Black jerseys, bad mojo, James Carville and the season of motivational gimmicks

I can't remember who dubbed this the season of motivational gimmicks, but it's a pretty good title. And as much as I loved The Celebration in Jacksonville, I'm worried about his whole black jersey thing.

There's no guarantee the boys come out in black, but Richt hasn't denied it and I'm starting to get this feeling that the team will, in fact, wear different jerseys.

Initially I thought that would be cool. But it's Thursday. Thursday is a day for pessimism. Black jerseys = bad juju. Even the hype surrounding the possibility of the team wearing black jerseys is starting to worry me, because I'm afraid it will shift the team's focus.

In Florida we needed to loosen up. We needed to believe. Against Auburn we need to hunker down. As Auburn O-line Coach (and former Bulldog) Hugh Nall said in today's Telegraph: "It's more like two brothers fighting."

Auburn, of course, being the younger, dumber brother who still somehow managed to sleep with your wife, steal your dog and borrow a bunch of money.

For what it's worth, James Carville was in town last night, and he predicted that Arkansas would beat Tennessee, which would open up a path to the SEC title game for us. As for our game, Carville said: "Georgia may get by Auburn. But watch out for Kentucky."

Finally, I was talking with my buddy Brian last night, and he said we should just come up with even more ridiculous motivational celebrations.

"Richt should tell the team: I won't be happy unless, after the first touchdown, you get a bunch of gasoline and set fire to the hedges," he said.

Let me know if you can top that. So far, here at work (once again, employers proud), we've got:

- I won't be happy unless a sniper takes out that war eagle.
- I won't be happy unless you guys tear down the goalposts before the game.
- I won't be happy unless you take the team bus to Auburn on Thursday and kill Tommy Tuberville's family.