Nevada Dawg

I think I mentioned this previously, but my information back then was that Georgia thought Justin had all the tools but didn't seem to like playing football very much, or at least to the intensity that would be required by Kirby Smart. My own impression of Justin, and I watched him carefully, was congruent with that assessment. I really hate to sound like I am dumping on the kid. It is certainly no crime not to have the heart for big-time football and I wish the young man all the best in whatever life path he chooses to pursue as an advocation.

I'd certainly hope that this roster will seriously contend this year and see no obvious shortcomings to prevent it. Let's hope that Lanning can impress the need to keep laser focused on weekly goals and prevent the players from dreaming too much on what could happen weeks down the road. It is not always easy to do, but I hope the players can resist the bait that Nick Saban calls "rat poison"--that is, swallowing the stories that tell them how damn good they are in favor of going out and demonstrating that fact each and every week. Just my $.02 worth on this topic.

Leading recruiting man on the Talk'n Dawgs site has been saying for a couple of months that both Gibson and Terry will be Bulldawgs.

I agree with every point you make here SoGaDawg except one; How can a Red Clay Hound ever feel sorry for a water lizard? (I know you qualified your statement with "Almost" and I do have some Gator buddies. But still....

Great player for sure. I still remember listening to the NCAA semis in maybe 1960 on the radio because it they weren't televised. If I remember correctly, three of the four teams were led by superstars, West for WVU, Elgin Baylor for Seattle. Oscar Robertson for Cincinnati and the fourth team escapes me. I wanted to say Ohio State, but that may have been too early for Jerry Lucas and John Havlichek. This was the first year I followed college basketball closely, though I'd had an attachment to Bill Russell and his great San Francisco Dons teams a little earlier. I do remember that everybody raved about Jerry West's greatness. even as a college player.

Our insiders say Ziyaire is truly a good one and didn't see this commitment coming. Lanning may have to work to hold him and great get if you can. This may be one of the guys Kirby and crew will continue to recruit till signing day however.

If your coach has taken you to successive places the Duck hardball group had never been before, my $.02 is that you have a keeper who is just getting started. Give the guy some slack and celebrate the team's accomplishments this year. Duck baseball is on the right track it seems like to me. Admittedly the meltdown was hard to watch, but baseball is a funny pastime it seems.

Boy, tthat would be a sad day indeed!

Hey, at least the Ducks game was entertaining. In Athens, Dawgs lost their opening game to N C State 18-1. Demoralization occurs quickly when you give up 11 runs in the second inning. I'll cheer both teams on tomorrow, but have to hope that the Dawgs can muster some hope for themselves. But, hey, baseball is a funny game.

The spirit I was referring to was his court enthusiasm as a college player not his post-basketball playing activities.

It seems that some of David Marsh's suppositions about Collin Gill were right on the mark. A post this morning on the best free Dawgs site Talk'n Dawgs indicated that geography did play a role in the Gill transfer and that he will likely be groomed for the Star position at Georgia. I also know that Kirby Smart likes big, hard-hitting safeties. Thanks for your insights David. I hope that Collin can be the patient sort, however, as he has a couple highly rated guys ahead of him on the Star depth chart.

Sorry if already posted but I'd add the game would be greatly improved if the spirit of Bill Walton reign over all of college basketball!

Recruiting is fluid and a couple of things I like to see (and often do see) are breakdowns on the strengths and weaknesses of various recruiting targets and information from insiders on what seems to matter with individual recruits /where Georgia stands on these criteria. I follow all recruiting reasonably closely but don't obsess about wins and losses. With big "misses" I've learned the staff usually has a fallback option that is about as talented as the "miss" is. So why worry? Speaking about learning what I can about all recruits I'll ask about redshirt freshman Collin Gill that Georgia pulled out of the portal this afternoon from Oregon. I thought he would be a practice player and probable PWO but subsequently was told he was offered a scholarship. As Georgia did not recruit him out of high school, I am assuming that Kirby talked with Dan Lanning who put in some nice words for the kid. Anybody know any more?

Yeah, I am not surprised by the survey results Charles posted. And for the fan that tends to obsess about high school recruiting and suffer angst over big "misses", paying little attention to incoming freshman saves a lot of recruiting grief. Having said that, I believe that championship teams are built from the ground up, and that this foundation is the rock on which nattys are built. Sure, a portal addition may be instrumental to helping a very good team improve their playoff stock. But overreliance of such additions, in my humble opinion, are a fool's errand when it comes to grasping brass rings. It could happen very occasionally, but not consistently.

Recruiting is a year-round obsession in Athens, GA and will likely remain that way as Kirby Smart recognizes the value of stacking blue chip classes upon each other and developing his charges to fit his system. Little secret: Dan Lanning basically believes this as well. Portal additions tend to be expensive in monetary terms and are always a risk of not being a good culture fit, no matter how talented they otherwise might be. Kirby uses the portal to shore up positions of need, but because he recruits and develops so well, those needs are not extensive. So knowing his philosophy, I am typically well aware of who the very top recruits are in the current year by mid-March and know who Georgia is all in on. And you might be surprised if you are a star gazer how many high-star guys Georgia eliminates from serious consideration for culture fit concerns. Just another perspective on recruiting but I doubt it will ever change drastically as long as Kirby remains in Athens.

Maybe you will be starting (the bans) with that Fisher dude who claims that Lanning better get out of Eugene if he knows what's good for him. He seems like he could be high on the troll quotient.

Yeah, I was just about to say that I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep about Gabriel's arm strength from reading the target article. I might worry more about the receiving core than abou tDillon's arm.

Had I been asked this question myself before seeing the article, I'd have said Georgia Oregon and Texas and would have admitted that the order was debatable. Most expect Carson Beck to soar in his second season as a starter. But it is also legit to argue that Gabriel, with multiple years of starting experience may have an edge. Time will tell, but I think Beck has a deeper pool of talented receivers than Gabriel has, which may tip the scales a bit here.

Many of you have alluded to Walton's ability to make his teammates better. So true. I remember so often that He'd go snatch a rebound ant turn immediately looking for an outlet before he even hit the ground. Man the guy could pass the rock. In my experience, only Bill Russell was as good at distributing rebounds as the big Redhead was. People rightfully cite his impressive stats, but I always thought his passing was an underappreciated aspect of his game. And I am still in a state of shock that he is no longer with us. RIP my man. By the way, Mark Bradley, the dean of sports writers for the Atlanta Constitution, published his remembrance today. The article was titled something like "I always disliked Bill Walton...and then I met him". A touching piece to be sure.

Absolutely loved the man as a player. When home for Christmas from grad school in Ohio, I would always make a trip to Westwood to watch Walton and the Bruins if I could get tickets (I always found a way in). One day in August, 1973, I was leaving Vegas for my parents home north of Bakersfield CA when I saw a guy hitching with a pack and a guitar and a sign reading "LA". It looked remarkably like Walton, so I pulled over and it was indeed him. So I told him I would be going as far as Barstow before tuning off I-15. . As we approached Barstow where I was turning, we were having such an interesting chat that I told him "Oh hell, I'll take you into Westwood" (about 3 hours out of my way) We discussed all kinds of subjects but Walton told me a story I never forgot (and later saw published in Sports Illustrated). It involved the first day of practice the previous season. Coach Wooden would not let him practice or play until he got his long hair clipped to UCLA'S standards Walton told me that he said' "Coach, its the 1970s, I can't stand to have short hair with whitewalls for gosh sakes". Now mind you, this is the reigning College Basketball Player of the Year saying he wouldn't get that haircut. He then said Coach frowned, shook his head and replied "William, I am sorry to hear that because we are really going to miss you." Walton was back and hour and a half later properly shorn to Coach's standards.

Rashada is indeed talented. But Kirby took him, I'm told, for two reasons. First, Kirby practically insists on having four scholarship QBs on the roster and Rashada fits that niche. The second reason is that Kirby was impressed by the kid's competitiveness. Rashada could have been a starter elsewhere but preferred to sign with UGA despite having little if any chance of seeing playing time in 24. Plus, the current and future QB room is absolutely stacked through 2026 with top commits, so there is no assurance that he will ever start in Athens. Yet, Kirby sold the "development" factor and loved that the kid was willing to bet on himself. Who knows if Rashada's bet will pay off, but ya gotta love the kid's confidence in himself.

And this is how the invasion can come to pass. The economic incentive could end up too enticing to pass with fans who hold extra tickets. And I'd not assume that there aren't people, seeing the appeal of the battle of the Os, purchased blocks of tickets to cash in on this opportunity. (Sure hope that I am wrong however).

Having lived in Ohio for four years, I can almost assure you that, if it looks like the game in Autzen is shaping up as the B1G game of he season, I'd suspect that there will be far in excess of 3,000 Bucks fans in the stadium that night. Hopefully it will be fewer than 10,000 of them, but Ohioans will pay what it takes to get in that stadium if sufficiently motivated. Fans there are about as rabid as they are in the SEC.

Are there controls over what students can do with their tickets? When Georgia played at Notre Dame in 2017, Dawg fans were able to obtain many of the student tickets I am told. They were also buying far more tickets, literally thousands of them, by flashing the green to ND partisans that saw the opportunity to make a quick buck. The result was that the crowd that night at Notre Dame Stadium was estimated at about 35-40% Dawg fans. Lets hope that the Oregon fans have a little more discipline and risk temptation to sell out to the enemy.

Those of you who replied (either directly or indirectly) to my skepticism make some really good points. I know well the way the PAC-12 was barely visible to those east of the rocky mountains except at r\Rose Bowl time. And even then, many had to look to see who had won the conference out West. I remember lamenting the fact that Christian McCaffrey, IMHO the far and away best player in college football during his senior year, was snubbed for the Heisman because many voters had never seen him play. I do understand your sentiments! But I also still fear for the future of college football. Can't help it; it is a legitimate concern to me. Now I'll promise to go mute on the subject and see how it all plays out. Oh, as for being at the top of the college football heap- how recent that has been. My Dawgs had spent what seemed an eternity wandering the wilderness, every so often putting together a very good team that always faltered at some point, robbing themselves of a chance to grab the brass ring. Yes, I can breath easier these days knowing that the Dawgs have a coach that will put them in position to win it all, almost on an annual basis. But actually winning it all is not as important as being in position to win it all if things break right. Oregon is not that far away from being in the same position, and that is why, I think, that many of you are quite all right with the move to the B1G. But, nevertheless, I will still miss the ole Pac-12 and its traditions.