2007 College Football Blog Award Nominations from Hunker Down Dawg

The categories can be found at EDSBS. I don't often read blogs outside the SEC, so my handful of nominations will reflect my opinions about the blogs I do read. While it would be fairly easy for me to nominate EDSBS for almost every category, I will try to nominate a few others along the way...

Best Community: I have enjoyed reading and following the discussions and debates over at DawgSports for a few years now. Kyle and Macon Dawg do a good job of soliciting and encouraging their readership to contribute in the comments, diaries and polls.

Best Writing: This is a tough one. I love Kyle's thorough logic and dead solid perfect grammar, vocabulary and logic. But, for this award, I will nominate Doug at Hey Jenny Slater so long as the topic is FOOTBALL. Doug is to college football commentary what Dennis Miller is to social-political commentary. His writing is creative, intelligent and replete with biting sarcasm. Among CFB bloggers, he is the king of metaphor - even if Orson is the Emperor.

Funniest Blog: I have no choice but to nominate for first, second and third place - EDSBS. While I suspect that most people are not truly laughing out loud when the overuse "LOL" in their texts, IMs, emails or forum posts, when I read Orson's finest work and the hundreds of comments, I do LOL and sometimes LMFAO. But never do I ROFLMFAO. Nobody does this, so how did it ever get its own acronym?

Best Analysis: First of all, how do some of these people have time to maintain their blog, a family and a real job - like lawyering for example? I know there are many significant CFB bloggers that have tremendous analysis. But, if you are analyzing Michigan or Oklahoma, I just don't have time to read it. I don't even have enough time to read all of the UGA blogs - for which I have a substantial vested interest. So my apologies to the great analysts who are not UGA bloggers. My nomination is for Kyle at DawgSports. To say that Kyle is "thorough" in his logical reasoning and statistical analysis is a gross understatement. I once, semi-famously, opined that Kyle is to statistical analysis what Keith Richards is to moderate drug use. I think it fits. In fact, if I didn't know better, I might have thought that Kyle was an attorney in the following case:

United States District Court, M.D. Georgia, Albany and Americus Divisions.

SHARED MEDICAL RESOURCES, INC., Plaintiff,
v.
AMERICUS AND SUMTER COUNTY HOSPITAL AUTHORITY, d/b/a Americus and Sumter County Hospital, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 85-195-ALB-AMER.

Oct. 30, 1987.

Jerome M. Rothschild, Young, Layfield & Rothschild, Columbus, Ga., for plaintiff.

Randolph B. Jones, Jr., Smith, Jones & Jones, Americus, Ga., James V. Towson, Jones, Cork & Miller, Macon, Ga., for defendant.


*510 FITZPATRICK, District Judge.

Summary judgment is appropriate “after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Against this recently enunciated standard, the court must measure the Parties' Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment. This case is a good example of the adage that the term “legal brief” is an oxymoron. While the case simply involves a contract clause of 32 words and two decisions of the Georgia appellate courts, it developed into a record measuring 10 inches in thickness and weighing 21 pounds. Although the court asked for a brief of authority from both sides, what was forthcoming reminds one of the drunk on the Titanic who said, “I ordered ice, but this is ridiculous.” Perhaps counsel for both sides, although very competent and extremely diligent, are somewhat confused as to what is meant by “weight of the evidence.” Nevertheless, the court finds that the undisputed facts warrant the granting of Plaintiff's motion on the issue of contract breach. The court's findings of fact and conclusions of law are set forth below.

Yes, when Kyle weighs in on the argument, trees die (or in our case, bandwidth dies.) But for his diligence, I truly appreciate his writing and hope he gets due recognition from around the blogosphere. Having said all of this, and having outed myself as a fan of Kyle's work, now you know why I don't have time to read many other blogs of note.

My runner-up vote would go to Senator Blutarsky at Get The Picture. The Senator probably loses few, if any, arguments because his logic is typically bullet-proof. Even when you disagree with him, somehow you feel like you must be wrong.

Best MSM Blog: David Ching at Georgia Bulldog Blog. The reasons why have been most succinctly stated by the Senator so I defer to his explanation as such...

***If you follow Georgia football blogging at all, you know about the righteous work that David Ching does at his site, the mundanely named Georgia Bulldog Blog. Ching gets my nod here not because he’s tireless - which he is - or that he manages to dispense his information without a trace of condescension (hear that, New York Times?) or without engaging in trivial potstirring (I’m talking about you, Chip Towers). And it’s not because he’s dishing out info on the team I follow (admittedly, that doesn’t hurt). The reason he deserves this award is that I think his blog represents a paradigm of how to dispense that part of the wealth of information that a good beat writer like Ching accumulates through the course of a season that doesn’t make it into his newspaper. Ching in his blog also manages to give us a feel for what he’s like and what his job is like. All in all, he’s close to invaluable for anyone who closely follows the program. Kudos to his employer, as well, for letting him dispense his work product in this way.***

Best Regular Feature: Kyle picks up another nomination here with this BEAUTIFUL feature (and no, it does not involve Kristin Davis): The Mark Richt Victory Watch. Why? Well...duh!

Best SEC Blog: I have a problem here. There is no category for "Best All Around" or "Most Informative" so I am using my nomination in this space for what is a must-read blog for me - Georgia Sports Blog. Paul Westerdawg and his crew keep all of us Dawg fans apprised of all relevant UGA football news. You will also find any worthwhile Dawg-related YouTube videos and audio files as well as great photos from the games. In short, if it is Dawg-related and it is on the internets, it will be linked at Georgia Sports Blog. In addition, Paul has valuable insight into various logistical issues facing Dawg fans, such as ticket, parking, lodging, dining and tailgating information for home and away games. Because this is the most useful blog on a daily basis for Dawg fans, it receives this Dawg's nomination as Best SEC Blog.

Best YouTube: The BullDawg Blawg nailed it with his video titled "Colt Brennan's Nightmare." While it is a collage of highlights from the Sugar Bowl, the consistent theme of the video is tied to an Eminem song that perfectly describes the crushing blow that the UGA defense delivered to Colt Brennan's life-essence. It is brilliant. Runners up go to all "Back in Black" and "Celebration" videos.

Best Post: This is a tough one because there are som many great posts that I cannot begin to remember when and where they are. But here is one that made my sides ache from laughter - because I love making fun of Lou Holth. My nomination goes to EDSBS for this post about Crazy Lou's motivational speech to 0-2 Michigan before playing 0-2 Notre Dame.

COLT BRENNAN'S NIGHTMARE

The Bulldawg Blawg has done great work with this video of the Dawg's annihilation of Colt Brennan.



Now, review Mark May's stern warning to the Georgia defense...



Of course, fathead May never came back to acknowledge that his dumbass had no idea what he was talking about.

99 WORDS FOR BOOBS

Whenever you haven't posted for a while, it is always a good idea to come back strong. Like this...



Happy Friday!

DAWGS HOOPS

I am generally not too concerned about UGA Basketball, but that could change if they ever show any signs of life. I am thankful that they beat Ga Tech, again, because it is always good to dominate the nerds.

Today, I watched the Dawgs poor performance at Miss. State. I don't know the stats, but it seemed like we shot about 10% from the field and 25% from the line in the second half. My one observation is that we were missing 8 footers and three-pointers with equal clanginess (as in clanging of the iron all day.) So, it looked like the strategy was, if you are going to miss almost every shot, you might as well shoot contested threes on every possession. You know, just in case. I know we were missing every inside lay-up or put back attempt and that much credit goes to the defense played by MSU. But, my limited basketball strategy would say that if you can't make jumpers, then you should exercise patience and use ball movement and picks to try and get a man open inside for a higher percentage shot. That theory was not put to the test today. I can tell you what strategy did not work... attempting three pointer with less than two passes on every possession. That didn't work.

HAWAIIANS FOR GEORGIA

This Hawaii Farm Credit Office honors their bets! Good people, I'm telling ya. A lady from their office wrote this...

"Boy, we not only lost the Sugar Bowl game but now we lost our head coach and Athletic Director. Your team did a full blitz on us. We’d like to see LSU play Georgia. I bet Georgia would tame the Tigers."

We would like to see that too!


Best of luck to the Warriors until we meet again!

PICS FROM NEW ORLEANS -
A good time was had by all!

The Horror, the Horror...

I am finally recovered from the three days of insanity in the French Quarter. But the headline does not refer to Bourbon Street, it refers to the extreme carnage that took place on the turf of the Superdome - from Colt Brennan's perspective. I truly began to fear for his safety as our guys were putting a BIG HURT on the most prolific passer ever. Brennan wasn't the only Hawaii Warrior getting pummeled in the sUGAr Bowl, but he was pounded the most. It was, in short, a painful end to Hawaii's dream season and a great first game for the Dawgs' 2008 title run.

I was in the Dome, was loud, obnoxious and then later, bored. The TV timeouts dragged on endlessly and the second half lasted forever. But, it was a joyous evening and was special to see Marcus Howard finish his career with such a bang. It was also great to see Fernando Velasco overhead press Thomas Brown one more time following Brown's final touchdown as a Dawg. I have not been able to see any replay of the game because I don't have Tivo and haven't found someone here who has the game. But, from what I saw, it was brutal physical domination on both sides of the ball. I have seen Georgia beat teams by 31 points before, but never have I seen us physically punish people to the extent that Hawaii was hammered. Even in games against Western Kentucky or other directional schools, the physical carnage did not match what happened in the Superdome Tuesday night. It was a wonderful end to the most fun UGA season since #34 toted the pigskin in Athens. I am proud of the seniors who worked so hard to make this season a success. I am proud of the underclassmen who have bought into the program and worked to set the stage for what should be a run at the National Title next year. Of course there is a lot more work to do and 14 other football teams standing in our way, but this group will be in the conversation from the outset. Lastly, I am proud of Coach Richt and the entire staff for making this such a fantastic season and so much fun to watch. I hope that CMR can keep the mojo working for years to come!

ABOUT NEW ORLEANS...

I made the trip with my brother, Drew, and three other boys from Douglas: Jeff Hennessey, Brian "Crack Rock" Norris, and Luke Christian (aka Chuck Christianson.) In NOLA, I stayed with Andrew Rothschild at the Royal Sonesta - although we did not spend much time sleeping in the fine accommodation. I had the pleasure of spending time with friends Whit and Stephanie Yates, Marshall Wellborn, Jonathon Hayes, Kent Morrison, Big Jim Hickey, among others. Made lots of new friends, including some fine LSU and Ole Miss folks. Had dinner at The Commanders Palace, lunch at Felix's Oyster Bar and a great pregame meal at Galatoire's. Killed a bunch of brain cells at The Cat's Meow, Pat O'Briens, and The Old Absinthe House. Needed three days to recover! Now, I am prepared to say that I could do it again in 2009. But at the end of the 2008 season, I am planning on being in Miami!

Go DAWGS!