DAWGBEASTS and the edict of my DEFENSIVE WORLD ORDER (DWO)

I purposely have been quiet this week. I wanted to give myself a chance to sort out all the feelings and thoughts I've had since the debacle in Knoxville last Saturday. What happened up there was important. It meant a lot. However, football is a game that is about a body of work over the course of any given season. As much as each game can mean in and of itself, the season is not and can not be lost on any one Saturday throughout the fall. To be sure, there has been an alarming series of events that have taken place in Athens this season, but as followers of our team and devout members of the Bulldog Nation I believe we owe it to ourselves and to Head Coach Mark Richt to focus only on the game that is in front of us and see where this season takes us. We will have plenty of time once the year is over to re-visit any missteps or failures that may befall our DAWGS along the way. I'm not saying don't voice your opinions as we go, but just keep in mind that our boys are gonna tee it up again really soon and we should try to enjoy the sport and all of it's pageantry that we wait the rest of the year to be a part of.

With that said, there are some things I want to mention here and now. I will try not to ramble too much.

BE RESOLUTE

Georgia AD Damon Evans and Coach Richt will get this thing straightened out. I believe it. Recent quotes from the two top men in the world of Georgia football reaffirm my belief:

Coach Richt -

"They want somebody to be let go or fired or that kind of thing, and maybe that's what needs to be done, but at this point right now, we're going to do what we know is the best thing to do and that's to focus on this game this week."

Damon Evans -

“I do have some concerns about where we are at this point of the season. I know Coach [Mark] Richt, the assistant coaches, the players and our fans have the same concerns with our current record and the way we’ve been playing...Coach Richt and I have talked just as we do periodically throughout the season. I think his focus right now is on the immediate future, which is the Vanderbilt game and doing everything possible to prepare our team. That’s where it needs to be...Beyond that, I have total confidence that Coach Richt will properly evaluate our team, address concerns and prepare the right path that will direct us back into the position we all want to be in — competing for championships.”

Coach Richt is attempting to get the DAWGS focus right where it should be…on what’s six inches in front of your face. That is where you will find your reality. The DAWGS reality is that improvement is needed and the only thing you can do about that is get back to work. At this point, I don't know if any player or any fan has the energy to do much more than that.

DEJA VU IS OVER-RATED

Moving along, you all really should know my wife Alice. Wifey loves football with a fierce passion and is more knowledgeable and reasonable about the game than most men I know. I truly am a lucky man. I tell you that to tell you this. Wifey and I share a belief that perception is reality. After Saturday's loss to Tennessee, I've read a lot about what it all means from a Georgia perspective and about what Lane Kiffin wants it to mean. Well, I know this. Losing to the Vols the way we did will have an impact whether we like it or not and I fear it will be much more than just bruised feelings and one L on this year's final tally. It was not that long ago that a head coach that was also a good recruiter and a string of wins over Georgia led to Tennessee raiding the Peach state for top-notch recruits every year...several of which eventually turned out to be KEY players on the Vols 1998 MNC. This is a dangerous situation for Georgia in terms of the possibility of history repeating itself. A loss like this for the DAWGS (or a shaky season of losses) could lead to a change in the regional and national perception of the Georgia program. If that happens there is a real possibility that there will be a change in our "big picture" reality. I do not believe this is happening right now, 10 wins or more in six of the last seven seasons puts a quick end to that train of thought, but coupled with Georgia's recent history against Florida this whole thing could get out of control in a hurry.

***Side note: I loved to refer to Phillip Fulmer as The Great Pumpkin. After seeing Lane Kiffin on the sidelines Saturday in his selection of an over-sized, orange disaster of a jacket, I have to wonder out loud if it's okay to refer to Kiffin as The Rotten Pumpkin? That thing looked as if it were a rotten, sagging pumpkin that was collapsing in on itself. Ugh. Just saying.


I THINK THIS HURTS THE MOST

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