Thoughts on the Richt Firing

To paraphrase Lewis Grizzard, Mark Richt's been fired and I ain't feelin' too good myself. I'm not going to lie, and even though a time or two the past couple of seasons I've openly wondered if we needed to move in a new direction, I just...don't feel good about it.

Looking back, I think the end was really a year or so into the making. Trying to incorporate "The Process" of Saban and 'Bama into "The Georgia Way" didn't seem like a good fit. I think whatever happened some weeks back - the "incident," or the "altercation" - whatever it was - was a direct result of that. With that said, I wonder if it could have developed into something rather amazing. The infusing of that operations system into ours would certainly be difficult, but what if it reached a point of equilibrium (which, for the record, I think we were right there), and it was going to be the new model in which to run a program. We'll never know now. At least at UGA.

And naturally it was all about money and politics in terms of this firing happening at the time it did. Just a quick back-of-the-envelop calculation will tell you that only about 1/3 of the fan base was really unhappy. In terms of who really made this happen - the high dollar folk - truly just a minuscule percentage. But, like with the political system, the old model still holds major sway at most major athletic departments and the alternate golden rule is in effect. But think about this - the bastards wouldn't even let the fan base have the entire weekend to enjoy the Tech victory. No, their frantic desiring to finally rid ourselves of Richt was too much. You could feel it all the way from Athens. Seriously...

I wish Mark Richt nothing but the best. I love him, and I know many of us do.

And I think T. Kyle King may have been right - if Damon Evans had hailed a cab some time back, things might be very different right now. Of course, you could say that with several other events as well. But...interesting to think about.

In terms of our new coach? Hell, I don't know. We'll get somebody. As I mentioned on Twitter yesterday, I think I'm at the point where I'm going to take on a secondary college team from our great state. UGA will still by my Alma Mater and I will still try to get to at least a few games like I always do, but I'm fascinated by maybe watching a Mercer game. Maybe throwing them a few bucks. The upstart Kennesaw St. program. Georgia State needs all the help they can get. Hey, competition, changing things up, and the free market - always a good thing.

As always, it's a great day to be a Georgia Bulldog.

[GYSB] - The Sunday Treatment, A Trip Around the Dawgosphere, and some thoughts on Richt...

Greetings, fine readers.

Hope it's good out there for everyone. It's been a bit since we've last conversed, and for that, I apologize. To use an electoral term, I had to reset my precincts.

But this isn't about politics. No, this is about the Greatest Program in the History of College Football. Sorry, 'Bama, we know you have a bunch more trophies but you don't have Uga, the Hedges, the Chapel Bell, Downtown, the legend of Herschel, and a few score other things. You've got your own deal. Now, you have The Process. And...it seems to be working out for you. So good for you.

It is in the estimation of this writer that the 2015 version of the Georgia Dawgs will go down as the worst 9-3 team in the history of college football. But hey...better lucky than good, right?

In terms of the Dawgosphere, I think that's a feature I'm going to put on the shelf for the time being. If you're reading this, then you've already read or probably will read the usual suspects. My favs are Bernie, Tyler at GA Sports Blog, and naturally, that esteemed magnificent Jew Lawyer - the one and only one - the Honorable Sen. Blutarsky.

*****

Regarding Richt:

He's our coach. We love him. But let's see what happens in the bowl game. And naturally there's the whole Eason thing to study on. And them o'er boys. They all seem to really like Richt, and their folks, too. There's the money concerns. Coalitions, Alliances, and Power Plays. Shit. Maybe this is a story about politics...

Certainly Richt seems to be living the charmed life; one has to think about that. There's something more to this story that I just can't quite put my finger on...a story from Antiquity, maybe? No. Duality of Man. Evil Richt???!!! } cue the dramatic music { Ha, ha...just having some fun with you, you beautiful, wonderful readers. No, but one certainly has to entertain the idea that perhaps this man's faith is, indeed, helping him.

And finally - I think it was Bernie, or was it Tyler...think it was Tyler, who reminded us that almost every close win this year was a just about a complete redo of any number of Dooley games during the 80's. We all know the formula: solid kicking game, killer D, and an offense that flirted with abomination. As I said, John Lastinger would have felt right at home here, and somewhere George Haffner is smiling...

As the wise one says, "Ain't no tellin'!"

Be sure to visit us on Facebook.

Greetings, Dawgosphere.

We're still out of season and I still have the "Gone Fishing" sign up here at GYSB! but I am at least a somewhat active on the book of faces. Visit our FB page when you get a chance.

Hope all is well. GO DAWGS!

[GYSB] - The Sunday Treatment & A Trip Around The Dawgosphere: G-Day Edition

- Go You Silver Britches -

Spring practice culminated and finished with the annual G-Day game that was played yesterday at Sanford Stadium in front of approx. 45,000 folks. The "Black" team (2nd-string O; 1st-team D) defeated "Red" 24-17. I got to listen to some of it on the radio and after talking with a few folks who were there and reading a few recaps, I think I've got a pretty good handle on things: 

• Faton Bauta seems like he really wants to surprise everyone and end up taking the starting QB job. He had some pretty good numbers (171 yards with a TD) and some beautiful passes yesterday. Ramsey did well for himself, though, and one would have to think he's still probably unofficially the #1 guy as we wind our way through the Summer and get ready for August camp, though Richt has made clear that there is no starter for this team at the moment. By all accounts, Jacob Park at least revealed himself to be a semi-challenger for the job after having an underwhelming Spring practice. 
• Keith Marshall and Sony Michel were both unavailable due to injuries and Chubb, smartly, was only used very sparingly, so most of the running was done by sophomore A.J. Turman who, by many accounts, looked very impressive - grinding out some tough, hard yards and picked up a couple of TDs to boot. I'd think this young man will see at least some nominal playing time this season if he stays healthy. 
• Was bummed to see Isiah McKenzie hurt his hamstring on that beautiful TD catch and run he had, but he should be fine by the Summer. We'll be needing him to be the other go-to-guy besides Malcolm Mitchell. And Lord knows - we need Malcolm to stay healthy this year! We lost a lot of gunpowder at the WR position. One plus though - now that we've got Brian Schottenheimer as our OC, you know we're gonna be seeing lots of action with our tight ends and probably a lot of short and intermediate passes...with a whole bunch of running the ball! 
• Defense? Man, that D is lookin' righteous, y'all. Top to bottom, this looks like a D that, stat-wise, could compete with the 2011 bunch. Very exciting... 

All in all, I'd say it was a very good day for the Dawg Nation. How long 'til Summer Camp starts? 

Not much has been posted about G-Day from the other DawgBloggers yet, but there has still been some great posting this past week. Let's check the pulse of the DawgNation and take...

A Trip Around the Dawgosphere: 

• From the Senator: the real meaning of G-Day
• Speaking of Bluto, here is his first take of the Spring Game. 
• One of my favorite UGA bloggers, here is a nice write-up about spring practice from the Lady Sportswriter. 
• And here's a write-up of last weekend's scrimmage. 
• And lastly, here's a nice piece about G-Day from ESPN's Schlabach

GO DAWGS! 

[GYSB] - The Sunday Treatment & A Trip Around the Dawgosphere - Spring Practice Edition

- Go You Silver Britches -

Oh hey! How ya been?

I forgot to put up my - "Closed for the Season" sign up as I usually do cover the Hoop Dawgs a good bit and then we'll wait until after Spring Football Practice is over until I go on hiatus, but I sort of already did that.

I had two different people ask me in the past three days why GYSB had been so quiet. There's no good answer other than the usual suspects: no-accountedness, rascalism, laziness, and maybe being too busy with a few other things and life and such.

Anywho, here I am. And it's great to be back.

What I've told these folks and others is that while I'm not actively blogging GA football right now, I do like to keep up-to-date during this all-too-important time of year. So, let's do it... 

A Trip Around the Dawgosphere:

• The one and only - The Senator. No stats? I think Evil Richt is coming back. I love that thought...
• Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Herschel and Chubb, FTW! 
• Got to always check in with them Grit Tree Boys. 
• And a sidebar: looking forward to next year's Hoop Dawgs 

I might post after G-Day. After that, once the pre-season mags come out and we're getting geared up for Summer Camp, I may or may not get semi-active. Options, people, I got all kinds of options... 

GO DAWGS! GATA!!! 

Are we seeing the beginning of the end of the Fox era? No. But...

UGA 68 - AU 69
ESPN write-up
ESPN box score

After a big win vs. aTm a few days ago, our Hoop Dawgs found -once again- a way to lose to an inferior opponent while looking pretty bad (and at times good) throughout the contest.

For a concise write-up we turn our eyes to Hoop Dawg, the Sen. Bluto of B-ball, who pulls no punches and, per usual, just tells it like it is:

"After Auburn graciously tossed the ball the length of the court and out of bounds with 1.8 seconds left, Georgia had one last look at the rim, trailing the Tigers 69-68.  Unfortunately, the Dawgs couldn’t get the ball in to anyone close to the basket...Auburn won the game and erased any good mojo that UGA might have been feeling after their win in College Station earlier this week."

A few weeks ago I felt pretty good about 10 SEC wins getting us into the big dance, but I'm thinking with this stumble that the number has been pushed to 11.  That means we have to go 4-2 over these next 6 games. Can we do that? Sure. Will we? Hard to say at this point. Gotta play UK again, and one has to figure that will be a loss.

Obviously there's a lot of questions being asked. I like Fox. But I also see that he's stubborn as a mule and the realist in me thinks that his time as our coach may be nearing the end. I hope not, but...you know.