From Athens-T'was the week before Camp

Good Morning All,

T’was the week before fall camp starts and the Dawg Nation is stirring about!

Then it is a sprint to the start of the season.

I am ready well you can make that past ready!

My wish is for a physical camp one were we push to get better and compete for playing time.

All that and no major injuries –please!

Looking around college football and once again I see all the sleazy stuff taking place makes me proud of our football program. Kudos to all!

Not to say we have not had issues in the recent past but they were dealt with promptly and we moved on.

Truth is we came away better than we could have thought.

Traded one problem RB for two blue chip players and young men who want to play and win without excuses-thank you

Georgia has something to add this week.

She calls them her positive barking points.

Since the arrival of Mac as AD there have been an ever growing number of good topics being added which we and the heads call out and talk about almost daily.

Not in any order but Georgia sited –

Father Joe and the S&C program, adding Coach Armstrong

Hiring CCW and how he has recruited a growing number of quality recruits

Dawgs going to south Fla and pulling a quality RB and person to come to Athens

Keeping top in state recruits to play for UGA

Overall boom in finding and getting commitments from quality recruits to fill future position needs

Perfect attendance in this summer training camp

Finding leadership from players on both side of the ball

Record number of players on Award watch lists

Building quality depth

Coaches who are focused on teaching and building a winning program now and for the future

CMR finding his mojo and fire as a HC in the SE

Truth that Georgia football is back on the national map

As Georgia headed to her water bowl to catch her breath she asked if anyone else could add to the list she started

Pause and give thanks

Make a point to thank a vet this week for their service

Have a great weekend and a safe week

As all ways “Go Dawgs”!!!!

Yd1 tell Georgia she did a great job with the list thanks for the post

To that already fantastic wish list, I would like to add:

Wish that Kolton Houston will come in ready to play, stay injury free and enjoy the success that he deserves. Patient "young" man (not really all that young at this point - thanks for nothing, NCAA). VERY glad he's on board. I also wish for him to be REALLY angry and want to BURY SOME UNFORTUNATE D-Linemen somewhere.

GATA!!!!

Thanks for the post yd1....always informative and entertaining. NOW we know that it has been "Georgia" all along making the Friday posts!!!......caught ya!

Don't have much to say, have to catch up on the reading.....been out of pocket busy lately.

Cool one for ya yd1, uh, or should it be for Georgia???

Cool one for both of you.

thriller wrote: To that already fantastic wish list, I would like to add:

I also wish for him to be REALLY angry and want to BURY SOME UNFORTUNATE D-Linemen somewhere.

GATA!!!!

Amen!



yankeeDawg1, great Friday post as usual! many a truth in your list of things Georgia is doing right. It seems the ship has been righted under Mac's watch to me as well.

This doesn't really need a new thread, but I think it is comment-worthy (and my work has hit the summer doldrums, so I have a few minutes).

Sometimes I disagree with some of the coaching decisions at UGA (like our frustrating inability to manage the game clock in certain situations - and our stubborn refusal to support special teams with their own coach - ugh). However, I DO support this, an article from Athens-Banner Herald Online:

"Richt on drug policy in SEC: 'I'd rather them come to us'
By Marc Weiszerpublished Monday, July 29, 2013


DULUTH — Mark Richt rose from his chair Monday night next to host Chuck Dowdle to make his point clear about how he feels about Georgia’s stringent drug policy.

The Bulldogs football coach had been asked a question at the final “UGA Day” offseason speaking tour about how long it would be before the SEC “levels the playing field” with team punishments for positive drug tests.

“Here’s the deal with me,” Richt said inside the grand ballroom of the Gwinnett Center. “I’ll stand up, I’ll stump a little bit.”

The coach who played last year without defensive starters Bacarri Rambo and linebacker Alec Ogletree for four games after they ran afoul of Georgia’s policy for the second time and will be missing safety Josh Harvey-Clemons for the opener this year against Clemson spoke on the topic for several minutes.

“I don’t want our guys to smoke marijuana,” Richt said. “I don’t want our guys to do anything illegal. I don’t want our guys to do anything that they shouldn’t be doing. So when you have policies that have a lot of teeth to it, the No. 1 things guys want is what? They want playing time. If I take that away from them, that might teach a lesson a little bit better than not. You know what I’m saying?”

Georgia pushed for a uniform drug policy league-wide at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings, but it did not gain support.

“I’m not going to apologize for it,” Richt said of the policy. “I’d love it everybody had the same level playing ground. That would be great. I don’t think we should go towards them to get a level playing field. I’d rather them come to us.”

Richt got a round of applause from the crowd of about 400 when he was done with the topic.

He addressed the fans on the eve of players reporting to preseason camp.

They officially get together tonight and practice for the first time on Thursday.

“It’s here, you know?” Richt said before speaking to the audience. “This is it. (Today) the players come in. We have dinner and we have some compliance meetings.”



I agree with Coach Richt. There should be a flat out drug policy across the SEC, and NOT because I want things "fair" for the Dawgs, but because right is right, and wrong is wrong. Whether smoking pot is something you support or not (I do NOT) isn't even the issue. The issue is "coaching" and "mentoring" and having control over programs that BENEFIT the "student-athlete". I almost blush whenever I write that last part, because "student-athlete" seems like such a joke. But it doesn't have to be. Not just UGA, but the entire college football world could use Mark Richts approach to coaching, at least in this regard (but NOT clock management or special teams).