What's the feeling about Pelosi's replacement? I thought we were in line for some kind of upgrade. I guess not. And yes, personality matters in politics.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Music Posts Back With a Vengeance
This may or may not be a total disaster, but it's been in the works for a while so I'll go ahead and post it. You know I spend an inordinate amount of time listening to new records and I've got to talk about them somewhere.
In lieu of a bunch of lists for this year I made a top 25 in no particular order. I'm not about to get the blog shut down for music piracy, but if someone wants the album versions let me know and I can help you out since there aren't videos of some of the songs I listed. I doubt you will, but thought I'd put that out there.
Superchunk — “Digging For Something”
Drive-By Truckers — “Birthday Boy”
Scott Lucas and the Married Men — “Positively 4th Street”
Ryan Bingham — “Depression”
Justin Townes Earle — “Wanderin'”
Mavis Staples — “Wrote a Song For Everyone”
Joe Pug — “Bury Me Far (From My Uniform)”
Futurebirds — “Ski Chalet”
Old 97's — “Champaign, Illinois”
The Secret Sisters — “Why Baby Why”
Jamey Johnson — “Good Morning Sunrise” (Can't find this anywhere, so here's one from his album that sounds like a lost Gregg Allman song.
Alejandro Escovedo — “Anchor”
The Goodnight Loving — “Doesn't Shake Me”
White Mystery — “Respect Yourself”
Heavy Cream — “Watusi”
The Hold Steady — “The Weekenders”
Jenny and Johnny — “My Pet Snakes”
Best Coast — “Boyfriend”
Diamond Rings — “Wait and See”
Dum Dum Girls — “Baby Don't Go”
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Say No To Love”
The National — “Anyone's Ghost”
The Gaslight Anthem — “She Loves You”
Titus Andronicus — “Theme From Cheers”
State Champion — “Just an Answer” (This isn't anywhere, just like most all of their songs. These dudes made the album of the year by a long shot, but they're still playing house shows in Little Rock. Hope that changes next year.)
In lieu of a bunch of lists for this year I made a top 25 in no particular order. I'm not about to get the blog shut down for music piracy, but if someone wants the album versions let me know and I can help you out since there aren't videos of some of the songs I listed. I doubt you will, but thought I'd put that out there.
Superchunk — “Digging For Something”
Drive-By Truckers — “Birthday Boy”
Scott Lucas and the Married Men — “Positively 4th Street”
Ryan Bingham — “Depression”
Justin Townes Earle — “Wanderin'”
Mavis Staples — “Wrote a Song For Everyone”
Joe Pug — “Bury Me Far (From My Uniform)”
Futurebirds — “Ski Chalet”
Old 97's — “Champaign, Illinois”
The Secret Sisters — “Why Baby Why”
Jamey Johnson — “Good Morning Sunrise” (Can't find this anywhere, so here's one from his album that sounds like a lost Gregg Allman song.
Alejandro Escovedo — “Anchor”
The Goodnight Loving — “Doesn't Shake Me”
White Mystery — “Respect Yourself”
Heavy Cream — “Watusi”
The Hold Steady — “The Weekenders”
Jenny and Johnny — “My Pet Snakes”
Best Coast — “Boyfriend”
Diamond Rings — “Wait and See”
Dum Dum Girls — “Baby Don't Go”
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Say No To Love”
The National — “Anyone's Ghost”
The Gaslight Anthem — “She Loves You”
Titus Andronicus — “Theme From Cheers”
State Champion — “Just an Answer” (This isn't anywhere, just like most all of their songs. These dudes made the album of the year by a long shot, but they're still playing house shows in Little Rock. Hope that changes next year.)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Bitter Sweet for Sticky
Wins a title, but loses a boy.
DBD, see you in MAR's ville Benedict!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Change has come to Beach Bum
Safety is primary reason for changes but I honestly can't recall any significant incidents occurring on this day.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Reason No. 8,579 Why I Love Mike Leach
Leach on the Miami job: "We'd have an exciting brand of football. We'll fill the seats and we'll win games and we'll win ACC championships.
"If you look at the guys on NFL rosters, in the Big 12 Texas has 32, Oklahoma has 29, Nebraska has 28 and Texas Tech has nine. Still, my record against Nebraska was something like 5-1 and we beat Oklahoma three out of the last five times.
"There are lots of Hurricanes on NFL rosters. That gives you an idea of what you can draw there. If you base it on resources and production, the chances of my success along with my staff are remarkably high."
"They could hire me and we'd have one decade after another of success with students that graduate and don't get into trouble, or they can hire somebody else."
"If you look at the guys on NFL rosters, in the Big 12 Texas has 32, Oklahoma has 29, Nebraska has 28 and Texas Tech has nine. Still, my record against Nebraska was something like 5-1 and we beat Oklahoma three out of the last five times.
"There are lots of Hurricanes on NFL rosters. That gives you an idea of what you can draw there. If you base it on resources and production, the chances of my success along with my staff are remarkably high."
"They could hire me and we'd have one decade after another of success with students that graduate and don't get into trouble, or they can hire somebody else."
Monday, November 29, 2010
Top 5 bright spots of the the 2010 season:
1. Arron Murray- The best season ever by a Freshman QB at Georgia. The team MVP was not only solid but great. He ran and threw with very little help from his backfield both running the ball and protecting him. Before the season even the most positive Georgia person could have never imagined the season he had.
2. Justin Houston- He doesn't get the credit and won't get the credit he deserves. One of the five best defenders in the country, he was an all-american on a bad defense. He would be a starter on any Georgia defense but won't be remebered as fondly as Boss Bailey, Thomas Davis, or Rennie Curran because of the struggles of his teammates.
3. Kickoff Coverage- If this unit would've given up 10 Returns for TD's I still think Georgia people would've been okay with it just because directional kicking was no longer the philosophy. Making Fabris look terrible, Georgia had the best kick coverage in the SEC and top 5 in the country.
4. Blair Walsh- A big part of the kick coverage success was Walsh consistently putting it around the 1 with a lot of hang time. But the FG percentage, especially on long tries, was overshadowed as the season continued to lose relevance. Georgia was once known as Tailback U but now has to be Kicker U. Robinson, Butler, Kasey, Parkman, Bennent, Coutu, and Walsh to name a few, would be hard to match for any school.
5. Beating Georgia Tech- In a season where little went right, Georgia avioded complete failure by beating tech for the 9th time in the past 10 years and concluding the most dominat decade by either team in the series.
Top 5 Dark Spots:
1. AJ Green Jersey- Still feel we win 2 of the first 4 losses if AJ is eligible.
2. The Safety position- Rambo and Hamilton both entered the season with a good bit of hype and probably some unwarranted expectations. From the South Carolina game on they both struggled in run support and even moreso in pass coverage. Rambo started every game and got better but continued to have issues, while Hamilton is now trying out for left tackle. Olgetree shows a lot of promise and will be an NFL player but the speed of the game really got him on a number of occassions. I don't think Shawn Williams was ever a real solution and I don't know if Nick Williams is even real.
3. Offensive Line- Every national pre-season publication ranked this unit in the top 5. I don't understand how individually they all seem great but as a group they were the worst in football history.
4. Running Backs- Partially the O-lines fault but part of that line was blocking for Moreno when he was the best player in the country. When I watch them they look slow, not creative, and more than willing to help the defense bring them to the ground. I think it says a lot that neither ever got a firm grasp on the starting job and it wasn't because one was taking it from the other.
5. Not beating a team with a winning record- Tennessee, Kentucky, and Tech all finished at 6-6. ULL, Idaho St., and Vandy will all have new coaches next year. Colorado lost to a Cal team not going to a bowl 52-7 and Mizzou 26-0 a week after beating Georgia. The Florida game was the hardest loss to take but they were worse than any of the Zook Gators. JD had correctly predicted Georgia's record within one game for 8 years in a row. He missed it by 4 in 2010.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Barstool Is Right On Both Counts
I don't think that I've posted, or even commented, on anything related to Georgia football this season.
For one thing, it's been a busy fall for me. But mostly it's because the season has been so bad that I didn't want to make any knee-jerk reactions. When a team starts off 1-4, loses to the worst Florida team in six years, and pretty much squanders having the best receiver in the country and the SEC's best edge rusher, knee-jerk reactions are about all you can make.
Now seems like the perfect time to look at what happened this fall because there are a full 12 games to draw from, and because the Tech game seemed to sum up the season pretty well. These are some things I've been thinking about, many of which were probably discussed this weekend. Really, I'm just thinking out loud here.
So like I said, the Tech performance was exactly what you should have come to expect by now.
The running game was nonexistent early on, but that was okay because A.J. Green might be the best skill player in the country and words cannot describe how good Aaron Murray is. Yet Georgia did what it always seems to do, going away from what's working at times presumably for the sake of “balance.” I'm not one to rip specific play calls since I don't know what goes into a given situation, but this more of a philosophical thing. Then again, the offense has scored points. As long as the offense from the South Carolina game doesn't show up next year with Green in the NFL, I've got no major issues with Mike Bobo.
The offensive line is a different story. It struggled all year and did so again in short yardage against Tech. The defensive line was abused as well. I think the defensive issues can be addressed through recruiting because of the relative lack of size, but it doesn't look great in the short term. I can't even make an educated guess on the offensive line. Maybe Stick has been right to rip Dave Van Halanger all these years. I just don't get it.
This definitely was addressed before the game Saturday: the defense still could be fine given enough time. Defensive backs continue to look lost in coverage after 12 games, so that's either residue from the decline under Willie Martinez or maybe Todd Grantham hasn't perfectly translated his defense from the NFL to the college level. I think it's smart to reserve judgment until everyone gets a full offseason together. There was improvement in some areas, believe it or not.
Basically, no one is going to lose their jobs, and that's the way it should be. But I don't see how next year isn't make-or-break for everyone. It's not smart to put a number on anything, but Georgia obviously was not a very good team this year despite the few bright spots. I'd just hate to see what happens this time next year if we're saying the same things about the 2011 team. Anyone who has ever talked football with me knows I hate conjecture like this, but there are enough red flags that even I've got to say it.
Song of the Day: Justin Townes Earle -- Ain't Waitin'
For one thing, it's been a busy fall for me. But mostly it's because the season has been so bad that I didn't want to make any knee-jerk reactions. When a team starts off 1-4, loses to the worst Florida team in six years, and pretty much squanders having the best receiver in the country and the SEC's best edge rusher, knee-jerk reactions are about all you can make.
Now seems like the perfect time to look at what happened this fall because there are a full 12 games to draw from, and because the Tech game seemed to sum up the season pretty well. These are some things I've been thinking about, many of which were probably discussed this weekend. Really, I'm just thinking out loud here.
So like I said, the Tech performance was exactly what you should have come to expect by now.
The running game was nonexistent early on, but that was okay because A.J. Green might be the best skill player in the country and words cannot describe how good Aaron Murray is. Yet Georgia did what it always seems to do, going away from what's working at times presumably for the sake of “balance.” I'm not one to rip specific play calls since I don't know what goes into a given situation, but this more of a philosophical thing. Then again, the offense has scored points. As long as the offense from the South Carolina game doesn't show up next year with Green in the NFL, I've got no major issues with Mike Bobo.
The offensive line is a different story. It struggled all year and did so again in short yardage against Tech. The defensive line was abused as well. I think the defensive issues can be addressed through recruiting because of the relative lack of size, but it doesn't look great in the short term. I can't even make an educated guess on the offensive line. Maybe Stick has been right to rip Dave Van Halanger all these years. I just don't get it.
This definitely was addressed before the game Saturday: the defense still could be fine given enough time. Defensive backs continue to look lost in coverage after 12 games, so that's either residue from the decline under Willie Martinez or maybe Todd Grantham hasn't perfectly translated his defense from the NFL to the college level. I think it's smart to reserve judgment until everyone gets a full offseason together. There was improvement in some areas, believe it or not.
Basically, no one is going to lose their jobs, and that's the way it should be. But I don't see how next year isn't make-or-break for everyone. It's not smart to put a number on anything, but Georgia obviously was not a very good team this year despite the few bright spots. I'd just hate to see what happens this time next year if we're saying the same things about the 2011 team. Anyone who has ever talked football with me knows I hate conjecture like this, but there are enough red flags that even I've got to say it.
Song of the Day: Justin Townes Earle -- Ain't Waitin'
Right or Wrong...
I had similar feelings walking out of Sanford Stadium last night. And Murray is unbelievably awesome.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tech Fan Tuesday
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Georgia Notebook
- Going back to the end of the 2009 Independence Bowl, if anyone would've said Georgia would be heading into this year's Tech game at 5-6 most would believe this would be Richt's final game at Sanford Stadium. The Evans happy hour and a complete change on the defensive side of the ball will give Richt at least another season. The events at the end of the Auburn game and the Auburn program as a whole also gave CMR a boost as a lot of Georgia people have rallied around the fact that Georgia is not that.
Comparing Richt and Donnan.....
-Last 4 years under Donnan: 35-13
-Last 4 under Richt: 34-16
-Last 2 under Donnan: 16-8
-Last 2 under Richt: 13-11
The obvious difference in the two is the entire body of work. Two SEC championships make a big difference. Maybe the biggest difference is their records against Tech. Donnan was 2-3 while Richt is 8-1 and with a win next week Georgia will conclude the most successful decade ever against Tech.
- Justin Houston was named one of the 5 finalist for the Nagurski award which goes to the best defensive player in the country. Pollack won it in 2004. Peterson or Fairley will win it this year but Houston quietly had one of the best seasons a Georgia defender has had under Richt. This coming on a defense that has given up 31 points a game in the 6 losses.
- The Basketball team is 2-0. Trey Thompkins has sat out both and may be out for another 2-4 weeks. Free throws and rebounding have been obvious deficiencies. Leslie has struggled from the floor and the freshmen have contributed very little. However, Price has had his best two game stretch of his career and Robinson has been very good. He might be the fastest player Georgia has ever had and is easily the fastest I have ever seen.
Georgia plays at St. Louis Saturday then 3 games in Orlando. They start with Notre Dame on Thanksgiving and the field also includes Boston College, California, Manhattan, Temple, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. With a good chance of not having Thompkins for any of that, 2-2 would be okay, while 3-1 would be ideal.
- The early signing period for sports other than football is wrapping up and basketball got one of the best players in the country in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He is rated as high as the 12th best player in the country and I have no doubt he will start from day one.
Baseball signed 20 guys and Perfect Game Magazine has rated it as the 2nd best class in the country, easily the best class in school history. The problem with having the 2nd best class is a lot of those guys should be drafted early which means a good portion of the class will never make it to Georgia. Dante Bichette's son was one of the signees. Dante Jr. played for Florida in the Little League World Series a few years back. I can't remember who was with me other than TP and my dad but a couple of years ago after a Sand Gnats game Dante and his son had a bullpen session in front of the right field bleachers and the kid was throwing at least 105 mph and he was like 14. Bichette was a roaming instructor for the Nationals at the time.
- Finally, Crowell and a number of other recruits will be present in Athens for the Tech game. The 7:45 kick will benefit recruiting more than anything. Mark it down, Crowell will come to Georgia.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Stuff>Barstool
Schivera wants more people to do their homework. For now, I'll oblige.
I just got a Droid 2. If you are with Verizon and want an iPhone, go with this phone. This is by far the best phone that I have ever had. I've never had an iPhone (nor do I want one because I hate Apple), but I would go out on a limb and say that this phone is as good or better than the iPhone (at least the old iPhone). It has all the perks of Blackberry's, and the internet is faster and the email (especially if you have a gmail account) is much more user-friendly. That is my plug for the day.
Yesterday I volunteer to build the house for the Extreme Home Makeover. I spent a little bit of time with this cast, which was cool, I guess. This guy was a douche, this guy seemed somewhat normal, this guy was most likely high on crack (and wore deep v-neck t-shirts), and this girl was pretty....
It got me out of work and there is a pretty good chance that I could be on TV, so I would say all in all it was a good day.
Speaking of work, I am thinking about bringing my talents to Port Wentworth. Not really, but Gulfstream did announced yesterday that it will be hiring 1,000 new employees. Take note, all you ATLiens.
In 16 days I will be going on a cruise to the Bahamas :)
I will be spending three days on a boat with Brandon and Sam :(
There will be a casino on the boat $
I just got a Droid 2. If you are with Verizon and want an iPhone, go with this phone. This is by far the best phone that I have ever had. I've never had an iPhone (nor do I want one because I hate Apple), but I would go out on a limb and say that this phone is as good or better than the iPhone (at least the old iPhone). It has all the perks of Blackberry's, and the internet is faster and the email (especially if you have a gmail account) is much more user-friendly. That is my plug for the day.
Yesterday I volunteer to build the house for the Extreme Home Makeover. I spent a little bit of time with this cast, which was cool, I guess. This guy was a douche, this guy seemed somewhat normal, this guy was most likely high on crack (and wore deep v-neck t-shirts), and this girl was pretty....
It got me out of work and there is a pretty good chance that I could be on TV, so I would say all in all it was a good day.Speaking of work, I am thinking about bringing my talents to Port Wentworth. Not really, but Gulfstream did announced yesterday that it will be hiring 1,000 new employees. Take note, all you ATLiens.
In 16 days I will be going on a cruise to the Bahamas :)
I will be spending three days on a boat with Brandon and Sam :(
There will be a casino on the boat $
Monday, November 15, 2010
History
For the first time ever in Athens, Georgia and tech will kick it off at night.
Bobby Dodd after the 1st quarter of the Miami game.