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As of Thursday, Feb. 12, this little blog has relocated to a new home on AJC.com. It’s the same newspaper, the same Web site and the same writer (feel free to groan) — there’s just a new URL.
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Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2008 > September > 15
Monday, September 15, 2008
Bradley’s Buzz: Do Dawgs have fleas?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A win is a win, except when writers get hold of it
At the rate Georgia is falling, it will finish the regular season 12-0 and be ranked No. 12 in the land. The Bulldogs’ halting victory in Columbia was the subject of much national bloviating, a phalanx of national pundits queuing up to decide what the 14-7 defeat of South Carolina actually meant.
The extremely opinionated Gregg Doyel of CBSsports.com decided it meant Georgia is way overrated. This is the same Gregg Doyel who in Week 1 declared the 2008 SEC the greatest conference in collegiate history. Now he believes the Bulldogs are no better than fourth-best in this mighty league.
Writing for ESPN.com, Chris Low opined that Georgia has work to do offensively, which seems a reasonable assumption. But Low also quotes Mark Richt as recalling the breakthrough season of 2002 and how those Bulldogs, who finished 13-1 and were ranked No. 3 nationally, barely escaped Columbia without scoring an offensive touchdown.
And that would seem the salient point: With Georgia’s schedule, style isn’t required. If the Bulldogs keep winning, they’ll wind up where they want to be. So it doesn’t matter if Gennaro Filice of SI.com decides Georgia’s title hopes “look pretty bleak at the moment.” There are lots of moments ahead.
For a more technical breakdown of Georgia’s strengths and liabilities, here’s Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News Today. Iyer, you should know, decides Georgia’s receivers aren’t nearly the bums Doyel makes them out to be. Which Arizona State is about to learn.
Speaking of Arizona State …
If you’re about to play what’s been billed as the biggest home non-conference game in program history, it’s never a good idea to lose to UNLV the week before. Paolo Boivin of the Arizona Republic pronounces this Saturday’s Georgia game duly downgraded, and Doug Haller of the same paper reports that the victorious Runnin’ Rebels mentioned Georgia freely in the giddy aftermath. “How big is that Georgia game now?” shouted one Rebel.
Answer: Not as.
PJ is, ahem, teed off
You might have expected Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson to be less than appreciative of the two personal fouls levied against his team on Virginia Tech’s game-winning drive. According to Randy King of the Roanoke Times, you’d be correct in that assessment. King quotes Johnson as using the word “wow” three times in reference to the penalties, and he called the Hokies’ drive “one for the books,” which would seem to indicate he thought it was kind of hokey.
The Fridge cools the heat
After Maryland lost to Middle Tennessee, the grumbling around College Park was at a level unheard since Ralph Friedgen took over the Terps, writes Mike Wise of The Washington Post. Beating a ranked California team will surely soothe the disgruntled masses.
Speaking of heat …
Should his nose-diving Brewers fail to reach the playoffs, former Braves coach Ned Yost will be out as Milwaukee’s manager, according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com. In Rosenthal’s report, an unnamed scout refers to Yost as “a nervous Nellie.”
Gee, and here I always called him “Ned.”
Late-breaking update! The Brewers didn’t wait. They fired Yost today. So here’s what I’m wondering now: Has a team ever dumped a manager on Sept. 15 and then made the playoffs? (My off-the-top-of-my-head guess: No.)
The divine Matt Ryan?
Here’s a weird one, courtesy of TheBigLead.com by way of the Augusta Chronicle. A woman called the Georgia paper to complain about Wes Durham’s call of Ryan’s touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins against Detroit. Said Durham: “He lives in Atlanta!” Apparently the woman, who identified herself as “Carol,” took that as honest-to-goodness sacrilege.
Then again, it was Gil Tyree of WGCL TV who was quoted by Peter King of SI.com as calling Ryan’s predecessor “the messiah.”
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