Haselwood does look sharp in the Red and Black. If you follow college football recruiting, you've probably heard of Jadon Haselwood. He has been described as the best pure wide receiver prospect to commit to UGA since current NFL All-Pro A. J. Green. Then, in early October, the young man abruptly decommitted from the Bulldogs, shortly before visiting Mark Richt at the University of Miami. Currently, over 65 percent of the predictions by professional recruiting analysts are that Jadon Haselwood will ultimately sign with the Miami Hurricanes. Perhaps young Mr. Haselwood will accept a scholarship to the University of Miami -- if that turns out to be the case, as a Georgia Bulldog fan I will naturally be somewhat disappointed, but wish him good health and the best of success, unless the Canes are playing against my Dawgs. But I am predicting he won't. Even though no one pays me to prognosticate about where high school football players might play in college, I reject the current "conventional wisdom" of the recruiting experts and personally estimate there's about a 90 percent probability that Haselwood becomes a Dawg, simply by applying deductive reasoning and good, old-fashioned common sense. Here's my rationale...Jadon Haselwood is a fierce competitor who tells interviewers that he wants to catch passes, score touchdowns, and win championships. He also makes it clear that he wants to play professional football after his college career ends. His skill at the game and athletic ability will probably make Haselwood a potential first round NFL draft pick no matter where he … [Read more...]
Bulldog pride
There are 365 days in a year, except leap years. Normally I'm proud to be a Georgia Bulldog fan (and alumnus) for at least 350 of them, I'm guessing on average. As for those other days, well, the problem isn't my alma mater. Nor has it been the football team, the basketball team, swim team, or tennis team that embarrassed me. Instead, the problem tends to be a minority of others who also call themselves Bulldog fans, but fail to understand the concept of winning with integrity and losing with dignity. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will confess that I haven't actually watched the LSU game yet because my oldest nephew's wedding was in California last Sunday. While Georgia was on the field in Baton Rouge, I was flying coast to coast from Atlanta to L.A. for the rehearsal dinner. Even so, I don't need to watch the replay to know most of what happened: turnovers, mistakes, a couple of bad calls by the officials, perhaps a key injury or two, penalties, and missed opportunities. Of course, that also pretty much describes every agonizing Bulldog loss that I've watched over the course of my lifetime. By the time I'd landed in L.A., a friend of mine had killed the battery on my cell phone with text messages giving me score updates as I navigated my way from LAX to Malibu. So without watching the replay I already know we stopped LSU on fourth down but the home team got the call. But no matter how you try to spin the tale, that one bad call didn't make the difference in a game lost by three touchdowns. These days, it seems that without any rules or restrictions, any idiot … [Read more...]
Georgia’s next defensive coordinator
First of all, let's get something straight up front. I have no special access to insider knowledge. I don't have a mole inside the UGA athletic department. No little bird has been whispering in my ear. Nobody who knows anything has told me anything that no one is supposed to know. In other words, take my analysis with a grain of salt, if not the whole shaker. I've been blessed with the God-given ability to use my brain to think like a private detective, which coincidentally comes in quite handy because my day "job" is to write detective novels. I use the pseudonym Rocky Leonard to differentiate the novels from my nonfiction writing. Kirby Smart does not have my number on speed dial. Nobody has divulged any Georgia Bulldog secrets to me. I'm a writer, not a sports journalist. Like Sergeant Schultz from the old television show Hogan's Heroes, I hear nothing. I know NOTHING! But I think I know who Kirby Smart might be planning to hire as his defensive coordinator, given only the fact that he didn't retain former UGA defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Coach Smart's hires for the offensive side of the ball seem to be excellent choices, especially considering the overwhelmingly positive reaction that came from the experts in sports journalism and the fact the new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach have experience working together. Nothing has been said about the defense, though. If we have confidence that the (soon-to-be) former defensive coordinator at Alabama has a clear plan in mind for the Georgia defense, we should assume that Coach … [Read more...]
Devon Gales and the Bulldog Nation
Life is more important than football. Most people play sports simply because they love the competition. I certainly do. For example, if you want to see me run, you basically have two options: either put a gun to my head, or a tennis racquet in my hand. Even when the outcome of the contest has been determined, true competitors never stop playing hard. Naturally, I'd prefer that you chose the tennis racquet over the gun. I will run to win a point, or if a very large animal is chasing me, but jogging and pleasure are mutually exclusive ideas, in my opinion. Of course, everybody knows that Georgia plays Alabama in Sanford Stadium this coming Saturday. But we can talk about that contest later, after the game has been played. Today we need to talk about what happened last Saturday, the tragic accident that occurred in the game against Southern University. The halftime show by Southern's renowned marching band was supposed to be the major highlight of the game. And the band was terrific. They put on an incredible show for the crowd in Sanford stadium. Heck, they were entertaining people on their way inside the stadium. And somebody forgot to tell Southern's football team they weren't supposed to play hard and make the game competitive. At the intermission the score was only 20-6, in favor of Georgia. The previously unstoppable Bulldog running game had only gained thirty-five yards prior to halftime. To their credit, Southern's players never stopped trying to execute their game plan, refusing to play the role of a "cupcake" opponent, even late in … [Read more...]
Why the Georgia Bulldogs will win a National Championship in football in the next two years
I had the pleasure of attending the University of Georgia at the same time Herschel Walker was in school -- the undisputed best running back in Bulldog history thus far, and arguably the greatest college player of all time. Bulldog fans got spoiled rotten. The Junkyard Dawg defense coached by Erk Russell rarely gave up very many points, and it seemed that nobody could stop Herschel in the red zone. Then again, nobody could really even slow Herschel down for very long, period. He ran by people. Herschel ran through people, and even leaped over them. Mr. Walker simply wore defenses down. When asked how he could carry the ball thirty five or more times per game, Herschel famously replied, "The ball ain't heavy." You might be wondering if I've lost my mind: am I living in the past? What does reminiscing about the past and the great Herschel Walker have to do with the chances that UGA will win a national championship within the next two years? What gives me confidence to say the Bulldogs can and will win it all under Mark Richt, other than the fact I love our coach and think he's fantastic? Well, I can summarize my answer to that question with only two words: Nick Chubb. If you haven't noticed, satellite television and TIVO are wonderful inventions. Several UGA football games recorded from last season remain on my play list to satisfy the occasional urge to watch football between seasons. One of the recordings I've kept was the Auburn game. Watching the replay this afternoon I was absolutely mesmerized by what I believe to be the most amazing play … [Read more...]
