I know what you’re thinking; just yesterday, we had Monday morning Dawg Bites, so it shouldn’t be time for another set of links, should it? Technically, no, it shouldn’t, but, since I’m giving up writing "Dawg Bites" for Lent, I decided to do a Fat Tuesday edition rather than an Ash Wednesday edition. All right, not really; there was just a lot of note to report, so I thought I’d go ahead and bring it to you a day ahead of schedule. First, though, I’d like to share a cello player’s lament. Hey, it was either that or another William Shatner video, so here goes:
Now, I bring you all the news that’s fit to print:
Who doesn’t love a good poll, whether it represents a human voter’s top 25 ballot, a computer-generated set of rankings, or a strict mathematical average? Several breeds of Bulldog have fared well in the polls lately, with this week’s rankings declaring the women’s lacrosse team No. 1, the women’s gymnastics team No. 3, the baseball team No. 9, and the men’s lacrosse team No. 17. Next up for those squads are an 11:00 a.m. game against Florida in Athens on Saturday, a 7:00 p.m. meet against Florida in Gainesville on Friday, a 5:00 p.m. game against Georgia State in Athens on Wednesday, and an 8:00 p.m. game against Florida in Athens on Friday, respectively, so it’s a good weekend to get your Gator hate on, particularly after the fourth-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team recently defeated the fifth-ranked Florida squad at the ITA National Indoors.
I have an eight-year-old, which means I watch more Cartoon Network than I would care to do. Last night, though, my son and I watched the Hall of Game Awards, which featured appearances by A.J. Green and Matthew Stafford, the latter of whom shared an award with some guy Paul Oliver pwn3d.
Although Mark Richt’s remark that Malcolm Mitchell might play a little cornerback was so tepid and noncommittal that it might easily be ignored, it has been suggested more seriously that Ray Drew may move to defensive end and Josh Harvey-Clemons may see playing time at safety. Frankly, I couldn’t have more faith in Todd Grantham unless he shaved his head and started head-butting his helmeted players, so, if our defensive coordinator thinks such shifts are a wise idea, I am absolutely confident that he is correct. In Todd we trust.
As recently as 1987, the SEC champion played six conference games. From 1988 to 1991, the SEC champion played seven conference games. Since 1992, the SEC champion has played nine conference games; also since 1992, the league has produced ten national champions in 20 years, not counting undefeated Auburn squads in 1993 and 2004. Evidently, this means it’s no big deal to expect the SEC champion to play ten conference games beginning in 2013, or, by logical extension of that one-more-couldn’t-hurt argument, I suppose, to expect every team in the SEC to eliminate non-conference games altogether and play twelve conference games a year, followed by an SEC Championship Game at the end.
Fortunately, while the powers that be in the SEC seem bound and determined to flush any lingering tradition the league still retains, the fine folks in Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall are busy honoring their heritage. This weekend, Georgia’s oldest living letterman, Cliff Kimsey, Jr., will be inducted into the state’s sports hall of fame, while Frank Sinkwich and Charley Trippi will have awards named after them. All three honors, obviously, are richly deserved.
Go ‘Dawgs!