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Just like everyone predicted, the Cam Newton story just won't go away quietly. There might not be any wrong-doing discovered when everything is all said and done, but a lot of entertainment will sure have been derived from it. Flim Flam By Damn, Cam!
It is true that the Georgia State football team never quit Thursday night in their humbling loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. But, actually, they never should have started. Not this game anyway. I realize GSU needed the payout from a Division I school, but why begin with the defending National Champions? Georgia State has been in the football business only a few months; Alabama's been in it a 100 years. The Panthers were intimidated from the beginning, not to mention being out-manned, over-matched and overwhelmed. Use all the 'outs' and 'overs' you want to imply. I can't see that either team got anything out of this game, other than revenue. I don't fault Bill Curry for daring to dream big, but I do fault him for not being more selective. For instance, it would have been a much closer game to just stay in Atlanta and take on Georgia Tech. Closer travel and closer score. Just saying...
Northwestern University will play a "home game" against the University of Illinois at historic Wrigley Field Saturday. Why not? For 50 years Wrigley was home to the Chicago Bears before they made their move out to Soldier Field. There is legitimate concern about a couple of 'tight spots' with the field layout, but officials don't see them as a big injury risk for the players. It should be a great atmosphere for college football at the venerable old stadium. It's good to see the two schools agree to playing there. A sell-out crowd of 40,000 is expected to be on hand. It should be good for college football.
Auburn's Nick Fairley might be the best defensive lineman in the country. He also might be the dirtiest defensive lineman in the country. And he doesn't need to be. He's good enough to not be out of control. But he is out of control, and he is a dirty player. He can dominate the line of scrimmage and overpower any offensive lineman he faces. He doesn't have to commit late hits on quarterbacks in defenseless positions. But is does, because he is a dirty football player. He's a great college football player, but he's a college football player with no class. His game needs no refining, but his act sure needs some cleaning up. I wonder if that's possible.
Les Miles was on the proverbial 'Coaches Hot Seat' not too long ago. Now he's just making the seat a little hotter for all the other coaches in the Southeastern Conference. Last Saturday, Miles reached into his bag of tricks and called a 4th down double-pitch reverse against mighty Alabama to clinch a victory over the Crimson Tide. Love him or hate him, Miles comes out every Saturday to W-I-N. In the resounding words of Herm Edwards: "You play to win the game", and Lucky Les does just that. I know he needs to wear a cap a size or two bigger, but I guess the little headwear just adds to his unique, if not marred, persona. Perhaps only Tommy Tubberville, when he was at Auburn, took more 4th down gambles than Miles. His intensity on the sidelines is no masquerade; he's definitely in it to win it. His 8-1 Tigers have two more SEC games remaining on their schedule. Stay tuned for the Mad Hatter's next stunning move.
If you're a Georgia fan, you gotta try to have fun with this year's game somehow...
It does not matter how a team gets into the playoffs. The main thing is to get in. Period. The Atlanta Braves are indeed in, by virtue of the Wild Card spot. They will open Thursday night in San Francisco against the Giants. It is true that the Braves are 'limping' into this post-season because they carry with them injuries galore. However, when you get into a short series, anything can happen. Especially if your starting pitching holds up and you get some timely, clutch hitting. So Bobby Cox has the deserving opportunity to lead his Braves into post-season play one more time. He's earned this trip, and so has his over-achieving club.
A.J Green spoke today about selling his jersey. Basically, reading between the lines, he said he knew it was wrong, he didn't think he would get caught, and he needed the $1,000 for spring break. He obviously didn't think about his team of Georgia Bulldogs in the process either. I understand Green is a really good kid, but I'm tired of college athletes doing things the wrong way. Especially when they hurt their team's chances of winning in the process. I'm certainly not implying Georgia's record would be better if Green had been in the lineup, but it sure as heck wouldn't be worse. As far as I'm concerned, he owes it to his university to return to Georgia next year and play a full season, but we all know that isn't going to happen. One thing that puzzles me though is if he needed the money for spring break, that means he spent it during spring break. But he says he gave $1,000 to charity as retribution for his transgression. So where did the "second" $1,000 come from? Hummm.....
When the Georgia Bulldogs met the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville tonight, they were two ravished pack of 'Dog' football teams going against each other in conference play. Since the State Dogs prevailed over the canines from Athens, I suppose Georgia has to wear the crown of "Sorriest Dogs". The Georgia program, now o-3 in the Southeastern Conference, has sunk to a new low in its proud football history. Not since 1993 have the Bulldogs felt the sting of such inadequacies. On a night when Georgia should have defeated State by three touchdowns, they only defeated themselves. The teams Georgia has defeated regularly and is still expected to defeat, they aren't even being competitive with. The Mark Richt era is now experiencing territory that all Georgia fans believed we wouldn't visit for a very long time. That time has arrived. Now how long will it last?
If I'm Frank Wren (above), general manager of the Atlanta Braves, I just might be inclined to look to Ebay for some help in selling off some unwanted goods. Just list Nate McLouth, Kenshin Kawakami, Rick Ankiel, and Melky Cabrera and see if anyone will bid anything for these guys. Take the two Derreks (& Derek), Lee and Lowe respectively, and see if we can get a stud center fielder for them. If not, just throw the above mentioned four in for good measure and see if there are any takers at that point. However, whatever you do, don't come to spring training with these same guys. Enough is actually too much in this case. I can't for the life of me understand why McLouth (McOut) continues to remain in the Braves starting lineup. By the way, did you happen to see that tremendous throw he didn't make to the cutoff man in the eighth inning last night in a tie ballgame? Atrocious. Rick Ankiel can't hit his way to the toilet, mainly because his game is already in there. Speaking of toilets, Atlanta just flushed away $20+ million on Kawakami, who can't even make a Triple A roster. Melky is a nice guy, but I would rather platoon Matt Diaz instead, regardless of which side of the plate they stand on. As for the two "Dereks", they are busts and they need to go and help pull down some other team next year. And yes, we are already talking about next year because now the Braves certainly aren't a smart bet in Vegas to even make the playoffs as the Wild Card this year. Sorry Bobby, but you had a hand in this as well.
Atlanta's Matt Diaz performed a one-knee take down on an intrusive fan in Philadelphia last night. The red spandex clad fan ran onto the playing field in the bottom of the seventh inning in a crucial game between the Braves and Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. He eluded security guards until Diaz brought him down. He was then apprehended and removed from the field of play. Diaz actually received an ovation from the Philly faithful. Imagine that...
Zero and two in the Southeastern Conference. Zero and two will make 'Bulldog Red' turn blue. And where do we go from here? Mediocrity has a tendency to sour with age if not escaped from. I hope Georgia can perform a Houdini act and escape from this funk of being, at best, mediocre.
Let me assure you, when Georgia meets Arkansas in Athens Saturday it will be a must win situation for the Bulldogs. It became a big game as soon as the schedules were released, and it became a must win as soon as the lights went out on the Dawgs in Carolina last Saturday. If Georgia opens up the season with two consecutive SEC defeats, the heat and pressure on this team and coaching staff will be up in the unbearable vicinity. Two SEC losses would be next to impossible to recover from this year. It would mean that the Bulldogs really have declined to a second-tier conference program. None of the above would be very pretty as far as the Bulldawg Nation is concerned. But so much for the downside. If Georgia does prevail 'Between the Hedges' Saturday afternoon, things start to look bright in the classic city once again. The Eastern Division title hopes are rekindled, and order would be restored. We have to admit, for the first time in forever, the East is down this year. In addition, UGA's Western schedule isn't as tough as it has been in recent years. There is plenty of light at the end of this tunnel at this point. With all of that being said, Georgia must improve as a football team in EVERY phase of the game. They must play much better than they did against South Carolina. Furthermore, they must become a team that improves week by week, every week. If that happens, everything will turn out to be "dawglicious". If not, get the women and children off the street 'cause this could get ugly...
Check this out sports fans: Georgia Tech loses to unranked Kansas, Florida State gets demolished by Oklahoma, Miami is throttled by Ohio State, and highly ranked Virginia Tech is ambushed by FCS program James Madison. On a single Saturday when the ACC could have stepped up and proven itself as an elite football conference, they fell back on their true moniker of 'basketball conference'. For example, "Yellow Tech's" defeat was at the hands of a Jayhawks team who was working on a two-season eight game losing streak. Both Miami and FSU were expected to compete evenly with OSU and Oklahoma respectively. But the Seminoles were blown out and the Hurricanes lost by a not close twelve. The Hokies of Virginia Tech was to be the premier program of the conference, instead they are 0-2 after succumbing to a program they should have handled easily. But the good news for these four benchmark programs is that they get to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference where the competition week in and week out is weaker than a Mike's Hard Lemonade. But be careful, Wake Forest upset Duke in your own powerful conference yesterday. Now all of you boys go have a fine season, because somebody has to play in the ACC Championship Game. And basketball season is looming large...
The Cincinnati Reds honored Pete Rose Saturday on the 25th anniversary of his record setting hit number 4,192. Rose, who is 69, made a rare on-field appearance and stood at first base waving to a cheering crowd. The Reds had not previously been allowed to hold any on-field ceremonies to honor Rose or his achievements in the game. The lifetime ban from baseball that he agreed to for gambling on the game leaves his involvement to nothing more than the ordinary fan. I think it's time for Pete Rose to be pardoned and inducted into the Hall of Fame. He's paid a stiff price for a high crime, but the "Hits King" belongs in the Hall. I've never been a rider on the Rose bandwagon, but we'll never see anyone break that record for many years, if ever. He needs to be elected for that alone, but also for the way he played the game. No player ever loved playing baseball more than Rose, and not many ever played it better. Certainly no one with more hustle and enthusiasm. Go ahead and put the guy in the Hall of Fame. He deserves it because he was one of the best baseball players ever. Besides, there's probably no one in there now who doesn't have a few skeletons in their closets as well.
Bruce Pearl lied to the NCAA. That's like one of the Corleones lying to the Godfather. He tearfully admitted as much. But he won't lose his life or a limb for his transgressions to the governing body as he would have to the head of a crime family. Come to think of it, he is the head of a crime family: The University of Tennessee. So what punishment hath UT bequest upon Mr. Pearl? It seems he will have his salary docked $1.5 million over five years. In perspective, Pearl made $1.9 million in 2009-10. He is guaranteed a $200,000 per year raise thru the 2014-2015 season, and will receive a $500,000 longevity bonus after the 2012-2013 season. So basically he forfeits his annual raises and his longevity bonus. No sanctions, no suspension for Pearl? His only restriction is that he cannot recruit off-campus for one year. Whether this is regarded as just a slap on the wrist by the university is a matter of opinion. I tend to think he came out pretty good. I'm sure coaches have been dismissed for a heck of a lot less before. The thing I am interested in seeing is how the NCAA comes down on Tennessee. Pearl is in charge of the development of a lot of young men, yet he admits to being a liar to protect his program. What kind of message is that for the lead Vol to be sending out? I hope the NCAA suspends Pearl with his time to a greater degree than the university did with regards to his money. They take away playing time from the athletes, why not take away coaching time from the coaches?
Was Fred McGriff the last player we acquired after the season started who was 'lights out' for us? Fred came to town and was everything and more we hoped he would be. He helped lead the Braves to the post-season for several years. Atlanta acquired McGriff from San Diego in July 1993, and he promptly hit a big home run in his first game with the Braves. His offensive tear continued the rest of the season, that being one of the main reasons Atlanta secured the division title that year. He remained productive for the club until 1997 when he was selected in the expansion draft by Tampa Bay. When the Braves acquired Derrek Lee from the Cubs this year for the stretch run, I was hoping Lee would be the type first baseman that McGriff was. We all know that hasn't happened yet. The acquisition of Alex Gonzalez at shortstop has not been an overwhelming move up to this point, and Rick Ankiel is not our answer in center field. By the way, Atlanta lost their precarious lead over the Phillies last night. Unless someone steps up their game like Fred McGriff did, the Wild Card may be fleeting as well.
Hutson Mason did a little burning Saturday afternoon "Between the Hedges". He burned the Louisiana Lafayette secondary for a touchdown pass on his very first collegiate attempt. Only seven other quarterbacks had ever accomplished that feat. He also removed one of the biggest question marks concerning the season by burning his redshirt as well. He is now, if he wasn't already, Georgia's backup signal caller behind Aaron Murray. And it has only been about three months since he crossed the stage at Lassiter High to receive his high school diploma. You want a little irony thrown in with the scoring pass? Logan Gray, the once quarterback turned receiver, was on the other end of Mason's pass. If Gray doesn't ask for a position change, Mason probably does sit out the game and most likely the entire season. But don't you just love a story that ends with everyone happy? Kinda makes you feel good doesn't it? Yea, all over.
Georgia 55 - Louisiana Lafayette 7: What we learned:
