We hope that you choke, that you choke

The thing that gets me about the Grantham story isn’t the manufactured outrage from the Florida camp or the local media. We expect it from them (but, jeez Tony Barnhart). It’s that a fair number of Georgia fans are so willing to fall into line for the self-flagellation. Here we go forging another sword for the sole purpose of falling on it – there’s no fan base better at it.

I have to admit though that I’m now giving long thought to opting out of the “BLOCK THAT KICK!” cheer this weekend. That’s just not how things are done at Georgia.

Hoops

If you’re looking for a distraction from the football season, both basketball teams will start their seasons with exhibition games during the next week. The men open this Thursday night (an unfortunate missed opportunity with Saturday’s home football game). The women host their exhibition next Wednesday. We learned last week that the men will start the season just outside the national rankings, and the Red & Black reports that the women will open the season #19 in the initial AP poll.

McGarity makes a move

Volleyball coach Joel McCartney was dismissed on Monday after a relatively disappointing four years at the helm. The season is still ongoing, and an assistant will take over on an interim basis. This is new athletic director Greg McGarity’s first head coaching change. Some will read a lot into this move – certainly justified by the state of the program – and suggest it’s a signal that the bar is being raised for other coaches and programs, but we have no idea what else went on to bring about a midseason change for a nonrevenue sport.

Singing virus

Finally, UGA graduate student and composer Alexandra Pajak has created a musical composition based on the genetic sequence of the HIV virus. “Sounds of HIV (Azica Records)…explores the patterns of the virus’s nucleotides as well as the amino acids transcribed by HIV, playing through these biologic signatures in 17 tracks.”