Disgraced

We were disgraced Saturday in Knoxville. I don’t know any other way to say it. We were flat-out disgraced. Simple as that.

I’ve talked about this game until I’m blue in the face. I’ve read all the blogs & message boards. I’ve watched the Mark Richt Show and I’ll be listening to the Bulldog Hotline tonight. But, I refuse to watch the replay. I just can’t do it. I won’t do it.

I’m a tried & true Dawg fan, born red & black, went to UGA through the end of the Goff years and witnessed the beginning of the Donnan years. I’ve lived & breathed the bad times in Bulldog Nation and I don’t want to go back, damnit. But, we’re now 0-6 against our SEC East foes and those long buried memories of heartbreaking losses are slowly creeping back.

I’ve called for CWM’s head and I refuse to apologize. Like I said, it’s been a long time coming. He’s not the right man for the job. Simple as that.

If you don’t believe it read what King has to say:

“This was Georgia’s 19th loss in Mark Richt’s six-and-a-half-year tenure with the Bulldogs. In his first 11 setbacks, the Red and Black D surrendered 14, 24, 24, 20, 20, 17, 16, 34, 19, 24, and 14 points, respectively. The only honest-to-goodness skunking suffered by the ‘Dawgs during that period came in the 2003 S.E.C. championship game against the eventual national champs. Since the 2005 Cocktail Party, though, Mark Richt has lost eight games, in which the opposing team has scored 31, 38, 51, 24, 21, 24, 16, and 35 points in succession.”

Then read what Senator has to say:

“…somebody has to take a hard look at why Georgia played the same defensive scheme against the same offensive set up that shredded it in Athens last year, with essentially the same results.  And that’s after an Ole Miss game that exposed the same problems for significant periods of play the week before – with their head coach saying publicly on his show that his staff had caught some weaknesses in Georgia’s ability to defend against spread receiver, single running back offensive formations.  When you get called out in public like that and don’t respond, that’s either due to fear, stubbornness or lack of creativity.  None of which are attractive attributes for a defensive coaching staff.”

Saving the best for last, read what Kit has to say:

“I’m tired of this “we’re a second half team” bullshit, because it is exactly that…bullshit. If you can’t play 60 minutes of football, don’t put on the uniform. Also, if you can’t coach 60 minutes of football, don’t put on the headset.”

I learned a long time ago, you cannot change what you don’t acknowledge. The majority of the fans have acknowledged that we’ve got BIG problems in several areas, especially the D. But I fear CMR will not acknowledge, privately nor publicly, that big changes need to occur among his own personnel. Every week he still talks about what the players aren’t doing. Well, only a moron believes our self-destruction is a player issue. You can’t blame the players for running the same crappy scheme you give them!

When will enough be enough? When will we decide to be competitive again? When will we acknowledge that we’ve got big problems that require significant change?

I don’t know the answers to those questions. I wish I did. All I do know is to keep doing what I’ve done my entire life, through thick & thin, good times and bad… wear my red & black with pride and honor, cheering my Dawgs on to fight another Saturday. 

So as I write this blog I’m playing a Dawg favorite, Corey Smith’s Every Dawg, to put this loss to rest and move on to Vandy. If you don’t know this song, you should. Just in case, here’s the lyrics:

A long ride back from Jacksonville
500 miles from a game we should’ve won
Man we ought a burn down that stadium
Thought this year was gonna be ours
Talking too much junk in those Florida bars
Now I’m stunned
man I wish it was 1981

Now I know why they say
Every dog has his days
Can’t win every game we play
But every dog has his days
Longing for those glory days

Like the one he cried run Lindsay Run
I was too young to be there but I’m sure it was fun
I bet that crowd was flyin high
And I bet Glory to ol’ Georgia was cried as the band played Man I wish I could feel that way today

Now I know why they say
Every dog has his days
Can’t win every game we play
But every dog has his days

And I played back my favorite victories
Like that last minute win up in Tennessee
I bet them hobnails hurt like hell
And I got sweet memories of 2002 won the SEC
And the sugar bowl too
Man we had a ball down on Bourbon Street
Ooh, those were the days

Just got my tickets in the mail
Septembers coming fast and I can hardly wait
They say these guys they might take us all the way
And if they do I’ll be flying high
And there’ll probably be a happy tear in my eye but rain or shine
I’ll be yellin’ Go Dawgs! from the 20 yard line, and

I know why they say
Every dog has his days
Can’t win every game we play
But every dog has his days

And we’ll be singing
Glory, Glory to ole Georgia
Glory, Glory to ole Georgia
Glory, Glory to ole Georgia
Oh Georgia Hail to thee!

My proudest accomplishment and honor to date is graduating from the University of Georgia in December of 1998.  I thought I was a Dawg long before I stepped foot on campus as a student in the Fall of 1995. Truth is, I became a Dawg September 2, 1995 as I watched my beloved bulldogs pummel SCUm from the student section in Sanford. That was my first game as a freshman, my initiation into Bulldog Nation. I remember that day like it was yesterday; it was one of the best days of my life. I knew I was where I was supposed to be. I was graced to be a Bulldog.

We went 6-6 that year losing to UT, Florida, Auburn, Ole Miss, Bama, and then Virginia in the Peach Bowl. I went to every game that year, home & away. We sucked bad but I didn’t care, I was having the time of my life! I proudly lost my voice every Saturday screamin’ Go Dawgs and singing Glory.

That’s what it means to be a Bulldog, folks. Know where your allegiance lies, and cheer for the Dawgs through thick & thin. Once a Dawg, always a Dawg. How sweet it is…

There’s only one thing left to say y’all… Go Dawgs. Please. GO DAWGS! 

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