The Junkyard Blawg has moved!
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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February
February 2009
Diamond Dogs look to break jinx
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maybe the weekend’s strong attendance at Foley Field in Athens is a sign of optimism among Georgia’s baseball fans that the program will break out of the odd-numbered year jinx that has plagued it this decade.
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The Junkyard Blawg has moved!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Along with the other ajc.com blogs, the Junkyard Blawg has moved over to WordPress, where the blogging and commenting experience promises to be better. Join us over at the new WordPress version of the Junkyard Blawg by clicking on the link below.
Read the latest Junkyard Blawg here.
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No. 1 for Stafford? I don’t care
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m sorry, but I can’t really get too worked up about whether Matthew Stafford throws for the pro scouts or not and whether he goes No. 1 in the NFL draft.
I enjoyed watching him play for the Dawgs and I wish him well in his pro career. I’ll definitely follow his progress, though perhaps not with the same feeling as I would for a player who stuck around his full four years in Athens and accomplished a bit more.
If he goes No. 1, good for him (though I’m not sure it really will be good for him if that means he winds up in Detroit). If he doesn’t go No. 1 but still goes on to become a top-notch NFL quarterback, I doubt anyone will remember where he went in the draft. And if he’s a bust in the pros (unlikely as that seems), he’ll only get cited as one of those No. 1 draft picks that didn’t work out.
Aside from possibly padding Stafford’s bank account a bit more (and that of his agent), I can’t see where there’s that much of an up side to going No. 1.
OK, I recognize there’s maybe some sort of PR prestige from having a UGA player go first in the draft. But that and a buck and a quarter will get you a drink in one of the AJC’s new “high end” vending machines.
In other words, Stafford being drafted No. 1 won’t really do anything for the program he left behind in Athens.
And so it doesn’t really matter all that much to me.
On another front, as you’ve read on some of the other AJC blogs, they’re moving us to a new platform. The transition should take effect with the next entry I write early in the week and you’ll automatically be directed there if you click on the link on the UGA or sports home pages. But if you want an advance look at the new blog, click on the link below.
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Dogs haven’t given up after all!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The other day a friend asked me if I thought the struggling Georgia basketball team would manage another win this season.
I had to admit it was looking doubtful.
Watching the basketball Dogs in recent weeks had become painful, with all the turnovers and the lousy shooting indicating the players had pretty much given up on the season.
Then came today. Not only did the Dogs win, but over the lofty lizards from Gainesville, with Terrance Woodbury scoring 32 points.
88-86!
That’s as sweet as it is unexpected.
No, I’m not thinking this is some major turnaround and that the basketball Dogs are going to make a late-season run at respectability.
But then I didn’t think they’d beat Florida, either.
No matter what happens the rest of the way, they have one sweet upset in conference play they can point to.
Never say never!
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Remembering “Big Jim”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Scarlett’s Aunt Pittypat may have fretted about “Yankees in Georgia!” but for a couple of decades before the Vince Dooley era, UGA got some of its best players by venturing north of the Mason-Dixon line, particularly to Pennsylvania, where the Bulldogs signed Frank Sinkwich, Charley Trippi, John Rauch and the outstanding pair of All-American tackles who anchored Dooley’s first offensive line … Ray Rissmiller and Jim Wilson.
Both went on to play in the NFL and Wilson, who died this past week at age 67, began a controversial career in the “sports entertainment” field as wrestler “Big Jim” Wilson while still in the NFL, working primarily in the Atlanta-based promotion that was a precursor to Ted Turner’s late WCW, where another Bulldog, Bill Goldberg, wrestled a generation later. Being a former Dawg and an NFL player, Wilson quickly became something of a star on the wrestling circuit, and in high school I remember kids on the bus in Athens talking about going out to the old J&J Center to see “Big Jim” top the bill.
But Wilson bucked the system in the National Wrestling Alliance, reportedly chafing at some of the scripted moves (he didn’t want to do “blade jobs,” where a wrestler intentionally cuts himself) and balking at being ordered to lose certain bouts. But more importantly Wilson was branded a troublemaker for working to try to unionize wrestlers, who had no pension or health care benefits. This didn’t sit will with the promoters, nor even with all his fellow grapplers and the fans, and Wilson said he was blackballed out of the NWA around 1973, though he continued to wrestle in smaller promotions for another dozen years. To this day, his name produces a wide range of reactions among wrestling fans, with one telling me he was a “snitch” and “crybaby,” while another called him “an unsung hero.”
One thing’s for sure, Wilson was one of the best offensive linemen UGA ever produced, and in 2001 was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, followed by UGA’s Circle of Honor in 2005.
A memorial service for Wilson is set for 3 p.m. Feb. 13 at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, 3434 Roswell Road in Atlanta. …
Speaking of offensive linemen, I’d feel a whole lot better about Mark Richt’s latest “Top 10” recruiting class if it had more than just three players intended for the OL, which has continually been a trouble spot for the Dawgs during most of Richt’s years at the helm, sometimes due to injuries (as was the case last season) and other times due to poor coaching and underperforming players (hallmarks of former OL coach Neil Callaway’s tenure). As the Dawgs learned this past season, all the talent in the world at skill positions won’t win titles if you don’t win the battle of the trenches. …
My son was one of the die-hards at the Steg this past week as the men’s basketball team continued its downward spiral in the wake of Dennis Felton’s firing. Official attendance was listed as 6,659 but that has about as much basis in reality as pro wrestling. A couple of thousand at most, my son said. Apparently UGA’s athletic officials must count not only all those lower-level season ticket holders’ seats that so frequently go unfilled as part of the “attendance,” but also the sections blocked off for UGA students, which were sparsely populated this time around. Even the crowd that was there didn’t seem much into the game, with the Dawgs’ late first-half rally to within 4 points generating little fan enthusiasm. Seems the only way to get anyone interested in UGA basketball right now is to mention Bobby Knight. Truly, a “lost” season. …
And a note of interest to Middle Georgia Dawg fans: Vince Dooley is the opening-night headliner at this year’s Macon Film and Video Festival, with the Georgia Public Broadcasting documentary “Vince Dooley: Beyond Football” screening Feb. 18 at the Grand Opera House, and the legendary coach himself on hand to talk about the film and take questions.
