The baseball team took care of business Tuesday, with a 9-4 win over Kennesaw State. Next up, 3rd ranked Vandy-although I have also noticed them being called #1 ranked, I am not the polling expert when it comes to college baseball but let's just say, they are a VERY good team heading to Athens for games tomorrow thru Sunday-SEC series are pushed up a day because the SEC tourney starts next week in Hoover, Alabama. I think UGA should make a push to get the SEC tourney moved to Coolray Field in Lawrenceville. Being a native of Gwinnett county, I have been to that stadium, home of the Triple A Gwinnett Braves, two times this season with my kids activities. It is a VERY nice ballpark, very easy access to the interstate, great parking lot, comfy stadium etc. I am not sure what the contract is with Hoover but I think the SEC tourney should rotate locations like the basketball tourney. Course I just think ATL and state of Ga is better equipped to run major events than the other states in the SEC, except for perhaps Florida but as far as easy access-great facilities, hotels etc, Coolray would fit the bill.
Back to Vandy for a second, UGA now sits one game over 500. Simply put, if they lose all 3 to Vandy, they will be two games under 500 which means the ONLY way they qualify for the regional is winning the SEC tourney. Win one of three, you sit at 500 entering conference play which means you have to win 3 games in the SEC tourney before losing 2 and being eliminated-in a tourney, that pretty much means playing until the final 4 or even title game but they would not HAVE to win the tourney. If they win 2 of 3, they would be 2 games over 500 entering the tourney which means they would have to win one game to remain over 500. Looking at the potential matchup in the SEC tourney, here is the way it would set up as of now.
1. SOUTH CAROLINA (Series win vs. VU;UF)
2. ALABAMA (Winner of 4-way tiebreak)
3. FLORIDA (Won 2 of 3 vs. VU)
4. VANDERBILT (Lost 2 of 3 vs. UF)
5. GEORGIA
6. MISS. STATE (Lost 2 of 3 vs. Alabama)
7. AUBURN (Won 2 of 3 vs. ARK)
8. ARKANSAS (Lost 2 of 3 vs. AU)
So, our opponent the next three days COULD be our opponent in game 1 of the tourney-talk about a BAD draw. We would be better off being the 7 seed to play Bama or even the 6 seed to play UF. Bottom line is, we really need to win this series to have any shot in my mind. Vandy has plenty to play for, if they sweep us and SCarolina and UF both drop one of 3 against Bama or Kentucky, Vandy could get that top seed. I just noticed, I thought SCarolina hosted Bama but they play at Bama-that series has HUGE implications for both schools because both are in 4 or 3 way ties within their division. Bama is 13-14 in conference play, tied with Miss State, Ark and AU but currently would be the winner of the tiebreaker. Of course SCarolina is in a 3 way tie with UF and Vandy, all at 20-7 in conference. It will be an interesting last weekend in SEC baseball but for our Dogs, the season will all come down to this 3 game set with Vandy, and/or winning the SEC tourney which is NOT going to be an easy task with Vandy, SCarolina, and UF all involved. Game tomorrow against Vandy will be at 7:30 and televised on ESPNU.
More attrition for the football team, this time it is AJ Harmon, the backup OT that came to Athens predicting he would be an NFL superstar but never really panned out. My buddy from the Dawgpost, Lowndes25 made the following post yesterday-
So, because a coach does everything in their power to motivate a kid (i.e. One-on-one meetings, early morning runs, etc.) to reach their potential but the kid is determined not to study the playbook, take plays off during practice, not listen to the other guys around him about what to do, not apply himself to his studies in the classroom, etc. and you want to blame the coaches?!?! Trust me, there is nothing else our coaches could have done to try and get Harmon's attention than what they did so, no, I will not blame them for Harmon's wasted potential. You recruit a kid based on not only how good they performed during high school but how good you project them to be at the next level but there is only so much that a coach can do with a kid who is certifiably lazy both on and off the field. JMHO though.
I don't know what connection Lowndes has with UGA program, but I value his information-he was VERY on target with his recruiting updates and seems to have a lot of inside information. In regards to Harmon, I think he is spot on from all I have gathered in following this kid. If you remember, when he was recruited, he wanted to play DL coming out of HS-Coach Garner said he would give him that chance IF he got his weight down which he never did. He never could crack the starting lineup and then of course had academic issues which caused him to be ineligible for the Liberty bowl. It sounds like this kid needs to go to a smaller school, concentrate on his academics and play against maybe a little lesser quality of opponent, then hopefully turn his life around and play in the NFL. He has the size for the NFL but does he have the work ethic-as of now you would have to say NO WAY. Thing with Harmon, he has already used his redshirt year so his options are very limited. I wish him well for the future and hate that he didn't have a great career in Athens. I think now everyone can see that when you sign a recruiting class, you can always sign 1-2 more than maybe what openings you have because EVERY year there is attrition-you never know where it will come from but it happens. We have lost 2 now in 2 weeks, per Coach Richt, he thinks this will be it. But, as we have come to find out, summer can sometimes be a problem for football players in Athens. Let's hope our guys have learned from previous mistakes but between Ealey and Harmon, then Dowtin and Williams (think I missed someone here) you can see we have enough spots to have a nice sized class in 2012 and also add one more to the 2011 class-I think that will happen next week, probably around Thursday/Friday, after final exams and final grades are determined at Grayson HS.
Finally, here is an interesting article in the preseason mag Athlon-picking UGA to win the east and giving us a national rank of 14. Now, I am not ready to say we win the east but I think we have as good a shot as anyone this year. But, for us to win the east and be ranked 14th means two things, they are not confident in us winning more than 10 games and they think the SECw winnner will be the SEC champ. Fine by me, but I would prefer them not even pick us to win the east. I like being the underdog and flying under the radar.
http://uga.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1222758
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