Sunday, October 28
Wednesday, October 17
This Ain't Your Daddy's SEC
By: Darrell Huckaby
OK. I know I am late with this week's comments, but I got lost on my way home from Nashville. Trust me. That's the last time I will try to see Rock City.
It was a heck of a second half and a much needed win and I don't want to hear anything about it was "just Vanderbilt."
It was "just Kentucky" that brought LSU's house down on the same Saturday night. It was "just Mississippi State" that beat Auburn a few weeks ago. It was "just Ole Miss" that almost beat Florida. This ain't your daddy's Southeatern Conference, y'all.
And if you want to extend the comparisons to the nation, it was "just Stanford that beat USC" and "just Appalachian State" and on and on and on. This year any win is a big win. Especially in the conference.
Especially on the road. Especially when you are behind at half-time. Especially when you are tied and the other team is in field goal range with two minutes and change to play.
Especially when . . .well, you know all the particulars.
And having said that, let me say this. I love Georgia football and I love being a Georgia fan. Most of the time.
I go way back with the Bulldogs. I go back to Wally Butts. I started listening to games when Ed Thelineus was still asking us to "imagine the radio dial as the football field as we look at it." I cried when Theron Sapp scored the touchdown that broke the drought.
Nobody is a bigger Bulldog than me.
Oh, there are people who can afford to give more money. There are people who paint themselves up for the games. There are people who memorize more statistics and can tell you the underwear size of every high school junior that this or that scouting service hints might play on Saturdays sometime. But they aren't bigger Bulldog fans than me.
My energy and my good humor rises and falls with the Bulldogs' fortunes every week. I live for Saturday. Two of my children and all of my money go to Georgia. I have graduated from there two or three times myself, so far. Get the picture? Nobody wants Georgia to do good more than me, and I am way disappointed when they don't. Sometimes I complain and once in a great while I catch myself being critical.
But too many of our so-called fans have lost touch with reality and the garbage that has been floating around in the past couple of weeks is absolutely ridiculous and somebody needs to say something about it. I guess I am as good a somebody as any.
The people who are calling for Richt's scalp are morons. They don't know anything about the reality of college football and they don't know anything about history.
What has Richt won since arriving at Georgia? I think it is 69 games. We have won two conference championships since he got here and they are our only two since Herschel left, twenty-five years ago. We usually crack the Top Ten and even in an off year like 2006 finish in the Top 25. He is a quality person who runs a quality program and we are lucky to have him.
And he has a much better record at the same stage of his career than any of our previous coaches.
Every year is not going to be a banner year and at Georgia it never has been. Only four schools have won more games than we have in the past seven years and with all our youth, the next couple of seasons should be special. And although it won't keep the morons among us who have never been more than a spectator at any athletic event from spewing their garbage it needed saying.
Now, back to Vandy. I have finally gotten to be like a lot of the rest of you. I think if Matthew Stafford develops a little touch on some of his passes a lot of those drops and overthrows will become catches and touchdowns. But wasn't he grand in the last two minutes?
And how 'bout that Tripp Chandler?
If Knowshon Moreno avoids the injury bug he may be our best running back since you-know-you. I will be glad when our linemen on both sides of the ball are full grown. I am happy for Brandon Coutu and I really and truly don't believe for a minute that our players lowered themselves to jumping up and down on Vandy's stupid Star-V. That just happened to be where we wound up.
But I'll tell you one thing. If we can find a way to upset Florida in the Gator Bowl in two weeks, I'm going on the field. Y'all follow me down there. I'll be the good-looking guy in the red shirt with his bail money in his hip pocket.
OK. I know I am late with this week's comments, but I got lost on my way home from Nashville. Trust me. That's the last time I will try to see Rock City.
It was a heck of a second half and a much needed win and I don't want to hear anything about it was "just Vanderbilt."
It was "just Kentucky" that brought LSU's house down on the same Saturday night. It was "just Mississippi State" that beat Auburn a few weeks ago. It was "just Ole Miss" that almost beat Florida. This ain't your daddy's Southeatern Conference, y'all.
And if you want to extend the comparisons to the nation, it was "just Stanford that beat USC" and "just Appalachian State" and on and on and on. This year any win is a big win. Especially in the conference.
Especially on the road. Especially when you are behind at half-time. Especially when you are tied and the other team is in field goal range with two minutes and change to play.
Especially when . . .well, you know all the particulars.
And having said that, let me say this. I love Georgia football and I love being a Georgia fan. Most of the time.
I go way back with the Bulldogs. I go back to Wally Butts. I started listening to games when Ed Thelineus was still asking us to "imagine the radio dial as the football field as we look at it." I cried when Theron Sapp scored the touchdown that broke the drought.
Nobody is a bigger Bulldog than me.
Oh, there are people who can afford to give more money. There are people who paint themselves up for the games. There are people who memorize more statistics and can tell you the underwear size of every high school junior that this or that scouting service hints might play on Saturdays sometime. But they aren't bigger Bulldog fans than me.
My energy and my good humor rises and falls with the Bulldogs' fortunes every week. I live for Saturday. Two of my children and all of my money go to Georgia. I have graduated from there two or three times myself, so far. Get the picture? Nobody wants Georgia to do good more than me, and I am way disappointed when they don't. Sometimes I complain and once in a great while I catch myself being critical.
But too many of our so-called fans have lost touch with reality and the garbage that has been floating around in the past couple of weeks is absolutely ridiculous and somebody needs to say something about it. I guess I am as good a somebody as any.
The people who are calling for Richt's scalp are morons. They don't know anything about the reality of college football and they don't know anything about history.
What has Richt won since arriving at Georgia? I think it is 69 games. We have won two conference championships since he got here and they are our only two since Herschel left, twenty-five years ago. We usually crack the Top Ten and even in an off year like 2006 finish in the Top 25. He is a quality person who runs a quality program and we are lucky to have him.
And he has a much better record at the same stage of his career than any of our previous coaches.
Every year is not going to be a banner year and at Georgia it never has been. Only four schools have won more games than we have in the past seven years and with all our youth, the next couple of seasons should be special. And although it won't keep the morons among us who have never been more than a spectator at any athletic event from spewing their garbage it needed saying.
Now, back to Vandy. I have finally gotten to be like a lot of the rest of you. I think if Matthew Stafford develops a little touch on some of his passes a lot of those drops and overthrows will become catches and touchdowns. But wasn't he grand in the last two minutes?
And how 'bout that Tripp Chandler?
If Knowshon Moreno avoids the injury bug he may be our best running back since you-know-you. I will be glad when our linemen on both sides of the ball are full grown. I am happy for Brandon Coutu and I really and truly don't believe for a minute that our players lowered themselves to jumping up and down on Vandy's stupid Star-V. That just happened to be where we wound up.
But I'll tell you one thing. If we can find a way to upset Florida in the Gator Bowl in two weeks, I'm going on the field. Y'all follow me down there. I'll be the good-looking guy in the red shirt with his bail money in his hip pocket.
Monday, October 15
NashVegas
Well, I guess there is no turning back now. We made our first trip together with my family, shared a hotel room and all. Not as awkward as it could have been, but I’m glad we can put this “milestone” behind us and move forward. NashVegas was great. I really love that town. It is safe to say that (along with Beale Street in Memphis) Nashville is the only good thing from Tennessee.
More importantly, the Dawgs won. Not at all pretty, but a win nonetheless. Our offense is so pedestrian that they can ill afford to make any mistakes less they stall out like they did pretty much the entire first half. Matt Stafford is well on his way to becoming nothing more than over-hyped. He has not really done anything, yet. I’m not giving up on him, but I do think that all those people wearing the red #7 jerseys with “Heisman” written on the back should put them away for a little while.
Our defense is (at this moment) as frightening as I have ever seen. I would not trust them to stop the French Army. I am seeing some improvements. We got very close to blowing up some of Vandy’s offensive schemes, but at the last second, they would break away for a long run or throw. The fact that they had a running QB and we showed an utter inability to stop him makes me very nervous as we head into TWLOCP in two weeks. You see, FU also has a QB who likes to run. Maybe you have heard of him. Well, if you have turned on E$PN for even ten seconds over the last six months, then you have surely heard his entire life story and found out that he might be the second coming of the Messiah. I don’t care if you are watching bowling coverage, somehow this guy is given props. Ridiculous! As a good friend from the Classic City says... T.T. is a swamp b@stard! I only wish we had the defense to stop him.
More importantly, the Dawgs won. Not at all pretty, but a win nonetheless. Our offense is so pedestrian that they can ill afford to make any mistakes less they stall out like they did pretty much the entire first half. Matt Stafford is well on his way to becoming nothing more than over-hyped. He has not really done anything, yet. I’m not giving up on him, but I do think that all those people wearing the red #7 jerseys with “Heisman” written on the back should put them away for a little while.
Our defense is (at this moment) as frightening as I have ever seen. I would not trust them to stop the French Army. I am seeing some improvements. We got very close to blowing up some of Vandy’s offensive schemes, but at the last second, they would break away for a long run or throw. The fact that they had a running QB and we showed an utter inability to stop him makes me very nervous as we head into TWLOCP in two weeks. You see, FU also has a QB who likes to run. Maybe you have heard of him. Well, if you have turned on E$PN for even ten seconds over the last six months, then you have surely heard his entire life story and found out that he might be the second coming of the Messiah. I don’t care if you are watching bowling coverage, somehow this guy is given props. Ridiculous! As a good friend from the Classic City says... T.T. is a swamp b@stard! I only wish we had the defense to stop him.
Thursday, October 4
The War
I have spent every evening for the past week and a half taking in the somber pageantry of Ken Burns’ “The War” on PBS. If you are not watching this, then you are really missing something. As a self-proclaimed history buff and huge dork, this documentary has been right up my alley. But this is not a collection of the same stories told in your history textbooks or John Wayne movies. This work shows WWII through the eyes of those who fought it. Not planned it, but fought it. Roosevelt, Churchill, Eisenhower, Patton, & McArthur are just footnotes. This documentary follows the privates and other low-ranking soldiers through the events of the war. I have read many books on this time period, yet the stories told by the veterans themselves has given me more insight into this crucial period in American history than any text or novel or movie ever could. As I sit listening to these aging people shed tears as they tell how the war affected them, their platoons, their families, and their lives, I too tear up thinking about how both of my grandfathers fought along side these men. The stories are so similar. I think about how fortunate I am to be here. As Burns shows some of the brutality of “The War”, I am reminded, again, that one of my grandfathers could have been a victim laid out in a trench or river. Granted, the whole nation was a victim of this event. However, when you think about how one-third of our standing army lost their lives in Europe or in the south Pacific, you begin to understand what these people that banded together to fight off advances on two fronts from worthy adversaries and then came home to help turn a depression-ridden nation into the world’s last great superpower really did for all of us today. You begin to understand that these people really are The Greatest Generation. We should honor them. 1,000 a day are leaving us. It makes me want to seek the testimony of any individual still living. Like these heroes and heroines, their stories are dying — 1,000 a day.
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