Bernie Is A Stronger Man Than I

I went over to Bernie’s Dawg Blawg today and saw that he is going to re-watch the SEC Championship Game.

All I can say to that is pour a stiff drink, brother.

I have not watched a single replay from that game.  Everytime it came on Sportscenter that night, I turned the TV off.  I haven’t gone back and watched any highlights on YouTube or from Prsonmike’s channel, like I normally do.

As far as I am concerned, that game never existed.  But it did, and I am still not able to bring myself to watch it, and am barely able to talk about it.  Aside from telling folks in passing “Yeah, that was a good game with a suckie ending,” I have only discussed it indepth with my dad and a couple of friends.  But I had to wait a week to even do that.

So, Godspeed Bernie.  You are a stronger man than I am.

Corbindawg

So Nick Saban HAS To Be Leaving Alabama? Right? Right?

I saw on the AJC’s website today that Nick Saban is selling his Lake Burton home.

Mark Richt sold his Lake Hartwell home a couple of years ago, and if you believed that d-bag Sports by Brooks and the other message boards, then it meant that the Dean of SEC coaches was in fear of losing his job.  He thought that after a 6-7 sseason, he was fearful that he was about to get fired and was dumping the house in the certain event he would be in the unemployeed line or moving on to coach at a school away from the southeast.

As we all know, that was not the case.

Even after the true motivations were revealed,  it didn’t stop the wild speculation.

So, will we hear rumors now about Nick Saban leaving Alabama?  What will the rumors be?  Is Saban going to coach the Dallas Cowboys or New York Jets?  Will he run for Preisdent in 2016?  Will Saban be the next governor of Alabama?

Oh, the sad state of “journalism” in our society.

Corbindawg

Not So Keen on “Free Kolton” Story

When I heard that the Kolton Houston crusade would be played out on Outside the Lines, I was happy. I knew the ESPN investigation news magazine would bring to national light the facts we all know. I just hope that the story is very damning. I hope the letters that Greg McGarity sent to the NCAA, and the condescending responses are shown. I hope that Ron Courson shows the same passion to ESPN he did as reflected in the many Seth Emerson stories about this case. Play some sad music in the back ground, show a crying momma, and have Jeremy Schapp narrate it, and you’ve got yourself the recipe for a story that will make you feel sympathetic.

This whole situation is very stupid. It shows yet another example of how completely asinine the NCAA is, and how they react to situations without any common sense or good judgment.

But on second thought, I hope that the UGA Athletic Department has thought this through all the way.

I still hope the story is very damning for the NCAA…if you are going to do it, do it right. But, how wise is it to mess with an already mad and angry beast?

I don’t think that Mark Richt or Greg McGarity are ever going to cheat. Mark Richt is a man who, after butt dialing recruits accidentally, turns himself on for secondary violations. I have major confidence that as long as he is the head man in Athens, our program won’t suffer the attention of the NCAA that Auburn, Miami, Oregon, USC and Ohio State is getting.

But it doesn’t mean there aren’t skeletons. Mark Richt can’t know everything that goes on. Case in point is the A.J. Green story. The NCAA is like the IRS. When they start looking around, they are bound to find something.

I foresee the interview with A.J. Green going down something like this:

“Hey, A.J., were you in a party in Miami?”

“No sir.”

“Oh, OK. Well that is all.”

“I didn’t need an agent to pay for me a trip to Miami because I was able to afford to go because I sold my private property.”

“Oh really,” as they re-open their note pads, “tell us more.”

Or something like that.

Kind of reminds me of a scene from the political satire Primary Colors. A couple of staffers from a presidential candidate are trying to uncover some dirt about a shady land deal from the front runner, and while they are snooping around they uncover the candidate was swimming in coke (not the soda) in the 1980s.

By the way, Primary Colors is a good movie and I highly recommend it.

My point is, I hope that the Kolton Houston story doesn’t cause the NCAA to have some sort of ax to grind or vendetta. Because if there is one thing we know about the NCAA, they are petty folks who would do something that childish.

Corbindawg

 

Lewis Grizzard Wednesday: Mama Be Sweet

Whenever I left my late mother’s home, and we are talking a period of over 40 years, she would always end her goodbyes with these two words:

“Be sweet.”

When I was a child on my way to a friend’s birthday party, I suppose that meant not to stick my finger in the cake or do a lot of whining and crying.

In my teen years it meant not to steal any hubcaps.

As an adult, I guess now she was beseeching me not to rob a liquor store, engage in any insider trading, and to go out amongst them each day with a smile and agreeable disposition.

I can’t recall sticking my finger into too many birthday cakes, but I very likely ignored the part about no whining nor crying when things didn’t go my way on occasion — such as when I pinned the tail on the donkey’s esophagus.

I never stole a hubcap. Not one.

As an adult I’ve never robbed anything nor have I engaged in much of any kind of trading that was profitable.

But that other stuff — the daily smile, the agreeable disposition — well, I’ve had my failures.

I notoriously have not been sweet to such individuals as waiters and waitresses I’ve deemed slow or unable to service correctly what I considered to be the simplest of orders.

Many a rental car clerk has known my verbal wrath, not to mention motel housekeepers who bang on my door too quickly after the first crow of morning, people I don’t know who address me as “buddy” and liberals.

Yet, my mother’s words, so simple, were so implicit:

Be sweet.

We have recognized the terror that is the violence amongst us today. Television has moved it out front of eating disorders, Satan worship, and women who run with wolves, which is a certain sign it is presently the No. 1 discussable public issue.

The drive-by shootings. Another kid shot dead in the school. The yellow police line tape and pools of drying blood on a mean street on the 11 o’clock news.

The money we will spend, the hours we will study and discuss in an effort to find a solution.

But isn’t it right there in Miss Christine’s words — Be sweet?

We aren’t sweet. The truth is we don’t honor sweet. We don’t even like sweet. Sweet is weak.

Women go to classes to learn not to be sweet.

Men. We’ve got an entire generation of young toughs out there who are drunk and dying on their own testosterone.

Being sweet can get you killed in that group.

It’s a manhood thing. An Atlanta Falcons football player, Andre Rison, decides somebody has challenged his manhood outside an Atlanta nightclub. So he goes to his car and gets his gun.

There’s this “dis” thing. It’s street talk for “disrespect.” I’ve got dis big gun here. Respect me or I’ll shoot you. No. No. Be sweet.

Be kind and be gentle. Be tolerant. Be forgiving and slow to anger. Be tender and be able to cry. Be kind to old people and dogs and don’t cut off any part of anybody else’s anatomy.

Be loving. Be tender. Share. Don’t pout. Don’t be so loud. Hold a puppy. Kiss a hand. Put your arms around a frightened child.

Make an outstanding athletic play and then don’t do The King Tut Butt Strut to bring attention to yourself and point to the inadequacies of the vanquished. Be sweet. The wonders that might do. The wonders that just might do.

I can still hear you, Mama.

David Perno: Look At the Man In The Mirror

Allow me to preface this with I don’t really follow UGA baseball all that closely.  Sure, I followed it when I was in school and back in 2008 when the Dawgs were just a game away from winning the CWS.  But by and large, I am mostly indifferent to the Diamond Dawgs and care more about the Braves.

But make no mistake about it, even a casual obvserver like me knows how bad the UGA baseball team sucks.

I’ve given Coach Perno a pass for a while.  More bloodthirsty fans wanted him gone a few years ago, but he had good success here and was a former player and a local guy.

“Give him a little bit of rope,” I said.

But now its come to where I think we need a new skipper.

And being an self-righteous asshole doesn’t do anything to help you either.

We’ve heard the news of the UGA baseball player dismissed from the team, but this quote from David Perno got me going this morning:

“Just the thought that the night before the biggest doubleheader of the season and he puts himself in a situation like that. He doesn’t care about this team or this program. He’s dismissed,” coach David Perno told the Athens Banner-Herald after the Bulldogs split the doubleheader Saturday. “That makes my decision easy. I think our kids couldn’t care less. They’re disappointed, too. It’s unfortunate. It’s probably why we’ve sputtered as much as we have because we’ve probably had some guys that haven’t been with us. They’re just front-runners and don’t have what it takes to be successful at this level. I hate it for J.T. But he made it too easy.”  (emphasis added)

No, Coach.  The reason the team has sputtered is becuase you suck.  I think it is you who doesn’t have what it takes to be successful at this level.  Stop blaming the kids on the team, and start taking accountability for the systemic mess your baseball program has become.  It hasn’t turned into this over night.

Defiant to the very end.

Corbindawg

 

Surprising Baseball Standings

I am not one to get worked up over baseball standings in April (except that the Braves are 13-2 and have the best record in the Majors), but I was looking over the standings this morning and a few things surprised me.  But something really jumped out at me:

AL East

1. Boston        11-4   .733   -

2.  New York 8-6     .571  2.5

3.  Baltimore  8-7  .533  3

4.  Toronto  7-9  .438  4.5

5. Tampa Bay  5-10 .333 6

 

It is still very early, but I had thought that this would have been inverted, with Tampa and Baltimore atop the standings and New York and Boston at the bottom.  It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Corbindawg

 

What Does KCP’s Departure Mean for Mark Fox?

I never blogged about the basketball team this season.  Whenever I could get a chance, my thoughts were conveyed by Tyler Dawgden or others in the blog world, and it wasn’t topical.

In short, I think Coach Fox is an excellent coach.  He makes some curious end of game managment decisions, but as far as Xs and Os, I think he is one of the better ones. Also, after a dismal start to the season, the team rebounded (no pun intended) to have a decent showing in SEC play.  I know that the SEC was weak, but anytime you can win 5 games in a row-something that hasn’t happened in a decade-you are doing something right.  Even after a poor start in SEC play, the team played hard and never quit, even in games where they got down early and came back (LSU in the SEC tournament).  The players still played hard for him.  But it is evident that he has to recruit better.

If the team had played better early on, and they should have, then maybe by the time they got to SEC play this team could have had shot at a postseason birth.  A young team got better as the season progressed.

I am not one to want him fired, as I think he is a good coach and should be given time.  We don’t want to be a program that is constantly hiring and firing coaches every 3 years.

But…that still doesn’t give him a free pass.  With the talent on the team continuing to develop, and this was hinging on KCP returning in 2013-2014, my expectation was the Dawgs had to make the NCAA tourney next season for Fox to keep his job.

With KCP departing, I can almost guarantee the Dawgs won’t make the Tournament.

There are many reasons I feel like UGA men’s basketball is not successful.  Not all of it can be pinned on Coach Fox.  However, although I like Coach Fox and as mentioned above don’t want to cut and run like other programs, there is a point when we’ve seen enough.

Next season was that time and it seems that time has passed.

When is enough going to be enough?  When can we stop making excuses and just win?  I am afraid that now with KCP’s departure, Mark Fox is a dead man walking.

Corbindawg

Lewis Grizzard Wednesday: Tech Stadium Empty

Sanford Stadium just held a concnert, and it drew more people than a Gerogia Tech home game.  Hell, G-Day drew more people than a Tech home game. 

Lewis tells a story about getting tickets to a Georgia Tech game.

 

The Story of Mark Richt and Common Trends

Last night, my newborn daughter was being extra fussy.  I think it was a combination of gas and being tired, and I felt sorry for her.  I’ve been there too (tired and gassy) and have just wanted to cry.

One thing that soothes her in times of discomfort is me walking her around the house, talking to her.  I don’t know what type of converstation you are to have with a 10 week old, so I just started talking to her about important things in life.

Like the History of Mark Richt at UGA.

You may laugh, but it works.

Last night, I figured I was on Part III.  Parts I and II were covered several weeks ago after we first brought her home.  Part I was Richt’s life as OC at FSU and up to his interview at UGA.  Part II was the 2001 and 2002 seasons.  This is nothing written down, just in my head as I go along.  Some folks tell fairy tale bedtime stories, but that is too cliche.

Last night, we ended the career of the Davids in 2003 and 2004.

I noticed a trend in my bedtime stories, and knowing the rest of the story, I sensed a lot of foreshadowing.  A couple of weeks ago when discussing the 2002 Florida game, I used the phrase a “far superior UGA team lost to an inferior Florida team.”  When talking about the 2003 offseason, I used the phrase “beginning of a trend of off the field issues” and “Richt’s teams often over perform when not much is expcected”, and when talking about 2004 “Richt’s teams often under perform when expectations  are high.”

It is those last two that I want to talk about now…Richt’s teams often over perform when not much is expcected and Richt’s teams often under perform when expectations  are high.

Specifically, I want to talk about these statements as how they relate to the 2012 season.  In many ways, the Bulldogs had high expecations and, although they didn’t win the SEC or play for the BCS title, I don’t think you can say they drastically fell short of expectations.  The Bulldogs were expected to be a great team, and were 5 yards short of beating Alabama.  2012 was one of the few seasons where the Bulldogs were expected to do great things (2004, 2008) and actually did. After the Kentucky game fans were ready to proclaim the season as a failure, but upon a fair review it was a success.

But what about 2013?

With a lights out offense, rebuilt defense and a tougher early part of the schedule, what are our expectations in 2013?

I mean, I of course expect greatness.  But aside from the Florida-Alabama battles in the early to mid 90s, no team has played in 3 consecutive SEC title games, and only a few have played in two back to back.  Can UGA do something that hasn’t been done in 17 years and play for a 3rd straight SEC Championship?  Is it reasonable to assume Georgia will contend for a National Title again?

I don’t know these answers.  I am still trying to figure it all out.

Corbindawg

How To Lay Sod

The Masters concluded yesterday in dramatic fashion, and it has left us wanting to do two things:  play golf and make our yards look as good as Augusta National.

Few of us can achieve excellent golf and pristine lawns, but we sure try.  I can’t help you with the golf, but I can help you with the lawn.*

Today is tax day, so if you got some refund from Uncle Sam, then you might want to invest in your home landscaping.  Last year I decided to lay sod down in my yard.  I have some advice to anyone who wants to do it:  hire someone to do it for you.

No, it wasn’t that bad, and it wasn’t as expensive as I thought to do it myself.  So if you are looking to lay sod this spring, here are some friendly pieces of advice from someone who had no experience doing that sort of thing this time a year ago:

Step 1:  Research

There will be several times you want to say the Hell with it all, and this will be one of those times.  It isn’t fun.  The first thing to do is get a soil sample, and this will tell you what types of fertilizer you need.  Go to your local Cooperative Extension Office and get the kit from your county agent.  They will send it off to UGA and get you a report back in about a week.

I spent several hours painstakingly looking up different types and varieties of grasses.  I knew I didn’t want St. Augustine as that was what was already in my yard.  My county agent recommended St. Augustine, Ucheedawg recommended Bermuda, I wanted Zoysia.  I played golf in Missouri one time and the fairways were Zoysia, and I was impressed with its lushness.  I knew I wanted to go to Supersod in Perry (there are Supersod outlets all over).  After comparing drought and shade tolerance, and making lists comparing all types and the price, I finally settled on Zenith Zoysia.

There is a ton of information out there on the web, just use Google.  I found that the Supersod and the Walter Reeves’ sites were the most helpful.

This has to be your decision, as no two yards are alike.  But I had good success with my Zoysia, and I have been pleased with it thus far.

Step 2:  Prep work

Laying the sod is relatively easy.  Prepping the ground for it is a royal pain in the ass.  No better way to say it.

Different places will tell you different things, but here is a general outline.  First, spray Round-Up on the old grass and weeds to kill everything.  Give it about a week (I waited closer to 10 days) before you even think about laying the sod.  This is important.

After you spray everything with the Round-Up, you then have to get the ground ready.

A tiller is required; my dad had one in Rome but we couldn’t get it down here in time so I just went to Home Depot and rented one.  This was cheaper than having to drive halfway across the state and back to get it, anyway.  I think it cost like $50 to rent one for a half day.  I was able to till up everything in my yard in about 3 hours, but I have a very small yard.  If you have a bigger yard you might want to rent one for a full day.

Once you till up all the old grass, you then have to rake it off and get the dirt nice and flat.  You also want to have the dirt lower than your sidewalk.  You are going to fill up several yard trash bags full of sticks, roots, dead grass, dirt and other yard debris.  Macon is fortunate where the city comes by weekly and picks up yard trash; if you city or county doesn’t do that, then you will have to plan what to do with it all.

Your yard should look something like this, before and after, when you are finished:

All the debris in bags:

Before it was all leveled off:

After everything was leveled off:

 

Step 3:  Installation

The actual installation is the easy part.  It comes in rolls, and you just roll it off.  Order it about a week in advance, so they can have it ready.  I opted to save $50 and drive down to Supersod and pick it up myself. I ordered two pallets (covers about 1,000 sq. ft…I needed just a little more and you can go later and buy individual rolls).  Definitely get it from a farm; getting it from Home Depot or Lowes will significantly increase your costs.  All told, I spent about $350 bucks on the sod for about a 1,000 sq. ft.

I made a very bad calculation.  They said that one pallet will fit in the back of a pick-up truck.  So I got Uchee to meet me there in his truck so we could make one trip.  I didn’t account that my 1995 Chevy 1500 is a step-side with a narrow bed.  So the pallet wouldn’t fit in my truck.  So we had to come all the way back to Macon, unload his truck, and then go all the way back down there again.

This was aggravating because we had to take down each individual roll and sit on my sidewalk, cover it with a sheet, and put the water hose on it so it wouldn’t die.  Then I had to go all the way back down to Perry again.  Just pay the $50 and have them deliver it to you.  Even if you have enough trucks and friends to make on trip, having to take off each individual roll takes a lot of time and effort.  Letting them just sit a whole pallet down on your sidewalk or yard will be much easier.

The actual installation is easy.  Just follow the directions and lay it like a brick wall where the ends are staggered on different levels.

Here is the finished product after installation:

Step 4:  Maintenance

Initially, you are going to spend some money watering your lawn, especially if the drought conditions persist again.  I watered my grass so much, the Macon Water Authority called and asked if we had a leak due to an unusual increase in activity.  Our water bill went from $40 a month to $180 in the summer.  I probably water too much, but after all that hard work I was damn sure going to make sure it lived and got established.  Once the grass gets established you can back off some.  Don’t wait so late to install; I installed the last week of May right after Memorial Day (did all the prep work with the tiller on Memorial Day), and that was about as late as you want to do it. Now is the time to start the prep work.

Also, when you mow, a lawnmower with a bag is nice. My mower broke, so I had to buy a new one.  I didn’t want to spend the extra $50 on a push mower with a bag, and I wish I had.  It will take about a month to get established, so it may look like it is dying at first.  Don’t worry, just keep watering it and you’ll be fine.  I highly suggest you use a sprinkler system, but a sprinkler on a water hose can work OK.

Follow the directions for fertilizer and pre-emerge.  I screwed around and didn’t do the pre-emerge in the fall, and my lawn was ate up with weeds this winter.  It is simple remedy to just spray some 2-4-D out there, but it could have been avoided with some pre-emergent.

I had never laid down any sod before, and I was able to do it successfully.  Good luck if you do it, and if you get confused with anything, there is a ton of help on the internet to answer your questions.

Corbindawg

*If you completely mess up, it isn’t my fault.  Also, I didn’t get paid to pump up Supersod.  I just had a positive experience with them.