Has the journey become more important than the destination?

Look me in the eye
Then, tell me that I’m satisfied
Was you satisfied?
Look me in the eye
Then, tell me that I’m satisfied
Hey, are you satisfied?

—  The Replacements, “Unsatisfied”

This blog post of David Ching does an efficient, sane job of summarizing what many people feel about how the ’08 season has played out for Georgia.  As I said in an earlier post, here’s a team that’s on the cusp of another 11-win, top 10 finish, and yet… and yet… we’ve got a fan base that’s to one degree or another, depending on what message board or weblog you read, puzzled, frustrated, angry or ready to run one or more coaches out of town (there’s even a firemarkricht site that’s sprung up, believe it or not).

The puzzlement I understand and agree with, frankly.  The rest of it, maybe not so much.  I’ve never really been much of a “style points” advocate – I remember a 2003 Georgia team gutting out some wins against mediocre opponents and wondering what the fuss was all about, considering what the team had to work with on offense – so the fact that Georgia hasn’t dominated any of the SEC teams it’s played this year doesn’t bother me, given the 6-2 conference record.  But I suspect that, even if I’m not in the minority on this, there are a number of Georgia fans who feel quite differently about this.  So how did we get here?

Here are a few clues, offered as explanations, not excuses:

1. The psychology of being the preseason #1. In hindsight, this didn’t do the coaches, the team or the fans any favors.  Richt tried to walk a fine line between embracing the opportunity and warning about being too big headed, but it seems clear at this point that many didn’t heed the latter.  The team and its fans knew Georgia was talented; the outside validation may have altered the mindset of the kids.  It was apparent early on that the level of intensity for this season had diminished from how the prior one had finished.
2. The schedule. It’s funny.  We looked at the schedule prior to the start of the season as both a badge of honor and as an incredible burden for the team to overcome.  As the year wore on and it’s become apparent that some of the schools the Dawgs have played have gone on to disappointing seasons, it seems that we’ve discounted this.  Well, guess what – Sagarin says this is still the sixth toughest schedule in the country.  Nobody ranked ahead of Georgia has played a harder one.  Lost in the sloppiness of the Auburn win is the fact that the Dawgs went 3-1 on that long stretch away from Athens, which turned out about as well as we probably hoped before the year started.
3. Youth must be served. If nothing else, it’s clear from the way the season has gone that Richt and his coaches have recruited extremely well from a talent standpoint.  That’s been both a blessing and a curse.  There’s a perception – in my opinion, one that’s justified – that this team has coasted too often on its athletic ability this year at the expense of focus.  Given that, plus the injuries and the expectations/burdens put on true freshmen to contribute significantly, it’s been quite the accomplishment to be where we’re at with this team.  Maybe we’ve taken a little too much for granted here.
4. Failing to show up on the biggest stages of the season. This is the one that bugs me the most.  I can live with losing to Alabama and Florida this year.  In both cases, the better team won.  It’s the complete absence of being competitive for a half at a time that’s hard to stomach.  We fans have been sensitive for a long time about how this program is perceived nationally (the whining about the drop of Georgia’s national ranking to #2 early in the season is cringe-worthy now, isn’t it?);  complete meltdowns like the first half against ‘Bama and the second half against Florida don’t help our self-esteem.  And, as I’ve posted before, this is becoming a troubling habit with this team – troubling not from some sort of negative style points perspective, but rather as an indication that focus and motivation are seriously lacking.

There are no doubt other factors in play as to why the mood of the Dawgnation isn’t as sunny as might be expected from the current 9-2 record.  I invite your comments on them.

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UPDATE: From David Hale’s evening Q & A with Mark Richt comes this exchange that seems on point –

Q: How different do you think people would view this year if you had started the year ranked No. 24 instead of No. 1?

CMR: They’d be doing cartwheels right now.