GrillTopper Open

Just a quick update. The GrillTopper Open is up and rolling, you can make your Week 1 picks. Follow this link, and do your research 'cause there are some doosies this week.

LSU/UNC
Boise/VT
Mizzou/Illinois
TCU/Oregon St
Kentucky/Louisville

...smellin' some upsets!


Football, I missed you so much, never leave me again.

Disillusionment

The wife was on a business trip in Little Rock this week. She, being of the Crimson Tide persuasion, was getting an ear-full from the Razorback fans over there. She was kind enough to email me some of their disillusioned statements. And I read:

•This is Arkansas’s year.

•We will beat Alabama in Fayetteville this year.

•We have a Heisman trophy candidate playing for our team, so we will win against Alabama.

•Alabama has an unknown defense, so Mallett can easily put up 50 points against Alabama. The question is whether Alabama can score 51 points.

•Arkansas will run all over Alabama’s defense.

•If we beat Georgia, there’s no way we’ll lose to Alabama the next week. If we lose to Georgia, it will be tougher for us to win against Alabama, but it still can and will be done.

•We are ranked higher than any other SEC team (…except Alabama and Florida).

•After we win, we’re calling you, and you have to “call the Hogs” for us.

•Back in the day, Arkansas and Alabama was a huge rivalry game (...back in the day?!? 1992 when we played you for the 3rd time eva?!?). You had to come to the state of Arkansas to find the best coach in history. We’re ready to reignite that this year with a win.

•Arkansas could very easily go undefeated. Worst case, we’ll lose one game the whole season.

•Arkansas almost beat both Alabama and Florida in the last few years (then time spent reminiscing the moral victories of almost winning).

•The referee kept us from beating Florida last year.

•Arkansas will be playing for the SEC Championship this year.

•Nick Saban is an evil man who will leave Alabama soon for something else (okay… everyone kind of says that).

Just wanted to share that with you guys. Apparently Arkansas = University of South Carolina West.

Pantsless Predictions: Speed Dating

Since the paying job has thrown a huge wrench in my plans for blogging about Georgia's record this year, it looks like I'm forced to do a quick run-down instead of the usual mediocre analysis and garbage thoughts.

Thus far I've got us a 2-1 with a victories over U-LaFa and Arkansas. The sole loss coming at the hands of the Gamecocks. From here on out, here's what I'm thinking:


@Mississippi State - 9/25
Win.

Don't get me wrong, Dan Mullen is a great coach and will upset a team or two this year but it won't be the Dawgs. Fun fact: The last time UGA lost to Mississippi State there was no such thing as Wheel of Fortune...that's a long-ass time, folks. Dawgs win.


@Colorado - 10/2
Win.

"We won't have Joe Cox around to save Matthew Stafford's backside this time!" How weird was that to read? If you're like me you remember nothing about the Colorado game except we won by the skin of our teeth. Stafford played a stinker and Joe Cox saved the day. We'll be good, lets just hope we've got some oxygen tanks around for the big guys. Dawgs win.


Tennessee - 10/9
Win.

It's not about Lane Kiffin. It's not about the egg we laid last year. It's not about Da'Rick Rogers. It's about Vince Dooley "subtly and very conservatively" wearing something orange. Derek Dooley is a little snot and we will not lose this one. WILL. NOT. LOSE. Dawgs win big.


Vandy - 10/16
Win.

Everyone loves Bobby Johnson's replacement. Hopefully he learns his role early. Dawgs win.


@Kentucky - 10/23
Win?

Folks are calling this an upset game. I don't see it. I was at the pathetic display in Athens last year and it was embarrassing. Other than the last quarter, UGA outplayed Kentucky by leaps and bounds. Orson Charles had a banner day against the Wildcats last year and appeared to not get any touches in the second 1/2. Mike Bobo must have been fun to play NBA Jam against in the early 90's, God forbid he get the ball to anyone who's "ON FIRE". Dawgs win, why not.


Florida - 10/30
Loss.

I know nothing about how well our team will perform in this game. I see no reason to assume our team of new guys will beat their team of new guys. As I stated before I started making picks, I'm trying to play it safe this year...why not presume a loss and if we win say you knew all along we were gonna win? Dawgs "lose".


Idaho State - 11/6
Win.

Yawn. Dawgs win, this is the game to bring your toddlers and younger kids to...mark it down. Cheap, easy to find tickets, friendly-competitive atmosphere.


@OurBarn - 11/13
Loss.

We've beat Auburn for 4 straight years. I'd love to make it a .500 series (Auburn leads 53-52-8), but there is a small part of me that thinks we'll flop on this one as Auburn slowly becomes more competitive in the SEC. Therefore, I'll play it safe again and assume we lose against a hated rival. Dogs lose, but we'll finally get a bye week after a LOOOOOOONG stretch of tough football.


Kick back, relax, fire up the ELO, and watch the Egg Bowl...it's Bye Week, playa!




(cue Kernkraft 400, its time for...)
Georgia Tech - 11/27
Win.

Regardless of anything you hear from Heather Dinich, Georgia's rookie QB will probably have a good idea of how to play football by the LAST GAME OF THE SEASON. New defenses on both sides, but they are still Georgia Tech...so we win by default. 9 of 10. GO DAWGS! (Even if we've already got a new Uga mascot by this game, it might not hurt to bring Russ out with him just for good measure.)


Dawgs finish the regular season 9-3. Call it a 10-win season after the bowl game and the Dawgs keep the win-train rolling into an SEC Championship in 2011. Bank on it.

Falcons Poll Results

The results are in, and it looks like I've got a plan now for the upcoming NFL season. As I posted earlier, I know little to nothing about professional football, but this year I'm willing to put forth effort in becoming a fan of the Falcons.

I committed to watching 3 Falcons games in their entirety this season, and you guys got to vote and pick which ones I WILL NOT MISS. You were able to select multiple opponents, and here are the teams you voted for:
87% of voters picked the Saints once.


46% of voters picked the Carolina Panthers once.

There was a tie for the 3rd and final spot with a 43% split between the Packers and the Eagles. But since I really like the Packers logo, and I despise everything about Philadelphia I figured it would be best if I gave the Eagles the last spot.


...because if you're going to cheer against a team, it might as well be a team from a city you hate.

But thanks for the help, I really don't know what to expect out of NFL football but hopefully I won't hate it too much. Go Falcons! WOOF WOOF WOOF!

GrillTopper Open 2K10

Alright folks, it's that time again.

You've just been invited to 10-15 College Football Pick'em Groups. You've signed up for some, ignored the ones from your Facebook Friends you hate, and you're sitting pretty for college football to start next week. Well, it's time to add one more Pick 'Em Group to your list!

"But Mackie, why should I sign up for your group?"

Here's the answer, Son. For the second year in a row, Blogging Pantsless is teaming up with our fine sponsor, GrillToppers for the Grill Topper Open!!1

What's in it for you? Only the most badass tailgate grilling accessory on the market, Playa! Each week, the Group Leader in correct picks will win a prize. Last year we shipped out the Hotdog GrillToppers and several of you were able to seer your favorite football team's name into your food...outside of Heaven itself is there a greater prize in life?!? Me thinks not.


Here's how you sign up:

1. Follow this link to Yahoo's Fantasy League sign-in.
2. Group ID#: 12147
3. Password: grilltopper
4. Name your Set and make picks.
5. Prepare yourself for heartbreak after I mop the floor with you 13 consecutive weeks and hold a weenie roast in my honor where I seer "Go Dawgs" into a baker's dozen Oscar Meyer tube-steaks.

PRIZE UPDATE
I just saw on the message board for the GrillTopper Open, this year's prizes have expanded to include the following:
model HD Grill Topper (MSRP $17.99)
model 550 Grill Topper (MSRP $18.99)
Grill Topper Grill Glove (MSRP $18.99)
Grill Topper 3-piece BBQ Tool set (MSRP $19.99)
Grill Topper BBQ Apron (MRSP $34.99)
...nice!

Pantsless Predictions: Part II of IIIIIIIIII (10)

Arkansas (9.18.2010)

The Deal: The Bulldogs under Mark Richt haven't lost to the Razorbacks in 5 meetings. In fact the Dawgs are 9-3 alltime against the Hawgs. But we are more than aware of the offensive firepower Petrino's Pigs will be bringing to Athens. An offense that AVERAGED 36 points per game last year(which is deceiving considering that includes 7 against Alabama and 63 against Eastern Michigan...whomp, whooooomp.)

But we are also aware of Willy Robinson's patented Country Crock Defense the Razorbacks field. A defense even Willie Martinez would scoff at, but that being said, he IS entering his 3rd year at UA and there is a slight chance some of the growing pains are in the past.

Here's what we were dealing with last year:

Richard Samuel might be mulling over a switch back over to RB after his performance in Fayetteville last year.

My call? Georgia wins...big.

This is our first home SEC game and the stadium crowd will be electric. I figured worst case scenario UGA splits their first two SEC opponents. Going on this logic, USC might not be the tougher opponent but Columbia is a hellish environment to play this early in the season at Noon. At least in Athens we have the benefit of burning up on our own turf with the crowd behind us and some SEC experience under our belt (Arky plays Tenn Tech and ULM before heading East to play us).

Aaron Murray will have a break-out game because if Joe Cox didn't have to thread the needle to put points on the board against their secondary, I doubt much has changed. HOWEVER, Coach Grantham better be showing OUR secondary the Ryan Mallet record breaking highlight reel from last year when they hosted us. He threw for over 400 yards and 5 TDs against our defense...no bueno. Raise your glass to Bean Anderson because if we're going to put Ryan Mallet on the ground he's going to have his hands full at Nose.

Hopefully we blitz him into making bad passes and we see immediate improvement from last years dreadful turnover-ratio. Dawgs D needs to come-up big, especially our secondary coverage against these guys if we want shot at the win. Should we not be prepared, September 18th could prove to be a LOOOOONG day for Dawg fans.

UGA/Arkansas: WIN

2/3 going into Week 4. GO DAWGS!

The World's Worst Falcons Fan

That is the title I give myself. I know little to nothing about our team except that DJ Shockley is no longer employed by the organization and that is some UNEXCUSABLE BULL$#*+!!!

But seriously I've only attended 1 Falcons game in my lifetime of living in the metro-Atlanta area. I might have been 6 years old but I could be wrong on that, all I remember is someone spilled a beer on my sister and my father (who is a church minister) was FURIOUS! Unfortunately I doubt that was my sister's only encounter with alcohol in her lifetime. She being a huge Tech fan I'll assume drinking is what helped get her through the last 10 years...but I digress.

Back to topic, I wanted to make a commitment this year to watch more NFL football, primarily in my hometown market. After looking up their schedule I discovered the Falcons play 16 regular season football games. Therefore, I'm making a commitment to sit down and watch 3 Falcons games in their entirety this year. I know dedicating myself to less than 1/5 of a season is pretty underwhelming, but that's just the MINIMUM games I'm going to watch. I'd love to catch more, but I will watch NO LESS than the 3 best match-ups as voted by you. My wife would know best, that's a huge commitment for me.

But I'll need a little help from Falcons fans. Somebody has to instruct me about which games I should catch. Were a person to come to me and say "I want to watch 3 Georgia games this year, which ones should I catch?" my answer would be Florida, Auburn, and Tech (but the hammer-lock we're gonna put on Tennessee would be a SUPER-close 4th). The Falcon's schedule is posted top-right, vote so I have some good games to watch!

Also, please don't vote for a team just because former Bulldogs play for them. I love MoMass as much as the next guy but if the Browns are still the bums I assume they are then they probably shouldn't make the cut.

Pantsless Predictions: Part I of IIIIIIIIII (10)

South Cackalacky (9.11.2010)



The Deal:
Look, I'm not going to tell you this is how it's gonna be. In doing so it would do nothing but jinx the exact opposite into fruition. The best I can do is tell you what I think might possibly have a small chance of maybe happening...possibly.

What does everyone say at the beginning of every season? ALL TOGETHER:

"SOUTH CAROLINA WILL SET THE TONE OF OUR SEC SEASON."

What that means is Georgia will probably blow out Louisiana LaFa and head into Columbia, SC with little to no idea about how we'll play against SEC caliber opponents. South Carolina won't be the toughest opponent we'll play all year, at best they've been a mid-level SEC opponent since the beginning. But for some reason they give us fits.

All the big boys have lesser opponents that do this. My best friend, who happens to be a Gator, told me Ole Miss is Florida's non-division parade-raining equivalent to our South Carolina. But I've long said the biggest problem we have with the South Carolina game is we play them before they realize they aren't a good team.

Every year South Carolina fans tell themselves they're going to win the East...every year they don't. This is a big rivalry game to them, but we've got so many freakin' "rivals" out there (Florida, Tech, Auburn, etc...) South Carolina falls off the radar of importance to us.

But people are calling South Carolina a dark horse for the East this year. To be honest, this might be the first year I take the threat of South Carolina to heart, because I have ZERO idea what expect from Georgia. If Todd Grantham's rhetoric stopped the ball I wouldn't doubt we'd beat the Gamecocks this year. But Steve Spurrier finally has a decent experienced offense in addition to the same stingy defense South Carolina has been known to field.

Aaron Murray doesn't have to beat South Carolina, the Bulldogs need to beat South Carolina. I think our offense is better than their offense, but is our offense better than their defense...hell, is our DEFENSE better than either their offense OR defense?!? I have no idea if we'll be ready.

But my final call on this game is for a Loss. I don't think we should lose, I don't really think we will lose, but I'm playing this year safe and trying to keep my expectations realistic.

I think after a few serious opponents we'll know what we're dealing with, but G-Day didn't tell me anything. Nothing. I want to believe we're going to be blitzing the balls off Stephen Garcia and nailing him to the salted Earth of Columbia, SC. But that's all wishing and hoping.

Fingers crossed I REALLY hope I'm wrong on this one. I've been wrong before, and my wife will be the first to let me know. I used to think Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady" was being sung as "Do the Lucky Lady"...as if "the lucky lady" were some dance to be done. When she found this out she nearly fell out of the car as it rolled down the interstate, I'm glad she had her seatbelt on.

You'll see a more reserved approach to my picks this year. I got burned pretty severely last year with some really crappy wishful thinking. The whipped dawg in me wants to play it a little safer, that way a loss will only ruin my Saturday and not my whole weekend. Perhaps I'm finally growing up...(fart joke).

UGA/USC: LOSS

1/1 going into week 3. Go Dawgs!

UPDATE: I also wanted to note, according to the poll posted last month, only 14% of you guys thought Aaron Murray needed more snaps if we're blowing out Louisiana LaFa in the 3rd. 53% said he should be pulled for Hutson Mason, and 31% thought he should be pulled for Logan Gray. I voted to get Hutson some snaps because if Logan Gray is going to put himself at risk of injury at WR then we gotta have a solid #2 Quarterback in reserve. Now if we stumble out of the gate (big IF), Aaron better get his act together REAL quick and play the entire game. But otherwise I'd say he's too valuable to leave out there in case some Linebacker thug from a whipping boy school wants to show how tough he is.

Pantsless Predictions: Preview of Part I of IIIIIIIIII (10)

So last year I did a HATCHET job picking the Wins/Loses of the Dawgs.

Long story short, I did a lot of traveling last year to watch UGA football and they didn't win a single game I went to...that's pretty crappy to experience (especially because Stillwater, OK is a helluva drive).

But this year I opted to not buy any tickets off the season ticket form I share with a guy. Instead, I decided to spend a jillion dollars on 10th row seats for when Roger Waters comes to town touring the Pink Floyd classic The Wall. That should resolve the bad luck I brought to the team in 2009, but if nothing else you can thank me for getting us enough losses to can Willie Mart...or you can thank Willie yourself...whatever.


I'm omitting UL-Lafa and Idaho State from the Predictions only because I assume we will win...so there's your prediction, looks like they aren't actually omitted after all.

First up will be South Cackalacky. I've been busy the last week dealing with homeowner pleasantries like a broke-down washing machine.
You might be tempted to say "Hey Mackie, it looks like you're missing a few pieces to your washing machine."

I would be tempted to answer "You're right, but she's travelling and she'll be back Friday." ...but I wouldn't do that because my wife reads the blog and would give me that look that encompasses anger, regret, and sadness all in one roll of the eyes.

But I'm getting my act together and as long as the Braves continue to fall apart my focus will continue to shift toward the Dawgs and blogging like kudzu to a telephone poll. Thanks for your patience, football is nearly upon us. Masses rejoice!