Wednesday Morning Dawg Bites: 76 Straight Wins Lead the Big Parade

In this, the season of mixing it up here at Dawg Sports, I am going to use this morning’s midweek edition of "Dawg Bites" to offer links of interest and personal observations I considered worthy of note. Think of them as truth bombs, and enjoy them with your morning cup of coffee as you get up to speed on all that matters in Bulldog Nation:

• If y’all don’t mind, I’m going to continue enjoying Georgia’s 45-7 win over Auburn a little while longer. Specifically, I’m going to note that Bill Connelly says it could’ve been even worse, Jay Coulter says Auburn has a Georgia problem, and Doug Gillett says the cleanliness of last Saturday’s game indicates that the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is a friendly one once more. To paraphrase Morgan Freeman at the end of "Seven," I agree with the first two-thirds of those statements.
• Saturday, when I saw that the Missouri Tigers had beaten the Texas Longhorns, I momentarily felt an impulse to chant, "SEC! SEC! SEC!" (By the way, has anyone else noticed that they’ve quit announcing "scores of interest" over the public address system in Sanford Stadium? Why is that? Also, did I just miss it, or has it been a while now since we heard any news about the anointing of the next Uga? Is it possible Russ is going to ascend belatedly to the throne? I’m just asking.)

• Glen Mason, who was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs for about the length of time it will take you to read this posting, reportedly will be the new head coach of the New Mexico Lobos. Please please please please please please please (Ernest Hemingway reference) schedule New Mexico as a patsy non-conference opponent for the Bulldogs, Greg McGarity!
• I’ve never liked the way the NFL counts sack yardage against passing totals instead of against rushing totals. It may have been intended to be a pass play, but, due to the efforts of the defense, the quarterback was forced to become a ballcarrier. I thought about that last weekend, when I saw Aaron Murray tuck the ball and run it when he couldn’t find an open receiver. Would anyone argue that, when a quarterback drops back to pass, finds his receivers covered, and runs the ball for positive yards, the yards he picks up should count toward his passing yards instead? That makes exactly as much sense as counting sack yardage against passing numbers, doesn’t it?
• We’re No. 12! Or No. 8! And we’re going to Disney World! Or not!
• Our pastor recently put signs around the church reading "GGYB SDAW," which he explained in a sermon stood for "Give God your best, seven days a week." I was lay leading this Sunday, so, when I stood up to lead the congregational call to worship, I apologized for the hoarseness of my voice and explained that it was due to the fact that, in Sanford Stadium the day before, "GGYB SDAW" had stood for "Go, go, young Bulldogs, strike down Auburn Wareagles."
• If Georgia ever decides to send the Bulldogs onto the field in silver helmets again, this is the way to go.
• I couldn’t have enjoyed the Georgia-Auburn game more than I did unless it had been played on an aircraft carrier.
• Led by Jasmine Hassell’s 17 points, Andy Landers’s Lady Bulldogs carded a 68-49 women’s basketball win over Georgia Southern in Statesboro last night. The Red and Black led by nine with a little over 16 minutes left to play before Georgia outscored Georgia Southern, 9-0, over the next 118 seconds to take command of a game in which the Lady Bulldogs shot nearly 54 per cent from the charity stripe (7 of 13) but drained 46 per cent of their shots from the field (29 of 63).
• In a recent comment, Cousin Pat from Georgia mentioned the onetime tendency of the ‘Dawgs to deliver "epic," unexpected curb-stompings to unsuspecting opponents believed beforehand to be capable of giving the Classic City Canines a game. It is true that such beatdowns out of the clear blue were an annual (or better) attribute of Mark Richt’s early teams, as evidenced by such convincing wins as those over Georgia Tech in 2002, Clemson and Tennessee in 2003, Louisiana State in 2004 and 2005, and Auburn in 2006 and 2007. We haven’t seen such an eyebrow-raising throttling of a legitimate opponent since at least the 2008 Sugar Bowl (and, really, Hawaii didn’t count as even remotely as legitimate an opponent as the Warriors’ record suggested), but last Saturday’s shellacking certainly qualified. On the list of reasons to feel good about the possibility that happy days are here again, that one ranks right up there.
• Tonight is a big night for two Bulldog sports squads. The Georgia women’s swimming and diving team, which began its current home winning streak with a victory over Emory on November 8, 1995, can tie the school record (held by the men’s tennis team) of 76 consecutive home wins in this afternoon’s meet against Emory. (Dan Magill, who lettered in swimming at the University from 1940 to 1942, and who coached the tennis team that set the school record, will address the swimming and diving team, which is coached by Jack Bauerle, whose youngest son is named Magill. Seriously, if you don’t love everything about this parenthetical aside, you’re at the wrong weblog.)
  
  Much less cool, though still significant, is the Georgia men’s basketball team’s CBE Classic contest against South Dakota State at Stegeman Coliseum this evening. Be there, if you can, to see the Bulldogs host the Jackrabbits, and sign up, if you will, to join us for a special Dawg Sports outing to the Classic City for the Georgia-Furman men’s basketball game on December 23!

That should give you more than enough information with which to start your day, so polish off that cup of coffee and dive into your Wednesday, because those e-mails won’t answer themselves!

Go ‘Dawgs!