KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

After the South Carolina loss, I felt better than I did one week earlier because I saw a lot of fire in the team even though self-inflicted mistakes cost us the game. While there was much belly-aching and overreacting among fans (some friends and family members included) I was of the same belief as Vegas had been before the season began. UGA would be underdogs in the Boise and S. Carolina games and favored in every remaining game. I honestly felt pretty calm about the 0-2 start. Then again, I generally remain calm about most things. It is a Pisces deal.

So when I was in London two weeks ago and saw the pictured coffee mug, I had to have it since it essentially summed up my outlook on life. "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON." This slogan adorned posters produced by the British Ministry of Information during World War II as the third message in a series of three that would be placed all over England during the War. The third poster never made it to public dissemination however as the War ended before it was used.

I suppose the Brits could have used those posters during the IRA bombing campaign, but at any rate, the slogan somewhat typifies a British attitude towards emergency and I find it quite useful in my own life.

During the first quarter of the game against the Gators, I again found myself drawing upon these words and trying my damnedest to channel it to the sideline. Naturally, keeping calm is Mark Richt's strong suit, so it is to his credit that he was able to keep our team from panicking. At the same time, having Todd Grantham on his side was akin to Churchill having General George Patton on his side. The Dawgs did indeed keep calm and carry on to beat the Gators and hopefully they will ride that emotional victory to 4 more regular season wins.

Now... we can again refer to the timeless British advice as we prepare for a game without a single tailback recruited to play football at UGA. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. You all know we will be just fine against New Mexico State with Brandon Harton and a slew of walk-ons playing running back because we will still have our QBs, receivers and tight ends. More importantly, we will still have our full complement on defense, and really, that is all we will need. As Erk Russell said, "If we score, we may win. If they don't score, we won't lose."

Further to the point, my friend Kerri Loudis had the Tweet of the day when she summed up the situation succinctly as follows:

ugakerri Kerri Loudis

We're going to show Charlie Weis how the empty backfield offense is run! #takethatfatman

 

(By the way, apparently I cannot figure out how to embed a tweet into blogger. I will gladly accept any technical assistance.)

Move forward fearless Dawgs. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.