As feared, Owens gone for the year

From Coach Richt's Sunday teleconference, per David Hale.

As excited as I am about our young tackles, that is a big whammy.

UPDATE: Jeff Owens is the freaking man. And the only silver lining I see in losing him on the field is knowing how hard he's going to work off the field to make this defense better. From David Hale:

On whether he's angry about the injury:
"It's all in the game. It's football. It's going to happen. I take a risk of getting hurt every time I step on the field. I know there's a risk, and I know that injuries happen. I've just got to come through it, fight through it and get back healthy. Injuries are going to come. I'm not looking down on myself thinking, if this is gonna happen, if that had happened. It's football."

On how well Corvey Irvin will replace him:
"No doubt in my mind he can do it. As a matter of fact, I look up to Corvey. He might not know it, but he pushes me. We both motivate each other. I know he's going to take over my role and be a leader of this defense."

On how well the D-line will do without him:
"They're still great. I was just a small piece of the pie. They're way bigger than me, and they're going to blow up this season."

Sanford: In red and pretty hot

I made a complete circuit around the stadium yesterday, which I think is a first for me. I regret not taking a picture of the cups.





And a good red one from Chris:

Go Dawgs: 1-0 edition

"Don’t get me wrong; I’m not displeased with this afternoon’s effort. I’m not even not pleased in any meaningful way, if that makes sense."
- T. Kyle King

It does.

USC is the No. 1 team in the nation.

I'd loved to have been in the planning meeting when someone said: "You know what we should do with the cups this year? Make 'em black." Yeah, and put a panoramic picture of the stadium and Uga VI on them. Untoppable.


Uga VII: Pimp. But I repeat myself. Image: The Banner-Herald.

Knowshon Moreno was by far the best player on the field today.

Losing Jeff Owens would be huge. Can you lose arguably your best offensive and defensive linemen before the first conference game and really win a national title?

My "give it a few games before I fall for the A.J. Green hype strategy" is officially suspended.

Great photography from The Banner Herald today. Kris Durham in Sanford Stadium picture.

With all apologies and good luck to Jon Richt, Clemson was terrible Saturday. I'm not looking forward to watching their season.
















Clemson and Tommy Bowden: One doesn't constantly fail to meet expectations or charge you $2.25 million a year.

Arkansas: Couldn't have happened to a better guy. Wait, they won? Virginia Tech lost?

The ACC: Will further lower expectations for another Wake Forest BCS bowl birth.

Bama fans are talking about how they could win a National Title this year. They can't.

The mythology of the Uga mascot line is something else. How is it we've convinced ourselves that the dog is winning games?

Phrase used by Stadium Announcer Tom Jackson during Uga VII's collaring ceremony: "The transfer of power."

Also injured: Macklin at Missouri? Beanie Williams. The concept of "Beamer Ball."

Introducing Uga VII

Destined to be a damn good Dawg.







Image and story: georgiadogs.com

A last farewell to Uga VI

The Athletic Department has released Uga VI's epitath:

UGA VI GEORGIA MASCOT (1999 – 2008)

KIND WITH A BIG HEART THAT FINALLY PLAYED OUT

• TWO SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
• NINE BOWL GAMES
• FOOTBALL RECORD 87-27
• 19 NATIONAL TITLES
• 34 SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS

“A BIG DOG FOR A BIG JOB, AND HE HANDLED IT WELL”

Beat the rush: The perfect option

Is there another college football program in America that consistently puts out stuff that its fans apparently take seriously, but their rivals just make fun of?

Imagine what a pair of "Georgia tech rappers" would look like. Then click here.

I feel legitimately sorry for old school Georgia tech fans. How often must they just shake their heads in embarrassment?

UPDATE: I gotta tell you, though. That song is catchy.

1 day to go: Let's go get more of these

It's football season

I think I hope Lou Holtz gets hit by a truck tonight.

South Carolina and N.C. State's offenses are just terrible.

Oregon State-Stanford is on, allowing me to flip between two college football games on a Thursday night. I'd forgotten how glorious this is.

Barack Obama's speech: "Meh."

Steve Spurrier: Still a jerk.

Chris Fowler: "Haven't seen a game in Commodore Stadium. Looking forward to it."

Uh, OK.

2 days and counting

2005 South Carolina.


Blackout.

2.5 days and counting: Real time photo edition

Lucid Idiocy Athens Correspondent Chris Brusko checks in: The field is painted... the chair backs are in place... all that is missing is us.



UPDATE: Clearly letting the prestigious L.I. Correspondent title go to his head, Chris has started a blog. If he gets our tailgate on ESPN, I'll let it go. Wait, would that be a good thing?

7th Year Senior.

3 days and counting: Moving pictures edition

Madhouse -> The Take Out -> Gov. Perdue -> Coach Richt -> Madhouse

Anyone looking for actual football highlights in their videos today should go here now.

Tailgating readiness: Checklist edition

A friend of mine made a gameday checklist. And if I can help just one person not forget the flagpole stand by publishing her list, my work here will be a success.

Personal Items:
___ Red & Black attire
___ Gameday skivvies
___ Comfortable shoes
___ Georgia face “G’s”
___ Toothpaste/toothbrush
___ Toiletries
___ Gold Bond (Medicated)
___ Pajamas
___ Blankets, pillows, sleeping bags
___ Funny movies

Tailgating Essentials:
___ Food and beer or money for food and beer
___ Money for tickets (if applicable)
___ Coolers
___ Cups & koozies
___ Cigarettes and other health-depleting items
___ Beer (keg or BYOB), Andre, water
___ Gameday music (pre-mixed)
___ Chairs
___ Tables
___ Miscellaneous games and other bad ideas
___ Cameras
___ Advil
___ Georgia flag, flagpole
___ American flag, flagpole
___ Flagpole stand
___ Tent
___ Trashbags (including one for recycling)

Game time Necessities:
___ Tickets
___ Student IDs (if applicable)
___ Diet Coke
___ Whiskey
___ Wins

Alcohol: On there three times for a reason.


Flaming Steve Spurrier pinata: optional, but recommended.
Awesome friends: a must.

Uga VII: male, 3 years old, 56.5 pounds

"An excellent dog."

Ed Grisamore here at The Telegraph has the details this morning:

"It wasn't a beauty contest," he said. "We had three to choose from, and we took our time. We've got an excellent dog. We're not going to put a puppy out there to fill that collar. He is 3 years old. He is Uga VI's son. And he is almost full-grown (56.5 pounds)."

The world won't see his mug until this weekend. In the meantime, the best sneak peek is a picture of his famous daddy.

"He's the spitting image of VI," Sonny said.

So something like this:





Uga VI as a young Dawg. Image: The Telegraph.

If Lewis Grizzard was a blogger they'd have to invent a new word for it

At last count there were 517 Georgia blogs. Including this one, and this one, both of which I recently discovered.

But any blog that pays tribute to Lewis Grizzard right there in the title deserves special mention. Bubba 'n Earl Sittin' on the 50.

Georgia tech at the Orange Bowl. Riiiiiggghhhht.

Oh, techies. You buy one 3-game ticket package and they send you emails to make fun of for years. From "Georgia tech Athletics." Yahoo! put it in quotes, not me:

ORANGE HAS NO LIMITS...win a trip to the 75th FedEx Orange Bowl

Enter now for a chance to win a trip to the 75th FedEx Orange Bowl - Home of the ACC Champion.

One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive:

-3 night hotel stay
-2 FedEx Orange Bowl tickets - Jan 1, 2009
-1 parking pass for FedEx Orange Bowl
-2 Tailgate Party tickets - Jan 1, 2009
-2 roundtrip airline tickets
-1 rental car

For FedEx Orange Bowl Ticket Package information, contact 305.341.4701 or visit www.orangebowl.org.

On an unshocking related note, tech still has tickets available to Thursday's season opener. They'll run you $12.

4 days and counting

Sometimes it gets blurry in the 4th.

Tailgating readiness: Save the Earth and campus edition.

The University will be running a pilot gameday recycling program on North Campus this year.

That's good news, considering the recyclables generated at the average tailgate could probably power downtown Winterville for a year*. There have been some unofficial efforts in the past to recycle on gamedays, but since they were volunteer efforts the follow through has been spotty.

American Stadium Services, which has the contract to clean Sanford Stadium and campus after the games, will have staff on North Campus during the tailgates this year, according to co-owner Bill Fox. They'll be picking up recyclables and trash to get a jump on things before kickoff and up til about half time, he said.

When it comes to recycling, it'll be dual stream. That means paper products in one bag and cans, bottles and plastics in another, he said. I didn't ask about Solo Cups (you know, the red ones), but generally those aren't recyclable. Clear plastic cups and plastic water bottles, though, are.

If you're not on North Campus, you can still recycle. I know we plan to this year. All you really need is an extra trash bag and a little sign telling people to use it.

The University has recycling bins on campus, and this map shows the locations. Again, this is dual stream - one bag for paper products (including cardboard) and another for glass, cans and plastic.

Stuff with a lot of food residue should probably just be thrown away.

Hell, you might be able to just bag the stuff up, mark it, and leave it. George Stafford, the University's associate vice president for auxiliary and administrative services, said one of the biggest trash problems comes from people going through trash cans looking for aluminum cans. They end up dumping out all the trash in the search.

If you just leave your recyclables marked, maybe they won't do that anymore.

* Completely made up statement.

5 days and counting

Can you believe it? It's here.


Vs. Oklahoma State last year. Yes, we played Oklahoma St. last year.

6(:09) days and counting

From the 2004 tech game. We beat them 19-13 on a cold and rainy day.


Self portrait.


Had we been playing Tennessee, this sky would have been a problem.

The Herschel Walker envelope

For $7 you can get a special U.S. Post Office envelope adorned with The Goal Like Stalker's image and accomplishments. Who knew?




Image and story: The Macon Telegraph.