Just thought I'd throw in a little optimistic feeling I had recently. If you look at the current state of Georgia sports, you have a lot to be proud of, UGA fans.
First we have football, where our Dawgs finished 10th in the USA Today Coaches' Poll last season, after being preseason number 1. I have 3 things to take from this:
1. It takes a lot of program recognition for a team to be preseason #1 in college football. Before the season begins, AP voters are making very bold predictions with these often seen as meaningless rankings. However, the number one spot is not given away easily, even in the preseason. Even if the preseason top team doesn't end up in that position, they are still always a national powerhouse team who is recognized by people everywhere. Before Georgia was preseason #1 in 2008, the other teams to share this early rank were USC (2007), Ohio State (2006), USC (2005), USC (2004), and Oklahoma (2003). When you think of the biggest college football programs of recent times, those 3 teams will likely come to mind. Georgia, like them got that preseason #1 ranking.
2. The Dawgs still finished 10th in the coaches' poll with a 10-3 record, which may be a lot less than what most fans wanted/expected, but it was a great ending nevertheless. If your team gets 10 wins, wins a big bowl game, finishes in the top 10 in the country, and you're angry about it: you know that your program is really good. We don't get excited about 8 wins, 9 wins, even 10 wins. We're all in for a SEC title and a national championship. That's how the top teams are.
3. Georgia will likely be ranked in the preseason top 25 next season. Even if the polls don't matter, it says a lot about our program that with losing two superstars, one maybe the first pick in the NFL draft and the other the top running back (as well as some other great players like Massaquoi), our team is still recognized and respected as a top team. We are nationally known for having great coaching and great players every season.
But let's move onto other sports, shall we? (Most polls are listed here)
Baseball: #1 in most polls Softball: #6 Men's Swimming: #12 Women's Swimming: #2 Men's Golf: #1 Women's Golf: #10 Men's Tennis: #3 Women's Tennis: #2 Gymnastics: #1 (going for their 10th national championship since 1981 and their 5th in a row)
and:
Basketball: Looking optimistic with a new coach, Mark Fox, from Nevada.
(And academically speaking, U.S. News and World Report has UGA as the number 20 best public college in the country for 2009 and Forbes.com has us at #19)
Some more tidbits: Our beloved mascot Uga seems to always be ranked the top college mascot in the country.
The city of Athens, Georgia is one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" to visit in 2009 and is one of the 29 destinations to visit (in the world) for 2009 in the Los Angeles Times (Athens is up there along with other places like Australia, Borneo, and Iceland).
Not many colleges have such a great combination of wonderful academics, top athletics, unique tradition, and a one-of-a-kind city (built around the university).
Today's Famous Dawg: Newman (also known as Wayne Knight)
THE DESCRIPTION:
Wayne Knight is best known for playing the role of Newman on the long running NBC show Seinfeld. According to Wikipedia, Newman is "an overweight and despicable, though curiously well-educated, postal worker" who "goes out of his way to make Jerry's life miserable." Although for the past decade we've only been able to watch repeats of Seinfeld in syndication, most everyone remembers who Newman is when you mention him. He is also well known for being Dennis Nedry, the only non-dinosaur bad guy, in the 1993 instant classic Jurassic Park. Knight has appeared in many other television shows (such as 3rd Rock from the Sun) and films (Cheaper by the Dozen). Finally, if you somehow don't recognize the face in the picture above, you'd probably recognize the voice, as Knight has performed as a voice actor in a multitude of animated projects, including cartoon shows on Nickolodeon and the Disney Channel, as well as animated films like Toy Story 2. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot: he was in Space Jam too. This guy probably has the best film resume in the world. Seriously.
THE VERDICT:
Basically, once you see how awesome Wayne Knight is, you have to realize that he's a Bulldog. A UGA bulldog, that is. His bio on IMDB says that Knight was born in Cartersville, Georgia in 1955. He was an honor student as an undergraduate at the University of Georgia, but left just shy of graduating to pursue a career in theater. Just imagine, without this former UGA student, the world wouldn't be the same. (I have to go ahead and let it be known that Wayne Knight is my favorite Famous Dawg, and I'm proud to say that Newman/Dennis Nedry attended our school)
Here are some great video clips of Knight.
First, a good Newman clip from the golden days of Seinfeld.
Next, a fantastic tribute in song to Dennis Nedry of Jurassic Park. (NOTE: If you don't remember the movie well, you might be confused and disturbed after watching this.)
The Georgia Bulldogs are already being plagued by injuries again, this time even earlier in the off-season. The Bulldogs Blog reports that DE Demarcus Dobbs broke a bone in his foot on Thursday, will require surgery, and will unfortunately miss the rest of spring practice.
This is bad news for us, considering the defensive end position is already very thin. Also, in my opinion, Dobbs is the defensive hero we need.
Demarcus Dobbs is often overlooked after his moments of glory pass by. Last season, all eyes were on the stars of the team, who all deservedly attracted attention with big plays and athletic skill. Dobbs, however, had big moments too. In my opinion, they were some of the biggest moments of the season.
In the Central Michigan game, the second game of the year, Georgia was up 21 to 0. The game clearly going well, but CMU was nearing the endzone at the end of the first half. That is when this happened:
That was one of the most fun moments I've ever experienced in Sanford Stadium. As Dobbs was making his way down the field, we were cheering and screaming at the top of our lungs, trying to somehow help him get to the endzone. After the score, the crowd was going wild. I don't know if you'll ever see a stadium get that loud and have that much fun when the game is such a clear blowout. Why? Because it wasn't about the score of the game at that point, it was just about a great play that Dobbs made and how the crowd reacted to it. The speakers started playing the "I Put On" song, everyone was dancing on the sidelines and in the stands, and a great time was had by all.
Unfortunately, every game of the season wasn't that fun. Bad things happened when Alabama came to town, when the Dawgs visited Jacksonville for the yearly "party." Then came the game at Kentucky. After a very rough game, the Bulldogs were up 42-38 with only a little time left. Kentucky started to make their way down the field for a final attempt to come back and win it. They came up short, but defensive penalties helped them keep moving. This game was looking VERY BAD as Kentucky was getting closer to the endzone; all they needed was a touchdown to win it, and they were in our redzone.
Demarcus Dobbs single-handedly (literally) sealed the victory for Georgia that day, as he went up with one hand to bring down the interception. (seen at 1:15 in the video above)
This play wasn't as fun (considering plenty of Georgia fans like myself were holding our breaths and about to pass out on that last drive), but it was HUGE nevertheless. Without Dobbs going up there and getting that ball, Georgia may have not reached the 10 win mark last season, something that we all take pride in.
A while ago on some of the online message boards I mentioned how it bothered me that everyone called Tim Tebow "Superman." For that matter, the media loves to compare almost any great sports player "Superman," as if it's a compliment. In my opinion, Superman is one of the worst superheros, with the leggings, terrible disguise (taking off glasses), and boring alter-ego.
I then decided that if we had a hero on our Georgia Bulldogs football team, it would be a hero for the people. Someone who, despite being often overlooked and underestimated, would continue to patrol the shadows of the football field, waiting for the moment that an evildoer throws the ball up for grabs, and then leaps up and takes it, bringing justice and excitement to the people of Sanford Stadium city.
By day, this hero would be Demarcus Dobbs. But at night (gamedays), this hero would become.... The Dark Knight.
In all seriousness, I (along with the Bulldog Nation) want to wish Demarcus Dobbs a quick and easy recovery, and we look forward to seeing him this fall, getting it done for the team and the school. Thanks for being a great Dawg Demarcus, and get well soon.
Well, although not many on the blogosphere seemed to have had as many worries as me about Georgia's kicking situation this off-season, it looks like I was wrong to worry.
The Bulldogs Blog posted this morning that we have a new recruit, Brandon Bogotay from Grossmont College in California. 15 of 23 on field goals isn't too bad, but what I'm hoping for is someone who can kick it out of the endzone on kickoffs.
UPDATE:
Marc Weiszer at the Online Athens blog has an update with some more information and quotes from Coach Mark Richt. On that blog there's also a link to a video of Bogotay in action, and near half way through it you get to see him do a lot of kickoffs, most of which appear to be VERY long and out of the back of the endzone. Exciting stuff.
So there's some story going around now about how the San Fransisco 49ers, in evaluating Matthew Stafford for the NFL draft, had a psychologist interview him and ask him some interesting questions. One question in particular had Stafford a little bit annoyed.
According to an update on Comcast.net Sports (which is the most legitimate source I could find), the psychologist asked Stafford about his parents' divorce (which happened while he was in high school) and how it has affected him. The San Fransisco Chronicle reports:
"According to Stafford, the psychologist told him as if it sounded like he had "unfinished business" concerning the divorce. Stafford said no, and then said he felt if he should be wondering how much he was being charged by hour for the psychoanalysis."
49ers Coach Mike Singletary commented that maybe since the divorce issue bothered Stafford so much that he might not "belong" on the team. What? I assume that after grilling Stafford on personal issues, the psychologist also taunted him with this picture and called him names.
Here's my take on this situation:
On one hand, I understand what the team was trying to do by basically testing Stafford to see how he responds to stress or how he deals with difficult situations. It could almost be stretched to compare to the decision making a quarterback faces on the field. Let's imagine that instead of being asked about your parents' divorce, a 250 pound defensive end is barreling toward you with a thirst for quarterback blood.
Tell me 'bout your parents' divorce now! And give me ball please.
So you have to think quickly and make a decision. Do you: 1. Just answer the question politely (throw the ball away as you know you're about to get eaten alive and don't want to screw up)
or
2. Get annoyed and make a sarcastic/rude comment (try to throw the ball before getting hit, even though there are no open receivers and thus you will perhaps throw an interception)
Like I said before, this is a pretty big stretch to connect the interview to an actual game-time situation, but I can see where they're coming from. They also obviously don't want to deal with any emotionally unstable players who could be problems in the future by committing crimes, making it rain, or shooting themselves in the thigh.
But still, should a team really put much (if any) stock in the usefulness of having a psychological interview with a top caliber player for the draft? It honestly sounds to me like Stafford was just a little annoyed about being psychoanalyzed about personal issues for a job playing football. This is a response I would expect from most people, and so should the 49ers organization.
Imagine if you were applying for a job and instead of asking you about yourself, your ambitions, weaknesses, and so on they instead asked you about a family issue that happened years ago. You probably wouldn't be so comfortable either.
It may have served Stafford's best interests to play nice in the interview, but I don't see how the 49ers coach's opinion on Stafford will change anything about his future or draft status.
But hey, if the 49ers master plan is to bother potential players and then act like they don't want them anyway, then so be it. Everyone likes a little game of "hard to get" right?
Today I'd like to bring you the third Famous Dawg: Alton Brown THE DESCRIPTION:
Alton Brown is one of the best, if not the best food personality on television. If you watch Food Network, you've probably seen him before. His show Good Eats has been on Food Network since 1999, and it has been on the air ever since. The show truly makes cooking fun and surprisingly educational, as Brown always explores the historical and scientific aspects of the dish he's preparing. There are always plenty of humorous moments as well. Brown also has been the commentator on Iron Chef America, co-hosted The Next Iron Chef, and has another show called Feasting on Asphalt.
THE VERDICT:
Well, this one is easy. According to Wikipedia, Alton Brown attended undergraduate school at the University of Georgia and received a degree in drama. Interestingly, he started out working in cinematography and was director of photography for an R.E.M music video. Then he decided to make a good cooking show, became an expert in culinary arts, and now has multiple shows on Food Network. Apparently he also lives in Marietta, Georgia. Here he is in a Georgia Magazine article, which says that he actually delivered pizzas while at UGA. Oh yeah, and he also won a prestigious Peabody Award. This is a salute to Alton Brown, a Famous Dawg who is representing UGA well.
Dancing In The Endzone primarily offers news, analysis, videos, and poorly done photoshops concerning Georgia football and the entire college football universe. DITE also covers non-sports related topics and news about the University of Georgia.
