Ahh Georgia/Florida week leading to the yearly letdown by the Bulldogs followed by the typical “Richt/Bobo/Grantham/Uga must GO!” phone calls. Ahh, Halloween weekend.
Seriously though, with both teams limping into the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktai…(wait we can’t call it that anymore!) the World’s Largest Outdoor collection of football players from the University of Florida and the University of Georgia (that’s better), it was nearly a surprise to find that CBS was carrying this contest as its weekly spotlight game. I guess it would have been WAY too big for Peachtree TV to have on at 12:21, and both of the school presidents didn’t want it to be a night game for feel of, well, the World’s Largest Cocktail Party going on outside of the stadium. Neither 680 The Fan nor 790 The Zone sent a morning show or afternoon drive show down to Jacksonville and only 680’s Chuck and Chernoff made the trip down for two days, a bit of a surprise, but given the two teams’ records, probably a smart decision.
The game turned out to be an exciting contest with the Gators winning in OT, and naturally the callers to 790 and 680 in the days after all wanted some one’s head from Red and Black Nation. The thing is though, I cannot say that Mark Richt or Mike Bobo could really be faulted for the loss. The AJC’s Mark Bradley was ready to throw Mark Richt under the bus, but I disagree. I am not certain that it was Richt’s fault for Aaron Murray committing four turnovers (with another pick not counting as it was while going for a two-point conversion). Bradley noted in an article that ran Sunday that he isn’t sure Richt is a game-day coach anymore that could win a title. Again, I must disagree with Bradley. In OTHER games you could maybe say that, but in this case, his team was DOWN by 14 points at halftime and he made enough adjustments and rallied his troops enough to tie the game up TWICE. Bradley in his column bemoaned that “the Bulldogs under Richt are rarely ready.” One man’s opinion I guess. The knock I would have against Richt is his usual inability to make the proper adjustments in a timely manner. Not this week though. No. I must disagree with Bradley at least for this week.
Beau Bock also made an interesting statement on Sunday’s 790 The Zone Ford Football Show. He asked an open question to Georgia fans when expecting when we started asking for more than mediocrity. Seriously? You are seriously asking when Georgia fans started wanting MORE than to finish with five losses in a season? I would say the first time the Georgia faithful did that was in 1995. The second time was following the 2000 season when Donnan lost to Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech AGAIN. Now Georgia fans are getting upset after Mark Richt took them to No.2 in the country in 2003, an SEC title in 2005 and a No.2 final ranking after the 2007 season. We’ve been given some success and now we’d like more. That’s when we wanted more. And it ISN’T too much to ask for Mr. Bock.
But hey, if you haven’t gotten enough of the Georgia Bulldogs, be sure to tune in to WSB this Saturday as the Dawgs will be facing Idaho State at 12:30. Folks in the Georgia AD offices (wisely) decided to put the extra non-contracted game on free television instead of Pay-Per-View because the buys probably would not have been there. But expect WSB to get some big-time ratings over another episode of WipeOut. And the following week Verne Lundquist (who is sounding more and more like a drunken uncle that shows up for Thanksgiving and your mother quickly has to make a placesetting for and she doesn’t bother with a wine glass because he’ll just bring his High Life in a can to the table), Gary Danielson (who KNEW I was going to write that about Verne) and Tracy Wolfson will call the game on CBS at 3:30. This has the feeling of a Cam Newton showcase; perhaps we’ll even get a Tim Tebow/Cam Newton backstory with stats comparing the two and even highlights of Tebow on a split-screen along side shots of Newton. I. Can’t. Wait.
First the Falcons take a hit by struggling to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals at home to the point that many NFL pundits say that the New York Giants are the best team in the NFC. Now the Falcons might take a hit in the ESPN.com NFL Power Poll (released after press deadline) after not playing. One voter of the four-person poll hinted that the Falcons could fall from its No.5 perch after Indianapolis beat the Houston Texans on Monday night football. The Falcons have the Bucs and then a Thursday night game with the Baltimore Ravens, but remember: Power Rankings are nothing but just something for Mike & Mike to talk about in the mornings because there are actually playoffs in the NFL, unlike in college football. Power Rankings are fun to discuss, but ultimately useless. Like an appendix.
Finally, Georgia Tech received a bit of national exposure this past Thursday as the Yellow Jackets traveled (hopefully not by Rambling Wreck. That might take a few trips) up to Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies. The ESPN Thursday Night crew was calling the game and it was a showcase for the ACC: the defending champion against a likely ACC Championship game player for the nation to take in. The result was not available at press deadline but surely the two coaches would have received plenty of face time as they both are, without question, the two best coaches in the ACC. NC State’s Tom O’Brien who is a great strategist but cannot recruit while Butch Davis seems to be an excellent recruiter but could not outcoach Al Groh. Jimbo Fisher seems too young to be considered, the same with Mike London of UVA and Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe captained a perfect storm to get his ACC title. When the two ACC Techs get together, the two best coaches the conference has to offer are on display.
Can you believe he said that?
“If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different. There's always going to be a misunderstanding. I don't know what I would [have done], but I definitely would have changed it." That was LeBron James talking about The Decision. You’re not sure what you would have done differently? Let me give you a check list. Choose one or two: Don’t make your decision on ESPN. Don’t have 19 different reporters reporting different stories because some of your “crew” is leaking out info. Don’t pretend that you did this for the Boys & Girls Club of America. If you ARE going to have an hour-long show, allow people to ask you REAL questions. Maybe tell the teams that didn’t get your services in advance instead of having them find out on an ESPN special. Just a few things for next time.
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