The year was 1968. Georgia had completed a remarkable season behind the leadership of Brad Johnson and Jake Scott, and were headed to the Sugar Bowl to play Arkansas with National Championship implications on the line. Unfortunately, for the Dawgs, there was a far more dangerous opponent than the Razorbacks on the eve of the big game.
"Jake Scott was the only person at Georgia who could beat me at pool, at the time", stated George Swift III in a Dawgma exclusive interview. "We used to play all the time at the old Fifth Quarter in Athens during my tenure as a graduate teachers assistant in the Economics department, and as luck would have it, I ran into Jake and some of his teammates in New Orleans on the eve of the Sugar Bowl on Bourbon Street."
"Jake and his buddies were already drunk, so I continued to encourage their drinking into the wee hours", said Swift. The next day, Arkansas, (an 8 point underdog) trounced the Bulldogs 16 - 2 in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated. "It was the most money that I had ever made betting on a football game at the time", chuckled Swift.
So, dear readers, keep an eye out for the football team on Bourbon Street this year. And also, pay particular attention to the Hawaii team loitering around Harrahs, (you know how Asians do love to gamble).
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
A dawg that will be missed
Just took a look at this year's graduating class on David Ching's blog:
http://ching-athens.blogspot.com/
While we had our share of housing majors, (what the hell is a degree in housing?) I thought several of our players will be earning some pretty respectable degrees. Among them is RB Thomas Brown, a communications major. My cousin, Elizabeth Swift, had many speech classes with our tailback, and said that he is a bright, humble person. If Brown makes it in the NFL, maybe we can get him or Mack Strong to replace that idiot at ESPN, Mark May.
In the immortal words of Men Without Hats:
"Well we got Matthew Stafford, and we got young Thomas Brown...
And when we touch the ball, we put down our heads
And we knock you fucking down!"
http://ching-athens.blogspot.com/
While we had our share of housing majors, (what the hell is a degree in housing?) I thought several of our players will be earning some pretty respectable degrees. Among them is RB Thomas Brown, a communications major. My cousin, Elizabeth Swift, had many speech classes with our tailback, and said that he is a bright, humble person. If Brown makes it in the NFL, maybe we can get him or Mack Strong to replace that idiot at ESPN, Mark May.
In the immortal words of Men Without Hats:
"Well we got Matthew Stafford, and we got young Thomas Brown...
And when we touch the ball, we put down our heads
And we knock you fucking down!"
Monday, December 3, 2007
Early lines on BCS games
Not suprisingly, UGA has opened as a favorite over the Samoans by 8, (I figured the opening line would be 7.5). What also does not suprise me is the early line movement of this game...
http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/?s=1233
Could the underdawgma selection be in the Sugar Bowl?
Stay tuned.
http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/?s=1233
Could the underdawgma selection be in the Sugar Bowl?
Stay tuned.
Collegefootballnews.com reporter responds to Dawgma...
Our friend Matthew Zemek at Collegefootballnews.com is apparently just as deflated as we are in regards to the state of college football's post-season:
My letter to Matt Zemek, (the same guy who wrote the "War and Peace" composition on the UGA TD celebration:
Hi Matt,
I consider you the voice of reason in this crazy world of college football. You showed me the utmost respect for my opposing view of the UGA celebration at the Cocktail party, and now I need some unbiased feedback from one of my favorite writers...
I just read Pete's take on the Les Miles soap opera. While I do not fault Kirk Herbstreit's reporting on this news, (from what my LSU sources tell me, it was a done deal) I do have a problem with the aftermath. Perhaps I am a bit biased, but I thought that LSU received a lot of love from ESPN after the events of Saturday night's upsets started to unfold. It was pretty much like, "sorry we screwed up with our premature report that your coach was going to Michigan, but we'll make it up to you". Not so long ago, (last year as a matter of fact) Herbstreit was campaigning for Michigan to get into the NC over Florida:
http://youtube.com:80/watch?v=BHkADG4UQjE
Michigan's conference championship was held when they played their last regular season game against the Buckeyes, and they lost! Here again, I had no problem with Kirk campaigning for Michigan last year. What I do have a problem with, however, is how Kirk and the other talking heads at ESPN really did a hammer job on Georgia because they did not win their conference.
Does UGA deserve a shot? Maybe, but I would have felt a bit of guilt had we been voted in the game. Don't get me wrong, there is really no single good answer as to who should be playing in the NC, but the way that ESPN promoted LSU, (at Georgia's expense) was disgusting to me. Essentially, the game that I love the most, is the only one in America that is settled by politics. There has to be a better way.
As a result of the final rankings, we also get some uninspiring BCS and other Bowl matchups. USC vs Illinois? - give me a break. Maybe the Fiesta and Orange will be somewhat entertaining, but as for the Sugar, I can tell you that while UGA has already sold out its allotment of tickets, I have talked to many big donors who are unhappy about this "nothing to gain" matchup, and are, therefore, not making the trip to New Orleans. Here's what should have been played in my opinion:
NC game: Ohio State vs Oklahoma (0 home losses and beat #1 in their title game)
Rose: UGA vs USC (battle of the 2 hottest teams)
Fiesta: Kansas/Missouri vs Arizona State
Orange: West Va vs Va Tech
Sugar: LSU vs Hawaii
And Matt's quick email response:
You're 1,000 percent correct, of course. (I assume you've read my 3-4 pieces cranked out in the past 14 hours...) These are awful matchups that insult our collective intelligence, the Fiesta Bowl excepted. The big problem with college football is that this sport's legendary unpredictability creates such abrupt shifts that the mainstream media outlets create a pack mentality when they respond to said shifts. It's virtually impossible to broadcast and maintain minority viewpoints in this sport/business, because it's so completely beholded to a few powerful interests. This is a fishbowl world where very little fresh, original thinking takes place; power brokers in college football are so narrow minded, it's staggering. Hello, Myles Brand. Where the ---- are you in all this? It's a dreary spectacle. The end of the season should always be a time of joy, as we look forward to awesome bowl matchups followed by a plus-one. Instead, we get crappy bowls followed by nothing... nothing but hypocrisy, shallowness, and greed that isn't complemented by creativity. (If you're going to be greedy, at least be smart and innovative in the process so that others benefit from your greed; in college football, the greedy ones don't share the wealth with others.) Hang in there. Maybe we'll get a plus-one in 10 years, after Mike Slive continues to deeply investigate and seriously ponder how to... gasp!... stage one lousy football game on the second Saturday of January at 8pm in a warm-weather city. (How hard can it be?) I'm venting too much, I know. I'll stop. *sigh* The more this happens in CFB, the worse I feel with each passing year. Grown people being dumb is never easy to tolerate. Matt
My letter to Matt Zemek, (the same guy who wrote the "War and Peace" composition on the UGA TD celebration:
Hi Matt,
I consider you the voice of reason in this crazy world of college football. You showed me the utmost respect for my opposing view of the UGA celebration at the Cocktail party, and now I need some unbiased feedback from one of my favorite writers...
I just read Pete's take on the Les Miles soap opera. While I do not fault Kirk Herbstreit's reporting on this news, (from what my LSU sources tell me, it was a done deal) I do have a problem with the aftermath. Perhaps I am a bit biased, but I thought that LSU received a lot of love from ESPN after the events of Saturday night's upsets started to unfold. It was pretty much like, "sorry we screwed up with our premature report that your coach was going to Michigan, but we'll make it up to you". Not so long ago, (last year as a matter of fact) Herbstreit was campaigning for Michigan to get into the NC over Florida:
http://youtube.com:80/watch?v=BHkADG4UQjE
Michigan's conference championship was held when they played their last regular season game against the Buckeyes, and they lost! Here again, I had no problem with Kirk campaigning for Michigan last year. What I do have a problem with, however, is how Kirk and the other talking heads at ESPN really did a hammer job on Georgia because they did not win their conference.
Does UGA deserve a shot? Maybe, but I would have felt a bit of guilt had we been voted in the game. Don't get me wrong, there is really no single good answer as to who should be playing in the NC, but the way that ESPN promoted LSU, (at Georgia's expense) was disgusting to me. Essentially, the game that I love the most, is the only one in America that is settled by politics. There has to be a better way.
As a result of the final rankings, we also get some uninspiring BCS and other Bowl matchups. USC vs Illinois? - give me a break. Maybe the Fiesta and Orange will be somewhat entertaining, but as for the Sugar, I can tell you that while UGA has already sold out its allotment of tickets, I have talked to many big donors who are unhappy about this "nothing to gain" matchup, and are, therefore, not making the trip to New Orleans. Here's what should have been played in my opinion:
NC game: Ohio State vs Oklahoma (0 home losses and beat #1 in their title game)
Rose: UGA vs USC (battle of the 2 hottest teams)
Fiesta: Kansas/Missouri vs Arizona State
Orange: West Va vs Va Tech
Sugar: LSU vs Hawaii
And Matt's quick email response:
You're 1,000 percent correct, of course. (I assume you've read my 3-4 pieces cranked out in the past 14 hours...) These are awful matchups that insult our collective intelligence, the Fiesta Bowl excepted. The big problem with college football is that this sport's legendary unpredictability creates such abrupt shifts that the mainstream media outlets create a pack mentality when they respond to said shifts. It's virtually impossible to broadcast and maintain minority viewpoints in this sport/business, because it's so completely beholded to a few powerful interests. This is a fishbowl world where very little fresh, original thinking takes place; power brokers in college football are so narrow minded, it's staggering. Hello, Myles Brand. Where the ---- are you in all this? It's a dreary spectacle. The end of the season should always be a time of joy, as we look forward to awesome bowl matchups followed by a plus-one. Instead, we get crappy bowls followed by nothing... nothing but hypocrisy, shallowness, and greed that isn't complemented by creativity. (If you're going to be greedy, at least be smart and innovative in the process so that others benefit from your greed; in college football, the greedy ones don't share the wealth with others.) Hang in there. Maybe we'll get a plus-one in 10 years, after Mike Slive continues to deeply investigate and seriously ponder how to... gasp!... stage one lousy football game on the second Saturday of January at 8pm in a warm-weather city. (How hard can it be?) I'm venting too much, I know. I'll stop. *sigh* The more this happens in CFB, the worse I feel with each passing year. Grown people being dumb is never easy to tolerate. Matt
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Underdawgma pick of the week (championship week)
While I feel that all three Championship dawgs are capable of winning their respective games, (that would be Missouri, Tennessee, and Boston College) the best value for your money still lies within the regular season this week:
ARIZONA
Coming off of three wins, the Cats are playing good football. With a win on Saturday, they become bowl eligible. Arizona State, on the other hand, may be a team in decline after getting man-handled by USC last Thursday. Look for the Wildcats to get it done vs. Sparky this week.
And if you must play one of the championships, (I predict I will bet on all three, excluding the MAC) take...
Boston College
For some reason, it looks like everyone is predicting Va Tech in this game. I have not seen one pundit who likes the Eagles in the ACC championship. Also, I am getting one of those weird underdawgma vibes that a UGA vs BC Orange Bowl is on the horizon. For all of you old timers, the last time we played those yankees in Florida was the '84 Hall of Fame bowl in the Big Sombrero that once was Tampa Stadium. My uncle Jack single-handedly defeated 3 BC fans that night, but unfortunately, UGA went down as well.
ARIZONA
Coming off of three wins, the Cats are playing good football. With a win on Saturday, they become bowl eligible. Arizona State, on the other hand, may be a team in decline after getting man-handled by USC last Thursday. Look for the Wildcats to get it done vs. Sparky this week.
And if you must play one of the championships, (I predict I will bet on all three, excluding the MAC) take...
Boston College
For some reason, it looks like everyone is predicting Va Tech in this game. I have not seen one pundit who likes the Eagles in the ACC championship. Also, I am getting one of those weird underdawgma vibes that a UGA vs BC Orange Bowl is on the horizon. For all of you old timers, the last time we played those yankees in Florida was the '84 Hall of Fame bowl in the Big Sombrero that once was Tampa Stadium. My uncle Jack single-handedly defeated 3 BC fans that night, but unfortunately, UGA went down as well.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Dawgma BCS predictions
After careful analysis of the current BCS rankings and making some educated guesses concerning who will win next week, here are my predictions for how the BCS games will shake out. And yes, they are a bit different from what you have been reading.
First of all the national championship game will be between, (yawn):
Missouri and West Virginia
I think Missou gets it done vs an Oklahoma team simply because it is hard to beat the same team twice in one season.
Rose Bowl: USC vs Ohio State
Contractually obligated to take Big 10 and Pac 10 champs if available
Sugar Bowl: LSU vs Hawaii
Sugar gets stuck with Samoans due to the fact they get the last pick.
Orange Bowl: Va Tech vs Kansas
Has to take Va Tech, but due to Fiesta getting first dibs on replacement pick, they are stuck with the next best option - Kansas.
Fiesta Bowl: Georgia vs Clemson
Fiesta first picks UGA, (they get first pick since the Big 12 champ goes to NC game). While this irritates the Orange Bowl, keep in mind that the Dawgs travel to Tempe in 2008 vs Az. State. Fiesta Bowl wants to show us a good time since we will be making a return trip next season.
Secondly, if Az. State loses to Arizona, and both BC and Tennessee lose their conference championship games, Clemson will slide into the top 14 of the BCS rankings. I think the Fiesta chooses Clemson over Illinois.
There you have it. The scenario that nobody has predicted.
First of all the national championship game will be between, (yawn):
Missouri and West Virginia
I think Missou gets it done vs an Oklahoma team simply because it is hard to beat the same team twice in one season.
Rose Bowl: USC vs Ohio State
Contractually obligated to take Big 10 and Pac 10 champs if available
Sugar Bowl: LSU vs Hawaii
Sugar gets stuck with Samoans due to the fact they get the last pick.
Orange Bowl: Va Tech vs Kansas
Has to take Va Tech, but due to Fiesta getting first dibs on replacement pick, they are stuck with the next best option - Kansas.
Fiesta Bowl: Georgia vs Clemson
Fiesta first picks UGA, (they get first pick since the Big 12 champ goes to NC game). While this irritates the Orange Bowl, keep in mind that the Dawgs travel to Tempe in 2008 vs Az. State. Fiesta Bowl wants to show us a good time since we will be making a return trip next season.
Secondly, if Az. State loses to Arizona, and both BC and Tennessee lose their conference championship games, Clemson will slide into the top 14 of the BCS rankings. I think the Fiesta chooses Clemson over Illinois.
There you have it. The scenario that nobody has predicted.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Back to basics
Sorry I got carried away last week with my Idaho pick. Looked ok midway thru the 2cd quarter with Boise up 17-14 on the Vandals. My bad. I will never play another underdawg whom I do not feel can win outright.
Otherwise, the picks were ok going against most of the BCS top 10, (5-3 I think). With that being said, I will go back to selecting one Underdawg to win the game outright. This week it's a "no-brainer":
TENNESSEE
The Vols are receiving a gift in Lexington this week, and despite the pressure of having a trip to Atlanta on the line, I feel like the Vols could have easily thrown in the towel vs Vandy last week. They did not, and I think they will be much more focused this week as they prepare for the Cats. Besides, Kentucky sucks, and they have a "high-yellow" QB.
Final score:
Tennessee 34
Kentucky 23
Otherwise, the picks were ok going against most of the BCS top 10, (5-3 I think). With that being said, I will go back to selecting one Underdawg to win the game outright. This week it's a "no-brainer":
TENNESSEE
The Vols are receiving a gift in Lexington this week, and despite the pressure of having a trip to Atlanta on the line, I feel like the Vols could have easily thrown in the towel vs Vandy last week. They did not, and I think they will be much more focused this week as they prepare for the Cats. Besides, Kentucky sucks, and they have a "high-yellow" QB.
Final score:
Tennessee 34
Kentucky 23
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