GDAY game right around the corner, we should all be thankful for who we have

So tomorrow is G-day in Athens. Another excuse to head to a beautiful college town and watch a scrimmage football game in what is going the be chamber of commerce weather. I unfortunately will not be there because my son has a baseball game and I can't drive over in time to catch it. A little surprised and disappointed the game is not airing live this year on CSS as it has now for years. But, at least it will be airing, tape delay beginning at 5p-game starts at 3p. As for the game itself, you have essentially the starting defense on the black team, the starting offense on the red team. Based on the fact that the defense has pretty much controlled the offense this spring, you have to figure the black team is the favorite. That being said, I am just glad they will have 1's going against 1's. In springs past, you have sometimes had 1's against 2's and I prefer to see strength against strength to better guage how these guys are going to perform against the SEC level compeititon. For those that have not see the rosters, here you go-

http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/878/1234859.pdf


Unfortunately, a few of the players I really wanted to see will not be playing due to injury-Keith Marshall and Malcolm Mitchell. There are still quite a few players I really want to keep an eye on tomorrow-Christian LeMay will be the QB for the black team. Obviously he did play last year in the spring game but this year should be different, considering Hudson Mason wants to redshirt, LeMay looks to be our backup QB unless Murray goes down with a significant injury. Also, with Mitchell playing DB this spring, I am looking to see what the redshirt FR track start Justin Scott-Wesley brings to the table. Course also want to see Crowell and Malcome run behind the #1 OL, of course see Artie Lynch play-for the red side. Besides LeMay on the black squad, I want to see Jay Rome at TE offensively. On the defensive side, I want to see Ray Drew and Cornelius Washington playing DE-see how they do. Michael Thornton at the nose, I am interested to see how Corey Moore does at safety as well as how Devin Bowman does at corner-those two guys are key players considering the early suspensions of Rambo, Commings and Smith. There are a few more kids I want to see what they can do, kids that have been at UGA for a while and we are still waiting on them to shine-TJ Stripling, Brandon Burrows, Dexter Morant, of course the JUCO Mark Beard. I wish our new kickers could be there to compete and show us what they got, but we can at least check out the walkon kids and see if they can push those two kids coming in from HS. Here is a recently released list of spring practice awards, from the Athens newspaper-

The list of 2012 awards is as follows:
MVP (offense) – Aaron Murray, QB, Tampa, Fla.; Hutson Mason, QB, Marietta, Ga.
True Grit Award (offense) – Arthur Lynch, TE, Dartmouth, Mass.
Coffee County Hustle Award (offense) – Kolton Houston, OG, Buford, Ga.; Michael Erdman, SE, Merritt Island, Fla.
Most Improved Player (offense) – Ken Malcome, TB, Decatur, Ga.
Outstanding Walk-On (offense) – Merritt Hall, FB, Alpharetta, Ga.
MVP (defense) – Jarvis Jones, OLB, Columbus, Ga.; John Jenkins, N, Meriden, Conn.
True Grit Award (defense) – Shawn Williams, SS, Damascus, Ga.
Coffee County Hustle Award (defense) – Garrison Smith, DE, Atlanta, Ga.
Most Improved Player (defense) – Damian Swann, CB, Atlanta, Ga.; Ramik Wilson, ILB, Tampa, Fla.
Outstanding Walk-On (defense) – Connor Norman, SS, Duluth, Ga.

The main thing about spring practice is repping the young guys for the most part, getting some conditioning work in and then hoping like crazy no one gets hurt. UF lost one of their best DL in their spring game last weekend-horrible. So, hopefully we can see some guys we have yet to really see in actual game action, get some snaps and see what they have. Granted, this is a scrimmage so you can't really make too many assumptions but still gives you a look at the kids that you wouldn't get normally.


Wow, the Bobby Petrino thing is a mess, just today another possible woman has surfaced-to go along with the woman that got him fired in the first place. I think EVERYONE knew Petrino was a slimy guy but wow, a married man with 4 kids, involved with a woman that could easily be his daughter. In fact-here is a rundown of the Petrino kids-

Petrino has two sons and two daughters with his wife, Becky. His oldest daughter, Kelsey, graduated from the University of Louisville, his oldest son, Nick, currently attends Louisville. His youngest son, Bobby Jr., attends the University of Arkansas and his youngest daughter, Katie, is on Louisville's golf team. He also has one grandchild.

I am not sure how old his oldest daughter is but she more than likely is very similar in age with his lady friend that was on the motorcyle with him. Amazing that this guy could hire this young lady, have an affair with her, give her 20K cash as a gift, and then try to cover it all up-only releasing the information because he had to knowing the police report would come out within minutes of him admitting the truth.

You see this all the time though with guys that have money and power-you see in on TV, you see in real life, it is pretty common so it really shouldn't shock any of us that this happened. Guys that have money, it gives them power, and it gives the what they believe is the ability to cover up any wrong by buying their way out of it. So, you give someone a gift to stay quiet, or you buy your spouse nice gifts to cover for your behavior, you buy your way out of the situation and then you deny everything UNLESS you are caught in which you have to then come clean. The old saying money is the root to evil I do believe applies. Money is one area in life that can really make people do bad things, can make good people turn bad, can make one time friends become enemies, heck, it can split families in half as well. I guess for those reasons, I am glad that I will never be a rich man, I don't work in a career that affords me the opportunity to make a ton of money-the only way I can where I work is move into a management position-and then keep moving up. But, because I value my family/kids and being at home more than I value working and making money, no worries for me. That is not to say I don't value my job, it is just to say that my priorities have and will always be that my family comes first. I work for a company thankfully that truly believes in a work/life balance so that is good for me. This leads us to Mark Richt.

For all of the fans that want him gone because he has not won a title, well, just take a look at those around us. Nick Saban, has he had an affair-not that we know of but he is miserable human being. Petrino-we all know about him. Paul Johnson, look at the way he speaks to his players on the sidelines, Spurrier, the man calling us out for players being suspended but then gives his former QB what, 5-6 chances to get his head out of his behind. Point blank, we have a great man and a great ambassador for the University of Georgia leading our team. We might not always agree with him, we might believe at times he doesn't coach in the manner we wish he would or think he should, but the fact remains-Mark Richt is a man of character. He is a man of faith, he is man that values his job, values his role in shaping the lives young men but he also knows that his family is most important, behind his spiritual beliefs. Every time you hear about a guy like Bobby Petrino, a guy like Saban, Neuheisel at UCLA, Pete Carroll at Southern Cal, Urban Meyer, I mean the list can go on and on about these just plain SORRY guys coaching other schools. Yes, most of the guys are winning at a high level but is winning at all cost truly what we want at our school. I know for me, NO WAY. I want Richt to win and then I want to say, we did it well and we did it the right way.

Baseball team got a nice road win at Clemson earlier this week and took game one of the home series against Ole Miss last night, they look to win the series tonight with their ace pitching, Alex Wood. The Dogs record is now 21-13, 6-7 in SEC play. They really could use a series sweep considering they have now lost series against Vandy, UK and Arkansas. With upcoming road trips to UF and LSU, they need to get wins where they can-they also have SCarolina coming up and series at home against Auburn and at Alabama. In case you are wondering about the SEC baseball standings, see below.

Eastern
Kentucky	9 - 3	.750	30 - 4	.882	22-2	7-2	1-0	L1
Florida	7 - 5	.583	26 - 7	.788	18-3	7-4	1-0	W1
Tennessee	6 - 6	.500	20 - 13	.606	17-6	2-5	1-2	L3
Georgia	6 - 7	.462	21 - 13	.618	17-9	3-4	1-0	W2
South Carolina	5 - 7	.417	24 - 10	.706	18-4	5-6	1-0	L1
Vanderbilt	4 - 8	.333	14 - 19	.424	13-10	1-9	0-0	W1
Western
LSU	8 - 4	.667	27 - 7	.794	21-4	5-3	1-0	W3
Arkansas	7 - 5	.583	24 - 8	.750	20-2	2-5	2-1	L1
Auburn	6 - 6	.500	18 - 14	.562	14-7	3-7	1-0	W1
Ole Miss	6 - 7	.462	23 - 11	.676	18-5	5-6	0-0	L1
Mississippi St.	5 - 7	.417	21 - 12	.636	19-6	2-6	0-0	W2
Alabama	4 - 8	.333	13 - 20	.394	11-8	2-11	0-1	L1

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. For me personally, this weekend will be the last before two very hectic ones. Next weekend is very special as my oldest, a daughter, turns 13. (the following weekend is when we will be doing friend parties for each of them).  I can hardly believe I will officially have a teen in the house-although she has acted like a teen for a couple years now. For a guy that grew up with only a brother, it is a totally difference experience to have a daughter-and see things from that point of view. Also different to have to deal with emotional side so very much, and quite honestly, todays kids are just a lot different in so many ways than when I was a kid growing up. Modern technologies play a big role in this. Two days after my daughter turns 13, my baby, a son, turns 8. He is still a kid that loves Mom and Dad, loves spending time with us but as he continues to get older, I realize his time is ticking away-he will soon be in that upper elementary school/middle school attitude and will be growing up and out of the nest. Nothing prepares a person to be a parent, it is just something you have to experience. My kids are my biggest accomplishment on this earth, I am so very proud of them both. That being said, there are times where I just want to drive far away, get away from the noise, get away from all the drama, you know the deal. But, the bottom line, I will love them with all my heart for as long as I live and when they have grown and moved out, I will want to see them more and not less. Again, nothing prepares you to become a parent and it is a job that you never retire from. Even when your kids are older and have their own kids, you still remember back to the days when they were young, and when you got to see them all the time and they actually enjoyed being with you. A blink of an eye and they are grown-that is what I try to tell myself most every day when I feel like pulling out all my hair-which is turning more grey by the day.

Again, happy weekend to you all, and as always GO DOGS!!