Tales from the Other Side

Before we get started, I stumbled upon the latest Pulpwood Prediction (shout out: Hunker Down Dawg). Enjoy!

It's South Carolina week and the understatement of the year would be to say that I'm absolutely giddy over the possibility of whipping the Gamecocks' collective asses on Saturday. I'm ready and excited about finally beginning the first game of that brutal schedule.  

However, right now, there's not a scrap of UGA news that I can tell you that you need to know about. So instead, I decided that tonight would be a good time to just do some quick hits on whatever comes to my mind. It might be football related, it might be on politics or it might just be a random rant. I don't know, so I'm just going to stop thinking, start writing and see what happens:

1) There's not a bone in my body that thinks the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called against Washington this past weekend was a bad call. EVERY bone in my body thinks that it is a crappy rule, however. As written, Rule 9-2-C states as such (opens a very large PDF of the college rule book):

"After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot. This prohibits:...(c) Throwing the ball high into the air."

I'm not really sure how it's incredibly tough to understand that it wasn't the officials that screwed Jake Locker and the Huskies (and trust me, they were screwed), it was the rule in and of itself. 

So, to say that it was a bad call by the refs is actually an injustice. The refs did their job, almost to the letter. Those that say Locker was merely throwing the ball over his shoulder are full of sh*t (I'm looking at you Mark May) and need to admit as much. However, Locker didn't mean to draw attention to himself or to taunt the other team, but his intentions aren't the issue here. His actions are, and his actions are a violation of the rules in the rule book. It is what it is.

2) Can somebody, anybody tell me why this is news? I could care less about CNN's undying desire to drag Sarah Palin through the mud (is it wrong that I think she's kind of cute?), but with a "news story" like this, it's almost comical. Really? You're interviewing some chick who beat her in a beauty pageant in 1984? And it turns out that this chick supports Obama? WELL STOP THE F*CKING PRESSES! WE'VE GOT A PEABODY WAITING FOR THIS STORY! Geez, gag me with a rusty spork.

3) The other night, I watched the entire Warren Zevon episode from when he was on Letterman right before he passed away. While Zevon's music never really did much to move my soul (I'm not saying it's bad music. It just ain't my favorite.), the interview did something for me that has carried with me the last few days. I could try to put exactly what that is into words, but I wouldn't do it justice. All I know is I sat there and thought "If I were Letterman and I was interviewing an old friend for what I knew to be the last time before he passed away, how could I keep it together?" When I asked that question unto myself, my perspective on some things changed a little. I've very glad that it did.

4) Keeping up with the classic rock vibe, I've recently rediscovered Credence Clearwater Revival. I'm not really a fan of John Fogerty, but truth be known, I used to wear out their 24k gold best hits CD. I found the CD a few days ago and I've been listening to their music while I've blogged the past couple of nights. It's been nice.

5) Finally, let's do some quick hits on the blogosphere.  Sounds good?  Good.

• Mackalicious at Blogging Pantsless continues his domination over comedy and solid writing with a few pieces leading up to the South Carolina game. 


• The Good Senator is on a roll right now with random quotes and tidbits that will help you better prepare to hate South Carolina come Saturday. He gets about 5 times the hits I get per day, so I'm not sure why I link him since you've probably already been there before you are reading this, but what the hell, a link it is.


• Aside from getting the jump on the newest Pulpwood, Hamp at Hunker Down Dawg has written some very impressive posts lately that you should check out. One that I really found interesting was this one on the USC (Trojans) Defense.


• As always, Groo over at DawgsOnline has two posts up that you need to check out. This one covers what our opponents (past, present and future) are doing this week in college football. Also, this post talks about UGA's defensive takeaways (or lack thereof) so far this season.


• Finally, Catfish & Cornbread has a really good post up about Matt Stafford's possible coming out party at South Carolina this year. Seems like a fitting time to establish himself since it was South Carolina in 2006 when he threw that beautiful ball on the post route to MoMass after JT3 got hurt. I remember PWD commenting about how we hadn't had a QB with a cannon like Stafford in a long time. Things come full circle, eh?

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. Preview is coming and will be posted tomorrow night for your Friday's enjoyment.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.