As I write this, UGA is riding a 14-point lead over MSU with about 4 minutes left in the game. I was at lunch watching the first half and my honest opinion is that aside from stupid turnovers, we've played a very solid one so far. This is especially true in the areas of fouling and ball movement. I've seen a lot of inside play and great passes to create openings. It also doesn't hurt to keep beating our opponents on the boards.

Takais is having a very solid game as he has racked up 17 so far. ANOTHER great pass to share the rock as Newman drove in and dished it to Stukes for a 3-ball. We are really having great court vision today, and Stukes is no joke right now shooting the rock.

It's now 81-64 with a little over 2 minutes left. We've pretty much locked this one up and I say if it's still a 15-point lead with over a minute and a half left, we rest the starters and get some other guys quality minutes. However, MSU just hit two 3's in a row and have cut it to 13.

Game's over. The starters never got to truly rest, but it's all good. Big win for the Dawgs today.

I'll be honest; if we go into Rupp and play solidly off the glass, move the ball well, and shoot like we just did, we MIGHT have a chance. Rupp is one of the toughest places to play in the SEC, if not the toughest, and the fans there know what's at stake. We're playing for the second spot behind Florida, a decent seed in the SEC Tourney, and a trip off of the bad side of the bubble. Their fans know this because Kentucky is going after the exact same things (excluding the bubble part).

I'm really pumped about the fan support I saw on television. We had a good crowd in there today and the fans (especially the students) showed up for some support. All in all, a very solid win for the program today to ensure Felton does NOT have a losing season in the SEC this year.

As PWD said in his Ole Miss recap, you never really know which team is going to show up this year. The SEC is tough on the road and we could play our best game in Rupp and still walk out with a loss. However, if we play solid basketball like we did today, we'll definitely have a shot.

In a side-related note, it's obvious I have not been blogging as much, but I did want to take the time to say thanks to some of the Web sites that have linked up the South Park characters for the College Football Conferences that I sent PWD about a week ago. It's brought a lot of new people to the site, and I really encourage any new visitors to leave me a comment or send me an e-mail at KitZeus99 [at] aol.com with any thoughts or impressions you have.

Big thanks for the links need to go to:

PWD
Brian Cook with AOL Sports Blog
Scott with the Georgia Tech Sports Blog (he spells my name wrong, but hell, he DID go to Tech)

Also, it should be noted that I'm not the person who created the South Park Coaches Parody, so if you are, please leave me a note or shoot me an e-mail so I can give credit where credit is due.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

Labels: Men's Basketball

It seems that PWD has posted the e-mail I sent him the other day of the South Park College Coaches. He's only posted the ACC so far, even though all coaches of every conference were parodied. I'll shoot him a quick line so hopefully he can get them all up there; or at least the ones that are funny enough. You really need to see the one of Nick Saban.

Well, I said in the last post that I was tired of trying to post every day. And I was correct. For a while, work was just too much, I was traveling every weekend, and the added post-holiday blahshit was overwhelming.

The good news is I'm feeling very well rested and I've got a little bit of shit to say for the time being. Also, since PWD was kind enough to generate a lot of traffic to my corner of the internet, I kind of need to post.

So, here's my thoughts on the Men's Basketball team...

Everyone knows about Mike Mercer going down in the game against South Carolina. I didn't think the injury looked that bad on TV, but the way Mercer reacted made it come across much worse. Props to Coach Felton for acting like a good parent and running out there to give the kid some support while he was getting "readjusted" on the court. Now THAT was not a pleasant experience for him. The good news is the knee injury wasn't as severe as previously thought. I doubt he'll be back in time for next season, and if it were me, I'd hold him out anyway since we'll need a solid PG after Gaines leaves.

Of course, we need people to step up for right now. I think today in the victory vs. Auburn, we showed that we've got the kids to do it (but we have to cut down on the stupid fouls). Humphrey has been pushing for more and more playing time all year and I think he's always been good, but maybe was in Felton's dog house for some reason or another. Woodbury has shown tendencies to be a solid guy from 13+ feet and there's not much else to say about Takais Brown other than "damn..."

Truth is, the only problem I have with our team is that other than Takais, we don't have solid inside play. Dave Bliss has been quasi-consistent all year, but that's because he's been able to rest more. Newman also fits in that hot or cold category even though he has the heart to be the best. At this point, I can't stand the play of Singleton and I hope Albert Jackson can learn to be a Center in a hurry. He racked up a total of 2 minutes today in a game where we once had a lead of 21 points. You mean to tell me when we're up by 20, this kid can't get in there? He played only 2 minutes today. Something's up with that. Either he sucks or he's another Felton dog house resident.

Dantzler said it perfectly when he listed us as being on the good side of the bubble. Since the West is atrocious right now, I expect us to go into the SEC tourney and make it to the second round. If we win 2 more games and finish 9-7 and then move into the second round of the tourney, I see us as a lock. However, our schedule looks like this:

Ole Miss (away)
Mississippi State (home)
Kentucky (away)
Tennessee (home)

Road wins have been tough to come by all season in the SEC. Couple that with road games at Ole Miss (one of the hottest teams in the SEC, and subsequently the leader of the West) and Kentucky (b/c Rupp Arena is such an easy place to play at), and you're looking at possibly both being losses. Mississippi State on paper tends to be a hot or cold team and the good news is we get them at the house. My opinion is that the final game against UT makes our season. I think it's feasible to see us as an 8-7 team going into that game, and a win really helps our case. What doesn't help our case is that UT was blown out of the water today against South Carolina, who SUCKS, and UT beat the hell out of us in Knoxville. The good news is Vandy beat Florida today, which should certainly help our cause I would assume. Rivals and everyone else is saying a Vandy win hurts us, and I can see that too, but our resume needs quality wins (and losses) in a tough league. By us beating Vandy earlier in the year and then having Vandy beat Florida tells me that we're a good team. However, I don't choose the field of 65.

Anyway, it is all going to boil down to the SEC tourney. We could win one of the next four or four of the next four and if we lose in the first round to a lowly SEC West team, it's not going to help. If we only win one of the next four, but go three rounds deep, we might be fine.

Hopefully we can make it to the second day once the tourney rolls around. I think if we do that and win two more games, we're a lock. Let's hope Felton gets the wins because I do think he's a good coach and a good leader for those kids. He hasn't always said the brightest things regarding fan support, but he seems to be on a much better path right now.

Questions/Concerns? I don't care.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

I had the pleasure of doing some cruising with The Song Writer this past weekend on a mixer run, and he played the John Mayer tune "3x5" for me on his "this makes me think of Athens" CD. I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Mayer, even though I find his music on the good side of tolerable. The lyrics for most of his tunes never knocked my socks off, but for some reason this tune really strikes a chord with me (HA!).

Anyway, to put it bluntly, I need a small break from writing. I love writing. I really REALLY do, but right now I'm just tired. All of my thoughts lately have poured into my tucked-away-in-the-corner-of-the-internet blog, and I have nothing much to say about anything regarding UGA. It sucks we lost to Florida last night (Wednesday) and I think we're a bubble team at this point.

But past that, and some thoughts on the recruiting class, I just don't have much to say that isn't personal, and so I'm just not going to blog. Until April, it would be wise to stop by maybe once a week and see what I think about random UGA stuff. Other than that, I'm just not going to bring heat. For that kind of stuff, go see PWD or The King.

Yes, I have been drinking.

Anyway, for thoughts on my recruiting class, see the below correspondence of e-mails between myself and someone who also loves UGA football. Enjoy!

Friend: "What are your thoughts on this year’s class? Are you concerned about losing in-staters?"

Me: "First of all, sorry for the delay in replying to your e-mail. When you sent it I was slammed at work on top of waiting in anticipation for the signatures of Chris Little (which I had been hearing the rumor about for a couple of days) and Logan Grey (who I believe was just a late signature).

Secondly, I really have one thought on the class and that is we have done what we needed to do, which is leagues better than the past couple years. We addressed our needs (particularly OL) and spread that class over about 3 or 4 years in some cases. The JUCO guys can come in and compete for playing time immediately and possibly start (cue: Vince Vance), while the prep guys are ready for action off the bench and could grow into starters (cue: Justin “Bean” Anderson). The other guys can all contribute meaningful playing time, and I imagine those that are not ready to go immediately will be red-shirted and will grow into being more sound players.

We needed another RB, which was taken care of when Caleb King signed (hopefully he’ll qualify), and even if Israel Troupe runs to the MLB (let’s hope he doesn’t), we still have Walter Hill as a very good grab for us. We did OK at DB and Safety, and I think we had a great team guy in Rennie Curran, and possibly a guy with some upside that no one else sees in Charles White. That guy (White) seems to live UGA football and I want a guy with heart like that.

One funny thing about Curran is that a friend of mine is his Spanish teacher and word from her is that he slacks a little in class, but he’s a funny, good kid, that tends to be a bit cocky. That instantly reminds me of another guy I met in college and his name was David Pollack. Curran has recruited for UGA all the way up until signing day and if his work ethic is anything remotely close to his leadership abilities, we might be looking at a locker room leader for the defense.

Returning back to the offensive side, I think Aron White was a good grab, but the person that seems to have the biggest upside was Bruce Figgins. He impressed a LOT of people at the All Star game and they say his blocking skills are VERY good.

The only black eye was losing Greenlee which some (mainly Chad Simmons) thought was a lock to UGA. The truth is, he had been soft the whole time and everyone was a little worried about it, regardless of how “solid” to UGA he says he was. He went to FSU because 1) He didn’t know Searels enough to want to play for him 2) He loved Trickett at FSU and 3) The promised him playing time, which is something we couldn’t do. You earn your playing time at UGA and they’ll be upfront with you about that. However, FSU has been known to tell kids exactly what they want to hear.

All in all, I’d rate our class where everyone else has. I think we’re top 10, but it’s not “sexy” by any means. It gets the job done and sets us up for a great 2008 and 2009, which is really what we’re targeting.

What do you think?"

Friend: "Well I’m a firm believer that games are won and lost in the trenches, so like you said, we filled an immediate need there. But my concern is how that became an immediate need. Donnan f’ed up on OL recruiting, so Richt had to make up for that. But this time around is Richt’s own fault. And while I realize attrition plays a big part, it’s still bothersome that we’ve had misses OL recruiting wise. How in the world we did so well record wise with Inman as a 4 year starter is beyond explanation. But maybe that situation also speaks to our lack of a solid game to game running attack. Between that, Richt’s decision to not give the rock to anyone 20+ times a game, and his speed draw BS run calls. Sometimes I look at our games and wonder why any premiere RB would sign with us. But I digress.

For all the accolades that Meyer is getting at UF, he’s looking at the same OL problem we had. From the Goff years we know that skill players don’t win championships without the big uglies in the middle. I’ll be interested to see the work Stacy Searels does. But I’m not a Martinez fan. He gets a lot of credit for the last 3 games, but the opposing team’s implosions had as much to do with that as anything. And I don’t attribute those implosions to his scheming.

I’ll always remember Brandon Miller now in regards to recruiting. The can’t miss prospect who has had the same affect on the team as my grandmother. Our entire LB corps, sans Tony Taylor, has played like a bunch of girl scouts. I’m looking forward to the speed of the new guys, ie Ellerbe and the redshirts.

Sorry for the randomness. It’s been a long day."

Me: "I understand your concern but I think it pretty much breaks down like this:

1) Richt knows the recent OL problems have been the fault of him and his staff missing out on guys without having a solid backup plan. They also realize that to fill immediate needs, you need JUCO guys to plug holes.
2) Meyer’s class is attractive on paper. They’re fast, they’re playmakers, and they’re superstars. However, they’ve got no one to block for them and on defense, it didn’t seem to be the stellar year of recruiting they expected. Watching Charlie Strong do his thing is going to be interesting.
3) The reason we’re signing running backs that are playmakers is because they understand the changes are a’ coming. Bobo is more aggressive than Richt and has plays a little bit less safe than Richt does in his playcalling scheme. He looks for weaknesses and looks to take advantage of said weaknesses. Look for an Auburn ’04-type of scheme where we’re throwing to backs in the flat and utilizing Sutherland even more than usual (as if that’s even possible). If we can cut down on the drops in the WR corp and have one of the TEs step up (the Duke seems to be the guy right now), we’ll have an offensive powerhouse with Stafford at the helm.
4) Defensively, I think we’re in a little bit of bad shape in some areas. There’s no way Brandon Miller should be playing LB. Everyone knows it. He knows it. The NFL knows it. He’s too big and fast not to be playing DE. It’s just the way it should be. There’s been talk of him making the switch. I’m hoping it happens.
5) Searels is aggressive like Bobo. The reason Greenlee signed with FSU is because they promised him playing time, which is something Searels won’t do (along with Richt). You earn it at UGA and as long as they can convey that message to the new guys, we’ll be fine. They will want to get on the field early. All kids do nowadays.

Feel better?"



Until next time kids.

Be safe.

No "walk of shame" here folks. None at all. I successfully survived a Super Bowl/Birthday weekend yet again. It's a challenge every year. Well, maybe not the Super Bowl, but definitely the birthday part. Those that know me would find it completely ridiculous to say that I don't crave attention, but stick with me for a second...

Every time I've been in the "spotlight" it was for an event or because I had to be. I was doing the Rooster Call, hosting a date auction, halloween contest, or something of that nature. However, I REALLY don't like a focus being placed on me and soley me. It flat out makes me uncomfortable in a way that I can't even describe. But, it only happened twice this weekend and that's all a guy can ask for.

The game itself was quite "OK" for me. I think the weather screwed with things to a level that most people didn't expect, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how the Colts managed that game. The Bears, on the other hand, had no gameplan whatsoever in any capacity. Defensively they gave up everything underneath and offensively...well, they had Rex Grossman.

The commercials left a little to be desired since only a handful of them made me really laugh. Anyone else want to "boo" when they saw the commercial for the Sales Genie? Yeah, I think I actually might have. Now, I do believe that Coca-Cola missed a geniune opportunity when they played the following commercial about historical African-American achievements. See for yourself...



Then, they missed this golden opportunity...


Try Coke Blak. We named it for you.

Was that in poor taste? It's quite possible.

Anyway, the good news is we've got National Signing Day tomorrow for college football and I don't care at all if our recruiting class is not at the top of the heap. The truth is we have addressed all of our needs accordingly and any big names added on at the end of the day is just icing on the cake. Don't forget that David Pollack, David Greene, and Thomas Davis were all much less than 5-star players. It's how our kids respond to our coaches that make them great. I'll take a 2-star guy with heart and determination over a 5-star kid who thinks he deserves everything without putting a foot on a college playing field.

Either way, if our kids that have committed stay that way, then we'll be fine. It's not flashy, but it serves its purpose. Trust me on this one.

Well, I think I'm spent, ladies and gentlemen. I'd love to say you'll be hearing more from me, but I don't feel much like blogging, so all I'll promise is that when I feel like writing, I will.

Thanks to everyone who left me well-wishes for my birthday. Even though I TRULY hate that day with every ounce of my being, it's great to know that people care enough to tell me that they're happy I made it one more year.

In other news: I had a dream last night that the cheerleader form Heroes was my girlfriend. Then I got a call from Satan saying that he had my room reserved...

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

I usually do quick hits to talk a lot about UGA sports in a small amount of space, but today my mind is wondering off in so many directions that I figured "Why not do a quick hits about me?"

Well damn it, I guess I will.

1) There are three days I truly hate with every inch of my being. The first is New Years Eve (night more specifically...at midnight...so technically New Years Day), the second is Valentine's Day, and the third is another day not to be named. I just don't like the pressures that each day tends to bring.

2) I recently noticed that when I try to really talk to a girl, I suck at it. BUT if I'm trying to hook a friend up, I become a world-class salesman. Those that can't do, teach.

3) I'm tired. All. the. damn. time.

4) Vegas trip is coming along quite nicely. I love the Vegas.

5) In one sports-related tidbit, the Dawgs play Vandy in Nashville on Saturday night at 7:00 PM. I'm f'ing PUMPED about that.

6) I think I've got almost all of my resolutions finalized for 2007. Here's what I'll be working on:

• Lose weight (who doesn't have this one?)
• Be an all around better person (be nicer to people, not curse so much, stay more calm when dealing with dumbasses, etc.)
• Not partake in "adult relations" until I'm actually in a relationship (this will be difficult...and is now really embarrassing since my Mom "secretly" reads my blog)
• See my Dad more often
• Find a regular place to crash when in Athens
• Save $10,000 in savings by this time next year (this is more feasible than you think, which is exciting)

I think all of those are quite doable and most likely need to be done more than want to be done. We'll see how it goes.

And I think that finishes me up for the weekend. I'll be out of pocket most of the time due to being really hungover because of special circumstances. We'll talk later. I promise.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.