Diamond Dawgs Update

Coach Perno analyzes the season and looks ahead at Hoover.

Related Links:

• Here's the SEC Tourney bracket.
• Groo looks at the tall order the Dawgs face this week.
• Chip Towers assesses things.
• And Vandy blog Anchor of Gold's perspective.

Monday's Meatloaf - Forced Moderation

 Harvey in October

The dog days of Summer are quickly approaching. This weekend was hotter than a watch from the sidewalks of NYC. Just when you get accustomed to leaving the screen open and breathing in the fresh air, Summer is barreling through your threshold faster than you can re-program your thermostat.

Harvey 3 months later

Another thing that sucks about these days we're in is that the information on college football is at it's slowest drip. From August through early January we're drinking from an overflowing fountain that continually satiates our thirst and never seems close to running out. Then it trickles through Signing Day before becoming a steady drip during Spring drills.


But here in May...nothing. Even if we listen closely, you can't hear Mark May being a dumbass. I bet even Nick Saban took a nap or something this weekend. We go from a college football hedonistic lifestyle to a dead period of forced moderation. It ain't easy. And it ain't fun either.


But just when you think there's no end in sight, the entire college football world (aka the SEC and its media conglomeration) descends on Hoover, AL. And then we start drinking from the fountain again.

Today's Ingredients

• SEC Meetings in Destin will also give us a nice break in the monotony next week. One of the many things expected to be discussed is doing away with the East/West divisions in men's basketball. In other words, toning up the teams from the West by diluting the East.
• The Senator sees this move as a no-brainer...It's the football, stupid.
• And since I brought up media days in Hoover, I also found this Capstone entry from last July about what to expect from this year in Hoover. Maybe you'll find it as ironic as I found it.
• Gentry Estes has the next installment of his Spring review, special teams.
• Along the off season meme of hoping our defense rises up this season I present to you a post on quarterback indecision and the certain disaster it can bring. (h/t Smart Football)
• Exile took some time away from boxing up his snow shoes and "bar-b-ques" to offer a couple posts on the NCAA and its dollars. 
• Martin Van Dawgin has the second part of his Richt Report...aka, the Disney Party.
• Georgia's stock rising to "this year's Auburn". Hope that doesn't come with any sCammy Juice.
• Also hope Aaron Murray doesn't step on that Aflac duck when he accepts the Heisman this December. 
• Has CMRs staff done enough to make up the ground needed on Auburn for Creekside DB Josh Holsey? We'll find out tomorrow. 
• Not a great finish to the regular season for Perno's Diamond Dawgs as Vanderbilt won the season's final series. That leaves a pretty tall task and a rematch in the SEC Tourney if the boys of Spring want to make the NCAAs.
• While the women's season came to a close, the men's tennis team has advanced to the final four, yet again.
• Got this from ecdawg's Dawg Daily, lady Dawg Silva Zamora has been named Ping's national player of the year.

After spending two weeks upstairs swigging narcotics and making the mother of all honey-do-it!! lists, this weekend Mrs. Bernie dragged me outside into the sweltering heat and commenced to cracking the whip. What's worse is I'm pretty sure I heard my dog laughing at me on a few occasions while he played the "I don't have opposable thumbs" card.


The only thing worse than facing a long list of chores is knowing that it'll be a few weeks before you see the bottom of it. And forced moderation when it comes to yard work is a much different misery than college football's off season. Instead of monotony and boredom I have sore muscles and sunburn. Put it all together and it's enough to make you watch lacrosse while you ice down...everything.


Were things this dull and bothersome way back when KiffyBaby was around? Oh well, 102 days til we storm the Dome. But for now, here's your fork Reader. Go have yourself a Monday.


Bernie

Denzel joins the Rebel Alliance

Admiral Ackbar set a trap...or Houston just got giggety.

Denzel Nkemdiche committed to Ole Miss on Friday night, and said he is unlikely to make an official visit to Georgia.

“I don’t really see the Georgia visit happening now … I really don’t,” Nkemdiche said. “I will talk to my father and my coach [Grayson's Mickey Conn] about it and see what they say. But I don’t think that will happen. I’m excited about Ole Miss.”

The speedy cornerback from Grayson High School said he called Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt to reveal his decision on Friday night, then talked withUGA assistant Bryan McClendon.

“Coach McClendon heard that I had committed to Ole Miss and he wanted to know if it was true; I told him ‘Yes sir, it’s true,’” Nkemdiche said. “[McClendon] told me that he still wanted me to make an official visit to Georgia on the day after the Memorial Day holiday [Tuesday, May 31].

“That’s not going to be possible because that’s when Ole Miss wants me to report there for summer school.” 

Beer of the Week: Son of a Peach

As promised...


Gonna start off with my current favorite. I'm usually not big on wheat beers, or brews with fruit tastes for that matter. But RJ Rockers' Son of a Peach is fantastic. Call it a girlie beer, or too fruity...I don't give a peach. I think it's a perfect Spring/Summer brew.


Many beers of this variety lack consistency bottle to bottle and also have trouble balancing the true beer taste with the fruit flavorings. Sweetwater Blue for instance...I enjoy this on occasion. But if I ever bought a six pack of it I would take months to finish it. After I down one I just don't have much interest in another one.



SoP is totally different. The peach flavor is there and unmistakable, but it never overwhelms the beer itself. It probably helps that I really enjoy a good peach I'm sure. When you have one, do yourself a favor and pour it like a traditional hefeweizen: invert a cold glass over the bottle, then reverse their positions while slowly backing the bottle out of the top of the glass. I've found that this disperses the taste perfectly, much better than out of the bottle or simply dumped in a pint glass.


There's only one drawback I can think of to this beer...it's almost impossible to find unless you live in South Carolina. RJ Rockers is a Spartanburg brewery (and all of their stuff is good by the way) and they do a good job distributing throughout the chicken state. But the only place I've seen their beer in Georgia is Five Points Bottle in Athens. And that may have been a fluke. I'm sure it's in other places, but they're few and far between. If you try it and like it, just keep asking for it at your local place.


However, if you get crack-hooked on it, hit me up. I've got a personal border crossing bootlegger. You can also follow me on Untapp'd here.


Your welcome.


Bernie

I'm not pissed at Muschamp...

...even though he's guaranteed a win over Georgia at this Fall's WLOCP. Sure, he's a former player and the man many wanted to succeed Coach Richt. And of course he's now employed by enemy number one. But he was doing his job last night at Atlantic Station.


What really upsets me is that there is a Georgia fan out there...who passed over all of the beautiful girls in Athens...to marry a gatorette...on the same day we play them in Jacksonville.


YGTBFKM!

A young, pretty girl sitting near the front of the room had a question for the Florida coach.

“Coach, I’m getting married soon and he’s a Georgia fan and …”

“That’s not my fault,” Will Muschamp said, playing to the crowd.

“My wedding is on the same day as the Florida-Georgia game,” she continued. “I was wondering: Can you guarantee Florida will win?”

Muschamp, the native of Rome, a long-time Georgia resident and former Bulldogs safety, smiled.

“I certainly can,” he said (and then he turned in my direction and alerted the crowd that this pronouncement almost certainly would be used in the local newspaper).

This should end any lingering debate about whether Will Muschamp has divided loyalties.

Ladies and Gents, there is mostly truth to the phrase that love knows no bounds. But some colors don't mix. I demand this "fan" turn in his Dawg card and be sentenced to a lifetime of jorts and orange tank tops.

Can Grantham 2.0 hand out any goose eggs?

Hey!...it's the middle of May. Join me in a practice of nonsensical evaluation.


ESPNs Aschoff had a post the other day pertaining to SEC shutouts since 1992. The teams that make up the Southeastern Conference have been more proficient than any other in keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard. As I digested the information there I paired it with the anticipation of Grantham 2.0 coming this Fall. The defensive playbook may be close to an exact match, but the personnel and (God help us!!) the execution will be much, much different.


So I got to wondering just how likely we might be to see a shutout in our favor this coming season. Even given the SECs success rate at the feat the last two decades (and if you haven't peeked yet, Georgia is just above the median for the league with 8), Aschoff makes a fine point that offenses are getting pretty proficient at scoring as well as more athletic, and kickers are getting stronger too.


Regardless, I looked up some numbers. Below are our 2011 opponents and their 2010 average for points scored per game. (The exception is Coastal Carolina who isn't listed on cfbstats.com, and I chose not to dig much further than that. So their ppg number is unavailable)

Opponent	2010 ppg
Boise State	45.1
South Carolina	30.9
Coastal Carolina	(na)
@ Ole Miss	30.6
Mississippi State	29.0
@ Tennessee	27.0
@ Vanderbilt	16.9
Florida	29.8
New Mexico State	15.7
Auburn	41.2
Kentucky	31.2
@ Georgia Tech	26.0

If a shut out comes in the first game of the season we can surely surmise that the Broncos first team offense somehow used Mudcat's car to get from Hartsfield to the Dome. It'd take a big brass set to get one against USCe, Ole Miss, MSU, Florida, Auburn or Kentucky.


Georgia's most recent shutout was last October against Vandy, 43-0. Ho-hum, I know. Keeping New Mexico State or Coastal Carolina from scoring any points for 60 minutes, albeit still a pretty good accomplishment, isn't going to stir many cockles of the heart either. 


The lowest scoring teams among what's left are Georgia Tech and Tennessee. Tech is plugging in some new players after losing Nesbitt and Allen. And Tennessee...well, their QB still has much to prove beyond being able to give an ill-advised premature taunt. He did pretty well once establishing himself as the starter. But he did it against some sub-par defenses.


All in all, if you watch your defense force a 4th down decision outside of your own 35, you feel pretty good. If the opposing kicker nails a 52 yarder to give the team its only points and you still have to feel pretty good. To a greater degree the same is true if their signal caller throws a pick in the end zone. Earning a shutout on the gridiron isn't nearly the rarity of throwing a no-hitter in baseball. But similarly, it can easily be viewed as the confluence of skill, preparedness, execution and luck.


And the greatest of these may be luck.

Travis Leslie: bigger mouth than dunks?

Travis Leslie wasn't really known to run his mouth much on the floor in Athens. But he's hitting the headlines running as a future pro.

Apparently unsatisfied with comparisons between himself and veteran Memphis Grizzlies defensive stopper Tony Allen, Leslie told DraftExpress.com at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago on Thursday that he's the superior player.

"I feel like I'm a little better than Tony Allen," Leslie said. "Hopefully I can be compared to someone better. He's basically known for his D."

Leslie backed off those comments a few hours later on Twitter, claiming he was misquoted and that he actually said, "If I keep working hard on my game I feel like I COULD be a better player and scorer." Nonetheless, word of his original comments had already reached Allen, who not surprisingly wasn't thrilledthat a college junior who isn't even likely to be selected in the first round was taking jabs at him.

Slow down Travis. At least get drafted first.

2013: Death Valley dreaming

Now that the home and home with Clempson is official I can commence the real trash talkin' with my tiger ragged family members.

Georgia and Clemson agreed back in 2005 to resume their football series. Now they have dates for those games in 2013 and 2014.

Georgia confirmed that it will play in Death Valley on Aug. 31, 2013 and the Tigers will visit Athens on Aug. 30, 2014.

Georgia said its game with North Texas that was initially slated to open the 2013 season will now be played on Sept. 21, 2013.

Gerogia and Clemson agreed to their games in August of 2005, but the dates were “TBA,” according to the contract.

The schools have played 62 games, the last in 2003 when Georgia won at Clemson 30-0.

Yeh, for that 2003 game I was singing Glory, Glory, surrounded by orange and sitting right next to my dad.  The game went about as he had predicted at the tailgate outside their Death Valley, but he was still less than amused.


In 2013 the Dawgs should be stocked; primed and ready for a serious run. Aaron Murray's senior season, Crowell's junior...and surely a receiving threat to take AJ's place by then. And we'll have to be good because the 2013 schedule promises to be much more daunting than the one we're facing this Fall. After playing at Clemson we also visit LSUs Death Valley and have Bama at home. The only breather in the first month of the season is that we get North Texas and an open date between South Carolina and LSU.


Our last games against these two Tiger squads on the road were marked by stellar defensive plays. Pollack couldn't be blocked against Clemson and Gamble spent 60 minutes disguised as an LSU receiver. As loaded as we'll be offensively in 2013, it should be a defensive stud to help us win those future games.


I wonder who?

While we're plodding along towards September...

We're nearing the 100 day mark, I think. That seems an eternity. I had a dream the other night we were suddenly just a couple days from kickoff in the GA Dome and I was way behind on posting. I'm sure similar anxiousness has tormented you as well.


So, while we're miserable together...


I plan to have a weekly Beer of the Week post. I have a fridge full of this stuff. I'd like to feature some of it. So on Saturdays, since we're not able to stand together at a tailgate and reach into an ice filled cooler for some liquid refreshment, we might as well look at what I find especially tasty and hopefully you'll share your favorites as well. Craft beer, cold cans, German, dark and stout, light on the waist, even home brews...nothing is off limits. I always maintain the only bad beer is a warm one. And even then there's times...


Also, I desperately need to read more. At least I have been told this by those close to me. This is something I have realized on my own for some time, but have too easily pushed off. I read scores of articles and posts every night in prepping my mind and blogger account for what's to come. But I do miss the printed words of an actual book.


If you find yourself in the same quandary, join my summer book club. No, we're not going to sit in a circle and talk about Oprah's list of self-helps. The first one in my queue is Erk: Football, Fans and Friends. We'll look at this one a few chapters at a time. So go check your local library or bookstore.


Feel free to join in or just come back and read my thoughts, hopefully cogent...and not the victim of a beer foul.

Jax is Max

I see where a lot of people are weighing in on what the biggest game of the SEC season will be. This has also sparked some discussion around the interwebs about what the biggest game of Georgia's season will be. The Junkyard Blawg has a poll up in reference to the question. I was a little surprised to see the Boise State game so highly regarded. And I was shocked to see the WLOCP running a distant third.


I agree there's some significance to the opener in the Dome. It's our first chance to see the Dawgs play tackle football since we got our bell rung by the CUSA champ, Directional Florida Black Knots. It also has the intrigue of a distinct national taste to it. Erin Andrews might primp her hair on the sidelines. Holtschhhzz will direct saliva into Rece's eye. And Mark May's head will explode trying to decide who will lose. 

WTF?? Again!?!?

And there will be much rejoicing. But it's not the biggest game of the season. It's not even a conference game.


The South Carolina game the following Saturday is much bigger. Lattimore spoiled our chicken dinner last year. They're the defending SEC East champs. Their (potential...) quarterback is a certified instructor from the Charlie Sheen Academy. It'll be our first chance to light up Sanford since Justin Houston made Coach PaJammies crap a slide rule.


But even that is not the biggest game on the schedule. Jacksonville, son. C'mon. WLOCP. GA-FLA. Choke sign. 50-50 split. Vertical clapping (h/t Kit). Muschamp returns. More douchebaggery in jorts. The main reason for Richt's receding hairline. Shockley coulda won it on crutches...etc...etc...


Georgia's 3-18 against the gators since Duke was last relevant. We can blather on and on about what kind of record Richt needs to save the area code attached to his blackberry, but for my St. Simons' weekend rental fee the measuring stick this season (and any damn season we tee it up) begins and ends in Jacksonville.


Get real y'all. Jax is max.


Go Dawgs!