WhaddaYa Have on Draft? Part IV

Where will Knowshon go?

With Stafford outta the way at #1, and looks at Byrd and Irvin in the books....the question many Dawg fans will be wondering this afternoon as the draft starts is exactly where their beloved energizer tailback will land.

Much has been made about 24's lack of breakaway speed. Much has also been made about how little that should factor into NFL execs' decisions. But there are two things true Knowshon fans know: he isn't the type to get too caught up in being passed over AND whoever does select him will get a big time player.

After all, what does it matter that a safety can run 24 down if the defender is laying prostate on the turf with two broken ankles? My opinion is that I doubt he falls any further than #21 where the Eagles are perched.

WhaddaYa Have on Draft? Part III

Matthew Stafford will become the first Dawg overall to go #1 in the NFL Drat since 1953 when the 49ers drafted UGA receiver Harry Babcock. So while the Bulldog Nation remains relatively spilt concerning the uber talented QB's accomplishments while in Athens, every Dawg can watch with pride as Stafford is the first player to walk across the stage today at Radio City Music Hall.

Brett Jensen at TotalUGA has some commentary up regarding Stafford's reaction. We'll need to wait a couple years to see if the Bobby Layne curse is officially over.

WhaddaYa Have on Draft? Part II

Stafford is getting lots of ESPN face time this week; I watched him sit down with Erin Andrews and play coy. A few minutes later it was confirmed that he had become richer than cheesecake. And while I'm glad he didn't pull a Brady and slideslideslide...I'm much more intrigued by some other Dawgs looking for a pro bone.

Earlier this week we looked at CJ Byrd heading into the draft. Today look is at Corvey Irvin who helped hold a depleted D-line together last season, starting 11 of 13 games. Irvin is ready to "seize the moment and embrace everything that comes (his) way". Some of the teams who've expressed interest in Irvin: Bills, Lions, Cowboys, Cardinals and Panthers. Hale had a sit-down with the big guy.

When his name is called, Irvin will be in Augusta with family and friends, not too far from his former teammate Byrd. Irvin's lack of significant D-1 playing time may hurt him some, but this great leader will be a welcome addition to an NFL team, as high as third, but likely no later than the 6th or 7th round.

It's Easy to Get Yourself in Quite a Pickle...

...when it's your surname.

Before I go spoutin' off big time phrases like civil disobedience and wrong-headed, I tend to use resources like the dictionary or thesaurus on my desk. If those don't work I just ask Jenn.

Honey, what's a synogomy for bark? I think you mean synonym (sweetheart). Try woof!

You may remember last week when the AJCs Carvellurged CMR to attend signee Chris Burnette's graduation speech. One development this week is that Burnette fell just short of being named his class' valedictorian. Another development was that an NCAA jackhole decided to open his orifice.

David Pickle is the NCAA's managing director of publishing. Which is to say he's about as important in NCAA land as the guy who bagged my groceries today is to my supermarket. Mr. Vlasic didn't like a writer urging a head coach to violate NCAA rules. To be fair though, it's hard to realize the governing body you work for has rules as dumb as doughnuts when your last name is Pickle.

And seriously...civil disobedience? Wrong-headed? 

Paging Mr. Pickle. We need all baggers to the front. All baggers to the front please!

Friday Feedbag

• My favorite posts of the week both come from the Senator's desk yesterday. First he warns us about a potential wardrobe malfunction while seated in Sanford. And secondly, he just reminds us that we had been warned.
• After a quarter century, Exhile's found someone that can adequately explain Star Wars as well as remind us why it's important to hug your kids as often as possible.
• Draft day is tomorrow. Stafford and the Lions seem really serious about each other. Meanwhile, Andrew Miller of BullDawg Illustrated has one final look at Knowshon before he's drafted out of a red and black uniform. Speaking of 24, The Telegraph's own David Hale was on hand for all the tweetosphere as the former Dawg addressed a gathering in New Jersey. (UPDATE: link to the Video Blog. That's a sharp lookin' shirt.)
  
• While some all stars enjoy the glitz and glamour of being selected on a Saturday, others will be hunkered down all weekend amidst friends and family.
• Bernie took a little time this week to plug for an upcoming event that is near and dear. If you missed it, CLICK HERE.
• Of course he also took the time to take in a game at Foley, where the Diamond Dawgshad better luck at home against Kennesaw State than they did on the road against Jacksonville State. The road trip continues today in Oxford. Hopefully the woes have not followed them there.
• The subtle nuances of a vodka cranberry may be lost on TotalUGAs Brett Jensen, but the man has the dish on some early recruiting news for the Dawgs in '10; both in the backfield and in the trenches. 
• BJ Coleman is leaving Rocky Flop because he feels pressured constantly by Coach O to take his shirt off. Reached late Thursday evening Coleman explained his decision to Bernie: "At first it was kinda funny that Ol' Man Kiffin kept forcing me to take drafts from his moonshine jug. But Orgee refused to take no for an answer. I began to suspect there were no longjohns under those overalls either."
• Bernie took it one step further and asked KiffyBaby why Coleman was buried so deep on the depth chart this spring despite the better passing numbers. After a  l o n g  and awkward silence only interrupted by swigs from his sippy cup,junior ignoramus piped up: "Crompton good. Daddy like."
• You spilled a little there kid.

Lastly and most importantly, congrats to Burnette for the classroom achievements. Fess up Reader, the closest you an I came to Valedictorian was the near fender bender in the parking lot before the ceremony.

And I'm glad Richt has applied for the waiver. I mean why forego breathing through your nose just because you're surrounded by a bunch of knuckle-dragging compliance freaks? While folks at the NCAA like Pickle are busy wiping the drool from their chins, Richt can be making a young man's special day even more...specialer.

Is that right honey? Specialer?

Bernie

Let's PLUG This In

I'm about as avid a runner as Chan Gailey was a winning coach. It's always a good idea until you get to the end of the driveway and realize you are only going to get further and further away from the comforts of beer, sofas...and A/C. 

I do enjoy the occasional road race however, and last year I found one that was as enjoyable as any other I've competed...excuse me, AHEM!...completed.

The SCAN Foundation raises much needed funds for Skin Cancer awareness and prevention. Its founder Marilyn Fry, organizes and produces an annual 5K Walk/Run in and around the Perimeter Mall area just north of Atlanta the Saturday before Memorial Day.

It's a great race for serious runners getting primed and ready for the Peachtree. It's also an opportunity for runners like me to reacquaint themselves with optimal heart rates, proper hydration and scenic views other than their television.

You may have heard about the event by way of Vince Dooley's voice on 680theFan as recently as Tuesday. If you are not familiar with Dooley's voice please kindly take your keyboard and smack yourself in the forehead. If you don't even know who I am talking about, please exit this blawg immediately.

When I listened to Dooley's radio plug last year I went straight home and signed up. And boyhowdy am I glad that I did.

They have dermatologists on site before and after the race for free screenings. The dermatologist who checked me out discovered a mole on my back that he recommended I have removed. It was what they call pre-cancerous, so I was not at risk...yet.

I don't have to tell any of you I'm sure that others have not been as lucky. Like Tiffany who bravely inspired everyone in attendance last year with both her words and her steps. Although she won't be able to inspire us directly this year, she will certainly be on our minds as we open up our checkbooks...and lace up our shoes.

So, save the date - May 23rd at 8am. 

Diamond Dawgs Ruffle Some Feathers

Athens drew me home for the first time in quite a while and I took the chance to catch the Diamond Dawgs in action. The Dawgs crossed the plate 11 times and needed nearly every one to hold off the Owls of Kennesaw State.

Post-game on the Perno Show the Dawgs' skipper sounded more than unsure who his bottom of the order should consist of as a complement to the murderers' row at the top.

Indeed, Poythress celebrated Jeff Keppinger's birthday by tying the former Dawg's record for roundtrippers in a game with three. Here's a professional video of his third dinger:

By now you are undoubtedly aware that I forgot my camera...sorry. The Dawgs 7 HRs put them on pace to break the school's record for HRs in a season, before the end of the regular season.

Always willing to embrace controversy, I took a seat along the third base side for most of the game, amidst the spooky Owl fans who had made the ride over. At one point in the 6th I heard one nocturnal fan who had escaped the aviary ask:  Do they play a full nine?

You betcha ya foul fowl. And we also wear jocks and cups at this level too! 

Must be a Cobb Snob. While the bottom of the lineup remains day to day, Perno seemed set on his bat boy...none other than Jared Poythress. Definitely good luck for older brother.

The Diamond Dawgs travel to Jacksonville State tomorrow night (first pitch at just after 7pm) and then travel to beautiful Oxford for the weekend. If you're not in the Jacksonville area tomorrow evening, you can catch all the action on 960theRef.

For a better writeup and better pictures, click HERE.

WhaddaYa Have on Draft?

Great piece by Jensen on CJ Byrd over at TotalUGA. Remember how Byrd stole the show in front of every NFL exec who had flown into Athens to see Stafford and Moreno? Well, now he's getting ready to hunker down with family and friends in hometown N. Augusta, SC and see which team liked him best. 

Monday's Meatloaf - Pondering Life's Toughest Questions

...and others that made the cut.

Weekends bring opportunities to do yard work, grill out, reacquaint yourself with the sofa and watch some pig-tails take another step towards Mia Hamm status. But it's also a time to tackle some real doosies; questions that you don't have time for during the hustle and bustle of weekday madness, present themselves in all their ambiguity, perplexity and malevolence.

This weekend, Conner stood unafraid: 

Daddy, why do gators eat boogers? 

Well Sweetheart, do you have the full afternoon?

I entered into a diatribe full of sinister deeds and malignant mischievousness, but luckily her 7 year old mind took her downstairs to iCarly before I had to lay down the real disturbing facts. But as I told her, it's good to always remind ourselves of how lucky we are not to be simple-minded cretins.

Daddy, what's a cretin? 

Honey, ask your teacher.

Mix together well, cook for one hour at 400, then let sit for five full minutes:

• If UGA Athletics were Dr. Evil, we would be resting our pinkie at the corner of our comically nefarious smirk about now.
• Seriously, a national title from Lincoln, another from Waco, some very strong pitching from Foley, an SEC title from St. Simons,  a 5-2 win in tennis over the voWels at Henry Field Stadium...it was an action-packed, highly successful weekend.
• And it was all enough to make Bernie break out the Punnett Square and get all Mendelian on his Sunday reader.
• In other news, Brendon Todd aced the same hole twice...in the same tournament...on consecutive days. Wonder if the former UGA super golfer then proceeded to max out his credit card buying rounds of drinks at Jennings Mill CC? 
• Aces are nice and showy, but Bernie wonders if Todd's ever impaled a stationary and resting bird with his tee shot? Now that takes skill.
• Not done analyzing G-Day? Belue has a rundown of the QBs post-spring. Speaking of signal callers, is this the beginning of Tebow Jr. talk? 
• If so, gag me with a pair of jorts.
• Joe (aka the Rabbit Hill stalker) reports that Peerless Price is as bewildered by the new regime on Rocky Flop as much as the other volunteer soccer moms at the Dacula complex. But Price has little room to talk after putting his eight year old in those hideously urranjah cleats. 
• Shame Herschel couldn't parlay that Dawg success this weekend into a big hit inside the boardroom. And if I heard correctly, Joan Rivers would like for Herschel to marry her daughter Fake Lips Jr. It reminded me of Munson's greatest call with Herschel substituted in for Lindsay: Run Herschel Run!  
• Although that was not as scary as Trump basically saying he'd like to go to bed with Jesse James. No way to comb over that one.

Big shout-out to Mr. California HamDog himself for scoring Bernie a dinner ticket to next month's meet and greet with Mark Richt. In case you're new to this area, he's Georgia's football coach (Richt that is, not HamDog) and is pretty much the state's rock star. 

I've submitted my questions to Cord for approval and only one was scratched. So I plan to either lead with Would you and Kathryn like to join our supper club? or Can we simulate the endzone celebration dance together after dessert? 

I figure I'd save the one about how awesome it is for him to talk to fans like me for the ride to Stillwater. Shotgun!

Always working the angles for ya reader. Please use a paper plate today. The Bernie family dishwasher is on the fritz and the new one doesn't get delivered 'til Tuesday.

My dishpan hands are soaking in it.

Bernie

Just Sayin'...Dominant Genes Could DOMINATE!

If these two ever produced children.....

It would ensure generations of UGA Athletic heroics perhaps never before witnessed.

• Courtney Kupets becomes greatest collegiate gymnast EVER.
  
• Matt Cerione AGAIN lifts Dawgs over hogs.