Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Are we ready for disappointment?
Logan gives me a headache with this. His essential question is are the fans ready for the disappointment of losing the SECCG should the Dawgs make it there?
And while you enjoy winning those games, why don’t you silently root for Missouri to knock off Tennessee and Texas A&M so that they can be the ones with long faces as they make the slow walk out of the Georgia Dome in the middle of the third quarter as the pompous, arrogant, self-deserving fans of the Crimson Tide mock them, and not you, as they begin celebrating their third consecutive trip to the BCS championship game.I guess my only answer would be, if the team is suiting up, I'm ready to follow. God knows I didn't become a Georgia fan to pick and choose the battles. My feeling has always been, if we're given an "extra" game, count me in!
Monday, October 28, 2013
S&C issues, or just dumb luck?
In case you missed it, Blutarsky posted this link Friday - a reddit post someone constructed blasting the Georgia S&C program for all of the injuries this season. A loyal reader had sent me the link, I sat on it and have just let it stew a bit. Because truly, I'm just a blogger. Like The Senator says, I don't know enough about exercise science to discount what this person says.
But I do know that the strength and conditioning program has been doing its job the last few years. What we need from it is to build bodies, construct leadership and unify the team as a whole. You remember Richt's Energy bus right? You're either on it or not. Childish concept that can translate across countless contexts. And when you consider where we were under Van Halanger prior to Joe Tereshinski taking over, we've grown by leaps and bounds. We were a program that was embarrassingly lax in terms of putting guys in the weight room and getting them ready for a slate of SEC games against teams with equal or better facilities and superior accountability.
The poster goes to great lengths to explain their knowledge of what is happening with Georgia's injuries. It appears (at least at face value on the internet) that he/she has some expertise in the area of strength and conditioning. So it's hard to discount some of what he/she writes. But for me, it completely breaks down here:
Actually, it starts to break down for me back at the LSU game. Todd Gurley has been our biggest loss. By far. He's that big of a difference maker. He's that big of a game changer. He makes the offense lethal just by lining up behind Murray. He also makes the defense better just by lining up behind Murray. And you can't tell me that his injury has anything to do with what our Strength and Conditioning Program is or isn't doing.
Look, I get it. We haven't seen this many injuries in I don't know when. And I hope we don't see this many again in my lifetime. Again, like Blutarsky said it's only natural to look for reasons that aren't labeled "dumb luck". And I can see where having a guy that's been around the program for decades, like Coach T has, running a component of said program (without Univ. of Miami endorsement in strength and conditioning like this reddit character) would cause some questions. But if you do then you've never met the guy and you've never taken the time to understand how closely cut this family is from the University of Georgia.
Which is part of the reason he's in the position as director of S&C in the first place. And is exactly the reason we're cheering on an actual, honest to God football team rather than a bunch of self-absorbed knuckleheads more interested in their tainted view of the life as a football player than they are playing the game itself.
But I do know that the strength and conditioning program has been doing its job the last few years. What we need from it is to build bodies, construct leadership and unify the team as a whole. You remember Richt's Energy bus right? You're either on it or not. Childish concept that can translate across countless contexts. And when you consider where we were under Van Halanger prior to Joe Tereshinski taking over, we've grown by leaps and bounds. We were a program that was embarrassingly lax in terms of putting guys in the weight room and getting them ready for a slate of SEC games against teams with equal or better facilities and superior accountability.
The poster goes to great lengths to explain their knowledge of what is happening with Georgia's injuries. It appears (at least at face value on the internet) that he/she has some expertise in the area of strength and conditioning. So it's hard to discount some of what he/she writes. But for me, it completely breaks down here:
After being fed up with the conditioning, Van Halanger was moved to "Director of Player Welfare" (whatever that is) in 2011 and Joe Tereshinski Jr. was promoted to Director of S&C. The Tereshinski name is engrained at UGA – Something like 4 generations of players have now come through the program. Tereshinski Jr. graduated in 1977 and had been working as an assistant strength coach at UGA since 1982, and he learned everything he knows from whom? You guessed it, Van Halanger.Um...no. Not at all. If Coach T had learned everything he knows from Coach Van then we'd still have players dieting at Waffle House and being told "Eh, it's okay son. You can come do those lifts on [insert undisclosed, unaccounted time in the not so foreseeable future]."
Actually, it starts to break down for me back at the LSU game. Todd Gurley has been our biggest loss. By far. He's that big of a difference maker. He's that big of a game changer. He makes the offense lethal just by lining up behind Murray. He also makes the defense better just by lining up behind Murray. And you can't tell me that his injury has anything to do with what our Strength and Conditioning Program is or isn't doing.
Look, I get it. We haven't seen this many injuries in I don't know when. And I hope we don't see this many again in my lifetime. Again, like Blutarsky said it's only natural to look for reasons that aren't labeled "dumb luck". And I can see where having a guy that's been around the program for decades, like Coach T has, running a component of said program (without Univ. of Miami endorsement in strength and conditioning like this reddit character) would cause some questions. But if you do then you've never met the guy and you've never taken the time to understand how closely cut this family is from the University of Georgia.
Which is part of the reason he's in the position as director of S&C in the first place. And is exactly the reason we're cheering on an actual, honest to God football team rather than a bunch of self-absorbed knuckleheads more interested in their tainted view of the life as a football player than they are playing the game itself.
Shorter Bianchi: Muschamp no Maximus Decimus
 |
| Any chance I get to use a reference to this movie. |
It can't be good for Muschamp that the Orlando Sentinel troll dog himself is on his side. Or is he? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Regardless Bianchi cuts to the chase here:
Playing the economic climate card is the kiss of death in discussions about college football coaches' records. In Gainesville it seems poor Will is a victim of his offense's own ineptitude.But Muschamp better quickly liven up his offense or Florida Field will be like a morgue next season. Many Gator fans weren't enamored with Muschamp's style even when he was winning games. The already-dwindling season-ticket base will shrivel up even more if the Gators continue to lose. And, let's face it, when the customers stop buying your product in any business, people start losing their jobs.In today's economic climate, fans aren't going to invest thousands of dollars to show up at a stadium and watch a bad, boring offense. In this era of offensive football, fans not only want to win, they want to be entertained.Right now, the Gators aren't winning and they aren't entertaining.This is a lethal combination for a football coach.
But still hard to feel sorry for a guy who's been a "gator his whole life".
Battered, bruised and unranked
Having not mastered the intricacies of the ranking system in college football (and really, who has?), my youngest is pissed Georgia's not ranked. I think at the voters somehow, and at the way the season has unfolded.
That aside, I started to read this with a chip on my shoulder. Bruised ego? But then, it was hard to dispute.
That aside, I started to read this with a chip on my shoulder. Bruised ego? But then, it was hard to dispute.
There's a new entry on Georgia's lengthy injury list:
Bruised ego.
In only three weeks, Georgia has dropped from No. 6 to being unranked in The Associated Press Top 25. The stunned Bulldogs (4-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) have an off week to assess the damage, attempt to correct mistakes and hope some injured players can heal before their Nov. 2 game against Florida.The South Carolina win made this game a bit more interesting. But at its core, it'll still be a grudge match for bragging rights. Which is what Lynch reminds us:
“We're going to use this bye week to get healthy and come back,” said senior tight end Arthur Lynch. “It's our biggest rival, in my opinion. You beat Florida and you just can build so much momentum from that one win it can catapult us to winning out, hopefully. That's our plan. That's what we're going to try to execute.”
Sunday, October 27, 2013
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