Close the book.

That's it folks. The 2011 football season is officially over. Congratulations to my team-in-law on their 14th National Championship, @Olivethetweets was ecstatic last night and I was happy for her (regardless of how much gloating she did...and YES Sweetheart, calling the Dawgs "the Cubs of the SEC" is gloating no matter how kind-hearted your intent was).

But that brings me to my next point, one thing I REALLY was not looking forward to is our fanbase today. Almost as much as I dreaded reading about us after the Outback Bowl. Be it on Twitter or some of the blogs I read, I just know somebody is going to compare our current state to that of Alabama football. It's not that I can't handle reality, because I can. I can admit that Alabama and LSU are both programs much better than ours. What I can't stomach is our fanbase. Yes, our fanbase.

I love a good 90% of you guys. But the remaining 10% lack a fundamental understanding of...well...understanding.

Every fanbase has it, but lately I just get fed up with hearing the whining and bitching that we aren't Alabama, or we aren't LSU...can you not be happy just being Georgia?! College Football is cyclical and here is how I see it following our last 10 win season in 2008:

2009 - New QB leadership (Joe Cox). No Stafford. No Knowshon. Lots of NFL talent lost following previous season. Willie's last year as DC.

2010 - New Freshman QB. New defensive staff working with players they didn't recruit. OUR RUNNING BACKS WERE CALEB KING, RICHARD SAMUEL, AND WASHAUN EALEY.

I'm making a lot of excuses, but when your cogs and personnel turnover happen at the rate it happened for us over the past 3 years...then YEAH expect a dip in quality for your program.

2011 - Started out like crap. Lost to the 2 toughest opponents on our schedule right out of the gates, but we saw a few signs of hope. When was the last time you had an ounce of faith in your defense? Did you see the season Jarvis Jones had? We watched Malcolm Mitchell become our next big passing threat. And our fans who want to bitch about Isaiah Crowell not playing on an injured ankle which NONE OF YOU, NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU WITH A "source" IN THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT OR A FRIEND WHO HEARD SOMETHING knows the extent of pain he felt trying to turn on a dime while carrying nearly half of our team's rushing yardage.

Getting suspended for smoking weed? "Yeah, what an idiot" says the guy in Law School who took a year off to follow Widespread Panic. Crowell has a ton of talent, and probably an attitude to match it, but we stuck a ton of pressure on an 18 year old kid and he performed well when able. Cut him some slack.

Remember the difficult time we had recruiting when these superstar high school athletes wanted playing time instead of earning reps behind AJ Green? Well, they went to other schools and some of these other schools are performing with them. But with a couple of down years, now it's UGA's turn to recruit high profile talent who can come in and make an instant impact. Last year's Dream Team did a helluva job for a bunch of young guys. I'm pretty pumped about the prospect of guys like John Theus, Jordan Jenkins (whom I just found out about this morning), and Keith Marshall (Isaiah Crowell is gonna grow up REAL FAST this off season).

We've got a defense that will return a lot of guys, really hoping Bacarri comes back for what could be an awesome year. The biggest names we lose offensively are Ben Jones (which will hurt) and with a little luck Orson Charles sticks around (which my insider source in the athletic department heard from a friend of a friend that he will).

This is Mackie being honest. Take a step back from the ledge. UGA football is not in a downward spiral following a 10 win season where we won the East with a bunch of young guys. In watching my wife's excitement last night searching out Bear Bryant quotes to post, it made me think. The Bear is without a doubt in my mind the absolute best coach in the history of the game. Mark Richt will probably never be Bear Bryant, but there was time in college football where patience paid off.

1967 - 8-2-1 (73%)
1968 - 8-3-0 (73%)
1969 - 6-5-0 (55%)
1970 - 6-5-1 (50%)

That's Alabama football, correction, that's Bear Bryant football in a 4 year stretch between some of their program's most storied seasons.

The game has changed, I'm well aware. Every fanbase expects a new coach to win immediately (see our jort-wearing neighbors to the south). But it's a cycle and as long as you aren't in the lower echelon of the SEC you'll have your time to shine in the national spotlight. Eventually Tennessee will be Tennessee again, eventually South Carolina will be South Carolina again. When my wife and I were still dating, I saw some pretty awful Alabama football games. Since my wife and I have been married, she's seen some pretty awful UGA football games. And now that we're expecting our first child there is a pretty good chance he or she will see some pretty good and pretty awful games in their lifetime.
(...still looking for one of these)

I've always been a patient person, sometimes too patient. It probably doesn't help that I'm turning into this worthless ball of emotion when I see a sonogram of my baby. I might be going soft when it comes to taking a stand against what is acceptable from UGA Football, but when I put it into perspective I like what I see, no matter how frustrating it can be sometimes. I'm happy we went for it on 4th and 1 in Michigan State territory last week. You know why? Because we didn't go for it on 4th and 1 in Central Florida territory last year. We wanted Mark Richt to take more chances this year and he did. On-side kicks against South Carolina and LSU were huge (yes even though the USC one was overturned on a crap call) but if you're willing to take the good when it happens, then suck it up and take the bad too.

Mark Richt is not Nick Saban, but Nick Saban isn't Mark Richt either.

2012 can be something special for the Dawgs. Stop bitching and get on the bus.

Go Dawgs.

Halloween Pumpkin

Sorry for the light posting...PPPTTpTtppttt. Sorry couldn't pull that off with a straight face. Been busting my tail with work, travel, and fine tuning my yet-to-be-picked-up television pilot where I dress up as an old white woman, say crotchety old things to young folks, and have a bunch of mis-pronounced catchphrases...OH LERRRD!

But every year I do a UGA themed pumpkin. This year I originally had a stencil for a Wrath of Todd Grantham pumpkin, but decided against it.
Too much detail, not enough motivation, so instead I decided to do a funny clown!

If you're familiar with Muschamp Stare...
...then you'll LOVE...


...MusCHUMP Stare Pumpkin!


Just a warning for the children who come to our door for candy this year, if you stand in front of Muschump Stare Pumpkin for too long the eyes will burn the phrase "BOOM MOTHERF%#KER" across your forehead. Not a good idea if you plan on having a professional career one day.

...and as always, I'll provide the official Halloween sign for Dawg Fans to be printed out and nailed to your front door.


Happy Halloween, kiddos! Hate a Gator today.

Alabama fans...

...being Alabama fans.


While doing some covert-ops in Birmingham, @OliveTheTweets and I stumbled across this little gem at a College Sports store at The Summit.

Being that my wife is a graduate of the red elephant school, I had to talk her out of purchasing 37 of them (one for each of their National Championships by her count), but I still love her.

Pantsless Predictions: Parts IIII - IIIIIIIIIIIII

Working out of state this last couple of months has really screwed up my ability to write meaningful, quality predictions of UGA's upcoming 2011 football schedule...

PPSPSPSTTTPTPPTTTTT!!!1

I couldn't really write that without laughing in my hotel room, everyone knows my blind faith that UGA should win every game and a few "C-"s is what hold me back from quality journalism and writing good and doing other stuff good too.

So while I'm taking a break from surviving massive earthquakes (that could have passed as a violent gaseous emission and/or a brief encounter with 2 beers at lunch) I figured I'd spend a little time on the ol' blog wrapping up my season predictions for the Dawgs.

9/24 - at Ole Miss
I'll go out on a limb and call this one a "W". With a little luck one of their 3 QBs will get into a fight and cap off the night in a jail cell after popping a cop in the lip. Nah, that'd be far too unrealistic to expect in the SEC. Lets just hope we show up and play a solid game and get some back-ups in early for reps.

10/01 - Missy State
Part of me fears this game more than the Auburn matchup later in the year, the other part reminds me that they are Mississippi State and up until last year we hadn't lost to them since '74 ten meetings prior. Unfortunately for us these aren't the same lousy Bulldogs that base a good season on winning the Egg Bowl...Dan Mullen has these guys wanting the West (however unlikely that may be).
This is a toss-up, but for S's & G's I'll call it a loss because running on the South Carolina theory of "I don't know if we suck or are teh awesomexorez" I'll play it safe and call it a Loss. Please prove me wrong in October, I'd love it.

10/08 - at Tennessee
To win this game you've got to have opportunity, and by now we all know where opportunity is in Knoxvegas. "W" for the good guys.

10/15 - at Vandy
Hope they get that bull semen cleaned up off the floor because we're going to drop a lot of Vandy jaws. Not just a "W" but perhaps the biggest hurtin' we've put on Vanderbilt in the last 20 years.

10/29 - Florida (WLOCP)
I'm not entirely convinced Florida will win a single game in the month of October. Bama>LSU>Auburn>UGA...that's a helluva stretch and even with their bye week before the Cocktail Party they've faced some real bruisers leading up to us. Toss in a new coaching staff and the fact that everyone but UF thinks John Brantley sucks and I think we've got a win over the team I like to beat most. "W"!

11/05 - New Mexico $tate
...give 'em a paycheck and send 'em back west. "W".

11/12 - Auburn
(prior to reading, press play on YouTube player below)
Phil Steele said these guys are gonna go from first to worst, I love Phil Steele. If you were as pissed off as I was about Auburn's foul play last year...AND DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A SORE LOSER BECAUSE I DIDN'T WAIT 6 LOSSES INTO THE SEASON TO MAGICALLY START THINKING THE WINNING TEAM IS PLAYING DIRTY...then you'll agree we've got some demons to exercise. Therefore I hearby declare Slayer the official house-band of Blogging Pantsless during the week leading up to the Auburn game, and "Raining Blood" shall be our National Anthem.
I don't want to beat Auburn this year, I want to absolutely dismantle them. I want to see John Jenkins with a piece of Auburn jersey in his mouth a la Ben Jones dining on Tech's field. I want to see the ENTIRE Auburn coaching staff have to sit through a game we dominate from start to finish. I want us up by 50 at the end of the first minute. I want the student section to photoshop Cam Newton's face on a bunch of $200,000 bills and make it rain onto the Auburn sideline every time we score. Honestly, if we're kicking ass all season and Auburn is haplessly flopping around with a losing record, I wouldn't mind us breaking out the black jerseys again just to completely obliterate this team emotionally as well. Last year's game lit something in me that burns with the fire of a thousand suns in the Hate-O-Sphere. If there was ever a time for Todd Grantham to prove to me that he cares about this team and will hold a grudge, this is it. If we're up by a million in the 4th quarter with :10 left, BLITZ 11. If they get a first down with :09 left, BLITZ 12. Put your hob-nailed boot on their worthless mullet-covered necks and squeeze the love of T-Top Camero's out of them. We will win this game, and we will destroy Auburn. "W" period.

Well, that was cathartic...now where was I? Ah yes...you may stop the YouTube player now.

11/19 - Kentucky
Lots of people calling this a trap game, I'm not one of them. Kentucky will be horrible this year. We'll still be so jacked up from beating Auburn we'll handle them easily. "W".

11/26 - at Nerds
The in-state rivalry game always tends to be a little close. If we're the real deal this year Tech will try and play spoiler to a great rebound season for the Dawgs. What exactly will Tech be playing for? The ACC Coastal?!? One man's trash is another man's treasure...I guess. Anyway, Coach continues his streak of away wins against Tech and we keep calling it Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Mark Richt Field. "W", Tech fans finally begin to question whether or not Coach Manboobs' is actually going to live up to Mark Bradley's expectations.

So with a little quick math that puts us at.....(scribbles on paper, mumbles somthing)...(carry the 1)...(rabblerabblerabblerabble)....10-2!

Does that win the East? Dunno, depends on if South Cackalacky decides to fold under the pressure of Media expectations. Everyone assumes they'll win the East, I hope they sincerely believe that and assume the East will be a cake walk...makes it easier for us.

GO DAWGS!

Random Thought

With every passing day, I want to win the first 2 games against Boise State and South Carolina more and more.

So considering the condition of our backfield, I thought I'd throw this out there for Isaiah Crowell...whom I'm sure is an avid reader of blogs who post sparingly.

If you turn out to be the real deal and we start the season 2-0, I'll buy a super-thuggin' Georgia hat like yours and wear it for the rest of the season.

If we win the East I'll wear it through the end of your college career.

If we win the SEC championship, I'll wear it until the damn thing rots off my head.


Now I understand the team will not win or lose on Isaiah's shoulders, but I have faith in our defense, QB, and for the most part the wide receivers (hearing some INCREDIBLE things about Malcolm Mitchell's amp going up to 11)...but if our O-Line can bust open some holes I'd love for Isaiah Crowell to give us the offensive weapon we recruited him to be.

GO DAWGS!

Redcoats...up your game.

As a former drum-major and band geek I didn't find it hard to appreciate this.



...I'm thinking the Redcoats should do an AC/DC show and utilize the low brass for a closer of "For Those About To Rock".

Pantsless Predictions: Part III of IIIIIIIIIIII

September 17, 2011
Coastal Carolina School for the Paycheck
Athens, GA

Looking back, I've got us at 1-1 going into this game, but I'll make this quick since I want to get started on my long weekend.

Dawgs 100, Chinnuts 3

I'm assuming these guys are earning somewhere in the upper hundred-thousands to come to Athens and play the Dawgs. But as you can tell, I'm also assuming we win heartily.

I know very little about Coastal Carolina, but last year they got a 31-0 paycheck from West Virgina, and were co-champs of the Big South Conference with a 6-6 overall record...so that gives me a little insight.

They aren't actually called the Chinnuts, Coastal Carolina's mascot is the Chanticleer...

...which appears to be a teal rooster with set of these under his beak, the eyes of Raiden, and a sweet arm tat!

Aside from making fun of their mascot, I got nothin'. I'm hoping our offensive line makes it safely through the first 2 games of the season and we give our back-ups the chance to earn some playing time. Lord knows we need some experience and depth up-front in case any starters get injured later in the season. Fingers crossed everyone's ankles/knees/extremities stay connected and safe throughout, but you can never be sure due to how often these guys get piled up.

Have a good July 4th weekend ere'body! If you have a desk-job avoid Alabama firecrackers. Just try hitting "Enter" with your ring-finger, you'll never hold a lit M-80 again.

GO DAWGS!