So, another SEC team wins a title. Second major sport to be won by an SEC school in 2012. UK was the top seed in the NCAA tourney and were the best team by far to me and most that watched college basketball this year. So, they join Alabama who won the football title. I do find it interesting that the two schools that won the national title both have two of the biggest slimeball coaches you will find in America running the show. You also have two of the most over the top fanbases involved as well. UK basketball is every bit as crazy as Bama football in so many ways. I think both fan bases would probably sacrifice a family member to win a national title. They would probably have an arm amputated to win a title, the athletic departments at both schools would hire Hitler or Bin Laden to coach their teams if that meant they would win a national title. I am not joking with my thoughts here. Now, many UGA fans believe our football program should be as cut throat as is Bama's program. I totally disagree. I believe you can win with class and dignity without having to sell your soul to the devil to win. Some UGA faithful probably would call me not a true fan or a guy that accepts average results, that is not true either. I want ALL of our programs to win at the top level but I am also realistic.
Speaking of winning the right way, of course this spring has NOT been a very good one for our football program. Carlton Thomas elects to transfer, Branden Smith gets caught with pot in his car, Bacarri Rambo and Alec Olgetree supposedly fail drug tests after returning from spring break. Derrick Lott and Marc Deas also announce they are transferring. At this rate you wonder if we will have enough defensive players to start the season!! Let me break this down-Thomas, I can see why he would leave because he sees a list of players ahead of him that are BETTER and bigger than he is. Special teams would have been his only real playing time. I have never thought he was and SEC caliber back-he did have a GREAT game against Auburn last year but I still was never sold on him. That being said, he can go to a smaller school and get some immediate PT at running back. Lott and Deas, especially Deas, just not sure what to make of those moves. Both players said they wanted more PT so that had to lead you to believe, even despite the losses in the secondary, Deas didn't think he was going to get any more than special teams work. As for Lott, he does have more competition in front of him so guess he was figuring he would get pushed further down the chart when the freshmen arrived. I wish these guys the best of luck, hopefully they will go somewhere and get more playing time. If a kid is not 100% committed to the program, he needs to leave and find another home. As for the drug issues, this is getting old fast. The problem I have with this is that these kids are being selfish to start with-but kids ARE selfish-and STUPID. But what bothers me the most is that UGA has a much tougher policy than all SEC programs except UK. I applaud the tough stance but I firmly believe ALL schools should be forced to have the same rules-whatever the rules might be, they should be the same across the board. Granted, I am still not sure how or why they choose to drug test the way they do. These kids were on spring break, if they were around kids smoking pot, if they ate a brownie laced with pot, etc, it is hard for me to believe that kids at Bama, UF, UT, AU, etc were not also on spring break trips where they were faced with the same type situations. Did those schools drug test the players immediately after they returned to campus from spring break??? Are we sure that other schools actually use the football players urine for the test?? Again, I am not excusing the poor decisions and behavior by our kids, I just have to question how other schools never have any issues-of course most of the other schools have a get out of trouble card for failing the first test-meaning if a kid does fail a drug test, no one knows he failed it unless a coach or player tells the media because there will be no missed games. With UGA, you fail a test, it immediately becomes news because the kid IS going to miss a game(s).
The baseball team is struggling now, losing two of three on the road to Vandy, losing at home to Clemson, then losing two of three at home to Kentucky. They play at Western Carolina tonight before heading to Arkansas for a weekend series. The problem recently for the team, errors, walks, wild pitches and lack of clutch hitting. In other words, they are struggling and now will no longer be ranked when the next polls come out. I still believe this team has enough talent to get a bid to the NCAA tourney but how far they can go is another story. UGA stands at 18-11 on the season, they are now 4-5 in SEC play, with I believe 3 of those 5 losses being by one run-that hurts. Western Carolina is 20-9 on the season, they very well might beat us tonight (already beat us in Athens earlier this year) and then the trip to Arky could be very tough, things are not looking good at the moment. Perno needs to get this team playing better or he could make for a tough decision by McGarity at the end of this season.
Now that it is April, it is getting closer and closer to the NFL draft. Per almost every mock draft you look at, UGA has one potential first rounder, Cordy Glenn. Next up would be a trio of players, Brandon Boykin, Orson Charles and Ben Jones. I would also suspect a kid like DeAngelo Tyson has an excellent shot to get drafted, possibly even Bean Anderson just simply based on his incredible size alone. I guess also you could see someone grab Drew Butler in the last round if they need a good punter with an NFL name to back him up. Next season, I think it could be perhaps the most incredible UGA draft day of all time. You figure to have about 3-4 guys that could be 1st round picks coming out-Jarvis Jones, Alec Olgetree, Baccari Rambo, Jon Jenkins, and then throw in Cornelius Washington, Branden Smith, Sean Williams, maybe Kwame Geathers, I am not sure any offensive players will be there unless TK, Marlon Brown, Aaron Murray comes out after this season, but our defense will have a lot of guys drafted and drafted pretty high at that. Exciting for our players and program but will leave us with a LOT of depth questions as we head into 2013. Of course this is why the class of 2013 will be so important and will be such a large class as well.
Tony Parker, the top player in the state of Ga, a real true inside power forward, is supposed to make his decision April 11th at his school, Miller Grove. UGA does have a shot but most consider us a longshot, darkhorse candidate with Duke, Ohio State and Kansas the other most likely schools. Most believe Duke because Coach K has personally recruited Tony, because it is closer to home than Ohio State, and the family believes he can be the final piece of the puzzle there. Kansas is a place both Tony and his Dad spoke VERY highly of but now that two of their assistant coaches are leaving to become head coaches-including Danny Manning, that might really hurt their chances. Ohio State is a real possibility with Sullinger likely leaving for the pros and they have sold Parker on taking his place. Then of course there is UGA, where two of his former teammates will be playing this upcoming year, Donte' Williams and Brandon Moriss. Tony's Mom loves Coach Fox, also he has said he would enjoy playing close to home so we have a chance. He has also said he will shock the world with his annoucement. I hardly call an elite talent signing with Duke, Kansas or Ohio State as shocking the world. Not long until we find out but needless to say, IF Fox can land Tony Parker, he instantly produces a very quality class for 2012 and brings the program back to NCAA tourney level immediately. Tony Parker is a game changing, program changing type talent for Fox.
Hope you all are doing well, enjoying the beautiful weather and the pollen is not getting to you. I will try to post again sooner than later. Go Dogs!
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