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
February 2008
Last five games big for Dogs, Felton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are four regular-season games left in Georgia’s basketball season and at least one game in the SEC Tournament in Atlanta. On the surface, they would appear basically meaningless games since there is virtually no chance of postseason play no matter how well the Bulldogs do.
But, in reality, these may be the most important games of coach Dennis Felton’s tenure at UGA.
As it stands now Georgia’s record is 12-13 overall and 3-9 in SEC play. The Bulldogs get Florida (20-7, 7-5 SEC) at Stegeman Coliseum tonight at 7:30 p.m. Then they face LSU (10-16, 3-9) and Auburn (14-11, 4-8) on the road before coming back home to play Ole Miss in the season finale. As any one can plainly see, these are all winnable games for Georgia. It would behoove Felton if his team could do that.
Athletics director Damon Evans is on the record saying that he will evaluate Felton’s status as the head coach at season’s end. Records of 16-13 and 7-9 wouldn’t look so awful on Evans’ worksheet. Lose two or more and Evans would have to think hard about how he feels about another overall losing record.
Obviously the biggest challenge in that set comes tonight against the Gators. Granted, coach Billy Donovan’s team is a talented one but it’s also young and should be vulnerable against an opponent starting two seniors and two juniors and playing on its home court. A win for Georgia could serve as a springboard for the rest of the season. A loss could foretell a bleak ending.
What do you think? Should it matter what happens in these last few games or do you think Evans and President Adams have already seen all they need to see?
Attendance hasn’t been real good lately. Anybody compelled to go cheer them on or is your absence a statement?
Permalink | Comments (67) | Categories: Basketball
Daily dose of football coming
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We know, we know. For the hardcore college football enthusiast — and there is a lot of you out there — this is the worst time of year. There’s just not enough information out there to satisfy your hearty appetites for all things football. Well, we’re here to help.
Starting this week, we’re going to see that you get some kind of college football fix every day, both UGA and otherwise. Tony Barnhart, aka Mr. College Football, will tell you what’s going on around the South and in the nation. And Carter Strickland and I will make sure you know what’s going on in Athens with the Bulldogs.
The idea is, when you log on to your computer at home or at work first thing every weekday morning, you’ll find some football nuggets to munch on. Meanwhile, I’ll still be posting blog topics regularly in this space.
So Carter will have something up today about the realistic impact of this year’s recruiting class. I’ll have something for you on Tuesday, and so on.
In the meantime we’ll need your help to make sure we’re giving you what you want. Let us know some of the things you’d like to read about regarding Georgia football.
See you back here daily.
Permalink | Comments (74) | Categories: Football
Dooley-Adams controversy reignites
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve been covering this honoring-Vince Dooley business the last couple of days. Hope you’ve had a chance to read those stories and found them informative and maybe even interesting.
What’s interesting to me is, whenever the subject of Dooley and President Michael Adams is broached, it brings out the most passionate responses one could ever imagine. That’s certainly been the case again this week.
To bring you up to date, Adams and Damon Evans brought to the athletic board and the UGA cabinet a proposal to name the area of South Campus that houses all the athletic facilities “the Vince Dooley Athletic Complex.” At the southwest corner, where Pinecrest Drive intersects with South Lumpkin Street, they will construct a big garden, the centerpiece of which will be a giant bronze statue of Coach Dooley on the shoulders of Jeff Harper and Tim Morrison. Anyway, the Board of Regents still has to approve it but that will happen tomorrow (Wednesday).
In the meantime, my assignment was to call around today and see how people close to Dooley felt about the gesture. In the course of doing that I was reminded of what a hot-button issue this thing is. Every once in a while you think the fervor over Adams’ treatment of Dooley a few years back has died down and then something like this comes around and you find out it hasn’t. It’s kind of like a volcano where the magma just goes dormant for a while before heating back up and resurfacing later.
Well, the lava is flowing again folks. I wasn’t able to get all the commentary in my story for tomorrow’s paper so I thought I’d share some of it here.
In general, there are few schools of thought from the folks in the Dooley camp: (1) It’s about time; (2) it’s a backhanded slap of Dooley by Adams, putting his statue a mile or so away from the stadium and; (3) until Dooley’s name is somewhere on that stadium no gesture is good enough.
I heard some real zingers from some people, many of which weren’t able to make my story. Here’s some of the better ones:
Bob Hope, the public relations executive who organized a march on the Board of Regents in Dooley’s honor in 2004, thinks it was a petty move by Adams. “If there ever is a Heisman Trophy for pettiness, Michael Adams will win it and there won’t be a second place.”
Hope went on to say he thinks Adams’ gesture has “reopened Pandora’s box” and will ignite again the movement put Dooley’s name on the stadium.
Said Buck Belue, quarterback of the 1980 national championship team: “I read where Adams doesn’t like using hyphens. Maybe he’s wanting to save it for Sanford-Adams Stadium.”
Jeff Harper, a former offensive lineman whose likeness is part of the Dooley statue, can’t understand why Gov. Sonny Perdue, a UGA alum and former player, and others in state government won’t champion Dooley’s cause. “I don’t know why the Regents haven’t stepped up for Coach Dooley. What about the governor? I’ll tell you this, I’m giving no money to the University of Georgia until Michael Adams is gone. All Coach Dooley asked for was one more year and he wouldn’t give it to him. Fire Adams and I’ll resume my support.”
Not every Dooley supporter was quite as venomous. Tim Morrison is also depicted on the statue carrying his coach on his shoulder after the Bulldogs’ regular season-ending win over Georgia Tech in 1980. “I thought it was a great idea,” he said of the garden plaza featuring the statue. “I thought it should have been on North Campus but at least it will be prominently displayed. I still think they should name the stadium after him. I don’t know if politics are involved or what but for Coach Dooley to have been treated the way he has been is unjust.”
Frank Ros, now an executive with Coca-Cola, was captain of that 1980. He was eloquent. “For what Vince Dooley has done for the University of Georgia, anything and everything they do that recognizes is appreciated and well-deserved. Hopefully they’ll still name the stadium for him because he put Georgia football on the national map. At the same time, he probably made a bigger contribution as athletic director so it’s fitting that they’d name the whole complex after him.”
Ros said he’s doubtful Dooley’s name will ever be placed on the stadium as long as Adams is UGA’s president. “He’s made that clear on a number of occasions,” Ros said. “He’s made the statement before that ‘the stadium already has a name.’ But I think you have to be respectful of a person’s accomplishments regardless of your politics.”
Now obviously former Dooley players are going to be pretty biased on an issue such as this. That’s all just leftover stuff from Tuesday’s interviews.
But we’re interested in hearing all sides this story. Let me know where you stand on it. And that includes those of you that may side with Dr. Adams on it. I’m particularly interested in hearing from you.
Permalink | Comments (283) | Categories: Football
Humphrey’s arrest not helpful to Felton’s cause
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By now most of you have heard about Billy Humphrey’s arrest. The Bulldogs’ starting shooting guard and the team’s second-leading scorer was booked on charges of underage possession and disobeying a traffic control advice. He was stopped by police after he crossed East Broad Street in front of Tasty World against the light at 1:23 a.m. last night. He blew a .03 — a trace amount to be sure — hence the alcohol charge.
The latest on all that is it does not appear that, Humphrey — who was on UGA and Athens-Clarke County probation for a minor weapons offense from November — will NOT be kicked out of school or off the team. We’re still waiting on UGA’s official release but a minimum of a three-game suspension — or 10 percent of competition dates — appears imminent. We’ll let everybody know as soon as that information is available. Felton has agreed to talk to reporters about 5 p.m. so I’ll file an update soon thereafter.
Here’s my question: What, if any, affect should this latest incident have upon the evaluation of head coach Dennis Felton and his program? I say that only because the first couple of calls I got this morning after posting my story were from people outside the program asking me, “does this do in Felton?” I don’t really know how to answer that.
Of course, at this point the prospects aren’t very positive for the remainder of the season. I don’t see the Bulldogs winning many more games and that was before the prospect of being without Humphrey for three or more games.
So let’s just fast forward and say Georgia finishes something like 5-11 or 4-12 or 3-13 in SEC play this year. Keeping in mind the extenuating circumstances of the season — the dismissals of Takais Brown and Mike Mercer, injuries to Humphrey and Jeremy Jacob, Rashaad Singleton abruptly quitting the team — do you think athletics director Damon Evans should be inclined to make a coaching change?
I’m looking for serious, thoughtful commentary. In fact, if you consider yourself a bonafide Georgia basketball fan, can validate yourself as such and want to be quoted for a story on that subject, e-mail me your thoughts directly at ctowers@ajc.com. Include your name, city of residence, occupation and a telephone number where you can be reached or you will not be considered for inclusion in a story.
Meanwhile, I’ll reserve my thoughts on the issue because I need to approach this in the coming weeks as an objective reporter. But those of you who come here regularly know my general feelings on that subject.
Permalink | Comments (124) | Categories: Basketball
How do Dogs’ fans feel about TE defector?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, the other shoe dropped. Dwayne Allen, this year’s Mr. Fickle, decided to sign with Clemson after re-committing to the Georgia team he originally committed to in December of 2006.
It happens every year. There’s always one or two guys (and I’m just talking about Georgia) who get totally confused and overwhelmed with the recruiting process and end up changing their minds at the last second. It just reinforces what I’m always saying about following the whims of 17- and 18-year-olds. Why anybody bothered to attend Mr. Allen’s “press conference” on Monday in North Carolina is beyond me. Total waste of time. Unless these kids are signing a letter-of-intent it’s just shadow-dancing.
The biggest problem I have with Allen’s decision is the way he handled it. Had he said “Clemson” on Monday like a lot of people expected him he would, the Bulldogs could have moved on and gone in another direction. But to do it on national signing day leaves them in a bind. Remember, Georgia did not offer several high-profile prospects because it had committed all its scholarships.
All that said, the Bulldogs will be all right. Last time I checked they’re in pretty good shape at tight end. They weren’t counting on Allen’s contribution for a couple of seasons at least. Sure, he could turn out to be the next Randy McMichael. But it’s not going to derail what Georgia has going on in the meantime.
So I’m curious to hear from you Dogs fans about this. Are you angry with Allen or are you understanding of the confusion that clouded his young mind? Will you wish Allen luck and root for him as he moves on to Clemson and the ACC? Or do you hope he’s a major bust since he didn’t come to Athens?
Meanwhile, word is that Georgia more than likely will sit on that last scholarship and carry it on over to next season, since it has so few to offer then. There was some scuttlebutt about the linemen Massie or Love coming but I don’t see that happening. But who knows? This is recruiting. Anything can happen.
Permalink | Comments (143) | Categories: Football
Which signees will make biggest impact?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Never mind recruiting rankings. By any measure, Georgia’s football 2008 recruiting class looks impressive. To start off it’s expected to be a full boat of 25 players and sufficiently fills the needs the Bulldogs have as far as depth-building.
That’s the interesting thing about this class to me. Georgia doesn’t really need a lot of these freshmen to step up and play immediately like it did last year, especially with regard to offensive linemen. But, invariably, there will be at least a few newbies that step in and make a significant impact.
Carter Strickland and I were just talking about this very subject. Pressed on the five players in this class that might make the biggest impact, here’s what we came up with:
OL Ben Jones: By all accounts this guy’s is going to be the Dogs’ starting center next season. That’s pretty significant.
WR A.J. Green: Reportedly Georgia’s biggest signee at wideout since Reggie Brown.
PK Blair Walsh: Think about Georgia without Brandon Coutu or Billy Bennett the last several years
RBs Dontavius Jackson OR Richard Samuel: One of them is going to play and the other will redshirt.
WR Tavarres King: Early reports from this early enrollee are that he has unbelievable hands. But he’s skinny.
Notably absent from that list are guys like DT Deangelo Tyson or OL A.J. Harmon or TE Dwayne Allen. But the thinking is Georgia’s pretty deep at those positions. And we’re not counting LB Akeem Hebron, who more than likely will play a lot but is not really a freshman signee since he’s coming back from disciplinary ouster to Georgia Military.
Now obviously this is all subjective guesswork and we’re just throwing something out to digest. We definitely want to hear what y’all think. So let’s hear it.
Permalink | Comments (68) | Categories: Football
Recruiting 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) | Categories: Football and basketball
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