Never.
Go Dawgs.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Not all UGA stars will sign today.
National Signing Day. Far too many men in their 30's-70's are drinking coffee, following the activities of 17 and 18 year old boys today. Get Chris Hansen on the phone.
Today is a day for college football fans to be excited, naturally. Today is the day when the future stars of their team put pen to paper and sign declare their allegiance to a college (until they decide to transfer, quit, or in the case of Bama, until Saban decides there's a more talented kid who needs that spot). But, there are many kids who WON'T sign that letter today. They weren't contacted by many D-1 schools, if any. They were contacted by lower-tier schools, passed over by the bigs for not being athletic enough, or not being big enough, or maybe just because their position is one where there happen to be too many great recruits this year. Those kids won't get the hefty scholarship offers.
They will walk-on.
They will attend a University of their own volition. They will be scholarshiped academically, or they will work multiple jobs to pay for tuition, or they will sign themselves to decades of student loan payments just to walk on the campus of their dreams, and attempt to earn a spot on a football team. They will be looked over at every possible chance. They will be deemed "Not as worthy" as the scholarship players on the team. They will not be invited to every meeting. They will not dress out to every game. They will be forced to earn every shred of respect and recognition they receive.
And some will fail. But some will prosper. Some will use the experience as a challenge. They will wake each day with a rabid desire to be better than the day before. They will work tirelessly to impress their coaches. They will be absolute beasts and will NOT allow themselves to be outworked by anyone.
Some will earn scholarships. Some will earn Starting Jobs. And a few, very few of these walk-ons, will end up in the National Football League. One or two may even wear Super Bowl rings for the rest of their lives (Shout out to my boy Verron!!!). Above all else, they will learn that you NEVER give up on a dream.
I was a walk-on. I learned that lesson. At UGA I was a letterman, was twice honored by the SEC and was twice honored by my own team. I don't give up on my dreams. For the past 11 years, I've been in Los Angeles, chasing a new dream - that of being an entertainer. A year ago, I received a call offering me a chance to perform on television. Since then, I have gone on to more pro gigs, started work on an album, and this year, in 2013, I will go on tour. I am playing in Austin at SXSW. I am playing Georgia. I am playing in Nashville. I am playing in Alabama. I have finally realized my dream - and it all began, by NOT signing a piece of paper to a lower-tier school, but instead by walking-on at Georgia.
For the next 3 days, you can still be a part of my adventure. I am looking for support for my upcoming tour, and I'm giving awesome rewards to those who back me. I'm pushing for $10K and we're nearly there!!! You can find out more here:
GO DAWGS!
Today is a day for college football fans to be excited, naturally. Today is the day when the future stars of their team put pen to paper and sign declare their allegiance to a college (until they decide to transfer, quit, or in the case of Bama, until Saban decides there's a more talented kid who needs that spot). But, there are many kids who WON'T sign that letter today. They weren't contacted by many D-1 schools, if any. They were contacted by lower-tier schools, passed over by the bigs for not being athletic enough, or not being big enough, or maybe just because their position is one where there happen to be too many great recruits this year. Those kids won't get the hefty scholarship offers.
They will walk-on.
They will attend a University of their own volition. They will be scholarshiped academically, or they will work multiple jobs to pay for tuition, or they will sign themselves to decades of student loan payments just to walk on the campus of their dreams, and attempt to earn a spot on a football team. They will be looked over at every possible chance. They will be deemed "Not as worthy" as the scholarship players on the team. They will not be invited to every meeting. They will not dress out to every game. They will be forced to earn every shred of respect and recognition they receive.
And some will fail. But some will prosper. Some will use the experience as a challenge. They will wake each day with a rabid desire to be better than the day before. They will work tirelessly to impress their coaches. They will be absolute beasts and will NOT allow themselves to be outworked by anyone.
Some will earn scholarships. Some will earn Starting Jobs. And a few, very few of these walk-ons, will end up in the National Football League. One or two may even wear Super Bowl rings for the rest of their lives (Shout out to my boy Verron!!!). Above all else, they will learn that you NEVER give up on a dream.
I was a walk-on. I learned that lesson. At UGA I was a letterman, was twice honored by the SEC and was twice honored by my own team. I don't give up on my dreams. For the past 11 years, I've been in Los Angeles, chasing a new dream - that of being an entertainer. A year ago, I received a call offering me a chance to perform on television. Since then, I have gone on to more pro gigs, started work on an album, and this year, in 2013, I will go on tour. I am playing in Austin at SXSW. I am playing Georgia. I am playing in Nashville. I am playing in Alabama. I have finally realized my dream - and it all began, by NOT signing a piece of paper to a lower-tier school, but instead by walking-on at Georgia.
For the next 3 days, you can still be a part of my adventure. I am looking for support for my upcoming tour, and I'm giving awesome rewards to those who back me. I'm pushing for $10K and we're nearly there!!! You can find out more here:
GO DAWGS!
Sunday, December 2, 2012
I want to be angry...
... But I can't. Yes, it'd be easy to blame Murray for not spiking that ball. But to be honest, he had the back-shoulder throw to Mitchell open...the ball was tipped. I could blame Connely for catching it, but he's a RS freshman receiver who's always been caught to catch the ball...he's not going to think to knock it down. I could be pissed that our defense allowed so many rushing yards...but when they had to make a stop, they did. They gave the offense the ball in the 4th with a chance to win it. That's what you ask for in a game of that magnitude against an opponent of that quality.
In the weeks and months to come, we'll scrutinize our defensive scheme. We'll look at the huge rushing yards given up in some games this year, and we'll wonder if it's a scheme thing or a performance thing or a talent thing.
At the end of the day though, we went toe to toe with the best football program in the nation for four quarters, and came up a few yards shy of a victory. Is that something to be happy about? Hell no. Never be happy with losing. That's for losers.
But, it's a hell of a statement about the state of Georgia football. We want a program that can compete for championships annually. We have that. We've dropped our last two SEC Championship Games. That hurts.
Still, as a program, we're in as good a position as we've ever been in my lifetime as a fan. Two years removed from a losing season, we were moments away from a National Title. I experienced every emotion during that game, and I'm now left with the most powerful one - longing.
That longing will carry me into January, and then into a fall of excitement. Do I wish we'd win tonight? You're damn right I do. But, I'm also damn glad to be a graduate of UGA, and a member of a fraternity of lettermen from this school. Tonight, we lost...but it's still great to be a Georgia Bulldog.
Go Dawgs
- Dukes
Post-Script: This was written immediately after the game last night, before it came to light that Murray checked with Richt, and Richt told him not to spike the ball. I don't have a problem with the decision, as I said above. But, the outcome truly blows.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
That Explosive Offense Thing...
All year long we've heard about how explosive our offense can be (provided we don't mention that night in South Carolina). So, I decided to peek into that stat just a bit. I found some interesting results. Here's how Georgia ranks nationally and in the SEC on Long-Plays from scrimmage.
10+ Yards: 201 plays - 23rd FBS, 3rd SEC (TA&M, UT)
20+ Yards: 75 plays - 7th FBS, 2nd SEC (TA&M)
30+ Yards: 38 plays - 3rd FBS, 2nd SEC (TA&M)
40+ Yards: 24 plays - 2nd FBS (Baylor), 1st SEC
50+ Yards: 13 plays - 3rd FBS (Miami, UtahState T-1), 1st SEC
60+ Yards: 7 plays - 5th FBS, 2nd SEC (Vandy)
70+ Yards: 2 plays - T-38th FBS, T-6th SEC
Looks like we really need to work on our 70+ yard offensive gameplan.
We're also tied for 9th in the country with 62 Touchdowns, which is 2nd in the SEC behind TA&M's 72.
(Alabama is in 12th at 61)
Go Dawgs.
10+ Yards: 201 plays - 23rd FBS, 3rd SEC (TA&M, UT)
20+ Yards: 75 plays - 7th FBS, 2nd SEC (TA&M)
30+ Yards: 38 plays - 3rd FBS, 2nd SEC (TA&M)
40+ Yards: 24 plays - 2nd FBS (Baylor), 1st SEC
50+ Yards: 13 plays - 3rd FBS (Miami, UtahState T-1), 1st SEC
60+ Yards: 7 plays - 5th FBS, 2nd SEC (Vandy)
70+ Yards: 2 plays - T-38th FBS, T-6th SEC
Looks like we really need to work on our 70+ yard offensive gameplan.
We're also tied for 9th in the country with 62 Touchdowns, which is 2nd in the SEC behind TA&M's 72.
(Alabama is in 12th at 61)
Go Dawgs.
That Pesky Ol' Stat...
At the beginning of the season, I wrote a blog about the Georgia Defense's failure to stop opponents in the red-zone. In fact, until the Missouri game, we hadn't stopped any opponent in our redzone since Florida in 2011. That's horrible.
Well, folks....
Things are better. Looking up our opponents' redzone scoring percentage today made me pretty happy. Georgia ranks 13th nationally, and second in the SEC (AL #1 Naitonally, #1 SEC) with an opponents' scoring percentage of 71.05% (AL 60.87%).
The interesting part for me, though, is in the Opponent's TD percentage, where Georgia (15 Nationally, 4th SEC) LEADS Alabama (18th Nationally, 6th SEC) 47.37% - 47.83%. Of course, we can see how small the difference is, but still, it's nice to know that from the standpoint of Redzone Touchdowns, our defense is on par with what is seen as the defensive standard in college football.
Naturally, these statistics are only hard-number statistics, and do not factor in anything like garbage-time points, quality of opponent, etc...but our defense is playing at a hell of a level right now, and it'll be interesting to see how they square off against the crowned-king of Bama.
Go Dawgs.
Well, folks....
Things are better. Looking up our opponents' redzone scoring percentage today made me pretty happy. Georgia ranks 13th nationally, and second in the SEC (AL #1 Naitonally, #1 SEC) with an opponents' scoring percentage of 71.05% (AL 60.87%).
The interesting part for me, though, is in the Opponent's TD percentage, where Georgia (15 Nationally, 4th SEC) LEADS Alabama (18th Nationally, 6th SEC) 47.37% - 47.83%. Of course, we can see how small the difference is, but still, it's nice to know that from the standpoint of Redzone Touchdowns, our defense is on par with what is seen as the defensive standard in college football.
Naturally, these statistics are only hard-number statistics, and do not factor in anything like garbage-time points, quality of opponent, etc...but our defense is playing at a hell of a level right now, and it'll be interesting to see how they square off against the crowned-king of Bama.
Go Dawgs.
Victory Helmet Updated
Sorry it's taken me a while, folks...but you'll see the 2012 Victory Helmet is now fully updated. Feel free to steal and share the image if you'd like.
Go Dawgs!!!
Go Dawgs!!!
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