Wednesday morning buffet

Grab a plate and settle down.

  • One door closes and another one opens:  Washaun Ealey’s fumbles lead to a demotion and Carlton Thomas may get the start on Saturday.
  • If Thomas does, let’s hope that Green’s return opens the field up for him, as Colorado currently ranks seventh in the country in run defense.
  • I read an article like this and wonder why no vintner has thought to package its product in six packs for the Alabama market.
  • Of course, some Alabama fans are just high on life right now anyway.  (big h/t to Elkon, particularly for his observation that “if the rest of the SEC is so mediocre, then why should Alabama go to the national title game over an unbeaten Ohio State and an unbeaten Boise State?”)
  • If there’s anything amusing about the Green suspension story, it’s his mention that the NCAA glommed onto him in the first place from reading rumors in TMZ.  Seth Emerson does the logical follow-up and gets the expected response (which is pretty much an admission of Green’s veracity).
  • As usual, Shakin’ the Southland’s DrB does a terrific job telling you everything you need to know about the 4-3 over defense, first made famous by Jimmy Johnson’s Miami teams in the 80’s.  (For more overall context, you might want to go back and read this piece again.)
  • Why Diddy Bowden was shown the door – the sad tale of FSU’s steady decline in attendance.

26 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, It's Just Bidness, SEC Football, Strategery And Mechanics, The NCAA, Whoa, oh, Alabama

26 responses to “Wednesday morning buffet

  1. Ausdawg85

    Hey Dammit!!! How dare some bammer jerk declare CMR is “washed up”!!???

    That’s for us to say….just not yet.

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    • Mayor of Dawgtown

      The guy is an insulting douche bag to not just UGA but to several other respected SEC programs. This is, unfortunately, an attitude that I have observed frequently in Bammers as I have relatives in that august state. They have collective amnesia about anything that does not validate their mental image about their program. For example, the 6 straight wins by Auburn against Bama never even happened in their minds. No never mind to them that CMR is 3-1 against Bama in his career. The only one they remember is the last one, their only victory. Collectively, their average IQ starts with a 7.

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      • Hobnail_Boot

        Ok, but did he say anything that wasn’t true?

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        • Mayor of Dawgtown

          You know HB every team in the SEC has good points and bad points, some more good points than others. The SEC is the best conference in college football. Pretty much everyone who knows college football agrees with that statement. For crying out loud Vandy (the perennial SEC cellar-dweller) would probably win the MAC if it played there. So how come, according to this douche, all the teams in the SEC are awful EXCEPT for his favorite, Bama? Yep, The Arkansas QB (who just might win the Heisman and who who almost dusted Bama last week) has “the toughness of a three-year old girl.” According to this d’bag Auburn and LSU (who both have the same record as Bama and probably against better competition than Bama has played) “look very vulnerable right now” and he expects a “slide in the next 6 weeks.” Mississippi State didn’t win its game with Georgia because its team is greatly improved–no, it won because of Georgia’s “incompetence.” The UGA coach ( who has a career record against Bama of 3-1) is “washed up.” SC (at 3-1 also against arguably better competition than Bama has played) has “bad QB play and a terrible offensive line.” Are those enough BS statements from the asshole or do you want some more, HB? For the first time in 20 years or so, Bama is on top of the heap. But they were where UGA is this season just a few years back and will be again. Keep up with the mouth Bammers because what goes around comes around. Karma’s a real bitch.

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          • Mayor of Dawgtown

            P.S. I detect a bit of Bama fandom in you HB so I’ll mention this to you to pass on to your Bammer friends on the Bama blogs. I do not see Saban as a long-time Bama coach. The NFL remains a challenge for one thing. Also, he is the kind of guy whole wants to build, not maintain. That way there is no chance for the program to backtrack which would open the door to criticism. (I see Urban Meyer the same way.) Plus, little Nicky is about to be 59 years of age. How much longer do you think that Yankee is going to be able to stand it in No-Teeth Land with other venues beckoning? Says here, not much longer. So Bama get ready for a return to earth with a thud. He will leave as soon as he detects a problem in the offing (1 bad recruiting year, several top players flunk out or maybe leave early, the O-line prospects don’t pan out as expected,etc.) and you will be left to scramble. Whoever Bama hires will be left with that problem and the unreasonable expectations Saban has created. Then when the new guy doesn’t win as much as the No-Teeth crowd thinks he should he will be gone and Bama will be back to “Revolving Door Coaches” and Bama will once again be the Bama of the last 20 years. Then the group amnesia will set in once again.

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  2. jw

    I would say that coach in waiting thing has not worked out so well for FSU! The fans might have been tiring of Bobby but they did not want him to be treated like yesterday’s garbage. Jimbo looks like the guy who whined, “take the trash out or I am GONE”. Hard to get all warm and fuzzy about him now.. I think Bobby has played hand well.. Hat’s off to the Master, Jimbo may have overestimated himself.

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  3. Doug

    The thing that really chafes my ass about that RBR post — well, two things — are in the comments, where the knee-jerk assumption seems to be a) we’d immediately go crawling back to Kirby Smart in the event that we told Richt to take a walk, and b) that Smart would be a fool to take the job because everything is far and away better and more awesomer at Alabama.

    Look, I know Georgia’s football program is the worst that has ever taken the field and would struggle to beat Wittenberg right now blah blah blah, but do they seriously think we couldn’t find a bigger name than Smart to be our head coach? Are we so desperate after just two subpar seasons that we’ll throw a contract at someone just because they’re an alum? (If memory serves, Smart wasn’t even our first choice at DC.)

    I’ve got plenty of friends, even relatives, who are huge Tide fans, but stuff like this makes me think of that old saying about how “95% of their fan base makes the other five percent look bad.”

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    • Ben

      Agreed. I live in Alabama country, and the guy at RBR seems to represent the opinion of the vast majority of both fans and graduates that I know down here.

      Those guys don’t seem to realize how close they were to getting Rich Rod as their HC and how Mal Moore must have made a deal with Satan himself to lure Saban to Tuscaloose. Mal Moore couldn’t administrate himself out of a paper bag, and now they think he’s the greatest thing in the world.

      Also, articles like the most recent one about Bama in the WSJ still make me glad I don’t root for a program like that. Saban is a ruthless, egotistical coach (I don’t know about his personhood), and he fits that fanbase perfectly.

      I can’t wait to see the shine taken off that program, whenever it may be.

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    • D.N. Nation

      I plan on making the trip to Tuscvegas for Georgia/Alabama in basketball, so I can make a complete horse’s ass of myself once Travis Leslie makes SportsCenter again.

      Relevant? Not really. Will it make me feel better? Yeah.

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  4. Irishdawg

    It really didn’t take long at all for Bama fans to become some of the most insufferable in the SEC. I thought Boston sports fans speed record couldn’t be beat, but I was wrong.

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    • Ben

      Didn’t take long? They’ve always been this way, from what I understand. The term modesty or decency doesn’t apply to them as fans. They’ve been talking about how long they’ve suffered since the Stallings era and how this MNC was “due”. These guys are awful.

      For a tradition as long and storied as theirs, you’d assume they’d have learned how to “act like they’ve been there.” These guys are awful.

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    • HamDawg11

      I’ve lived in Birmingham for 10 years and the past 2-3 have been unbearable. To give fellow Dawg fans an idea of how bad it has been, I considered for .5 seconds how enjoyable next week would be should they lose to UF Saturday. Yeah, I said it. It has come to that….they’re really that bad.

      I ate lunch with a Bama fan today in Homewood and he was bashing everybody else in the SEC. When we walked out of the restaurant he handed another guy something he had pulled from his pocket. It was a Gators magnet he proudly said he had stolen off of someone’s car. I’ve had my “G” plate ripped off of my truck twice since I’ve lived here…great fans, they are.

      I can’t say I would ever pull for UF, but I can say I’ll pull against Bama this week!

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      • Mayor of Dawgtown

        It doesn’t look like UGA is going to make it to the SECCG. I will also probably be pulling for every Bama opponent–except for FLA. I simply cannot do that.

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  5. Will Trane

    Bobo are your three RB’s talented are not? The numbers say they are not. And you are not sure. The RBs are confused because they think you are a mechanic. Need a spark…change a plug or back. If they were productive and talented, your squad would not be sitting at the bottom and rushing.

    What has the running back coach said about this dilemma, (a) believe they are talented and (b) they are talented. Your problem could be with him and perhaps the sets you run from.

    But you did say one thing that is correct…they have had opportunities to run in an open field. Saw it several times behind the much maligned offensive line. Thomas can talk but he simply can not get there. Ealey can get there, but he does not understand that you have to have the ball. And King he does not understand you have to be on the field to run in an open field.

    And the FB…can block, but generally do not have speed. That is why in the I they are set a little deeper than we they run up between the tackles and are set closer to the LOS.

    Which brings us here. Mullen said he recruited Murray for Florida. Why? He is not built like a Relf, Newton, or Tebow. In the spread, the FB is mostly not used. The QB is used somewhat as a FB in certain sets. Mullen would have let Murray run. What did he see that you do not.

    The Buf coaches saw that end of game long strike from Murray and know that the deepest threat is back. They may have doubted Murray’s ability to get the ball deep, now they have reconsidered. If Chapas is back, the roster is what Bobo had wanted at the beginning of the season.

    Now Bobo, let’s see you finish the drill and get this offense productive in Boulder. They can not put everybody in that silly “box” nomenclature so often used. Get the backs to edge and run them in the ground…use the width as well as the depth of the field.

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  6. Objective Bama Fan

    RBR did not state that the SEC is mediocre. It is a fan website that looks at everything through crimson glasses. Most Bama fans that I know believe as I do. We think that there is no way Bama gets through this schedule unbeaten. There are always ups and downs in a program. Although, we are on top now, it will not last. It is been a long time since we, as Bama fans, have had somthing to crow about (see the Shula, Dubose, etc. eras). We lost 6 straight to our arch rival, with their coach always reminding us about it by sticking his fingers in the air. So, have some Bama fans gone overboard a little? Sure they have, but you got to remember what we have gone through over the last several years.

    As for Smart, I believe wherever he end up being a HC, he will do extremely well. He is a great coach. Will he be at Georgia? I don’t know; you guys have a better feel for that. I stated before the year started, Richt should be on the hot seat. He is starting to remind me of Shula when it comes to discipline. I am not knocking your program, I just think Georgia is a top 5 program. You guys deserve a top 5 coach. Most rational Bama fans want Georgia to succeed. We do not play you guys often, however you guys play over most bitter rivals every year in Tennessee and Auburn. So, it helps our program when you guys succeed.

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  7. Scorpio Jones, III

    Not that I think Richt is not going to weather the current storm, but you might note that our two most successful coaches are not graduates of Georgia.

    In fact, two of our least successful coaches are.

    I might also point out the two most successful coaches in the SEC right now are graduates of schools so far away from their current postings most folks don’t even know where they went to school.

    The “sons of the program” argument died a lingering death…at Bama.

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    • Mayor of Dawgtown

      Remember when Ga Yech had to have a “Tech Man” as their HC and went through a series of them (Bill Fulcher, Pepper Rogers and Bill Curry) before deciding that what they really needed was someone who actually could coach (at least some). Tech then abandoned the alumnus requirement for their HC. Bama, too. UGA does not need to go down that road. We can learn from the mistakes of others ’cause we’re smarter (I hope).

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  8. Will Trane

    Not a conspiracy type, but the NCAA investigation into Green sounds like fishing trip sparked by somebody with ties to TMZ who wanted to use TMZ as a smoke screen for something else.

    Green represented and documented he did not go to Miami to see or meet with an agent. It was reported this was what the NCAA was looking into. But I thought this sounded like the Evans arrest…more here because there are facts not yet resolved and the initial representations do not make much sense.

    If they wanted to look at Green’s bank statements, what were they looking for. A payment from an agent at the Miami alleged meeting? If so would they not have a source document from the agent. Or would they have gone to the agent or other alleged players involved to see how they were paid.

    Apparently since they started looking with February 2009 bank statements there was another allegation made with the TMZ being a cover. Now who would want to do that. If Hawkins made the purchase and payment by check would not the endorsement probably have led to Green (cashed or deposited and a specific time). Unless cash was used. Hawkins would have had some record of the payment and other evidence that he was a collectof of game memorabilia. No way Hawkins is a collector of anything except as a non-NFL agent, but for whom.
    Where did Hawkins get the money to pay these guys? Did the NCAA look at his bank records, travel itinerary, and phone records? The NCAA needs to provide their evidence from their investigation of Green from Hawkins side. Who knows even Hawkins could have been used by the NCAA to entrap Green. February 09 and spring 09? This is 2010. And it took the NCAA this long to come to a decision and resolution.

    Makes you wonder what went on at both Carolinas and Bama.

    Finally why did the UGA AD let Green speak about this at all to the press this week. Best to let it go as Adams has stated.

    Between the costs of investigations and player suspensions re the Dawg programs and travel out west for teams, the new AD is probably not as detached as the prior AD. The new AD has a better understanding of profits and records than the old AD. We think the Circus tent has come down in Athens, and it is “now down to business on and off the field” has gotten started with the new AD.

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  9. Will Trane

    The NCAA knew who Hawkins was. By what authority do they have to look at Green’s bank records. As a parent I might object. Why not ask Hawkins when and how he paid for the jersey. Then go to Green to get further proof. Then how did TMZ fit is this. If I have kid at UGA and have signature authority on an account, there is no way they look…they have to cite some legal authority and provide evidence to me they could be a possible violation. Who set the price and how were the funds transferred. If this was isolated, somewhat Hawkins indicated, then why the 4 games. How was the penalty determined. Sounds and looks more like a vendetta than a compliance inquiry.

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    • The NCAA’s leverage is that it can affect the eligibility of a player or a program. Hawkins is neither, which means that the NCAA has no leverage on him.

      Which is why he ignored several requests from the NCAA to provide information.

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  10. 69Dawg

    NCAA does not have to give you due process. They are somewhat like the IRS, its up to you to prove you are not guilty. If you fail to cooperate with them then innocent or not they declare you ineligible. Such is the power of the mighty OZ.

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