Congrats to Andy Landers and the Lady Dogs, knocking off the #3 seed FSU Seminoles last night, 61-59. I admit it, I watched the first half and then had to go to bed-I was simply wiped out as these basketball late nights are catching up with me. FSU led by 6 at the half and honestly, I didn't expect the Lady Dogs to get the job done because FSU had the HUGE young lady in the middle that was nearly impossible to stop. To their credit, they held FSU without a FG in the last 10 minutes, make the SWEET 16 for the second year in a row. They will take on #2 seed Texas A&M in Dallas Sunday night. The winner likely gets Baylor. Landers has a done a great job this year working with a young team, only one senior on the roster in Porshia Phillips. As I have mentioned before though, women's college basketball is truly controlled by 3-4 teams and that is it. You have UConn, UT, Baylor and Stanford. I fully expect one of those four to win the title. I guess one thing you can say, Baylor just crashed the party so there is a chance that UGA can get back up there again-we were once in the top 4 years ago but the first step is getting the best players in our state to stay here-UConn got Maya Moore from Collins Hill, UT has got a couple of the top players in the state heading there soon from Buford-bottom line is UGA should be getting these top prospects and if we could, we would be a #1 or #2 seed instead of a #6. I know I wear red and black tinted glasses but I continue to be amazed at how some of the top GA players in all sports seem to give very little consideration to playing college ball in Athens. If we were not a good program, didn't have great facilities, didn't have a beautiful campus and a lot of quality educational programs in place, maybe I could understand wanting to leave but the fact is, UGA is a VERY good university for academics and athletics. I guess some kids just want to get away and certainly with the metro area being full of transplants, their is not as much allegiance to stay in state. This is what made the dream team such a great success, our coaches really played up the stay home, stay together, let's help build something big for the state of Ga. A great concept and it paid off for the class of 2011, I just would like to see all our programs really push this. This state is loaded with prospects in all sports and it is a real shame we can't be up there competing for titles in most sports on a yearly basis. Instead, we seem to currently be stuck in a rut, especially with men's sports.
Speaking of stuck in a rut, the Diamond Dogs got SMOKED again by the Nerds last night, losing 15-6, an improvement over last years 25-6 but still a MAJOR embarrassment. I think Perno really is going to need to step it up this year or he will be shown the door. I respect the job he has done, the World Series appearances-the near title a few years ago was very tough but hey, at least we made it there. But last year was simply unacceptable and now we sit at 9-12 with nationally ranked LSU coming to town this weekend. I am encouraged that we are playing top teams tough games, minus last night of course, but there is simply no excuse for this team to miss the SEC and NCAA tourneys two years in a row. I hope Perno can get the ship turned around but if not, he could be looking for work elsewhere next year.
As for pro day, AJ Green was pleased with his performance, even if NFL scouts had to watch him on TV. Because of a bizzare rule, the QB that AJ has been working out with, from Buford, could not throw to him because he lived outside the Athens metro area-STUPID rule. What does it matter?? Matthew Stafford attended the workout but he also couldn't throw because of the NFL lockout-not sure AJ would have wanted to catch his laser shots anyway. Course he couldn't have Aaron Murray throw to him because he is still a college player. So, the scouts went inside to watch on TV, ESPN3 feed, while AJ and his QB stayed outside and he caught passes. Meanwhile, AJ wants to attend the draft in NYC, but is waiting to see what the players union decides-how stupid is that. A kid dreams of going to the draft, hearing his named called, shaking hands with the commissioner, holding up the team jersey and putting on the cap, then talking to ESPN. It sure seems a shame for the players union to tell these kids, hey, we all did it but you can't. Of course you can also say, when the rookie salary cap is negotiated, the players like Stafford can tell AJ, sorry dude I was able to get a 40 mil signing bonus but because you are a couple years younger than me, you are not going to able to get that. Stinks for you but I support the rookie cap-I want to hear these guys make those statements because that speaks of being a hypocrite if you say that. It was ok for me but I support you NOT getting the big bucks. The bottom line, NONE of these kids should be getting the big bucks until they have proven their worth in the NFL. You can still give the higher picks more money but there is no sense in giving a rookie 40-50 million just to sign their name, before they have ever taken a snap while guys that have been pro bowlers are not making that kind of money. What a flawed system and hopefully it gets worked but I think the rookies of the past several years need to refuse any public comments about what happens. Anyway, I always wish the best for former UGA players in the draft. Obviously since I am a Falcons fan, I would love for our players to land here but I still follow them regardless of where they go.
Spring practice day 2 was yesterday, I just read that the G-day will be televised on CSS and will start at 1pm. If you have never been to a spring game, let me tell you a few things. First of all, don't expect to see much, pretty vanilla for the most part-Mettenberger put on quite a show last year but then you realize, it was against mostly 3rd string guys. That is the thing with spring games, the mix and match is constant and it is hard to follow what players are playing against 1st teamers, second teamers etc. It is a GREAT chance to take your kids to a game and not worry about a huge crowd-just relax and let them see the stadium and the enormous campus and of course Athens in the spring is just a very pretty place. I went to the game last year taking my two kids, it was HOT but I think they enjoyed seeing Sanford stadium for the first time (actually being in the stadium as I had driven by it before)-it was step one in my brainwashing plan and it seemed to work just fine-my middle school daughter already says she wants to attend UGA. Being the protective Dad I am, I tell her I would rather her NOT attend UGA just because of all the potential trouble you can get into there. She wants to be a UGA cheerleader, and of course I think she is a beautiful young lady so it would be an honor for me if that ended up happening.
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