Posts from the Georgia Football Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

The University of Georgia's awesome English bulldog UGA VI died Saturday at the age of nine of congestive heart failure.

He is a dog so these things happen from time to time, and Georgia will most certainly have a succession pooch ready in short order. But it's sad news just the same, as UGA is one of the better live mascots in all of sport and a face for the entire Georgia athletics program.

UGA was a fixture "between the hedges" on the Georgia sidelines at football games, taking in his 'Dawgs and offering a few barks when the mood struck. He actually goes down as the winningest UGA in program history, as Georgia football went 87-27 during his tenure. How much of that was due to coach Mark Richt and how much was the good grace of UGA, we'll let you decide.

Regardless we enjoyed writing about him here. There was actually speculation last year might be his last before heading to retirement, but it appears a call to puppy heaven made that decision for his owner, Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler. Our condolences to Seiler and the entire Georgia athletics family.

Interesting trivia: Seiler -- and UGA V -- were prominently featured in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil".

Much more coverage can be found at Georgia Sports Blog.

As someone who's advocated for the summary execution of athletic directors who schedule eight home games, three against virtual or actual I-AA teams, and desperately pleaded for any sort of intercession from the NCAA that would stop the constant flow of exploitative non-games, this is my favorite sentence ever:

There is no way to legislate against this kind of escalation.

That's from Duke AD Kevin White, late of Notre Dame, and it's one of the centerpiece quotes in a USA Today story on the rising costs of screwing over fans by scheduling uncompetitive games against tomato cans.

All of us in the cheap slightly less preposterously expensive seats have so much sympathy. Almost as good is an unnamed but "top" athletic director claiming that the prices of non-conference guarantee games are rising at a "fairly alarming rate." Also rising at a fairly alarming rate: non-conference guarantee games that will have halftime scores of 56-0.

"No way to legislate against this kind of escalation." Here's a way to legislate: schedule actual home-and-homes against respectable opponents instead completing the "Tennesee-RANDOM CITY" tour. Here's some more "woe is me" from Georgia's athletic director:

"You talk about coaches salaries skyrocketing," said Georgia athletics director Damon Evans, "now the guarantees are just skyrocketing."

Hey, it's what the market will bear, right? Just like my $120 ticket to see Michigan-Toledo this fall.

Fans everywhere should be tickled pink by this article, as the skyrocketing costs of guarantee games will help encourage power teams to schedule each other or, failing that, interesting mid-level BCS teams. In conclusion, everyone quoted in this article can go to hell.

The fact that Georgia is getting lots of love this offseason as a potential BCS contender doesn't impress coach Mark Richt, who was quoted recently saying preseason rankings "[don't] mean jack, because if you lose your first SEC game, preseason doesn't mean nothing anymore." Of course, I'm sure Richt doesn't mind any extra national attention from the media and potential recruits that a top-five ranking brings--although it does hurt the "us against the world" mentality that coaches like to cultivate. It's also much easier to position yourself for a BCS championship starting the year at number five than, say, number 15.

But Richt's right; preseason rankings are pretty much meaningless. And if you need proof browse though the stats at Stassen.com (they keep up with these things). There's goodies like the preseason consensus (of which UGA is currently a member, and though it's early, I'd expect them to stay put).

Even more interesting is the comparison of preseason and final polls. In the last 10 years exactly half of the teams that started as a consensus top-five didn't end the season there. And the fall can be dramatic: 12 teams since 1999 have had double-digit drops from the preseason top 5 to the year's final AP poll, and six of those fell out of the top 25 altogether. Unfortunately, this is a topic I know a little about, as my beloved Tennessee has the distinction of having fallen from preseason top five to unranked twice--in 2002 and 2005--a feat no other team has managed. Yay.

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

Old School usually consists highlight clips of relatively recent games, but thanks to the University of Georgia's media archive department the entire 1947 Sugar Bowl is now online and streaming:




That, obviously, is not the entire game. Hoo-boy, those would be some pissed of guys in hats if it was. This is the entire game. If you dig the era when "football" was defiantly pronounced as two words, coaches regarded the forrward pass as deadly poison, and guys like Georgia's Charley Trippi played quarterback, receiver, running back, punt returner, kick returner, linebacker, and punter, this is your jam, man.

Georgia would beat North Carolina 20-10, finishing a perfect 10-0 but losing out on the national title to Notre Dame. Georgia's official site takes a distinctly non-'Bama tack when discussing the potential screwjob, highlighting the team but setting Georgia's two "consensus" national champions apart.

One would think Congress would get the lesson that spending valuable time investigating trivialities like sports is a waste of the public's time. It's not like the public has fully embraced the drawn-out inquest into Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens, Senator Arlen Specter's crusade against the Patriots, and so on.

But no. Three misguided members of Congress now seek to interfere with college football, all in the name of pandering.

Three members of Congress want the Justice Department to investigate whether the Bowl Championship Series is an illegal enterprise.

Representatives Neil Abercrombie, Democrat of Hawaii; Lynn Westmoreland, Republican of Georgia; and Mike Simpson, Republican of Idaho, introduced a resolution saying the B.C.S. restricts trade because only the largest universities compete in its games. The resolution would require the Justice Department's antitrust division to investigate if the B.C.S. violates federal law.

The measure, if it passes, would put Congress on record as supporting a postseason playoff.

Hawaii? Check. Idaho? Check. Georgia? Check. No pandering going on here! Hilariously stupid quote of the month goes to Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie:

"Who elected these N.C.A.A. people?" Abercrombie said at a news conference Thursday on Capitol Hill while gripping a souvenir University of Hawaii football. "Who are they to decide who competes for the championship?"

Never let facts get in the way of a good time folks! Imagine, private - not public like Congress - interests such as the NCAA determining how their own organizations are run? This is apparently scary stuff for the closet fascist the great people of Hawaii have elected. Best of all Abercrombie doesn't appear to realize that "those NCAA people" aren't deciding who competes for college football's championship, nor should they. It's in the hands of the institutions and the conferences themselves.

Exit question: What, no co-signature from any of Alabama's representatives?

His career line is fairly pedestrian so far, but when your team's getting championship talk and you play in the SEC, your fans inevitably end up doing oddball things.

The motif: Shaft. As seen at DawgSports - can you dig it?

Who's the white quarterback
Who's a pass machine for the Red and Black?
Staff!
You're damn right!

Who's the man who can beat the Gators
Then hoist a keg at Talladega?
Staff!
Can you dig it?

Who's the cat who won't hand off
When he can put Michael Moore in the running for the Biletnikoff?
Staff!
Right on!

They say this cat Staff is a bad quarter---
Shut your mouth!
I'm talking 'bout Staff.
Then we can dig it!

He's a complicated man to all the haters,
But no one understands him but his coordinator.
Matthew Stafford!

"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.

It's 1982 in Georgia, and the most popular things are Herschel Walker, the colors red and black, and porny mustaches. But don't take it from me, take it from this assortment of Herschel Walker, suited dudes, horrifying clown-women, and spaced-out students:



Behold the dignity of fandom!

PORNY MUSTACHE GUY: What does it ["Bulldog Fever"] do for you?
HERSCHEL WALKER: For me? It doesn't do anything.

Woooo!

Why not?

Nothing too spectacular here, but that's just how Georgia likes it on offense. Toss left, toss right, bounce it outside and easy does it for Georgia's new offensive star. As a redshirt freshman (why in the world did they redshirt him!) Moreno rushed for 1334 yards (5.4 average) and 14 touchdowns.

If past is precedent, the sampling below hints at the encore.

(H/T: Get The Picture)

Mercifully this cannot be blamed on the usual bogeymen: global warming and President Bush

"In our league, more and more people are spreading out (on offense), and I think it's happening pretty much around the nation," [Georgia coach Mark] Richt said. "The more (offenses) spread, the less (defenses) play their Sam linebacker. You could play Sam and play a certain team and play maybe 15 snaps or something. And then if you have two Sams who are ready to play, you are splitting time like that."

When offenses spread out their formation, defenses have to replace the Sam linebacker with a defensive back, a player who is expected to be faster and better in pass coverage. With a linebacker in the game against a spread offense, Martinez said, quarterbacks and offensive coordinators know the defense will be playing zone defense, giving the offense an advantage.

"They know a linebacker is not going to play man (coverage)," [Georgia defensive coordinator Willie] Martinez said. "He's going to play zone."

Cry not for the SAM backer, Argentina. We're talking evolution here, not extinction.

From now on, the head coach said, Georgia's strongside linebackers will have to be able to either play defensive end in passing situations or play more than one linebacker spot to ensure themselves playing time.

"You are going to see us more and more where that guy is a jack of all trades," Martinez said. "No doubt, it's a special kind of guy. You want the strength, you want the power, you want the size, but at the same time, you don't want that guy out there in space, trying to defend the spread."

Just the same, the position's changing and wise high school coaches, parents and players will adjust accordingly. This is the trickle-down from the change in the quarterback position at the college level.

Exit question: how long before these changes in the college game manifest themselves on the pro level? The NFL is stuck in its one way of football and has been for the better part of 30 years. Can it continue to resist the changes happening at the college level?

(H/T: Get The Picture)

Georgia has upped the salary of football coach Mark Richt $800,000 to $2.8 million. Here's guessing Georgia's athletic board was willing to pay him much more, but sent a bit of a message with this raise.

Note the coaches ahead of him in pay: Nick Saban, Les Miles, Urban Meyer and Tommy Tuberville. Three of the four have won championships and Tuberville arguably fielded a championship team in 2004.

Now don't get me wrong, Richt is revered around the state right now for making Georgia a consistent top-10 program and few can criticize what he's done. But the pay level is veeeeeeery interesting you gotta admit. I'm no brain surgeon but I think there was a bit of a friendly message sent to Richt here - deliver the goods and we'll pay you like a champion.

His boss, Athletic Director Damon Evans almost admits as much:

"There are some institutions out there that have coaches who have won a national championship, and when you get to that level, that is a different level,'' Evans said.

He'll have that shot this year, with a team expected to be either preseason #1 or #2 in the fall. In the meantime, you can bet he's thrilled with the $2.8 million in cash. He's one of the SEC's true good guys and you won't find many people blinking at this news.

Previously at FanHouse
Recruiting: Mark Richt, Ping Pong Master
Michael Adams' Stupid Playoff Plan is Stupid