Mike Bianchi has some advice for Dan Mullen and it doesn’t involve how to troll Kirby Smart.
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Category Archives: Media Punditry/Foibles
The suspense is killing me.
Be forewarned, college football world. The Notre Dame-Georgia game could be ugly, sez the AJ-C’s Connor Riley, because… well, because a troll’s gotta troll.
Factor in the potential for bad blood stemming from last year’s College Football Playoff, and there’s a chance that it might be one of the biggest games in Sanford Stadium in quite some time.
Yeah, if it hadn’t been for some of Georgia’s players noting that ‘Bama Clemson rolled the Irish last year, hardly anyone would pay attention.
If Mark Bradley didn’t exist, Greg McGarity would have to invent him.
There is so much fellating in this puff piece about Greg McGarity, Savior of Georgia’s Schedule, that Bradley’s jaw still has to be sore.
What’s especially amusing is that Bradley credits McGarity with the sudden upgrade in opponents on future schedules (“an AD can make a schedule”) without bothering to explain why the change in heart from the way the same AD was scheduling the past eight years. (HINT: There isn’t one.)
And, for that matter, it’s funny how Bradley’s claim that “Georgia’s home schedule is largely a function of its fans’ insistence on keeping the Florida game in Jacksonville” as an excuse for those previous “tepid” schedules inexplicably no longer seems to burden our intrepid hero. I mean, last time I checked, we fans remain as selfishly insistent about going to Jacksonville as ever. (Not to mention Greg still likes cashing those big checks the city sends him every year.)
But why let logic get in the way of a good slurping? I mean, “… but if McGarity retires tomorrow (guessing he won’t), he has set his legacy” is borderline fanfic.
Maybe one day, if you’re lucky enough, somebody will look at you the way Bradley looks at McGarity.
Filed under Georgia Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
Now, THIS is how you troll Georgia.
DawgNation grasshoppers, pay attention to Mike Bianchi. He’s the master.
The fact is I’ve always thought Georgia was the most overrated program in college football and I still do. And the Gator-concocted 14K Day drives that point home even further.
I’ve written it before and I will reiterate it here:
Georgia fans have way too high of an opinion of their program. The Bulldogs have won one national title in the modern era and that came nearly 40 years ago in 1980. And the only reason it happened then is because of two lightning-in-a-bottle twists of fate: The Bulldogs were fortunate enough to sign arguably the greatest player in college football history (see Herschel Walker) and they were lucky enough to take advantage of one of the biggest fluke plays in college football history (see Lindsay Scott’s catch-and-run against Florida during the national-championship season).
I once wrote that without Herschel Walker and Lindsay Scott, Georgia would be closer in history and tradition to South Carolina than it is to Florida. I’ll admit now that’s probably taking it a bit too far and, therefore, I’d like to amend that statement to say this: Without Walker and Scott, Georgia would be closer in history and tradition to Wisconsin than Florida. For most of its history, Georgia has been a good, solid program; just not an elite program.
That’s good trolling. You can get mad at the editorializing, but the underlying facts are the underlying facts.
Of course, the mark of a master troller is going too far and Bianchi doesn’t disappoint.
Plus, it doesn’t help that Smart may have met his match in Mullen, who turned UF’s program around in one season and is starting to challenge Smart’s superiority on the recruiting trail.
And there’s no higher praise of a good troll than another master of the art’s recognition, which of course followed yesterday like the day follows night.
I hope you DawgNation fellas are taking notes.
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UPDATE: If you’ve got the time, you ought to listen to the first hour of yesterday’s Finebaum show, not so much for Bianchi, who just repeats his column, but for what Seth Emerson had to say afterwards.
Chip Towers’ blinding revelation
Really, it comes about a year late, but it’s still inspiring to watch a light bulb go off over his head.
Happy to hear Georgia finally secured a home-and-home deal with Oklahoma. Kind of bummed that the Sooners won’t be coming to Athens until 2031 though.
If you pay for UGA season tickets, you’re probably a little miffed about that, too. It will require some patience between Notre Dame in 2019 and UCLA in 2026…
I asked Georgia AD Greg McGarity if the Bulldogs might fill in some of those scheduling gaps between Notre Dame this fall and UCLA and in ’26. “You never know,” is all he offered.
The fact is, if you just sign up to become a Georgia season-ticket holder over the next five years, (as a Magill Society member, that’d cost you $25,000, plus however much individual tickets cost apiece over that span), the best non-conference home game you’re assured of seeing at Sanford Stadium during that stretch is Georgia Tech.
You’ll get Louisiana-Monroe, East Tennessee State, San Jose State and UAB as well. Other than Tech in even years, that’s all that is assured at the moment.
This is all something any season ticket holder who plunked down his or her hard earned cash for that joke of a 2018 home slate could have told Chip. It’s hardly news.
What’s news is Kirby continuing to push for scheduling upgrades.
Smart has made it a point to schedule some of the best opponents in the country.
If you’re going to recruit the finest players in the country out of your own state, and across the country, because our academic institution is so highly thought of, if I want to have the best players, I want to play the best teams,” Smart said earlier this spring. “They come to college to play big games. They don’t come to college, I would never name anybody, but they don’t want to play the little sisters of the poor. They want to play the best teams, so we want to go schedule the best teams.”
That’s one difference between your average five-star recruit and McGarity. Speaking of whom, “’You never know,’ is all he offered” may be the perfect epitaph for his Georgia career.
Filed under Georgia Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
Aging well, like fine wine
A tale of two reports, first, on April 2nd, from Seth Emerson ($$):
There should be another big series announced soon: Georgia is deep in talks with Oklahoma about a home-and-home series, The Athletic has learned. Georgia was seeking a Big 12 opponent and Oklahoma, which Georgia played in the memorable 2018 Rose Bowl, has an open spot in 2023.
Shortly thereafter, from Mike Griffith, at DawgNation:
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Thursday the Bulldogs are talking to “a number of schools” right now about future scheduling, but no deals are imminent.
When pressed about reports that a deal with Oklahoma could be close, McGarity said “none of our conversations would be considered deep talks.”
“We’re in conversation with a lot of schools,” McGarity reiterated when pressed on potential home-and-home opponents. “There are two other schools we are having more aggressive talks with than Oklahoma at this time.”
Hmmm… note Greg’s use of the specific phrase “deep talks” there. Pure coincidence, surely.
You know what’s coming next, right?
Georgia and Oklahoma have finalized a home-and-home series, as The Athletic reported was likely a month ago. The two games will be separated by eight seasons: Oklahoma will host the Bulldogs in 2023 and then the Sooners will make a return trip in 2031.
Connor Riley does the announcement honors at DawgNation, sans any reference to deep talks, or, indeed, Greg McGarity at all.
I know some folks have an agenda, but this is getting a little ridiculous.
It’s May, the month of lists.
3. Dan Mullen, Florida
SEC rank: 2
SEC East rank: 1
2018 rank: 3
Lots of SEC country road cred for his Mississippi State work. The Gators are making progress.
4. Kirby Smart, Georgia
SEC rank: 3
SEC East rank: 2
2018 rank: 5
A few plays against Alabama or a few committee votes shy of a second straight College Football Playoff appearance.
And some are surprisingly observant.
1. Georgia
The sleeping giant is awake. Perhaps no job in the country offers the best of every world like Georgia — great recruiting base, great place to live, great fan base … you get the point. The one knock: The administration hasn’t necessarily been as “all in” as some of the Bulldogs’ rivals in the league. [Emphasis added.
Gee, I wonder how anyone could have gotten that impression.
Filed under Georgia Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
