In honor of our trip into a brave new blogging world, I thought I'd post the first of what I hope will be a series of travel features here at Dawgsports. The SEC is a wild and wonderful place, full of exciting travel destinations. Oh, and there's also Lexington, Kentucky where I went this past weekend. I kid Wildcats!

I really enjoyed my trip to the heart of blue and white country, and noticed several things you should probably be aware of if you're going to Lexington for the 'Dawgs matchup with Rich Brooks' squad on November 8, 2008.

<a href="http://www.jimmyjohns.com/homepage.aspx"><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Jimmy John's sandwich shop</strong></span></a><strong>:</strong> The Illinois-based chain is like Subway with better potato chips. Lexingtonians eat everything but the chairs there every day based solely on my weekend observations. There are five of them in the Lexington metro area (compared to the 3 in all of metro Atlanta), all of which serve a roast beef/turkey club called the Bootlegger. You should grab one. Or four.

<strong>Andre Woodson:</strong> No Wildcat fan I talked to really wanted to talk about Woodson. My impression was that this stemmed from 3 causes: 1) Kentucky fans don't want to be perceived as living in the past and are playing it cool, 2) Kentucky fans are still a little peeved that a season that saw them as a national top 10 team at one point devolved into a shower of ordinariness, or 3) Kentucky fans are unaware of who Andre Woodson is. This would explain the one guy outside the Patterson Building who asked me if Woodson is a shooting guard or plays the point. They'll talk to you about Curtis Pulley though. Weird.

<strong>Horses:</strong> Lexington is horse country. No doubt about it. For starters it bills itself as the "Horse Capital of the World" and is home to the Keeneland racing facility. I came into town on Man O' War Drive. Ride around and you'll see lots of horse farms. Don't ask about Eight Belles. They won't want to talk about it. Except on sports radio, where they talked about it all weekend long. Seriously, if you want just a touch of the Kentucky Derby experience, I'd recommend staying in Lexington during the Derby and commuting over to Louisville for the festivities.

<strong>Kentucky basketball:</strong> The jury's still out on Billy Gillispie. For some reason the few basketball fans I talked to were less upset about their loss to us in the SEC tournament than they were about the loss to Marquette in the NCAA tournament. They generally blamed both on Tubby Smith. There was also some grumbling about <a href="http://www.aseaofblue.com/2008/5/2/13513/57676"><span style="color:#000099;">offering scholarships</span></a> to fourth graders. I'm not sure what that's all about, and as a guest in Bluegrass Country I just stayed out of that one.

I'm sure this is just a small sampling of life in Lexington. If you're a recent visitor who wants to chime in on what to do and where to go in town, please chime in over in the comments.

Continue reading this post »

Back in March, Sunday Morning Quarterback had this to say about Ohio State:

I, for one, was having none of it:

Now that the early returns are starting to roll in, Buckeye Commentary has tallied the poll votes and come to this conclusion:

To put it generously, the evidence for this Buckeye backlash is less than overwhelming:

* Mark Schlabach, who has Ohio State languishing all the way down at No. 3, praises the Buckeyes’ "very stingy defense" and touts Beanie Wells as a Heisman Trophy candidate before revealing his deep-seated doubts in this suspicious sentence: "Ohio State is good enough to go through the Big Ten schedule unbeaten, but a Sept. 13 road trip to USC might decide its BCS title hopes."

* Dennis Dodd tosses out the phrase "against my better judgment," revealing his true colors in spite of the fact that he ranks Ohio State No. 1 while offering this explanation:

Truly, the disdain for the Buckeyes and the fawning over the S.E.C. are palpable. But, wait! There’s more:

* Stewart Mandel ranked Ohio State second, noting that "[i]t’s becoming increasingly clear to me that those three teams are absolutely loaded heading into this season" . . . "those three teams" being Georgia, Ohio State, and Southern California.

* College Football News has Ohio State ranked No. 1 and, after debunking the silly notion that the Buckeyes lack athleticism with the cogent point that the team annually sends scads of players to the N.F.L., the site explains that the former "national punching bag . . . will be good enough to get another shot with almost everyone of note returning." To those who would "let out a collective groan at the thought of OSU in another national title game," College Football News offered the reminder that, "with all the returning talent, this really should be 2008’s best team."

* Matt Hayes vaulted the Buckeyes from seventh to second after spring practice, stating his case plainly:

Of the five sets of rankings released already, two have Ohio State ranked No. 1 and none have the Buckeyes ranked lower than third. O.S.U.’s composite score of 121 narrowly trails that of consensus No. 1 Georgia (123) and well outpaces those of No. 3 Oklahoma (112) and No. 4 U.S.C. (111).

The Buckeyes, it should be noted, face that fourth-ranked Trojan club in Los Angeles on September 13, as well as running up against No. 10 Wisconsin in Madison on October 4, No. 17 Illinois in Champaign on November 15, No. 21 Penn State in Columbus on October 25, and No. 23 Michigan State in East Lansing on October 18.

I’m sorry, but I ain’t buying this "Buckeye backlash" business.

Ohio State, which boasts one of the most storied programs in the history of the sport, has attended three of the last six designated national championship games and has appeared in B.C.S. bowl games five times in the last half-dozen seasons. Everyone agrees that the Buckeyes are one of the two or three best teams in college football right now, and influential voices argue that they ought to be ranked No. 1.

The Buckeyes’ daunting slate includes the autumn’s marquee out-of-conference match-up and five games against teams in the consensus preseason top 25, four of which will be played on the road. If Ohio State goes unbeaten, they’re in the national championship game, no matter how many other teams finish with unblemished records; if the Buckeyes drop one along the way, they’ll still get in ahead of several other once-beaten teams, and probably ahead of an unbeaten A.C.C. or Big East champion.

If the preseason polls are at all accurate---and, after last year, heck, we could be in for a bland, predictable, uneventful year in 2008---it all ought to come out in the wash: No. 1 Georgia, No. 6 Florida, and No. 7 Louisiana State square off with one another in an S.E.C. round-robin; No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Southern California meet early in the year; and No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 8 Texas, and No. 12 Texas Tech will battle for the Big 12 South crown, with the winner to meet the victor of the showdown between No. 5 Missouri and No. 11 Kansas in the conference championship game. It seems likely that the process of elimination in selecting the national championship game participants will rely heavily on head-to-head results.

The Buckeyes are a major program in a major conference. Given the toughness of the slate they face, Ohio State will be given every opportunity to earn its way into a third straight national title tilt. What we are witnessing in this oh-woe-is-me hand-wringing by partisans of the No. 2 team in the country is the "backlash to the backlash."

The Buckeyes are one of the three teams whose fans need to learn to cope with being at the top of the food chain. Ohio State is where every team in the country wants to be. The Buckeyes are a perennial source of N.F.L. talent and a constant contender on the national stage. They need to come to grips with the terrible tragedy of being universally recognized as one of the best teams in the land.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Hey Dawg Sports,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

1. Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
2. Once you're logged in, press your  Z  key in any thread with new comments
3. Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
4. Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
5. Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to Dawg Sports from YouTube or images from Flickr
6. Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
7. Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of Dawg Sports and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Schedule, Scores, Stats and Roster

Dawg Sports now has all the basic information about the Georgia Bulldogs and hundreds of other teams. During games you'll see a regularly updated line score, and as the season progresses we'll track team stat totals and leaders. This is just our first step, so look for us to publish more detailed and archival stats in the future. The best part about all this sports data is that we've integrated it directly into the blog so. We now have special pages that aggregate all blog posts written about games, players and teams.

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of Georgia Bulldogs material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Archives

It's much easier to find that post about a certain deadline trade or prospect retro feature. You can browse by year and month.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

I let you know earlier this week that big changes were coming soon as Dawg Sports prepared to migrate to the new SB Nation platform, which may be seen at any of the network's numerous fine major league baseball, N.B.A., or N.F.L. weblogs. (Actually, some of the college sports blogs have made the jump already, such as our Ohio State site, at which this posting on a subject near and dear to my heart appeared last night.)

Barring unforeseen complications, we are scheduled to make the switch tonight, likely at an hour late enough that you ought to be in bed by then. We're keeping our fingers crossed, but, if all goes well, the brand spankin' new version of Dawg Sports---same great content; new improved format---should be up and running by the time you rise and shine tomorrow morning.

By this time tomorrow, Dawg Sports may not look as good as Kristin Davis's face (right), but we'll look a heck of a lot better than her ass (left).

Once again, we ask you to bear with us during the time of transition as we all learn our way around our upgraded digs. If you haven't done so already, go ahead and claim your network-wide user name. After the transition, there will be a masthead located at the bottom of the left-hand column on the main page, which features the site's e-mail address.

Also, the blog roll to the right will be trimmed down somewhat; I may beef it back up again later, but I wanted to take the opportunity to streamline the site somewhat. Any bloggers who remain in regular operation whose sites got lost in the shuffle are welcome to write to me and ask to be put back on, which will be done promptly in the absence of some compelling reason to the contrary.

Finally, I truly would be remiss if I failed to thank Trei, from whom you'll probably be reading a posting like this one by this time tomorrow, and the members of his team, who have invested untold hours of effort redesigning and upgrading the network while putting up with inane questions from technophobic bloggers like, well, me. Much obliged, gentlemen.

Go 'Dawgs!

Earlier today, I indicated that I did not mean to minimize the importance of this evening's game against Georgia Tech, in spite of the fact that the Diamond Dogs had a much more significant series to which to look forward this weekend. Even so, though, the midweek contest was consequential for Georgia solely because the in-state rival Yellow Jackets were the opponent, and for absolutely no other reason whatsoever, but that incentive to perform well did not prevent the visitors from notching an 11-1 victory.

Charlie Blackmon led off the top of the first inning with a base hit off of Will Harvil and, after Jeff Rowland struck out, Luke Murton was plunked to move the Ramblin' Wreck right fielder to second. A Derek Dietrich single scored Blackmon before the next two Yellow Jackets recorded outs to end a frame in which the visitors took a 1-0 lead. Deck McGuire retired the Red and Black in order in the bottom of the canto.

Chase Burnette put a one-out single into center field in the visitors' half of the second stanza and no sooner had the Georgia Tech left fielder swiped second than Cole Leonida was hit by a pitch. Fortunately, Blackmon grounded into the double play that prevented the Golden Tornado from plating another run. The Classic City Canines had only a strikeout, a groundout, and a lineout to show for the home half of the inning.

Murton drove a one-out home run to left field to give Georgia Tech a 2-0 edge in the top of the third frame, prompting a Georgia pitching switch from Harvil to Alex McRee. The new Bulldog hurler immediately surrendered a base hit to Dietrich, but he extracted strikeouts from the next two batters. No Classic City Canine made it as far as first base in the bottom of the canto.

Just kick back and relax, buddy; in fact, why don't you take the night off?

Although Thomas Nichols led off the fourth stanza with a single, the next three batters amassed only outs to bring the home team back up to bat in the bottom of the inning. Matt Olson broke up the no-hitter by dropping a one-out double into center field and, after Gordon Beckham stared at a called third strike, Rich Poythress doubled to center field, as well, to make it a one-run game. Bryce Massanari grounded out to bring matters to a close.

The hurling duties devolved upon Justin Grimm in the top of the fifth frame and the Georgia reliever walked Rowland to get the inning underway. A Murton single moved the Ramblin' Wreck center fielder over to third and, when Dietrich reached on a fielder's choice, Rowland was thrown out at home. After Tony Plagman flied out, Brad Feltes knocked a base hit to left field to score a pair of runs. By the time Nichols popped up, the visitors had assumed a 4-1 lead.

Lyle Allen began the bottom of the frame with a single to right field and Robbie O'Bryan grounded out to move him over to second, but the next two Diamond Dogs to enter the batter's box went down swinging. The sixth stanza commenced with another Red and Black pitching change, as Steve Esmonde took over on the mound and promptly secured the first two outs of the inning. The third proved more elusive.

Blackmon and Rowland registered consecutive singles, the latter of which coincided with an error by Esmonde, resulting in a Georgia Tech score. Murton doubled to center field to bring home another run and an error by Ryan Peisel permitted Dietrich to reach first base and another run to cross home plate. When Plagman singled to right field to advance the Georgia Tech shortstop to third, Esmonde's evening was done and Nick Montgomery was sent on in his stead.

At this point, we could have sent in Elizabeth Montgomery and it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

After the latest Georgia hurler induced Feltes to fly out to right field, the Red and Black went three up and three down in the home half of the canto. The first two batters in the top of the seventh inning struck out looking before Leonida walked and Blackmon sent a two-run shot to center field to make it 9-1. Rowland stared at a called third strike, as well, to conclude the stanza.

The first two Red and Black batters in the home half of the canto flied out, but Allen belted a base hit to center field and Joey Lewis was hit by a pitch before Adam Fuller grounded out to keep the score unchanged. Justin Earls was on the mound to begin the top of the eighth frame and he recorded a pair of outs before giving up a single to Plagman and a home run to Feltes. Nichols grounded out in the next at-bat, but, by that time, Georgia Tech held an 11-1 lead.

McGuire finally called it a night after seven stanzas, giving way to Andrew Robinson in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Classic City Canines went three up and three down against the Yellow Jacket reliever. After Chris House walked and Leonida struck out looking in the top of the ninth canto, Dean Weaver succeeded Earls on the hill and extracted outs from each of the two ensuing batters.

Taylor Wood got in on the act for Georgia Tech in the bottom of the final frame, taking over the pitching responsibilities in time to surrender a leadoff single to Beckham. The Georgia shortstop took second on a wild pitch and, after Poythress flied out to left field, Jake Crane grounded out to move Beckham over to third. Allen was hit by a pitch before Lewis struck out swinging to put this calamitous contest out of its misery.

The end.

My attitude has always been that, if you're going to lose anyway, you might as well lose a blowout. That way, there is less room for second-guessing, recriminations, and wondering what if. Last fall, the South Carolina loss nagged at me for far longer than the Tennessee loss, because the former easily could have gone the other way, while the latter was a lost cause from the get-go.

So it was with Wednesday night's bludgeoning at the hands of the Yellow Jackets. The visitors out-hit the home team by a 15-5 margin and played errorless baseball. Deck McGuire remained in the game for seven strong innings, facing 26 batters, tallying nine strikeouts, issuing no walks, allowing four hits, and surrendering one earned run. The bullpen followed that up with two scoreless innings in which the relievers struck out two, walked none, and conceded one hit.

The Ramblin' Wreck enjoyed strong performances by Charlie Blackmon (3 for 5, 2 R.B.I.), Derek Dietrich (2 for 5, 1 R.B.I.), Brad Feltes (2 for 5, 4 R.B.I.), Luke Murton (3 for 4, 2 R.B.I.), and Tony Plagman (2 for 5), while Lyle Allen was the lone Diamond Dog to have a multi-hit day. At the top of the order, Ryan Peisel, Matt Olson, Gordon Beckham, Rich Poythress, and Bryce Massanari combined to go three for 19 with one R.B.I. and six strikeouts.

It was a bad outing against a decent team and there is nothing to do but tip your cap to Georgia Tech, put it in your rear view mirror, and be glad our former star quarterback who played while he was one of multiple academically ineligible athletes didn't just resign his position with his alma mater when, after one week on the job, he was arrested for driving under the influence, possession of marijuana, having an open container, and hit and run immediately after Cinco de Mayo. Friday is the first day of the rest of Georgia's season and every bit of the sting will be taken out of this ugly loss by a win in Nashville two nights hence.

Go 'Dawgs!

(Note: The following look at the Diamond Dogs' upcoming matchup against Vanderbilt was compiled using numbers through Sunday afternoon's outings. The Commodores had a Tuesday night game against Memphis, but that contest against a team Georgia faced in a three-game series earlier in the year was not included in the calculations that follow. Please pardon the omission.)

While I by no means intend to minimize the importance of tonight's showdown with Georgia Tech, the fact is that the Bulldogs have bigger fish to fry this weekend, when the Red and Black journey to Nashville for a clash of nationally-ranked teams in a conference showdown that could end with David Perno's squad bringing an S.E.C. East crown back from the Music City to the Classic City. Due to the importance of the series, the question must be asked: "Who are the Commodores?"

Not those Commodores, smart-aleck.

Georgia and Vandy have compiled identical 20-7 home records, which would be daunting for the Red and Black had they not carded a 10-6-1 mark in road games. At 9-3 against the Eastern Division and 15-9 over top 25 teams, the Classic City Canines come into this weekend's series with confidence, hoping to take advantage of the 4-7 ledger against ranked opponents tallied by a Commodore club that won 15 of 18 games between April 8 and May 4.

In the course of completing a regular-season sweep of the Volunteers for the second straight year, Vanderbilt's Dominic de la Osa tallied his 284th career hit and his 62nd career double, setting school records in both categories. Pedro Alvarez is coming off of his seventh multi-hit game this spring and Shea Robin established a new personal best last Sunday by hitting two home runs in one game.

Ryan Flaherty, who has started all 47 of the Commies' games in 2008, has driven in 50 runs during the campaign while drawing a team-high 33 walks. Pitchers Caleb Cotham, Nick Christiani, and Mike Minor all have E.R.A.s of 4.00 or below and each has notched at least five wins. Minor has two complete games to his credit.

As Quinton McDawg noted, the Diamond Dogs were given some bad news this week: Michael Demperio was lost for the year following a collision with the Rebels' Matt Smith on Sunday. Either Miles Starr or David Thoms will take over for him in the Georgia second baseman's absence.

How significant is the injury to Demperio? While, obviously, we wish him well for a speedy and complete recovery, we hope that his teammates will be as capable of compensating for his absence from the lineup as Suzanne Yoculan's Gym Dogs were when they claimed the national championship following the season-ending injury to Courtney Kupets.

Who knows? With a little luck, something along these lines might be available for the Diamond Dogs in a couple of months!

There is some comfort to be drawn from this fact: Georgia cannot lose the S.E.C. championship in Nashville, but the Bulldogs can win it there. Since the current conference standings give the Red and Black a three-game edge over the 'Dores, even a sweep by the home team would leave the two Eastern Division frontrunners tied, with the Classic City Canines wrapping up the season at home against an Alabama squad that sits at .500 in league play and the Music City Sailors capping off the campaign with a road trip to Gainesville to face the only S.E.C. team to have claimed a series victory over the Diamond Dogs this spring.

Even one win by Georgia over Vanderbilt would enable the Red and Black to retain a two-game division lead over the Commodores with three games remaining; Vandy wouldn't be out of it altogether, but they'd have a tough row to hoe. If the Classic City Canines take two out of three in Nashville, that's the ballgame.

Florida and South Carolina trail the Bulldogs by four and a half games, so the Gamecocks and the Gators could sweep their remaining conference outings to get to 19-11 in league play, but a pair of Georgia victories this weekend would guarantee the division leaders of no worse than a 19-10-1 conference finish. If the 'Dores drop two out of three to the Red and Black in their next S.E.C. series, Vanderbilt will fall to 15-11 in the league and will be unable to catch the frontrunners.

A sweep would be gravy, but it would also be greedy, and no one who has followed this Commodore club could possibly believe that even a Georgia squad this good could notch three victories on the road against Vandy. The key is simply not to get swept. One win probably is all the Diamond Dogs need; if they turn two, you can stick a fork in this race, because it is done.

Go 'Dawgs!

Baseball season is about to shift into high gear. The nationally-ranked Diamond Dogs have a huge week ahead of them. After losing to Georgia Tech in Atlanta earlier in the season, the Red and Black will host the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday before traveling to Nashville for a crucial three-game S.E.C. series with the second-place Commodores.

Here are the current conference standings:

Kentucky at Tennessee: This series, like the details of Dr. Evil's life, is quite inconsequential. The Volunteers and the Wildcats are tied for last place in the East and both teams are six and a half games out of first place with six games to go. It is mathematically impossible for either team to overtake the Bulldogs in the standings. You are free to root as you wish, or to declare this the S.E.C. series of disinterest.

Auburn at Ole Miss: Likewise, this three-game set has no bearing on anything of importance for the Red and Black. However, I root against Auburn on general principle.

I hate Auburn.

South Carolina at Arkansas: The Gamecocks are not yet out of the Eastern Division race, so the choice is clear. Since the Razorbacks pose no threat to Georgia, we want the Hogs to sweep the Palmetto State Poultry.

Mississippi State at Louisiana State: With all due respect to the beleaguered Ron Polk, it is in Georgia's interests for the Fighting Tigers to win all three games against the Western Division Bulldogs. L.S.U. has a half-game lead over the Crimson Tide in their half of the conference, so we want the Bayou Bengals to run away with the division in order to remove Alabama's hopes of clinching the West against Georgia on the season's final weekend.

Sorry, Ron.

Florida at Alabama: Ingrained contempt for the Gators notwithstanding, this one is a little tricky. On the one hand, we want the Saurians removed from the equation as a factor in the Eastern Division race. On the other hand, it would be useful to the Diamond Dogs to have the Red Elephants demoralized and as far out of contention as possible heading into their campaign-concluding showdown with the Classic City Canines.

Accordingly, as much as it turns my stomach to root for Florida for any reason, we want the Orange and Blue to win exactly as many games in Tuscaloosa as the Red and Black win in Nashville. That does the maximum allowable damage to Alabama without enabling the Gators to gain any ground on Georgia. Since U.F. trails the Bulldogs by four and a half games, equivalent performances by Georgia and Florida this weekend would end any possibility of the Gators catching the Diamond Dogs on the last weekend of the spring.

Go 'Dawgs!

If you're a regular reader of SB Nation weblogs, you already are aware that the entire network is in the gradual process of being upgraded to a new platform. Such baseball blogs as Athletics Nation and such college blogs as Burnt Orange Nation already have made the transition.

If you've been wondering when Dawg Sports would be making the jump, the answer is "soon." Rocky Top Talk has been previewing some of the new features which will be made available.

For one thing, "diaries" will now be called "FanPosts," so College Buddy will be able to write one without feeling like he's a chubby British girl expressing her most heartfelt feelings about Hugh Grant.

I'd suggest giving those postings a look to acquaint yourselves with the new site tools with which we all will be able to work in the very near future. Once we've made the move, there will be a welcoming post along the lines of this one to show you around the new neighborhood, as it were. If you haven't claimed your network-wide screen name already, that will be your first step. When the time comes, I think you're going to have fun with FanShots, too, and, once we're all acquainted with the multitude of new features (including the ready availability of statistics), postings with this level of data a single mouse click away will be appearing here.

As you know, all change produces stress, even change for the better, as we adjust from the familiar to the novel; of no one is this more true than it is of me. All of us, I am sure, will experience some "growing pains" as we learn to use the new upgraded system, but, in the end, I believe we all will be happier with what the entire Dawg Sports community---not just MaconDawg and me, but readers and commenters, as well---will be able to do with this major overhaul.

Your patience, understanding, and ongoing contributions are appreciated in this period of transition. Because I will be spending some time in the coming days getting ready for the big shift, posting may be a little light this week, but I can assure you that the end result will be worth the wait. These are exciting times here at SB Nation and we're glad to have you along for the ride. If Buzz Bissinger was scared before, wait 'til he gets a load of what's coming. . . .

Go 'Dawgs!

The Diamond Dogs won on Friday and came into Sunday's game in first place in the Eastern Division with a 16-6-1 conference record that put Georgia three games in front of surging Vanderbilt and three and a half games ahead of resurgent Florida. The Rebels won on Saturday and came into Sunday's game in first place in the Western Division with a 12-11 conference record that put Ole Miss in a two-way tie with Alabama and half a game in front of an L.S.U. squad that began the day having won eight straight games since tying the Red and Black on April 20. In short, both teams had more than just an S.E.C. series victory on the line on Sunday and, in the end, the Diamond Dogs came out on top.

The contest did not begin auspiciously for the Classic City Canines, however. Although Jordan Henry lined out to lead off the visitors' half of the first inning, Nathan Moreau thereafter proceeded to surrender a single to Fuller Smith, walk Logan Power, and plunk Cody Overbeck to load the bases for Matt Smith. Nevertheless, Moreau managed to persuade the Mississippi first baseman to swing harmlessly at strike three, then the Georgia starter succeeded in sneaking a called third strike past Zach Miller to end the threat.

After the home team generated nothing in the bottom of the canto except a trio of flyouts, the Rebels came back up to bat in the top of the second stanza. While Kyle Mills led off by grounding out, Tim Ferguson sent a solo shot to left field to give Ole Miss a 2-0 advantage in hits and a 1-0 edge in runs. After Brett Basham followed that up with a base hit, Henry grounded into a double play.

Rich Poythress began the bottom of the frame on a positive note by dropping a single into center field, but the Bulldog first baseman's teammates proceeded to record two strikeouts and a flyout to strand the baserunner. Moreau issued a leadoff walk in the top of the third canto, but Power thereafter reached on the fielder's choice that cut down the lead runner and Overbeck grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The question for the bottom of the inning is, "Which Diamond Dog would you consider the least likely to hit a home run to tie the game?"

The home half of the stanza began with a Matt Cerione flyout, but Michael Demperio drove a game-tying home run to left field to put the Diamond Dogs on the board. This brought the top of the order back to the plate, but Ryan Peisel and Matt Olson were only able to produce a strikeout and a groundout, respectively.

Moreau surrendered a leadoff single in the top of the fourth frame, but the next three Rebels all recorded outs. The same was true of the first two batters in the bottom of the inning, as well, but, after Bryce Massanari drew a base on balls, Lyle Allen put one out to right field to bring home two runs. By the time Joey Lewis flied out to left field, Georgia held a 3-1 lead in runs in spite of the Red and Black's 4-3 deficit in hits.

All Ole Miss had to show for the visitors' half of the fifth canto was a walk sandwiched among a trio of flyouts, but the bottom of the inning began with a leadoff home run to center field by Cerione. This evened the hits at four apiece and gave the Diamond Dogs a 4-1 advantage on the scoreboard.

The Classic City Canines were not finished, however. Demperio collected a single in the ensuing at-bat to give the Georgia second baseman his second hit in as many at-bats from the ninth position in the lineup on Sunday afternoon. David Thoms was sent in as a pinch runner and Peisel moved him over to second with a base hit.

Trust me when I tell you that this one ends well.

Olson attempted to sacrifice both baserunners over, but an error by Ole Miss pitcher Cody Satterwhite enabled the Bulldog right fielder to reach base safely. This loaded the bases for Gordon Beckham, who watched strike three pass him by to record the first out of the inning. Poythress proceeded to fly out to right field, then Massanari registered the single that plated a pair of runs and chased Satterwhite from the mound.

Rory McKean was sent into the game to assume the hurling responsibilities and his first act upon assuming that position was to extract the strikeout from Allen that ended the Diamond Dogs' four-hit, three-run, one-error inning. Overbeck struck back in the top of the sixth stanza, as the Rebel third baseman led off the visitors' turn at the plate with a home run to left field. Moreau retired the next three Ole Miss batters to cross his path.

Robbie O'Bryan began the bottom of the canto with a base hit and, after he was replaced on the basepaths by Adam Fuller, the Red and Black pinch runner stole second. After Cerione walked and Thoms struck out swinging, Peisel sent an R.B.I. single to left field. This drove McKean from the game, as well, and the new Ole Miss pitcher surrendered the base hit to Olson that scored Cerione. The next two Bulldog batters achieved only outs to wrap up a three-hit, two-run frame.

Justin Grimm took over on the hill in the top of the seventh inning and he retired the side in sequence. Massanari walked to begin the home half of the canto and Allen followed that up with a base hit to advance the Georgia designated hitter to second. Jake Crane sacrificed both baserunners over before Cerione fouled out and Thoms struck out to squander the Diamond Dogs' opportunity to put runs on the board for the fifth consecutive frame.

What? Was it too much to ask that the team score in every inning?

As had been the case the day before, the top of the eighth stanza got a little hairy for the home team. The Ole Miss left fielder led off the inning with a base hit and Power grounded out to advance him to second. After Overbeck walked, the Rebel first baseman went down swinging. Miller then singled to right field to load the bases for Michael Hubbard, who grounded out to end the threat.

The fourth Mississippi pitcher of the game took over on the mound in the home half of the inning and immediately gave up a leadoff double to Peisel. Olson was hit by a pitch, putting two men aboard for Beckham, whose home run to left field made it 11-2. Massanari walked following a Poythress lineout and Crane singled to right field after an Allen flyout, but Cerione flied out to put a three-hit, three-run frame in the books.

Naturally, Joshua Fields was sent in to pitch the top of the ninth canto and, with so many excess runs to play with, the Bulldog closer evidently elected to toy with his victim before delivering the knockout blow. What other explanation could there be for the fact that Fields walked Ferguson and, after striking out Logan Williams, he gave up a double to Jeremy Travis?

A passed ball permitted the Rebel shortstop to score before Zach Rutland drew a base on balls. Cullan Kight's sacrifice fly brought Travis home, as well, and, at that point, Fields decided an 11-4 final would quite suffice, so he extracted a flyout from Overbeck and called it a day.

Joshua Fields is so good, he deserves to be given the medal Gerald Lambeau won in "Good Will Hunting."

What lessons might the Bulldog faithful derive from this outing, other than the obvious conclusion that, evidently, the Magnolia State has more Codys, Logans, and Zachs than any state really requires? We were reminded how this team made it into first place in, um, the first place.

On Sunday afternoon, the Diamond Dogs played errorless ball, out-hit the opposition by a 14-8 margin, and scored in five of the last six innings, pushing multiple runs across the plate four times in the final five frames. The Red and Black were productive throughout the order; not only did Georgia's first six batters (Ryan Peisel, Matt Olson, Gordon Beckham, Rich Poythress, Bryce Massanari, and Lyle Allen) collectively gather nine hits, three walks, and nine R.B.I. despite a slow start, but the home team enjoyed good days at the plate from Matt Cerione (1 for 4, 1 R.B.I., 1 walk, 2 runs) and Michael Demperio (2 for 2, 1 R.B.I., 1 run). Georgia racked up four home runs from four different players.

Nathan Moreau lasted six innings, giving up a pair of home runs and a trio of walks yet striking out four of the 25 batters he faced, surrendering just five hits and two earned runs, and pitching out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the opening stanza that threatened to change the entire complexion of the game. Justin Grimm lasted two scoreless innings, also forcing the Rebels to strand three baserunners, and, although Joshua Fields did the unthinkable by allowing an earned run, the double and the two walks he conceded were essentially harmless, as the outcome had long since ceased to be in doubt. One day after letting a game slip away, the Red and Black pitching staff shut the door, allowing only one run between the second and ninth cantos.

What was already a good day in Bulldog Nation was improved by South Carolina's series-clinching win over Florida and Louisiana State's sweep of Kentucky. The afternoon was marred only by Vanderbilt's victory over Tennessee. Sunday's results left the Classic City Canines with a league-leading 17-6-1 ledger in conference play, putting Georgia three games ahead of Vanderbilt (14-9), four and a half games ahead of Florida (13-11) and South Carolina (13-11), and six and a half games ahead of Kentucky (11-13) and Tennessee (11-13) in the division. Next weekend's trek to Nashville looms exceedingly large.

Go 'Dawgs!

After snapping their brief conference losing streak with a win over Ole Miss on Friday night, the Diamond Dogs returned to action on Saturday afternoon with the hope of clinching victory in the series to maintain, and perhaps extend, their three-and-a-half-game lead in the division. Although matters looked quite good for quite a while, a late-inning meltdown doomed the home team as the Rebels evened the series.

The starting assignment went to Stephen Dodson, who gave up a leadoff single to Jordan Henry in the initial at-bat of the first inning. Fuller Smith's ensuing groundout moved the Mississippi right fielder to second and, after Logan Power flied out, a base hit by Cody Overbeck brought Henry home. Matt Smith then struck out swinging to bring the Bulldogs up to bat with the visitors already owning a one-run advantage.

The Red and Black attempted to answer in the home half of the frame, which Ryan Peisel began by striking out, although he managed to reach base on a wild pitch to permit Matt Olson's subsequent single to advance him to second. After Gordon Beckham flied out to right field, Rich Poythress grounded out to move over both baserunners. A Bryce Massanari groundout, however, ended the threat.

Michael Hubbard sent a one-out single into center field in the top of the second stanza before Sean Stuyverson sacrificed him over to second, but a Brett Basham groundout prevented the Rebels from building on their lead. Georgia again attempted to get on the board in the bottom of the canto, commencing with Adam Fuller's one-out bunt single and ensuing stolen base.

Despite what Fuller did on the basepaths on Saturday, though, you kids need to remember that you should never steal. This has been a public service announcement from actress Winona Ryder.

After Matt Cerione struck out, the Red and Black left fielder swiped third, but Michael Demperio grounded out to strand the tying run 90 feet from home plate. Dodson surrendered a walk in the midst of a trio of flyouts in the visitors' half of the third inning and the Classic City Canines were presented with another scoring opportunity when Peisel led off the bottom of the frame with a double to left field to even the hits at three per side.

Olson grounded out to advance the Bulldog third baseman to his accustomed position and Beckham was walked intentionally to put runners at the corners. Poythress made the Rebels pay for that decision, parking a pitch over the left field wall for a three-run shot to give the Red and Black their first lead of the afternoon. This was followed by groundouts from Massanari and Joey Lewis.

Zach Miller was plunked with one out away in the top of the fourth canto, but Hubbard then lined into an inning-ending double play. Cerione drew a one-out walk in the home half of the frame and swiped second, but, after Demperio also was issued a base on balls, the Georgia center fielder was caught stealing. Peisel then was issued the third walk of the stanza by Ole Miss starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz, but Olson then hit into the fielder's choice that prevented the Diamond Dogs from building on their lead.

This afforded the Rebels an opportunity, which they exploited in the top of the fifth frame. Basham belted a one-out single to left field and Henry sacrificed him over to second. The Mississippi designated hitter likewise dropped a base hit into left field to score Basham and cut Georgia's lead to a lone run. Power thereafter flied out to conclude the canto.

Power went one for four on Saturday, which should come as no surprise, since it is well known that he is at his best only when he is teamed up with Iron Fist.

The Red and Black went three up and three down in the bottom of the inning. Overbeck was plunked to start the sixth stanza, but the next Rebel batter grounded into a double play and Miller went down swinging. The Classic City Canines produced nothing in the home half of the frame except a trio of flyouts.

The top of the seventh inning got underway with a Hubbard groundout, but Stuyverson followed that up with a single to give the visitors a 6-4 edge in hits. Basham then reached on a fielder's choice, but an error by Demperio allowed the Rebel shortstop to tie the game by scoring an unearned run. With Basham now standing on third, David Perno sent Alex McRee on to pitch for Dodson. The Georgia reliever elicited outs from the next two Mississippi batters.

Following Demperio's leadoff groundout in the home half of the canto, Peisel drove a home run to left field to narrow the visitors' advantage in hits to 6-5 and reclaim the Diamond Dogs' one-run lead. Olson's walk in the next plate appearance signaled the end of the afternoon for Pomeranz, who was pulled in favor of Scott Bittle.

Ere the Ole Miss reliever could face his first batter, the Bulldog right fielder stole second, enabling Beckham to move him over to third when the Georgia shortstop was thrown out at first. Poythress, however, stared at a called third strike to strand an insurance run only one base away. When Power led off the top of the eighth stanza by drawing a walk, Nick Montgomery was sent in to replace McRee.

"And then depression set in."

Montgomery proceeded to surrender the run-scoring double to Overbeck that tied the game. The next batter sacrificed the baserunner over to third, permitting Miller to bring home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to left field. Hubbard singled to center field in the next at-bat. Stuyverson singled to center field in the at-bat after that. Basham followed that up with an R.B.I. double.

Unsurprisingly, this marked the end of Montgomery's tenure on the hill. Justin Earls was sent on in his stead and he immediately surrendered the double to Henry which plated another pair of runs. A wild pitch allowed the Ole Miss right fielder to move over to third and the ensuing Rebel batter brought him home with a base hit.

Power's subsequent single and an accompanying error allowed the lead runner to reach third, after which, mercifully, Tim Ferguson hit into a fielder's choice to conclude a disastrous six-run, seven-hit, one-error inning. No Diamond Dog made it out of the batter's box in the bottom of the stanza.

The Rebels added insult to injury by registering a leadoff single off of Steve Esmonde in the top of the ninth canto, but Miller reached on a fielder's choice, Hubbard struck out swinging, and Stuyverson struck out looking. It appeared at first that the Red and Black, who had substituted Robbie O'Bryan for Lewis in the eighth inning, would refuse to go quietly in the home half of the final frame, as Cerione singled to center field and was replaced on the basepaths by Miles Starr.

I don't know that he's the Beatle I'd have sent in as a pinch runner, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

David Thoms came on in place of Demperio and, after he went down swinging, Starr stole second. The top of the order then came back up to the plate, but to no avail, as Peisel struck out looking and Olson struck out swinging to end a contest the Diamond Dogs had in hand but allowed to slip away in maddeningly embarrassing fashion.

Saturday's loss was infuriating because there was so much positive about the outing for the Classic City Canines. The first four batters in the Georgia order (Ryan Peisel, Matt Olson, Gordon Beckham, and Rich Poythress) combined for four hits, two home runs, four R.B.I., three walks, a stolen base, and four runs. Stephen Dodson gave the Red and Black a quality start, facing 27 batters and plunking two, but awarding only six hits, one walk, and two earned runs. That combination of hitting and pitching ought to be enough to win you a game in which you carry the lead into the eighth inning at home.

Unfortunately, the bullpen melted down in a way it hasn't since last year's season-ending disaster. Nick Montgomery and Justin Earls combined to give up seven hits (three of which were doubles) and five earned runs to the ten batters they faced. The Bulldogs had more errors (2-0), the Rebels had more hits (14-6), Georgia stranded seven, the bottom of the Ole Miss order produced (Michael Hubbard, Sean Stuyverson, and Brett Basham between them went six for 13 and scored five runs), and that, in the end, is why the Red and Black will go into Sunday's showdown needing a win to avoid their second straight S.E.C. series loss.

The lone bit of good news to come out of the day was the report from Columbia that South Carolina defeated Florida. The Commies gained a game on the Diamond Dogs, as Vanderbilt beat Tennessee, so Georgia, at 16-6-1 in conference play, holds a three-game lead over the second-place 'Dores (13-9) while the Gators (13-10) trail by three and a half and the Gamecocks (12-11) are four and a half games in the Bulldogs' wake. It's crunch time for the Classic City Canines and, after going 2-3-1 in their last half-dozen league outings, the Red and Black desperately need a win on Sunday.

Go 'Dawgs!