General Football Thoughts

1. Happy Dawgmas to all, and to all a good bite. HUGE congratulations to our beloved Georgia Bulldogs! In all my years of watching college football, I've never seen any team (and much less UGA) play a more perfect game. Total domination of a very good team for four full quarters. This game was a symphony. Heroes at every position producing a team harmony more spectacular than the sum of the outstanding individual efforts. Sean Bailey's drop problems were forgotten in the smoke rising from LSU defensive backs, while Minter and Jennings put on a clinic for that position. The punt-block was otherworldly, and the Swiss have contacted Bryan McClendon and Ramarcus Howard for a lesson on precision timing. Jeff Owens will haunt the nightmares of SEC QBs for years to come. Tony Taylor and the rest of the LB corps were ripping snotknockers all night. Coutu was automatic, even from 50+ (again!). Ely-Kelso looked like Nicklaus, making it bite at the one-inch line. With all these superb performances, D.J.'s numbers didn't seem quite MVP worthy, but there was no doubt he deserved it. It felt more like a token of the Dawg Nation's collective gratitude for his entire career than a single-game award. There has never been a Georgia player more selfless and loyal, and this championship really belongs to him.

2. Does that Big East stank wash off? I know you are going to say that I'm just trying to make my team's matchup look better, but why does West Virginia get no love? They put together a pretty impressive campaign, their only loss to VT (er, well, that sounded better Saturday morning that it does now, but still). Just because the rest of the Big East are better suited for selling thin mints than playing football doesn't mean the Mountaineers won't bring the pain. They're fast and tough, and Pat White is a vicious competitor. They're coming to our state with a chip on their shoulder, feeling like they have something to prove. Sure I'd love to see what the Dawgs could do against ND, OSU, PSU, etc., but outside of the National Championship Game, the Sugar Bowl is the only game matching two teams each with at least 10 wins. People say the Dawgs will look bad if they don't stomp 'em, but I'm looking forward to a hardfought battle, and I got nothing but respect for them hillbilly cousinfuckers.

3. Way to go BCS. You got it right...for once. All the BCS (and the Bowl Coalition and Bowl Alliance before it) have ever professed to do was to loosen the conference bowl ties to pit the consensus top two against each other for the title. All the griping in past years has been regarding that sneaky word "consensus" in there. I think the BCS needs an optional plus-one if there is no real consensus #1 at the end of the bowl season (see 2003, 2004). Obviously that option would not be invoked this year. Not only did the system meet its only professed objective, but also I really can't argue at all with the final Top 25. Plus, as I said, I have to respect Notre Dame for getting there the honest way. While they needed our help in undressing LSU, the Irish are in a BCS game not because of their TV draw or ticket sales or some ND-specific clause in the BCS rules, but by being a team outside a BCS conference and ranked #6. The Buckeyes also are in automatically with the top 4 finish. Reluctantly, I have to admit Ohio State v. Notre Dame is compelling. Tough luck Oregon, but rules are rules. Finally, even though it sucks to have the #22 team in the big money bowls, the payout would have gone to the ACC anyway, and the Geriatric Bowl (fittingly in South Florida) does have a certain appeal to it. Let's hope both coaches survive until January 3.