Selflessness.

Selflessness. (n) - devoted to others' welfare or interest and not one's own. 

With a dream season in the balance, not to mention a spot in the National Championship game, Nick Chubb knew what his friend and his team needed.

“In the second half Sony Michel, he gets popped right on the ball, fumbles, the guy picks it up and runs it back for a touchdown,” Smart said. “Nick comes over to me on the sideline and gets right in my ear and says, ‘Coach, put Sony back in. I want him to touch it first.’ Well, it wasn’t really his turn. It was Nick’s turn to carry it. Nick wanted Sony to go back in to prove that we had confidence because we knew weren’t going to win the game unless he got back in rhythm, unless he got his confidence back. Sure enough, that next drive, we actually gave it to Nick first but Sony came back and made the run that’ll define that game -- the last run.”

Is it too late to petition for a fifth year of eligibility? With the way the coaches are stocking the talent in Athens, we may not miss their yards and touchdowns. But God, I'm gonna miss their hearts and their passion for UGA.

VIA

When JazzHands turn to pen...

...it gets a little dusty up in here.

Sony Michel asks for our forgiveness and gives humble thanks. And all I can say is, "Same here Sony. Same here."

Mostly, though, I’m going to miss you all. My people. Dawg Nation. You all mean the world to me, and it’s been like that since Day One.

I often think back to when I took my official visit to UGA. Being there for that game against South Carolina, between the hedges? I mean….

I just knew.

I immediately got this feeling that Georgia was the place for me. And it wasn’t even about, you know, Ohhh, these facilities are the best I’ve ever seen. (They were!) Or Wow, this gear is the best-looking college stuff out there. (It is!) It just came down to all the amazing and kind people I met. Georgia fans, and everyone associated with UGA, are just the coolest, most supportive people in the world. You’ve been there for me every step of the way during my four years in Athens.

And now it’s time for me to pay back some of that love you’ve shown me by doing big things in the NFL and making you all proud.

Super Bowl Dawgs

Malcolm Mitchell hasn't played for the Patriots this season as he has been nursing a knee injury. The former Georgia star receiver has been in the NFL for just two seasons. But if New England wins tomorrow night against the Philadelphia Eagles Mitchell could have just as many Super Bowl rings! Regardless, there's no doubt Mitchell wishes he was on the field to help Tom Brady out and everyone back in Valdosta GA wishes the same thing.

Boss Andrews' best 75 meter sprint.

One former Bulldog and now Patriot that will be playing is David Andrews. "Boss" wasn't drafted in 2015, but signed on with Belichick's team and eventually earned the starting spot to start their 2016 season. Like Mitchell, Andrews is a homegrown Georgia boy having graduated from Wesleyan High School. Dawg fans remember Andrews as a consistent starter having played in 50 games as a Bulldog. There's no doubt that Tom Brady and the New England coaches appreciate that consistency as well.

The lone Dawg on the Eagles' side is Dannell Ellerbe. Philadelphia is Ellerbe's fourth NFL team, and this will be his second Super Bowl having won one with the Ravens in 2013. Unfortunately, the former two sport star out of Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham NC has played sparingly this season. But when he does enter the game both Georgia fans and Ravens fans will look for him around the ball. Ellerbe has a knack for creating and recovering turnovers. In fact, his interception of Brady in the 2013 AFC Championship game helped the Ravens slip past the Patriots into SB XLVII.

NetBet Sport currently has the Patriots as a 4.5 point favorite. As an NFL agnostic, I only have those three former Dawgs in the fight. It's even more popular to root against the Patriots in the NFL as it is to root against Auburn in the SEC. And Belichick's team usually enjoys the role so much they simply keep on winning.

Still, I think the Eagles could run away with this one, much like the Falcons last year for the first 45 minutes. But I think Philadelphia closes the deal. Most importantly, I hope my smoked wings turn out as good as last year.

the Sunday Misery is moonlight through the pines

"Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers..."

Love me some Skynard. But this week, like no other, I prefer just an old sweet song.

My tell-tale Dawg heart
In elementary school, teachers invited us to the front of the room to either show or tell. You had an option to show the class something that was important to you, or tell them something that was important to you.

Can you guess what I usually chose?

In 1972 my parents moved to Athens GA. I was two and a half years old. I didn't move away until I went off to college.

In my grade school years I remember passing the railroad tracks on the east side of Sanford and seeing it full of empty beer and whiskey bottles plus the occasional worn-down recliner on the way to Sunday School.

After the National Championship in the 1981 Sugar Bowl, I remember all of the billboards around Athens featuring the Junkyard Dawgs and the phrase "Hunker Down"!

Somewhere around 1983, I remember the house that was built adjacent to the Dooley's home near the intersection of West Lake Dr and Milledge Cir. The joke was that Coach was building it for Herschel. I was almost young enough to believe it.

Later, I went to Cedar Shoals High School. I was a couple years behind Athens Good Samaritan Bryant Gantt. He's the guy you've seen on the Georgia sideline probably since the Donnan years. As a lifelong fan turned employee of the University, he's on his way to becoming the only contemporary I know that is on a trajectory that legends like Coach Dooley and, dare I say, Coach Magill were on decades ago.

In 1988 I graduated high school at Stegeman Coliseum. The same Steg I used to (occasionally) skip Wednesday night choir practice with Chip to see Durham's Hoop Dawgs play.

In the Fall of 1989 I completed my transfer from LaGrange College and enrolled at UGA. ("Still in peaceful dreams I see, the road leads back to you.) It was what I have sometimes affectionately referred to here on the blog as my "first sophomore year" of college. It was also Goff's first year as head coach.

In 1990 Coach Webber's Diamond Dawgs won the College World Series. At this point I had been to (at least) twice as many baseball games on campus as I had football games. I bet a majority of today's freshman don't even know what or where Foley Field is.

Beauties.

Also in 1990 I went from being on Academic probation to Honor Roll. A feat Coach Goff, unfortunately, could not replicate. I eventually graduated in 1993. He was fired in 1995. After the similar up and down trajectories of our UGA careers, I got a diploma and he got Zaxby's. Since it was Guthrie's that got me through all those years, I still say I got the better separation package.

In 1996, at Coach Donnan's debut they gave out t-shirts. But we lost to Southern Miss 11-7 and I saw a dude take our a lighter and burn his new souvenir before he even left Sanford. Sidenote - I think Kirby was a sophomore on that team.

In 1997 I married Jenn, the biggest, most badass Dawg fan I know. Our first dance was to a little tune called Georgia, by Ray Charles.

Also in 1997 I cried after a football game for the first time when Donnan's Dawgs beat Florida. Well, they didn't beat them so much as they whooped their ass until the rules stated that they had to stop.

In 2000 I went back to UGA to become what we affectionately refer to as a "Double Dawg", so I had a student ID for both Donnan's final season as well as Richt's first.

In 2002 Jenn and I began our lil Dawg family. Nothing cuter than a girl in pigtails wearing Georgia red!

I documented most of the remaining years in this post-Richt firing post. I don't want to bore you down an already beaten path, but I would like emphasize that all the way through the Richt era I strengthened friendships with friends like Nama, Fred, Joe Waterloo, Cord, and their wives and families around Georgia football.

Undefeated Tailgate Crew

Like you I've also made many friends around tailgates like Tanner, Hillary, the Wrangler, Dustin, Doherty, Matt, and their wives and families. Saturdays in the fall just aren't the same without them.

Thanks to social media I got to meet Robert and Kerri plus her husband Barry out in Boulder in '09. I also met Tony on that trip, on a bourbon aisle of a local liquor store of course. On the concourse right before Ralphie ran onto Folsom Field, Ben screamed at me and we yelled "Go Dawgs!" together for the first time.

On other trips, UGA events, and the occasional Drive By Truckers concert I've met other Damn Good Dawg fans like Mackie, Krisi, Jen from La Jolla, Buddy, the Thinking Bulldog, Groo, Kit, Jake & April & Bryan, Sorrow & Trevin, DentalDawg, Chase, Andrew, Brad, Sandy, Angie, Scott from the Boro, Paul Westerdawg, John aka the Oconee River Rat, Tony & Russ, Jason, and of course the Eternal Redcoat Brett.

I've shared a ride to Columbia SC with Salty to share some beers with Ben, only to suffer through the worst beat down I've seen our Dawgs take.

After the Dawgs' win in Jacksonville Derrick, Colby, and Eddie helped me sacrifice my car. Next year we're going to find a different way to celebrate a WLOCP win.

Even through all the ups and downs, the relationships have held me true.

OUR tell-tale Dawg heart
That's a really, really long way of pointing out that we all have a story. It's moments like this, before your team plays its biggest game in decades, that we as fans tend to reflect on how we, personally, got here.

As the old saying goes, it's not the destination but the journey that's important. Today, here on the eve of the 2018 College Football National Championship, I respectfully disagree. It's both the journey and the destination.

It's the moonlight through those Georgia pines. It's the old sweet song that keeps bringing us back each and every August.

We've all worked through our own moments of fear and trepidation to get here. We've all hugged perfect strangers in the stands of Sanford and other stadiums in the Southeast and beyond when some player wearing that most magnificently beautiful helmet made a play. We've all buried our heads in our hands more often than we've raised them to the Heavens.

And here we are. It started in our veins, it coursed through our heart, and brought us to our feet!

Tweet Champs!

We've stood together in agony. We've put our arms around each other in desperation. We've traveled the nation and drank towns dry. We've suffered through coaching searches and injuries and dropped passes and also getting passed on by the national narrative.

But Kirby's team has punched its own ticket. It's been a fabulous ride...

2017's Final stanza
...but it ain't over. This magical season just had to end with Alabama. Like no other the Tide have stood between us and greatness the most often and the most resolute. They held us five yards short. They've beat us down twice in our own stadium in the last nine years.

And you may have heard recently that our coach is their former assistant. While the national media lazily tries to draw similarities, we need to remember that Kirby is quick to point out the differences. Tucker's defense is more like Junkyard Dawgs than Saban Crimson clones.

After all, sheep are for Tenersee "farmers".

Yes, this season has to end with Alabama. And come Monday night (or very early Tuesday morning) there's no reason the winner can't be Georgia. After all, the Tide had to fight their way in. They are still trying to prove they belong. The national analysts keep saying "It's an all SEC final!". But only one of us is the conference champion. They may like the cut of the Tide's jib, but Saban failed to win his own damn division.

Meanwhile some keep saying "well goshdarn whatever happens happens and beyond a Rose Bowl berth this season is just gravy".

Is that you? Are you satisfied? Is that defeatist attitude something our coaches and players would endorse? Is that why Fromm set the edge for Sony last Monday night so that you could post your #RoseBowl excitement on bookface and scream with glee just so he and Chubb and Zo and Bellamy and Dominick could have the chance to friggin' lose their final game of their Georgia Bulldog career? Is that why Lorenzo Carter finally came back down to Earth earlier this week after hovering endlessly over the Rose Bowl turf to block that damn kick?

Dude, your sadness makes Alanis Morisette want to make another starving dog commercial. Get a gotdamn grip!

We're Georgia and we belong right where we are. They're the ones that need to prove they belong. They're the ones that're bringing their cousins to Atlanta...as dates. They're the ones that have a complacent fan base. They're the ones with a coach that's spent 20 years on AARP benefits.

Let's bring this home. Let's complete this journey! Our destination has been the same since we became Dawg fans! Our goal hasn't wavered since Bellamy stripped sacked that Domer in South Bend! Our focus has been steadfast since the blood coursed through the veins into our heart and brought us to our feet!

Truly, I don't know if we'll win tomorrow, but I can't think of one reason why we can't. We've come this far, we've followed our own paths. For 37 years we've turned our heads towards the Southwest corner for the Battle Hymn until we've developed a crick in our neck. We've joined hands and raised our four fingers and most recently a phone's flashlight to beckon our own inner Glory Glory!

I don't know what the future holds, but I know it's bright and I only want it brighter. Like, NOW! I want the confetti to drench and nearly drown Nick Chubb. I want to see Sony make #JazzHands and snow angels on the Mercedes-Benz floor. I want to see that gap in Zo's smile as he hoists the trophy.  I want to see Bellamy holding the ball he stripped from Hurts with two minutes left on the stage as he accepts the MVP award.

I want to hug my kids with a championship hug. I want my wife to know the joy that she's been been screaming and longing for all these years. I want my friends to feel the joy that I know they've all earned ten times over. I want you, my loyal and eager Reader, to enjoy the long and joyous smile of a truly satisfied Georgia Buldog fan.

Glory Glory, let us bow our thankful heads y'all....dear Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to play in Atlanta one more time. Please let Roquan find many a ball carrier and Wynn raise Chubb to your Heavens at least one more time! In the name of Herschel's Separated Shoulder and Munson's Metal Steel Chair, Amen! Go Dawgs!

#KeeptheMainThingtheMainThing

the Friday Misery is not feeling entitled

They blew up the place where your five yards short was born. So I don’t know why everyone keeps talking about it. Are you the kind of husband that gives his wife the same gift every five years? Are you wearing the same shirt today that you wore back then? Did you save the last three cups of milk from December 1st, 2012 to tailgate with tomorrow outside the Benz?

Put your History books down. The bell rang and there’s a new sheriff in town.

The Official SECCG entrance exam

Step off Trebeck! This is my show. Contestants, please remember to phrase your answers in the form of a correct answer.

1. Which number is greater, Matt Lauer’s creep factor or the number of Auburn mascots?
2. Which has a bigger mouth, Mr. Ed or Cam Newton?
   
3. Celebrity quotation: who said it? … “We beat the dog crap outta them didn’t we?” ...Gus Malzahn or Mike Vick??
4. Per capita, which city’s teenage boy population takes more cows to their high school prom, Pakistan or Opelika?
5. Greatest running back of all time….Herschel Walker...or the Goal Line Stalker? (I’m sorry, Bo who?)
6. What one item do Auburn area Costco’s and local supermarkets stock more frequently than all other items combined?
7. Is it Plainsmen or Planes’ men?
8. Eric Ramsey is to cassette tapes as Cam Newton is to _________?
9. Greater man, Vince Dooley or Pat Dye?
10. Please spell your name here —-> _____________.

Answers: 1. Ironically, Lauer by a long shot. Congrats National Broadcasting Company Creepshow. 2. Cam. But, have you ever seen the two of them in the same room? At the same time? Hmmmm…. 3. Both answers are correct! But Vick has paid for his crime. Gus, you’re next dipshit! 4. Opelika up until 2010 when there was a sudden surge in goat dates and Pakistan took the lead. 5. Yes, even the Official SECCG entrance exam has a freebie. 6. Toilet paper. What else? 7. Who gives a shit? 8. Church Steeples. Also, bagman is an acceptable answer as well. We’d also accept sleaze bag, laptop thief, panderer of attention (aka attention whore), outfit pimp, Pimp of Cheese, misogynistic asshole, whiny ass loser, eternal three year old, and of course Fairley’s shower partner. 9. Son, it ain’t how you start it’s how you finish! Patty shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as St. Vincent. 10. If yu jist rote a “X” than u cuddint git ntwo UGA. Wur dam eegle!

Comparing apples to some other apples

Of course I considered going back to re-read my post prior to the 2012 SEC Championship Game. It’s still one of my favorite Friday Miserys of all time. Honestly. So it would make sense to at least give it a cursory glance.

But as I reflected back on how I felt back then to be in that position, as well as what I thought I could remember about my words that came forth from my keyboard before that epic GA Dome battle, I realized the vast differences between then and now.

Back then I remember feeling like it was our turn, it was our time. I’d be willing to bet there is an air of “Hey, we’re due!” in that post. I was eager to see our team stand up to the nation’s darling, the straw that stirs the college football postseason drink, the mighty Saban’s minions vs our talented squad of hard working Dawgs.

Yes, I felt it was our time. In other words, I felt that 2012 team was entitled to the national title game as a reward for a hard fought season. I felt those players, and by proxy us as fans, were even destined for it.

I don’t feel entitled to anything today. Sure, that 2012 team came so very close to earning it all. Nothing was going to be handed to them on that field, on that day. We knew that going in. Alabama gave us their best effort, as expected, and the Dawgs nearly stood taller in the end. Nearly.

But despite that near euphoric moment five years ago, I don’t feel entitled to anything today. I certainly don’t think that’s Kirby’s message. In fact, I know so.

"Hey guys, I read the quarterback's eyes, broke on the route,
and this is what I earned!"

We can argue at a later date as to whether the 2017 SEC East champions are better than the 2012 SEC East champions. It’s a little too early to gauge that honestly right now, other than to say that the 2012 team had a more competitive geographic environment to do work in. But at this point in the season, I do feel it’s safe to say that this team has worked harder than any other Georgia team in recent memory.

Some of you may bristle at that last sentence, but bear with me. You have to remember that those 2012 seniors were a foundation that had grown into men together under one regime. They were a group that had been to the SEC Championship game together the year before.

This 2017 team that will vie for the SEC crown against Auburn tomorrow is in their second year under a new head coach. Some of them have had more than three different position coaches since they left high school. They finished last season with five losses.

They lost to Vandy at home. They needed a late field goal to beat Kentucky. They lost to Tech.

Georgia Tech.

And they responded in the off season by lifting more weights, by running more reps, by pushing each other even further, and by buying into what the coaches were selling even more. Then they laid absolute waste to the SEC East this year. From the end of the Georgia Tech game in Athens last year to today, this team has grown leaps and bounds.

After losing to Auburn three weeks ago Kirby said that this team will be remembered by how they respond. Well, they’ve responded by beating two lesser teams soundly. That’s resiliency.

That’s the kind of resiliency that sees its quarterback go down in the early moments of the season and says, “This is just the next obstacle.” That’s the kind of resiliency that finds a way to force a turnover late on the road against the storied Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

It’s focus in the eye of the storm. It’s taking a punch and steadying yourself instead of falling. It’s not just Georgia. It’s the new breed. It’s not preparing yourself for the professional Sundays. It’s facing the here and now with a low growl and leverage against the man in front of you.

You want more? You need more?

Well, the pressure is on Auburn. They set a bar I don’t think they can continue to clear. Their coach used his mouth to write a check that his team can’t cash. Gimmicks are cute, but just like two-ply shitpaper dangling from trees, mall Santa candy canes, and Bobby Lowder’s checkbook, they’re a dime a dozen.

The pressure is on Auburn. Compared to three weeks ago, they’re trading in roughly 40,000 fans for a nice dinner in Buckhead and what they hope will be a front row spot on Finebaum’s show. They’ll bring their Walmart jeans and anti-Bama signs/slogans/chants, still clinging to the only bowl they truly care about.

Bless their hearts. We beat our state rival and calmly boarded the buses for home. Auburn fans will still be talking about beating Alabama last week when the cows’ calves’ calves come home in 2028.

Erk telling his captain Ros the best way to GATA!

Georgia knows their mistakes. Tucker and Pittman and Chaney have taught and coached and revamped just for this moment. Bellamy and Dom and Zo didn’t come back to lose to the same plain men twice in one season. Chubb and Sony can shoulder the reins; their thighs only get heavier as the fourth quarter wears on. Then, “Oh hey there Mr. Swift! C’mon in!”

Georgia has the talent. We also have the depth. And both are rested and ready. While Bama was separating shoulders Saturday evening, Swift and Herrien and Clark and Muckle were iced and ready for Monday’s practice. Fromm, perhaps the only player to show his true composure in the fourth quarter three weeks ago, has been patiently waiting for a moment to shine on this kind of stage.

Tomorrow is time. It’s not time to go through warm-ups and stand there ready to be handed a trophy. Tomorrow is time to earn every yard, fight for every first down, challenge every ball carrier. Tomorrow is only our time if we make it our time. Kirby’s crew ain’t coming to claim what we believe is rightfully ours. He’s coming to put his players on a field for the opportunity to prove they’re worthy, prove they’re ready.

It’s “your time” if you wait in line during recess for a swing on the playground. It’s “your turn” if you have successfully traversed the queue before finally getting to ride Space Mountain at Disney World. You’re entitled to take a seat and say “WEEEE!!!!”

I don’t want a swing and Space Mountain is just turns in the dark at a high rate of speed, like an Indy 500 during a solar eclipse. I’m ready to see to the finish what these Dawgs started Labor Day weekend. Are you ready? Are you going to just stand there with your hand out, or are you going to shove it into the turf, bend your knees and get your hips set to drive through whoever, whatever is in front of you?

It's SEC Championship weekend baby! And these Dawgs weren't bred to be hunted. Now bow your heads...dear Lord, please don't let these tigersmenplaineagles hoard our Charmin over the weekend. And may our Savages run as rampant as our running backs run free. In the name of Uga V and Auburn's own four sport letterman, the late, great Erk Russell! Amen!

the Friday Misery converses with the internet idiocy

It's short, but it's sweet. So grab the remote and let's dive right in! Because on this episode of “Conversations After a Loss”....

The Internets

1. “...and we all knew this would happen. We all knew Georgia would implode like this and what we thought was a magical season is actually just another flop and we’ll back our way into that Independence Bowl again because we can’t have nice things and oh have you seen this video of a chimpanzee cooking pop tarts in the microwave with the foil wrapper omg it makes me laugh so hard…”
2. “9-4 season. Not much better than last year to be honest.”
3. “So we need to beat Auburn or Bama, and then hope that…”
4. “I hope we do implode. Kirby needs to go back to the coordinator level. Hopefully we can get <INSERT NAME OF HOT MESSAGE BORED NFL COACH> before it’s too late!
5. “Lost a recruit. Whoa boy, here we go again.”

Reality

1. “Dude, we lost one game. Got our asses beat for sure. But all of our goals are still ahead of us.”
2. “No, are you high? We’re 9-1. Put down your crack pipe for one minute and sort through some facts okay?”
3. “Nope nope nope nope! Stop right there. What we need to do is beat Kentucky. That’s step one partner. Step two, beat Tech. Then we worry about Bama or Auburn. Get back on the winning run and the rest will take of itself.”
4. “Shut. Up.”
5. “If you believe for one second that we’re on a recruiting downtick, well, it might be time to go back on your meds.”

"I believeeeee I can fly!!" (via ABC Sports)

1+7+17+24+27 = 2017

Senior Day, the home closer if you will, is always a time for reflection. And when I think about all of these seniors, I’ll call back to that day that those mentioned in the subheading stood in front of the media and explained why they were staying in Athens for their senior season. Regardless of the final W-L record, regardless of whether we win the SECCG and make it into the CFB Playoffs, this season has been made possible by their leadership.

When you think about it, it’s really because of them that we haven’t had one home nooner this season. What a blessing!

And to be honest, how the team responds after last weekend’s loss will start with the senior leadership as well. I think they’re going to finish strong. I think Kentucky’s not going to know what hit them. I think Christian Payne gets sent in to throw a block and next thing you know there’s #JazzHands all up in our endzone one last time. Then there’s Wynn raising Chubb to the Heavens next to the Hedges one last time. And God I hope there’s a blindside sack by Bellamy and that beautiful oblong spheroid pops free then Zo scoops and scores that damn thing!

Lord have mercy! How ‘bout them Dawgs y’all! So please let us bow our heads...dear Lord, can we please see a Parrish or Sanders or Davis pick one more time? Maybe also followed by one last glimpse in Sanford of Wims soaring to some ungodly height to catch that ball before returning to the earth with six points? Thank you, and please bless all these Dawgs in their future endeavors. Once a Dawg, always a Dawg. How sweet it is! Amen!

"I think in order to truly succeed in life is dependent on how you truly transition in those seasons.”

This is real good stuff from Emerson on how Tra Battle has "transitioned" through Life's different seasons. He's the one former Georgia player to have been roommates with both Paul Oliver and Quentin Moses, so it hasn't been easy.

“In rationalizing death and grief, you do realize that the people who are no longer with us wouldn’t want you to meet them this soon,” Battle said. 

Jon Fabris, the former Georgia defensive assistant, had a saying that stuck with Battle: “Every man a brick.” So a brick by itself is nothing. It’s just a piece of clay. But when you get every member of the team mortared together, you can build skyscrapers, monuments, etc.

 “The things that were important to Q-Moses, from everyone that was close to him, you still have to continue that body of work,” Battle said. “For things that were important to P.O., in accountability to him, you have to continue that body of work. So the things that were important to those individuals, they have to become important to you.”

 Amen.

Happy National Goal Line Stalker Day!

No. 34 is 55 years young today! How I miss that glorious tear away jersey.

Staying home.

Jazz Hands if you wanna celebrate!

Maybe not a huge surprise, but still BIG news for sure.

Big news, #DawgNation. pic.twitter.com/PBiyl4BKu2

— Georgia Bulldogs (@UGAAthletics) December 15, 2016

Go Dawgs y'all!

Friday Misery - Love. Family. Tradition. Georgia.

Still stuffed from so so much turkey y'all. I think I'm just gonna throw a few words on top of some pics and then call it a night...

Autumn Fire: Love from Georgia Football on Vimeo.

Damn. Well then. I stand corrected.

Tradition. Saturday. Athens.

I ain't telling you anything you didn't already know. I'm just telling you what you want to hear.

We didn't come this far...we didn't endure those trips...we didn't run those drills...we didn't walk that walk...we didn't cry those tears...we didn't raise that flag...we didn't join our hands...we didn't attack the day...we didn't move those chains...we didn't drain that clock...we didn't pack that house...we didn't stretch that ball...we didn't black out...we didn't drink them cocktails...we didn't refuse to lose faith...we didn't challenge our own endurance...we didn't force their hand...we didn't commit to the G...and we didn't look our our own faults in the mirror...

...without wanting, without needing to finish this season tomorrow. In Athens. In Sanford.

You. Me. Us.

Together. Family is Georgia and Georgia is Family. We're not in this for one game. And we're not here just for one season. We're joined by a common bond. And we unite one more time together to fulfill one objective.

Win.

More.

In one word we find the true meaning of this game - Clean old fashioned hate.

Who wants this more? Do you?

The last Saturday of the season isn't about bowl game selection and it's not about television pundits. Relegated to another midday affair, we must rally and we must be ready. We must slough off the lethargy, the gravy, the discontent, and the discord. We must suffer on to fight. We must be strongest when the face of our enemy is at its boldest. We must hold on.

I'm tired. You're tired. They're tired. The easiest thing would be to let go, and take whatever comes. But that's not how you're built. That's not how I'm made. That's not why they ran themselves so hard. The song says we're a little unsteady, but together we can make this stand.

We are Georgia. We are Family. We stand together and we will endure these last sixty minutes. Because they are our last. As one we will rise to meet our seniors and we will pour our hearts, our souls, and every ounce of our voices into this team's spirit. They run out of the tunnel and we run down the aisles. They stop their ball carrier and we rise as one to crush their spirit.

I enter Sanford tomorrow with the memories of legends past. I gaze upon the hallowed turf through the eyes of those that have set the bar so high - Stanfill, Hines, Amp, Wansley, (JASPER WAS DOWN GODDAMMIT!!), Kanon Parkman, Bobo to Allen, and the greatest of all...the Drought-Breaker..Theron Sapp!

Take my hand. Let's do this together. Records don't matter, because tradition is on our side. It's red. It's black. And it lives within us. Now please, bow your heads...Dear Lord God....please let tomorrow be Al Ford's day at the methodone clinic. Thanks and pass the gravy one more time! Amen.

"Dorm Coach" Kasay, Hugh Nall and a flesh eating fish

This is pure gold from All-American Scott Woerner as he recounts many an old McWhorter Hall tale. Very enjoyable read, and one you young whipper-snappers would especially enjoy.

We had a TV room that had one TV. Now, remember, this was before cable; we only had three or four channels on a good day. There were also no remote controls in those days, so it was the responsibility of freshmen to get up and change the channel when needed. We did have a Coke machine on the second floor my first year before an irritated football player. He picked up the entire machine and tossed it off the second floor. Why? That one is easy; the machine took his money — 25 cents at the time.

Times have certainly changed. Thankful for guys from that era that are willing to share like that. Go Dawgs!

Remembering Bill Stanfill

Bill Stanfill has passed.

There's a reason I have that man on this site's masthead. He was relentless in his pursuit. He gave his all on the field of Glory.

Stanfill was all-SEC, all-America, all-World. Hell, he's most of the reason Spurrier hates Georgia so much.

If any of Kirby's defenders have half the heart of Bill Stanfill tomorrow night, they'll eat the heart out of an auburn player, spit it out on the sideline, and then raise their hand to go back into the game for more.

No doubt Erk has a seat ready for 77 in our Maker's Kingdom. But I doubt ol' Stanfill will rest there long before finding another fight to take a part in. He was a damn good Dawg. And despite the fact that I'm just slightly too young to fully appreciate his work tween the hedges, he'll be firmly on my mind as I find my seat tomorrow afternoon.

Go Dawgs!

the Friday Misery has all precincts reporting as hating abuurn

So you’ve had a bad week. You’re ambivalent. You’re downright agnostic. You can’t even seem to get out of bed and you sure haven’t even seen the television remote since your mom left town on Monday to visit Aunt Sara down in Lagrange.

Trump?

No. Shut the hell up. I’m not talking about no damn election. This is football son. It’s actual serious bidness. It’s not decided by no electoral college and it sure don’t have no hanging chads.

I’m talking about you...yes, you there with the Auburn tickets that’ve been on stubhub since mid-October. You with the four day old mustard stain on your chin. You the “fan” who was not so quietly hoping for a loss in the bluegrass so you could somehow and in some goddamn way justify selling those seats even to an auburn “grad” since they haven’t moved off of your outrageous initial asking price.

You need a bath and some smelling salts. That, or maybe just an enema. However, I’ve got work to do and I couldn’t really take the time to give a damn. So…

I was wrong.

Once, way back in August before I knew that blocking on the offensive line could be so offensive and actually downright optional, I opined that this Saturday’s contest and renewal of the Deep South’s oldest rivalry could be the Gus Bus’s last stop on the Official WarTiglesmen’s sweater vest tour.

I can’t remember if I was drunk or just that goddamn stupid, but looking back I know that I was wrong.

“Auburn comes to town possibly in their own desperate straits. Unless Coach Malzahn still has some magic up his sleeve, the War Plainsmen could be fighting for bowl eligibility. Meanwhile, Smart’s Dawgs are ready to enjoy a three-game homestand to finish the regular season and maybe help Chubb get over the 2000 yard mark.”

Haha. So stupid. “Siri, what is 2000 yards rushing?” …   …..     …   …. “Bernie, are you still a Georgia fan?”

"Hey! (clapclapclap) Hey siri. Hey. We're in the real for real
CFB rankings. (clapclapclap) Hey! (clapclapclap)"

Shuddup. Of course I am.

I did get closer to the mark later in that post though…

“It will be interesting to see how this young team finishes under its new coach. It’s hard not to expect a bad showing at this part of the season. Which is why I’m glad we get Auburn at home. Hopefully it’s a night game and Sanford provides some pep in the team’s step.

I think the key to beating the Tigers will be how much our linebackers develop in the first nine games and how well our secondary can tackle. A big game from players like Bellamy and Carter and a healthy ground attack could give us our seventh win of the season.”

(Okay, so maybe it would just be our sixth win. Sue me or just ask for your money back at the end of this post.)

You’re welcome. The main point is that I was really wrong but I still hate Auburn. That hasn’t changed and it won’t. Not as long as there are sheep that they will bed down with and bagmen that they’ll meet on a darkened corner against a backdrop of toilet paper drifting amongst the tree limbs.

So romantic. Dumbasses.

HOLD ONTO THE BALL!

That's the wife's rallying cry. It comes when there is either a sense of urgency or a sense of importance. Actually, usually both.

Chubb breaks into the secondary...HOLD ONTO THE BALL! When Sony rounds the corner on a sweep...HOLD ONTO THE BALL! When Sanders intercepts a pass and begins a run back...HOLD ONTO THE BALL DAMMIT!!

She's a superstitious soul and calling out the obvious is both necessary and vital to our survival.

But tomorrow it takes on an even deeper meaning. Yes, every offensive player needs to hold onto the ball as if it were the last swig from the handle of bourbon and it's 3:01 and Uncle Verne is knocking on the door and making sure Gary is done taking his pregame dump. And every ball intercepter that wears the Georgia G needs to grasp that pigskin like it was the last biscuit on grandma's Sunday table.

Holding onto the ball means more than ball security and more yardage. It's also controlling the one thing that Gus has a hard on for even more than orange tweed with no sleeves. 

The Clock!

Holding onto the ball means Sean White has more time to pick his nose. Holding onto the ball means Pettway has more time to contemplate why his mom didn't use more C's in his first name and less estrogen.

"I can't talk now. I'm trying not to pee."

Holding onto the ball means we want it more. We need it more. It means we recognize that football is not patty-cake, two hundred speed sweeps, and singalongs. It's for men with bad intentions. It's eight of the last ten and hungry for eleven.

Concession speech

“Well they just got to the ball fast and they tackled. We need to change that faulty tire, rebuild the transmission, and maybe take one of their safeties that I can convert to a quarterback or running back or even a quarterback or something so we can beat oregon again cuz my wife wants a new house and also a goat she can milk.

Hashtag West Opelikan livestock, but I digress.

Also I think there should be a rule that their current safeties that haven’t stolen money and other shit from their own locker room have to tip the ball in the air so that our finely trained receivers can successfully and unabated run under that thing to score. It just fits our systems the way I’ve drawn this program up since the beginning. All of the success we’ve had has been predicated on other institutional programs’ generosity and ...and ...and basically free loading off of that so that our fans can get what they’ve waited for and also war eagle!

Questions?”

“Yes, coach...why’d you go for it on 4th and 32 from your own 12, in the first quarter...on the opening possession?

“War eagles. Next question.”

More heart than any words that've ever come
out of Trigga Tray's mouth. Ever.

Maximum effort. Laid onto the turf.

I’m not asking much y’all. We haven’t been home in weeks. Is it too much to suggest that we come together with one common goal? Is it ridiculous to mention that it’d be nice if you stop searching for our next head coach and log off the dawgvent for just 12 hours so that we can tailgate in Fall’s absolute resplendent splendor? Is it out of order to demand your absolute best and 100% of your determination and 200% of your voice so that we can do our part in the prime Saturday spot tween the hedges?

I’m only asking because quite honestly I doubt your loyalty. No, not you with the Tahoe packed before 3pm Friday. And not you who told an Auburn coworker that absolutely not would you take two bills apiece for your four tickets.

Y’all are leaders among the boys. You’re Deandre Baker not giving up on the deep pass. You’re Rodrigo lining up his toe and Eason when the clock hits under two minutes.

We have to commit to the G and we have to get after that ass! Auburn is in town and they’re drunk on their own bullshit. A half a tick and Les Miles is still coaching while Gus asks your wife whether she wants paper or plastic. One more Holstein on I-20 outside Toomers’ Corner and these barners are late for the kickoff.

We’re Georgia. We’ve been ready since 10:47pm last Saturday night. We’re the Dawgs and Saturday night is alright for fightin’. Get a little action in...now, let’s bow our heads. God bless our veterans, Tra Battle, and please HOLD ONTO THE BALL!! Go Dawgs y’all! Amen.