Thursday Morning Dawg Bites

The midpoint of the week already has come and gone, but there are noteworthy items of interest which warrant our attention ere I follow up on my list of the top five non-conference games you think will be good, but won't, with my list of the top five non-conference games you think won't be good, but will, so here goes:

• What are you doing reading this? Go vote, you slacker! You think ballot boxes stuff themselves? Underhanded skullduggery is hard work, people! The competition is starting to match me, desperate plea for desperate plea, so vote liked you've never voted before!
• The University of Georgia is being well represented by its former students this week. First of all, former Bulldog Leonard Pope is hosting a fundraiser on June 15 and 16 to help out the Americus community, which continues to suffer in the aftermath of the tornadoes that struck the area earlier this year. Secondly, Majors Russ Black and Chris Carter recently sent a photograph of themselves displaying a Georgia flag in Iraq. Major Carter previously garnered worldwide attention for the University by taking part in the unfurling of this flag:

• There were no surprises for the Bulldogs on Wednesday's opening day of the N.C.A.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., as four Georgia athletes advanced past the qualifying round. Those Bulldogs still in competition are David Dickens (400-meter dash), Nate Rolfe (hammer throw), Levern Spencer (high jump), and, of course, multiple record-holder Jennifer Dahlgren, whose first qualifying toss in the hammer throw set the high water mark of the round at 220 feet, eight inches . . . over 12 feet farther than the qualifying throw of her male counterpart, Rolfe. The girl can flat hurl a hammer.
• Finally, in an effort to give credit where credit is due, I must draw your attention to the fact that Jamie Mottram ranked the top 10 sports weblogs and, as a network, SportsBlogs Nation ranked second, behind only Deadspin, a weblog so smart, cool, and cutting-edge that ESPN declared it webloga non grata. Jamie, of course, is the point man for The FanHouse and, although I have offered some constructive criticisms of AOL's blogging platform, I have always endeavored to support its individual bloggers and this is no exception. Nice work, Jamie.

Go 'Dawgs!