You could be forgiven for missing it, but Andy Landers' Lady Dogs downed Alabama on Sunday to run their mark to 14-0 on the season, tying the school record for consecutive victories to start the season. It was also Georgia's 16th consecutive victory over the 'Bama ladies. Darth Saban finds this unacceptable, and will be taking charge of the program after the BCS title game.
The 2008-09 campaign was a bit of a let down by Landers' traditionally high standards, as his squad finished 18-14 (7-7 in SEC play), and bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the first round following a disappointing loss to Arizona State at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. In fact, one could argue that the last few years have been a bit disappointing for womens' basketball at Georgia. And that was before Connecticut's Geno Auriemma started poaching the best high school players in the country from the Peach State. Two days before workouts started this season senior starting guard Christy Marshall went down for the season with a torn ACL.
That's why I'm happy about this start. Not only because I'm a Georgia fan, but an Andy Landers fan. The guy has been an excellent coach who built the Lady Dogs into a national power largely with his own two hands. His only fault has been that he's not Pat Summit, but has unfortunately had to coach against her for decades. It's like being the mens' coach at Southern Cal during the John Wooden era. Sometimes history just isn't on your side.
The Lady Dogs' will resume SEC play on Thursday in Athens against Kentucky, a team off to a 12-1 start. Rich Brooks will be in attendance as UK's official scorer now that he has some time on his hands.*
*Just kidding about that last part. Coach B. has birdhouses to build, and thinks driving at night is, you know. We at Dawgsports wish him the best, however, and look forward to typing "Joker" as a proper noun with regularity.