Sláinte y'all!

I'm off to Suwanee Beer Fest and then back home to enjoy one of my favorite holidays - St. Patrick's Day!!

Before I go I thought I'd offer some input into my favorite Irish stouts/ales and ask for any feedback you may have in expanding the list.

Here's the Irish beers I'm working on tonight into tomorrow while the corned beef brisket roasts and the cabbage boils. They are ordered by my top Irish stout on down. Feel free to argue or agree. When it comes to this style I don't believe there's a wrong answer. Also, if anyone has had a Beamish I hate you and ask you to please explain what the experience was like in the comments. Comparatively speaking.

1. Murphy's - most have the big one up at the top, and I wouldn't argue that much. But after much sampling and judging last year I'm going with the somewhat sweeter Murphy's as my favorite.
2. Guinness - the big one, the top dog. Like Murphy's I prefer my Guinness in the tall can with the nitro widget. you know, unless I'm in a pub. Of course.
3. Brooklyn - an American comes in right in the middle here. This is one that is distributed pretty well so you may be able to find it easily enough. Unless you're Irish and are bound by some Celtic beer law, you'll like this one just fine.
4. Wexford - this is actually an Irish Cream Ale. This also comes in the can with the widget, so you get a nice creamy, frothy head that compliments the bitter ale quite nicely.
5. O'hara's - another Irish stout that's not as widely known as some of the others, but is a great pint in and of itself. A little "roastier" than a Guinness so it's not as balanced I don't think. But that's not a bad thing.

After all, I'm not as balanced myself towards the end of a few of these. 

Wishing you a rainbow, for sunlight after showers.
Miles and miles of Irish smiles for golden happy hours.
Shamrocks at your doorway, for luck and laughter too.
And a host of friends that never ends each day your whole life through!

As I like to say in my southern drawl - Sláinte y'all!

Dawgs are "Savvy", Abuurn sucks

About the only problem I have with this video is the title. It's really well done and makes me hate the off season with the heat of ten thousand and one suns. It's got the tailgating pics along with the team getting ready pics as it takes you through pre-game Athens, GA. Food, helmets, kids throwing footballs, giant linemen rocking the bus, the Redcoats, the Dawg Walk. Sigh.

Then you've got Gurley laying waste to tacklers, Marlon Brown's Tavarres King's incredible toe was in!! catch, Scott Howard's voice and CRob demolishing a tiger.

Come to think of it, maybe Savvy is the right title. Not savvy in a Cecil Newton kind of way. More like savvy in a superior athletically kind of way.

via Georgia Bulldogs

Go Dawgs! Three weeks til GDay.

"Gwinnett still great y'all!" - Coach Richt, just now

And Success does still live here!!

They can rip away our hearts when they demolish our welcoming water towers and they can monetize our road way like the greedy bastards that they are, but Atlanta's king suburban province is still where the party at y'all!

There are 12 “UGA Day” events in four states.

An interesting change this year is the last stop, a late July date that had been at the Cobb Galleria, is now in Gwinnett County. An Atlanta date is now set for May 15.

Emphasis added for you Cobb Co. residents that dropped the ball and couldn't finish the drill and hate on Bobo and drink Pepsi and run around with knives and wish we still had Willie Martinez on staff. (Ok, sorry. That was over the top. I apologize.)

I mean, when REM came to the Gwinnett Arena that was cool. But Coach Richt is a rock star that bathes more than once a month (no direct knowledge, educated guess really) and can still fill a buffet line and conference hall. It was neat when they filmed a scene from "Road Trip" in the old Gwinnett Diner, but we all knew that Tom Green is like the Derek Dooley of acting. With not-so-tamed hair.

Of course, word is they'll use the Gwinnett Conference Center. But just in case Justin Beaver comes to town the same weekend we need backup plans to offer the UGA Alumni Association. I've started a short list. Some of you Gwinnettians follow suit in the comments. (Shut up Mackie. Go listen to the echoes in your Galleria.)

Does anyone know if the Richts prefer Italian linen or Egyptian cotton?

Perno's pissed as Aggies await

Although he's never been one to shy away from calling out his own players, Coach Perno seems agitated even earlier this season than usual.

“It’s killing me,” Perno said. “I thought we had the leadership to forge through it. I thought we learned a lot on Sunday (in an 11-8 loss to Liberty). We didn’t match Liberty’s urgency and we did the same thing today. It just didn’t seem like it was as big a game as it was. You’ve got a chance to get over .500. We haven’t been over .500 since a month ago. Since that Friday night when we were 1-0. I don’t know. The hunger and the urgency for greatness isn’t in that dugout right now...They knew how I thought how big the game was. I let them wear the black jerseys. I hate the back jerseys. I think they’re ugly. That’s what they wanted and we didn’t respond and it’s disappointing.”

The Diamond Dawgs open up SEC play today in College Station and are still answering questions that should've been answered before the season started. But there are some bright spots. The brightest of which may be freshman pitcher Sean McLaughlin, who is now firmly entrenched as the Friday starter with a 3-0 record and a 1.80 ERA. McLaughlin platoons in right field and has appeared in 11 games batting .208 with three RBIs.

Georgia will once again go with McLaughlin, Patrick Boling and Luke Crumley as the starters against Texas A&M. First pitch this evening is at 7:35 ET. The Aggies are 11-7 on the season.

Malcolm - year three

Did you know? - Mitchell has never had multiple 

touchdown games? And has only eight for his career.

During the off season it's easy to glance over Malcolm Mitchell's name given all of the other positions of interest this spring. After all, wide receiver is not a roster spot that's in for a total upheaval like...well, virtually every position on defense.

But while remembering where we were this time last year coming off of Mitchell's spectacular freshman season (and also my vocal support of moving him to defense, a la Champ Bailey), I thought it'd be worth a look at what we might have in store for us with a full season of Mitchell at wideout. I mean, he's clearly a difference maker there and is poised to have a very big season with King gone and Murray staying.

So long Louchiez! (via)

So, for a little background let's recall that during his freshman year Mitchell had 45 catches for 665 yards and four touchdowns. He started nine of the 11 games he appeared in. His breakout game was in Knoxville with three catches for 126 yards before he was injured. At the end of the seasons he was voted by the SEC coaches as Freshman All-SEC.

Of course last season he began the year on defense and was really only used in spot duty the first four games (2 catches for 43 yards, 1 rush for 16 yards). After the Vanderbilt game though his role officially reversed and he finished the season second on the team with 572 yards on 40 catches, four touchdowns. His breakout game is probably considered Kentucky because he ran hog wild through their secondary to the tune of nine catches for 103 yards. But it was the Florida game where we really saw how useful his skills could be in determining the outcome of the game.

In the throes of a heated defensive contest, with the SEC East in the balance, Mitchell and Florida cornerback Louchiez Purifoy were going toe to toe. Play after play the individual battle between the two became more and more intense. In fact, Mitchell was flagged for a personal foul/unsportsmanlike conduct penalty even after making a first down catch. He thought his time on the field was done before Richt pushed him back out there. And Bobo kept calling his number, sure that it would pay off in the end.

And it did. Mitchell caught the next two passes as well, the second of which went 45 yards for the deciding touchdown.

Case in point, he's a difference maker and stands to have a big season in 2013 as Murray's number one target. Although he has totaled 1237 yards in his first two season, if he can stay healthy I see no reason he can't challenge Terrance Edwards' season record of 1004 yards. And if he can do that, should he somehow choose to stay for his senior season, Malcolm could enter into the discussion as one of the all time greats to wear the G.

The Clempson Anecdotes - "Touch that Rock son!"

Okay, so I promised to clarify a little. But as I sat down to type this out I realized that there was more than one post here. So let's make it into a series. That's something I learned my second junior year of blogging school.

The year was 2003. Georgia had renewed its rivalry with Clemson and once again the Tigers had been disappointed; losing by a Billy Bennett field goal in 2002 and getting absolutely outclassed a year later. But even more importantly Georgia was creating some traditions under new coach Mark Richt. One of these was the Dawg Walk. With a renewed sense of energy in the tackle football program after an impressive SEC Championship run, the Dawg Walk (where the team is dropped off on Lumpkin adjacent to Clark Howell Hall and the Tate Plaza to enter the stadium amid thousands of fans, the Redcoats, Hairy Dawg and the cheerleaders) was starting to draw good numbers. Add to that the fact that South Carolina^* was in town and the fact that it was a big time night game and the atmosphere was electrified tenfold.

Thomas Davis make Charlie go BOOM!! (via)

Mrs. Bernie and I had decided to take in the Dawg Walk prior to taking our seats in the stadium. New to this tradition we got there late and had to stand about six deep as we waited for the buses to arrive. While doing so there's really not much to do except people watch and listen to the band hammer out songs that enliven the crowd even more. A group of guys had gathered in front of us and in the middle one of them was wearing a Georgia helmet. At first I thought that he was quite the superstitious fan to wear headgear on such a hot day. But then again, this was well into an afternoon where many beverages had been consumed around campus. Judging from their behavior they had enjoyed their fair share. Perhaps even more.

Prior to the team coming through, a large group of recruits were escorted in and I kept hearing a familiar phrase. "TOUCH THAT ROCK SON!! You know you want to!" My ears had to be deceiving me. Why would a Georgia fan tell a recruit to touch Howard's Rock, the chunk of granite Clemson players grope as they enter the stadium? How drunk was this guy?

As the scene played out and I gathered more context from the friends around him I began to realize that this Georgia fan was actually a Clemson "grad" who had surely lost a bet in Death Valley two weeks before when Greene, Gibson and Pollack had dismantled the Tigers 30-0. He was now paying the price by being paraded around in Georgia gear for everyone to see and take pictures of with their brand new flip phone.

Or was he paying any price at all? He knew a lot of the recruits by name it seemed. And here he was not so subtly recruiting for a rival program, at least in terms of recruiting trails. The novelty of the sight grew to the point that some of these kids acknowledged him and smiled. Why were his buddies letting him get away with this?!?

On the other hand, we beat them 30-0. And it wasn't even that close. This clown probably should've taken Charlie Whitehurst's place. Wouldn't have done any worse.

^*I think it was the Gamecocks. But my memory could be failing me there.

SEC Tourney - opening day presser

Coach Fox, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Neme Djurisic talk about opening up the SEC tourney from Nashville.


Dawgs open up with LSU today at 1pm. TV is listed as SEC Network, but if you're stuck at work you can also use ESPN3.com.

GATArchives - Hoage, Butler and the 1983 Clemson game

The Clemson series defined the early 1980s for Georgia football in some ways. Georgia won in 1980 and went on to win the national title. The Tigers flipped the script in 1981. And it seemed to have flipped again in the Dawgs' favor the next season until Penn State won the Sugar Bowl.

So when you think about this rivalry you often recall back to the early 80's. And 1983 specifically brings to mind one particular player, the "greatest defensive player" Dooley ever coached - Terry Hoage. This was the All-American's last game of the series and he shows why he was so dangerous for opposing quarterbacks and often dictated their scheme and play calling.

As for Kevin Butler, many view games which come down to kickers with scorn and dismissive gestures. But in watching this copy of the 1983 Georgia game at Clemson (h/t tigerray) you can see how much having two world class kickers can affect the game's strategy as well, not to mention the eventual outcome.

Kevin Butler vs Donald Igwebuike. I mean, how often do you see a game come down to one 68 yard field goal attempt before the field is flipped and the opposing kicker tries a 66 yard field goal. Basically those two kicks traveled twice as far as Mike Eppley threw the ball.



Great game. Thanks to AHD for sharing. And he also sent along this handy link to take in the scope of the series. Tomorrow I'll share the first of a few anecdotes I have in the vault on the series.

Go Dawgs!

SEC Tourney reviews/previews

From the SEC Digital Network, here's some preview videos from Hannah Chalker and Dave Baker that look back at the week that was in the paint as well as the week ahead in Nashville.

Humpday Hilarity - ouch!

I like hot sauce. But this might not be the best way to get me to buy your product.



I just lost my appetite. Funny though. Not sure why it didn't make the Super Bowl queue. (h/t Mac)

KCP named Mr. SEC!

Not since the Human Highlight Film was simply known as Georgia's Dominique Wilkins has UGA had an SEC Player of the Year. Until today when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was selected by the league's coaches to have the honor. (note: 'Nique was selected by the media, KCP by the league's coaches)

Thirty-two years is a long time. But when you see these stats... 

Second in scoring (18.0 points per game), behind Henderson. - Second in 3-pointers made (2.5 per game, a total of 31) - Second in minutes per game (33.8 per game) - Third in steals (2.1 per game) - Third in defensive rebounds (5.8 per game) - Sixth in 3-point percentage (37.1 percent) - Sixth in free throw percentage (80.9 percent) - Eighth in rebounding (6.9 rebounds per game) - Ninth in field goal percentage (43.2 perceent)

...it's easy to see why the drought ended. Congrats to Kentavious for this honor and also having the opportunity to defend it the next two years. (kidding...no, not really)

Also congrats are in order for Charles Mann on being selected to the All Freshman team. Go Dawgs! 

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/03/12/2418238/georigas-caldwell-pope-named-sec.html#storylink=cpy

From rags to riches

Another post to beat the dead horse with I guess...

Ching pulls together in one story the vast difference between the offensive line this spring compared to last. Perhaps center David Andrews put it best:

In preparing for his third season as a member of Georgia's football team,David Andrews has been experiencing a new sensation lately. The rising junior center actually is benefiting from the occasional chance to take off for a rep or two in practice.

"I'm out there right now and thinking, 'Wow, I'm getting a little break in individual [drills]' -- things that we didn't get, these little luxuries, breaks in individuals like we do now," said Andrews, who started all 14 games last season. "So it's weird seeing that many guys out there."

Having enough bodies to run reps is something we shouldn't have to worry about, even with a couple of injuries. And now the coaches are faced with a better problem to have - knowing which of those bodies are part of the rotation this fall.

One more point and then a question. I've heard and read Greg come to this conclusion several times, but how important is it for Coach Bobo, coming off an off season where he received a substantial raise and a multi-year contract, to have an offensive line he has confidence in? As a play caller it has to be huge to not feel handicapped by a green and grossly over-manned offensive line.

And lastly, looking back at last year this time and hoping that a veteran defensive line could make a youthful offensive line better prepared, can the opposite be true this season? Even though overall the defense under-performed last season, there's no question that guys like Jenkins, Jones and Kwame helped make the offensive line more polished and ready for the trenches of the SEC. So can a cohesive unit on the offensive side make a youthful defensive front more ready for South Carolina in week two?

Certainly something to look for in the coming months.

Coach Fox previews the SEC tournament

Coach Fox talks about the SEC tourney from the Georgia perspective for various media members leading up to their opening round matchup with LSU on Thursday.

Mountaineers preview, by AppStateNate

Bernie has been kidnapped!!!

Bernie is being held in an undisclosed location by a group of hillbillies from North Carolina.  I, Appalachian State Mountaineers sports blogger from YosefsCabin.com, have taken control of the Dawg Blawg.    MwaHaHaHa!  First line of business, can we get someone in here to take down all this Red and Black?  Alright, now bring in the banjos….

Okay, Okay.  Bernie hasn’t really been kidnapped.  He is doing just fine.  It just so happens that the Athens Diamond Dawgs are hosting the Mountaineers in a mid-week baseball series, and he and I are giving each other the opportunity to share a little bit about our respective teams on each others blog.  

So, here we go...

While our baseball history pales in comparison to that of the Diamond Dawgs, Appalachian State is coming off our best baseball season ever—a season in which we beat 15^th-ranked Virginia, 23^rd-ranked Oklahoma, 7^th-ranked LSU... twice, and were one win away from advancing to our very firstSuper Regional.  After beating the Sooners in the Regional opener, we were swept by them in a double header, in which we left 21 runners stranded and allowed nine two-out runs.  

Against common opponents in 2012, Appalachian was 6-4 while Georgia was 2-4.

We have begun this year similarly as last year, knocking off 8^th-ranked N.C. State 6-3, torching 2012 Golden Spikes finalist Carlos Rodon for three home runs. We have cooled off a bit in the midst of our 9 game road streak.  We are 7-4 coming into the series.

Players to watch for:

Jamie Nunn: Our ace on the mound will be starting one of these games.  His ERA is 2.00, his average outing lasts about seven innings, and he averages almost one strikeout per inning.

Rob Marcello: The starter-turned-closer has some HEAT.  His fastball reaches 95mph. He has 4 saves with an ERA of 0.00.

Hector Crespo:  Crespo just became the all-team stolen bases leader in App State history.  He has attempted a steal in every game this season, succeeding 8 out of 11 times.

Prediction time!  

I BOLDLY predict a partly cloudy Tuesday with a high temperature of 66 degrees on Tuesday, and sunny but colder on Wednesday.  That’s as far out on the limb I am going to climb.  If you have a prediction, feel free to come over and post it in our message board at YosefsCabin.com.  Our fans are friendly and enjoy some good-natured ribbing from time to time. 

I would like to graciously thank Bernie and the readers of Bernies’s Dawg Blawg for the hospitality, and would like to apologize for my lame attempt at humor. 

Wishing your baseball team the best of luck starting March 14^th 2013,

AppStateNate

YosefsCabin.com

The not so thin red line

Didn't finish the meatloaf. It came out a little raw. Sorry about that.

But this is a good read by Weiszer on the top story of spring practice - the offensive line. With Theus and Burnette coming off surgeries and missing most of the spring, Mark Beard stands the most to gain.

The 6-foot-5, 302-pound Beard said he doesn’t know how the line will look when Theus returns, but wants to prove to coaches that he can be the guy at left tackle.

He said a year in the system after arriving from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College gives him a better understanding of the playbook and thinks that makes him more competitive at left tackle.

“I know they can trust me on the field,” he said.

...

Bobo said coaches liked how Beard came on in the second half of the year, including in starts against Auburn and Georgia Southern when Burnette was sidelined.

“Beard is a very good athlete,” Richt said. “You have to have enough athleticism to play tackle. You’ve got to be able to pass protect and then you’ve got to be long enough, you’ve got to be tall enough. Sometimes guys with shorter arms can’t hardly pass pro on the edge by themselves. Then you’ve got have the knowledge and Beard is just so much farther along now than he was.” 

The line has come a long way since this time last year. Having a couple backs that can make yards with their legs only helps to build confidence too. Adding some depth this spring can help the coaches (and the fans) breathe a little easier.

The Anti-Crowell Spring Break?

So our running backs are tweeting about hair dryers and the Duke-UNC basketball game. That's a big improvement right?

In a way that's both embarrassing as well as awesome.