It’s a busy Monday in Bulldog Nation, but a couple of subjects require our attention, so I’m presenting you with the short version in this abbreviated edition of lunch hour Dawg bites. Consider the following as you wolf down that sandwich:
- Where do the Diamond Dogs stand after losing two games to Baylor over the weekend? Team Speed Kills pulls no punches, reporting:
It has been a long time -- as in, more than a decade -- since the Dawgs have been this bad at baseball. Last season's 16-37 record was the first time Georgia has won fewer than 20 games since 1974 -- when they only played 28 and went 10-18. Now, this weekend's 1-2 mark against Baylor -- and the 19-12 loss Sunday -- are the latest indications that the Dawgs could be headed for back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1998 and 1999, the final two years of the Robert Sapp Era. That was also the last time Georgia failed to make the NCAA tournament two seasons in a row.
2011 is going to be a defining year for Greg McGarity as his alma mater’s athletic director. Between now and New Year’s Eve, he is likely to have to make some major decisions, both for good and for ill, regarding the futures in Athens of Jay Clark, Mark Fox, David Perno, and Mark Richt. If Coach Perno can’t get it turned around this year, the unvarnished facts spelled out at SB Nation’s SEC weblog serve as a damning indictment of the state of the Red and Black’s oldest varsity sport. - Moving from sports at which the Classic City Canines historically have been good but are not good at the present to sports at which the Athenians historically have not been good but are good at the present, we learn that the Georgia Bulldogs lost ground after Saturday night’s convincing win, sliding down the S-curve to eleven seed status.
While I admit to being biased, I believe the Bulldogs deserve better than that. Georgia’s losses (all of which were competitive) are to the third-seeded Florida Gators and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the fifth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats and Xavier Musketeers, the sixth-seeded Temple Owls and Vanderbilt Commodores, and the tenth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers. In addition to posting wins over Kentucky and Tennessee, the Fox Hounds can claim victories over the 12th-seeded Colorado Buffaloes and the 13th-seeded UAB Blazers. While a win over the LSU Tigers on Wednesday is essential to the Bulldogs’ NCAA Tournament chances, a road win over the vulnerable Alabama Crimson Tide this weekend would go a long way toward boosting the Red and Black’s seeding. The difference between a nine or ten seed and an eleven seed could be the difference between making a run or one and done.
What do you think? Can the Diamond Dogs turn it around in time, or will this season be David Perno’s last in Athens? Does Mark Fox’s squad deserve a higher seeding than now seems probable, and can the Hoop Hounds improve their standing in their final two regular season games and in the SEC Tournament? Your thoughts are welcome in the comments below.
Go ‘Dawgs!