Yes, Virginia......Bernie is Coming for Christmas

Surely you've noticed the haste with which this edition has found its way to the foot of your tree. BDB will be taking a much needed break to venture north along that beautiful stretch of interstate between the Mall of Georgia and Petersburg.

The journey may begin Friday afternoon, but between potty stops, gasoline fill ups, the notorious DVD switch from The Little Mermaid to Madagascar, dinner at some Wendy's the '90s left behind, the less popular DVD switch from Madagascar to Cinderella II and a Charlotte NC traffic jam or two .......

It'll be early Saturday morning before the Tahoe loaded to bear with suitcases, Christmas presents and empty french fry containers pulls in to the in-laws. How Santa does it, I'll never know.

News outta Athens this week..........Stafford, Allen, Atkins and Moreno have officially dipped their toes into the waters of the NFL. They'll have until January 15th to decide if the feedback they get is worth putting on their NFL swimsuit a year (or two) early or not. For the best rundown, check out David Hale's Media Notes on his Bulldogs Blog. (BTW - I asked DH about Owens, he said he would check the next time the big guy was available to the media, likely Friday. UPDATE - Bulldogs Blog reports that Owens says he's definitely staying. Use the link to discover another nugget.....)

This week I've begun reminiscing of a few years ago when David Pollack was faced with the decision of forgoing his amateur status for NFL stardom or staying in Athens to study and attend class. Particularly with Stafford and Moreno, there has been this feeling since '06 like they would leave Athens as beloved as any other Dawg. Should they choose to go, it won't take as long to clean out their locker as it did Greene, DJ, Pollack, Musa, Brown....others. Knowshon would leave some breath taking highlights, Stafford some impressive throws. (image SI.com)

When Pollack decided to stay, he became even more endearing to the Bulldog Faithful. Willing to sacrifice a nice paycheck for another year on campus was both enlightening and encouraging amid today's society of instant gratification.

On that day he became Bernie's favorite all-time Dawg. Let's open the phone lines.......Who's your favorite Dawg?

Dawg Bones

• Sounds like CMR isn't expecting any casualties from the classroom heading into Bowl preps. I don't know about you, but I'm anxious to hear the crack! of pads coming from the Butts-Mehre backyard.


• I keep rinsing and repeating, but I just can't get the taste of that poor, poor defensive performance against Tech out of my mouth. And January 1st is still a ways away.


• Take this Techies! UGA graduates enjoy a better value for their post-secondary education. We're not delivering your pizza anymore, we're hiring the high school kids to do it for us.


• Georgia back-up punter Drew Butler is evidently trying to get one of his Sugarloaf neighbors (Matt Ryan) to play a round of golf with Matthew Stafford. Hey Drew, if ya need a fourth......???


• If they do tee it up together, I'm guessing Ryan will fall in line with Archie Manning as advising Stafford to stay. Wonder if Peyton (that makes a great girl's name doesn't it?) and Eli will also get a chance to speak to the Dawg QB.


• TotalUGA.com reports the recruitment of the much sought after receiver Marlon Brown will likely come down to Georgia and the hillbillys. Ohio State among others also are in the mix. If Brown does choose Tennessee it will obviously be because of their new head coach's experience in running a high achieving, professional and respected program like the Raiders.


• Brown is in town on Saturday for an UNofficial visit. Let's hope it goes better than his Official visit, the Dawg's loss to Bama.


• And there is no truth to the rumor that CPJ will use the bulk of his new $17 million contract with Georgia Tech to finance a Dawg fighting operation. BDB has recently learned that the Dawg killer is actually a cat lover. All together now.....Awwww!

Friday's Feedbag

• BREAKING NEWS: BRETT FAVRE MAY RETIRE!


• And in what may be bigger news, Plax hasn't shot himself in the upper thigh in nearly three weeks.


• One of the best games on the entire bowl schedule may be Tuesday night's Poinsetta (did I spell that right Jenn?) Bowl. One of the nation's most powerful offenses in Boise State meets the nation's second best defense in TCU. Both coaches were heavily rumored on the coaching carousel, but got off the same place they got on. It may come down to which team was less distracted.

• BDB is thinking about organizing a winter field trip to see the Vince Dooley tribute. With the weather and the crappy game, just never made it over there the day the Wreck wrecked the streak.


• And you know what's within a couple blocks of the Dooley Tribute........Steve's. Steak and Cheese all the way and a dozen hot wings. OH YEAH!


• Statesboro Anonymous offers THIS LINK to you gentlemen who are waiting to the last minute to buy your wife or significant other a mop or an umbrella for Christmas.


• Six shopping days left reader!

Sudden Death Playoff Trivia - It's been two issues of BDB since the question was asked and we spent some time airing some grievances Monday. Well........turns out BDB does indeed have Seinfeld fans that thumb through its pages. Within hours of Monday's blog posting, we had a number of comments and emails, like .........nearly eight.
YadaYadaYada....Let's get to the prizes. The following made Bernie both chuckle and laugh uncontrollably, in no particular order:

• Erin's Seinfeldism on tabloid reading: "I think that people who read the tabloids deserve to be lied to."


• Nama's favorite episode is obviously The Chinese Restuarant as he submitted several doozies from that early show. Hard to compete with, "You're going by sound? What are we, whales?"


• Fred jumped into BDBs cyberspace with a "play" on The Serenity Now episode, blending it with Auburn's struggles to overcome their own ineptitude: "Mediocrity now!" Well done Fred, well done!


• Cord may hold the Penske file, but that doesn't prohibit him from reaching into The Abstinence episode to grab this classic from Jackie (the Cochranesque lawyer): "Miss Wilkie, your tobacco company has turned this beautiful specimen, into a horrible twisted freak."


• And Joe couldn't decide on just one, there's just so many right? My favorite among his offerings comes from The Marine Biologist, "The sea was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli."

Enjoy your Festivus Pole everyone. At the BDB family dinner, you all will NOT be listed among those who have disappointed me this past year. You're all winners in my book!

Trivia - When Rusty says, "Dad, this tree won't fit in our backyard. " How does Clark Griswold respond? Winner gets a brand new dual bag vacuum....to give to your wife for Christmas. "It's the best vacuum cleaner you'll ever have baby."

And with that another chapter of BDB comes to a close. We'll be back after a long weekend with a special Holiday version of BDB. Until then I leave you with the wise words of George Costanza: "Do you ever get down on your knees and just thank God that you know me and have access to my dementia?"

I'm sure your answer is.......some days.

Gotta run. These pretzels are making me thirsty!

Bernie