TheFletch for ThisWeek

The Georgia football team’s struggles have certainly made for plenty of headlines and radio fodder in the recent weeks and last Sunday was no different. After the Bulldogs fell again, this time on the road to Big XII weakling Colorado, the boys from 790 The Zone’s Ford Football show were once again at Georgia coach Mark Richt’s throat. Beau Bock was saying how it was a shame that Georgia couldn’t stop the Colorado offense and then shooting themselves in the foot with fumbles. He commented on how so many Buffaloes fans were storming the field and questioned why a fan base would be so excited to beat a 1-4 team. The crew also asserted that perhaps Dan Hawkins, of “it ain’t intramurals, bra-tha!” fame, may be off the hotseat now that he beat Georgia in front of the home fans celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the school’s last national title.
I will have to take exception with one thing Steak said on the show however. The Mayhem in the AM co-host said on the Ford Football show that Richt’s impact on the Georgia program was in full effect that, despite the record, over 7000 fans made the trek out to Boulder, Colorado because of what he’s done over his career in Athens. I must disagree. These tickets were bought at least one year ago and folks made plans months in advance, probably in the offseason when folks like Phil Steele were calling for Georgia to be a dark-horse candidate to run the table and play for the national title. These people were more or less stuck with their plane tickets, hotel reservations and game tickets just a week or two before the game and had to go. And PS, Steak, as a University of Georgia alumnus, I can say this: I loved Georgia before Mark Richt got there, I’ve loved what Mark Richt has done while he’s been there (at least for the first seven years of his tenure), and I will always love the Red & Black long after Mark Richt is gone. Those folks that traveled out there to Colorado did it because they love the Dawgs, not Mark Richt. They love the University of Georgia, not Richt. They love the school that they either went to or grew up rooting for even over their own alma mater. With all due respect to Steak, those folks were more likely there for the mascot than they were the coach. Please don’t think Richt has THAT much of an impact at Georgia. He is not yet synonymous with Georgia like JoePa is with Penn State or Bobby Bowden was with Florida State. Not yet anyways and possibly he’ll never get that chance if the crazy fringe is granted their wish.

I must say that I’ve never missed Larry Munson as much as I did while driving home from the Valdosta/ML King game on Saturday night and turned on the Georgia/Colorado game on the radio. Scott Howard and Eric Zeier have been the voices of the Georgia Bulldogs for the past few seasons after Munson’s semi-retirement became a permanent retirement and I must be honest: as a Georgia fan, it makes my ears bleed. While Munson’s homerism was adorable and requested, Howard’s slant towards the Dawgs makes me scream at the radio the way I scream at the drunk Georgia “fans” that have never stepped foot on the campus on a Monday through Friday in their lives. I wanted to give him a chance after he blew his first big call in 2007, aka the Alabama “Dawg Pile” where Georgia won in OT. If you weren’t watching on television you’d never have known what happened as Howard simply screamed and woohooed for 20 seconds before telling anyone the result of Stafford’s pass to the endzone. I wanted him to succeed, I really did. I knew his job would be hard as he was replacing a legend, but last week, he was still whooping it up after a tackle for a loss in the fourth quarter. Then he was going ballistic on a 12 yard run by Caleb King before game-ending fumble. Zeier was fine in an analyst role, the role that Howard performed before taking over for Munson, but as far as Howard in the main chair…it has been a lot like how the Dawgs have been in recent season: lacking. While I am not his agent, let me suggest that WSB and the University’s athletic department get together and make the decision to bring 680’s Buck Belue into a role with the Georgia broadcasts. Belue has experience in calling Georgia games as he has served as an analyst for CSS on Georgia’s coverage and he of course was the QB in 1980 when Georgia won the national championship. He might just be the perfect fit to slide right in as The Man after the man after THE MAN.

If you were busy watching the Georgia game or listening to the Georgia Tech game on Sports Radio 790 The Zone, perhaps you missed a special broadcast of the Valdosta/ML King high school football game last Saturday. The two teams met at Hallford Stadium in DeKalb County and the Valdosta Daily Times partnered with Georgia Public Broadcasting to carry the game live on the web on VDT.com and gpb.org/sports. Valdosta won a shootout with MLK setting up the undefeated and No.8 Wildcats for its huge matchup against Lowndes in the Winnersville Classic this Friday, which will air on ESPN’s family of networks. The game against the Lions ML King was back and forth but in the end Jay Rome, a huge recruit according to Scout.com, Rivals, Bleacher Report and Score Atlanta’s Score 44 and The Official Visit, caught two TDs and Malcolm Mitchell, also on the Score 44, scored twice to give the Wildcats the 43-28 victory. Demarco Robinson certainly proved he deserved his spot on the Score 44 with a 93-yard kick return for a score and a diving catch for paydirt. He had a third TD called back on a penalty.

Can you believe he said that?
“There are still seven games left in the season. That’s enough time for Georgia to turn its season around…and send the message that this program isn’t going down like Pompeii.”
That was Jeff Schultz of the AJC talking about the slow demise of the Georgia football program. He went on to say that he’s not “feeling it” could be possible. I must say that I tend to agree with Schultz, the last part. I don’t think Richt should get the boot, but if the season doesn’t turn around and SOON, I might just change my tune.