The Bright Side

sadlerdawg wrote:

Unfortunately, I thought the SC loss would bring the players down to earth and be the turning point of the season.

sadlerdawg, could not agree more. There are a lot of us that have been around for a while, and we want nothing more than to beat any team, especially any team coached by Spurrier. The leather was meeting leather in the SC game, licks were being thrown by both sides. Just did not see that from UGA against the Vols. Again, I agree, thought the SC game would put some starch in the UGA collars. They are young, but don't anyone on this board be fooled. I live in Florida now, and will tell you that there are multitudes of terrific young football players heading to the University of Florida. After this year, the Gators are going to be hard for anyone to beat. Hate to say that, but it is true . . . .I along with the rest of you will keep the faith . . . Go Dawgs!

Cutcliff has Martinez's number, no doubt about it, but hey we look pedestrian on defense against almost everybody. Defense wins championships in the SEC. Look at the NFL defensive rosters. Six in a row to east teams won't cut it no matter how young we are.

One would think, in reading the disappointed posts, that the expectation was for an undefeated season. That's a recipe for grey hair and indigestion. What I see is a team growing and learning. There is more to be learned in defeat than victory; that's always the case and especially true in football. Sure, it hurts to lose like this, but we aren't a top ten team this year. We have talent and the potential to be exceptional in the next few years, but come on, what are we really expecting? MS obviously needs another year. We have the scariest running backs honing their skills for the next couple of seasons, and the O-line is young and learning. That's not a recipe for a NC, but it certainly is the right ingredients for success in the not-too-distant future.

The WORST thing, for me, is to buy in to the negativity that such losses bring, to get down on the team. We'll have a rough year, but we've been spoiled and perhaps, just perhaps, we've forgotten that even great programs have to rebuild every so often. I would imagine that, were I a recruit considering Georgia, that it would be daunting if the fan base abandoned ship whenever we faltered. It sucked, it hurt to see, we played poorly and deserved the score for the effort, BUT there is another game this weekend. Also, boys and girls, you get your wish. KnoMo gets to be the featured back. Ahhhh, a glimpse into the future at the expense of the Dores. Gotta love it. Go Dawgs.

I don't really think expressing displeasure over a team's disappointing performance constitutes abandoning ship, limey. I'm there rooting for the Dawgs every weekend, but a pathetic performance deserves criticism. If a recruit considering UGA doesn't like criticism from the fans, they could go play at UNC or somewhere football is an afterthought, not a way of life like it is for the Bulldawg Nation. Just my $.02.

Couldn't agree more sadlerdawg. Abandon? Quite the contrary. After winning 2 SEC championships and played for a 3rd, we have something called EXPECTATIONS. The program should be reloading. UF is reloading, S Cal reloads, OU reloads, Texas reloads, OSU reloads. With the success we've had and the recruiting classes we've gotten, I believe AT THIS POINT in time we should be reloading. UF is reloading this year and they probably should have beaten LSU.....THAT'S what I'm talking about!! At least not have meltdowns and an unbelievable embarrassing loss like last weekend. After what I've just said above I can't believe that I'm praying for a 8-4 record which may end up being 7-5.

I totally agree, wlayton. It's just hard for me to believe that people would imply that questioning your team's direction or complaining about their performance somehow makes you less of a fan. I pull for UGA every week--I wear my gear, fly my flag, my big \"G\" plate is still on my truck. And while I didn't expect them to win every game this year, I didn't expect them to lose any due to lack of heart like I've seen this year. There are 2 kinds of football players in this world--those that want to be coddled when they screw up, and those that respond to a coach in their face when they screw up telling them to get their head and their ass wired together and play better. I was always the latter, and therefore I think players should respond when they know thier coaches and fans are disappointed in their performance. If they do not like that kind of criticism, they should not play for a high profile team like UGA, and therefore I don't think anyone is doing anything wrong by complaining. Hell, my wife and I argue and complain to each other, doesn't mean I love her any less.