Dirty South Pride

Its been quite a year for Atlanta fans... the Braves' demise, the Falcons' rise and the Hawks' surprise (and at least the Thrashers try). But another year come and gone without bringing home a major championship. Sure it'd be fun to live in Boston with the Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox, but we can't all enjoy that kind of well-rounded success. The rest of us have to find other reasons to have pride in our teams. Things like damn good hot dogs or kiss cams or Marta access. But seriously Atlanta fans, when some joker from Boston or Florida starts giving you the business about how irrelevant our teams are... here's six good reasons to laugh in their face:

• Michael Turner
• Roddy White
• Joe Johnson
• Ilya Kovalchuk
• Chipper Jones
• Brian McCann

These are your Atlanta All-Stars. These six players were named the best of the best this year. No Bostonian can come into the dirty south and claim we have no good players or we have no good teams. With two playoff teams and six all-stars, I'd say we're sitting pretty. There's 30+ teams in these leagues, and only one can win the championship each year. And its been a long time since that team was the Yankees, Cowboys, or Lakers. Sports isn't all about the championships. Sure it'd be nice to have a couple more World Series titles and a Super Bowl win, but its hard not to feel proud about our boys when you go into the stadium and see those banners hanging: division champions, conference champions, league champions... or when you turn on the All-Star game or Pro Bowl and see your boys taking the field alongside the game's best players... or when you read preseason discussions about which of your guys could win the Heisman, league MVP, or Rookie of the Year.

We may have down years, but our teams - our players - are never out of the discussion. Matt Ryan was the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year, Michael Turner was the league MVP's runner-up, Jonathan Dwyer ACC Player of the Year, Matt Stafford could be the top pick in the draft, Chipper Jones won the NL batting title... times are good in the Dirty South boys and girls, even if we're not hoisting championship trophies like they are in the northeast, that doesn't mean we aren't proud of our players' accomplishments year in and year out. If you keep putting talent on the field, the titles will come.
Read Full Article!

Stafford and Moreno to Enter NFL Draft

Well now its official: Georgia QB Matthew Stafford and RB Knowshon Moreno announced today that they will be entering April's NFL Draft. Both players are considered top 2 prospects at their positions. Many analysts predict Stafford could be the first pick overall (Detroit Lions), with Knowshon expected to go by the middle of the first round.

In three years, Stafford threw for 7,731 yards and 51 touchdowns. His 25 touchdowns this season set a new school record. As a starter he went 27-7, with three bowl wins. His best game statistically came in this year's loss to Georgia Tech, where he threw for 407 yards and 5 touchdowns. He has a rocket arm and is solidly built, but he's fairly inconsistent and hasn't appeared willing to change his game to fix any mistakes he'd made as a younger player. He still throws interceptions, he still makes poor decisions, and he still takes a while to get going in many games. Coming out he looks similar to Jamarcus Russell, so let's hope his NFL career doesn't go sideways like his.

Knowshon's two years (redshirt Sophomore) were well spent. Last year, his splitting time with Thomas Brown did not hinder his ability to put up big numbers. He rushed for over 1300 yards and 14 touchdowns both seasons, and never lost a fumble. He never fumbled at all, in fact. Knowshown had 18 total touchdowns this season, bringing his career total to 32. Knowshon's biggest game came last year against Troy, when he ran for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns. He scored three TD's three times this year as well.

Oh boo hoo. Let's think about this for a second. Are we that much worse without them? Lost 3 games this year, 2 last year. This isnt like losing Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. Or Vince Young. Or DJ Shockley even. Let's think about what Stafford and Moreno accomplished. They beat Florida last year (so did Michigan), they didn't lose a bowl game (lets put aside Hawaii's BCS legitimacy last year), and they finished #2 in the BCS rankings last year (which you dont get a trophy for, or anything for that matter). I'm not puting down their talent. They're both incredible talents. Knowshon was our best player. And it will be interesting to see how successful they can be at the next level, but what legacy have they left behind? What great moment will go down in Georgia lore as the symbol of their time here? Knowshon's highlight reel or jukes, jumps and spins? Stafford's 25 touchdowns? Shockley won the SEC. So did Greene. This is Georgia football, people. When the best your two superstars can get you is a two-loss season and no division titles, its hard to imagine that we can do much worse when they're gone.

Looks like Joe Cox is the frontrunner to be the starter next season (which is good), and Caleb King and Richard Samuel will fill in for Moreno at tailback. Luckily for us, these may be our two deepest positions. With two young guns in waiting behind Cox, next season is looking a lot better than what we had in 2006.. but another ten win season is completely within reach.

Well, if our schedule wasn't ridiculously hard. Read Full Article!

With Bowl Win, Georgia Defense Makes a Statement

[photo from AJC.com]


Ask around, ask any die-hard UGA fan, "What happened? How did you fall from the #1 team to a 3-loss disappointment?" And each and every one will tell you: the defense. They can blame the injuries, or the coaching, or the cockiness of our players who bought into their own hype, but when it came down to it we just couldn't play shut-down defense, especially in the second half of the season. Rumors began swirling that Willy Martinez (defense coordinator) was on the hot seat. He couldn't adjust after losing so many starters to injury. Couldn't keep his players disciplined, focused, and penalty-free. But yesterday against Michigan State, they stood up.

The Georgia defense looked like the defense we had all hoped to have all season. Superstar running back Javon Ringer couldn't break through, couldn't get any big plays (held to 47 yards on 20 carries). The Spartan passing game was anemic, with the QB tandem on their back all day (sacked 5 times). Stafford and the offense couldn't get anything rolling in the first half, and turned the ball twice, forcing the defense to stay on the field in some sticky situations. But they clamped down on the Spartans, held them to field goals, and kept us in the game just long enough for Stafford to get his head on straight and lead us to victory. With this bowl win, the Bulldogs defense made a statement that their coach isn't going anywhere, that this team can still shut down a solid offense, and that this defense can still win us games. I'm looking forward to bringing back a healthy defense next season, a matured offensive line, and a WR tandem of Green and Moore.. now let's just hope Stafford stays around to get them the ball.

A satisfying end to an otherwise disappointing season that should leave all Bulldog fans with a pleasant taste in their mouths.

*Coach Richt improves to 6-2 in bowl games, capping off his sixth 10-win season in the last seven years.

*Stafford threw for three touchdowns, giving him 25 for the season, a new single-season Bulldogs record.

*Star receivers senior Mohammed Massoquoi and freshman AJ Green caught only one pass each, leaving them both just shy of the 1,000 yard mark. Read Full Article!