I Was Going to Reply to Rob Parker, but I Have No Passion

Concerning Rob Parker’s piece on ESPN New York, I was going to fire back at NYC, but I’m not. 

You see, he said there was no passion for the Falcons.  For starters, he left out one very important fact.  The Falcons were closer to capacity seating(96.8%) than the Giants (96.3%) for the year.   That’s despite the fact that the metro population is a third, at most, of New York City. So it would be pointless to answer his column. 

Not only is there passion for the Falcons, there’s a great passion for the colleges and high schools of the state.   On a Saturday that Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern play at home, you can expect 160,000 to take in a game.   Georgia puts out more high school talent than any state save for California, Florida and Texas.  NOTHING in NYC can touch the passion Georgians have for football.  NYC’s passion for basketball doesn’t begin to make up for it and they can have hockey.  Maybe Mr. Parker doesn’t know the definition of passion.  

He made references to BBQ, sweet tea and peaches.  Rob, Rob, Rob sweet tea and peaches are a southern thing.  BBQ, that’s an American thing.  NYC style pizza, that’s an Italy thing.  If you ate at a soul food restaurant, it would blow your mind.  I guess he makes fun of the food, because there’s nothing uniquely New York when it comes to food.  Don’t get me wrong, NYC has some of the best restaurants in the world, but the style of food is an import. 

Let’s not even get started on women, manners, hospitality, and the overall happiness of living in the ATL vs. NYC, but the reason I’m not going after NYC?  The Giants play in East Rutherford, NJ and outside of hairspray, Bon Jovi, and the mob, I don’t know much about New Jersey.

It's Back...The BCS Found a New Way to Screw Things Up

If you’ve never followed your favorite college team through a playoff run you simply don’t know what you’re missing.  You can't fathom what you're missing.  You're being robbed.

Look at this year's Football Bowl Subdivision "championship" game.  It’s LSU and Alabama, again. This isn't a diatribe to explain how Oklahoma State and Stanford got shut out.  Alabama has just as much reason, if not more, to be there.  The situation that raised its head this year is new and devalues the term "championship game" more than ever.  It's the idea of a rematch without a playoff.  It raises a couple of issues.  

First of all, LSU beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa on November 5th.  If you're not going to have a playoff, that should be that.  Let the Tigers beat up on somebody else.  Let these young men take on all comers and prove they're one of the greatest teams of all time.  We’ll never get to see that now.

Second, the rematch doesn’t prove anything.  LSU's the national champion.  I don't care what happens in the "championship" game.  If Alabama wins the game, 3 of the top the 4 teams in college football will have one loss: OK State/Stanford winner, Alabama, and LSU.  If those are the three one loss teams left standing, there's no question LSU would have had the best season out of those three.

We've suffered through enough bowl games already this year.  Now days we have to wait till 4:30 on New Year's Day for the big time bowls to start.  Then work around our busy schedules to fit the other big games in on weeknights. 

We should be down to the final two via a playoff and marveling over the 2 or 3 plays, yea plays, which got us here. Instead we've been clubbed over the head by (insert sponsor here) bowl, one after another.  This year on the day after New Year's Day we get, wait for it, a matchup of 6-6 teams? Are you kidding me? Make it stop.

Finally, on January 9th LSU and Alabama will play, again.  Mark my word.  No matter what happens, the Associated Press will name LSU the national champion.  If Alabama's holding the other trophy, maybe, just maybe, we'll finally get what we deserve, a Bowl Subdivision playoff.

Bigger; Not Better

Expansion talk is in full swing, again. Just a few days after NCAA presidents said there would be a return to "sanity". Ha, big time college football is dying. All the idiosyncrasies that make it special are disappearing at the hands of the all mighty dollar. There's nothing Big or East about TCU. Texas A+M is hardly in the southeast and if you can tell me which teams are in what divisions for the Big 10 and the ACC in the next 2 minutes, I'll give you a dollar and no conference commissioner, you're not eligible to win my dollar.

The latest rumors have A+M off to the SEC along with Missouri, Florida State and Clemson. Why would any of these schools leave? Money, it's the only reason. Why would the SEC want them? I haven't figured that one out, unless they have their mind on the next TV contract.

Here's a closer look. Texas A+M brings nothing to the SEC. They haven't been a top 10 program in years. Furthermore, Oklahoma and Texas will still take the top recruits from the Longhorn State. In other words, kids growing up in Texas won't identify with the team A+M is playing, they'll be watching the Texas game. Plus, A+M will have trouble penetrating the SEC's already fertile recruiting ground. If they do, it just hurts teams already in the conference.

Florida State could be a winner. If the 'Noles are "back", and I think they are, they would contend for the SEC title right away. Keep in mind as the ACC runner up one year ago they defeated the SEC runner up, South Carolina, with their backup QB in the bowl game. On the other hand, Auburn, Georgia, and Tennessee could be in big trouble. While those programs have shown flashes of brilliance, they've never won with consistency on a national level the way FSU and Florida have. When's the last time the 'Noles and Gators had a bad year in the same season? Tennessee and Georgia were 6-7 last year. Auburn won it all, but 9 wins this year would be more impressive to me, considering they lost 35+ players from last year's team.

The last two schools rumored to leave are Clemson and Missouri. I have no idea what these schools are thinking. Missouri has had some nice years in the Big 12, but never on the level of Oklahoma, Texas, or even Oklahoma State recently. Clemson can forget football. The Tigers haven't won the ACC in 20 years. How in the world would a move to the SEC help things for the Tigers?

If the expansion dominoes fall, the rich get richer and the top tier teams get stronger. The SEC can strike it rich with their TV contract and Alabama, LSU, Florida and Florida State would be megapowers in college football. The mid-level teams currently in the SEC are weakened. Would you rather play for the 2nd best team in a bad conference (Miami perhaps) or the 8th best team (AU, UGA, Tenn) in a great conference? Kids won't like going 7-5 every year. I have no clue why the current teams in the SEC would accept this. The money's split more ways and you hurt teams already in your conference

The school's the SEC plans add make no sense either. Contrary to popular belief, you don't add TV markets. Dallas is Longhorn country. It's like the Big 10 adding Georgia Tech and saying they have the Atlanta market. I think we all know better. People in St. Louis won't watch a 6-6 Missouri team. You don't help recruiting. The top talent in Texas will continue to go to Oklahoma and Texas. Clemson and FSU are already in the southeast and why in the world would an SEC team go to Missouri to get talent?

It's simply a cash grab. A cash grab by athletic departments run by bean counters that don't have to pay the people that make it all possible. Hey, you can't knock the bean counters either. They have to figure out a way for football to fund all these sports in the name of equality. Yep, it's socialism at it's finest and the "employees" don't even get paid. What's happening to big time college football is a damn shame and those that should know better don't even see it coming.  

Tough Act to Follow

It was October 30th, 2010. The Georgia Southern Eagles had just lost at home to Samford. The record was 4-4 with a visit by Appalachian State on the horizon. The playoff picture looked bleak. Not that this team was expected to make the playoffs. They were picked seventh in the conference before the season started. There was no doubt the team had improved in Jeff Monken's first season. While most feel like they let one get away against Navy, Wofford and Chattanooga, the Eagles were competitive in those games. There was a signiture win too. Who could forget the Saturday night against Elon? As disappointed as Eagle fans were, the option was back and the team was getting better. On this day, however, it was Samford.

The next week Appalachain State came to town and everything changed. The Eagles rattled off 3 in a row and landed themselves in the playoffs. This group wasn't satisfied with that. They knocked of SC State at home, then went on the road to upset William and Mary. Next was an unforgettable night in South Carolina. The Eagles knocked off conference rival Wofford in their own stadium. You wouldn't have known you were in the Terrier's house that night. The Eagle faithful easily outnumbered the Wofford fans and made Gibbs Stadium Paulson north. It was a long way away from a home loss to Samford.

How do you follow that up? Keep your head. As easy as the team went from 4-4 to national semifinalist, a fall back can happen just as easy. That's what makes the first game of the year so important. It's Samford. Before you start planning a trip to Boone. Before you break down the bracket to see if the Eagles get another shot at the Blue Hens, beat Samford. That's what the Eagles have to do. Everyone's back. Everyone's more experienced. The incoming freshmen are talented. The Eagles are picked at or near the top in all the polls. Things are back to normal. There's really not a whole lot to talk about. Just go beat Samford.

Thursday Quick Hits

I mentioned at the end of the show yesterday I am worried about the Braves starting rotation. The AJC's Jeff Schultz has the numbers breakdown. Scary

My buddy Charles Olson is looking for answers for the above and may have something.

Congrats to Robert Brown, Charlie Edwards, Brett Moore, Brent Russell, and LaRon Scott for representing Georgia Southern on the CSN Preseason All-America Teams.

GT started practice yesterday. GSU (the real GSU in Stateboro) and UGA start practice today. Football season is in full swing!

I have to close out the QH with a shout out to D Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC. A twitter war broke out between D and Brent Grimes' wife. Though not the intentions of D, I have lost all respect for Brent Grimes. The guy comes out of nowhere to make an NFL roster, parlays that into a starting job, and now, wants to act like he's a top 10 corner. D outlines the details of the deal in AJC. That afternoon Grimes' wife takes to the airwaves in the ATL to bash D. The same "lady" is often at practice pushing a baby stroller around while yelling at the team during drills. What a clown this woman has proven herself to be. If there's a great woman behind every great man, then it must work both ways. I hope Grimes gets a huge deal somewhere else. He has earned it, but I'd rather the Falcons get a 1st round pick than deal with Stroller Mom.

Hitting the Ground Running

The 2011 season for Georgia Tech should be interesting. The offense returns 8 players, the defense 6. The defense is in year two of Al Groh's system and will be better. How much better? That will be a key, but it's all about the triple option. The "highschool" offense that wouldn't work at the 1-A level (even though it already had at Navy). There are some out there who think defenses have caught up to Paul Johnson's offense. It's really silly if you consider the average rushing yards per game have gone up each season since he's been there. That's with little to no threat of a passing game.

Here are what I see as the three keys to 2011. The first is attitude. Coming into 2010 it wasn't right. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't right. Overconfident may be the word. The offense is about execution. That takes attention to detail. You can't be caught up in how good you think you might be. When the team left Lawrenceville, Kansas everyone knew there was a problem.

The second is finding one quarterback. Two will compete. A freshman may challenge, but one must stand out. Do you remember the second half in Blacksburg last year? The GT offense was trying to salsa while Tevin Washington was waltzing. The guy under center must orchastrate a lot of moving parts and he has to be smooth. A completion here or there wouldn't hurt, but the main thing is getting the option to click. It's not all the team runs, but it is vitaly important to what they do.

The third and most important in my opinion is the B-Back spot. There's a number of hopefuls at that spot. Maybe one stands out or maybe a couple guys start the year carrying the load. Whatever the case may be, there can't be any hesitation from whomever is lined up there. It's the first option. It's really that simple. It keeps guys in the middle of the field so the QB and A-Backs can hit the edge. It keeps the defense honest. If the team struggles to find someone to take the reigns from Anthony Allen, this team could be in some serious trouble.

I don't really have a prediction. The schedule lines up as a "good" year. Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Georgia are all home games. This team has a long way to go before they can worry about that. Miami and Virgina could be really good with an emphasis on could. Duke is, and always will be, Duke. North Carolina did the entire Costal Division a solid and sent Butch Davis packing. I think the Hokies run away with it, but don't be surprised to see PJ's team second in a weakend division.

2011: A Case Study in Patience

I have a very strong feeling Georgia will win between four and 12 games this year. It sounds silly, I know, but that's the reality. In 11 seasons Mark Richt has guided his program and himself to quite a cross roads. On one hand, a very talented group of freshman has arrived and the future is very bright. On the other hand, the team is coming off it's first losing season in 15 years. Throw high expectations into the mix and things could get interesting.


It starts with the defense. In year two of any system there will be improvement. It doesn't matter what team or what system, players will execute better in year two. UGA will have to lean heavily on defense. It's going to take time for the offense to come around. Defense usually starts out the year ahead of the offense and that will be more pronounced in Athens compared to other places around the country.

Georgia will also need a solid contribution from the dream team. For this highly touted freshman class, the future is now. They will have to learn, develop, and produce all at once. That's not going to be easy. By my count, the Bulldogs will have to rely on at least five true freshman to contribute right away. That count doesn't include one offensive lineman which, given depth concerns, seems inevitable.

Depth is becoming a dirty word in Athens. Frankly, there ain't a whole to go around. The top two receivers and running backs from last season are gone. Attrition has decimated the offensive line and line backing corp. It takes time to develop depth. Translation, it's not the best season to open with two of your toughest opponents.

The above is a recipe for disaster. A team without experience and depth usually starts slow and rallies to finish at or near .500, see the 2010 Volunteers. The good news is, the SEC East is down from it's usual level. Florida and Tennessee are in the same boat with UGA. Furthermore, Georgia dodges LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas from the west. From this chair, it looks like Mark Richt will have to rally an 0-2 football team to keep his job. It's not an easy task, but it is doable with this schedule if he can develop freshmen and depth, while leaning on a stingy defense to hold down the fort. All three things have to happen to avoid disaster.

Rest easy Bulldog fans. The future is very bright in Athens, but 2011 will test your patience.