Archive for May, 2009

It seemed like something that wouldn’t happen to the 2009 edition of the Georgia Bulldogs. After months of assurances that the team was different, more focused, Bruce Figgins, Justin Houston and Tony Wilson demonstrated that 2009 won’t be completely immune from the off the field issues that plagued the much maligned 2008 Georgia Bulldogs.

Figgins, the TE who played through shoulder issues last season received the stiffest penalty at 6 games. That shoulder should be plenty healed by the time his cleats hit the Sanford Stadium turf.

Richt didn’t disclose what the players did to warrant suspension, but ESPN reported Friday, citing a “Georgia staff member”, that Figgins failed a drug test. That triggers an automatic suspension of 50 percent of a season, according to Athletic Association policy.

Houston, the Dogs’ best option at the razor thin DE position is suspended for the opener in Stillwater against the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the following game vs. the South Carolina Gamecocks. Ouch.

He had three sacks in the G-Day game and two sacks and an interception return in another spring scrimmage. He was one of only two healthy players to end the spring at the position.

Wilson will apparently be leaving the team anyway because of an inability to recover from a nasty ankle injury.

Richt said during spring practice that Wilson was at about 60 percent as he tried to return to form following a second ankle injury, but Georgia announced he will be medically disqualified because of the injury’s slow recovery.

Well, what is there left to say? This is awful, especially Houston. The Dogs D will now be severely handicapped in Stillwater against a high-powered Cowboys offensive attack. Remember what we couldn’t do last year? Rush the quarterback. Well, our top rusher will be watching in HD like most of the rest of us.

Is there a silver lining? Not really, but this did give me a little bit of a kind of tiny good feeling.

Senior quarterback Joe Cox spoke to the team after the scrimmage about avoiding off field missteps that hurt the team last season. Georgia had eight players arrested last offseason, which resulted in six players being either suspended or dismissed.

Nice to see Cox quickly take the reigns to try and limit future trouble. I like the leadership. Love his moxie. He’s going to need all of that and more to engineer a win over the Cowboys.

The Diamond Dogs continued to sputter dropping their eighth straight and second in a row to SEC East foe Vanderbilt 9-2 Saturday afternoon.

It’s as if the season is ending the exact opposite way it began. The Diamond Dogs raced to an historic 14-0 start but now run the risk of finishing it on a 0-14 losing streak.

Yeah, not likely I know, but when the Dogs dropped their third consecutive in this gruesome stretch who amongst us thought we’d be talking about trying to end an 8 game nose dive?

“Baseball is a cruel and humbling sport and we are in a bad place right now,” Georgia coach David Perno said. “We just have to hang in there because things are going to get better. We have good players; we just have to turn the tides and get things going our way again.”

Sounds like Coach Perno has got the stick pulled all the way back and is now just praying that he gets the nose up in time.

Next up for the Diamond Dogs is Georgia Tech Tuesday evening at Turner Field.
A win over the Jackets would be about the best way I can think of to end a nasty losing streak.

Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse the Gators unleash a deluge of runs in the ninth inning to complete a sweep of the reeling Diamond Dogs.

The Bulldogs (33-15, 14-10 SEC) led 7-3 when the Gators (34-14, 16-8 SEC) scored a run in the eighth, then pulled to within 7-5 on a passed ball with one out in the ninth. Tucker then gave Florida its first lead on his 11th home run of the season. The Gators added two more runs in the inning and handed Georgia its fifth straight SEC loss and sixth overall. Florida now holds a two-game lead over the Bulldogs in the SEC East.

What a difference a weekend makes. With two series left to go the Diamond Dogs now find themselves two games behind the Gators in the SEC East.

The Diamond Dogs desperately need a W to get this thing back in between the lines.