Sorry, Mikey, but...

... Athens is hosting a night game. Ha. I'm sure ole Mr. Adams loves this one. ESPN has confirmed to the Athens Banner Herald that the network has chosen the Alabama Crimson Tide @ Georgia Bulldogs game slated for September 27 th at Sanford Stadium. And with the selection comes a 7:30 pm kickoff time that excites everyone, except for, of course, the prez.

How can you not like a night game when everyone is that much more drunk? Aren't the fans more rowdy and loud? Doesn't it make for a better atmosphere? Oh wait, who am I kidding. Of course it doesn't...

Well anyway, with the Tennessee Volunteers game still to schedule, perhaps we can have TWO games after 1:00. Hey, I'm all for a racoon-eyes sunburn, but let's be serious. With the promise of this year's team, I wouldn't be surprised to see the stadium like it was last year for the Auburn game at least twice this year. But that comes at a price... a 3:30 or later kickoff time. Come on, Adams, let the kids have their fun. Sanford Stadium will be rockin' all night.

The ABH also reports that Raycom Sports, formerly Lincoln Financial Sports, has reported an upgrade to (gasp! Don't say it!) High Definition (wooooahh, preeeetttyyy), which some people are starting to dub HD (or something like that. I don't know... never heard of it).

In related news, the big whigs of the conference and each school have been holding meetings down in Destin, Florida to discuss an SEC TV network similar to that launched by the Big 10 last year. I hate the Big 1(1), but I think they finally had a good idea. An SEC network only means more televised games and matches for sports like tennis, gymnastics, golf, and baseball, the sports that don't get enough credit from ESPN and the likes. Hey, maybe even the lacrosse or hockey teams can make it...

See Also:
Georgia Sports Blog - ESPN confirms plans to televise Georgia vs. Alabama

Dawgs snag national seed and are set to host...

The Georgia Baseball team started the week after a disappointing showing in Hoover with a bang with the announcement of the top 8 national seeds for the 2008 NCAA college baseball tournament.

The Bulldogs grabbed the #8 spot despite losing 4 of their last 5 games. Georgia will host the Athens, Ga Regional site Friday through Monday. The regions other teams are rival Georgia Tech, Louisville and Lipscomb.

Here's the schedule for the week:

2008 NCAA Baseball Athens Regional
Friday, May 30

Game 1: Lipscomb vs. GEORGIA, 3 p.m. ET
Game 2: Georgia Tech vs. Louisville, 7 p.m. ETSaturday,
May 31

Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 3 p.m. ET
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 7 p.m. ET
Sunday, June 1

Game 5: Loser of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 3, 2 p.m. ET
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 6 p.m. ET*
Monday, June 2 (*If Necessary)

Game 7: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6, 7 p.m. ET

More updates as the week progresses.

We're Sorry

... for the light posting. The fallout from exams, graduations, and the start of summer is finally coming to an end. Some of us are back home, some are still holding down the fort in Athens. Soon we will cover the SEC baseball tournament, recap the baseball team's regular season, direct praises to the golf and tennis teams, and start the football season preview. Once again, sorry for the light posting, but it's about to pick back up. Go Dawgs!

Another notch on the belt...

...what belt? We don't wear any belts?

That is, except the co-SEC east football notch, basketball SEC championship notch, Gymnastics national championship notch, and men's tennis SEC championship notch...

Oh and add to that a regular season SEC champion notch in baseball!

This part of the blog is biased for us at Dawgs on Top. Not because we love everything red and black, but because we hold the Georgia baseball team dear to our hearts. Two of us were lucky enough to live in the houses on the top of Kudzu Hill in the right outfield of Foley Field. They are lovingly known to the Athens public, television commentators and Jeff Dantzler as the "green house" and the brick house. 

We came into the season with high expectations for this year's squad. Not because Dave Perno loves winning big every other year. Not because we saw the SEC in a down year. Not even because we returned national player of the year candidate Gordon Beckham and "let's start up the bus" closer Joshua Fields. For some reason, we looked at the lineup and felt like Beckham, Fields, Peisel, Demperio, Poythress, Olsen, Cerione, Fuller, Allen, and the veteran pitching staff could once again bring glory to the Diamond Dawg program. 

We knew we would find out quickly what the Dawgs were made of with early series against nationally respected Arizona and the defending national champs, Oregon State. And yet, after a disappointing 2-4 start against these ballclubs, we still saw some potential. 

Ok. We saw a lot of potential. 

Gordon Beckham was a bright spot. He was at the top of the Rivals.com power rankings for middle infielders and coaches across the country were claiming he saw the baseball like one looked at a beach ball. Little did they know that he would enter Tuesday's game against rival Georgia Tech with 22 HRs (leading the nation). Little did they know that Josh Fields would be working with a sub-1.00 ERA (and an SEC leading number of saves). 

The squad left that tough opening stretch only to win their first 6 conference series, including sweeps over talented Kentucky and South Carolina teams. Georgia won with pitching when it was needed, hitting when it was needed and even the heroics of Beckham when he was needed.

So, UGA entered its series in Nashville with a lead in the SEC that needed only wins in 2 of the 3 games to lock up the regular season title and after a disappointing loss on Friday, the team looked poised for a late-season letdown. Saturday and Sunday, however, provided perfect examples as to why this team may be bound for even greater glory. A 4-2 win and a 12-10 win both locked up the regular season title and showed that the Dawgs can pull it of from the mound and the dish.

We're not saying that Georgia will  claim a top 8 national seed, walk through the SEC tourney, or make magic happen in Omaha, but we want every casual Georgia baseball fan out there to know that these kids are for real. They perform when they need to and think that they can play for anyone. 

Georgia plays GT at the Ted (Turner Field in ATL) Tuesday and host Alabama in Athens on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Show them the support they deserve because they truly are fun to watch and you may witness some of the magic two of the best players in UGA history have been creating all year long.

From Dawgs on Top to the 2008 Georgia baseball team, congratulations on the regular season title and good luck this week. We'll be out there loud and proud. 

Fear the Megaphone. 

What Happened, Techies?

So everyone is going bananas about the NCAA's release of the academic progress ratings (APR) released the other day, and I noticed something interesting...

All of you know how annoying the Techies are. All I've heard about since I got to UGA is how we stink at everything, from life to academics. I have honestly and seriously heard a Tech fan tell one of my friends that he should study hard because one day he will need a good job and GT alumni look down upon bad grades coming out of UGA. It was kind of hard for us to reply, because I mean let's be honest with each other, we're not nerd majors. I'm sorry that you graduated from Tech, but please, we're not coming to you, the executive VP of the engineering department, looking for a job. We're actually coming to your company, looking to be your CEO. Not only that, but we may even own that company. Looking to you for a job? Ha!

I bring that story up because in the new APR list of scores, someone's football team comes in at #34 overall, and someone else's football team ranks around #64.

Of course, your immediate reaction was to put GT ahead of UGA right? Not so fast my friend. UGA's cumulative score came out at a 965, while Tech averaged a whopping 951. What's going on over there guys? Everyone leaving for the NFL? Your argument for rigorous academics will get a laugh in the face because schools like Penn, Stanford, and Duke all scored over 25 points higher than you. Academics shmacademics. You also better keep your coaching staff on a leash if you want to improve these numbers, because let me tell you, if your coach can smoke pot and drink and drive, your kids will to. Have fun with that one.

I will also note that UGA lined up 5 spots behind Notre Dame, 7 ahead of the Gaytors, and, surprisingly to me, 17 ahead of Vanderbilt.

Also See: Bein' 34th ain't all bad (Gridiron Gate)
APR numbers released (GB Blog)
Official UGA Release (GeorgiaDogs.com)

Dawgs take 2 out of 3 from Ole Miss...

The Georgia baseballers returned to their winning ways this weekend with another SEC series victory. Using wins on Friday and Sunday, UGA maintained a 3 game lead in the Southeastern Conference. The boys in red and black left the weekend with increased offensive output coming from the bottom of the lineup (Demperio, Cerione, and Lyle Allen all with HRs Sunday). However, Mike Demperio left the game after a terrible collision as he hustled towards first base while trying to beat out a throw. He will get an MRI tomorrow and we hope the speedy second baseman comes out of it with a positive report. 

On a slightly different note, Joshua Fields' streak of innings without an earned run ended on Sunday. Fields didn't cut his hair while the streak was intact and we imagine he will sport a new hairstyle in the near future. With that in mind, we here at "Dawgs on Top" thought we'd provide a few suggestions...

1. Josh could sport the "Dos Cinco" mohawk?

2.  Does Carlos Valderrama need explanation?

3. This would make him even more unhittable...

3. Or this?

4. "High and tight, no sideburns no mistakes"

5. Is this even allowed?

6. Or he could leave his coiffe the way it is and cruise around campus like our man P. Swayze.

That's all I've got. The Dawgs play the 'Nerds from GT on Wednesday before a huge series next weekend in Nashville. A couple of wins would hopefully lock up a national seed. Let's hope whatever hairstyle Josh chooses helps the team continue their impressive season.