DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/31/07
The last game was seven months ago.
The next one is a month away.
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| Georgia fan Jacob Lenkowski waits to have his football signed by coach Mark Richt. | |||||
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But the crowd still came. In part because of what they remember from 2006, but maybe more so because of what might be in 2007. That was why more than 700 of the Greater Atlanta Bulldog Club wedged into the Cobb Galleria Centre on Monday night.
The Bulldog fans got the fix they needed.
Athletics director Damon Evans, coaches Suzanne Yoculan, Manny Diaz and finally, the man most fans came to see, Mark Richt. And he was typical Richt — controlled, conservative, cordial, basically the exact opposite of LSU's Les Miles when he goes on the rubber chicken circuit.
The most emotional Richt got was when he didn't have to address who the starting quarterback would be come fall, And really, that may have been more relief than enthusiasm.
"Once his talent begins to flow I think we are going to enjoy what he does, and I think the nation is going to enjoy Matthew Stafford," Richt said.
What was flowing Monday night was optimism. Two of the three coaches, Yoculan and Diaz, took home national titles, in gymnastics and men's tennis. The other, Richt, finished the season with three straight wins over Top 25 teams.
"Each year we do something to build for the next year," Evans said. "I think in all phases you are going to see us take it to the next level."
Yoculan already has. When asked what the highlight of the year was, she quickly and emphatically said, "Beating Florida."
"We were able to stuff it down their throats," she added.
Football has merely put its hands around its own throat when it comes to Florida almost every year.
"Tell me there is a light at the end of the tunnel," one fan stood up and asked.
"There is a light at the end of the tunnel," Richt answered back. "If we are going to win an SEC East title, and that is our plan to win it, we are going to have to beat them. If they are in the way, then so be it."
Another thing some believe has been in the way of Georgia winning is the location of the game. For three more years it's scheduled to be in Jacksonville. When that contract is up, Richt would be in favor of moving it.
"Do I truly think it is a neutral site?" Richt said. "No, I don't. That doesn't feel very neutral to me. If you want to have a neutral game, let's have a neutral game in Atlanta. I would not be against rotating the thing around."
Richt said the two schools' campuses and Jacksonville could all be considered a part of that rotation.
"Whatever Damon says goes," Richt added. "The bottom line is we have got to win the game."
In past years some have not been optimistic on that front. But this is a crowd that has become used to pessimism, at least those who tune in to Larry Munson each Saturday. Munson was brought up to Richt on Monday. Not whether he would be there because of his advancing age, but what he would say when he was.
Richt related a story about how he was put on inter-office hold and the hold music was a Munson call. Georgia was up by 10, Munson barked. He acted like we were about to lose, Richt said.
"I am glad he is not piped into [the headphones during] the game," Richt said. "I would be depressed.
"Can you imagine him doing gymnastics? 'Oh my gosh, she is going to fall off the beam,'" Richt joked.
Right now, Georgia has had few wobbles on the football field under Richt. But while 61-17 is a record that puts Georgia among the winningest programs this decade, the Bulldogs still lack one thing.
"We would love to bring a national championship to this program, and I don't think we are too far away," Richt said.
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