I wouldn’t expect anything different this time around. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, though, the Volunteers will be as motivated as they’ve ever been in this game as they come off the LSU and Arkansas losses, and don’t think they haven’t forgotten the embarrassment they suffered at the hands of the Commodores a year ago.
Tennessee - 28, Vanderbilt - 17



Mississippi (+27.5) at #9 Louisiana State

The Rebels might, honestly, get shut out in this game. If the Tigers completely held down a pretty good Kentucky offense several weeks ago, what do you think Ole Miss’ terrible Brent Schaeffer-led attack is going to be able to put together against this defense? You would think the Rebels’ defense would be good enough to keep them in the game with LSU looking ahead to Arkansas, but an unheard of number of three and outs will simply keep them on the field too long to be effective.
LSU - 38, Ole Miss - 7



Click this link, too. (Let 'Er Rip video)

#5 Arkansas(-14) at Mississippi State

The Razorbacks can lock up a spot in the SEC Championship Game and keep their slim national title hopes alive with a win over a Mississippi State team that has already made its season by beating Alabama. No one has been able to hold down this Arkansas rushing offense for long, and I wouldn’t expect the Bulldogs to be the first to do it. I see a slow start caused by a case of looking ahead to next week’s rivalry game, but Darren McFadden takes over the game with ease after that.
Arkansas - 24, Mississippi State - 13



#15 Auburn (-3) at Alabama

After a less than inspiring performance on the Plains last week, it might be a good thing for the Tigers to get away from home for a weekend. Hey, it worked for the Bulldogs. And as strange as this is to say, Mike Shula could be in some trouble if he loses another Iron Bowl, which will make four losses in five games and a 2-6 SEC record to end the season. Unfortunately for Shula, Auburn still has a better team, and they get up off the mat to make it five in a row over the Tide.
Auburn - 17, Alabama - 13


More like, "Honk if you picked off Brandon Cox," amirite?

Dog SEC Games

While this is already a bit of a down weekend as far as big matchups go in the Southeastern Conference, there is also a trio of absolute non-conference dogs that three teams have lined up the week before big rivalry games. Smart scheduling, maybe, but it makes for a boring week of analysis, that’s for sure.

Western Carolina (OFF) at #3 Florida

Florida all but guarantees a high note for their seniors to go out upon as they schedule a truly terrible Western Carolina team for their final home game. I mean, these guys lost to Georgia Southern, Elon, and Liberty. What I’m trying to say is that the Gators will have little to no trouble blowing out an overmatched opponent for once. They could run the Tebow dive play up and down the field to the tune of 50 points if they really wanted to. That’s also bad news for Florida State. While UF may indeed look past the Seminoles to the SEC title game, they will be rested if not ready at Doak Campbell Stadium in two weeks.
Florida - 45, Western Carolina - 10



Louisiana-Monroe (+19.5) at Kentucky

Kentucky can secure a rare winning season with a win over one of the worst teams in the Sun Belt Conference. Again, not only are they playing a team from the nation’s worst league, they’re actually playing a Sun Belt bottom feeder, if there really is such a thing. The War Hawks did play Kansas pretty tough early in the year, but they also gave up 41 points to Alabama. ALABAMA. Andre Woodson has a field day.
Kentucky - 49, Louisiana-Monroe - 17



Middle Tennessee State (+15.5) at South Carolina

The Gamecocks are just looking for their sixth win this week as they host the Sun Belt’s best team, 7-3 Middle Tennessee State. South Carolina has got to be beat up after this brutal three-game stretch they’re coming off of, and the Blue Raiders are riding a four-game winning streak, which could mean we’re primed for an upset in this game. However, the Gamecocks have played three straight ranked opponents tough, while MTSU has beaten up on less than formidable Sun Belt competition. Carolina pulls away in the second half.
South Carolina - 34, Middle Tennessee State - 13


Yes, that's Eugene Gross.

Thursday Game: Backyard Brawl

Since school should be taking up a considerably smaller amount of my time this week, I’ll try to devote a little more of it to what looks to be a very exciting weekend of college football because, well, because I’ve got nothing better to do. And since I’m kind of tired of having to scroll down so far to check my picks on Saturdays, I decided to throw my so-called analysis over here. Anyway, we get started with the Thursday game:

#8 West Virginia (-11) at Pittsburgh

For the third week in a row, ESPN treats us to a important game in the race for the Big East championship. Now, Pitt did decide to go and make this a lot less interesting by losing their last three conference games, but they still have an opportunity to play the spoiler against their archrivals because, let’s face it, anything short of a BCS bid would make this season a miserable failure in the minds of most of the West Virginia faithful. If the Mountaineers come up short, well, there are worse places to ring in the New Year than in Jacksonville, I guess.

As I said before, the Panthers are currently riding a three-game Big East losing streak that consists of losses to Rutgers, South Florida, and Connecticut. Hard to believe that they were recently sitting at 6-1 as a dark horse contender for the conference title. They finally got their ground game going against a pedestrian UConn team after being held to 67 and 55 yards in consecutive games by the Scarlet Knights and Bulls, respectively. That means that quarterback Tyler Palko will likely be forced to put the team on his shoulders this Thursday night, which isn’t necessarily a good thing for Pittsburgh.



The Mountaineers, not surprisingly, whacked Cincinnati last week in a effort to get over the disappointing loss to Louisville. West Virginia is going to score points, and they’re going to run for over 300 yards. That isn’t good for a Pitt defense that surrendered 317 to a considerably less impressive Connecticut rushing attack just a week ago. The key to the game is whether the Panthers can score enough points to keep up with the Mountaineers’ breakneck offensive pace, and I just don’t think they can.

West Virginia has been somewhat susceptible to the pass this year, and Palko is a decent enough quarterback, but Pittsburgh simply doesn’t have enough firepower to score the 35 or 40 points they’ll likely need to have a chance in this game. It is a rivalry game, where strange things always seem to happen, but the fact that this game is in Morgantown can more than make up for that. After a sluggish first quarter, West Virginia rolls.



West Virginia - 38, Pittsburgh - 20

Livin' the Dream: 37-15

After last Monday's supposed "low blow", I figured it was only fair to give Stafford the spotlight again this week, although for much happier reasons.

Friday Afternoon Haiku

Least coolest brother
Did not see Ric hit the floor
Can now say Bon Jour

Since Donnies Late...

Some of can hardly wait to see your weekly haiki. Whether you've already forgot or just still brainstorming on what to say, I went ahead and made some real poetry...shit that rhymes that is!

Molly has pretty hair.
She probably like Orange Juice.
It is just too bad that she likes me less than the guy from Footloose.

2007 Opener Announced

According to 960 The Ref, Georgia has announced its opener for the 2007 season: the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Apparently, ESPN had a had in putting this together, so it'll likely be a night game. The Bulldogs will return the trip in 2009.

The Other Signing Day

This week marks the beginning of the National Signing period for most collegiate sports outside of football. Georgia's basketball team had 4 strong verbals coming in and should end up with a good class headlined by 6'8 forward Chris Barnes out of Riverdale. The women's team will put up another top-10 class. But the big newsmaker of the day was the signing of pitcher Kevin Rhoderick out of Scottsdale, Arizona. Rhoderick originally committed to Georgia but then changed to Oregon State in the middle of October. Today he signed with the Bulldogs. He has been a two-time member of the USA Junior National team(thats almost as good as Chain U-18). He is one of the biggest signings in the history of the baseball program and is projected to be a closer. Baseball signings are non-binding and he could choose to forego college if he likes his draft status. He has stated that he would like to attend college though. Either way, this is a true sign of where the Georgia Baseball program stands nationally and will go a long way in opening doors to other prospects from across the country.

Election Night Coverage

Democrats win House, but CNN is projecting that the sun WILL rise tomorrow.

Livin' the Dream: Excuse To Post This Picture

It looks like everyone's favorite freshman phenom had a rough day on Saturday. Well, there's nowhere to go but up right now. For everybody.

Georgia - 96, West Georgia - 52

Georgia basketball won its exhibition opener against a completely overmatched West Georgia squad by a 96-52 mark on Friday night, so here a few quick thoughts on the performance.

The starting lineup consisted of Mike Mercer, Levi Stukes, Steve Newman, Terrance Woodbury, and Rashaad Singleton. Without Takais Brown in the lineup, it’s no surprise the senior Newman got the start. And because point guard Sundiata Gaines was out, Mike Mercer was left to run the point, with Terrance Woodbury getting the start as a result.

What was surprising was Dave Bliss’ absence from the starting lineup, as he has started every game of his career at Georgia. I don’t know if his back troubles were the reason for this, because he showed little signs of pain when he was out there. Singleton, while still a long way from where he'll eventually be, showed marked improvement, so maybe he’s being rewarded for his hard work in the off season.

After a slow start (which is to be expected), Georgia completely layed it on the Wolves, scoring in the paint, hitting a ton of threes in the second half, and generally shutting down the West Georgia offense.

Levi Stukes’ shooting was on, which isn’t that big of a surprise. Mercer and Woodbury’s long-range shooting, well, I didn’t expect to see that. If those two can get anywhere close to the production they had Friday night for most of the season, the Bulldogs will be greatly improved.

The nicest surprise of the night, though, was freshman forward/center Albert Jackson. His game, offensively and defensively, was much more polished than I expected, and he’s about a million times more athletic than I’d first anticipated. The biggest thing is that he looks like he can give Georgia some very solid minutes in the frontcourt this season, which is huge. Maybe it won’t be this year, but this guy just looks like, eventually, he’s going to be a player.

A couple of asides:

- the new paint job on the floor at Stegeman is such an improvement
- the band should never play the Family Guy theme song again
- more people need to come to basketball games this year

Basketball Preview, Part 3

The frontcourt situation isn’t quite as bright by comparison (or by any stretch of the imagination, for that matter). We’ve discussed Takais Brown before, and losing him is a huge blow. Georgia was counting on him to improve their post production on both ends of floor, so we’re back to where we were last year, at least for now.

Despite the problems caused by a herniated disk, look for junior Dave Bliss to get the start at center tonight, and for the foreseeable future as well. He definitely won’t be able to play for extended periods, which may actually be a good thing for the Bulldogs. He may try hard, he may be a great locker room guy, I don’t know. But I do know that he just hasn’t shown himself to be what Georgia’s looking for in the middle. To me at least, he doesn’t seem to rebound well enough to make up for his lack of an offensive game. Maybe the inability to rely on Bliss for big minutes will force one of these younger guys to make a major leap.

One of the aforementioned younger guys is sophomore seven-footer Rashaad Singleton. We knew he would be a project coming in, but he has been a defensive force from the moment he stepped on campus. But aside from his ability as a blocker, he was basically a non-factor on offense and as a rebounder. If he’s managed to get over his problem holding onto the ball, he’ll get more playing time and hopefully turn into a nice surprise.

With the suspension of Brown, senior forward Steve Newman may find himself back in the starting lineup. In the long run, though, he’ll largely be featured as a role player off the bench. He has some range from three, and any decent minutes from his position is a godsend at this point.

Terrance Woodbury could very well be the key to Georgia’s season. He’ll probably be asked to play some forward, considering the lack of depth at the position. But if he gets the chance to play on the perimeter and can stay healthy, he has the physical tools to really break out this year. He scored 14 points each in his debut and against Florida last year.

Without the services of Takais Brown, Georgia’s current frontcourt situation is even worse than it was a year ago. If the returnees have not improved significantly and freshman Albert Jackson turns out to be a work in progress, they could be in trouble. These perimeter players will have to grow up in a hurry.



See ya at Stegeman.