Get the pictures: Tech-Georgia

Great work as always by The Telegraph's photography staff Saturday.












Images: Josh Weiss and Beau Cabell, The Telegraph (gallery).

Tech game saves the season, not jobs

This blog isn't calling for anyone's job at Georgia.

Sure, we can see the problems same as anyone. And I fear they run deep. For a while there I was wondering whether Coach Richt's "in the arena" line would eventually be analogous to Coach Jim Donnan's "I've waited 55 years to coach a team like this" epitaph.

But I'm nowhere near close enough to this program to say who should and shouldn't be fired. So I'll place my trust in Coach Richt, as is appropriate.

I just want him to fix it. And I'm hopeful that whatever decisions he and his staff will announce in the coming days were made some time ago.

But, for now, thank you for the Tech game. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lockdown mode in Athens.

Awesome. From David Hale:

Mark Richt didn't hold his regular Sunday teleconference today because he was out of town for a family function, according to the UGA sports information department. ...

-- Rennie was at the Falcons game today. He said he got plenty of dirty looks from Tech fans who recognized him, which was by far the highlight of his afternoon.

I don't hate them anymore

I mean, I did kind of want to punch a woman in the face at my sister's wedding, but I feel sorry for Demaryius Thomas.

And I'm real glad we won.

That Clemson - Georgia Tech ACC Title game, looks like that will be for 5th place in the SEC East.

Commission study on Matt Stafford robot dawg

Just saw the uga robot prototype downtown. He went to toppers.
- Brian Huff

We also point you to video below, because somehow NFL Films knew to mic Matthew Stafford for the Detroit / Cleveland game.

Apparently Matt Stafford just isn't scared of the fucking NFL.

"Yeah. Get the fuck off me."

Update: Some have wondered if the f word is now acceptable here at Lucid Idiocy. The answer is yes, if you rock the NFL.

AJ Green: Good against yellow

You can't get too much of this picture.


Jason Vorhees, The Telegraph.

Sugar

I kind of meant on Sunday to say that, instead of recovery through music, we were going to have music chosen to make you feel worse.


I like the meaning where this is about my wonderful, beautiful girlfriend, instead of about the Georgia Bulldogs, who have some serious defects.

Oh... please. Please, no.

I know Urban Meyer's not going to Notre Dame. I've assumed it for a while, and I've made my peace with it.

But the last sentence in this story ... I just don't think I could take that.

"Meyer said he believes Tebow could coach Florida down the road."

Senator, I'll go you one better

Check this from Get The Picture.

Now I'll tell you something a friend of mine noticed Saturday. When Joe Cox raises his arms (horizontally, almost as if he's asking the crowd to quiet down), we're going to run the ball.

I assume it's some sort of a silent check into a pre-determined run play. But, regardless, every time I saw him do it before the snap against Kentucky, we ran the ball.

Probably not something a guy named Colby should be able to pick up from the student section.

Awful

Plenty of blame to go around, and no reason to be surprised.


Image: Parker Moore, georgiadogs.com.

"It's not like we just had a terrible game and this is it, this is how we're gonna be the whole year."
- Joe Cox, after the Oklahoma State game

By the way, the basketball team lost to the University of Alabama, Birmingham, tonight, 56-72.

It's time for a female mascot

Bill King has an interesting blog post up for The AJC based on Sonny Seiler's book on the mascot line, Damn Good Dogs!

There have been other subs besides Otto, though, and one of them was a real rarity. All the Ugas have been male and part of the same lineage, but in 1971, when Uga II was ailing, an unrelated brown and white female English bulldog named Bugga Lou that had been given to the Seiler family took Uga’s place for the South Carolina and Florida games, both wins. Bugga Lou wasn’t just an English bulldog, she actually hailed from England originally.

I didn't know that.

But as I've said here before, and I'll be proud to say again, at Georgia our women have always been the best of us. I'd be thrilled if Uga VIII became the university's first full-time female mascot.

Uga VII crosses the bar

VII, we hardly knew you.

From David Hale and The Macon Telegraph:

“We are all in a state of shock,” (owner Sonny) Seiler said in a statement released by the university. “We had no warning whatsoever.”

There will be no mascot present on the sidelines at Saturday’s final regular-season home game for Georgia, a rarity since the first Uga was officially introduced in 1956.

VII was the university's shortest tenured mascot, with the exception of Otto, who subbed for an ailing Uga IV for four games in 1986. He compiled a record of 16-7.

Update: Just noticed the Kentucky tickets feature Uga VII on them. Life is funny.









Image: georgiadogs.com

Would be ninjas, let this be a lesson to you

From the Associated Press:

SEATTLE — Seattle police say a man who thought he was ninja was impaled on a metal fence when he tried to leap over it.

Saturday Update: Except for the dateline, this would substitute for the first sentence of any story about the Kentucky game.

From the mouths of Gators

The folks at Every Day Should Be Saturday, University of Florida fan(s?) with possible redeeming qualities, make it official:

Athens is the premiere college town in the known universe, and there is no real refutation of this available that is not total gibberish.

This is why we don't understand the last two decades. We are not capable of separating the red-dressed nirvana that is the city of Athens from the expectation of a highly functioning football team.

52-53-8

Lots of stuff.

"Enjoy tonight, and let's hope everything is OK with young Rambo."

- Mark Jones, or possibly Bob Davie. It was late and I was watching the replay

Tucker: Rambo has movement, sensation in all extremities

Bacarri Rambo: Not expendable.

Tim Tucker, The AJC:

Georgia officials said later that Rambo suffered a concussion and was initially unconscious on the field but then regained consciousness. He has movement and sensation in all extremities, UGA said.

Game Story:

ATHENS — There were cheers followed by silence followed by elation.

Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo broke up a Chris Todd pass at the 2-yard line with 1:16 remaining in the game, then remained motionless on the field for nearly 15 minutes. The crowd sat silent, occasionally rising to chant his name. When he was carted off the field, Rambo raised his arm, a signal to the crowd to rise again, and the Bulldogs’ defense followed suit.

That's exactly how it happened. And I can tell you that, right after The Man Bacarri Rambo hit the ground his arm shot up, kind of wavered, and then just kind of stayed there. Say a prayer for him.

Better than Auburn, four years in a row

Game: Awesome. Joe Cox: Best chance to win. Sanford Stadium: As expected. Auburn: Yep, sucks.

I don't know that I'd ever actually witnessed a "quick kick" until this game.

At one point a girl behind me yelled to some guy 9 rows ahead of her. I counted. He heard her and acknowledged it. This was in the student section. It should never be that quiet there.

When was the last time we had true night game, a game that started after sundown?

Branden Smith: He ran across the formation tonight and it was a blur. Can't touch the ball too much, hangs out with A.J. Green.

AJ GREEN UPDATE.

I heart Waushaun Ealey. and Caleb King.
Hale:

PROBLEM SOLVES ITSELF
After being flagged for 11 penalties last week and three in the first quarter against Auburn, the tide suddenly turned and Georgia was whistled for just one more infraction the rest of the game.

-- Brandon Boykin set a team record for kick returns in the first half. He had three returns in the game for 52 yards, giving him 30 returns this season. Gene Washington (1974) and Asher Allen (2007) held the old mark of 28.

-- Georgia is now 16-0 under Mark Richt in games when they do not have a turnover.

On that kickoff Auburn returned for a touchdown, Logan Gray was the last-chance safety, until he got blocked into the earth.** Logan Gray should never, ever be our last line of defense.

While I'm at it, while Branden Smith touching the football is a very good thing, Branden Smith lined up at tailback in the I formation when we're backed up near our goal line is not.

** Apologies. The Senator found some YouTube of that kickoff return and Logan Gray was not blocked into the earth. He was simply blocked, and then he fell down on his own. Criticism withdrawn. Play him at every position as often as possible.

"The Gang gets Invincible"

Top 10, bar none.

Stab Auburn, cue the riot police

Georgia Sports Blog:

If you're thinking of going to the game Saturday you have a choice to make. Are you going to support the Dawgs and be part of the solution, or are you going to throw gas on an open flame?

Ordinarily I endorse throwing gasoline on an open flame. And if you can do that in a positive way this weekend, well you already know what you're doing.

Gross like Auburn.

I like this story about how Burger King franchises are suing Burger King for making them sell hamburgers for $1. From The Associated Press:

While costs vary by location, the $1 double cheeseburger typically costs franchisees at least $1.10, said Dan Fitzpatrick, a Burger King franchisee from South Bend, Ind. who is a spokesman for the association. That includes about 55 cents for the cost of the meat, bun, cheese and toppings. The remainder typically covers expenses such as rent, royalties and worker wages.

That's going to make it hard to eat at Burger King.

Facebook: Still the devil

I hate Facebook. And, if you're on Facebook, there's a pretty good chance I hate you, too. From L.I. Board Chairman Brett Unzicker:



"I don't care that you 'wish you were still in bed' or 'just had a BLT' or 'CAN'T WAIT TIL FRIDAY!'"

Folks, it was Tennessee Tech

There is no second sentence. We'd better have things ready to go against Auburn, because they're not a high school team.

The Dawgbone

Awesome.



I don't know why The Dawgbone seems to be reporting from 1969, but it seems appropriate, given our current won/loss record territory.

For the record, the media guide records a bad, bad loss to Nebraska on Dec. 20, 1969. The one tie that year came in Jacksonville.

1969 (5-5-1)
Coach: Vince Dooley
Capts.: Steve Greer, DG; Daniel Lee (Def.)

1970 (5-5-0)
Coach: Vince Dooley
Capt.: Tommy Lyons, C; Charley Whittemore (Off.); Billy Darby (Def.)

1971 (11-1-0)
Coach: Vince Dooley
Capt.: Royce Smith, OG; Kendall Kendall Keith (Off.); Mixon Robinson (Def.

An 11-1 Alabama team won the SEC Title in 1971.

Magic mouth guards: I'll take 94,000

Somewhere during Monday night's Falcons-Saints game Jon Gruden started talking about these mouth guards the Saints were wearing that align their jaws and result in increased flexibility, jumping ability and general cold-wreckindness (9 second mark).

And it sounds like a bunch of crap. Except that the Saints are awesome. And I mean Awesome. And Gruden and the rest of the Monday Night announcing team said they tested these things, which increased their range of motion.

From Makkar:

The Makkar PPM™ naturally aligns the athlete's jaw, and in doing so, has been shown to enhance explosive power, balance, range of motion, flexibility, endurance and oxygen flow during training and competition, allowing the user to maximize their performance.

The process of properly aligning the jaw position is based on the principles of Neuro-muscular Dentistry, which indicate that a “good” bite is achieved when the muscles of the face, jaw and neck are allowed to be at their most efficient state, which is a restful state. What we have observed, and demonstrate time and again, is an immediate improvement in posture, range of motion, flexibility, balance, and strength. Our users have reported to us increased endurance and faster recovery.

We believe that these results flow from a combination of factors, including a more efficiently functioning neuromusculature, and enhanced oxygen flow through an increased airway. The various and many testimonials by prominent athletes in several sports appear elsewhere on this website. They all relate immediate and substantial improvement in performance.

We have in hand results of a research study performed by a reputable US College with funding from us that compared the results of a traditionally-fitted custom mouthguard with a PPM™. We will be in a position to release the full research report shortly.

Dear Coach Richt: Holy shit, buy all of these now.

For a Few Dollars More

We live in a world where you can watch a Clint Eastwood movie that I can, I don't know, basically email to you.

Surely the Georgia Bulldogs can impress me in that world.

Dan: When was the last time we had a game that really impressed you?

Joe: There were a lot of those at the end of 2007.

I smell blackout!

Too soon?

Auburn game to kickoff at 7 p.m., per the state of Alabama's only 3 newspapers.

Richt sticks with Cox. Is he sticking a fork in 2010?

Coach Richt says Joe Cox will remain the team's starting quarterback, according to Marc Weiszer at The Banner-Herald:

"It was unanimous among our staff that Joe gives us the best chance to win and that's where our focus needs to be," Richt said in a statement. "There's still a lot of football left this season. We tell our players to finish the drill and we are committed to doing that this week and each week the remainder of the season. We have faith in Joe that he gives us the best opportunity to do that. At the same time, we do plan on Logan Gray getting some playing time this week at quarterback."

That is incredibly disheartening. No one wants to give up on a season. The 2009 senior class deserves the team's best efforts to win. But so does the 2010 senior class. And the 2011.

If Joe Cox and Logan Gray are unanimously thought more viable than Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger, and so much so that neither of the freshmen merits playing time at the end of a disintegrated season, we are truly in the kind of trouble that lasts for years.

How have we failed to recruit better quarterback play than what we've seen on the field this year?

By the way, A.J. Green, who deserves to have someone competent throw him passes, is injured and will sit out Saturday against Tennessee Tech, according to The AJC.

Time to start thinking about next season, part 2

"I can't believe the black helmets weren't more effective."
- Dan Starnes, l.i. bureau of analysis chief.

I should probably be more upset about the black helmets and pants. But I can't say that I am. At least that was a reasonable football game, aside from all our first quarter penalties and shenanigans.

We played a really good football team that may have played it's most complete game of the season against us. That it got out of hand should be absolutely no surprise

Dan: We have really gone back.

Me: It's amazing how fast it happened, isn't it?

The time to beat Florida is in the off season, on the recruiting trail and through team preparation. I will assume this coaching staff knows that, but absent enough of it, went for the black pants and helmets any way. And I'm not sure it's a hindrance, except for the heat Richt knows he will take.

We didn't really deserve to be competitive with Florida, and we weren't. Even their punter might be better than ours.

With a running game, the offensive play calling certainly looked better. But Joe Cox still isn't the answer. You hate to judge poor Logan Gray based on the end of that Florida game, but he doesn't look like an answer, either. I say bring on Aaron Murray against Tenn. Tech, let's see what we're looking at here.

"I've never played a down of football in my life, but I think that maybe a short and intermediate passing game might be really effective against Georgia."
- Starnes

Tim Tebow is a class act and one of the greatest players in the history of the game. Florida is one hell of a football team.

I was hoping that would go like Rocky IV, where Rocky beats the invincible Russian. Instead it went like Rocky IV, where the Russian kills Apollo Creed.
- Me

Remember how happy Coach Richt made people when he all but promised to always wear silver pants? He's losing people, and this stunt doesn't help. From a Red & Black history piece:

The thought of substituting the silver for red or even black pants now, like Dooley experimented with in the '80s, does not sit well with players and coaches.

"That's one thing I've told the guys, we're 'silver britches,'" head coach Mark Richt said.

Oh, well.

Time to start thinking about next season

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
by PigLips

That should just about cover it for now.