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21-11 (9-7) | 23-10 (11-7) |
One fan’s odyssey:
[T]hese sorts of "human interest" articles should only appear during the offseason. While recruiting is going on, reporters write about recruiting. While preseason practice is going on, reporters write about preseason practice. The coach's wardrobe should only come up in the dead time in which nothing concerned with the sport itself is taking place.
There's only one reason why the Journal-Constitution would write about the Georgia basketball coach's attire in late February and we all know what that reason is.
It's because there isn't an upcoming N.C.A.A. tournament bid about which to write. If the Bulldogs were contenders, Chip Towers would be writing about conference tournament prospects and regions and seeding and suchlike.
Because there is no cause to write about such matters, Chip Towers has nothing better to write about than the fact that Dennis Felton "prefers a Giorgio Armani cut in earth tones" with "working buttons on the sleeves."T. Kyle King (February 26, 2006)
It's an exciting time to be a Georgia basketball fan. I know that because I'm excited about Georgia basketball, and the last time I had cause to be excited about Georgia basketball, I was fourteen years old and was too busy being distracted by the sight of Princess Leia in the gold bikini in the newly-released "Return of the Jedi." That was a while ago.
An athletics program as prominent as Georgia's, and with as many natural and institutional advantages, ought to be good consistently at multiple sports, and certainly at the second-most important sport, in terms of money and prestige, in intercollegiate competition. My fear is that Dennis's Dogs, motivated by the desire to save their coach's imperiled job, played above their heads during a whirlwind four-day period in which they didn't have the time to think about the impossibility of what they were doing . . . but my hope is that this was the breakthrough that will put Georgia basketball on the road to respectability, significance, and, ultimately, success at the highest level.T. Kyle King (March 18, 2008)
The guy who can take Georgia basketball to the level it is capable of occupying is out there, but, right now, he won’t return Damon Evans’s phone calls. That guy is choosing Tuscaloosa and maybe even Memphis over Athens. Trying to hire that guy now is folly and can only end in embarrassment.
Our Billy Donovan isn’t interested in being our Billy Donovan right now. Nevertheless, our Lon Kruger is out there---heck, our Lon Kruger may even be Lon Kruger---and it’s time to go hire him. He’s not the long-term solution, but he will get us from irrelevance to mediocrity. His results will be spotty, but he will put Georgia basketball on a distinct upward trend.
Then, and only then, will the giant have shown sufficient signs of being ready to awaken. Then, and only then, will Georgia be able to hire an elite basketball coach. The dorkiest kid in class just asked the head cheerleader to the senior prom on the theory that she might think he one day would be the next Bill Gates. The rejection was predictable. Now, rather than sulking and feeling sorry for himself, and rather than setting his sights on another cheerleader, that kid needs to ask the cutest junior in the band, in the hope that she’s at least somewhat in his league, that she will say yes, and that, once he’s been seen at the prom with her, the cheerleaders will start to take notice of him.
That’s where Georgia basketball is right now. We shouldn’t like it, but we have to accept it. The first step to finding a solution is admitting that there’s a problem. I applaud Damon Evans for failing while daring greatly. I respect him for going for the big hire. It was admirable, but it was overreaching. We can compete for a top-of-the-line coach in literally every other sport in which the Bulldogs take part, but basketball is the lone exception in which we languish pitifully far behind our peers.
We shouldn’t be looking for the Joshua who will lead us to the Promised Land while we yet remain in bondage in Egypt; first, we need the Moses who can guide us through the wilderness. It’s time to hire a coach we can get, one who’s good enough to make the Bulldogs good enough to stand a chance next time with the sorts of guys we should have known would turn us down this time.T. Kyle King (April 1, 2009)
Mr. Sanchez: Upsetting...
the Gymdogs get a legit recap. Men’s hoops are treated like a joke. Hopefully that will change within 12-24 months as Fox establishes his program.
T. Kyle King: As I have indicated on numerous occasions, my basketball knowledge is minimal . . .
. . . and, therefore, any attempt at in-depth analysis on my part would be woefully inadequate.
Rather than ignore the sport altogether, I choose to offer more emotional/visceral reactions, which I admit are a poor substitute for detailed examination, but which are better than nothing, since, to repeat, in-depth analysis by me would be inadequate.
As always, I welcome and encourage the posting of fanposts by more learned fans than me, which I will happily promote to the front page where warranted.
Mr. Sanchez: Thank you for the well-said responseDawg Sports comment thread (February 15, 2010)
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I haven’t watched one minute of college basketball (other than accidentally) since the end of Friday afternoon’s disastrous collapse by the Georgia Bulldogs against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nevertheless, I am positively thrilled that the Fox Hounds snagged the ten seed in the East Region against the Washington Huskies. . . .
Let’s be frank: 20 years ago, being bad at basketball didn’t matter for an SEC program. If anything, it was a bit of a badge of honor; being good at basketball was what the Kentucky Wildcats, the Vanderbilt Commodores, and the ACC had to ease the pain of not being good at football. That changed when the Arkansas Razorbacks, a football powerhouse in the Southwest Conference, joined the league and promptly won an NCAA championship in basketball. Shortly thereafter, the Florida Gators hired Billy Donovan, and, all of a sudden, being serious about football and being serious about basketball ceased to be mutually exclusive, becoming instead a sign of seriousness about having an all-around first-class athletics department. It was one thing to be indifferent to basketball when we could snicker behind our hands at Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt; now that Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee are serious about basketball, too, we have to be serious about basketball, as well.T. Kyle King (March 13, 2011)
It’s the NCAA Tournament. The Georgia Bulldogs are in it. Cheer them on in the comments below. It matters.
Go ‘Dawgs!