By now you’ve probably heard about Georgia’s 10-10 tie in Sunday’s series finale at LSU. Though the tie snaps Georgia’s SEC winning streak at 10 games, the Diamond Dawgs can still claim an 11-game SEC unbeaten streak. The team sits at 14-3-1 in the league which puts them with a comfortable 3.5 game lead over South Carolina, the closest team in either division. There are still series remaining with Florida, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss – three of the better teams in the conference – so Georgia has the opportunity to shut the door on several of the other contenders.

LSU isn’t having the best season, but it’s still a significant accomplishment to take an SEC road series. Ties suck, but they beat the alternative of losing.

Ties aren’t all bad. It all depends on context. The last draw by a Georgia football team came at Auburn in 1994. In Eric Zeier’s last attempt at a legacy, the Bulldogs scored two second-half touchdowns to erase a 23-9 Auburn lead. As we watched and exhaled as Auburn’s last-second field goal attempt sailed wide, the tie didn’t feel so bad. The Dawgs had ended Auburn’s 20-game winning streak, and they had done it by getting off the mat in the home stadium of a rival. Not bad, though a win instead of a tie in that game surely would have meant a bowl bid in my senior season of 1994. I’m not bitter though, not at all.

Back to baseball. A lot can be said for a tie in Sunday’s game. Saturday’s game was wild enough with Georgia blowing an 8-1 lead before winning it in the 9th. Most teams would have been happy to get out of town with the series in hand. Down 10-3 on Sunday, you couldn’t blame the Dawgs for looking east towards the trip home. It says a lot about this team that they were able 1) to regroup after giving up the lead on Saturday and 2) to come up with seven runs late in the game on Sunday. With a tough schedule remaining, that half-game in the standings could be a very important trump card to hold at the end of the year.

The Senator says that the preseason talk around the Bulldogs has an "uncharted territory" feel to it, and I have to agree. It’s a challenge for the team, and excitement and optimism can seem like kryptonite to a fan base full of Munson disciples.

But a high preseason ranking wouldn’t be a first for a Mark Richt team. The Bulldogs were a consensus #3 in 2004, and they even started #1 according to the Sporting News. The outcome of 2004 notwithstanding, a lot was expected of the final year for Greene and Pollack. The Senator’s right, though: there’s just a different feeling about the hype surrounding this year’s team. Why the difference? I see two reasons, and both have to do with the aftermath of the 2003 season.

1. Momentum
2. The post-2003 college football landscape

Momentum. Though Georgia played in the 2003 SEC Championship, they didn’t finish the season well. They "won" the SEC East after an obscure tiebreaker broke a three-way tie with Tennessee and Florida. Then they got steamrolled by LSU in the Dome. Finally, the Dawgs escaped the Capital One Bowl in overtime against an ordinary Purdue team after blowing a lead in extraordinary fashion. It was 10-win season, and I’ll always consider that defense one of the best of the modern Georgia era, but that was a pretty shaky way to end the season. Though Greene and Pollack returned, there wasn’t much momentum from 2003 into 2004.

Contrast that picture with the current state of the program. Georgia has an active seven-game winning streak. They closed the season with double-digit wins over rivals Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech. Finally, they finished the season with a BCS embarrassment of Hawaii which earned Georgia the #2 ranking. The momentum began building right away as nearly all of the first looks at the 2008 season had Georgia at or near the top. The momentum has sustained itself through Signing Day and spring practice, and it shows no signs of letting up.

What does 2003 have to do with now? Given the drama towards the end of the 2007 season, the consensus in support of LSU’s championship is strong. Other contenders either didn’t win their conferences (Missouri, Georgia) or lost their bowls (Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Ohio State). It was a different story of course in 2003 when LSU and Oklahoma played for the BCS championship while Southern Cal claimed the AP title after their bowl win.

The fallout from 2003 immediately established Southern Cal and Oklahoma as the teams to beat heading into 2004. LSU, as defending champion, was somewhat in the picture but was ranked no higher than third by any preseason poll. The Trojans and Sooners were so clearly established as #1 and #2 entering 2004 that even Georgia as #3 generated very little title noise.

(As an aside, I believe the above also explains why discussion of Auburn’s 2004 schedule as a factor keeping them from a shot at the national title is a red herring. No one was passing Southern Cal and/or Oklahoma unless one of those two lost a game. Auburn could have played the Colts, Patriots, and Steelers out of conference and still had no shot for anything better than #3.)

There is no such clarity heading into 2008. Instead the preseason talk has been to identify a pool of about eight contenders. Ohio State will be good again, but two title game losses have pundits nervous about naming them a favorite. Southern Cal will be in the mix as always. Georgia, Texas, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, and Missouri have just as much place at the table. With a top ranking as much up for grabs this year as ever, why not Georgia?

Without a clear favorite entering the season, it will be interesting to see if that lends itself to greater poll volatility early in the season. Will the polls pick a #1 and stick with them, or will the first few weeks be an audition?

The Florida Factor. I can’t let this post go without mentioning this point. Last summer when everyone was talking about who was and wasn’t a national power, I put down three simple criteria that seemed to hold up. One was that you can’t be under another team’s thumb. Georgia had lost six straight to Florida entering the 2004 season. With that kind of track record in Jacksonville, it was pretty easy to dismiss Georgia as a title contender even at #3. Though it will take a few more wins (consecutive wins would be a big first step) to declare the Gator domination over, the Dawgs are certainly in a much better position vis-à-vis the Gators entering 2008 than they were entering 2004.

I have no idea what the ‘enhanced version’ is (Director’s Cut? cutting room footage from the ‘real’ G-Day?), but if you blinked and missed G-Day, it will be on at these times (and probably 233 more times over the summer):

Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) will re-air an enhanced version of its complete-game broadcast of Georgia’s spring football game held April 5th.

Led by quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Red team defeated the Black team, 17-3, as the Bulldogs concluded the 2008 spring practice season. They will open the 2008 regular season against in-state opponent Georgia Southern on August 30th.

CSS’s re-air schedule for the 2008 Georgia G-Day game is as follows:
Monday – 4/21 – 7:00 PM
Thursday – 4/24 – 9:30 PM
Tuesday – 4/29 – 7:30 PM

It was a low point for Bulldog athletics when women’s golf coach Todd McCorkle resigned last year over allegations of harrassment and inappropriate conduct.

“Resigned” actually meant “reassigned within the athletic department.” McCorkle wasn’t fired. There’s just one problem.

McCorkle now has a new title, administrative specialist-managerial.

He even has an office phone number listed on the University Web site. The problem is the number routes to current women’s golf coach Kelley Hester.

Nobody in the athletic department could provide The Red & Black with even a semblance of McCorkle’s job duties.

They didn’t know.

But apparently they know how to get him his paycheck which comes with a $94,000 price tag in this new “position.” Whether or not he was fairly or unfairly accused last year, that doesn’t excuse this sham of a post within the athletic department especially when he has been double-dipping “as an instructor at The Golf Club at North Hampton in Fernandina Beach, Fla. “

McCorkle’s contract with UGA will expire at the end of June, and he told the Red & Black, “I’m at a point in my life where I’m content with each of us going our separate ways.” I guess even his shame has its limits.

Oy…

“Who elected these N.C.A.A. people?” (Neil Abercrombie, Democrat of Hawaii) said at a news conference Thursday on Capitol Hill while gripping a souvenir University of Hawaii football. “Who are they to decide who competes for the championship?”

We give the NCAA and even Miles Brand no shortage of grief, but even they will look downright enlightened next to these people. Any reasonably informed fan could tell Rep. Abercrombie that 1) the member schools “elected” the NCAA and 2) even so, the NCAA does not recognize a 1-A football champion and has nothing at all to do with the college football postseason or the BCS.

The BCS is a contractual arrangement between major conferences, bowls, and television networks, and it is through their grace that schools like Hawaii are even able to participate. Just take your check, say thank you, and resume irrelevance.

One wonders if Rep. Abercrombie in his zeal will go after March Madness where the NCAA actually does have something to do with deciding “who competes for a championship.” But you can kind of forgive him for his ignorance…it’s easy to get disconnected from the college sports mainstream in Hawaii. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia has no such excuse. Shame on him for joining this circus.

They’re no inflatable couch, but these two items should be in your possession sometime this year:

Author Rob Suggs is writing a book named “Top Dawg: Mark Richt and the Revival of Georgia Football.” For the majority of you who know your way around the Bulldog message boards, telling you that this is SaxonDawg’s book should say everything. It’s going to be a good one. Despite Richt’s hesitancy that comes across in the ABH blurb, he is cooperating with the author, and it will be one of the first inside looks at the most recent chapter in Georgia football history.

You can pre-order the book on Amazon now.

Second, the Munson bobblehead that was in the news last week seems to be available now. You can find it over on the Anti-Orange page, at Bulldog Sporting Goods, or you can try your favorite Bulldog retailer. Remember that 100% of the royalties and proceeds goes to UGA Athletic Department’s Noah Harris Memorial Scholarship Fund.

20 Bulldog players will accompany Mark Richt to Honduras in May on a five-day mission trip. “Defensive end Rod Battle, offensive linemen Chris Davis and Ben Jones, punter Brian Mimbs and running back Richard Samuel are among players expected to make the trip,” according to the ABH.

Thank goodness the trip passes the compliance smell test. “It’s not like they’re going on some plush trip,” Richt said in the understatement of the year.

In other good works news, Bulldog signee Christian Robinson spent his spring break doing mission work in Africa for the second straight year. You might remember that he received his UGA offer while he was on last year’s trip. UGASports.com has a great (free) feature with Robinson about his 2008 trip.

Then there’s this. Hopefully this guy can get CBS:

“The cool thing about being a Georgia player was that I found a Dawg’s fan while we were visiting a church there, and he started gong nuts when he found out I was a future Dawg. So Georgia is an international team.”

The Georgia Dome is in the midst of a $20 million maintenance and repair project that will include replacing the gawd-awful teal-and-plum color scheme with one much closer to our own hearts. The project, which also will have interior improvements and modifications, was already in the works before storm damage last month.

Glad to see them getting the building ready for an early-December Georgia game.

Though Georgia has won eight consecutive SEC games, the Dawgs were a couple of innings away from going 3-3 over their last six games. The Bulldogs had to rally from an 8-1 deficit in order to beat East Tennessee State last night in Athens.

Georgia had risen to #7 in the nation thanks to their impressive SEC play to date, but losses last week to Winthrop and Georgia Tech had the team facing the possibility of its third straight nonconference loss before Tuesday night’s late-inning comeback win.

Though conference games are what it’s all about this time of year, midweek games can’t be overlooked. Not only do they give a team like Georgia the occasional chance to test themselves against regional powers like Clemson and Georgia Tech, they’re also an opportunity to develop pitching depth for the postseason. Most importantly, midweek games factor into the overall record which the NCAA can use when it comes time to determine postseason seeding and host sites.

With baseball talent as widespread as it is, even games against Kennesaw, Winthrop, and ETSU can’t be considered gimmes. Getting the win last night was big for this team, and keeping it going tonight against Georgia State is just as important before the team gets ready for a big SEC road trip to LSU and Florida.

UPDATE: Congratulations are in order for Gordan Beckham who was named Baseball America’s Midseason Player of the Year. He’s batting .438 with 16 HR and 40 RBI.

Mustache Wednesday is Orson’s bag, but today’s it’s the end of a Georgia lip ornament that’s in the news.

Come watch Coach Felton shave off his mustache to make good on a promise to the UGA Student Section for winning the 2008 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The first 100 students receive free Domino’s Pizza and SEC Tournament Champion t-shirts. Coach Felton’s barber Vernell Wilson of Wilson’s Hair World will shave the mustache off this Friday, April 18 at Noon at the Tate Center Lawn.

Fans can also pick up the 2008 Georgia Men’s Basketball SEC Tournament Champion posters.

Just you try to take it off.

We found out last season that the post-Florida celebration did a number on the Chapel bell and that more permanent repairs would have to be made. That time is now, and the bell is coming down for repairs. Both the bell assembly and the tower itself will get work; parts of the wooden tower are over 100 years old.

The bell should be back and ringable in time to celebrate a win in the season opener.

The AJC is reporting that Georgia basketball has added a fifth and final member to its incoming 2008 freshman class. 6’4″ G Ebuka Anyaorah will sign with Georgia on Wednesday.

Anyaorah will join Travis Leslie as spring additions to a strong class that already included Howard Thompkins, Dustin Ware and Drazen Zlovaric.

You can’t blame Dennis Felton for looking at the short term, but the decision to take a full class of five this year will have an impact on Georgia’s strategy for the promising 2009 class. Unless there is further attrition (unfortunately a fact of life with Georgia basketball lately), Georgia will have a full load of 13 scholarship players next season.

With Billy Humphrey and Terrence Woodbury as the only rising scholarship seniors, the numbers tell us that there’s only room for two signees next year. PG DeMario Mayfield has already committed, so is there only room for one more commitment for 2009? And is that single scholarship reserved pending the decision of superstar PF Derrick Favors?

Blame the lack of upsets or whatever else you like, but NCAA Tournament ratings were down from a year ago. It didn’t help that major conferences like the Big East, ACC, Big 10, and SEC all had their biggest programs sent home early (with the exception of UNC).

The national championship drew a 12.1 rating, down just 0.1 points from last year. Just for comparison’s sake, that was higher than any college football bowl game except the BCS championship game. I was surprised that nearly half of the football bowl games (16 of 33) drew a smaller audience than the 3.0 rating for the women’s basketball championship game.

The topic of the NBA age limit has come up again, and it continues to puzzle me why the league would want to restrain itself. I don’t know if age limits have really been tested in court. Maurice Clarett was supposed to be the test case for the NFL, and that challenge, um, kind of fizzled out. But let’s say they’re fine and that it’s the NBA’s right to set whatever age limit they want. Why would they?

Fortunately Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has put his thoughts down to give us the first-hand perspective of an NBA owner. He favors an age limit of 22, citing concerns over the maturity of younger players. His concens make sense, but they still come off as "please protect us from ourselves."

Why have NBA teams continued to draft high school players or, lately, one-and-dones? There are only two reasons that make any sense: 1) they are better prospects than older alternatives in the draft and 2) these are likely to be high-profile players who can instantly sell tickets and merchandise and raise the profile of the team. If the young players were a negative for the league, you’d think that fewer would be drafted over time. Watch this year’s draft and tell me if that’s the case.

I don’t buy Cuban’s line that a 22-year-old is more likely able to handle the fame and fortune of the NBA. We’re talking about a lifestyle and sums of money that are incomprehensible for almost all Americans. Being thrust into that situation whether 18 or 22 or 42 is a life change that can’t be understood until you live it.

Cuban replies to some comments by saying that "there are plenty of companies that will only hire college graduates. Others will only hire Phds." True. But those requirements have little if anything to do with maturity. For those companies, a degree or doctorate is a way to establish that the applicant has a minimal skill level or aptitude for the job. An NBA team’s scouting and player evaluation takes care of that.

For the NCAA, this is a great deal. Their product is worth more when high-quality players stick around whether it’s by the players’ own choice or through artifical restraints on the job market. A few years riding the gravy train with someone like LeBron James? Yes, please.

The NCAA gets to play the academic integrity card too, though it’s a small point. A one-and done can breeze through a trivial fall semester and then blow off his spring classes once the season is over. Someone who stays for two seasons must at least pretend to be a serious student for a full academic year and then some. College isn’t and shouldn’t be the NBA’s purgatory.

So we have a deal that’s great for the NCAA and seems to be a step in the right direction for at least one NBA owner. Win-win all around, right? Sure, unless you’re the talented 18-year-old who must go through the motions of pretending to be a college student while taking the NCAA’s vow of poverty for two years instead of working in your chosen profession.

I’d be OK with a system based on what baseball does. They’ve seemed to manage fine without requiring a cup of coffee in college. If someone wants to come out of high school, fine. Let them and the NBA teams take that risk. If a player would rather head to college, require a minimum stay of three years to show a commitment to education and allow the programs some shred of long-range planning.

Congratulations to Georgia’s Tasha Humphrey who was selected by the Detroit Shock with the 11th overall pick in the first round of Wednesday’s WNBA draft. She is Georgia’s eighth WNBA first-round selection; only Tennessee and Connecticut have produced more.

It was a bit of a surprise and disappointment for local fans that the new Atlanta expansion team passed on Humphrey at the #8 pick, opting instead for Tamera Young of James Madison. But Atlanta’s mistake is Humphrey’s gain. Instead of being part of an expansion franchise, she finds herself on a contender. Detroit won the league title two years ago and remains strong led by Deanna Nolan, another former Lady Bulldog great. Detroit’s first pick at #4 was Alexis Hornbuckle of Tennessee. Besides being outstanding players, Humphrey and Hornbuckle are both very smart on the court with great awareness. It goes without saying that two decorated players from Tennessee and Georgia should be assets in Detroit.

The situation is great for Tasha. She’s on a good team with a chance to win a title as a rookie, she won’t be the only quality player drawing attention from defenses, and she should relate to Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer’s style easily. Yet another Lady Bulldog, Kara Braxton, is the liklely Detroit starter at center.

I can’t let this post go without mentioning the #9 pick. Amber Holt of MTSU originally signed with Georgia, but she was "rejected a week before the fall semester because course credits for her major weren’t accepted." It’s an understatement to say that a player who was among the most prolific scorers in the nation would have made a difference on a Georgia team that struggled to produce offense. Insult was added to injury when Holt helped to lead MTSU to an upset win at Georgia in December of 2006.