Thoughts on Georgia Tech

As ugly as it was, damn it feels good to be bowl eligible. As Tech was driving to try and tie the game at 35 in the fourth quarter, I began to imagine how long the wait until next season was going to feel without a bowl game to look forward to. It made me feel sick to my stomach. But the Dawgs were able to salvage a victory to close what has been the strangest football season during my years as a Georgia fan. In the coming weeks, I'll take a look back at the 2010 season and examine what needs to be fixed before the Boise State game next fall. But for now, here are my thoughts on the victory over Tech.

- One of the biggest responses from Tech fans I have seen is that if Tech had Nesbitt, they would have easily won the game. In most cases, I would agree but Tevin Washington actually played a great game. He was perfect at timing his pitches and turned a couple of broken plays into long runs. He is certainly not the reason Tech lost but actually one of the main reasons they almost won.

- The only thing that could stop the Georgia offense from continuing to score points was Georgia. Georgia had 11 drives in the game, six resulting in touchdowns, one ending with a fumble inside the Tech 10, two turnovers on failed fourth down attempts, and two punts. Both of the fourth down failures were inside the 25. even if we only get field goals on those and the fumble, that is 9 more points on the board.

- The efficiency of the Georgia offense was amazing. Despite running about 50 plays less than Tech, the Dawgs racked up over 415 yards. Aaron Murray continued his brilliant season completing nearly 80% of his passes and adding 3 more touchdowns. With one more touchdown pass, he will tie the Georgia all-time record for touchdown passes in a season. He is now ranked 9th in all of college football in passing efficiency. Pretty damn impressive for a kid that some Georgia fans were questioning after G-Day (and calling for Mettenberger as starter before he was booted).

- If Caleb King and Washaun Ealey could fix the fumble issues, they really could be an amazing duo in the backfield. Both run extremely hard. Caleb can make special things happen, but continuing to put the ball on the ground makes him a liability.

- AJ Green and Justin Houston - if this is it, what a way to end it. Both were beasts.

- Grantham, you get a pass for this season. When we roll into Tech next fall, this better not happen again. 500 yards against a Tech team with its back up quarterback is unacceptable. When they run a fullback dive, they should not get 6 yards every time. And one more thing, when they run an option to one side, don't leave a corner back alone on a wideout as the only person to cover the pitch man.

In the end, the Dawgs won and that is what really matters. Thought I just say, Washaun Ealey running into the end zone when all the Dawgs needed to do to take a knee might have been the worst play I have ever witnessed. It is unacceptable that Richt got out coached by Johnson on that play. I have never had any doubt about Coach Richt's decisions on the field, but that was horrible.

Memphis, Nashville, or Birmingham here we come! In honor of Samuel L Jackson being on the sideline Saturday night, I leave you with this:


WE STILL RUN THIS STATE!!!

The Play Action Pass

Georgia has used the play action pass a lot this year (sometimes too much). Aaron Murray has proven very capable of executing the fake and I hope that Georgia will continue to use this strategy this Saturday. While last year the Dawgs dominated on the ground, I think a big game through the air may lead the Dawgs to victory this year. Hopefully, Murray can execute the play action as well as David Greene did back in 2003:


Munson: "Great play fake by Fred Greene."

Close enough, Larry!

Go Dawgs!

A Couple of My Favorites

Tech fans need their Saturday nights free for LAN parties.

Reggie Ball: The best Georgia Tech player the Georgia Bulldogs ever had.

We run this state!

LET THE HATE COMMENCE

Find your favorite pic, begin reminding the nerds of their inferiority, and let the Hate flow!

Georgia Tech: What is at Stake?

The Auburn game is over. It is time to set our sights on our final opponent of the 2010 season, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. While it is always fun to beat up on the nerds, this year's game is even more important because of the struggles the Dawgs have had this year. Here's what is at stake:

- A bowl game. While some people would say that going to a low tier bowl is pointless, I completely disagree. A bowl game means you get an extra 15 practices. It also one more chance to appear on national television, which is always important in recruiting. Playing Central Florida or East Carolina may not be who we want to be playing to end our season, but it always better than ending the year against Georgia Tech.

- A winning season. Georgia has not had a losing season since Jim Donnan's first year in 1996. A win against Tech will send us to a bowl game against a bad opponent, meaning the Georgia should be able to keep this streak going. Think about it this way, Auburn went 5-7 in 2008 and they are now undefeated. Finishing above .500, while not that big of a deal, could mean a lot to the teams' confidence heading into next year.

- A losing record against our rivals. Since I started at Georgia in 2000, we have never finished with a losing record against our 4 traditional rivals (Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, and Tech).

- The best 10 game stretch against Georgi Tech...ever. Georgia has never won 9 of 10 games against Tech (though we have won 8 of 10 a few times). This would mark the best decade ever against NATS. While Coach Richt has struggled with Florida, he certainly has owned Georgia Tech.

I know a lot of people have given up on this season. Everyone is just ready to get it over with and move on to the offseason, where hopefully some answers will be found. But I ask all Georgia fans to show up on Sanford in two weeks because despite the bad season, this game still has an awful lot of meaning.

Win an ACC Championship...sell less tickets???

That is apparently the case at Georgia Tech, where they have only managed to sell 24,500 season tickets this year. At the same time last year, they had sold over 25,000.

When Georgia finished #2 in the country in 2007, the score cutoff jumped from 2,200 to over 10,000. I know some will argue that the economy is a factor, but with no cutoff score required to purchase tickets, Tech should at least be able to sell as many tickets as they did last season.

After appearing on the front page of ESPN the magazine, Georgia State football will finally kickoff its program next month. I wonder how many years it will take the Panthers to overtake Tech in ticket sales (I am kidding...well maybe not if GSU is successful and moves to 1A).

What's Worse than a Tech Football Ad?

Georgia fans living in the Atlanta area have all seen the advertisements over the last few years for Georgia Tech football season tickets. The Yellow Jackets like to run these ads during Braves games and I find it pretty sad that they have to basically beg their fans to buy season tickets. As pathetic as these ads are, at least they look to be pretty well done with at least someone who took classes in marketing and advertising working on them.

On the other hand, you have advertisements for Georgia's first opponent of the 2010 season, Louisiana-Lafayette. I have heard that they are trying to brand themselves as just Louisiana..are they trying to profit off of LSU's name? I know they certainly do not have the budget of even an ACC school like Georgia Tech, but this is just pathetic:


Couldn't they at least have put some pictures up behind the people instead of a plain yellow background? At least they were right in calling the game against Kansas State a rematch (they had lost 45-37 the year before). The Ragin' Cajuns beat the Wildcats 17-15 (my god, how bad was K-State?)

DAMON EVANS WAS SET UP BY GEORGIA TECH

Yeah, that's right, I'm going there.

With no evidence whatsoever, I believe a conspiracy was constructed by Georgia Tech to frame Damon Evans.

Think I'm crazy? Making stuff up? What about the great case of entrapment and set up going down in Gwinnett right against County Chairman Charles Bannister?

It just so happens that this arrest took place in Atlanta, the same city as the North Avenue Trade School.

The arresting officer was probably a Bumble Bee grad, likely one of the failed engineers who became a business major.

Besides, the ATL police has a reputation for cover-ups.

This has NERDS written all over it.

We'll get our revenge, just wait. Watch your back Radakovich. You're next.

Pick your poison

*remember that humor is a healthy form of dealing with troubled situations

The Countdown 2010: 67 Days to Go

67) Theron Sapp, FB/LB #40 (1956-1958)

Theron Sapp, a Damn Good Dawg, is one of the true old school legends of UGA Football. The 'Drought-Breaker" as he would become known later in his career, was born in Dublin, GA and came to Athens from Macon's Lanier High School. He sat out his first year in 1954 due to a vertebrae injury that doctors told him would never allow him to play football again. His neck eventually healed and he became the starting fullback for Coach Wally Butts in 1957 and 1958, earning All-SEC and Team Captain honors during his senior season.

However, his greatest moment would come during his Junior season (1957) against the hated Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. As it has been well documented, Sapp recovered a fumble during the third quarter of play and then led the Bulldogs down the field, scoring the game's only TD as UGA ended a 8 year fun of futility against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia had not scored a touchdown against Tech since 1953 and the Bulldogs would defeat the Jackets again in 1958, 16-3, behind the legs and will of Sapp. His #40 was retired shortly after his collegiate playing career ended in March of 1959 before a 7 year NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers.

At that point, Sapp was just the third player in UGA history to have his number retired and perhaps the greatest complement on his play and what it meant to UGA fans was summed up by Tech's own Bobby Dodd, "Walker won the national championship for Georgia (1980) and was awarded the Heisman trophy (1982) but to older Bulldogs who suffered through the 1950s, Sapp's breaking the drought was greater. He silenced eight years of bragging from Tech students and alumni. Breaking the drought was a remarkable achievement." Sapp finished his career with only 1,269 yards on 258 carries, but one carry on a cold November afternoon in Atlanta in all Bulldog fans needed to last a lifetime.

PAUL JOHNSON WANTS ME TO BE PUNCHED IN THE FACE

I can't blame Johnson for saying nerds should punch us in the face because 1) I am an unapologetic jerk to NATS supporters and it is because that is exactly what they deserve from me, and 2) his fan base is completely lacking any sort of back bone.

I also can't say that any of us should be worried. As if any Techie is really going to have a success at attempting to beat up a Georgia fan. They'd be afraid of their pocket protector or calculator getting smashed.

It is also hilarious that the AJC writer in the story answers Johnson on exactly what we have done to define Tech. 2 SEC Championships, 3 BCS bowls, and 8-1 against the bumble bees during Mark Richt's tenure. Considering you are the other school in the state, you will be defined by how you measure up against us, and it's not pretty.

Johnson's attempts to down play any loss to Georgia is comical at best. He's the one who drew the line in the sand when he was hired by stating that beating Georgia was his main goal that first year. He put the emphasis on this rivalry and made it a defining element for Tech last season. He accomplished his goal last year, but that doesn't mean the significance of this game is lessened from that point on. Johnson's overreaction to getting bested this year only proves that, and I'm sure he would have had a much different tune had he won Saturday.

At the end of the day, this just proves that our victory gets under his skin. Thanks for the confirmation, asshole.

He's asking for it. Maybe I can take him on in the Publix parking lot in Vinings.

Things To Say To Nerds on Saturday

In case you need to brush up on your vocabulary for tomorrow, here are some things you can say to all the nerds you come across. By no means is this an all encompassing list. Add your own in the comments section.

Things to call the "fans"

-Nerds

-Techies

-Trade schoolers

-Virgins

-Losers

-Geek Squad

-Nerd Troopers (or Storm Troopers)

Things to call the school

-North Avenue Trade School

-Joke by Coke

-Auburn by the ghetto

-The Varsity's back lot

-United Nations gone wrong

Phrases to say

-"So, where can I find the Reggie Ball statue?"

-" Were you the engineers than put together that parking deck that collapsed over on 5th Street?"

-"I need to go to some parties. Can you point me towards Georgia State? Oh, you have parties here? I want to go to ones that will have women."

-"So, exactly what color is that you are wearing? Mustard?"

-"Wow! You guys went to the Emerald Nuts Bowl? Good thing you have these signs up in here letting everyone know your great accomplishments."

-"It's so great to be here at the Joke by Coke/North Avenue Trade School/any other derogatory name."

-"Beat the rush, HATE Tech early."

-"Excuse me, which way are all the women? Oh, I gotta go off campus."

-"45-42? Oh, you know what's so great about the number 45? In the last 45 years, you've only beaten UGA 12 times. Suck it."

-"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRDS!!!!!!!!"

-"Fake, retroactive national championships don't count. You've only won two."

-"You left the SEC, you didn't deserve to come back. You're welcome."

-"No, I do not want to attend your robot club meeting. There's a football game about to start."

-"I'm a ramblin' wreck from Georgia Tech, and I'm a CRAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!"

-"It doesn't matter what you do or do not accomplish, we will always be better at life."

-"You spent your entire time at Tech wishing you had gone to Georgia."

What It Means To Be A Nerd

I meant to be bashing the North Avenue Trade School all week. However, since my laptop crashed on Tuesday, my access to the interwebs has been vastly limited.

Still, there needs to be some discussion (and reminding), of exactly why you need to Hate the Trade School, and why you are better for not being a part of their terrible existence.

To be a Trade School nerd is a hard thing to fathom for most people, but we figured we would try to give a shot at reminding everyone what they're all about.

The life of a old gold nerd is as follows:

1) Interactions with the female gender are few and far between

Ever since the Trade School took over the dorms that formerly belonged to Georgia State, the amount of females in the short radius around the Trade School campus decreased by 600%.

The upside is that reported peeping tom and rufie incidents decreased at almost the same percentage.

It is a sad existence as a male Trade School student, and a scary one as a female.

2) The robot club meetings are the most popular events on campus

Seriously, it is bigger than football, basketball, badminton, nerds watching Urban Meyer's daughter sit on the bench during volleyball games, and the World of Warcraft club meetings combined.

Religion means nothing at the Trade School when compared to the robot club. Nothing.

3) Dragon*Con is Christmas part deux

Think about the biggest event in Athens outside of football season. It is probably the Twilight Criterion, right? 40,000 people flock to Athens for a weekend of cycling races, music, sports, and imbibing massive amounts of alcohol while traffic in downtown is shut down. In other words, it's a dream come true for any human being that enjoys fun.

For the Trade School, you got a comic book, live action role playing, sci-fi fest. Wow.

The best thing about Dragon*Con is sneaking into the after parties (if you can call them that) and stealing the nerds' beer while simultaneously making fun of them.

At the biggest event for nerds, we still find a way to ruin it for them and have more fun at it.

4) Indecisiveness runs rampant

An annoyance for centuries. The official colors are old gold and white. The bumble bee mascot is yellow. Half the stuff that fans can buy is piss yellow, the other half is various shades of gold.

Last season, the football team couldn't decide if they were wearing mustard or gold.

The entire fan base is a walking color contradiction.

They had to do a white out, because attempting a "gold out" would end up being an"old gold/gold/mustard/yellow/sunburst/tangerine out."

5) Inferiority is the name of the game

Nerds have a built in inferiority complex in relation to UGA, it's fans, and well...life in general.

They hate their classes, their lack of women, and the lack of anything that resembles fun coming in contact with their school.

In order to make up for their lame existence, they have to steal band members and cheerleaders from other schools.

No matter their success, they will accept being talked down to by Georgia fans, even if they beat us. In the high likelihood we lose Saturday, just try it. They will be completely unable to back up their smack talk, and will quiver at your presence.

They have a bumble bee mascot, so it is difficult to have a live animal serving as a mascot. How do a bunch of engineers make up for this? By having a car as a mascot. A car. A motorized vehicle. You consider an automoble as your mascot and you want to talk shit to other schools? No wonder you have problems with women.

You can't sell out your football season ticket packages, and a self-described biggest conference game of the year (see here and here). Talk to me when your fan base decides to reach the big boy level.

Enough said.

As you walk through the Trade School campus on Saturday, just remember these points and you'll know why the life of a Trade School nerd is failure of humanity.

How Can Georgia Beat Tech?

Let's face Dawg fans, no one is really giving us much of a chance of defeating our in-state rivals this year. Georgia is 6-5 is coming off a loss to Kentucky while Tech is 10-1 and getting ready to play for its conference championship. After blowing a sizable lead at halftime last year, most people expect Tech to put Georgia away early this year. If the Bulldogs hope to win on Saturday, here are a couple of things I think they must do:

1. Run the football. - Tech's option attack is known to eat up the clock. The more time Georgia's defense is on the field, the more likely they are to get tired and give up the big play. The only way to counter is run the football as well. If Georgia can keep the time of possession battle close, they should be able to keep the score close as well.

2. Don't throw the ball deep so much - If there is one thing Joe Cox has done fairly well this year, it is throwing the deep pass. The biggest issue is that it has often been on first or second down, leaving Georgia in a third and long hole. They need to mix in some slants and crossing patterns early in the game. If the Tech safeties begin to bite, then they should open up the deep pass.

3. Make solid tackles - The biggest reason Georgia lost last season was missed tackles. Tech's offense is going to get yards, but keeping runs to 5 yard as opposed to 8 can be the difference in the game.

4. Try and kick the ball off deep - Directional kicks, squib kicks, and short kicks are not working. If a guy is going to get a kick off return for touchdown, at least make him earn it.

5. Play "smart" football - By this I mean don't panic and throw the game plan out the window if we get down early. If Tech takes a lead, we need to continue to try and run the ball to set up the pass. Getting away from the plan can only lead to the one thing that has killed Georgia all year long, turnovers.

It will be an uphill battle for the Dawgs to win at Grant Field this Saturday. I hope the coaching staff prepares better for this game than they did for Kentucky.

GO DAWGS!!!

LET HATE WEEK COMMENCE

It Shall be declared that the official Week of Hate shall be opened after the day of Sabbath on the last week of November, and that Hatin' shall henceforth commence through the last hour of the last Saturday in November. Upon the rise of sun the following morning, the Week of Hate shall officially close, but let it be known that the Hate shall never fade for the next year in the hearts of those that truly Hate.



In other words, The week of Clean Old-Fashioned Hate has begun.

Begin your week appropriately by Hatin' some Tech.

Go Dawgs!

Nerds!

We get a chance to get some revenge this week against NATS for the season ending loss last season. Coach Richt should borrow a few lines from Coach Harris in "Revenge of the Nerds" in motivating the team this week:

"Well, if I was you, I'd do something about it. I would get up and redeem myself in the eyes of my father, my maker, and my coach! "

I hate Georgia Tech. I hate Florida more, but Tech is definitely more annoying. At least Florida fans can talk smack because they have pretty much owned us for the last 20 years. Tech fans, on the other hand, make one win seem like they have won every game this decade. The last time Tech was favored to beat us, look what happened:

To salvage this season, the Dawgs need to show up on Saturday. They need to show up not hoping to win, but expecting to win. Tech is a very good team and the outlook is not good, but stranger things have happened.

To hell with Georgia Tech!

GO DAWGS!!!

Ultimate Nightmares: Nerds & Gators In The National Championship

Yesterday morning over breakfast, my roommate told me he had the most awful, disturbing, and horrific nightmare of his life.

He told me he saw images of a disgusting sight. The old gold/mustard/off-yellow dressed fans cheering on the Trade School against Floriduh in the National Championship.

I nearly slapped him for suggesting that he could even have a thought process to conjure up a nightmare of such horrific standards.

Think about that. It's so awful, I didn't want to bring it up to put the thought in your heads. However, it is so awful, I couldn't help but bring it up!

While very far fetched and vastly unlikely to happen, the reality is at the moment it is not completely impossible.

That's a pretty scary notion and one I will do almost anything to push out of my brain. Just the thought of it makes me want to do everything in my power to ensure that Miami doesn't lose again, or work to ensure that we pummel the Trade School into a post-Thanksgiving submission.

Imagine over 92,000 bandwagoners filling the Rose Bowl. That's just not football. It might even be the absolute end of football!

I might stab my eyes out at such a sight. While you would root for injuries, there would be the undeniable fact that nothing beneficial for Dawgs could result from such a match up.

This is too awful to discuss any further. Let us never speak of this again.

Dragon*Con vs. Dawgs in the Dome Fails

It looks like the attempts to have Dragon*Con invade the Georgia Dome during a Dawgs vs. Nerds game has died.

This is a great thing for the Trade School. Considering they have not even sold out of tickets for the BIGGEST ACC GAME IN EXISTENCE, EVAAAH!!!, they shouldn't be playing Georgia in an even bigger venue than Bobby Dodd.

While their attempts to stage the game the same weekend as Dragon*Con and secretly plan an invasion of overweight superheroes and storm troopers into the Dome, such a plan is never full proof.

After all, if Lou Ferrigno were to hold his autograph session at the same time as the game, all of the nerds would abandon the invasion in favor of the green monster.

The ultimate downfall of the Georgia Tech & Dragon*Con alliance

HATE TECH.

GO DAWGS.

WHY AREN'T YOU BUYING TICKETS, BANDWAGON TECH FANS?

Before this season, I wrote about the Trade School calling me in reference to buying season tickets just a couple weeks before the season started.

Today, I received the following e-mail from the Georgia Tech Athletic Association today:

"We still have a limited number of tickets available for this Saturday's kickoff at 6pm between #19 Georgia Tech and #4 Virginia Tech. Tickets are just $50 for what could be the game of the year in the ACC. Don't miss it when these two high powered teams collide on Grant Field!

To purchase tickets NOW go to http://ramblinwreck.com/tickets or call the Georgia Tech Ticket Office from 8am-5pm at 404-894-5447 or 1-888-832-4849.

We hope to see you again this Saturday!"

Tech's bandwagon has steadily grown since the end of their season last year, and even more so with the start of this season.

If you're school is so great (it's not), and you guys are such dedicated fans (you're not), then why is the game that your own athletic department is saying will be the biggest game of the season still not sold out? It should have sold out before the season, along with your season tickets, let alone several days before the game.

All the bandwagoners better buy these tickets if they ever want to be taken seriously. Oh, wait...they are bandwagon fans, it is not possible to take them seriously.

When you encounter a nerd attempting to talk trash (they will do a poor job of it), ask them if they even bothered to show up to their games.

HATE TECH.

GO DAWGS.

CLEAN, OLD FASHIONED HATE IN THE DOME? CONSPIRACY!

Please do not fool yourself into thinking that moving the 2011 game against the North Avenue Trade School will be an interesting opportunity to play on the national stage and have even more Dawgs at the annual game against the bumble bees.

It is pure conspiracy on the part of Techies to play us on the national stage and have THEM fill the Georgia Dome. How would they do such? Easy.

Dragon*Con.

Dragon*Con has typically lined up with Labor Day weekend each year, and the Trade School will find every wizard, storm trooper, and fat superhero they can to fill the Georgia Dome if the game is moved.

There will probably be an entire section full of Harry Potters and storm troopers, painted bumble bee yellow, will guard the Trade School players on the sideline.

Not only must we not agree to this proposal so all of the supreme nerdiness in the air will not lead to the Trade School having a magical advantage to the game, but we do not need to embarass the game of college football.

If you see Damon Evans, tell him to stop the conspiracy, stop the nerds.

Chan Gets a Pink Slip

Former Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey was was fired by the Kansas City Chiefs as their offensive coordinator. You must be doing pretty bad to get fired during the preseason, when guys like Curtis Painter and Samkon Gado are stars. I guess the Chiefs finally realized that Chan's inability to utilize Calvin Johnson while at Georgia Tech was not a fluke and that the man has no business running an offense.