Streit's Quick Thoughts

Here's some things going on in the world:

BOOM! - John Madden has announced his retirement from broadcasting. I would suspect they will continue to make the Madden football games, but I assume this means no more John Madden ads for Vagisil:

Going big time - Matt Stafford makes his late night television debut tonight appearing as a guest on the Jimmy Fallon show. Also appearing tonight, the gorgeous Rachel Mc Adams and the guy who plays the best villain on television, Michael Emerson of "Lost". It would be nice if Stafford gave a shout out to the Dawg Nation, but I highly doubt it.

First place on the line - Georgia baseball hosts the Arkansas Razorbacks in a weekend series in Athens with the overall lead in the SEC on the line. Georgia is ranked #1 in the coaches poll, but they did fall to rival Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. This should be a great battle between the two best teams in the SEC.

Foley Field should see big crowds this weekend

A Family Thing - After being on campus for only a few months, Aaron Murray has already brought the enrollment of the University Georgia up by one. Murray's older brother, Josh, will come to Georgia in the fall and try to walk-on the football team. Josh has spent the past few years playing baseball in the minors for the Brewers. Welcome to the Dawg nation, Josh!

Welcome to the Highlight Factory - Not that I really care about the NBA, but the Hawks begin the 2009 NBA playoffs this weekend by hosting the Miami Heat. You heard that right, the Hawks are HOSTING a playoff series! With Braves off to a good start (until the last 2 nights anyways), the Thrashers playing well down the stretch, and the Falcons coming off a great season, professional sports in Atlanta are finally starting to look good again.

Now Ohio State Fans can hate him too - Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus will be given a shot to win the starting quarterback job at Michigan. Four years away from the gridiron is a long time, but I guess coming off a 3-9 season, Michigan has nothing to lose.

Those Buckeye linebackers are going to hit a little harder than Danny Green.

GO DAWGS!!!

Open Competition: Starting Wide Receiver

With the announcement that Kris Durham will miss the 2009 season, there is an open position at #2 wide receiver opposite uber-receiver AJ Green. G-Day failed to provide an answer to who may pick up the void left with the graduation of Massaquoi and the injury to Durham. Since all of the candidates have very small (if existing) Georgia resumes, high school highlights make up most of the available videos on the candidates. Here's a look at them:

#1 - Israel Troupe - RS Sophomore


#2 - Tavarres King - Sophomore


#3 - Marlon Brown - Incoming Freshman


#4 - Rontavious Wooten - Incoming Freshman


At this point, I would think Tavarres King has the early lead on the position, but it will be hard for him to hold off Marlon Brown. Brown and Green could be an amazing tandem come this fall. Also, look for TE Orson Charles and DB Branden Smith to also get some playing time at receiver.

***UPDATE - As pointed out to me by one of our readers, I left Michael Moore and Tony Wilson off this list. Moore does have a shot at taking the #2 spot after a great performance in the Capital One Bowl, however I think he will perform better in the position he occupied last season at slot receiver. Tony Wilson is an amazing blocker, but I do not see him winning the full time starting position over any of these candidates.

G-Day 2009: Red and Black and Not Much Offense

G-Day 2009 took place in Athens this past Saturday and the Bubba 'N Earl crew made the trek up 316 to take in the game. The weather cooperate this year and it was absolutely gorgeous day in the Georgia foothills. A large crowd (I would guess around 35,000) turned out for the game that was being televised by ESPN.

The teams came took the field with the first team offense leading the Red team against the first team defense leading the Black team. It was cool to see the Black team wearing the black jerseys as opposed to the white jerseys which the Black team has usually wore in the past at G-Day.

As for the action on the field, the game itself was pretty boring. A few turnovers, dropped passes, and bad blocking marred the action. There were however a few highlights. Here are some observations I had from the game:

1. AJ Green is still a beast. A great catch on the first play of the game and another almost amazing catch down the sidelines. Plus, he got into a shoving match with #2 (I think it was Brandon Boykin), which provided the most excitement of the entire game.

2. Logan Gray was impressive. He had nice zip on the ball and moved around well in the pocket.

3. The running backs looked pretty good. Caleb King, Dontavious Jackson, Kalvin Daniels, and Carlton Thomas all had a couple of nice runs.

4. Blair Walsh nailed a 51 yard field goal. Granted, there was no rush but it is still nice to see him make one from that long.

5. Justin Houston and Geno Atkins looked great. Both were constantly in the backfield making plays. I also liked the defense in the 3-4, with Gamble coming off the edge.

Overall, a pretty dull game with only one touchdown scored in the game's final seconds. Final score was Red 13, Black 3. Here some other shots, including Joe Cox to Carlton Thomas, UGA VII, Aaron Murray, and Matt Sattford as a coach.

One last thing, there was a walking Subway sandwich on the field. We thought it was a taco at first.

***Thanks to my brother-in-law, Mike David, for the great pictures