Noted recruiting guru and all around sage about what goes on in Athens, Georgia Mark Bradley can’t get out of own his way fast enough with regards to Georgia’s 2011 recruiting class.
My favorite retake:
Then – “Even in lesser seasons on the field, Georgia under Mark Richt has always been able to point to its recruiting. Now, with lesser seasons running together, the program that controlled its state controls it no more. The buzz about this program has been downgraded to a murmur, and the murmur concerns the future of its head coach. Which grows more tenuous by the moment.”
Now – “We say again: With Richt, recruiting has never been the overriding concern.”
Man, his neck’s gotta hurt from the whiplash.
On a related front, he’s probably a little disappointed Georgia hasn’t raced out to a lead in this year’s Fulmer Cup standings.
Get The Picture 
Yeah, but Paul Johnson let Washaun Ealey score a touchdown.
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Even Paul Finebaum has to admire a bandwagoneering 180 like that.
Hell, the head of the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984 would have to admire it. We have always been at war with Eurasia!
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Senator, you just don’t get it. Recruiting is important until it is not. You have to refer to the AJC for that determination on a weekly basis.
I hope these kids can stay out of trouble this year. I believe it would bode well for the coming season. I suspect many of the kids realize the magnitude of the Boise game. Which brings up a good point. If you start your season with cupcakes (ala Flahrida), does that give kids incentive to act more recklessly?
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Bradley has just been sopping up that Kool Aid CPJ has been serving. So yeah, it doesn’t matter because all of college football should be running the triple option, anyway.
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Over the years, I remember seeing quotes from Georgia players who felt they focused better when they had an opener against a non-cupcake opponent.
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Dooley repeatedly said he’d prefer to open with a tough one.
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While an opener against a legitimate team doesn’t always promise a great season, a win against one surely does according to recent UGA history:
1980 – Tennessee
1981 – Tennessee
1982 – Clemson
1983 – UCLA
1988 – Tennessee
1992 – South Carolina
1994 – South Carolina
1995 – South Carolina
2002 – Clemson
2003 – Clemson
2005 – Boise St.
2007 – Oklahoma St.
10 of 12 in the last 30 years has ended in a New Year’s Day bowl. 9 of 12 had 10 wins and another (1988) had 9. Those 12 wins include 5 SEC Championship Teams and 6 Sugar Bowls. Every time we’ve led off w/ a huge win in the Richt Era we’ve won or tied for the SEC East. The only blips in that group are Goff’s last 2 years (’94 & ’95) in which our D was wretched, we were decimated by injuries and we played Bama & Clemson both those years in an 11 game schedule. You can almost go back further in the 60’s and 70’s and you’ll see almost the same thing. It’s an easy formula that history has simply proven. Beat Boise and we win at least 10, go to a New Year’s day bowl, at least tie for the East, have almost a 50% chance of winning the SEC. The problem? Losing a big game to start the season almost certainly derails it:
1985 – Alabama
1990 – LSU
1993 – South Carolina
2009 – Oklahoma St.
All train wrecks. So, uh, yeah…Sept. 3 on Peachtree St. is HUGE.
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Good observation sUGArdaddy. The last point is even worse than you think, though. Going back in history, when the Dawgs lose the first one they have an off season almost every time. I think that is probably from a loss of confidence as a result of losing the first game. The real problem occurs when the Dawgs play a tough opener on the opponent’s home field and lose (3-6-1 in ’56; 4-6 in ’58; 6-4 in ’60; 3-4-3 in ’63; 5-5 in ’70; 4-7 in ’90; and don’t forget the 8-5 season in 2009 which looks pretty good now but at the time had people screaming). I could go on but you get the picture. That is why I generally favor opening the season at home with a cupcake. That said, a preseason bowl-type game like the one against Boise on a neutral field is a great idea once in a while.
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You don’t just favor opening the season with a cupcake, you would like to play 12 every year. Just go buy us a trophy and cancel the games. Maybe throw a parade after the season is over. Best of all, never leave Athens to play anyone.
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Hey, Auburn tried it and it worked 🙂
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I would like to think a majority of UGA fans haven’t sunk to that level, but clearly some have. Good point though.
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UGA plays in the SEC and cannot have a schedule of 12 cupcakes. You, on the other hand, can drink as many drinks as you want without limitation, thereby fueling the nonsensical drivel that you author and to which you subject us all on this blog on a daily basis.
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Sometimes yes, sometimes no. OSU didn’t work so well in Stillwater and losing that first one really sinks the ship.
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Too bad we’ll never know since the local cops in G’ville aren’t nearly as interested in getting UF the Fulmer Cup as the ACCPD are for UGA.
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All kidding aside, Gainesville has had some horrific crime over the years. Situated close to I-75, etc. The cops there should be a level higher than in Athens.
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“the program that controlled its state controls it no more”
If this is true, out of the two FBS programs in this state, who does? GT? Really? Last time I checked they were bleeding recruits and struggling to break the 40th spot in recruiting rankings… so how do they suddenly turn from gimmick offense because they can’t recruit for a competitive pro style offense, to controlling the state? Because that’s the only way his statement makes some sort of sense, but it really still doesn’t make any.
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What a clown. Maybe he is paying Terence Moore to ghost write his articles.
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At this point I have to wonder if he writes this stuff just to generate page-hits.
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It seems as though he never writes anything speculative, i.e., “what an interesting turn of events/perhaps this happened this way, or even that way.”
No. It’s always Bradley suggesting he has the answers and always had the answers all along.
You know, a little part of me thinks that’s what the editors want or something. Furman Bisher did the same damn thing for the better part of 50 years.
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At this point? He’s been doing it for the past few years. Even the stuff with Paul Hewitt has gotten on my nerves. Sure, the guy can’t coach a lick and deserves to be fired for his incompetence, but get over your personal vendetta against him. You’re supposed to be a professional.
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That somebody should think this….its just…..shocking, shocking!!!
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Thinking the same.
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Bradley is still head and tails better than T. Moore.
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So he sucks less and… We’re supposed to like him? T Moore sucks at level 11 Bradley at level 10. They both are just bad. It’s sad that his job is to write this stuff. I pity him. I wonder if he knows it and feels bad or really feels this way.
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I’ve worked as a reporter and editor and they all love to stir the pot. The bigger the outlet, the more they like to stir because the less repercussions. If you rile people up at a small town, you have to live with them. The consequences are diluted in a big city like Atlanta. Heck, look at the crazy stuff on the front page of the New York papers.
They feed off of relevance and discord. Think of them as paid forum trolls.
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Every time a successful blogger links to these dumbass columnists articles, they just sit back and enjoy their job security.
Stop reading the national media’s drivel.
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What’s the fun in that? 😉
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http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=135&f=1073&t=7120279
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As much as he make’s me nauseous, you have to give the weasel credit. He seems much more knowledgeable than his buddy Stewart Mandel (admittedly, not difficult), and he’s much more prolific.
He also makes a pretty good living from his drivel. Does anyone know if he ever played sports?
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