AJC > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 05
Thursday, October 5, 2006
Rocky Toppers and Snappin’ Turtles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of keys to doing successful opposition research is that you’ll find some gems buried rather deep — unless, say, you’re tasked with it currently for the Democratic Party, in which all you have to do to stock up on live ammo these days is turn on cable news. And leave it on.
Even for Saturday’s conflagration in Athens between blood rivals Georgia and Tennessee, the juiciest tidbits are far below the surface. And therefore worth waiting for.
So Enemy Watch will dispense quickly with the mainstream treatment, which doesn’t veer too far off the rails.
Who wouldn’t expect Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe to pronounce that the Big Orange running game is the key for a second UT victory in Sanford Stadium in as many trips?
Or that one of the big reasons for UT’s improvement over the dreadful 5-6 finish a year ago is renewed offensive potency choreographed by Cutcliffe, now doing his second tour of duty in Knoxvegas?
And that UT’s gotta tackle its special teams woes?
This we all presume, obviously enough.
Much is also being made of Vols QB Erik Ainge returning to the scene of his best college moment.
And UT’s official site is especially helpful in pointing out that the Vols have been the best SEC road team since 12-team expansion in ‘92.
This is all nice and sweet. But nothing to stoke the blood flow.
Thank goodness then for UT fan site Rocky Top Talk, which posts this link with a few dashes of snark that only fan sites can manage, informing its legions that this will be the first ranked opponent for the Bulldogs.
On RTT proper, they’re continuing the Hail Mary Haiku, which appears to be to poetry what the orange-and-white checkerboard square end zone is to advanced graphic design.
But it’s all in good fun, and there’s some good, smart humor being spun there. Not to mention some really good links for those of you junkies who live for this stuff. The passion just seeps out.
One of them is from another fan site, Corn From A Jar, which boasts of being “unhindered by statistics, facts or sobriety.” This is Enemy Watch’s kind of blog, but it does delve into reality-based endeavors, such as a full breakdown of Ainge’s big plays this season. Lotsa numbers. Diehards will die for this.
And this is the sheer beauty, joy and delight of plunging the depths of the cyber underbelly, or correct that, Fulmer’s Belly, which recently featured a tribute to tubby coaches everywhere, and especially the one who stretches his orange gear on the sidelines. But apparently less so than in the past. So the John Mark Karr photo seems oddly placed, in addition to plain odd anyway. Then again, there’s nothing wrong with injecting a bit of the bizarre to stay sane. And there’s a lot of zany nonsense there.
One of those full-figured coaches is Maryland’s Ralph Friedgen, who brings the Snappin’ Turtles into Bobby Dodd against Tech Saturday looking for a fresh start in the ACC.
They’re 3-1 coming off a bye week but not playing very convincing football. Florida International trailed by only four points in the fourth quarter before UM dug out the win. Yes, that’s right. Florida. International.
This is the first of a tough ACC order for the Terps, who lead the conference in giving up turnovers, and are near the bottom in I-A in forcing them.
Piled on to that concern is some ineffective offense in general. We all know how tough it is being a QB for Friedgen, as his current, Sam Hollenbach, is finding out. Maryland’s longest pass play covers only 47 yards. Its longest running play is only 34 yards.
Does wily Ralph have the tools to spring a surprise against the Techies? Over on The Hive, there are cautious suggestions not to look ahead to Clemson and Miami.
Jackets fans having to resist the temptation of getting overconfident? Who’da thunk it?
