UGA blog finds new home
Morning all. As I’ve said a couple of times this week, we’re converting this blog over to a WordPress platform and it will be a permanent move the first of next week.
Those of you who are regulars probably know that I’m not what you’d call techno-wizard when it comes to these things. But from what I understand the technology offered in this new format should make the blogging and commenting experience better for all. Of course, I’ll be learning as we go along, too. But I’m hoping to provide more pictures and video and things like that which should bring the blog more to life.
Of course, this blog is nothing without all you guys so I want to heartily invite (read: beg) you to come over to the new site by CLICKING HERE ON THE NEW ADDRESS and save it in your browsers. As of Monday, Feb. 23rd, this will be the permanent home of the UGA blog you so love or, in the case of some of you, love to loathe. If you’d prefer to copy and paste or just memorize, the new address is: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/.
See at the new place!
AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 04 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USRecruiting coverage galore in store
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So you say you enjoy football recruiting? We’re thinking so because we’re about to bowl you over with recruiting coverage.
In the next couple of days — Wednesday/National Signing Day especially — we will be absolutely snowing you under with news, updates, photos, live coverage and every kind of list imaginable. In short, we will be providing you with comprehensive objective recruiting coverage of Atlanta, Georgia and the South that you cannot and will not get anywhere else. And it won’t cost you a dime. All you have to do is click on our website and it’s all there for your perusal.
Regulars here know this is not my favorite subject. I enjoy covering games and profiling players and coaches and, yes, even fans, more than I care to follow the whims of 17- and 18-year-olds who have been flattered and showered with attention more than any person deserves. But even I’m excited about the information we’ll be pumping out starting early in the morning on Wednesday.
You may recall I weighed in on the ridiculousness of trying to rank recruiting classes last week. The Charleston Post and Courier did a good story on that subject over the weekend and it illustrates how inaccurate the recruiting services are at trying to do that.
On another subject, a buddy of mine over in Memphis talked to the Ole Miss chancellor about Michael Adams’ call for a playoff and the Rebels’ top guy was pretty critical of UGA’s president.
And while we’re in link mode, here’s an interesting take on Mark Richt from Paul Finebaum, who was impressed with the Dogs’ coach after watching him speak to a group of business leaders in Birmingham… .
As for basketball, the wolves are starting to bay a little for coach Dennis Felton, though I personally think they’re a bit early on that. While the on-court performance hasn’t been great this season — exacerbated by the early-season discipline/academic situations — the off-court part is going very well, especially recruiting. And unless they can talk Tubby into coming back or make some similar hiring splash, I think the Dogs would just be tearing down to build up again… .
Seems a lot of folks back in Kentucky thought Dave Bliss’ foul on Ramel Bradley should have been whistled as flagrant and/or intentional. Felton disagrees emphatically. He said Bliss was going for the ball and Bradley forced the contact as he tried to draw the foul for the three-point play. I tend to agree. Looking at the replay a couple of times it appears Bradley made a lot more out of it with his body movements, etc., than should have been there.
That’s it for now. I’ll be checking back regularly.
Permalink | Comments (35) | Post your comment | Categories: Football and basketball
Comments
By P Dawg
February 4, 2008 5:26 PM | Link to this
Is it September yet?
By brent
February 4, 2008 5:33 PM | Link to this
Good link to the “Rank the Rankers” article. It’s funny — they use UGA as an example of one of the programs where there does seem to be a correlation between recruiting rankings and actual on-field ranking. Of course, the recruiting rankings were there for UGA during the Donnan & Goff years, too — funny how the on-field rankings didn’t seem to follow suit then. It’s all about what happens after they get on campus.
By the way, the link to the Finebaum article seems to be missing.
Thanks.
By Rimfire
February 4, 2008 5:40 PM | Link to this
Recruiting is just fun and fantasy! But when it’s cold and dreary outside, it sure is fun to see if your team is loading up some more “arrows for their quiver.” This is why we love football in the south, (God’s country)!
By Fort Worth Dawg
February 4, 2008 5:55 PM | Link to this
What a tough conference. Two straight national championships in football (and basketball). Three straight Super Bowl MVP’s. I haven’t totaled up the ESPN 150 for this go-round but a few years ago 50 of them were going to SEC schools.
By FLA DAWG
February 4, 2008 5:59 PM | Link to this
Recruiting Coverage -
When all the sportswriters and fans think they have some “Inside Information” and usually turn out to be wrong!
Gotta admit though, it’s fun to read sportswriters comments about the star players and where they’re thinking of going.
By country boy
February 4, 2008 7:19 PM | Link to this
Thanks for the recruiting coverage the AJC has already provided us with. Look forward to the next few days. I’m SICK. I know better than anyone that Kregg Lumpkin and Brandon Miller were ranked out of this world and never amounted to much. David Greene and David Pollock were second tier recruits and were great Dawgs. Still I enjoy reading about the commitments - knowing it is a very inexact science.
By A-ville Ranger
February 4, 2008 8:25 PM | Link to this
I love recruiting,I hate this bs with Allen.A 17 year old called a news conference and supposed adults treated his posturing like it was important.It just made me sick to my stomach how absurd and shallow it was.
By Obnoxious Georgia Fan
February 4, 2008 8:45 PM | Link to this
Kregg Lumpkin was a good running back that battled an unfortunate amount of injuries. To say he never amounted to much is a bit harsh.
And that’s exactly the problem with all this recruiting hoopla. These guys don’t ask for all the attention and hype. Well, most of them don’t anyway. Then when they fail to live up to the expectations that someone else has put on them they are considered a disappointment. What a joke.
By War Eagle
February 4, 2008 9:52 PM | Link to this
Dawgs recruiting year has been outstanding. If CMR does not win a NC title next two years, could their be a problem with fans patience for being only top recruiting classes not to win the BCS last 7 years?
By War Eagle
February 4, 2008 10:04 PM | Link to this
Here is an unusual recruiting tactic . Kansas State has commitments from 19 JUCO players…..
By Embarrassed
February 4, 2008 11:01 PM | Link to this
Wow, first a Pharmacy Professor disgraces the university with his cheating scandal, then we have complaints of sexual harassment against another Professor, and now we have a Professor beating up a student. How disgraceful!! Looks good to the recruits I am sure….
Oh, my mistake, we finished rated #2 and will win the NC next year. That is all that is important!
By Blackdawg
February 4, 2008 11:03 PM | Link to this
When and Where will the massive spoon party take place?
I can’t wait!!!!!!!!!
By dog4life
February 5, 2008 12:11 AM | Link to this
I do agree that a specific ranking of say 1 instead of 5 really does not make that much difference in who wins on the field head to head. However I do believe that finishing higher year after year defiantly gives you an advantage over lower ranked teams. This article http://rivals100.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=769955 shows that no team since 2002 has won a national championship that did not finish with an average ranking of at least 15 in the years leading up to that title. Yes teams with great coaches, like Wake, can compete with the “better” recruiting team but in the long run you have a much better shot if you get the top recruits. No every recruit that is rated high (Brandon Miller) will be a great success. Yes players that are barely recruiting like Thomas Davis (only two offers,UGA and Grambling I believe) can be great. We are not talking about individual players though, we are talking about teams. So if the rankings are close on 10 of our 25 each year then finishing in the top 10 year after year will make a huge difference in where we finish in the rankings that count the most. (#2 this year)
By HHI DAWG
February 5, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this
Dewayne Allen is coming to UGA!!
By Pewtus Gortsler 65
February 5, 2008 8:43 AM | Link to this
Jonas reached into the bare cupboard and pulled out a can of Vienna Sausage. Out dumped the weiners and picked up the saltines. Jonas in a delightful manner began spreading the the sausage jelly left in the can onto the stale cracker. What a delicacy!
By Big Egos are Targets
February 5, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this
A-ville Ranger…… I absolutely agree. These kids may not even pan out. I’m tired of these kids holding press conferences wearing jerseys of one school and flipping around ball caps of another school. Recruits need to commit, shut up, sign on, shut up, enroll ,shut up, practice, Shut up and then perform on the Football Field
By Gamecock Henry
February 5, 2008 9:23 AM | Link to this
War Eagle….. Dont be surprised if that happens to UGA. Particularly when Uga loses to the mighty Gamecocks and VANDY!
By Tdog
February 5, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this
UGA has a great shot to win the NCG but they BCS, ESPN will have to permote it or we will not get to play. We don’t have a Michigan or Ohio Coach so we might have to settle for SEC titles. We need to keep pushing for a playoff or get used to being left out, just like AUB.
By mahalorainbower
February 5, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
so recruiting doesnt matter in football but dont fire sucka* Felton because he’s recruiting well? Chiiip! I’ma come at you like a spider monkey! Felton sucks. Winning is more important than his bad relationships w/ the guys on his team. School is queer, sports count way more in the grand scheme of things. I’d rather field a winning team out of death row inmates than keep sucking w/ a crappy coach.
By Tdog
February 5, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this
Mighty Gamecocks? That great Mouth of the South Coach better take a class in motovation, that we have a bunch of regular stiffs remark back fired don’t ya think. I gotta give the C**’s fans credit yall always believe.
By Chip Towers
February 5, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
mahalorainbower: I didn’t say recruiting doesn’t matter in football. I said recruiting RANKINGS are inaccurate and a waste of time… . Interesting take on Felton and winning.
Gamecock Henry: I admire your spirit.
By mahalorainbower
February 5, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this
Chip, at least I’m honest enough to admit I feel that way. I have a degree and college is the most overrated aspect of education. College football (and subsequently, basketball) is undervalued right now. SECede from the NCAA, drop academics, and take on the NFL. Who gives a crap if they can read or make a production schedule or analyze 18th century Irish poetry? The only thing I ever want out of UGA is to win titles in sports. I’ll send the diploma back if that helps. Sorry for putting words in your mouth. gaturds suck.
By Lowcountry Bulldawgs
February 5, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this
Chip,
As a Charleston guy here I found the Post and Couriers piece pretty informative.What is really shocking is the amount of signees who never enroll into a program. Every year Clemson or South Carolina had about 4 that never stepped foot on campus. Then each class washed out another 5. So if said university signd 25. Close to 10 were wasted scholarships. Then you have another 10 of those who were overrated. So if a university was lucky 5 of those original 25 would be starters for 2-3 seasons and maybe 2 of those would be stars. So the odds go to show that if we really think UGA just recruited 10 1st team ALL-Americans and 1st round picks then we as fans are being very naive.
By War Eagle
February 5, 2008 1:58 PM | Link to this
Tdog, You are correct about ESPN and Big Ten, but if UGA loses to Tenn or Florida, they are out. The same is true about Auburn and LSU . Its hard to make up 2 games for a division title with the present tie breaker in place. I think South Carolina will play UGA strong in Columbia (IF) CSS finds a productive QB.
By Dave In Tampa
February 5, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
War Eagle:
Good point on the next two years. It will be interesting to see the reaction. I hope that we can bag one NC. It will be tough. Ya’ll, Florida, UT, LSU will make sure of that.
By G Roberts
February 5, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this
I hope for Felton’s sake he has a good recruiting class coming in. I believe he is running out of time. I can see how his hard core attitude is not playing well with potential players. Dismissing three players in the last two years does not send a good message to potential recruits.
By NorCal Dawg
February 5, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this
I don’t see how you can say recruiting rankings are a waste of time. I read the link to the article in the Charleston Post and Courier. It was very interesting, but did nothing to make me believe recruiting rankings are a waste of time.
Of course it is an inexact science, otherwise we wouldn’t actually have to play the games. We could just have Rivals.com crown a champion every year based on recruiting rankings. The recruits have to be coached up, develop and then perform in games.
One interesting stat in the article is that 4 and 5 star recruits are two times as likely to make All Conference than lower rated recruits.
I also looked at the Rivals database and based on my analysis 4 and 5 star recruits are five times as likely to become All Americans than lower rated recruits.
Getting higher rated recruits (and the rankings that go with that) may not guarantee success but it gives the coaches more to work with.
By Fort Worth Dawg
February 5, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this
I read NorCal Dawg’s comment and several issues come to mind. A blue chip recruit should do better because he can have a first choice of where to go to school and he will likely pick a winning program (better coaches, better facilities, strong surrounding cast). The true blue chip athletes are a smaller sample so as a percentage they should do better. They are blue chip usually because they are bigger, faster, stronger than their cohorts — their cohorts may be able to catch up in some aspects but the blue chippers have the initial advantage. Success breeds success — if you have blue chippers then it’s easier to recruit blue chippers. Combine this with all the blue chippers look better when the team wins (and a good defense helps a good offense/and a good O line helps a good passing and running game/etc.). Winning teams get more TV and media time, which provides more exposure to the individual athletes (increasing the likelihood of being named to “all star” teams or getting drafted). On the flip side, at some point being good = playing a lot, which increases the chance of injury (causing a player to be evaluated lower).
By TALLYDAWG
February 5, 2008 4:30 PM | Link to this
STARS DO NOT MATTER IS ALL ABOUT WORK ETHIC. A GIFTED ATHLETE THAT IS LAZY WILL NEVER SEE THE FIELD IN THE SEC. YOU HAVE TO GET FASTER AND STRONGER TO COMPETE. GEORGIA HAS ONE OF THE BEST STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACHES IN THE NATION, AND THAT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS GEORGIA IS WHERE THEY ARE.
GO DAWGS!!!
HERES TO A BRIGHT FUTURE CHEERS!!!!!!
By P Dawg
February 5, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this
Blackdawg must REALLY love to “spoon” because that’s all he ever has to say. You must really be biggest idiot to say the same damn thing over and over. Are you a retarted homosexual? I’ll leave you alone now so you can daydream about men spooning. I mean, where do you come up with this anyway? Are you sure you’re not thinking about GT’s guys in a big tickle pile or something?
By P Dawg
February 5, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this
Is someone trying to talk about basketball here?. It’s all about football now. I would rather see UGA just drop the BB program completely for a NC in football.
By P Dawg
February 5, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this
CMR and co. are going to finally bring it home with this years recruits. Don’t know how many will play right away but with the young team that finished so strong last season, it looks like we’ll be the favorites to win the SEC. And anybody with a brain in their skull (not you blackdawg) knows that the SEC champ should always play for the NC. I just hope we get to embarass Ohio State this year and let them play USC in the Rose every year since the Pac-10 is so scared of us! GOOOOOOO DAWGS!
By P Dawg
February 5, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this
If three differnt SEC teams not only beat, but embarass OSU in three consecutive years, then they should be banished from ever playing for the NC again! I can see it coming-UGA 56, OSU 3. BRING IT!!!
By Gamecock Henry
February 5, 2008 6:50 PM | Link to this
Thanks Chip…… I Know I get carried away at times, just like these dawg fans. I have to keep reminding and bringing these guys back to earth.!!!!!
By Matt Stafford
February 5, 2008 9:46 PM | Link to this
P Dawg
I love to spoon too, check this out. Facts are facts.
http://deepsouthsports.blogspot.com/2007/05/talledega-days.html