A different way to lose

That shouldn’t have been close.

And you can’t lay this one on the coaches.

Going down the road feeling bad.

It’s looks like we’re in store for a nice day, weatherwise, in Athens.  I’ve headed out the door.  I think I’ll let Ed Gunther sum up my feelings this morning:

The gut is screaming to go with the Bulldogs on this one. Thinking rationally, the Gamecocks have the better running game, can adjust better, and probably have a psychological edge here. But damn, why does the gut say the Dawgs just need this one more? I hate that. Argh.

The Call: Georgia by 6

Then there’s this from Chris Brown.

… By all rational measures, South Carolina should roll Georgia en route to a big season.

But when your team is coached by Steve Spurrier and quarterbacked by Stephen Garcia, rationality has to go out the window. Carolina is usually good for a shocking loss, and a reeling Georgia squad looks to me like they could be the ones to do it: They do have talent all over and sophomore Aaron Murray is quickly developing into an elite quarterback. I expect Georgia to get up early on some USC mistakes and to hold the Gamecocks off despite a late rally, and the tide of anti-Richt sentiment to be stemmed for, well, for another week.

If you’re a Georgia fan right now, there’s no such thing as an ugly win.  I’ll take it any way it comes.

So, who would you carve on SEC’s “Mount Rushmore”?

Chris Low posted something yesterday that made me think:

… If I were sculpting an SEC football Mount Rushmore, Walker would be one of my locks along with Bear Bryant. I think you have to include Steve Spurrier in that group, too. As for the fourth member, let the debate begin. But, yes, Walker was the best I’ve ever seen play in this conference and really became almost a mythical figure. Hard to believe that it’s been almost 30 years since he played his last college football game. … “He’s running over people. Oh you Herschel Walker!”

I agree with those three choices.  But who do you pick for the fourth?  Bo Jackson?  The GPOOE™?  Archie or Peyton Manning?  Nick Saban?  (Okay, on that last one, I keed, I keed.)

It takes a village to avoid NCAA sanctions.

This is one of those cases where I understand the outcome, but still can’t help but shake my head:  two dozen Fresno State football players are under investigation for welfare fraud totaling almost 40 grand and the NCAA can only sit back and watch.

… University officials said the NCAA and the Western Athletic Conference had been notified of the allegations and that, “There is no indication whatsoever that any NCAA violation has occurred.” The NCAA did not return telephone calls or respond to email inquiries.

The compliance officer for the conference, Matt Burgemeister, said that violations occur if the student is given money because of their team membership. Burgemeister said that his understanding of the case was that the alleged scam involved “many members of the community” and that the players’ alleged participation was not because of their team membership.

“From what we were told, it wasn’t given to student athletes based on participation or ability,” Burgemeister said. “This is something, at least from what I understand, that there were many more Fresno residents and even beyond Fresno involved in. It was because they were a member of the Fresno community, not the football team.”

It’s a helluva system they’ve got there, isn’t it?

The rocky week continues.

They polled the fan base about Mark Richt’s future.  The good news is that a clear majority still support Georgia’s embattled head coach.

The bad news, of course, is that anyone felt the need to conduct such a poll in the first place.

But that’s just a blip compared to what came out of yesterday’s quarterly meeting of the UGA athletic association board.

… School president Michael Adams, presiding over the meeting, asked if anyone else had any thoughts.

Tommy Lowhorne, a board member from Columbus, spoke up and looked at athletics director Greg McGarity, who was sitting next to Adams.

“There are many of us who are really concerned about the status of the football program,” Lowhorne said. “Yet we have confidence in Greg McGarity to get us to where we want to be.”

Board member Bob Bishop then chimed in.

“I’ll echo that,” he said.

McGarity responded with a polite smile and slight nod.

I’m surprised that exchange was offered for public consumption.  I’m sure no one will bring it up on the recruiting trail.

The question left hanging is whether it was orchestrated by Adams, UGA’s supreme weasel.  If so, all Richt is waiting on is the dreaded vote of confidence.

It probably wouldn’t hurt to win today.