Something Very Cool Happened in the Dawgosphere Yesterday

Many of you have probably already read this, if not, you really need to. It's entitled, "What it Means to be a DGD: An Open Letter to Aaron Murray." It's awesome. It started out as a fan post on Dawgsports with a fair amount of views and FB and Twitter shares. Then it got promoted to the main page. Then, well, I think they call it going "viral." As of this morning, it is at over 36,000 FB shares (I read that even for well-read posts that number is usually double-digits, maybe triple), and as of last night it had been viewed over 170,000 times. I knew it was picking up steam when I saw several of my FB friends who don't follow Dawgsports on Facebook sharing it. Pretty cool stuff.

I think T. Kyle King, the founder of Dawgsports, summed it best with his comment on this post:

Thank You, Dawg Haus. At this moment, having just completed reading this, I feel better than I have felt since that awful, terrible, gut-wrenching ending on Saturday night.

Agreed! Thank you, Dawg Haus, for such a superb post. Excellent work. 

Breaking it Down: UGA vs. the wareagletigerplainsmen

Here we go. The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. All-time series knotted up at 54-54-8. The Dawgs come in
winners of 6 of the last 7, but AU comes in as a top-ten favorite. We all know that. And we all know this as well:

G.A.T.A.!

Contrary to what many think, Auburn is not a "brotherly" or "gentleman's" rivalry. Those SOB's turned hoses on us including feeble old people and small children back in 1986. These were not people on the field (who also got sprayed) but rather folks just minding their own business in the stands. That's Auburn.

You know what else Auburn is? Cheaters! That's just how they roll. Shady banks and seedy dog-racing track owners, pay-for-play players, etc. etc. A 10-part series of 400 page books could be written about Auburn's propensity for wanting/having to always cheat in order to get the success that they so desire. I tell you what else Abuurn Auburn is - conflicted, confused, and crazy - they don't even know what they are! Tigers, Plainsmen, War Eagles, Oh My! Of course, they make a big deal about how War Eagle is not their mascot but rather their rallying cry...alright, then. So, I guess that bird that flies around before every home game that everyone refers to as the Auburn mascot is...not their mascot? Okay...so the bird is a living, breathing, flying "rallying cry." Got it, Auburn! Got it.

To me, UGA has five legitimate rivals. And from my perspective, you've got to play a team every year for it to truly be a rivalry game. They are, in order of hatred and disdain and most importantly - who you want to lose to the least - as follows: Tech, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and South Carolina. So I've got Auburn in the middle of the pack so one might wonder, "why do you dislike them so much?" See above.

"flipmode's the greatest."

As for the game itself, I feel pretty darn good about it. Auburn runs the ball well and our defense handles the run well. The zone read stuff is a bit of a wildcard but we've had some exposure to that with Clemson, SCAR, and MIZZOU. So really, I feel that part of the game is pretty good. Naturally Auburn will put some points on the board but I truly feel that our offense can put up more. The one thing that can tip it, of course, is special teams. As we all know, we've had some major issues, and as anyone can tell you who saw Auburn play last week - they've got some real weapons and playmakers in that phase of the game. I think it's going to come down to that and turnovers.

GO DAWGS! G.A.T.A!

The Thursday Treatment and A Trip Around the Dawgosphere

Well, usually I do these things on Sundays, but I didn't do it this past Sunday. In fact, I've only posted once in the last ten days. Sorry about that. What can I say? I've been busy. But hell - we're all busy. As a part of the Dawgosphere now, it makes me truly appreciate the guys like The Senator, Bernie, Tyler, the Lady, and others who are pretty darn prolific with their posting. I tip my hat...

I attended the Appalachian St. game with my wife and daughter. We had a really nice time.It was great to see Aaron Murray break the SEC record for passing TDs. With this, and after the SEC yardage record that was already broken, there's no denying he's the greatest to ever play in the SEC. Well done, AM. You're a Damn Good Dog! It was also nice to see so many backups get some quality playing time in the 2nd half. We're set up nicely next year with Hutson Mason at QB, aren't we? The first half was pretty frustrating though, right? Oh well. It was a big win. 45-6. We'll take it... 

Lots of stuff going on this week...so why don't we take "a trip around the Dawgosphere." 

• Looking at the different teams' strengths, Tyler thinks the Dawgs have an excellent shot at winning on the Plains in a couple of days. I'm inclined to agree. 
• I vividly remember watching this one on TV as an eleven year old boy. What a game. And what a Damn Good Dog! And to hell with Auburn for pulling that crap. T. Kyle King is right - anyone who thinks that Auburn is a "gentleman's" or "brotherly" rivalry just doesn't get it!
• Lugnut over at the Grit Tree is also feeling good about Saturday. 
• What's the best UGA beat writer saying about Saturday? It's the run defense, stupid!
• The Mumme Poll, Week 11. My ballot is very similar but I had OSU instead of tOSU. 
• A very good write-up about the upcoming game over at the GottaSupport'em Blog. I like this guy's stuff - he does a good job.

I'm planning on getting at least a few more posts up before kick-off on Saturday. As I mentioned earlier, I'm feeling pretty good about this one. What does Auburn's O do best? And what does our D do best? Will we be able to score some points on this crowd? Who's currently got the momentum in this rivalry? Those are some of the important questions and the answers are looking pretty good so far to me. We'll see...