All I’ve been reading lately is speculation about what the off-season holds for Georgia’s football program and what Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno are going to do. First, I think it’s premature to start talking about this – there’s still a bowl game to play and a Javon Ringer to embarrass One Scheme Willie on New Year’s Day (Sadly, it doesn’t look like I’ll be making the trip this year – damned economy). Second, I really don’t think we’ll be spared another season of OSW roaming the sidelines. Third, it’s all speculation at this point as to what MS and KM are going to do. I doubt they even know yet. Fourth, we’re not going to discuss recruits because I doubt you’re going to see any impact freshmen coming on the field next season. But that being said, I’ll run my suck about it anyway….

First, I can’t believe that we got a bid to the Capital One Bowl. That can only be attributed to Bama playing a good enough SEC Championship to receive a bid to the Sugar. A blowout by either team there and we’re playing in the Cotton or some other third-tier junk bowl. Send Bama a Thank You card, Dawgs. I haven’t broken down the Spartans yet, but I do know this – I’m terrified of what Javon Ringer might do to the defense that (didn’t) show up against Bama, UF and Tech. I’m not going to make another promise that I’ll break and tell you I’m going to give you a bowl breakdown before game time. I’ll try, but that’s all I have to say about that for now.

I think that Coach will have his way and get to keep Martinez for another season. But I believe there will be mass conditions attached. Like learning to anticipate and make adjustments. And not heading the biggest embarrassment to call itself a Georgia defense EVER. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they shouldn’t can him, but demote him and keep him as secondary coach or something. That’s like the commanding general firing a battalion commander but keeping him as the battalion’s executive officer. He’d have absolutely no respect from anyone, least of all the fans. Having said that, try – as hard as possible – to arrange for this guy to get a head coaching job somewhere. Preferably someone on our schedule….. It’s unconscionable for us to have the top rusher and passer in the conference and lose 3 shootouts like that. Let’s just all hold our breath, cross our fingers and hope for the best. And if anyone knows someone who’s a big booster at a school looking for a new head coach, put in a good word for Willie.

Now, the hot question is whether Stafford and Moreno are coming back. First, I’ve heard that Moreno is very serious about his education and because of that he’ll be returning. If that’s the case, great – we’ll have him for at least one more year. But think about it – how many players have gone out early for the draft and finished their degree later? There’s a lot of money riding on this. There is talk of a rookie salary cap, like in the NBA, coming to an NFL near you next year. Would he (can he) pass on that kind of money? Me, being poor and all, says that 10 mil is as good as 40 mil. But there’s another saying that, “a million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”

Same thing goes for Stafford. The guy is looking at top 5, maybe even number 1 money. He doesn’t want to be the next Matt Leinart (he lost at least 5 spots in the draft by staying in another year). But Stafford has one neither a Heisman nor a NC ring, as Leinart had when he made his decision to stay. And I think he’ll wait to see what some of these other guys are going to do. The Junior Class of college QBs is strong right now, but how many of them will be around next year? How many will he compete with not only on Saturdays, but on Draft Day? He’ll be a late entry, if at all, I think.

I’d like to think that these two fine young men will look at each other and say, “You know, let’s come back behind an experienced, healthy O line and run amok next year. Let’s finish what we started.” That’d be swell, gents. But, I also don’t worry too much if one or either of them go. If I had to choose one to lose, it’d be Knowshon. Yes, I said Knowshon. Samuel will be great if he can hold on to the ball and think a little more. That comes with experience. King will be great if he can get a killer instinct and not think so much. That can be taught. And there’s a host of great backs waiting in the wings to become the NEXT Knowshon.

Matt Stafford has a set of tools in his bag that you can’t teach. As great of a backup as I think Joe Cox is, he just isn’t physically able to make some of the throws and plays that Stafford can. David Greene won more games than any QB in college, even the great Peyton Manning. Who’s got the MVP, Super Bowl ring, and ginormous contract? The guy who’s a physical freak of nature at QB, that’s who. (hint: he wore Orange in college) Besides that, Mike Bobo has shown his love for the pass and the offense has shown great proficiency throwing the ball this season. Even without MoMass, AJ and company will strike terror into the hearts of SEC defenses next year. Add a stud like Stafford delivering the laser beams and you can use the pass to set up the run.

But seriously guys, nobody could really blame you for going pro and chasing the dollars. But you’d be Dooley-esque if you stayed and won a championship next year. Hell, you’d both be solid Heisman contenders and winning that would make you both Herschel-esque (whether you win it or not).

The recruits coming in are really not that important to me. Why? Because we (hopefully) won’t have that many holes to fill next year. Maybe that can be the start of a trend – reloading with RS Sophomores and Juniors rather than starting 4 Freshmen on the O line every 4 years. You can blame the first one on Donnan, this year falls squarely on the current staff. And I just don’t see an AJ or Rennie Curran (i.e., an impact Freshman) coming in this year. The prizes of the class are both QBs and Logan Gray is still a great talent waiting in the wings. Both of those boys will probably redshirt if Stafford comes back. And that’s good, because I’m tired of relying on Freshmen to win championships. The first time it worked, we got lucky and had enough Seniors to overcome them (Coach’s first SEC Championship). This year, it was painfully obvious that talent couldn’t overcome experience AND talent on the other side of the ball.

So, that’s the initial take of a few things I had to get off of my brain. I will do my best to get you guys my breakdown and predictions of the C1 bowl BEFORE kickoff, but again I make no promises. You wouldn’t believe the shit I’m doing at work, especially in a down economy. Maybe I’ll have time to BMWC about that later, too.

Okay, we’ll give this another try. I’m ignoring the little notifier in the tray that tells me that there’s updates available. After last week, I don’t think there’s enough time before kickoff. There isn’t really a good way to do this with WordPress, unfortunately, so just stay tuned and keep hitting the refresh button.

A few interesting things from the day so far. First, I’m impressed with Michigan’s grit and determination. In spite of the fact that I said Wisconsin is a choke team (and they proved me right again), Michigan still had to dig out a gutsy win today. I don’t think that they’re going to win that weak-ass conference, but I think they’ll play in a decent bowl game.

How bout them Rebs? I’ve only seen the highlights of the game, but it looked as if the Gators overlooked them. A loss like that scares me because it gives UGA a cushion before the Cocktail Party. In the past, that’s meant that we dig up a stinker before we meet in Jacksonville and I just don’t see us surviving a stinker. I’m hoping that we already had that one against USuCk.

Ohio State wasn’t that impressive, although they looked better than they have. I think Beanie Wells has a greater psychological effect on opponents than he does in all actuality. Their offense put some points on the board, but their defense still looked dazed and confused.

Okay, here’s the beginning of the coverage. By the way, Lee Corso just picked Bama which is a good omen for us. He picked Bama last year, too. read this entry »

Okay, as I said in my last post this may not make much sense and may not be 100% factual. It’s been 8 months and LOTS of booze since then, so I’ll just give you what I remember and embellish and make logical inferences from there.

I remember going to IHOP for breakfast that morning. After that was done, we went to some sporting goods store (something like Dick’s, but I can’t recall the actual name) to look for flags for the truck. Getting vehicle flags AFTER you’ve arrived for the game is like unzipping after you take a piss, but whatever. I gave in by rationalizing that we weren’t actually in New Orleans, so we could fly the colors on the way into town. Well let’s see – we’re in Louisiana, but not in the town where the game will actually be played. We’re in Louisiana, where they have this little school called LSU that happens to be playing for the National Championship. Next week. In the same city Georgia’s playing their bowl game. Yeah, nothing but purple and gold, with a healthy leavening of Saints gear, as far as the eye can see. Whit asked one of the stock boys if they had any Georgia gear and he looked at her like she asked him if she could shit in the aisle. Nice one, baby! Well, it’s her first game (as an adopted fan) so she gets the pass.

We leave in plenty of time to get to New Orleans. I told her that I wanted at least 3 hours to park, eat and troll Bourbon St. The only other time I was in New Orleans was when I was in the Corps, for a day, on business. I was afraid I’d missed my chance at the One True Happiness, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss out this time. You know, in case it wouldn’t ever occur to me to come back. We got there in perfect time and then drove around a bit trying to find parking (which wasn’t as hard as I thought), then an ATM because I didn’t think to get any cash to pay for said parking (which was more difficult than I thought it would be). We briefly considered parking in the Auto Zone parking lot (which wasn’t explicitly off-limits, and apparently free), but when I saw the sign for the French Quarter pointing in the other direction I killed that idea. So we finally found an ATM, which I had to jump out and use while Whit waited in traffic. Aside, God bless the girl, but she found the idea of going around the block (if traffic actually moved) foreign. I love my Small Town Girl. read this entry »