Friday, May 6, 2011

80's Music Video of the Week: AJ Green's Car Edition

Last week just prior to the draft, AJ Green celebrated his future career in the NFL by purchasing a new Porsche. In honor of AJ's new ride, this week's vidoe is Billy Ocean's 1988 hit "Get out of my dreams, get into my car." The video, in true 80's fashion includes animations. The "car" in the video is even a Porsche.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Monday Random Thoughts

Here is what is on my mind right now:

- Osama. Dead.


- Shame on 32 NFL clubs for not drafting Mark Herzlich. I know it is a busieness, but drafting a defensive tackle from North Wichita Community College in the 7th round over a former ACC defensive player of the year who survived cancer is wrong. Herzlich was still a productive player in 2010 after recovering from cancer, recording 65 tackles, four interceptions, and two forced fumbles. Was he still a first rounder? Heck no. but definitely worthy of a 7th round pick.

Now, because of the lockout, Herzlich will have to wait to sign a free-agent contract. The good PR alone from taking this guy would have made the draft pick worth it. Instead, players like Jimmy Smith and his four failed drug tests are first round picks.

- Congratulations to all the Dawgs drafted. I was especially excited to see Kris Durham go in the fourth round. Mel Kiper may not like the pick, but I think Durham will prove all of them wrong.

- With the draft over, there is not much left until summer practice. I am getting ready for the 100 day countdown to the new season. I know I haven't been writing much lately, but that will soon change.

GO DAWGS!!!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Draft Predictions

The Georgia Bulldogs have 11 players who are hoping to hear their names called out at the NFL Draft in New York over the next few days. Here are prediction on when they go.

AJ Green - First Round, #4 Overall to Cincinnati

- I would love to see AJ fall to #6 at Cleveland, where he could team up with fellow Bulldog Mohammed Massaquoi to catch passes from Colt McCoy. But I don't think that will happen. Hopefully they find a quarterback who can actually get AJ the ball.

Justin Houston - Second Round, 1st Pick (#33 overall) to New England
- Houston is a first round talent but the quesitons after his failed drug test will drop him to the second round. But not far. The Patriots will be glad to take Houston on with the 33rd pick.

Clint Boling - Early Third Round
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Boling performed well at the Senior Bowl, but most people are confused whether he will play tackle or guard at the next level. I see him going in the early third round.

Akeem Dent - Fourth Round
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Rennie Curran went off the board in round three last year and expect Dent to be gone by the middle of the fourth. While not as productive as Curran at the NCAA level, Dent has better size and improved every year he was in Athens.

Kris Durham - Sixth Round
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Durham could be the steal of the draft. Great size, good hands, and decent speed make him a perfect third down, possession receiver. If he is available, the Falcons may pick him up to replace the departed Brian Finneran.

Shaun Chapas - Seventh Round
- Fullbacks still have value, but questions about his health and quickness will make him a late round pick.

Vance Cuff - Seventh Round
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BNE readers know I hate Vance Cuff, but someone will take a flyer on him for his speed alone.

Josh Davis, Demarcus Dobbs - Undrafted Free Agents
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Both players will make it to someone's camp, but I doubt they are on rosters this fall.

Darryl Gamble, Fred Munzemaier - Undrafted
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Neither player impresses you that much on the field. For Gamble, his biggest highlight was the 2008 game against LSU (which was an amazing game). But what else did he do after that? For Fred, he just didn't play enough and had some character issues that will lead to teams passing on him.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Looking Back at one of AJ Green's Dominant Performances

As we are just two weeks away from the NFL draft, ESPNU has started running some games under their "Classic College Football" series of players who are expected to be high draft picks. Included in this group is AJ Green.

On Sunday (Saturday night) at 3:00 AM, ESPNU will run the 2009 Georgia vs. Arizona State game. Two of AJ's best games at Georgia came against the Arizona State Sun Devils. In 2008, he had his coming out party against in Tempe, hauling in his first 100 yard receiving game. While everyone remembers that game, people tend to forget the game the next year.

It was a rainy night in Athens, as a matter of fact, probably the wettest game I have ever been to Sanford Stadium. Georgia was heavily favored coming in and looked like they would put the Sun Devils away early. But turnovers in the second half let them tie the score at 17-17. With ASU attempting to take the lead late in the 4th, AJ Green went out on special teams and blocked the attempt. Just a few minutes later, he hauled in a long pass from Joe Cox that set up the game-winning Blair Walsh field goal. Here is a look back at AJ's highlights:


Catch the full game on ESPNU this weekend (or watch it on your DVR on Sunday afternoon.)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Thoughts on: G-Day 2011

It was a perfect afternoon in Athens on Saturday for the 2011 version of G-Day. There were a ton of Georgia alums on hand to see the black team led by Aaron Murray and Brandon Boykin defeat the red team, 18-11. Here are my thoughts on the game:

- Carlton Thomas had another good G-Day, but reaffirmed the reason why he does not need to carry the ball up the middle. Two fumbles, including one at the goal line, are not acceptable. With Crowell, King, Ealey, and Malcome expected to be around this fall, hoepfully we have seen the last of Carlton carrying the ball in goal line situations.

- Orson Charles is poised for a big year. The one thing I liked about the play calling was the emphasis on the tight ends. Charles, White, and Lynch all had multiple catches in the game (8 or 9 total, though I have not seen official statistics).

- Ken Malcome and Caleb King ran hard and looked quick. Caleb only carried a few times, but looked fast and lowered his head at the end of plays. Malcome, as we have heard, showed his ability to pick up extra yards. His game-winning touchdown run was especially impressive. I still think Crowell starts this fall, but a little competition is a good thing.

- Ogletree was everywhere. While he may have made more spectacular hits at safety, he is going to make a ton of plays at LB. Jarvis Jones also looked good and I am definitely glad to see Samuel back on the defensive side.

- Aaron Murray looked sharp and without two drops, would have had a big day. Marlon Brown looked okay, but he dropped what would have been about a 25 yard pass from Murray. And Christian Conley blew his first chance at a big play at Georgia missing one from Murray that could have gone for about 35.

- I was glad to see Christian LeMay lead the Dawgs to a score on that final drive. He had looked timid before, but finally got it together and made a couple of nice throws. He definitely has a ways to go, but you can definitely see the potential.

- And lastly, as others have written, the most impressive thing I saw on Saturday was Kwame Geathers. He looked in shape and was simply blowing people up at the line. At least twice, he blew through the line and took down runners in the backfield. It was impressive and the thought of him sharing a line with Jenkins is scary.

Despite a boring first half, it was a great day in Athens. It was great to see the former quarterbacks back in Sanford, but as expected, Stafford won the competition. One of the craziest things I saw was the AJ Green autograph line. A couple of former players, including David Greene and Jeff Owens, were signing autographs on the side when AJ walked up. It was like a wave of people leaving Owens and Green for AJ. Pretty crazy.

Now we've got about 20 weeks to wait until the next football game. It's going to be a long summer.

Friday, April 15, 2011

What's on my mind: G-Day, NFL Draft Sleeper, Rules Changes

Tomorrow is G-Day! Usually, I get a sense of excitement from the Bulldogs nation about the annual spring contest. Despite the fact that game usually ends up pretty boring, people tend to be fired up. This year...not so much. The new format of having the teams picked seems cool but there just doesn't seem to be much buzz. Maybe it is the 6-7 season, maybe its the injuries, or something else.

I'll be in Athens for G-Day tomorrow and I plan to take pictures and have a complete write up next week. Guys I am looking for tomorrow: Christian Lemay, Ken Malcome, and Kwame Geathers.

SI released its "Welker List" today, a list of some sleeper draft picks that could become great NFL players. Kris Durham made the list and I fully agree that he may become a successful NFL player. He has good size, hands and speed and it was a major mistake that he did not get invited to the combine.

The NCAA released some rule changes today, most notably the "Dooley Rule" and the new rules regarding taunting. No one will make a big deal about the taunting rule until it costs a media darling like Florida or USC a game.

Enjoy G-Day tomorrow, Dawg fans. Its the last Georgia football we get for the next 20 weeks!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Loss of Trinton Sturdivant

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of press about the mounting list of injuries suffered by the Georgia Bulldogs during spring practice. But until yesterday, the only serious issue was an MCL strain by Bacarri Rambo that will hold him out for the remainder of spring. Today, we learned that redshirt senior tackle Trinton Sturdivant tore his ACL during the scrimmage on Saturday. This appears to be a sad end to a once bright career for Sturdivant.



Sturdivant burst on the scene during the late run during the 2007 season. Then a true freshman, he took over as the starting left tackle by mid season providing protection for Matt Stafford. He was a Freshman All-American and the future looked bright. He would suffer his first ACL tear in the summer of 2008 and missed the '08 season. He returned for 2009 and had regained his left tackle spot heading into the season opener at Oklahoma State. But he would be injured during the game and miss the remainder of the '09 season. 2010 saw Sturdivant earn his starting spot back. All-SEC performer Clint Boling began the year at LT, but moved back to right tackle after Sturdivant proved he was back healthy. He considered leaving school early for the NFL draft, but along with fellow lineman Cordy Glenn, chose to return to Georgia for the 2011 season. Now it appears that decision may have cost him a future in the NFL, as few teams will be willing to take a player who has missed three of the last four years with knee injuries. I really feel bad for Trinton Sturdivant. He worked extremely hard to make it back, and this is about the worst thing that could have happened. I'll never forget his dancing during the touchdown celebration against the Gators in 2007. I wish him the best of luck.



As for the Georgia offensive line, it now has a major hole to fill at tackle. Cordy Glenn, who had been splitting time at left tackle with Sturdivant during spring practice, will most likely assume that position full time. Redshirt sophomore Austin Long, junior AJ Harmon, and freshman Kolton Houston will be the primary guys competing for the starting spot. The good news is, they will have all summer to prepare for their new starting role.

Friday, April 8, 2011

BNE's Music Video of the Week: The Masters Edition

In honor of The Masters this weekend, I present a video from the early 90's about two guys riding around the city playing golf. From their 1994 album, Without a Sound, here's Dinosaur Jr. with "Feel the Pain":

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Random Thoughts for a Random Tuesday

The first full week in April is always a great one for sports. The NCAA tournament concludes, the baseball season gets going, and The Masters hands out another green jacket. Throw in spring practice and great weather, and things don't get much better. Here are my thoughts on what's going on right now:

- WRESTLEMANIA - On Sunday night, myself and two friends relived our high school days by attending Wrestlemania at the Georgia Dome. I have been to plenty of sporting events in the dome (not to mention monster trucks, motivational speakers, and concerts) but nothing gets that place as loud as Wrestling does. The last time I went to wrestling in the dome, former Georgia lineman Bill Goldberg defeated Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship. And while this night was not nearly as exciting, we did get to see The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even Snooki from the Jersey Shore.

You can check out some crappy videos I took on my phone at my YouTube page

- UConn beats Butler for its third NCAA title since 1999. Just like Auburn, they win a championship in a year where they were accused of violations in their program. Unlike Auburn, Jim Calhoun was actually suspended for games this year. Funny how none of the announcers seemed to mention it during the game. I really wanted Butler to pull out the victory, but when you shoot 18% from the field, you don't deserve to win.

In Georgia basketball news, Travis Leslie is planning to make his decision concerning the NBA draft soon. If he decides to return, Georgia could be back in the tournament next March. Without him, that mountain is going to be a lot tougher to climb.

- Georgia baseball is starting to figure things out. After a year of the worst baseball play ever seen in Athens, the Diamond Dawgs have looked impressive in SEC play. At 6-3 in the SEC, the Dawgs are back to .500 overall and have even made it back into the college rankings. I know many were calling for Perno's head, but if the team can continue to improve, he may earn at least one more season at Foley.

- Spring practice continues and things are quiet. I am perfectly fine with that. Normally, G-Day would be this weekend. Smart more by McGarity to move it away from Master weekend. I am encouraged by the words about Caleb King.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

It's Opening Day!

Let me take a quick timeout from our Georgia coverage to remind everyone that today is Opening Day in Major League Baseball. The Braves take on the Nationals today at 1:05, the first time in 20 years without Bobby Cox in the dugout. Baseball season still holds a special place in America, but if don't believe me, believe James Earl Jones:



Let's go Braves!

In other news, G-Day is just two weeks away.