It was dumb of me to be so presumptuous to assume I’d be able to churn out a football post a day starting last week through the beginning of college football season, which, may I remind you, starts tomorrow. I’ve had to push some superfluous stuff to the front of my To-Do list (like finding a job; I mean, how ridiculous is that?) so I haven’t been able to post as I’d planned.
WR Donte’ Stallworth (I always try to double up on pts by getting a WR on my QB’s team - this was the best I could do this year)
WR Joe Horn
TE Randy McMichael
K Shayne Graham
Bench: QB Trent Green (might split starts with McNabb, I took him so 1) no one else would and 2) he’d give me some trade leverage)
Bench: WR Michael Clayton (no relation to Mark Clayton)
Bench: WR Mark Clayton (no relation to Michael Clayton)
Bench: WR Chad Jackson (my pre-draft ROY pick - it’s doubtful it will happen now)
Bench: RB Warrick Dunn (will likely start most games)
Bench: RB T.J. Duckett (crapshoot - could get me 12 TD’s this year, could get me 2)
Bench: TE Leonard Pope (just to make things fair, I’m going to leave him on the bench for now)
Defense
( I could’ve done better here, I’m the first to admit)
DB Allen Rossum (return yards count in our league, that’s the only reason he’s here)
DB Sean Jones (former Dawg won the starting safety job in camp)
DB Antoine Wingfield (picked up after I drafted my final round Mr. Irrelevant, Tim Jennings, and promptly dropped him post-draft)
DL Ray Lewis
DL James Farrior
DL Julius Peppers
DL Dwight Freeney
Bench: DL Dexter Coakley
Bench: DB Jimmy Williams (will likely get some starts - offenses will pick on him early with DeAngelo Hall at the other corner spot)
Bench: DL Jason Taylor
I’d like to say I’m jacked up about my team, but right now there are too many question marks at WR and on defense. That said, Tomlinson has singlehandedly won games for fantasy owners in the past, so we’ll see what happens.
In the first quarter of Georgia’s three losses last year (Florida, Auburn and West Virginia), the Dawgs were outscored 42-10 and outgained 377 yards to 134. This is not just an indictment of the defense, either; in the Florida game, Georgia had first quarter drives of 1 yard and 7 yards. Against West Virginia: 4, 6, 6, and 30 yards, with two of those ending in turnovers. Georgia may be able to come out flat against the likes of Vandy, Kentucky, and Mississippi State, but that shizzle won’t flizzle against the SEC’s best.
Solid O-Line Play
Whoever’s behind center for UGA at any given moment isn’t going to have to win games by himself - that’s what having a very good running back corps does for you. But mistakes by JoeJoeBlakeyMatt will have to be few and far between, and the easiest way to ensure that happens is for the offensive line to gel quickly and control the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately we’re not very deep across the line, so keeping guys healthy (and not suspended) is crucial. There’s no reason to believe this year’s O-line can’t be as good as the units in years’ past (if you believe we are a program that reloads, not rebuilds) but they’re going to have to gain experience points quicker than a Techie’s druid in World Of Warcraft.
Special Teams Must Be Special, And Not In A Corky-From-Life-Goes-On Kind Of Way
These two guys have the highest overall rating on the Georgia squad, according to NCAA Football ‘07:
Go on, say you scared.
For the unitiated, that would be PK Brandon Coutu and P Gordon Ely-Kelso. What they lack in the Intimidating Visage Department they more than make up for in ability. Hopefully we’re not going to revert back to the “Field Goal U” days of seasons past, but Coutu is going to need to be accurate all season long, especially early in the season if the offense struggles out of the gate. Ely-Kelso deserves some serious love from Dawg fans for the job he’s done over the last few seasons. Punter’s not a sexy position, but field position is going to be critical and Gordo’s going to have to step up again this year. Loved his performance in Fight Club, by the way.
On the punt-returning front, someone’s going to have to step up (especially in the South Carolina game, where lately points have been at a premium) in Thomas Flower’s two-game absence. Right now, that’s looking like either Mikey Henderson or true freshman and Tucker grad Asher Allen. (Big ups to David Ching’s awesome blog for the info)
We’re looking pretty good on paper as far as kickoff returns go. Speedy Ramarcus Brown and tailback Thomas Brown (no relation) look like the top guys there, and again, must give the offense good field position to take pressure off our QB(s).
What can Brown do for you? Run really fast, that’s what.
Pressure, Pressure, Pressure
Georgia took a huge step forward last year in the forced-turnover department, and they’ll need to continue that trend. While there’s little doubt that the secondary can step up, the lack of extensive experience at corner could be an issue. The best way to counter this is for the front seven to control the line of scrimmage, force turnovers, and register sacks. With all the national attention on Quentin Moses, this could be a banner year for Charles Johnson. If he steps up, we could be looking at a very, very good defensive unit which exceeds current expectations. Leadership needs to come from LB Tony Taylor, this year’s recipient of the Reggie Brown He’s Still Here? Award.
Get That Damn Prehistoric Scaly Monkey Off Our Backs
The 2006 college football season officially kicks off next Thursday as the Cocks travel to Starkville to take on the Pseudogs. (ESPN, Aug. 31, 8PM)
Starting today, I plan to have at least a post a day laden with predictions, prognostications, and putdowns, all relating to college football. Tomorrow: What Georgia Must Do To Win The SEC.
The impression we’re getting regarding the Trivia face-off now is that it ain’t gonna happen. Frankly I’m disappointed. People get married all the time, but a For-All-The-Marbles Trivia Shootout? Once in a lifetime, my friends, once in a lifetime.
Here’s the discussion that went down on Q100 Wednesday morning about all this (mp3, 3.5 mb).
Sorry to get everyone’s hopes up, but I take comfort in the fact that it wasn’t my fault. Maybe one day it’ll happen but everyone involved doesn’t seem too optimistic. At least now I can get my full focus back on more important things - primarily college football, secondly finding a job.
Sorry for the late notice, and I doubt anyone will read this before tomorrow, but the trivia face-off has been postponed to a later date. Apparently, one of “El Chupacabra’s” team members actually thinks her wedding is more important than a trivia competition. Yeah, I know, right? They won’t be able to get their team together this week because of planning for the nuptials.
Assuming Alexandra is actually going on a honeymoon after her wedding this weekend, I don’t expect this thing to be rescheduled for at least a week, likely more.
If I already contacted you once, expect to get another e-mail when the new date gets set. Unless you don’t want an e-mail from me, in which case, I’ll cry. A lot.
The trivia competition has been postponed. Info here.
Sometime in the (hopefully) near future Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 23rd at 7:30 AM, I will be uniting with Ben Sian and Beth Haggerty under the moniker “Wyld Stallyns” to take on VH1’s World Series of Pop Culture champions, “El Chupacabra” in a no-holds-barred trivia face-off, live on Q100 (100.5 on your FM dial).
A little backstory: From July 10th to August 3rd, VH1 broadcast its first-ever “World Series of Pop Culture“, an NCAA-tournament-style, single-elimination competition pitting 32 3-person teams from across the country. When the dust finally settled, Smyrna’s own “El Chupacabra” was crowned the champion and earned $250,000 for its efforts. Not long after, the members of “El Chupacabra” appeared on Q100’s morning drive-time program, “The Bert Show”, to talk about their victory. It was at this time that Ben Sian e-mailed the station and threw down the gauntlet; Ben insisted he could put together a team that could not only compete with “El Chupacabra” but beat them in a head-to-head matchup as well.
Via several degrees of separation that may or may not have included Kevin Bacon, Ben was able to recruit both myself and Beth to join him in the quest to unseat the champs. After a preliminary on-air deliberation with our valiant leader and Alexandra of “El Chupacabra”, the stakes are set:
If you listened to the file above, you see what we’re up against should we lose - I might actually have to venture outside the Perimeter. *shiver*
Not a good look for me.
And so, dear readers, I encourage all of you to tune in to Q100 tomorrow morning at 7:30 (the second half of the competition will be the same time Thursday as well), light a candle, or say a prayer, or whatever you’ve got to do. Do it not for me, but rather for the folks attending Smyrnabration1.
If you’re not in the Atlanta area and can’t pick up Q100 via the old-timey method of radio, visit their website and click “Listen Live” at the top of the page.
Thanks, and may the force or something be with me.
1 Not like we’re actually going to lose or anything. This is just hedging a bet, in gambling parlance.
“Even during the days of slavery, the slave master always had his puppet,†Brooks said, accusing Johnson of willingly receiving support from GOP loyalists intent on unseating McKinney.
….
Brooks said he didn’t know of any black voters supporting Johnson.
This, despite the fact that Hank Johnson got at least 25% of the vote in nearly every precinct in Dekalb County. The worst Johnson did was 21.74% in the Tilson Elem. precinct, which is 96% African American. On the other hand, the Jolly Elem precinct, which is 83% African American, gave Mr. Johnson 56% of their vote.
And no blacks voted for Johnson, Rep. Brooks?
You are disgraceful.
Reason Why I Hate People, #19:If there’s one group of people I hate more than any other, it’s the group that puports to speak for an entire subset of the population. The folks at NOW, the National Organization for Women, has a site called “Love Your Body” intended, I guess, to encourage women to develop a positive self-image and fight back against the “negative”, self-esteem-crushing idea of Woman as invented by Hollywood and advertisers:
Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards. TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that more than 80% of fourth-grade girls have been on some form of fad diet? Is it any wonder that 80% of U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance?
Aside from the rather specious uncited statistic at the end there, I guess I can’t really argue too much. Hollywood and advertisers probably do create an ideal image type for women unachievable by most of the fairer sex.
But who really knows where to draw the line? Apparently, NOW does.
Not even taking into account that these ads were manipulated (by adding the phrase “offensive to women”) and published on their page without any of the advertisers’ or represented companies’ permisssions, this kind of sheee-ot bugs the stew out of me.
First of all, it’s incredibly arrogant for them to suggest that these ads are “Offensive to Women”, as if they have a direct connection to the attitudes, ethics, beliefs, and standards of all women.
To All Women Out There: NOW is doing the thinking and speaking for you, even if you don’t agree with them. Take back your individuality. If you’re offended by these ads, fine. If you’re not, fine. Just don’t let them tell you what is and isn’t offensive.
Additionally, the “Love Your Body” folk use a very common mind-trick when presenting these ads.
When radical religious nutjobs were speaking out against the scientifically impossible “backmasking” (subliminally recorded backwards messages in rock songs that the subconscious supposedly would supposedly internalize and interpret - be it to smoke marijuana or worship Satan) back in the mid-to-late 80’s, I got ahold of a tape of one such preacher addressing his congregation on the dangers of such psuedo-technology. So did he play a backward segment of a track and then ask his flock what was being said? Of course not, he told them what they were going to hear, THEN played it. And of course, everyone heard exactly what the preacher told them they’d hear.
Another example: Don’t think of a cow. Ha! You thought of a cow.
So the NOW folks are telling you what these ads mean, ladies. But would all the women out there derive the same conclusions NOW did without their snarky little comments? Of course not. They’re speaking for you.
The worst is the Longchamp ad:
This is an ad for luggage, right? And the nearly naked, bronzed woman is there because…? When creativity fails, insert sex.
Um, there’s sex in there? Where exactly? Or do the people at NOW immediately equate nudity with sex? If so, how messed up is that? Makes you wonder how they’d react to something like this. Or this?
Oh yeah, and what about lesbians out there who think these ads are really hot? You speaking for them too, NOW?
Anyway, this kind of destructive groupthink festers across religious, ethnic, sexual, and cultural boundaries. And it is destructive. Think for yourself.
Oh, and NOW has declared October 18 “Love Your Body” Day. Delightful. Thanks for establishing that for us, NOW, but at La Casa de DAve, every day is “Love Your Body” day. And if any fine ladies wanna come by La Casa, I’d be happy to love yours, too.
Preface: I’m too lazy and uninspired to do a Top 25, especially since it’s better to leave a Top 25 up to These Guys, This Guy, and a buttload of other college football bloggers with a lot more knowledge about stuff like Oregon’s 3rd down conversion percentage on the road in the second half at night when they’re wearing their ugly-ass uniforms.
My eyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeessss!!
Nevertheless, I (strangely) have a pretty good track record with things like this. I usually pull one team out of my dark-and-holy place, stick ‘em higher than most people, and end up looking pretty good by season’s end. Who will that be this year? Stick around. Anyhoo, let’s get this over with.
I’ve never been really happy with my hair. Even now at age 30, every time I get it cut it ends up looking like they just took a bowl and cut around it. I end up looking like I did when I was four:
Look past the mind-numbing cuteness of the above pic and focus on the hair. When I get it cut today, it looks like that. Minus the mind-numbing cuteness. So you see my predicament.
That’s why I’m soliciting your advice, dear readers. Thanks to Clairol’s Try It On Studio (vis a vis Amy and her sister Robin), I’ve uploaded a recent pic of myself and tried out a number of virtual hairstyles. Now my problem is I can’t decide which one to go with. This is where you come in. Take a look at these and vote for your favorite.
Seriously, guys - this is really important. My self-esteem is at an all-time low and while I know that something as superficial as a hairstyle won’t cure all my ills, it can’t hurt.
This is just a blog by a guy named DAve who likes the Dawgs, college football, golf, music, a good bourbon, photos, design, Austrian economics, yadda, yadda, yadda. More?
Powered by WordPress and Qwilm! theme. I took this theme and tweaked it to my liking. Big ups to Twitter, Flickr, HypeMachine, Piknik, YouTube, and all the plugin and widget designers that helped make this site what it is (which isn't much).
Recent Tweets
Motion activated toilets were not made with courtesy flushers in mind. 3 weeks ago
