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 > April
April 2008
Will Stafford, Moreno turn pro in ‘09
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The NFL draft was completed on Sunday. Which, of course, meant that the 2009 mock drafts came out on Monday. If you’re a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs, they certainly made for some interesting reading.
It appears to be the general consensus among the draft gurus that quarterback Matthew Stafford not only will turn pro after this, his junior season, but that he’s the odds-on favorite to be the top quarterback picked in the 2009 draft. Sportsillustrated.cnn.com and CBSSportsline.com both saw it that way. So did ESPN and a few others.
That’s nothing new for Stafford. He was, after all, projected to be an eventual No. 1 NFL draft pick by ESPN’s Mel Kiper when Stafford was still at Highland Park High. But the fervor extends to Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno as well. One columnist for ESPN.com not only has Stafford going third to the Kansas City Chiefs, but also has Knowshon Moreno going 10th to the New York Jets. Something called walterfootball.com has Moreno, a redshirt sophomore next season, going 15th to the Texans and Stafford not going anywhere (but Tim Tebow going fourth overall and the first quarterback taken).
The accuracy of such speculative drafts aside, it is clear there is is going to be some strong appeal for Georgia’s two offensive stars to come out after next season. I’m interested in finding out where y’all stand on that.
Would anybody have a problem with that? Granted, most fans just want all their teams’ players to exhaust their eligibility before moving on to play for pay. But if Stafford or Moreno either one is assured (is there such a thing in a competitive draft?) of becoming a top 10 pick after next season, there’s not much of a question whether they should come out. That’s a lifetime opportunity that may never come again.
Conversely, should achieving their college goals and completing their educations be the first priority?
For what it’s worth, Stafford told me in an interview this past season it has always been his intention to play all four years in college. And, historically, quarterbacks appear to benefit more from staying through their senior senior seasons. It’s an incredibly cerebral position.
It’s a different story for running backs. Because of the physical demands of the position, they have a limited shelf life on the next level. The average NFL tenure for a tailback remains less than five years. So you better take what you can get while you’re healthy. I’ve never asked Moreno about it but will next time we talk.
I still think what the Bulldogs do on the field this fall will have some bearing on their decisions. Both are very outspoken in their desire to bring a national championship to Georgia. If the Dogs do what a lot of people are projecting them to do, certainly no one could begrudge either of these guys for leaving. But what if the Dogs come up short? Is that even more incentive to come back and try again?
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Nine Dogs heading to NFL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, another NFL draft is in the books and, once again, several Georgia Bulldogs were a part of it. Four players were drafted on Sunday - none went on Day One - and at least another five have been snapped up since via free agency.
Defensive end Marcus Howard, who will play outside linebacker at the next level, was the top Dog this year, going to the Colts in the fifth round with pick 161 overall. He was followed by tailback Thomas Brown (Falcons, sixth, 172), guard Chester Adams (Bears, 7th, 222) and kicker Brandon Coutu (Seahawks, 7, 235).
That’s not quite as many as we’ve become accustomed to seeing drafted under coach Mark Richt and certainly not as early. It was the first time since 2000, Jim Donnan’s last year, that no UGA players were chosen in the first four rounds. And the four selections overall ties for the fewest Bulldogs chosen since only two were picked that same year. Only four Dogs were picked in 2007 and 2004.
Which brings me to today’s topic. What does it say that Georgia, a team that went 11-2 last season and finished with a No. 2 national ranking, didn’t have a player selected in the first four rounds? Does that mean that Richt and his staff are fantastic coaches? Does it mean that the Bulldogs have some unbelievably talented underclassmen? Is it merely the manifestation of the adage “the whole is greater than the parts?” Or are some of these NFL types missing in their evaluations?
Like I said, several Dogs got picked up via free agency. As of this writing, running back Kregg Lumpkin (Packers), wide receiver Sean Bailey (Chiefs), defensive back Kelin Johnson (Seahawks) and offensive lineman Fernando Velasco (Titans) are all headed to pro camps. I have information that outside linebacker Brandon Miller also got picked up by the Falcons but they weren’t confirming that as of lunchtime.
Meanwhile, I’m still surprised a guy like David Greene hasn’t thrived in the NFL. And I know Brown is small and had some injury problems the last couple of seasons but I still think he brings an awful lot to the table. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t make a roster, the Falcons or somebody elses.
Here’s some fun facts to chew on regarding UGA and the draft while you’re contemplating all this stuff:
Most Dogs drafted: 8 in 2002
Most impressive draft for UGA: Probably 2003, when it had two first-rounders and four taken in the first two rounds. Here it is in total - DT Johnathan Sullivan (1st round, 6th pick), New Orleans Saints; OT George Foster (1st round, 20th pick), Denver Broncos; LB Boss Bailey (2nd round, 34th pick), Detroit Lions; OT Jon Stinchcomb (2nd round, 37th pick), New Orleans Saints; TB Musa Smith (3rd round, 77th pick), Baltimore Ravens; LB Tony Gilbert (6th round, 210th pick), Arizona Cardinals; FB J.T. Wall (7th round, 242nd pick), Pittsburgh Steelers.
Best draft pre-Richt era: Probably 1989 when six Dogs were taken. Of course, it was a 12-round draft back then: TB Tim Worley (first round, Pittsburgh), FB Keith Henderson (third round, San Francisco), DE Richard Tardits (fifth round, St. Louis), TE Troy Sadowski (sixth round, Atlanta), QB Wayne Johnson (11th round, Indianapolis), and DE Aaron Chubb (12th round, New England).
Let’s hear what y’all think.
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Gym Dogs, baseball and NFL draft
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Afternoon folks. All the data and information we’ve collected in recent years tells us there aren’t a lot of you out there perusing the Internet or our newspaper’s site in particular on Friday afternoon’s. Seems a lot of you are reading us at work and, consequently, a lot of you are cutting out early on Fridays.
Nonetheless, I wanted to get in one last blog for the week and we’ll carry it on through the weekend and we’ll resume with a new topic on Monday. Let’s prove all that data wrong and ring up some good numbers here this weekend!
In the meantime I wanted to at least get some conversation going on the Georgia gymnastics team and the tremendous opportunity and challenge that it has before it tonight.
Suzanne Yoculan’s Gym Dogs are of course going for their fourth NCAA title in a row as the NCAA championships wrap up with the “Super Six” competition tonight (individual competitions will continue on Saturday). It looked like No. 4 (number nine overall) would come pretty easy earlier in the year, what with Georgia having the best team and the championships being held on its home floor in Stegeman Coliseum. But then Courtney Kupets, argulably the best gymnast to don the red and black, went out for the season with an Achilles injury. That changed things considerably.
Yeah there are the Dogs, going into the final team competition with the best score out of the round of 12, including the two teams that beat them this season (Utah and Michigan). It will be a pretty incredible accomplishment if they can pull it out tonight. Carter Strickland is covering it for us so check back for details tonight.
Of course, the big news this year is that Yoculan has decided she’s going to retire following next season and she (with Damon Evans’ approval) has tabbed Jay Clark as her successor. Do you think Gym Dogs can continue to succeed at their current level under Clark’s leadership?
Meanwhile, a lot of other interesting stuff going on over the weekend:
• Coach David Perno’s baseball team is down at Florida with a 3.5-game lead over South Carolina in the East. To win two out of three down there would really be a big step toward locking up division. But the remainder of the schedule is tough. Ole Miss is in Athens next weekend, Georgia Tech drops in the Wednesday after that, then they’re at Vanderbilt and finish up at home against Alabama. So there’s a long way to go. But this is one of the better teams I’ve seen Perno put together and, between the pitching and Gordon Beckham’s tear, I don’t see late swoon in them.
• Of course, it’s the NFL draft this weekend. I can’t a time when it appeared Georgia was going to have less of an impact on the festivities. Of course, the Bulldogs had only four drafted last year. But at least two of those went in the third round (Quentin Moses and Charles Johnson) and another in the fourth (Martrez Milner). That was after having 7 and 6, respectively, in the previous two drafts. Not sure if they’ll get four this year and would be surprised if somebody goes before the fourth or fifth. Though somebody could take a chance on Thomas Brown.
That’s all for now. Let me know what’s on your mind and we’ll keep an eye on how all this stuff breaks down over the weekend.
Permalink | Comments (42) | Post your comment | Categories: Gymnastics
Special banquet for Hoop Dogs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As reporters, I think most of us would agree that postseason awards banquets aren’t on the top of the list of things we like to do. We’d all probably rather be chronicling some exciting event where the outcome is uncertain or telling the inside story of someone’s great achievement or, you know, sleeping.
That said, I must admit that the Georgia men’s basketball postseason awards banquet last night, orchestrated by the UGA Tipoff Club at Athens Country Club, was one of the more enjoyable banquets I’ve attended. It had some of the usual drawbacks, like being really long (four hours from social hour to coach Dennis Felton’s last remark). But other than the physical limitations of the human bladder, it really bopped along pretty good, relatively speaking.
But, of course, you knew it would be a special night considering that incredible accomplishment that was the Bulldogs winning the tornado-invaded SEC Tournament and all the strange happenings that event entailed. One last time from me: Still one of the most incredible athletic accomplishments, unexpected outcomes and sheer acts of adversity-overcoming I’ve ever personally witnessed.
And so the Tipoff Club, the coaching staff, all the organizers — and even the players — came prepared to put it all in proper perspective. I don’t have time to mention everything that went on but I’ll run through the highlights for you (no bathroom break required).
I don’t know who put together all the video tributes but there were three of them and they were all excellent. One at the outset was highlights of the whole season going back to the very start set to a couple of hip-hop scored. In the middle of program was a players’ interview tribute (interspersed with highlight video) to the two senior co-captains David Bliss and Sundiata Gaines. That was a great inside peek of the locker room dynamics and hilarious to boot. I’ll just say that, after their basketball careers, Corey Butler and Jeremy Jacob should consider comedy careers. And finally a slick, professional looking diary of the SEC Tournament with audio accompaniment of Scott Howard’s radio accounts (which ought to win him some kind of award, by the way).
As for the awards themselves, they were somewhat predictable:
Individual Workout Award (weightroom, conditioning, etc): G Terrance Woodbury
Most Improved: C Albert Jackson
Take Charge Award: G Corey Butler
Academic Award: C David Bliss
Best Rebounder: G Sundiata Gaines
Best Playmaker: Gaines
Best Defender (and they had comprehensive stats to back this up): Bliss
Junkyard Dawg Award: Bliss
Kevin Brophy Heart and Hustle Award: Bliss
Team MVP: Bliss and Gaines
The only slight surprise for me might have been Yata sharing the MVP award with Bliss, considering the laundry list of stats Gaines produced. But later, when you heard from the players, you realized what a big stick Bliss carried with the whole group.
All three assistant coaches handed out those awards. Keeping it short, I’ll just say associate head coach Pete Hermann has a future as motivational speaker … or preacher.
Wrapping up (see, I’m much quicker), I’m just going to repeat some of the best lines and stories told and get out of the way.
Oft-repeated story on Zac Swansey’s 3-pointer to beat Kentucky in quarterfinals: Swansey was carefully directed by coach Dennis Felton and the staff to drive hard down the right side as Bliss would screen low for Billy Humphrey coming around from the left and out to the arc on the right side. If Humphrey was covered Zac should look inside because Bliss should be open. Then Felton left him with these last words — “Make the play, Zac; make the play.” “That’s all Zac heard,” Hermann recounted to huge laughter. “Forget about the play and all that other stuff. He just thought he was supposed to make the play. And he did!”
State representative Doug McKillip (D-Athens) was on hand to deliver a Resolution from the state legislature. Thanks goodness he was perceptive enough not to read all the “whereas’s” and “therefores.” Methinks that was worth several votes.
With one commitment already secure for next season (DeMario Mayfield, Franklin County) and only two scholarships expected to come open, Felton was asked what they were doing in recruiting. He said he was actually dropping by two middle schools Wednesday. No lie. Of course it’s no secret that they’re working extra super hard on South Atlanta 6-9 forward Derrick Favors, who Rivals.com currently ranks the No. 3 overall player in the country.
Damon Evans presented the players with their NCAA gift, which were small replicas of the NCAA basketball championship trophy. Said Felton: “I think it’s the perfect daily reminder of what we’re all about here. Now we want the big one, right guys?”
On the SEC tournament run, Felton said he felt the team coming on despite the mounting losses at the end of the regular season. “The culture had taken hold within the walls of our locker room. The more we struggled the closer and tighter we got.”
And finally, of the tornado that swept through that Friday night and changed the dynamics of the SEC tournament, Felton said he believes that was the work of the one senior player not in attendance, the late Kevin Brophy. “That was Kevin calling in a favor for us.”
Hey, I know, a little dramatic. But for a banquet it was some pretty good stuff.
Feel free to take the blog anywhere you want it (like y’all need my permission) but some thoughts on the basketball team and/or the direction of the program, etc., would be a nice final tribute to those guys. And yes, I think Pollack did the right thing.
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ASU’s Erickson: Spring games ‘overrated’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So, back to football for a moment. Don’t know how much web surfing you guys do but I noticed late yesterday a report on Arizona State - Georgia’s fourth opponent next season - which just completed its spring game this past weekend.
In general, the word was that the Sun Devils’ offense did not look good at all. Rudy Carpenter, their senior quarterback, struggled. He completed just seven of 21 passes for 88 yards and most of those yard came on one 43-yard touchdown pass. According to reports, the No. 1 offense did not convert a first down until about four minutes were left in the second 12-minute quarter.
There was some concern on the message boards out there. But coach Dennis Erickson, for one, wasn’t.
“People overrate a spring game,” Erickson told local reporters after the game. “I overrate it. Obviously Rudy wasn’t on today as much as he could have been, but he’s had a great spring. He’s our quarterback and he’s made so much improvement with his delivery and all the different things he’s doing.”
Defensively, linebacker Gerald Munns had 11 tackles and linebacker Mike Nixon intercepted Carpenter once. The White vs. Maroon intrasquad game, attended by about 3,000, ended in a 17-17 tie.
In other football news, Macon’s Josh Kendall had a good story about how coach Mark Richt is returning to Honduras for another mission trip and this time he’s taking about 20 of his players with him.
“They will freak out when they see how big these guys are,” Richt told Kendall. “When they see these guys, their jaws will drop … and then they’ll thump us in soccer.”
Richt and his family went to Honduras for the first time last year as part of a Baptist mission. UGA has verified the trip to be within NCAA rules, according to the story.
Thanks for all the thoughtful responses to yesterday’s blog about UGA’s third equestrian national championship. I’m going to the men’s basketball postseason awards banquet tonight and will file a report tomorrow. The baseball team plays Kennesaw State tonight. The Dogs lost the last time they played.
In the meantime, feel free to suggest future topics. I’ll be checking in often.
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Equestrian today, football tomorrow?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In case you haven’t heard, Georgia’s equestrian team won the national championship this past Saturday in Waco, Texas. It was in our newspaper on Sunday but you might have missed it since the “report” was just one line in the middle of a bunch of dot-dot-dots underneath the heading “Etc.”
All of which brings me to our discussion topic today. How do those of you in the Bulldog Nation feel about the equestrian team winning the national championship? This is, after all, the program’s third title in the short time UGA has had one. So, clearly, the Bulldogs are a national power in this sport, as they are in football and tennis and golf and swimming and gymnastics, all of which Georgia has won multiple national titles.
But this is an area that we in the newspaper business have always struggled with, gauging the level of interest fans have in the “non-revenue” sports. Believe me, we know how you feel about football and basketball and baseball and, to some degree, gymnastics, because we get plenty of feedback from you on it and recognize the tremendous number of page views stories and reports on the aforementioned sports generate. It’s not so clear, though, regarding tennis and golf and swimming and certainly equestrian, the newest of the Bulldogs’ 21 sanctioned sports.
I, for one, think we underplayed the report on Saturday’s win. I mean, I knew it probably wouldn’t generate a huge amount of buzz or whatever among readers. But I thought the accomplishment itself warranted a little more attention, perhaps worthy of a headline and a few more details. Obviously the people that make such calls in our downtown Atlanta office thought differently.
We in the newspaper business have to be looking out for the masses and basing our decisions on the vast majority in our readership. I’m sure Tech and Tennessee and pro sports enthusiasts didn’t care at all to read that Georgia won a national championship in equestrian. But it’s a tough call. Certainly the dozens of student-athletes and their parents who toil all season and put their heart and soul into the sport thought it was a very big deal worthy of lots of news coverage. As always I guess the true answer lay somewhere in between.
But that’s what y’all are here for, right? To let us know how you feel about things and us in particular. So let me know what you think. Did you see that Georgia won the equestrian national championship? Did you care? Would you like to have known more about it? Was what we did sufficient or not enough? What would you have us do?
A couple of other things to think about. The men’s basketball team is having its postseason awards banquet tomorrow night at Athens Country Club. It’s open to the public. I’ll be there. Will any of you? I’ll blog about it Wednesday morning.
Also, it looks like the NCAA Gymnastics Championships, which are being hosted by UGA Thursday-Saturday, are a complete sellout. Suzanne Yoculan’s Gym Dogs are, of course, going for their fourth national championship in a row. Anybody coming to Athens for that?
Finally, the baseball team is really rolling. Has not lost an SEC game in 11 straight outings. Had to settle for a rare tie, 10-10, at LSU on Sunday because of league travel restrictions. Big lead in SEC. They have Kennesaw in Tuesday and head to Florida this weekend. Could another trip to Omaha be in store.
Y’all holler back. I’ll be checking in often.
Permalink | Comments (134) | Post your comment | Categories: Spring sports
Quite a scene at Herschel’s book signing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I have just come from Herschel Walker’s book-signing session at the UGA Bookstore. It was an interesting scene, to say the least, and much less chaotic than I expected.
Basically the UGA bookstore staff was well prepared for the onslaught. Bookstore director Jeremy Johnson told me they actually had a practice run for it on Thursday. They limited the total number of fans to 300, the first of which cued up at 5:30 in the morning, according to Johnson. Each one was limited to a maximum of three books, and it looked to me that most were taking full advantage that.
A long, long, line snaked through the aisles of the lower-level of the two-story bookstore, then up the stairs to the second level where they cued in a back-and-forth as you do at the airport or for an amusement park ride. Finally, back behind some roped off empty bookshelves sat Herschel.
Patty Cody of Atlanta cleared the line at a little after 1 p.m. She said she had been there since about 10 a.m.
“I got four chapters read [in line],” Cody said. “So it wasn’t too bad.”
Herschel appeared in good spirits and was taking his time chatting with each patron and signing the inside of his book, “Breaking Free.” Too much time for Shida Carr, the publicist from Simon & Schuster who is accompanying Herschel on his book tour. She was frantically texting on her cell phone and telling anybody that would listen that they needed be on the road headed back to Atlanta by 2:30 p.m. (they were scheduled for a 4 p.m. interview and a 7 p.m. book signing at the Carter Center). But nobody appeared to be listening.
I waved hello and nodded to Herschel, whom I’ve known since the late 1980s. But he wasn’t available for interviews at the signing (tight schedule, you know). He was supposed to go by Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall afterward for a quick photo shoot with Knowshon Moreno for us and our college football special section. But Ms. Carr was somewhat pessimistic about that happening.
Once you could get her aside, Ms. Carr was quite friendly and accommodating. She said she wasn’t sure but she thought they were going to print 100,000 of Herschel’s books on the first run and was certain that more runs would be on the way.
By the way, Nightline had Herschel Monday night and we had our one-on-one with Herschel on Wednesday. But if you want to catch another interview with him WXIA-TV is devoting their entire Sunday night show, “Sports Extra,” to Herschel. It comes on Sunday night at 11:30 p.m.
So that’s about all there is to be said about this whole Herschel thing. Let me know if you got his book and have read or have attended any of his book signings. I’ll be checking back in today and throughout the weekend.
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Herschel opens up in new book
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So I’m assuming most of you saw Nightline’s interview of Herschel Walker last night on ABC. If not, some video excerpts and a couple of stories are available on ABC.com. I watched every minute and found it to be quite revealing.
Some of you have probably heard me talk about it before but to me Herschel has always been one of the most mysterious athletes I’ve ever encountered. I mentioned when I first wrote about his book back in January that he’s extremely insulated and that you’d sooner get the Pope on the phone than you could him. In fact, I was unable to reach him when I wrote that first story on his book. And I KNOW the guy. Carter Strickland subsequently caught up with him about a month ago up in Washington D.C. but, even then, it was difficult as difficult as ever to gauge Herschel’s true feelings.
Anyway, kudos to ABC for getting him to sit still and answer all their questions. That’s the most I’ve ever heard his now ex-wife Cindy talk about things. Of course, it helps when the goal is to promote something, which Herschel and Simon & Schuster are doing with his new book, “Breaking Free.” But I thought both Herschel and his wife came off quite sincere and truthful.
The part I thought most interesting, selfishly, was ABC flashing up and reading out some of the quotes Herschel’s former coaches and teammates said to me when I first wrote about the book. In particular, Vince Dooley sort of tongue-in-cheek said he liked “whatever personality Herschel had when he was carrying the football.” To that, Herschel said Monday night he guessed Dooley didn’t care much about the other sides of Herschel. But then Herschel qualified that by saying his coaches and teammates had no way of knowing how he was feeling deep down inside. And it sounds like Herschel and Cindy encountered the same problems many of us “regular people” do with relationships and life’s stresses.
Just goes to show that, no matter what anyone has accomplished and how high a pedestal we place them on, we all have our similar problems and trials and tribulations. Herschel seemed completely contrite and sincere in his goal of going public with his struggles in the hopes of helping those who may be encountering similar ones. Herschel is such a hero to so many in the Bulldog Nation and I’m sure it was somewhat upsetting and at the least a little awkward to see him in such a vulnerable state. But, as it turns out, he has been scared and uncertain just as the rest of are facing the challenges that life presents us. And he certainly believes that Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a real malady.
Anyway, no sense in me rehashing the whole interview over again. Most of you saw it. Those of you that did, let’s hear your thoughts on it. Any reason to believe Herschel is the victim of misdirected counseling or do you think he suffers from a true clinical psychological condition? Do you think Herschel is just searching for a way to justify some bad behavior or is he a true victim of circumstances? Do you think it made UGA look bad in any way? Much ado about nothing? What did you think?
Ultimately I guess we all need to read the book to form an informed opinion. He’ll be in Athens at the UGA bookstore Friday from 12:30-2:30 p.m. and in Atlanta at the Carter Center Friday night at 7 p.m.
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Larry, Herschel and UGA hoops
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings folks. Back from vacation. It was nice to kick back for a week. Now it’s time to get back to what you care about — University of Georgia sports. I also will be helping out with our coverage of the Athens Regional Foundation Classic golf tournament this week. It’s a Nationwide Tour event held at Jennings Mill Country Club. At least four former Dogs in this year’s field.
Couple of things I need inform you about this week:
First, the Larry Munson bobblehead doll. Since we ran a story I wrote about it last week I have been swarmed with inquiries from people wanting to know where and when they can buy one and so has UGA. Here’s the deal: Some local Athens retailers, such as Bulldog Sporting Goods (706-546-0616) have a few of them in stock. However, the few that stores are selling out so fast you can hardly find them. The best place to get one is to check the UGA athletics website (www.georgiadogs.com) regularly. When the main page comes up, click on “G Shop” on the left side menu, then type Munson into the search window. If the bobblehead doesn’t pop up from the search, that means they’re out. They had several dozen Monday morning but sold out in three hours, according to marketing director John Bateman. They should have some more midweek but won’t advertise them on the website until they physically have them in stock. They’re retailing for $30 with all the proceeds going to charity… .
Secondly, as you probably know, Herschel Walker’s book tour has begun. He began promoting “Breaking Free,” his book about living with diassociative personality disorder, in New York City on Monday and is supposed to be on Nightline tonight and some other shows this week. He will be in Athens at the UGA Bookstore signing copies Friday from 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. As elusive as Herschel is, I can promise you that will be your best chance to get up close and personal with him… .
Also, looking ahead to next week, one of the cool things on tap is the end-of-the-year awards banquet for the Georgia men’s basketball team, given by the UGA Tipoff Club. Should be a doosie this year with the Dogs coming off their first SEC tournament championship in 25 years. The Tuesday, April 22 even is being held at Athens Country Club with social hour beginning at 6 p.m. It is open to the public but reservations have to be made by Friday and there is an admission charge. Tickets, which include a full dinner, are $50 for non-club members. Call 706-542-1432 for reservations. I usually go to this and it’s always a lot of fun.
That’s all for now. We’ll have plenty of football and baseball and other good UGA conversation to talk about all week.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Post your comment | Categories: Football and basketball
Spring practice revisited
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The one disappointment in the spring game was that nobody was able to see Tavarres King. The wide receiver had really opened some eyes during the four weeks of practice. Backup quarterback Joe Cox said King was the player who impressed him the most because of his ability to understand where his body is in space and how to use his body to get to the ball.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said he was just a natural receiver. (His father was a tight end at Clemson, so that may have something to do with that natural ability.) And while King does not know the routes or have much upper body strengths that natural ability really came through in the spring.
King, who only goes about 170, needs to put on some muscle before he competes week in and week out. But if you are looking for a receiver who could make an impact this year - one other than A.J. Green - it might be King.
He will run the crossing route and may have some of the best hands on the team. In past years that was not saying much but this group looks like a better bunch of pass receivers (hands—wise) than their predecessors.
The debate now will be whether or not King will redshirt. That depends on how Israel Troupe and Walter Hill progress. If those two play up to potential, then Georgia may not need King this year and might be better off saving him for next year with Mohamed Massaquoi and Kenneth Harris are gone.
But if there is a slip in performance or Tony Wilson is slow to heal from his ankle injury look for King to be a viable option for the offense.
As far as who else may or may not redshirt, the over-under right now is six. Five pretty good bets on playing are: Green, running back Richard Samuel, center Ben Jones, kicker Blair Walsh and King. Also Carlton Thomas, the running back out of Frostproof, Fla., may get a hard look just because he is a different style of player. He is a small shifty back who could really help Georgia on third downs.
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G-Day produces some highlights, few answers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, G-Day come and gone. No official records are kept on this game but by my own recollection, which makes this VERY unofficial, that was the fastest G-Day Game I’ve ever witnessed. For the record, the Red beat the Black (which wore white) 17-3.
As you probably know, coach Mark Richt decided to go with eight-minute quarters — rather than the standard 15-minute periods — for this game and a lot of that time was played with a running clock. So the whole thing was over in an hour-and-a-half, including a truncated halftime.
A decent crowd, considering the horrible weather (61 degrees and drizzle), of 19,874 was on hand for it and they mostly got what they came to see. Caleb King had a couple of scintillating runs brought gasps from the stands and Matthew Stafford and Logan Gray each hooked up with Michael Moore for TD passes, the former for 30 yards and the latter for 12. Moore led all receivers with 53 yards.
King led all rushers with 31 yards on six carries and he had a couple of cut-and-spin moves that were reminiscent of his mentor, Knowshon Moreno. And Moreno was his showboating self, albeit in limited duty. Somehow he can make 16 yards on three carries and an 11-yard run off a screen seem exciting.
Stafford and Joe Cox were both fairly sharp. Stafford was 6-of-10 for 78 yards and Cox was 7-of-11 for 69. Stafford had one bad underthrow and Logan Gray threw a bad interception but is really fast and looked good running the ball.
Other highlights: Kris Durham got the festivities off to a good start with a 31-yard catch on the second play from scrimmage. A walkon kicker named Brian Behr kicked a 52-yard field goal at the halftime horn.
The biggest scare of the day came when starting left guard Vince Vance when down with what appeared to be a serious leg injury with less than two minutes left in the game. But afterward Vance said it was only an ankle sprain and he should be good to go by summer workouts.
I know most of you guys saw this on television and I don’t blame you considering the conditions. Tell me what your impressions were. Do you come away feeling better, worse, no different after seeing what you saw Saturday? What did you think of Caleb, the real deal or let’s wait and see. What about the defense? Frankly it was hard to evaluate from the press box Saturday.
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll check back later.
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What do you expect from G-Day?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, it’s finally upon us, that most glorified of all scrimmages, the G-Day Game.
These spring “games” have come a long way in recent years. A long way toward what is another question. What once was an intimate spring ritual for a couple of thousand rabid fans in flip-flops has morphed into a modest spectacle. Of course, Alabama famously drew 92,000 for its spring game last year. Am I the only one who came away thinking that was just a tad bit warped?
Some schools have tried to do something even more with it this year, such as Bama, of course, and South Carolina and Florida. But the NCAA mercifully stepped in a couple of weeks back and said rock-and-roll and country music acts and massive ad campaigns aren’t exactly the business model they’re looking for in college athletics.
Georgia, to its credit, seems to have kept the event in perspective. The Bulldogs sell tickets for charity and only modestly promote their beloved G-Day game. They have guest coaches but they don’t fly them in from the West Coast or anything like that. And almost solely based on the excitement and anticipation of this coming season, they’re talking about drawing a crowd in the neighborhood of 40,000, depending on the weather of course (which doesn’t look great as of today).
On top of that, this year’s event is generating the most extensive broadcast coverage in school history. The game will be telecast live by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and will have be broadcasted on radio by WSB-AM 750 — it will mark the first time since 1993 that WSB has carried the Bulldogs’ spring scrimmage — and the Bulldog Radio Network, XM satellite radio (ch. 199) and the UGA campus station, WUOG.
GXtra, UGA’s subscription website accessed through georgiadogs.com, will also be broadcasting the game live. It will be first time that the UGA “official” athletic website has ever streamed a football game.
So, all that said, what I want to find out from you guys is: (a) who plans on actually attending the game and who will tune in via these many other options; (b) what are your hopes and expectations for the game? Coach Mark Richt and defensive coordinator Willie Martinez have said they’re going to sit most of their front-line players. So you want to see Caleb King rush for 100 yards? You want to see the defense stone the offense, something it was unable to do last year? You want to see everybody come out injury free?; (c) and who out there considers themselves a big-time fan but could care less about this glorified practice?
For me, I’m most interested in seeing these young offensive linemen in action and see if any of the defensive ends look up to filling the shoes of Marcus Howard and the other great predecessors at the position.
Let’s get the banter going and keep it going through Friday. I’ll monitor throughout, answer your queries and provide some tidbits or two in the meantime.
C-ya.
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Any All-America, All-SEC candidates?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Loyal UGA Blog participant Bob Sacamano asked a good question yesterday which I thought would make a good blog topic. He asked what Bulldogs might have a chance of earning All-America or first-team All-SEC honors this season.
It’s a great question and one for which, of course, there is not an exact answer. As ever, all-conference, and to even a greater extent, All-America honors are closely connected to the success of your football team. It’s doubtful that David Pollack or Thomas Davis, as good as they were, would have been pulling down all those national honors had Georgia not been doggone good those seasons.
But if the Bulldogs come close to meeting the through-the-roof expectations for them this fall, their best players shouldn’t have any trouble getting national attention. Here’s some I think have a chance at national honors (in order of prominence):
1.TB Knowshon Moreno: Duh! The 5-11, 207-pound sophomore from New Jersey rushed for 1,334 yards and 14 TDs as a freshman/part-time starter. Imagine what he might be able to do as a featured back! Health and O-line play will be big X factors.
2.QB Matthew Stafford: I actually think Matt has a chance to have a bigger impact than Knowshon because teams are going to be loading up to stuff the Dogs’ running game. If he gets his accuracy to the rate Mike Bobo wants - at least 62 percent - Georgia could be unstoppable on offense and Stafford will roll up some big numbers.
3.CB Asher Allen: Not only do I think Allen has a chance to establish a national reputation as a lock-down corner but he’s also a return specialist for the Dogs, which can result in SportsCenter highlights.
4.LB Dannell Ellerbe: I’ve never heard Mark Richt gush about a player the way he has been about Ellerbe this spring. He’s got all the tools but is also coming in with the added bonus of confidence and leadership distinction. The sky’s the limit for this guy.
5.WR Mohamed Massaquoi: I’m not sure if a lot of Georgia fans actually realize how good a receiver Mo-Mass is. Forget all the talk of the fabulous freshmen coming in, this guy is mega-experienced and coming into his own. As the main target I see at least 50 catches for him and a chance of becoming a 1,000-yard receiver.
Now that’s just for the national awards. As I mentioned, the Dogs have a boatload of players that will earn all-conference notice and perhaps play their way into national recognition, especially on the lines of scrimmage where it’s harder to get attention. Among them DT Geno Atkins, DT Jeff Owens, TE Tripp Chandler, LB Rennie Curran, FS Reshad Jones, FB Brannan Southerland and OT Trinton Sturdivant.
As always, let me know what you guys think. Have I overlooked somebody? Have I overrated someone?
In other business, I want to solicit some help from the Bulldog Nation. I’m doing a story this weekend in conjunction with G-Day on the tremendous expectations among fans for the football team this season. What I’m trying to find are some tangible examples of that excitement and anticipation. Have any of you already made reservations in Miami for the BCS Championship Game? How about Atlanta for the SEC championship? Anybody already reserved a hotel in Tempe for the Arizona State game? Who has laid down some dough on the Dogs in Vegas? You know, that kind of stuff.
Of course, if I’m going to put you in the paper, I’ll need you to e-mail me directly at ctowers@ajc.com and include your name, city of residence and phone number where I can reach you. I very much appreciate any help you provide. C-ya!
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Incredible interest in spring football
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from the blogosphere!
My sincerest apologies for the prolonged absence. First we had some technical problems, then I was off work for an extended period after Georgia’s basketball season wrapped up.
I’m still trying to get the technical issues worked out but, in the meantime, I’ve got an alternate method for posting them so we should be good to go for awhile. And that’s a good thing because there’s a lot to get to.
So without further adieu - or is that ado? - let’s get to it:
It’s amazing to me how much the whole spring football thing has grown over the years. The interest in what’s going on as the Bulldogs, and just about all teams for that matter, practice six months before the season starts is incredible.
On that note, I found it interesting that the G-Day Game is going to be broadcast live on the Bulldog Radio Network on Saturday. In fact, at one point Georgia legend Larry Munson was going to provide play-by-play of the glorified scrimmage. But Munson’s people decided this past week to pull out. Exactly why is unclear.
I called Larry at home on Monday to talk to him about doing the game and he informed me that he no longer was.
“I think that was on the agenda but I think they changed their minds,” Munson said. “I’ve still got some health issues. I really don’t know what to say. We discussed it a couple of weeks back and I was going to do it and then something changed.”
It wasn’t UGA that pulled the plug, however. I talked to Damon Evans later on Monday and he said, as always, “Larry can do whatever he wants.”
I’ll try to talk to WSB’s Neil Williamson this week and see if I can find out more. In the meantime, the plan is for it to be Scott Howard and Eric Zeier as it will be on road games in the foreseeable future.
The game is also being televised on CSS.
Speaking of the spring game, I sat down with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo on Monday to get the lowdown on how much we might see quarterback Matthew Stafford and tailback Knowshon Moreno. The basic answer is not much.
Bobo said Moreno will start and play in the first half but he doubted if he’d get more than “maybe five” carries. “It’s a fine line,” Bobo said. “He needs work like everybody else but we have to be smart.”
You’re likely to see more of Stafford. Bobo was emphatic that the Bulldogs’ heralded signalcaller needs as much live-action work as he can get as they work to improve his accuracy and the quarterbacks will be protected from contact in the game. At the same time, however, Georgia’s working hard to develop depth so you’ll likely see equal amounts of Joe Cox and Logan Gray, each of whom have been working with the No. 1 offensive unit this week.
Similarly, star wideout Mohamed Massaquoi may be extremely limited because of a neck sprain and defensive tackle Jeffrey Owens will be out with an injured shoulder. So my advice is, if you want to see any of your Saturday heroes, better get there real early.
And to get in real early they’re strongly suggesting buying your tickets online by clicking here so you don’t have to wait in long lines. A pretty good crowd is expected.
Lastly, I didn’t get a chance to share my basketball experiences with you guys toward the end of the season. In a nutshell, that storm at the Georgia Dome was intense and what Georgia did thereafter was one of the greatest athletic accomplishments I’ve ever witnessed. It had all the dramatic elements: a coach whose seat was white hot, a spectacular weather event and four wins in three days by a group of guys that, by all indications, had no business winning a championship but did so because everybody said they couldn’t.
In a word, “unforgettable.”
I could go on forever but I need to save some things for the coming days and weeks. So please forgive us for the troubles with the blog and be sure to come back as I’m going to try to provide some “pearls” in this space every day.
C-ya.
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