Good Thursday morning, Dawg fans! I'm currently hopped up on painkillers, so now seems like the perfect time to write about the dangers lurking on the Sanford Stadium turf on this upcoming Saturday. The denizens of spring (football) in Athens are a surprisingly elusive lot, preferring to perform their subterfuge silently. Not many people know this, but their preferred meal of choice is defensive backs. In a pinch, though, they have been known to feast on the flesh of much-heralded freshman running backs. I'm most worried, though about that polka-dotted elephant that is currently riding a rainbow-colored scooter through my man cave/home office. He'd better not hurt any of our players on Saturday. (Did I mention that I was hopped up on pain killers?)
But I digress. Spring practice is winding down, which means that an entirely too lengthy football-free desert is just around the corner. Fortunately, however, spring practice culminates in an open-to-the-public intra-squad scrimmage in Sanford Stadium that we call the G-Day game. Therefore, I'm letting the following people know that, for G-Day 2012, You're on Notice, Dawg!
(This picture has been lawya'd)
In no particular order:
1) Michael Adams - Why Michael Adams? Because he's a jerk, has stolen money from and is a disaster for University, and everybody that has ever worked with him hates him. Plus, I have it from a very authoritative source inside the UGA administration that he's recently hired a really cute blond former volleyball player from the Ozarks to be his "personal assistant." But don't tell anybody that I told you.
2) Whoever makes up the athletics schedule - Really, this issue I have is with the scheduling of the football and baseball games. Other than that, the day on Saturday shapes up as a veritable Georgia Sports-a-thon. At 10:00 in the morning, the Georgia track team begins a day-long meet and the soccer team has a spring exhibition game against the program's alumni. Then, at noon, the Women's Tennis team takes the court against the TenneVols.
That's where we run into some confusion, however. The G-Day game was scheduled for 3:00 PM, which conflicted with a previously-scheduled baseball game at 4:00. Instead of moving the baseball game back to 5:00 or 6:00, however, which would allow fans to migrate over to Foley Field after the football game, the athletic department chose to move the baseball game to 1:00 instead.
As a result, you have to choose between watching the nationally-ranked tennis team, enjoying the pregame festivities at Sanford Stadium, or attending 2 innings of the baseball game. And about half the baseball crowd (if not more) will likely be filing out after the game has barely begun to ensure that they don't miss the opening kickoff of the G-Day game.
That does not make sense! (This picture has been lawya'd)
This was poor planning of the first order by the athletic-department-types. At the very least, the baseball game should have been left at 4:00, and then the G-Day crowd could catch the final few innings of the baseball game (you know, the part that really matters most) instead of basically cheering for the national anthem and then leaving. It's a really poor value for the ticket price, as well... and seeing as that's the only event that actually charges admission on Saturday, that's not a trivial matter.
So instead of enjoying your own personal sports marathon on Saturday, you'll likely be submitted to an afternoon of watching only a portion of several events. I hope this is handled in a much better manner in 2013.
3) Mike Bobo - This is the spring game, and in the past he has typically been a little more aggressive in his play-calling than he would ever dream in a "real" game. I have accepted this fact, but if I see a rail-thin walk-on run a draw up the middle for two or more consecutive plays... I might break something.
4) The entire defensive backfield - It looks like our defensive backfield is regaining some of its numbers with the return of Marc Deas, and personnel at G-Day won't be a problem, because Rambo will be playing, as well. This situation is going to be a headache until we're back at full strength, though... and hopefully it won't cost us one or more games early in the season.
Man, what I wouldn't give to have this guy patrolling the backfield again for the first few games. (This picture has been lawya'd)
5) The Dawg Sports Staff - Look guys, we need to face facts. All of the team is being busted for drugs. Other SEC (former) coaches are being busted for having some action on the side and making under-the-table payments. All I'm saying is, we just need to lay low for a little while, you know? Play it cool on G-Day, guys. Don't let the house mother know... uh, anything. Right... because there's nothing for her to know. Yeah, that's the ticket.
6) The injury bug - I know that we've got plenty of time before the real season begins, but any significant injuries could cause players to miss fall practice time and maybe even an early game or two, and we're already going to be missing plenty of personnel for the early games. Go away and bother somebody else, Mr. Injury Bug. Ok?
7) The Florida Gators - I know Florida held its spring game last week, and we won't be seeing any more Sunkist-and-blue uniforms until August. I don't care. I still hate Florida. I hate Florida with the fire of a thousand suns being fueled by the fire of an additional thousand suns. In the face of all reason and responsibility, I have already circled October 27, 2012, as the most significant game of the 2012 season. Why? Because. I. Hate. Florida.
I know Florida is supposed to be "down" again this year, but this is year two of Will Muschamp's defense, so we should assume at the very least that they will make significant progress on defense. Also, we've finally gotten them on the ropes in Jacksonville after last season. It's time to establish our first multi-game winning streak in this series since 1989. The door is open, and we need to turn this puppy around.
See. Do. That is all. (This picture has been lawya'd)
8) The Food Bank of North Georgia - Admission to the game is free, but the University is encouraging people to bring canned goods to donate, and all donations will be going to benefit the Food Bank of North Georgia. This is a very worthy charity, and one that we ourselves have supported with donations at the first Dawg Sports Goat Roast.
Donations will be accepted at Gates 2, 4, 6, and 9, so make sure you bring something! A normal game ticket is something like $50, but you don't have to spend that much... just go spend something like $20 on some basic staples and drop them off at the gate before the game. You'll be glad you did, and more importantly, those who need a little help getting enough food to eat will be thankful you did. Do this!
If my back cooperates, I'll be at the national anthem during the baseball game and at the G-Day game, so come by and say hi! I'll be the guy in the Georgia shirt and khaki shorts. :-)
Have a good rest-of-the-week, everybody... and