UGA | The Recycle Bin

Speaking of football season.

The Falcons got their camp under way over the weekend, and UGA officially kicked things off today [or maybe it is tomorrow; would not be the first time I ever went early]. I am surprised one of the top questions in this article from the ajc was not about Cox’s ability to lead the team and hold down the QB spot. Assuming that Cox has the position nailed down (mostly because he is a fifth year senior) I think the tailback position is the next most intriguing.

Caleb King, once a celebrated recruit out of Gwinnett County, enters his third season in the Georgia program and gets his first shot at a starting job. Redshirted in 2007 and used sparingly as Moreno’s backup last season, King starts camp No. 1 on the tailback depth chart.

That’s not insignificant, but he will have to fend off competition from three teammates who weren’t in the mix during spring practice: Richard Samuel and Dontavious Jackson, both of whom were injured, and Washaun Ealey, who was still in high school. Plus, 5-foot-7 Carlton Thomas showed in the spring that he intends to command playing time, too.

This is a great time of year. Hope springs eternal for the Dawgs, and I just got my Falcons tickets. Good times!

Lindy’s Southeastern 2009 Annual Comments.

Typical football annual containing what you would expect – a rundown of SEC teams, some predictions, recruiting updates, All-America Team selections, some cheerleader hotties, and a few random articles.

Besides focusing on the SEC, this annual also contains a rundown of Conference USA and the Sun Belt. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that North Texas did not get a preview. You ask why would I care? For a couple of reasons. As long time readers know, the Mean Green is sort of my adopted school. It’s my dad’s alma mater, and several years ago I picked it for my NCAA Football Chronicles series.

I thought that Louisiana Tech, a WAC school, was included by accident, but it is listed in the table of contents, it is the last team preview in the annual, and North Texas is MIA. Un-f’ing real. I guess La Tech is more Southeastern than North Texas, but seriously. Now I want to get a version of NCAA Football and repeatedly beat the shit out these Bulldogs.

The depth charts and rosters, at least for Georgia, are more or less current up to and including the Spring Games. Will Tavarres King start opposite of A.J. Green, or will it be Michael Moore or someone else? Of course more accurate and up to date info is available via the internet, but that takes away all the fun of reading the yearly publications.

I picked up this annual because (A) I usually pick up Lindy’s for SEC coverage, (B) Georgia’s A.J. Green was on the cover, and (C) I am ready for college football. For $6.99 this is more or less what I expect in an annual, but the omission of North Texas is inexcusable. You either cover the Sun Belt or you do not, so I really do not get this gaffe.

Independence Day Nuggets of Gaming Deliciousness.

Happy Independence Day! A few nuggets for your July 4th reading pleasure.

Pangya Update
I have been enjoying Pangya: Fantasy Golf. Right now I am working my way through the story mode. It is really good clean fun, and is the perfect game for the PSP. The metacritic scores are better than average, and the user scores show that the game is going to quickly become a fan favorite.

In my book, this one is certainly worth a purchase.

PS3 vs. Xbox 360 price comparison
I found this one via N4G and thought it was interesting to see someone lay out the math, rather price of the two systems.

That said, the Xbox 360 is an impressive machine that comes with superior online capabilities and a gamut of quality games, but the cheapskate in me chose the PS3 because a) it really is cheaper overall and b) it’s more reliable. This is why all the talk of the PS3 being more expensive baffles me.

When you put it in those absolute terms it makes sense, but I question two things. First, does anyone really know the system failure rate of either system? Second, it all comes down to games. Get the system(s) that has the games you want to play and set yourself free on this Independence Day. Freedom of choice is a good thing.

PSP, Obscure The Aftermath, and Vagina Monsters
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea about the Obscure franchise, but I just had to quote this one. After all, according to PlayStation LifeStyle, this game has a vagina monster. How cool is that?

The game not only features many monsters, but also many weapons to fight the monsters with. There are 22 weapons total for the characters to utilize. The monsters themselves are based upon various phobias. Yes, that includes the Vagina Monster. At least, that is what they were calling it during the demonstration. Hope none of you have that phobia.

So many opportunities with this one, but we have a lot of youngsters that drop by, so I better show some restraint.

Calling All Cars!
I have played Calling All Cars! rather infrequently since getting it for free in one of the first few Qore issues. There never seemed to be many players online, and I could not get into the single player mode. Yesterday, we decided to do some three player action. This was the first time my boys had played the game. I won the day, my oldest son had a blast, and my middle boy started to figure out the basics of the game as we were getting ready to shut down for the night. I think this one is going to get some play time; fun for the whole family type game.

Happy Birthday American, and of course Happy Saturday!

College Football Annuals.

Every year I swear off purchasing college football annuals, but like spring turns to summer, the anticipation of a new football season brings me back to another round of purchases. Then of course there is the hope that the next yearly installment of EA Sports’ NCAA Football will bring football nirvana into my living room.

Each year I struggle to break the cycle, and this year is no different. These days I rarely visit brick and mortar bookstores, but after taking the family out for pizza (and beer for mommy and daddy), we checked out the bookstore right around the corner. Kid. Candy story. Me. OK, it was a bookstore, but you get the picture. A plethora of football annuals were on display, but I showed some restraint and limited myself to three of my traditional favorites. I picked up the Athlon Sports Southeastern 2009 Preview, Lindy’s Southeastern 2009 Preview, and of course Phil Steele’s 2009 College Football Preview is must read material.

Maybe one year I will break the cycle, but not today. Not this year. 2009 is another lost cause.

I think it is finally time to put in my NCAA Football 2010 pre-order. PS3 or PSP? Or Both? Decisions are like drinking beer. As the night goes on the decisions become easier, the beer gets better, while the tab continues to climb. Something like that.

Georgia now has a tough road to advance.

The Dawgs fell into the losers’ bracket, so now they have to go up against a dangerous Ohio St. squad at noon today. I say dangerous because the Buckeyes will surely want revenge after their drubbing at the hands of the Dawgs a couple of days ago.

If Georgia manages to win, they will still have to beat Florida St. twice in order to advance. Things are not looking all that rosy.

Go Dawgs!

Wow! GA takes Game 1 24-8!

Georgia had a nice opening game, destroying Ohio St. 24-8, including an 8 run first inning, and a 10 run eighth inning. Nice start. Saturday the Dawgs take on the winning of tonight’s Florida St./Marist match-up. Let’s hope the Dawgs saved a few runs for tomorrow.

Go Dawgs!

NCAA Regionals – Dawgs take on Buckeyes at noon.

The Dawgs at in Tallahassee in a Regional with Ohio St., Marist, and host Florida State. I wonder which Bulldog squad is going to show up. The one that took down Mississippi and Arkansas in the SEC tournament or the one that got taken behind the woodshed by LSU?

Monday morning sports quickie.

I guess I spoke too soon about UGA having any chance to win one for two from LSU. The Tigers quickly dispatched the Baseball Dawgs 16-0 (yes, not a mistake), and 3-2. I was trying to think of a way to make this sound respectable. Getting destroyed by the #3 team in the country, and eventual SEC Champion (LSU beat Vanderbilt in Sunday’s final) does not really help.

Jenson Button (Brawn) won a somewhat interesting Monaco Grand Prix; he was really never seriously challenged from the get to. To be fair, there is never a lot of passing at Monaco, but Massa tried to do his part to make things interesting, to no avail. Thanks to Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari finally managed its first podium spot of the 2009 season. Not sure if Ferrari was embarrassed to admit elation over a three-four finish, but I am sure there was much relief.

I know the Indy 500 was all about three time winner Helio Castroneves, but I thought the post race interview with Danica Patrick was telling. I have always thought she was sort of spoiled; at least that is what I have gathered from various articles and interviews. You would think she would have been happy with her career best (at Indy) third place finish, but it took her at least a minute and a half into the interview to say she was happy with third. Good grief.

Coca-Cola 600 moved to noon today due to rain.

Because everyone loves a quickie. Happy Memorial Day Monday!

Dawgs barking back – SEC Tournament Update

#6 (SEC Tournament Seed) Georgia takes on #1 (SEC Tournament Seed) LSU today, and has two chances to advance to tomorrow’ final. At one point Georgia was #1 in the land, but fell into a long bout of mediocrity, before finally limping into the SEC Tournament as the six seed.

All hope was not lost as Georgia quickly dispatched #3 Ole Miss 6-3, and then #7 Arkansas 2-1. If Georgia can pull off the upset today, they will advance to take on #7 Arkansas or #8 Vanderbilt.

Let’s hope the bark is back.

Stafford goes first.

The funny thing about Stafford signing with the Lions, reportedly one of the richest contracts in NFL history, is that I thought he was not playing with a full deck. I mean seriously, who wants to go to Detroit? That franchise is a wreck that may take a miracle to rebuild.

I was going to write an article about how Stafford’s intelligence must be over rated. After all, he did well on the Wonderlic, but he still wanted to go to Detroit? Makes you wonder WTF is wrong with him?

After his dazzling pro day workout in Athens last week, word is now that the Bulldogs’ quarterback — rated by many as the best quarterback in this year’s NFL Draft — scored the highest score on the Wonderlic test of any other quarterback.

Stafford reportedly scored 38.

USC’s Mark Sanchez scored 28 and Kansas State’s Josh Freeman 27.

The test, which measures problem-solving ability, features 50 questions and a 12-minute time limit.

Though the test is rarely completed, the Wonderlic is typically regarded as a good way to measure a player’s intelligence.

So now we know that not only is Stafford a smart guy, he is going to be incredibly wealthy. Sounds like he is living the high life.

G-Day Game

So far (midway through the second “quarter”) the Dawgs looks extremely sloppy, but it is still interesting getting to watch their Spring Game on ESPN. I was not really sure what to expect because the game is basically a fancy practice.

I am not sure what to think of all the trick plays. Work on them now and see what sticks? To me it seems like it would also tip off some teams when the games get real.

I hope the drop passes are not an indicator of things to come.

Good call by Georgia to get their game on ESPN. Even a better call to make sure Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno are readily available to further increase Georgia football exposure on a National stage.

Go Dawgs!

Team USA struggles and Alabama Rolls.

It is not like I have been watching this year’s World Baseball Classic, but how the heck does Team USA get beat via a Little League like mercy rule? Un-f’ing real. I have been watching a little of tonight’s game against the Netherlands. Good thing Team USA is up 3-0 in the 4th, because it would suck monkey balls if we were already eliminated. Too bad Chipper is on the down and out (more Braves updates later).

Speaking of being down and out, so much for that #1 Georgia ranking. The Bulldogs quickly went down 0-2 in SEC play against Alabama. Well, at least I had something to write about for a couple of days.

Bring on Monday!

Bulldogs #1 (at least in baseball).

Following up on my note from Sunday, the Bulldogs are now 12-0 and ranked number one in the land! I read a couple of stories that this is their first number one ranking since they won the National Championship in 1990. Way to go Bulldogs!

Of course SEC play does not even start until Friday, the season is still young, and I am sure Georgia is taking it one game at a time. Whatever; hopefully they will keep up the momentum.

Sunday Stuffs Springs Back!

First, I hate springing forward. The only good thing about setting the clock forward an hour is that my kids have no idea the time has changed. For one morning this year they will actually sleep until 7:30AM. Joy. OK, the grumps are now out of me; onto the stuffs!

Facebook takes over the world.
Or damn near close. I guess I must be the last man standing when even Representative Lynn Westmoreland (Georgia, 3rd District) has a Facebook page – “Congressman Lynn Westmoreland” Interesting, but not interesting enough to get me to bump CG from the map.

Georgia Baseball
Would you believe that last week the Georgia baseball Bulldogs were #3 in the land? It is true. Georgia is off to a rip roaring start; 11-0, which easily surpasses their previous best start of 9-0 years and years ago. Nineteen naught nine or some such. Like I said, Georgia has never started this well. SEC play opens this Friday in Tuscaloosa.

Georgia Basketball
Thank goodness the regular season is over, because it has been a downright dreadful season. It is not like anyone thought the Bulldogs were going to storm through the SEC, but did anyone think it would be this pitiful? Last night, in their home final, Georgia stunk up the join, getting slammed by the Fighting Chickens 68-51. The Bulldogs now get to limp into the SEC Tourney for one last embarrassing game before closing the books on a dreadful 12-19 season (3-13 in SEC play). No 4-0 Tournament run this year. Moving on …

Other stuffs
I actually have a lot more stuff (err … stuffs) to write about, but I am going to wrap up this post. Should have a couple of entries on airgunning, bird watching, and of course more Falcons off season news. Maybe later today. Depends on the weather.

2009 National Signing Day treats Georgia well.

Once again, Georgia has pulled in another decent recruiting class. Of course getting Top 10 signing class does not guarantee success, but it certainly does not hurt the Dawgs chances.

I do not remember reading about a lot of headliners, but ajc.com thinks Georgia did pretty darn good.

Georgia had one its best-ever classes. But it didn’t appear that way because the majority of recruits committed by the end of the summer. Aaron Murray of Tampa and Oconee County’s Zach Mettenberger are two of the nation’s top quarterbacks, and Booker T. Washington defensive back Branden Smith was the state’s consensus No. 1 prospect, barely ahead of Northside-Warner Robins defensive tackle Abry Jones.

It will be interesting to see how many of these guys are able to get on the field right away and make an immediate impact. Unlike the NFL draft, I never get too excited about National Signing Day. The reality is that these are kids, and you can never be too sure how they are going to react away from home. Ask me again about the 2009 class in 3-4 years.