there are no metaphors for that

I still can't believe we lose to a bunch of chas henrys.

Game highlights are below.


Courtsey CBS on Veoh.Watch 1:09 to 1:16 a few times, you'll feel better.*


*lie

Damn you, Chas Henry

That the guy who finally beat us tonight is named "Chas" is emblamatic of two decades.

That was an exciting, soul-crushing game between two mediocre teams with some great talents. I thought Urban Meyer's heart would explode before mine, but I was wrong.

Perhaps A.J. Green needed more chances to stiff-arm him in it.

We are now 47-40-2 against Florida, which makes their 18-of-21 streak even more remarkable.

Huff, 4th quarter: I'm about to have an aneurysm.

We have personnel issues on defense. Murray finally looked life a freshman, albeit one who makes NFL throws. Overall, the offense is rounding into shape, which is obviously a problem in November.

The first few games it seemed like the bounces didn't go our way. The next three they did, and we won. Against Florida it seemed like they went our way, and we blew it.

That is, to re-iterate again, heart breaking.

Get ready for a fight

Dawgs by one following 17 overtimes.

SEC Fan: PAC-10 is "sissy football"

Listen to this phone call into some California radio station.

There is almost no part of it that I don't love, and that includes the part where the guy says SEC teams are better than the NFL.

Finally, my highest and best use

I'm a largely out-of-work / freelance newspaper reporter, so I check journalismjobs.com just about every day for opportunities.

I may have discovered the best possible use of my talents for the Bulldog Nation:

Company: University of Florida
Position: Presidential speechwriter/science writer
Location: Gainesville, Florida

About the job:

The University of Florida News Bureau seeks a presidential speechwriter and science writer. Duties include researching and writing speeches for the president for use at events such as building dedications, conferences, donor events, university assemblies and assorted presentations in academic, professional and governmental settings.

Science writing duties include producing news releases about UF science and technology research; identifying scholarly research for potential stories; interviewing researchers; writing and editing stories; arranging photographs and video to accompany stories.

Other duties include researching and producing written material for the engineering dean and and the vice president for research and dean of the graduate school upon request. Such material may include op-ed articles, columns, speeches or back-up material for speeches.

Apply at jobs.ufl.edu, click on "Staff Positions" and search for requisition number 0806305.

Bernie Machen strikes me as a smart man. But, who knows, maybe he'll read anything you put on a teleprompter.

Cam Newton may not be glad he left Florida, but I am

"If it was up to me, I would still want to be at Florida," Newton said earlier this week.
- Mark Schlabach, ESPN

Me: I'm scared of him at Auburn too, though.

Joe: Florida's off this week, right? Plotting, practicing, getting faster.

Cam Newton and the window

Far be it from me to point you to something you're likely to see anyway, but this, from EDSBS, is absolutely hilarious:

A LIST OF THINGS CAM NEWTON THROWS OUT THE WINDOW

Since it seems Cameron Newton did indicate people could throw the Heisman out the window, you have to wonder if he is in fact the master of irony, as well as linebackers.

Hat tip, Words Tumbl Down.

Hines Ward continues up NFL record books

With this play yesterday, Hines Ward moved to second all-time in Steeler touchdowns, passing Jerome Bettis. His 81 touchdowns place him behind only Franco Harris, who scored 100 for the Steelers.

Perhaps more impressive, Ward has also tied Art Monk for fourth place in NFL history by catching a ball in 183 consecutive NFL games.

Next on the list (per official NFL stats) is Terrell Owens with 185, Marvin Harrison with 190 and Jerry Rice with an amazing 274.















Strong. Image: Keith Srakocic, AP, via georgiadogs.com.

The SEC East: all is madness and regret

Shouldas, wouldas and couldas aside, is it at all reasonable to expect us to beat Kentucky, Florida and Auburn, and for South Carolina to lose two more SEC games?

I don't think so, either. But hope is a wonderful thing to have granted by Steve Spurrier's greed, even if it's just salt in your wounds.

(2-2 in the SEC) South Carolina's remaining schedule:

10/23/10 at Vanderbilt
10/30/10 vs. Tennessee
11/06/10 vs. Arkansas
11/13/10 at Florida
11/20/10 vs. Troy
11/27/10 at Clemson

Update: This, from a comment thread on Get The Picture, probably sums it up best:

devildawg, October 16, 2010 at 10:16 PM

It’s gonna happen!!!

AmpedDawg, October 16, 2010 at 10:37 PM

Not unless Cam Newton decides he needs another good deal on a laptop.

Dear Washaun, ditch the 3

If I'm Washaun Ealey, there is no way I come out against Vandy wearing the No. 3 jersey.

Remember last year, when Washaun wore No. 24 and didn't run into any parked cars or fumble the ball inside the 5 yard line? Honestly, if my name is "Washaun" and rhymes with "Knowshon" I'm sticking with 24 for my full career at Georgia.

But he didn't. And Ken Malcome's got the 24 jersey now, according to Rivals' Georgia roster. So let me suggest a temporary fix: Someone's going to be wearing the 31 jersey Saturday. Might as well be the guy trying to shake off a jinx.

Update: I'm not the first person to suggest this. Nor am I the first this week.

What we needed: Big Bad Bruce

There's only one position in the University of Georgia Athletic Department I put more responsibility on than the head football coach. And this kid looks ready for the job.


Image: Georgiadogs.com

17-21-2 vs. Tennessee

41-14, Georgia. Journeys begin with a step in the right direction. Here's to being .500 when we face Florida.

Though you'd be silly if you didn't say "where was that the last five weeks," and then disparage Tennessee.

Me: Cue the headlines: Thank you, Jill in Hoschton.

Boss Bailey:

“Boss, he pretty much called them out,” Richt said after Georgia's 41-14 rout of Tennessee. “But he did it in a way that was very compassionate. You could tell it was very obvious that he loved Georgia. It was obvious that he loved those guys. But he felt like he needed to tell them that they weren’t playing ball the way ball should be played here at Georgia."

BACK TO THIS

This is what we are working toward. And The University of Georgia has fallen off.

I say return to awesome. You don't start that against Tennessee and finish by Tuesday, but you damn sure have to start. And I don't care what anyone says from the outside, because I don't care about anything but wins.

To the University of Georgia cheerleader pictured, I apologize for not asking your permission. And to the photographer too, I suppose.

But, ma'am, you're an Internet legend.

Our women have always been the best of us. Especially when we don't tackle.





Look, I realize the team wasn't that good when this photo was taken. It's a metaphor, alright? Either work with me, or start tackling. Greg McGarity seems to know the kind of stuff I'm talking about.

Schultz: Dawgs just as strong as opponents

Surely, Jeff Schultz, you don't believe this:

1.) Recruiting: Some believe Georgia isn’t getting the athletes it used to. Bunk. Watch the games. The Bulldogs are no slower or weaker or smaller than their opponents. Recruiting services have had Georgia’s classes in or near the top 10 annually. If you believed them before, don’t stop believing them now just because it’s convenient.

Slower? No. Smaller? I'm not sure. But weaker? We are obviously weaker some of the teams we've played. Painfully obviously.

I can't say how much of that is recruiting versus the state of our strength and conditioning program versus other factors. But how anyone could watch this season play out and conclude that the Dawgs are as strong as their opponents is beyond me.

Update: Mr. Schultz was kind enough to respond:

I agree, they are being pushed around. But we differ on reason: attitude and coaching. (And yes, strength coach might be a part of this.) Point is it's not that there was a problem when athletes were recruited.

I agree to a point. But you can't talk about a strength problem without at least analyzing recruiting. In the system we've moved to you depend on linebackers. And when folks are running up the middle against you, middle linebackers.

I don't know that we've set the world on fire the last few years recruiting linebackers. The bottom line is that it's all a problem, and it all needs work.

Humility returns, but will progress?

If you need a reminder, other than our record, or partial recall of the last four games, of how bad things have gotten in Bulldog Nation, there's one on full display this morning.

We are excited because our coach went on the radio and agreed with people about the obvious shortcomings we've displayed, then said he'd actually try something different to fix them.

That taking advice from "Jill in Hoschton" may, in fact, be progress fills me with nearly equal parts hope and distress.

I remember shortly after Coach Richt was hired, and we screwed up with the clock at home against Auburn. Richt took full responsibility and it was the first time in a long time I'd heard a Georgia coach say, That happened because of me, and it won't happen again.

That was progress. Sadly, though, the mea culpas returned a few years ago, with less ability to inspire confidence. And then a stubbornness seemed to creep into Coach Richt's comments - a stubbornness that some feel evaporated before last night's bulldog hotline. Repeatedly gtting your ass kicked can have that effect.

Here's Paul Westerdawg's outlook following the call-in show:

I can tell you that I'm an extreme skeptic related to the rhetoric from our coaching staff. I was incredibly encouraged. Richt sounded passionate, and he sounded sincerely humble.

For the first time this season including before the ULL game, my optimism and hope for the season is based on something other than a weak schedule and a belief that "Murray can't be worse than Cox / Grantham can't be worse than Martinez."

I think a lot of reasonable people feel that way this morning. They hope because they want to, and maybe because they need to. They want Richt to succeed. They want to have it all. The good man, the good coach and the winning program.

And they know that, as bad as things are, if we have to move Richt out and start over, things will get worse before they get better.

My hope has been kicked in the face too many times. I will be in Sanford Stadium Saturday, but fear my heart will be made of stone. I agree with Tony Barnhart. We are "at the point where the team needs to lift its fans."

I also agree that Coach Richt has absolutely earned the right to turn this thing around, whether it be Saturday, or some time in 2011.

Now, does that stand, no matter what? Let's see how the rest of the season goes.

Agreed: Redding is full of it

Let me just agree with The Senator on this: Rogers Redding is ridiculous.

“We’re always going to allow that immediate, initial, spontaneous burst of emotion,” Redding said. “These are teenagers that are playing a game that is very emotional.

“It would be so technical and so over-officiating to have called anything like that at the very end of the game.”

You still owe A.J. Green an apology, Redding.

The dregs: How bad it can get

This historic slide we are on could very easily reach epic proportions.

From The AJC:

A loss Saturday against Tennessee would stretch the Bulldogs' losing streak to five games, which would be Georgia's longest within one season in more than a half-century.

The last time it happened was 1953, when the Dogs lost their final five games.

That's pretty bad. But this is my personal favorite, from The Banner-Herald:

A Georgia loss would send the Bulldogs to their first 1-5 start since 1905.

It feels like we're in a shopping cart hurtling downhill, with just a shadow of a hint of a promise of control. Hat tip on that second link to the senator.

Run down, lied to

Losses are usually the result of a lot of little things. In the past, in the good years, they stemmed from various small and difficult-to-define things. And, watching, you didn't feel like they'd repeat themselves in generally the same combination the entire season.

Now we can see clearly what the problems are, and they're intrinsic to the current program. And there are so many of them that it's less time consuming, and appropriate, to just say "we're terrible" and blame Coach Richt.

Joe: Who on earth is a better coach than Nick Saban and Urban Meyer?

"It goes downhill fast, apparently."

- Joe

Happy Gameday Eve

It is so beautiful outside, I almost can't remember we're 1-3.

Happy Gameday Eve, Bulldog Nation. Someday everything's gonna sound like a rhapsody.

Joe: If we lose this game, and you're Greg McGarity, do you just set the plan on fire in Denver? Or do you like keep 10 guys and say, "Alright, now I'm the head coach and the quarterback."