Kentucky 24, Georgia 20

by T Kyle King on Nov 4, 2006 5:52 PM EST in Football

I could go into detail, but why bother? Even though you didn't see the game on television and even if you haven't looked at a box score, you know the story.

The Bulldogs held a halftime lead but were outscored in the second half, just as they were in the Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State games, confirming that Willie Martinez simply cannot make halftime adjustments anywhere other than in Jacksonville.

Georgia led in first downs (23-22) and total yards (386-353) despite running 15 fewer offensive plays, yet the Red and Black lost a fumble and had three passes picked off. My faith in the Bulldogs' placekicking proved laughably misplaced, as Andy Bailey missed two field goals and an extra point. In the closing minutes of the game, with the Bulldogs clinging to a lead that was narrower than it should have been, the opposing offense had no trouble driving the length of field for the decisive score.

Mark Richt has lost on the opponent's field just three times in nearly six years at Georgia. The first loss was in Baton Rouge in 2003, when the Red and Black fell to eventual national champion L.S.U. The second loss was on the Plains in 2004, when the Bulldogs fell to an undefeated S.E.C. champion Auburn squad that was shut out of the national title game. The third loss was in Lexington against a 4-4 team whose coach narrowly avoided being fired a year ago.

2006 isn't 1990 bad. It isn't Johnny Griffith era bad. It isn't late Wally Butts era bad. It is, however, bad in the way the 1993 through 1996 seasons were bad . . . bad enough that every win seems like an undeserved gift and every opponent, no matter how mediocre, is a challenge.

I wish I could believe 2006 was going to be a repeat of 1973, but I don't. I believe 2006 is going to be a repeat of 1969.

In 1968, as in 2005, Georgia won an S.E.C. championship and enjoyed a stellar year, despite falling in the Sugar Bowl to an underestimated opponent. The 1969 season began as the 2006 campaign did, with much promise and some early success . . . but then the wheels came off, as a 5-1 start dissolved into an 0-3-1 finish down the stretch.

Because the bowl bids went out early in those days, the 'Dawgs received an invitation to play in the 1969 Sun Bowl. Erk Russell protested, telling Vince Dooley that the team was too battered, physically and emotionally, to make a good showing in El Paso. Nevertheless, the decision was made to accept the bid and the resulting 45-6 loss to Nebraska remains to this day the worst postseason defeat in Georgia football history.

Regardless of what happens in the last two games---and I am not sanguine about the Bulldogs' prospects in those outings---I do not believe this Georgia squad should receive or accept a bowl bid. These Bulldogs are battered, hampered by injuries and emotionally drained.

I am not going to criticize these young men, who are working hard in what began as a rebuilding year and promptly turned into a larger reclamation project than any of us expected. However, the time has come to recognize that the handwriting is on the wall.

When I wake up in the morning and something goes wrong---say, I cut myself shaving---I try to treat it as just one thing that went wrong; it happens, but you deal with it and you move on from it. If something else goes wrong---for instance, I spill something on my suit while I'm eating breakfast---I try to keep that in perspective and treat it as an unfortunate coincidence.

If, however, things continue to go awry over the course of the morning and, by the time I get to the office and check my e-mail and my messages, four more mishaps have occurred . . . well, there eventually comes a point at which enough consecutive bad occurrences have to convince you that it's simply not your day, at which point you lean into the storm and just push on ahead, secure in the knowledge that it's just going to be a bad day, but, at midnight, you get a shiny brand new one and it'll be better tomorrow.

We are officially at the point at which Bulldog Nation simply must resign itself to a lousy season in 2006 and get through it. I'm prepared to write off an occasional bad autumn, for two reasons.

First of all, it is not at all uncommon for the season following an S.E.C. championship campaign to be mediocre or worse, because first-place finishers tend to be senior-laden squads and it is difficult to fill the void left by their departure.

Accordingly, the conference title-winning Georgia teams of 1942, 1948, 1959, 1968, and 1976 were followed in the ensuing seasons by Bulldog squads posting records of 6-4 in 1943, 4-6-1 in 1949, 6-4 in 1960, 5-5-1 in 1969, and 5-6 in 1977. Likewise, last year's personnel losses were substantial, which is why the runs of four straight 10-win seasons from 1980 to 1983 and from 2002 to 2005 were very much the exception rather than the rule.

Secondly, the feeling I had throughout the Ray Goff era was that the 'Dawgs were going to go 10-2 every few years and be struggling towards bowl-eligibility the rest of the time. The sense that came to settle over me during the Jim Donnan era was that the Red and Black were going to be in the 8-4 or 9-3 range forever . . . rarely worse than that, but never better than that, as though he were the R.C. Slocum of the S.E.C. With Mark Richt, though, I am prepared to pay the price of an occasional six-win season sandwiched in between lengthy stretches of success.

Reasonable Georgia fans may differ as to the nature of the problem and the placement of the blame. Quite frankly, I have no interest in addressing those questions at the moment. Right now, I just want to put this season in the books and put it behind us. If a bowl bid is offered, we should not prolong this season by accepting it.

As soon as the new year gets here, I'll be ready to get back to finishing the drill. Right now, though, I just want to finish the season so I can return to the hope (which, according to the latest poll results, is only partially shared by others) that Georgia will do in 2007 what Michigan has done in 2006: bounce back from an awful season to have a great one.

Say a prayer for Mario Raley.

Go 'Dawgs!

0 recs | Comment 32 comments

Story-email Email | Print |

Comments

I Agree

Kyle I agree with everything you just said except for one thing. I think we should accept a bowl bid to get the extra practice days (God knows we need it). I just want this season to be over though. In the Goff years you expected years like this, the Donnan years were an exercise in mediocrity but we STILL never lost to Vandy or UK. Maybe we are spoiled by the last 4 years, there is still no excuse for the pathetic product we are putting on the field this year. The one thing that I have come to expect from a CMR team is that they are prepared. You can't say that this year, our team (especially defense) looks like they have no idea what to do or where to go on the field. What are they practicing during the week? I though these guys were supposed to have the fundamentals down by the time they get to this level. Apparently I was mistaken. Someone's head should roll after this season (I nominate Willie Martinez), and Andy Bailey needs to lose his scholorship and go back to where ever the hell he is from. How does a Divison I kicker miss 2FG's and a PAT?

by RocketDawg on Nov 4, 2006 6:15 PM EST 0 recs

Thoughts and questions

I actually considered the benefits of extra practice from a bowl bid, but I think I am with Kyle. Let's just get it over. Odds are it'd be a crappy bowl and the last thing we need is to get beat by some mediocre MAC or WAC team to finish the season.
You have to think that people in Columbia are shaking their heads, saying, "How did we lose to THOSE guys?!"
If we somehow manage to beat Tech, we should leave it at that and let that be our high note finale, there's no need to go to a bowl.

I missed the 2 previous games (the Dogs weren't on in China), so I have a question. Are all these INTs Stafford is throwing BAD INTs or are they tips, deflections and stuff like that that is not all his fault?

by fotodog on Nov 4, 2006 6:35 PM EST 0 recs

INT's

Most of them are BAD...poor reads and trying to make impossible throws. To quote the CAG in Top Gun "his ego is writing checks that his body can't cash". He's a Freshman and playing like one, better this year than next though.

by RocketDawg on Nov 4, 2006 6:38 PM EST 0 recs

HOLY CRAP.....

All facets of our game our GA 400 tollbooth worker quality right now....

by JP on Nov 4, 2006 9:03 PM EST 0 recs

Bowl

I disagree on the bowl comment. You can't deny a bowl bid for the sake of the seniors. These kids have put in 3-4 years of hard work. Sure a December 17th bowl would suck, but don't punish the kids.

What UGA should do is clean the house just after the Tech game. Let Willy be free! Get a real Defensive coach (Van Gorder?) and maybe an offensive coach to help with play calling... a checks and balance for MR? i.e. on one set of downs in the first half, UGA ran the ball twice and threw a screen on 3 and 10. What the &#^#**(#!!!

by ssidedawg1 on Nov 4, 2006 9:53 PM EST 0 recs

Peace out

Well, look at it this way, Kyle, you did pick a slate of upsets in the SEC this Saturday (although this was not supposed to be one of them), and you were actually right about some of them and darn close on others (South Carolina and Vandy almost came through). Don't worry. I didn't bet on it, though.

Like you (I think), I am beyond the point of getting terribly upset about Georgia's games this season anymore. Listening to this one on the radio, I was certainly disappointed, but I just kept working on my deck calmly accepting that the wheels are off and this team just doesn't have it this year. It sounds defeatist to say, but there is a certain measure of peace a fan gets about such things when expectations are so low. When Kentucky scored the last touchdown, I didn't throw my sanding block in disgust (as I have in the past been apt to do), but instead just kind of chuckled to myself and thought, "Never mind Tennessee, Florida, and Auburn, I cannot believe we are going to lose to Vanderbilt AND Kentucky in the same year." I was encouraged to hear Coach Garner after the game say that the fact this is a "down year" is not lost on the coaches and they will be working to finish this season out respectably and have a much improved one in 2007. My great fear is that no real "adjustments" will be made to the coaching staff in the off-season, however, so even if the offense gets clicking and (1) Stafford matures to the point that the other team's receivers aren't his preferred targets and (2) our receivers begin actually to catch balls that hit them in the hands, we will still get outscored in the second half of every game because we do not set up defensively in a way that can stop an opposing team's offense if it is at all functional -- especially if said team's offensive coordinator has had the benefit of seeing those same defensive schemes in the first half.

I do feel bad for our players, who are a bunch of hard-working kids I am sure do not want to be in this position. Nevertheless, for the good of Bulldog Nation, I agree with your call on a prospective bowl bid. The seniors on this team have had the opportunity to play in bowl games before and I just don't think the considerable downside to a very poor post-season performance is outweighed by the sentimentality of "let's give them another opportunity." Let's play hard in our last two games, acquit ourselves well, and begin preparing for 2007. Besides, isn't there something horribly Pyrrhic about appearing in a bowl game when you went 6-6 in the regular season and, while ranked, lost games to lesser-ranked and/or unranked opponents? That would almost be as bad as losing your own conference's "title" game and then getting to play in the BCS "national championship" game (I'm looking at you, Oklahoma).

Speaking of Oklahoma (the state, not the school), there is one bright spot in this otherwise bleak college football Saturday: You were dead-on in your "National Game of Disinterest" pick. What a blowout. If you cared enough to, well, care, you could tell all those OSU blowhards who gave you such grief earlier in the week to eat it. 'Reckon what all their message boards are saying NOW?

by College Buddy on Nov 5, 2006 1:47 AM EST 0 recs

I agree

I have far fewer concerns on the offensive side of the ball, where the problems primarily are ones of execution (among the skill position players) and depth (along the offensive line). While new blood (in the form of a full-time offensive coordinator) might instill fresh energy, these issues largely will be resolved through repetition (which was hampered by the round-robin at quarterback) and recruiting.

My real fear concerns the defense. For some bizarre reason, Willie Martinez has had tremendous second-half success against alleged offensive genius Urban Meyer . . . but he has proven utterly unable to make critical second-half adjustments against anyone else.

I will buy the notion that the loss of experienced, talented players, both in quality and in quantity, caused our defense to be overtaxed against Tennessee and Florida . . . but a talent gap cannot seriously be blamed for Georgia's defensive shortcomings against Colorado, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and Kentucky. The problem has to be coaching.

The 'Dawgs are 9-7 in their last 16 games. In those outings, they surrendered 14, 31, 13, 7, 14, 38, 12, 0, 0, 13, 9, 51, 24, 24, 21, and 24 points, respectively. I will give credit to the defensive coaching staff for the shutouts (particularly on the road against South Carolina), the S.E.C. championship game, and (to a lesser extent) the two Florida games.

However, even in the Colorado and Ole Miss games, the defense got pushed around a bit and a five-game stretch in which the Bulldogs surrendered a gross point total---literally, a gross: Georgia has given up 144 points in the Red and Black's last five outings---confirms that last year's Auburn and West Virginia games were no fluke.

While changes need to be made on the offensive side of the ball, as well, the offense will perform capably in 2007 even if the status quo is maintained. The real risk lies on the defensive side of the ball, where it is long past time that Willie Martinez heard the dreaded words "significant improvement." It is time for Georgia's defensive coordinator to be good or be gone.

by T Kyle King on Nov 6, 2006 9:27 PM EST up 0 recs

look at the brightside....

In 1969 all those bad things you describe did happen.

In 1970, it got worse with losses to Tulane, MSU, Ole Miss and GT.

BUT in 1971 we went 11-1. Even ol' Dooley pulled it around when he hit the skids.

Georgia Sports Blog

by Paulwesterdawg on Nov 5, 2006 2:17 AM EST 0 recs

bowl

I agree that MR needs to look hard at his staff and find some answers. That should be after the season bowl game or not when he has time to reflex and not over react. I also agree the first place he needs to look is at the DC but also agree with an older post it is time to look for an OC as well. As one announcer on TV 46 Kentucky has the worst defense in the SEC and UGA could only score 20 points. Look what it has done for Tech-sorry. My guess is that MR will do nothing. He seems to be a loyal person and will have a hard time firing anybody, just like changing QB's. He cannot do it all. I liked your idea of Bobo, even it would be copying Tech, it would be a start. It shall be interesting. Go Dawgs.

72Dawg

by wbmoon on Nov 5, 2006 8:43 AM EST 0 recs

Comment

I first paid close attention to Richt during the National Championship game between OK and FL State, the last game he was offensive co-ordinator at FSU. I was not terriblly impressed at the time with what I saw. Some years later, despite two SEC titles under his belt, I still am unimpressed. I wonder if the fact that the first SEC title was won with Jim Donnan's material and that the Eastern Division Championship preceeding the second title was handed to him by the old ball coach should leave me more impressed? I guess I must be saying that I remain unimpressed because he really has yet to win a title of his own without substantial help from someone else. I would be interested to see what other opinions are? LBK resident

by altekampfer on Nov 5, 2006 9:56 AM EST 0 recs

I don't buy that

I wouldn't judge Mark Richt by the national championship game at the end of the 2000 season. Florida State was going up against one of the all-time great defenses. Virtually no one scored on those Sooners.

If there had been a significant recruiting drop-off from the Jim Donnan era, I might buy the "winning with the other guy's players" argument, but the talent level coming out of high school hasn't been substantially less.

That being the case, I'd much rather go with the guy who could win with Jim Donnan's players than the guy who couldn't. Given the future N.F.L. talent on hand throughout the Ray Goff and Jim Donnan eras, I'm standing behind the man who has (despite this season) won games at a clip unprecedented in University of Georgia history and captured conference crowns at a rate matched only by Wally Butts and Vince Dooley, the two most successful head coaches in school history.

As for the Eastern Division championship being "handed to him" by Steve Spurrier, that is a very skewed way of looking at it. It is easy, and even tempting, to telescope an entire season into one Saturday's worth of action, but the division crown was won by being the best team in the East over the course of the whole campaign. Georgia was that team . . . and, when it came down to the need to win one game to capture the crown, the 'Dawgs did just that before going on to blow out a good L.S.U. team in the Georgia Dome.

Let's try to give credit where credit is due here. Yes, some changes need to be made---and I have been on board for hiring an offensive coordinator and firing the defensive coordinator for weeks now---but the notion that Mark Richt isn't the best thing to have happened to this program since Herschel Walker signed his national letter of intent is just crazy talk.

by T Kyle King on Nov 5, 2006 10:47 AM EST up 0 recs

Crazy?

As in all cases, only time will determine what is crazy talk. I would not be too adament in my opinions if I were you. After all, I need not remind you that Richt is one and five against FL and, come November 11, one and six against Tubberville. I shall be interested to see what time holds in store for your assertion.

by altekampfer on Nov 5, 2006 1:23 PM EST up 0 recs

apology

Excuse me. Two and four against Tubberville.

by altekampfer on Nov 5, 2006 1:30 PM EST up 0 recs

Only six S.E.C. coaches . . .

. . . have won two conference titles in their first five years on the job: Alabama's Frank Thomas, L.S.U.'s Bernie Moore and Nick Saban, Florida's Steve Spurrier, and Georgia's Vince Dooley and Mark Richt.

Only five S.E.C. coaches have recorded four consecutive 10-win seasons: Alabama's Bear Bryant, Florida's Steve Spurrier, Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer, and Georgia's Vince Dooley and Mark Richt.

From those facts, we may draw three possible conclusions:

Bear Bryant, Vince Dooley, Phillip Fulmer, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, and Mark Richt are all overrated.
All of those other coaches are great coaches and Mark Richt, an average coach, somehow managed to get his name listed alongside theirs by some bizarre, incredible, and inexplicable fluke which is utterly and absolutely without precedent in nearly 75 seasons of Southeastern Conference competition.
All of those coaches are great coaches and Mark Richt is one of those coaches; therefore, Mark Richt must be a great coach.

The first option is sheer nonsense and the second option is an extraordinary logical leap which is entirely unsupported by evidence. When you have eliminated all other possibilities, the only remaining explanation, however improbable (and I do not consider the third option to be at all improbable), has to be the truth.

by T Kyle King on Nov 5, 2006 11:11 PM EST up 0 recs

point remains valid

You like to pontificate; the point remains valid, particularly the one concerning Spurrier. If Spurrier had not beaten Florida, Richt would not have won the East. I look forward to more pontificating. It amuses me.

by altekampfer on Nov 6, 2006 3:09 PM EST up 0 recs

I apologize if I misunderstood you

In your earlier comment, you wrote: "I would be interested to see what other opinions are?" You solicited alternative viewpoints, so I attempted to offer a contrary perspective, as you appeared to request.

Since you now indicate that you are not, in fact, interested in hearing my opinion and the rationale underlying it, but merely wish to be "amuse[d]" by my "pontificating," I will offer a final attempt at reasoned discourse, then I will allow you the last word, which I will leave unremarked.

It is true that, had the winners of games lost them and the losers of games won them, this would have changed the standings in the Eastern Division in 2005. The same would have been the case in the pursuit of every championship in every sport at every time.

Which is more attributable to Mark Richt's coaching, though: the decision to call 70 X Takeoff in the 2002 Auburn game or Brandon Cox's completion of a 62-yard pass on fourth and long in the 2005 Auburn game? The former was an affirmative coaching decision on Mark Richt's part which won the East and the latter was either an unfortunate fluke or an affirmative coaching decision on Al Borges's part which could have affected, but ultimately did not affect, the outcome of the division race.

Accordingly, it seems to me that Mark Richt deserves a lot more credit for winning the 2002 Auburn game than he deserves blame for losing the 2005 Auburn game, but, if we are to apportion the credit and the blame evenly, fine; let us tally up all the entries on both sides of the ledger and acknowledge that the outcome of the 2005 Florida-South Carolina game did not keep the Bulldogs out of Atlanta, for two reasons.

First of all, with one conference game remaining in which to clinch the East, Mark Richt's squad won the game that earned the 'Dawgs the championship. Secondly, the reason the Bulldogs were in that position was that they won the head-to-head matchup with the vaunted Steve Spurrier, whose career record against Mark Richt is 1-2.

I regret it if you consider the impassioned statement of facts in defense of a coach who will have averaged almost 10 wins a year over the course of his first six seasons on the Sanford Stadium sideline despite a .500 record in 2006 to be mere pontificating . . . and I regret even more the fact that my attempts to be edifying have merely amused you, providing entertainment where enlightenment was intended.

I thank you for visiting Dawg Sports and I invite you to continue sharing your views, with which I disagree but which I appreciate and respect. I would be delighted to continue this dialogue were I convinced that the regard was mutual.

by T Kyle King on Nov 6, 2006 8:58 PM EST up 0 recs

Changes will come...they have too.

Sometimes you must force a change for the better; like replacing a coordinator here 'n' there or hiring someone new. Sometimes the changes happen naturally. A player graduates, a void is filled by new blood, and then you go on...hopefully for the better, sometimes for the worse.

We need a new vision for our offense. Our philosophy has become stale. When we have had playmakers in the past, we still have struggled at times especially in the red zone during Richt's tenure. This year, we have absolutely zero playmakers and a very average offensive line. The results are not shocking. But it still highlights the need for something different. I think if Richt was singularly focused as an offensive coordinator, perhaps sitting up in the booth, things might be different. But he's charged with multitasking as a head coach and the most complex part of the game has suffered. I hope he re-evaluates his role and brings in someone with some fresh ideas. Having said that, I wonder how many yards and points we have forfeiting this year by dropped passes alone? Everyone has drops during a game, but this year's Dawgs have set the bar.

Another thing, unrelated but perhaps pertinent. Can we begin a season without any suspensions? Could this be done? I think it creates a season-long hangover that sometimes you never get over. And, it's embarrassing.

Praying for Mario.

by DavetheDawg on Nov 5, 2006 9:58 AM EST 0 recs

Cold, hard truth

Stafford is looking more and more like one of those highly-touted, high-school phenoms who just can't do it at the next level. In other words, a bust. Maybe the biggest one ever at UGA. Even bigger than the legendary pothead Jasper Sanks.

Around the country, a number of freshemn are performing at a high level - Tebow, Mustaine, Colt McCoy, and, now, Crompton at UT. Matt may be the next Quincy - looks great in the uniform, rifle arm, but a poor decision maker. Will Cox start against Auburn? Should he? And what about Barnes. Could he do any worse? We have lost 4 out of the last 5.

One more thing - isn't there a girls soccer player in Athens who can make an extra point? Please sign her up.

I'm depressed. Going to get drunk and listen to the Stones.

"Herschel is just a big, slow back". - Vince Dooley; August, 1980

by Elmo Lewis on Nov 5, 2006 10:04 AM EST 0 recs

In Stafford's defense...

Tebow, Mustain, McCoy, and Crompton all have receivers who can catch and lineman who can block. Being a freshman in the SEC is handicap enough. Try doing it with no support. Give him a break.

by DavetheDawg on Nov 5, 2006 10:12 AM EST up 0 recs

Addendum.

Our offensive (and they are offensive to me) couldn't block a refrigerator box.

"Herschel is just a big, slow back". - Vince Dooley; August, 1980

by Elmo Lewis on Nov 5, 2006 10:05 AM EST 0 recs

UGA or Ugh

I think Stafford will be alright... I hope. But maybe he needs to watch a few more games on the other side of the white stripe. 12 INT's and 4 TD do not make u a freshman phenom. I haven't seen enough of Cox to say he is worse (actually I have seen the contrary).

MR has always worried me. What I would give for a Les Miles or Meyer attitude on the sideline at times. Is MR taking sedatives? In the post game interview he acted like we lost to Ohio State by 3 in the BCS title game. Errr...IT WAS KENTUCKY! It was our 4th lost with two ranked teams to go! He should be spitting nails!!! Instead, it was ho hum we lost.

Once again, we have way too much talent and speed to be run by the Cats and Dores. We graduated more talent after 2004 and then won the SEC. You reference all those down years, but most of those resulted in major coaching changes. We have tons-o-blue chips and an alleged great coach, 6-6 aint getting it.

BTW, it is too much money lost to skip a bowl. UGA would never do it.

by ssidedawg1 on Nov 5, 2006 10:48 AM EST 0 recs

Georgia wouldn't lose any money . . .

. . . by skipping a bowl game.

There should be plenty of bowl-eligible S.E.C. teams available to fill all of the conference's contractual tie-ins.

The league office collects all of the bowl money and splits it 12 ways. As long as all of the S.E.C. bowl slots are filled, Georgia gets the same payout whether the 'Dawgs go to a bowl game or some other team goes in their place.

by T Kyle King on Nov 5, 2006 11:02 PM EST up 0 recs

More inane (or insane) rambling

Even at 6-6 we may be forced to go bowling due to SEC contracts.

In respones to DtD's comment that being a freshman in the SEC is handicap enough. True enough, we have had poor line play and many drops, but there's plenty of blame for Matt, too. For example, throwing it to a guy with a different colored jersey on when none of our jerseys are nearby.

And whatever happened to "Finish The Drill"? It's now "Get Drilled At The Fiinish".

"Herschel is just a big, slow back". - Vince Dooley; August, 1980

by Elmo Lewis on Nov 5, 2006 11:24 AM EST 0 recs

DawgSports Casts a wide net

Kyle

Did you know that the political blog "JasonPye.com" linked to this post and gave DawgSports a mention?

by Blogger who came in from the cold on Nov 5, 2006 12:07 PM EST 0 recs

Cool!

Now I know I've made it.

by T Kyle King on Nov 5, 2006 11:15 PM EST up 0 recs

Hahaha

I love the site...but I'm pissed at the Dawgs.

- Jason

by JaseLP on Nov 6, 2006 9:17 AM EST up 0 recs

And thus, I refute you.

http://macondawg.blogspot.com/2006/11/whats-left-to-say-plenty.html

by MaconDawg on Nov 6, 2006 10:44 AM EST 0 recs

Excellent job, MaconDawg!

You make several fine points and you may be right. I will not attempt a full-fledged point-by-point refutation, but I believe a brief response is warranted.

First of all, I do not believe that "any experience is good experience." In fact, I believe quite the opposite: learning the wrong way or with the wrong attitude can hamper future learning in a way that merely delaying the start of the learning process will not.

Secondly, I agree that my argument, if taken to an extreme end, becomes absurd . . . as do all arguments. My argument is not against playing obligatory games that already have been scheduled due to abstract concerns (I do not advocate forfeiting the Auburn and Georgia Tech games, for instance), but for not accepting an invitation to play an additional game for which abundant evidence indicates the team presently is not ready.

Thirdly, I agree that the purpose of having a football team is to play football games, but no one supposes that teams should play games ad infinitum. Georgia has an open date upcoming between the Auburn and Georgia Tech games . . . should the 'Dawgs accept an invitation to play another team with an open date that weekend?

What about the Saturdays between early December and the bowl game? What about the Saturdays between the bowl game and the national championship game? What about the third Saturday in June? What about this Wednesday?

I'm talking about opting out of one game that is intended to be a reward for a team that has done little to warrant such a reward; I do not believe I am impeding the football team's ability to fulfill its raison d'etre as a football team by suggesting a course of action identical to that recommended by Erk Russell, whose knowledge of the purposes served by football teams I take to be authoritative.

Fourthly, it simply is not true "that there's no clean distinction between this year and next." Between this year and next, seniors will graduate, juniors will declare their eligibility for the N.F.L. draft, redshirt freshmen will begin participating in intercollegiate contests, true freshmen will arrive on campus after signing national letters of intent, coaching staffs will change, nearly eight months will elapse, and every team's record will be recalibrated to 0-0. In few aspects of life are the distinctions between this year and next even remotely as clean as they are in college football.

All that said, MaconDawg's final point---that "the future is now"---is a good one and, while I am not entirely persuaded by it, it is valid and deserving of further consideration. I would encourage all Dawg Sports readers to visit MaconDawg's Blawg, both in general and for the purpose of reading his rebuttal in particular.

Nice job, MaconDawg.

by T Kyle King on Nov 6, 2006 10:22 PM EST up 0 recs

Wow ...

Have to say, Kyle, I didn't see that one coming, down year or no.

Here's hoping you guys don't return the favor in basketball, when Big Blue Nation actually gives a damn.

That said, while it may, no does, suck for you folks, you'll be back. Meanwhile, we tore down the goalposts.

Take is as a sign of respect, which is hardly salve, I am sure.

by JL Blue on Nov 6, 2006 12:27 PM EST 0 recs

What Can You Say...

This is obviously not the season we all were hoping for, although I am sure we did expect that at some point in Richt's tenure we would have an off year. This year, however, has been off the rails. I think it was a bad move to put Stafford in full time after the Tennessee game and I think the INTs prove it. It was too soon to start "playing for next year." That's mute now, of course and I doubt if Cox or JoeTIII would have really made much of a difference anyway. We are just not getting the job done in all areas of the game. Our recievers can't catch, our kickers can't kick and our defense can't stop the other guys from scoring. That being said, I have 100% confidence in Richt's ability to get things back on the right track. I am sure he hates losing as much as we do, although he hasn't tasted it much since coming to Athens. As for the bowl game, it may, in fact be out of our hands, but if not I would say play the game. I respect the reasons given for not playing and if we did turn it down I could live with it, but the season is now about building skills, identifying players who haven't had a chance to shine yet and, most importantly, building confidence and character. Turning down a bowl game because we have had a bad year or even if we are not metally or physically fit sends the wrong signal to the underclassmen and seems a slight against the seniors. I still believe we have some very good football players on our team. What we need is for those players to come together and make a great team. You do that by playing games. Even if they are loses you learn something. A bowl win, even if against a weak opponent, could be a boost to morale going into the spring.

by ProfDawg on Nov 6, 2006 4:23 PM EST 0 recs

Practice makes perfect?

There has been a lot of talk about the benefits of the increased practice time that would accompany a bowl bid. I respectfully disagree, for two reasons.

First of all, the Bulldogs are looking at a lower-tier bowl bid at best. The worse the bowl game, the earlier it is played; the earlier it is played, the less extra practice time is obtained. Accordingly, the benefits the 'Dawgs would get from the extra practice time before a bad bowl game would be minimal.

Secondly, and more importantly, an expression my father often uses is relevant here: "Practice doesn't make perfect . . . practice makes permanent." As football coaches like to say, "As you practice, so shall you play."

If Arnold Palmer is advising you on your golf swing and you practice it Arnie's way again and again and again, practice will help, because Arnold Palmer knows how to swing a golf club.

If I am advising you on your golf swing and you practice it my way again and again and again, practice will not help, because I have no idea what I am doing where my golf swing is concerned. Accordingly, you would be worse off after excess practice time spent under my tutelage, because I would teach you the wrong way to swing a golf club . . . and muscle memory would impair your golf swing for quite a long while thereafter, even after you hired a competent golf teacher.

Whatever the players are practicing, it ain't working. Whatever blocking schemes the offensive line is practicing, whatever kicking drills are taking place, whatever catching exercises the receivers are doing, whatever passing drills the quarterbacks are performing, and whatever schemes the defense is learning aren't working. I don't know what the problem is, but, right now, more of the same is liable to make matters worse rather than better.

I am not suggesting that we should give up on this team or that the team should quit on itself. Obviously, if the Bulldogs bounce back to win both, or even one, of their last two games, that would call for a reassessment of the situation and, either way, Bulldog Nation should continue to cheer for its team. We should be true to our school, just like we would to our girl . . . and the vows we all made to our gals included a promise to be there for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, and (metaphorically, of course) in S.E.C. championship seasons and in years we lose to Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

If, however, the 'Dawgs limp to the 6-6 finish I believe we all now are expecting, there is no need to prolong the agony. As the twig is bent, so grows the tree . . . and nine consecutive poorly-played football games ending with a 1-6 run through the final seven outings is quite enough mangling of the branches for one autumn. Let fall come to its merciful conclusion, allow the last leaf to plummet to earth, and bear the long, hard winter of introspection, re-evaluation, and transition ere hope blooms anew in the rebirth of spring (practice).

by T Kyle King on Nov 6, 2006 9:45 PM EST 0 recs

To bowl or not to bowl, that is the question . . .

I was going to attempt what we lawyers euphemistically call a sur-rebuttal. But then Kyle put in a plug for my blog, which is all it really takes to buy me off.

Actually, I think this is one of those times when reasonable minds can disagree. I would say this though. I think your argument is somewhat at odds with your previous advocacy, and I think I need a clarification/distinction.

You say that there is indeed such a thing as bad practice. You support this with what I'll call the "Palmer Theory", which I'll admit is true in all cases: you do play as you practice and vice versa.

But at the same time, you are the official steward of the Mark Richt Victory Watch, during which you have championed Comrade Richt's ability to manage this program. Are you now saying that you doubt Coach Richt's ability to administer this team in a positive manner? I don't think that's your point but, somewhat selfishly, I want to know why not.

I also think that the first argument is a nonstarter because it's only, again using lawyer-speak, "a mitigating factor". The mere fact that we can't get in 20 practices provides no rationale not to take advantage of the 12 sessions we can work in. Unless, of course, this coaching staff is not capable of directing positive practices at this point, which I'm hoping is not your point.

Also, the difference is generally minimal because the teams that go to New Year's Bowl games generally don't practice straight through the holidays, they take a break then return to campus to begin bowl preparations. Then they go down early and lose practice time with pregame fanfare that is more subdued at smaller bowls. That further minimizes the difference.

Again, though, you know I admire your blog immensely. As I say in the link on mine "Cogent, timely analysis, yet still you hold a day job . . ." Wow.

by MaconDawg on Nov 7, 2006 2:47 PM EST 0 recs