Look alike game.....

Nash Nance

The Skinny on UGA's class of 2010

Ok, so UGA limped to the recruiting finish line this year. The most disappointing part of the day (which most of us knew was coming) happened at 9:45am when the top player in the state Da'Rick Rogers confirmed reports and sent his LOI to the University of Tennessee. I really think Rogers will make an immediate impact at the collegiate level and this one hurts. Physically, the guy could step on the field on Sunday's at age 18. Mentally, I'm not so sure. The last I heard he still hadn't achieved a qualifying SAT score. I'm sure Tennessee will find a way to get him enrolled, but if they don't, this one may not be over guys. The whole thing smells fishy and if it were Lane Kiffin instead of Derrick Dooley, I'd be convinced that something was up. Basically Tennessee offered Rogers' best friend and QB Nash Nance a scholarship two weeks ago hoping Rogers would follow him. Nance's dad if extremely close to Rogers and a father figure type. In my opinion, he used Rogers to improve the level of school his son would get an offer too. Nance will never touch the field at Tennessee. Anyway, enough about DR. We had two other long time commitments de-commit this past week as well. Deon Rogers and Nickell Robey both backed out of their commitments and are headed to Louisville and USC respectively. Rogers is a 3* LB and Robey is a 4* CB. These guys were never "solid" commits though and we anticipated them changing when Willie was fired. On to the good news, Alec Ogletree, Garrison Smith, TJ Stripling, Brent Benedict among others are now Dawgs. We didn't just try and fill up the class with second tier guys once players started backing out. This opens us up for a full class next year, which we haven't had in several years. One of my favorite dawgs already is Kenarious Gates. He was only offered on Monday night and he immediately switched his commitment from Kentucky to his "dream school". He is a 6-5" 300lb offensive lineman with good feet and good smarts. The story I read about him talked a lot about how he loves UGA and is grateful to have a chance to play for his home state Bulldawgs. I love this kind of kid. We had two surprises go our way today in Michael Thornton, a 4* DT that will probably play the nose position in the 3-4 and an unranked 6-6 WR named Lonnie Outlaw. This guy is a "sign and place" kid that will play for GMC and get his grades in order. The good thing about him is that he is Nick Marshall's (2011 QB already offered) cousin and they are very close. That's a quick recap of UGA's signing day coverage. Go Dawgs!!!

Speak up

I will be counting on our recruiting insiders John and Brad to bring us their overall perspectives on how this years recruiting ended up.

Glad you guys made it for the first time.......but now the honeymoon is over!

Don't get me wrong I like the Saints and Drew Breeeeeeeez almost as much as I like Payton Manning, I would be happy with either team winning this game. With that being said, here are the reasons the Colts will win. Before we get to the on the field stuff let's just pretend that both teams are equal at every position.

Off the field tale of the tape

1. The Saints at the beginning of the season set their goal to be IN the Super Bowl. Since the NFC Championship game they have been celebrating like they are the world champs. I cannot imagine how hard it is to work all season long to accomplish your goal and then after you accomplish it turn around and set a new one with two weeks to build the same motivation that is required to win the Super Bowl.

2. Everyone loves the story of how the city of New Orleans has rallied around the Saints, I will admit it is a good story, BUT that was over 4 years ago how long is a team supposed carry their fans before the debt is re payed, it is added pressure that the Saints surely don't need. "Win one for the Gipper" would not have meant as much if they would have told Sayers that for four years in a row.

On the field

1. The Colts are short handed without Dwight Freeny (we all know what he can do) and Jerrad Powers who started at corner all year but did not play in the Championship game ( the reason Braylon had a walk in touch down on a backup CB) I will admit their D is looking not too hot. But they are still better than the Saints D. The Saints have relied heavily on turnovers all year, a category which they were in the top teams in the league, despite that their defense is still ranked 25th. So I think Colts still have the edge on D because with Payton not turning the ball over it will be a long day for them.

2. Both teams seem to have an equally explosive offense but this is not the case. The saints rely on long down field passes and swing passes but do not have much of a passing for a 3rd 8 type situation with most their passes being 12 yards or more I suspect the Colts ( especially if Powers plays) will keep everything in front of them, and have LB's that are athletic enough not to let the swing passes eat them up. True the Saints have a better running game but it is not better than the Jets or Ravens and the Colts shut both of them down. And don't try to tell me well the Saints shut down AP because they did not he had huge game despite his 3 fumbles. Manning on the other is a wizard behind the center. You never know where the ball is going and even if you get lucky before the snap and guess the right formation he will just see your linebacker smiling and change the play to go the other direction.

In summation

Colts 28 Saints 17

Super Bowl Week

Whats up people? its super bowl week and we got to figure out whats going to happen. i have been looking at several different things. the thing im looking at right now is when these 2 teams play a team that is ranked in the top 5 in passing offense, and the colts have played 3 teams ranked in the top 5. Houston twice, and New England. in these games the defense of the colts have given up an average of 356 yards in the air and 26 points. all 3 of these games the colts had dwight freeney, one of the best pass rushers in the game. i would have to think that the colts' defense is not going to be as good when the ball is in the air with out freeney rushing the passer. so now we are giving brees extra time to throw the ball against a team that gives up 350+ passing yards when playing the best passing teams. now the saints have only played a top 5 passing team once this year, the pats. brady only had 237 yards and the pats only scored 17 points. it was the 4th best job the saints did on defense this year and it was against one of the best passing teams and qb's. so what i got from this is that the saints defense do better against better passing teams. combine that with the fact that freeney is out (im assuming he is going to be out) and i have to give the edge to the saints on defense in this game.

offense and special teams report to come... also a report on the "if" factor.

What type of S&C does Bama have?

Let me start by saying, obviously they are doing something right. But, what in the hell do these lard ass lineman eat? Remember Andre Smith last year? The guy cost himself several million dollars by coming to the combine as an out of shape blob. He was weak, slow, and did not resemble the terror he was on the football field during the season at all. I can actually see how this can happen, no matter how stupid, due to the combine being several months removed from the final game of the season. But this leads me to my next player, Terrance Cody. WTF? How can this overweight slob be a dominant football player? He has bigger boobs than Pam Anderson. Something just does not look right when you look at these two.

Anyone else scared to look?

Bye Bye Brett - Pre super bowl talk

hang it up man. go back down to southern mississippi and deer hunt, fish, hang out at the local gas station and let people tell you how good you are. cause thats what its all about itsnt it brett? dont you just want to feel wanted. dont you just want programs to go out of their way, to put jobs on the line, to cause all kind of controvsy just for you? thats what its all about aint it brett? are you going to go on fox news this year? how many times are you going to lie between now and the beginning of next season brett? oh, you dont want to talk about it right now? ok, my bad. since you are brett favre i guess what ever you say goes. but before you ride off to do your next wrangler commercial can i ask you what it feels like to be in the NFC championship game twice in 3 years and end both games the exacte same way... with a pick? i guess you wouldnt have it any other way would you brett? i mean who else are you going to let win or lose the game? well brett, you can rest assured that i dont give 2 shits whether you come back, retire, go on greta, or coach a high school team. i could care less brett, because im sick of you. im sick of hearing about you. im sick of seeing you. and maybe, just maybe, the vikings are sick of you also. i mean hell, you have burned every bridge you have ever crossed so be sure not to let this one pass you by.

So lets talk about the big one. im sure we will have plenty of talk about which side to be on in this game and intially what im looking at is the point movement. what made the points move from 4 to 5 1/2? and why so fast? and whats up with the total? it drops from 56 to 55 1/2 and then climbs back up to 56 1/2. so the early money is obvioulsy going on Colts and Under and then others are jumping on the over to move it back up. I do like the fact that the colts have the "been there done that" on their side and playing a super bowl virgin. The saints didnt handle the pressure that good towards the end of the season when they were still undeffeated. but 5 1/2? the colts seem to be really good and after watching the saints/vikings game you really had to have the feeling that the vikings lost the game more than the saints won it. plus i spoke to a guy today that was at the game and he said, "joe, it was the loudest i had ever heard that place. i go to 3 or 4 lsu games a year and death valley has never been that loud." wow, saints had a huge home field advantage, playing a 40 year old qb that they put on the ground every other play (it seemed), plus the vikings turned the ball over 15 times (again, it seemed), and the saints still had to go in over time to win... i love dogs and i love them even more in the super bowl but im leaning towards the colts early. stay tuned for either a change of heart or a stronger feeling...

possible blog header

Thank you Mike Shula

Mike Shula came to the University of Alabama as a proud Alumni to take over a program that was in turmoil in May of 2003. The school had been put on probation from 2002 - 2006 and Shula took a job from a school knowing he would be on probation the first 3 years and was only getting paid 900k per year. they had gone through Mike Dubose - been screwed over by Dennis Franchione - and had a brief relationship with Mike Price (its rolling baby). The program was at one of its lowest points. Mike Shula resurrected a dieing program and brought them back on the national scene in just his 3rd year by going 10-2 and winning the cotton bowl. So after the 2005 season the school gives Shula a 6 year contract extension and a raise as a show of their appreciation for not just winning ball games but doing it under some of the hardest circumstances in school history. After the 2006 season and just a year into his new 6 year contract Mal Moore and the University of Alabama informed Mike Shula his services were no longer needed and didnt want him to even coach in the bowl game.. "I had to work out at 6:30 a.m. and when I got to the gate, we had people around here talking about it," said center Antoine Caldwell of Montgomery. The sophomore said his reaction was "shock, just disbelief. They give the guy four years and after a 10-2 season last year they give him a contract extension and a raise. What we did last year is just non-existent, I guess." you remember Antoine Caldwell from last years team dont you? you may remember some of the players on this years team that Shula is responsible for bringing to the University of Alabama. like Rolando McClain, Greg Mcleroy, Javier Arena, just to name a few. After the Crimson Tide won their 13th National Title every person that considers them self a Tide fan should take a moment and thank Mike Shula. Thank him for coming in a time when no one else would. thank him for recruiting players that helped you win a title. thank him for bending over and letting you screw him out the door while you call him names like "pretty boy" and "weak ass" (just to name a few). Then go down to the Bear Bryant Museum and talk to Bear about how we finally got our man. Tell him we finally got a coach that dont take no shit. Tell him we finally have gotten back to where we belong, at the top. And be sure to read.. "I have tried to teach class, to have pride, and to display character. I think, winning games, takes care of itself if you do that." -Paul Bear Bryant. After reading that then look up at his statue and be proud. you have won games. you have won a Championship. But you didnt do it with class or character, you did it with Saban.

Click the cartoon

March Madness or BCS National Champ

Which is harder to win? That was a question that was posed to me yesterday. At first i said BCS because you have to rely on things you cant control. For instance, Boise State. In basketball if you win then you win. (i do not want this to turn into "playoff in football" debate) The person i was speaking with disagreed and said he thought basketball was more difficult because you 65 teams that all have a chance you have to win 8 games instead of just one. Then he posed the same question with a catch. lets talk about just major teams. which is harder; UNC, Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas etc.. to win a title in Basketball or Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, LSU to win one in football? so i brought up Auburn in 04. They are a major team (or at least in a major conference) and they had an undefeated regular season and won the SEC championship and didnt even get a chance to play in the title game. so which is tougher? To go through a regular season, conference tourny, and 8 games in March Madness? OR regular season, Conference Championship (if applicable) and Title game?

Championship weekend.. i want to see some picks. The lines we are using on picks are Indy -8 & 39 and NO -3 1/2 & 53. you dont have to pick a side and you dont even have to pick every game but i want to see some picks damn it.

also, this morning on mike and mike i heard that the colts were behind in 9 games this year. when you go back and see how close they won most of their games it makes the 8 point line look almost crazy. something is going on with this line. its been a heavy favorite playoff and it seems like vegas is begging you to bet on the dog. Most of you guys know how much i love dogs but stay with the heavy favorites here and then take the dog in the big one.

This is for Joe.....

Cod Lock cont..

Ok, now for my thoughts on the New Orleans Saints game. Maybe we will see Favre retire now after this loss. the pick he threw w/ 7 minutes left in the game down 4 deep in his own territory setting up the Saints final TD to go up 11 was just sad. The Saints had a great game plan i thought. the way they took Minnesota's pass rush out of the game with quick passes and and screens was just great. Brees had a hell of a game throwing for 327 yards and 4 TD's was really fun to watch. AND Reggie Bush kept the D on their heels never knowing what he was going to do. I am really looking forward to a INDY / NO matchup in Maimi.

Its not a Perdiction when its Guaranteed...Its a COD LOCK

I got COD LOCKS. Oh yea baby. COD... LOCKS!! you damn right. On both Championship games you will feel comfortable that the insight that you are about to read will allow you to see into the future. that's right. I am about to take you into the future. I am not going to tell you what is GOING to happen, i am going to tell you what DID happen....

AFC Championship. The Colts played the J.E.T.S. Jets! Jets! Jets! and the Jets! Jets! Jets! Lost! Lost! Lost! Bad! Bad! Bad! Peyton Manning demonstrated again why defenses do not fair well when Peyton sees them twice in a months time. Peyton connected with 3 different targets for touchdowns while Sanchez looked like... well, a rookie. This looked just like the Colts team that went to the Super Bowl a few years back. Their D was horrible against the run in the regular season and then just flat out shut down running teams in the playoffs. If you think for one second that the Jets play better D than the Ravens then you obviously didn't watch the game this weekend. The Colts totally dismantled the Jets D and watching Rex Ryan's face towards the end of the game looked just like that deer i almost hit with my car.

Colts 28 New York 10

NFC Championship was next and I will share my thoughts on that game in a little while. It was a little closer than the AFC game but with 7 min. to go in the 4th Qt you had no doubt who would cover.

Just a little eye candy for Joe

Catching up

UT is starting to win my heart over. Last year i hated it for them when they hired Kiffin and he started mouthing off at SEC power houses and i had to listen to UT fans TRY really really hard to defend him. Now with the Dooley hire i really think UT is better off. When Kiffin took the job he said he couldnt wait to beat Fla next year.. When Dooley took it he thanked Nick Saban for all he had done for him. the difference in these two coaches is apples and oranges. Dooley will bring class back to a team that deserves it... ok, maybe not deserves it.. Dooley will bring class to a program that needs it. thats better.

Speaking of Class, am i the only person that thought that Favre's 4th Qt touchdown with 2 minutes to go on 4th down up 27-3 was the most classless thing i had ever seen. i really felt that blunt's knock out punch to the boise state guy this past year was a more classy thing to do at the end of the game then what Childress and Favre did. I rank it up there with Tyson biting Holifield's ear. That one play made me think even less personally of a person that at one time i had so much respect for. Watching Brooking go over to side lines to tell Favre what he thought about it was a nice touch, just wish i could have heard what he said...

Hypocrite!! yea, thats me. as soon as i talk about how important class is i want to say my favorite player in the NFL is Jared Allen. when brooking did go over to the side lines to talk shit to favre, Allen was there to let him know that he would stomp hiss ass if he came any closer. i love the way he plays the game. when Minn is on defense i watch allen on every single play. even the ones he is not directly involved in he is still so much fun to watch. be sure to check him out against the Aints this weekend.

Play off predictions gone bad. i picked Philly and SD to go to the super bowl and neither one are even playing this weekend. Cod locks stick out again. I also liked the Cardinals and under this past weekend and it almost went over in the first half...

The Dawgs hire a DB's coach from Uconn. maybe he want have another player die on him this year...

Watching the Dallas D was pretty fun this past weekend and hearing Wade phillips say that Grantham was "grossly over quatlified for his postion as D line coach" also made me feel good. If jones fires Phillips i think he is a moron.

Marty ball... while i like Scareface Turner i think the chargers are regreting firing marty. seems it didnt make much of a difference.

i got hammered this weekend. went out to eat at a great place and everything was going great until i got 3 crown and cokes for free... after that i was whiskey bent and hell bound. for real...

Picks for this weekend.. I taking both home teams to win and im not picking Against The Spread.. and i reserve the right to go in and edit this blog after the games and change my picks to both road teams..

is it just me or is Rex Ryan a goofy fat ass? i'm trying to like the guy but he just gets on my damn nerves.

Kentucky got a scare from Auburn this weekend in B Ball... Wait a minute.. who gives a shit?

We finally have a defensve coordinaror

Todd Grantham has been named UGA's defensive coordinator. Let me just say thank you to Kirby Smart for turning us down. Thing is, I really wanted for Smart to take the job, but after looking into this deeper, I LOVE the hire. This guy has fire and passion. Saban actually tried to get Grantham to be his DC when he coached the Dolphins. I love this quote from our new coach...
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against."

Dawg fans, I think we have ourselves a coach that is gonna turn our defense around. Can't wait to see our next year's D already. Gooooo Dawgsssss!!!!!!

Looks like Kirby will stay with Bama

Reports are now saying that Saban said that Kirby will stay at Alabama. Looks like we'll try and get Todd Grantham as our next defensive coordinator now. I really hoped KS would accept but Grantham should be a good choice as well. Word was that Saban had already contacted Grantham to be Bammer's next DC if Kirby left.

Kirby

I am looking in to the Kirby deal right now. I should have a good bit of links later on today to shed some light on the situation.

plus, i will give my short list of coaches for USC