Once again, the votes are in and what looked like a split decision in the early balloting became a convincing victory in the end.
The question was simple: "Who will be Georgia's starting quarterback against Tennessee?" The poll was posted prior to Blake Barnes's injury and before the G-Day game, at which time the fan base appeared to be more torn than I had anticipated would be the case.
Really, Emily Procter has nothing whatsoever to do with this, but, since we're talking about voting and Ainsley Hayes's name came up in a discussion about the relative merits of "Commander in Chief" and "The West Wing" over at the Georgia Sports Blog, I thought I'd use that as an excuse to post a picture of a gorgeous blonde Southern gal.
For the first few days, Joe Tereshinski III and Matthew Stafford were neck and neck with one another, with neither being able to open up a commanding lead over the other. Likewise, Blake Barnes and Joe Cox each received a similar number of votes to the other, as well.
Following last Saturday's spring scrimmage, though, what had been a tight race was transformed into a landslide.
Out of 100 votes cast, Matthew Stafford received a 63 per cent majority, with much of the support for him being registered in the aftermath of his performance in Sanford Stadium. Had Stafford received one more vote, the number of ballots cast on his behalf would have matched exactly the number of yards covered by his first pass on G-Day.
Joe T. ended up a distant second to Stafford, polling at 24 per cent, and finished ahead of Cox (9 per cent) and Barnes (4 per cent). Naturally, this is a wholly unscientific survey of the trend of opinion in Bulldog Nation, but it says something about the fan base's reaction to last weekend's exhibition between the hedges.
The new poll question is up and running on the right-hand side of your screen. This week's query is as follows: "Which Western Division team will Georgia face in the S.E.C. championship game in December?" All six S.E.C. West schools are listed and, for the benefit of you naysayers, a seventh option ("None . . . because Georgia won't win the East") has been included, although I hope that one receives no votes from citizens of Bulldog Nation.
Extra votes are available by the bushel!
This is Georgia, so, please, vote early and vote often. While you're at it, feel free to offer the rationale for your answer in the diaries available to the right. I'd be interested in knowing not just which option you picked, but why.
Go 'Dawgs!