In 1972 (before many of you were born), Miami Dolphins starting QB Bob Griese broke his leg while playing against the San Diego Chargers in the fifth game of the season. His backup Earl Morrall came off the bench and completed 8 of 10 passes, throwing for 2 touchdowns as well. Over the next ten weeks, Morrall proceeded to complete 83 of 150 passes for 1,360 yards and 11 touchdowns, continuing the Dolphins winning streak while Griese's leg healed. Morrall led the Dolphins to nine more regular season wins and victory in the AFC semi-final game before Griese returned for the AFC Championship and then the Super Bowl. Earl Morrall even looked old in 1965 Morrall had a reputation as a clutch player. Two years earlier, he had come off the bench in relief of injured Johnny Unitas and led the Colts to victory in Super Bowl V, but he wasn't a guy who was going to light up the scoreboard, even though he could throw the ball to Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield or tight end Jim Mandich, who averaged one touchdown for every fifth catch that season. Miami had an awesome running attack led by Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Eugene "Mercury" Morris. They just didn't need to throw the ball very often. Their defense became known as the "No-Name" defense, anchored by NFL Hall of Fame defensive lineman Bill Stanfill and Super Bowl MVP safety Jake Scott, both outstanding former Georgia Bulldogs. The No-Name defense earned its moniker from Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry because their high-powered offense received so much more publicity. In a fourteen game regular season, Miami … [Read more...]
Losing with dignity
As a Georgia Bulldog fan, I don't feel like I have to wear clothes with UGA logos on them every day to establish my credibility--anyone who has any doubts whatsoever about my allegiance to my school only has to read this blog, or peruse my curriculum vitae. Or, they could simply glance at my diploma and note that I graduated from UGA in 1983. I went to school (and rode the campus bus) with Herschel Walker. In 1980, I was in the stands in Jacksonville when Lindsey Scott snatched a pass from Buck Belue and somehow outran Florida's defensive backs for a 93-yard miracle that did not involve divine intervention. I was also in the stands at the Sugar Bowl when Penn State upset the Dawgs in 1982. No matter whether we won or lost, I have never been embarrassed by the team to call myself a Georgia fan. Other so-called "fans" are another story, entirely. Some of our fans have made me cringe on occasion. Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. I'd be lying if I said that during the national championship game, it never occurred to me that the officiating was so bad that it might have been deliberate, and that UGA was being cheated out of victory by the referee. However, once "the heat of the moment" had passed and the opportunity came to evaluate the 2nd half (and overtime), three things became clear: the officials had missed a number of calls that hurt Georgia and helped Alabama, but Alabama started playing much better football after halftime, and it seemed that the Dawgs became much more conservative with play-calling in the second half. Placing all the blame for … [Read more...]
G-Day 2017
Okay, I'm seriously bummed out -- due to a scheduling conflict and a prior commitment, I cannot attend the G-Day game in person this coming Saturday. I need someone to pick up my slack and be there in my place. Therefore, I'm asking for all my fellow members of the Dawg Nation to make sure my seat isn't empty at noon for the kickoff on Saturday. We need another 93,000 fans to jam pack Sanford Stadium, just like last year. Anything less would be a letdown after the turnout for the game last year. This needs to become a habit. Think about it this way: we don't want coaches like Urban Meyer to be able to negatively recruit players from our state by telling them we're only fair-weather fans. If teleportation had already been invented by now, I'd be right there in Athens with you. Only impossible logistics for this coming Saturday could keep me away. So now, without further ado, here are my Top Ten Reasons to be at the game in person this Saturday: Reason #10: Go because your visit to campus will provide an opportunity to check out the new indoor practice facility. Confirm with your own eyes that your donation money has been well spent. Reason #9: Go because you can watch UGA football in person, free admission. Reason #8: Free parking, too. My spot will be available, just like my seat. Reason #7: Go because no matter how good or bad we look as a team, our Bulldogs will win the game. Guaranteed. When have you ever been guaranteed victory before? Reason #6: Go because our players have asked us to be there. I'll be there in spirit, and watching on … [Read more...]
Unsolicited advice for Greg McGarity
Dear Mr. McGarity, I hope you'll forgive my presumption that you might listen to me -- on the other hand, if this message resonates with the Bulldog nation and becomes viral, and you won't be able to ignore it. I tried this "unsolicited advice" tactic once before, and things worked out pretty well. While I can't claim that my effort led to things working out to UGA's advantage, what I wrote obviously didn't hurt the Dawgs. And Roquan Smith sure looks great in red. Now I know you have a very difficult job, trying to keep the Bulldog fan base happy. Some "fans" have called for you to fire Mark Richt, even though our coach has managed to win nine tough games, including both Auburn and Georgia Tech on the road. This is in spite of the fact Coach Richt currently has the highest rated recruiting class during his entire tenure, with the chance to finish strong and dramatically improve the final ranking. Georgia could finish with the top ranked recruiting class. If Coach Richt and his staff can persuade blue-chip players like Isaac Nauta, Mecole Hardman, Derrick Brown, E. J. Price, Willie Allen, Demetris Robertson, Shyheim Carter, Tyler Simmons, Brian Burns, or a few similar highly prized recruits to come to Athens to play with Jacob Eason, we could have the necessary talent needed to play for SEC titles and national championships against the likes of Nick Saban, in spite of the advantage in financial support for his program at Alabama. Most of these kids have expressed strong interest or said they want to come to Georgia, but they want Mark Richt and Jeremy … [Read more...]
Dan Barker’s miracle
Dan Barker is one of the world's most famous atheists, but he hasn't always been so well known. In fact, for over seventeen years he toiled in relative anonymity as a Christian evangelist, receiving virtually no fame or fortune in compensation for his efforts. Now today Dan runs the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), one of the most zealous and successful special interest groups dedicated to opposing religion in the United States. He now has millions of dollars at his disposal -- the FFRF currently boasts of holding $11.5 million dollars in assets on their balance sheet. Obviously, atheism pays a lot better than honest evangelism. Dishonest evangelism is something else entirely -- those "prosperity pimps" really know how to rake in the dough, but that's another story. At any rate, shortly after declaring himself an atheist, Dan was invited as a guest on Oprah Winfrey's television show AM Chicago to speak about what led from preaching to atheism. On the show Dan met future wife (and co-founding partner of the FFRF) Annie Laurie Gaylor, and soon they started on their journey down the road leading to fame and fortune. I've been familiar with the FFRF and Mr. Barker for quite a while now -- once upon a time, he was even a "virtual" friend of mine on Facebook. But I got dumped once Dan figured out that I wasn't an atheist. Only a few years ago, I took and then self-graded Dan's open Bible test -- a clever ploy of his obviously designed to create doubt and confusion in the minds of Christians. The "test" wants the Christian to focus on the relatively minor … [Read more...]
