Countdown to Signing Day…4

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Da'Rick Rogers may or may not be committed. But plenty of other options and opportunities at WR in this class. In order of what I project our chances are at signing, here are those not named Da'Rick:


First and foremost, Michael Bennett
6'3", 185
Alpharetta
Bennett has been committed to Coach Richt since early summer and will make that official on Wednesday. He may not have the breakaway speed of some of the others in this class, but he is a well rounded prospect with good hands.



Jordan Akins
6'3", 180
Union Grove HS, McDonough GA


Akins is a two sport star who is down to Georgia and Central Florida. He is heading down to Florida this weekend after visiting Athens a couple weeks ago. Akins will need to add more size to play 'tween the hedges, but has great play-making skills that will make it hard to keep him off the field.  One factor that could tilt Akins in our favor is the opportunity to play for both Coach Perno and Coach Richt. His announcement should come before Wednesday.





Christian Green
6'2", 185
Tampa Catholic HS (FL)

Like our dear AJ, this Green will add on another 20lbs or so to fill out his frame. Also like AJ, Christian is his state’s own #1 HS prospect. Until then, (like Akins) his blocking downfield will be a liability. And we know the value CMR and staff put on blocking. However, he definitely has the athleticism and play-making ability to avoid a red-shirt. Played a lot of QB in HS, so his skills may be more raw than some other prospects. But Green would be a big catch. He's down to Athens and Tallahassee.





Kadron Boone
6'1", 195
Trinity Catholic HS (FL)

Boone is a Texas Tech commit that cracked the door open after the head pirate walked the plank. Although he is quick to point out that he remains a Red Raiders, many other schools are believed to be in contention this late: Georgia, West VA, Louisville and LSU. Boone has visited each campus with the exception of Baton Rouge, which is where he's heading this weekend. This biggest asset Boone seems to have is hands of glue.

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Keeping Up Appearances

In the wake of the Derek Dooley hiring in Knutsville, it seems most people are either ridiculously unencumbered by it or are somehow comfortable with it. I’m not normally one to harp on things, but this itches in a place I just can’t seem to scratch. If you’ll amuse me for a few paragraphs, I promise to put this on the back burner by end of business today. If you can’t stand any more words on this subject…feedbag’s below. Strap it on.

For one, the hire itself is a slap on the snout, a kick in the tail. Dooley is a Dawg name, not a mutt with blue ticks. If Mike ThumbuphisDumbass Hamilton wants to tell his constituency Dooley was his first choice, fine. Whatevs. We can see through the madness. This was a reach, a grasp for a name.

I guess Joe Lombardi has an unlisted number.

For two, there’s Vince Dooley’s response to his son getting the keys to the urranjah jalopy. Blather on all you want Reader about family pride and wanting your kids to enjoy success. But when you still represent Glory Glory and take up residence in Athens and Butts-Mehre, there’s at least an appearance of impropriety when you hum Rocky Flop. And it’s the appearance that you’re wearing an obnoxious color conservatively and quietly pulling for your son as the head coach at HillBilly U, all the while serving as the great ambassador for the nation’s oldest land grant university.

In his Playbook Dooley, a notorious worrywart, relates Herschel’s first game in every anxious detail. Using Broadway (a backup) to punt from our own endzone…late…clinging to the lead. Despite an earlier shankopotomous, Broadway booms a 47 yarder. The defense holds. Eventual national championship and perfect season still intact.

The passion with which Coach Dooley depicts that historic game, the gut-wrenching drama that unfolds in each paragraph…the man bleeds red and black. Yet, he’ll be conservatively wearing urranjah on Saturday October 9th. He’ll quietly be cheering for that blue-ticked hound. He may even hum a few bars of ol’ rocky flop.

All from his University of Georgia box. I can't help but wonder how Herschel feels about that?

the Friday Feedbag

• Speaking of #34, I wouldn't wanna be Greg Nagy tomorrow night. And T Kyle King's not sure how he feels about it.
• An American recluse and absolute genius passed away Wednesday. Jerome David Salinger gave us Holden Caulfield and then left the bestsellers list leaving readers wanting more.
• It's no fun to be yellow.  Maybe I'm not all yellow.  I don't know.  I think maybe I'm just partly yellow and partly the type that doesn't give much of a damn if they lose their gloves.  ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye. Just my humble one...but I think that was written for the kids on North Avenue. 
• The new voWels coach won’t have a DC until after most recruits have signed the letters of intent (h/t Senator).
• Color me shocked!! that Tebow has struggled taking snaps from a center who is uncomfortably close. Exile has the problem diagnosed.
• PWD looks at the next few basketball games and Daugman looks at what went wrong in Gainesville.
• Still have a couple of spots left on my team at Smartest Bulldog. Unfortunately I had to kick one reader off the team because the dimwit thought Herschel was a former basketball player and that our stadium was named after a Pac-10 team.
• Dawg commit Da’Rick Rogers’ QB is officially in the balance for the HillBillys. Which in turn muddies the waters of Rogers’ eventual LOI next Wednesday. Here's Dean Legge’s take on the lastest events ($$).
• The Diamond Dawgs will begin the season ranked #22 in Baseball America’s Preseason poll. Perno’s squad begin the 2010 campaign in Waco against Baylor February 19th in the QTI Apparel Opening Weekend Classic.
• In the midst of all the excitement about a new defensive coordinator, Groo reminds us of another major off season storyline.
• the Senator compares some interesting numbers.
• And if you missed this earlier in the week, go catch Leather Helmet Blog’s interview with Georgia DE Reuben Faloughi.

Trivial Update

Q - On January 27, 1785 the Georgia Assembly gave birth to the University of Georgia, the nation's first state supported school. On February 13th, 1786, the trustees elected Abraham Baldwin the first president of UGA. What city did this take place in?

A - Augusta.

The day after Founders' Day proved to be a good one for @shainam, as she was the only tweep to answer correctly. Shaina takes home a Yale pennant and a big slice of red velvet cake. Meanwhile, for buzzing in first @TraceyLMJ gets one of those cool wigs the dudes wore back then to cover their ginormous foreheads.

My wife often tells me I have my Dad’s sense of humor. She usually points this out when I find something ridiculously off the wall humorous, so I always take it as a compliment. Truth is, there’s many things I get from him…other than my dashing good looks. And until I too break 80 on the links, the greatest gift may be an appreciation of a good book. One of his favorite writers is Walker Percy. My favorite book has a foreword by Percy - A Confederacy of Dunces. Tragic story behind that, maybe you know it.

And in the 7th grade, the old man allowed me to read The Catcher in the Rye. The buzz in 2nd period at Clarke Middle back then was that it had all the good cuss words. As did half of the class I quickly marked it down on my book order form, the one that came once a month. Later that night, my mom frowned then passed the form to Dad. He said he wouldn’t buy it, but that I could read his copy.

Decades later, it’s not the new cuss words I learned that have stayed with me; it’s that Holden Caulfield was someone most teenagers could relate to. From his pubescent awkwardness to his distrust of adult interference, his first person experiences shook me to the core.

JD Salinger had a gift he was only willing to share a handful of times. But without him we wouldn’t have met Holden, the kid who took Huck Finn's lunch money and bought a pack of cigs with it. The kid who spat in the eye of phonies, much to our amusement and liking. The kid who taught me that there's more to life than learning creative uses for the F word. 

Now go call somebody a moron Reader. They hate it when you do that.

Bernie

Countdown to Signing Day…6

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Six days left. Gonna try to have as much recruiting stuff up as possible the next few days and will be blogging live from Butts-Mehre a week from today. But, for today…thought we’d look at where we stand going into the last week. Namely, who’s committed.

And by committed I mean in the new age D-1 prospect way, of course.

Defensive Commits Baker, Demetre OLB 6’0” 200 Orange Park (FL) Burrows, Brandon DE 6’3” 235 Walton Deas, Marc S 6’0” 180 Osceola (FL) Rogers, Deon OLB 6’2” 190 Treasure Coast (FL) Fields, Jalen DE 6’5” 251 Dalton Hamilton, Jakar * S 6’1” 198 Georgia Military Morant, Dexter DE 6’6” 230 Manning (SC) Ogletree, Alec S 6’3” 212 Newnan Ogletree, Zander MLB 5’9” 202 Newnan Owens, Derek CB 6’1” 175 Andrew Jackson (FL) Robey, Nickell CB 5’7” 165 Frostproof (FL) Smith, Garrison DT 6’3” 255 Douglass Stripling, TJ DE 6’6” 215 SW Dekalb
Offensive Commits Benedict, Brent OL 6’6” 290 The Bolles School (FL) Bennett, Michael WR 6’3” 185 Alpharetta Houston, Kholton * OL 6’5” 270 Buford Malcome, Ken RB 6’0” 215 SW Dekalb Mason, Hutson QB 6’3” 200 Lassiter Rogers, Da’Rick WR 6’2” 197 Calhoun *early enrollees

Some somewhat random defensive thoughts:

• Definitely a defensive heavy lineup, but we lost more on that side of the ball as well.
• I like the number of front seven commits we have, 7 of 19 so far. Eight of 19 if you include Alec Ogletree, who should eventually see some time that close to the line of scrimmage.
• In fact, Alec seems the type of player that will create his own position…I hope.
• Speaking of the Ogletrees, it seems Zander will get his first look at FB.
• With a new coaching eager to use abled bodies, having some young aggressive talent will be a good thing.
• Given the change in base scheme, DEs and OLBs are as interchangeable as brands of alkaline batteries.
• The secondary commits don’t jump out at you, other than Ogletree of course.
• Robey has been in the news a lot. I think it comes down to West Va and UGA, but he’s set to ride in KiffyBaby’s limo this weekend.
• If he drops us, not a big loss (pun intended). Here’s what Mackie did, playing off of a PWD tweet.

Some somewhat random offensive thoughts:

• Lots of people would like to see more linemen, and I usually number myself among them. But (correct me if I’m wrong)…we only lost Vance from last season’s roster.
• And the two we have in Houston and Benedict will be great players. Both are smart and hardnosed.
• Da’Rick becomes an important signee. If he chooses Rocky Flop over Athens in the final hour, this class drops.
• And while dropping in the much too publicized recruiting rankings is something that I don’t concern myself with…Rogers would be an immediate playmaker at receiver.
• I watched Malcome play once this year and was impressed. Losing Mack Brown to gayturdsville and Lattimore to whoever the hell he chooses doesn’t bother me so much.

Like I always say, if they don’t wanna be a Dawg…I don’t want em ‘tween the hedges.

What are your thoughts?

Super Bowl Dawgs

So we have our Super Bowl set, the last football we’ll see until G-Day in Athens. This matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts should be a good one. Both teams have high powered offenses, so it’ll probably come down to who can create the turnovers and play the best defense.
Maybe you’re like me and have trouble getting as fired up about professional football as you do college. So I thought we’d look at the Super Bowl through our red and black glasses in an effort to generate some interest.
For the Colts, we have Tim Jennings as the lone Dawg. I was a little surprised when I didn’t see Marcus Howard’s name on the roster, but evidently he’s moving to Nashville as part of the Tennessee Titans going into next year. Jennings had 57 tackles this season and three interceptions, giving him 161 and 4 respectively for his career.
For the Saints, we have Jon Stichcomb and Charles Grant. Unfortunately, Grant is currently on the IR with a torn triceps. Stinchcomb however is largely counted on to provide running room for Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush as well as give Brees time in the pocket against some of the league’s fiercest pass rushers. In the Super Bowl he will face two stalwarts in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis who have 23 sacks on the season between them.
And if that’s not enough to compel your interest, maybe by game time you’ll find yourself confident enough to wager on the winner, or any of the many prop bets this Super game brings. If so, allow me to point you to a site where you can find the best Super Bowl odds and an opportunity to play those odds responsibly. Although there have been many blowouts in the final football game of the season, Super Bowl history shows that the game generally goes well into the fourth quarter before the Lombardi winner is decided.
However you decide to entertain yourself, I hope it’s a good game. At least as good as the cheese dip. Pass the nachos.

Happy Birthday Orson!

His gift to us..

Only fair that we should return the favor. Happy Birthday Orson!

And if you haven't read Hale's post on him yet, you really should. This kid continues to amaze with his leadership off the field and on. The sky's the limit.

Countdown to Signing Day...7

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One week left. A week from today ink meets paper. The anticipation is dripping off the brow of many a coach, not to mention a few million message boreders. Next Wednesday I'll be live blogging from Butts-Mehre as we await the fax machine wheels to turn...I can almost taste the coffee and doughnuts.

We've looked at one of this class' most versatile players, Alec Ogletree. For today, let's look at another...Garrison Smith.

size: 6'3" 255 lbs
school: Douglass HS  Atlanta, GA
position: DT

Smith is listed as a DT, but in the Dawgs' new base scheme he could likely play anywhere on the defensive front. As you watch the video below, take note of his ability to maintain his position and pursue the ball carrier.

video courtesy of RedShirtScouting

Yeh, I know....the music. Beggars make crappy choosers. But you can see the talent. Once Smith gets a hold of Snelling Dining Hall for a few months he'll be even better. He has the speed, strength and agility to help fill out the depth chart in August.

In a year when the Dawgs lose some serious talent on the defensive front, Garrison Smith should do more than fill those shoes.

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The BDB VIP Room

Added a widget last night that will now allow you to access the most recent Dawg highlights right here at my humble blawg. I was able to select three teams for the media player, so now we can keep an eye on the comings and goings in gayturdsville as well as AwwBarn. As a bonus it has other SEC highlights too.

My guess is you'll see this feature added to other blogs as well in the near future. So if you can't stand my posts but love the shiny bling to your left, no worries. I just feel fortunate to have been able add this feature despite my criticisms of the new rules governing SEC media coverage.

Anyway, enjoy some sweet highlights of Travis Leslie and Jeremy Price from Saturday night as you peruse some of the crappiest blog posts this side of North Campus. Or choose Full Screen mode and sit back like a true VIPer.

Just don't prop your dirty boots up on the desk there. Thanks...

Monday's Meatloaf - HillBillys, Divided Houses and Late Night Wars

It's all enough to make a Dawg Bark!

No one relishes watching a HillBilly cry. But after you've kicked their teeth tooth in and given em an atomic elbow off the top turnbuckle...well, what's the harm really? BWAHAHAHA!!

Yesterday we recapped what has been a puzzling few days for the busted suspenders folk. Pat fell off her summit, several nearly drowned in Gabrielsen's Natatorium, and then Pearl's jailbirds lost their jam. And after Saturday's total domination of the 8th ranked team in the nation, I decided to go back and look at just how I had greeted Coach Fox myownself back on April 2nd, 2009. Here's a quick synopsis:

Fox is a quality hire that reflects where this program is on the college basketball 

landscape: eager to dunk (Anderson), settling for a modest layup (Fox) and avoiding 

the turnover (another year of Felton).

About as prophetic as I'll ever get Reader. And as I look back on it, I'm quickly reminded that a dunk and a layup count the same on the scoreboard. Fox has his Dawgs playing hard. There have certainly been moments when they've been a little lost and utterly short-handed. But I haven't seen a time when they quit.

It was just about a year ago when that was the case. The road ahead is still daunting. But it's going to have it's highlights too.


Today's Ingredients

• Hale has some fleeting thoughts from the Tennessee beatdown Saturday. And he finds several reasons for fans to be patting themselves on the back just as fervently as the team.
• Unfortunately, the Lady Dawgs lost their senior star, and then lost the lead and the game to Ole Missy.
• John Isner won his first eight matches of 2010, but the ninth didn't end as nicely. Yet the former Georgia star remains upbeat. 
• Slurban plans to be back at the reptile helm by March. Truly, I wasn't aware that he had left. You know, other than that one night in December when he went home, hugged his daughter, collected a sweet sound byte from her and then hit the trail recruiting.
• Then again, with the Wild Boyz grunting about Corch taking Corso's spot on Gameday...guess he figured what's a little heart disease among friends?
• Meanwhile, The Bull Gator reports that floriDuh picked another commit this weekend. 
• Chad Simmons' says there were many people in Athens ($$) that helped to impress Jeffrey Whitaker during his official this weekend.
• Cooper Mosely has yet to play an inning at Foley, yet he's already receiving honors. The freshman from Montgomery, AL was awarded the Nat'l Award for Baseball Performance and Sportsmanship.
• If ThursdaysRTrivial isn't enough excitement for you, check out Smartest Bulldog where you can test your Dawg Trivia knowledge daily. And if you wanna join my team (We Just Crushed Their Face) click here.
• I understand the concept of the House Divided license plates, even though I hold firm to the belief that cross breeding can only result in disharmony in the home (and low SAT scores). But is it really necessary to have a House Divided UGA/Oklahoma plate? Or a UGA/Michigan tag?
• We here at BDB headquarters have received so many requests for coverage of this year's MLS Superdraft, we'd be remiss if we didn't give a shout out to Danny Mwanga, the #1 selection out of Oregon State. I hear the Philadelphia Union fans are rough. He'll miss building dams in Corvallis by summer's end.
• Lastly, Exile puts on a pair of acid washed to pay tribute to an end of another 80s hair band. The night is calling, I have to go...

For the most part, I've stayed out of the recent Late-Night-Debates. It's not that I don't get into multi-millionaires trying to make their viewers feel sorry for them, rather...I'm just ignorant. I don't watch those douchebags dudes. So I couldn't care less about who's been jilted and who's got the next meth addicted Hollywood method actor on as a guest.

But...Catherine Zeta-Jones asked me to tune into Letterman Friday night. So I DVR'd it while the wife and I finished off a Man vs Wild episode. It was the one where Bear Grylls tests the intestinal fortitude of his cameraman with a slurp! of a snail's entrails, followed by a self-inflicted enema. That's just how we roll on a Friday night.

Once the little lady was safely away at the mall the next day, I knew I had enough time to give Catherine without all the questions and nagging. (Guilt keeps me on the cutting edge, but the third degree just ruins a romantic moment.) I avoided using the fast-forward button for fear of accidentally missing the part where she walks out on stage. The by-product was being subjected to an opening monologue and shots of Paul pretending to know what the hell Dave was talking about.

The whole experience got me thinking...why subject people to ugly dudes trying to be funny? I'd be much more interested in a Late-Night-War between Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jennifer Aniston and Maryanne from Gilligan's Island (hey...it's my dream. Get your own).

Now that I'd stay up for. Or at least DVR them. As long as they don't tape over the wife's dancing and singing loser bachelor shows. She hates it when I do that. But you'll love this meatloaf Reader. Take a slice and melt a generous piece of provolone over top, then delicately place between two slices of Wonderbread.

No fork necessary, but the napkin's a must. Happy Monday!

Bernie

A Heap'n Help'n of HillBilly Fail

It started Thursday with Landers' Ladies edging out the mighty Pat Summit in Stegeman. I for one, hope it ends well after the next turn of the century.

The HillBillys are a lot less Beverly and a lot more outhouse these days. Call it the Kiffin Curse or an Uncultured Pearl...whatevs...just let it continue in greater and greater magnitude. It's only fair for an atheltics department that stole one of Georgia's most cherished names in the history of collegiate athletics. Since then the numbers speak for themselves:



Lady Dawgs 53
Lady Vols  50

Swim Dawgs  152
drowning HillBillys  148

Swim Dawgettes  189
drowning HillBillettes  111

Hoop Dawgs  78

Pearl's thugs  63

So from Thursday evening to last night, just a lot of Dawg Dominance. The excellence of a couple Jack Bauerle teams in the natatorium may not be a new story. But any win over the Lady Vols is one to celebrate as long as college basketball's grandmother is trudging the hardwood. And the men....well, Pearl's collection of dimwits and delinquents were ranked 8th in the country. Pearl had never tasted defeat in the Stegosaurus before.

Leslie let his dunks speak for themselves, I'll just use words: how ya like that beeatch?!?

Maybe we shoulda realized something special was in the air Thursday evening. If not, we definitely shoulda clued in when Coach Richt joined in the Gameday Trick Shot affair....and displayed a special guest touch (h/t Conner Nolte's blog).

Seriously, I was excited by the hiring of Fox when it happened last April. Now I'm ecstatic. Think about it...as exciting as last night's win was, it's the fact that Fox's team is within a handful of minutes and a smattering of points from being 4-0 in SEC play. Coach Fox has proven that this is not a rebuilding project, it's a relearning project. And while there is much more material to cover in his course, it's safe to say that his team is going to do a lot more than pass.

No, they're definitely not going to fail. We'll leave that to the HillBillys.

Countdown to Signing Day...10

Committed...??

Frostproof Cornerback prospect Nickell Robey offered Georgia his verbal intent back in July. Since then much has changed: a disappointing season in Athens and the dismissal of the DC and position coach where he projects to play. Robey has stayed on board, but understandably opened things up a bit once Martinez was dismissed.

Why worry? Well, Robey may not have ideal size but possesses all the skills of a true defensive playmaker in the secondary. He's kind of like the Rantavious Wooten of this year's class; small but has the heart of a champion and a nose for the football. His athleticism makes him hard to reshirt. If he can add some inches and improve on his coverage skills we may even see him this fall. Hopefully in red and black.

Or will it be blue and yellow?

Schools like West VA, Tennessee and in turn USC (the real one) entered the picture. This weekend Robey is in Morgantown and the Mountaineers stand to be the Dawgs' main competition. WVa OL coach Dave Johnson has spent a good amount of time courting Robey. You may remember Johnson as the former Dawgs' TE coach. Robey had a visit from UGA Monday. If I were Mrs. Robey I'd expect another one before this is through.

Some related links:

• Robey's Evolving Plans
• Scout's profile
• MaxPreps profile
• Towers looks at Robey's wavering
• VolNation weighs in