https://x.com/i/status/2077821706039701605

This kid was smallish and a step slow coming out of HS. He had a nice career at Northside/Columbus, but I don’t think he got a single P5 offer. He’s a good student, went to Penn, played well for 2 years, and decided to try his hand at a bigger school. He had a decent year at Tech, 697 rushing yards (3 carries for 6 yards v UGA🤣). But he seems to have adopted the yappy approach of his solid but low accomplishment coach at ACC Media Days. He proclaimed himself and Justice Haynes “the best backfield in the country.” Haynes was the guy everyone wanted coming out of HS, but he’s on his 3rd team in 4 years. Do you go from Alabama to Michigan to…..Georgia Tech….if you’re crushing it? But, he has tools.

Next, Hosley sniffed that he “didn’t want to go to the other school in Georgia.” Maybe he was talking about Georgia State, or Georgia Southern. If we ever offered him, or even looked at him, that’s news to me. I don’t want to date Scarlett Johansen, so tell her not to call me.

Look, I get being confident. I get hating a rival. All fine. What I don’t get is banging your gums about it, especially when your team hasn’t won versus said hated rival since 2016, when you’ve only beaten said rival 3 times this century, when you’ve only beaten them in Atlanta 1 time since 1990 (the Sanks non-fumble in 1998), and you had 3 carries for 6 yards against said rival last year. I get that the Tech fan base loves a mouthy blowhard (see, O’Leary, George and Johnson, Paul) who talks big and doesn’t win anything of consequence. I get that Temu Urban Meyer, the current blowhard in residence, looooooves to talk about UGA, against whom he is 0-4. It just seems to me that Kirby, much like Saban, doesn’t give opposing teams bulletin board material, nor does he encourage players to mouth off.

That’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see how it works out for him.

My advice to this young man, who is known as a good player and a good student, is to be careful what you wish for. Oh, and buckle up your chin strap when you get to Athens. See you in November.

it’s July 7. Happy Erk Reveals The Plan Day. I hope it works like it did in 1980.

Coach Dan Magill grew up in Athens, immersed in UGA sports. He knew it all because he saw almost all of it happen. By the time I arrived in the mid 70s, UGA was on the verge of becoming a national tennis power. The California schools and a couple of others had a lock on the national championships, but Coach Magill built an SEC power, and somehow got our AD, Joel Eaves, to sign off on improvements to the tennis complex that got UGA the host role for the national championship. Coach Eaves (a great man, confirmed by James Brown in his definitive work, Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs. Hey hey hey hey) was known for his fiscal discipline, going so far as to put orange stickers on every light switch in the athletic department reminding people to turn off the lights when they left a room (cue my dad, nodding approvingly, and asking rhetorically “ARE WE TRYING TO SUPPORT GEORGIA POWER?”) But, Coach Eaves was willing to spend a little when he saw a return on the investment. And so it was with the NCAA tennis plan.

I fearfully asked Coach Magill if I could interview him briefly for a JRL class I was taking. This was a few days before a big match with Stanford, but he told me “Come to the courts this afternoon, I can give you 15 minutes.” As a total nobody, I was grateful, and would have appreciated 15 seconds. He ended up talking to me for an hour; he didn’t run me off, I left because I felt like I was imposing on his time. He was hilarious, insightful, and gracious. When UGA won the match a couple days later, I was relieved I had not wrecked the team’s chances.

Coach Magill used his boundless enthusiasm and connections to get students, locals, and everyone else to attend, to volunteer, and to promote the tournament. The visitors were blown away by the crowds and the fervor. When UGA won the championship, the former top tier coaches started to whine and demanded it move. It didn’t draw flies elsewhere. We seemed to lose it even on a rotation basis because McJughead wouldn’t make needed improvements. Credit to Josh Brooks for stepping up in that regard.

Coach Magill was also executive secretary of the Bulldog Club. I was never sure what that involved, but it included the annual summer trips to address booster clubs across the state. The last stop before camp opened in August was usually in Atlanta. My dad took me to one in 1978 at the old Atlantic Steel pavilion. Maybe a couple hundred people were there, and I got to see new basketball coach Hugh Durham. Coach Magill did the intros; he always had some red meat, and the speakers had polished their punch lines all summer. Those trips have become non-existent under the current regime, Kirby not having time for that shit, and the huddled masses of the fan base accepting his time management policies as a fair trade for the wins and trophies. I admit I miss it.

Coach Magill’s drawl at these things was always hilarious, his delivery was well timed, and he never, EVER, referred to the pencil necks of North Avenue as anything other than “the Eternal Enemy.” If a guy like Dan Magill said it, that settles it for me. If you hate someplace else more, from your personal circumstances, I have no quarrel with you. But to those who discount said pencil necks as a hated rival, I say: I agree with the Greatest Bulldog of all time on that score.

All of this was stirred up by this clip on Twitter of Coach Magill explaining why UGA has a bulldog mascot. It captures his accent (imagine him introducing “And at the number 4 singles spot, from Rangoon, India, the Little Maharajah, Elango Ranganathan!”), and tells what I accept as the actual story.

Sorry to blather on. Build the statue , Mr. Brooks. He deserves it.

First, I got blocked by the insufferable Tim Brando on Twitter. He was whining that Sankey refused to play SEC games on Friday nights. I replied (basically) “media hack upset because SEC refuses to provide more product for media to make money.” He blocked me. Last shot by me was maybe he should take a grammar class and learn how to use a comma. C’est le guerre. 🤣 That’s a solid day in my book on its own.

(I can’t link it because he blocked me, and I’m too dumb to include screenshots)

Next, however, a tweet I made was liked and quote tweeted by UGA tennis great Manny Diaz. He approved of my thought the NCAA tennis championships should always be in Athens.

https://x.com/i/status/2055424212328738973

A pox on our former AD for his lack of urgency in that respect.

The right people dislike me, the right people approve. Can’t beat that. And I’m just staying loose for football season.

You will forgive me for the random post, but I saw this and thought “I must share this.”

Kevin Kisner is a DGD and a damn good golfer. I don’t know him personally, but he sounds like a guy you’d enjoy cracking a beer with at a tailgate. Listen to his story about being paired with Mickelson in the 2017 President’s Cup. It is hilarious. Phil is a weird dude, even by California standards.

Aaron Philo has opinions. For a guy who hasn’t ever experienced a W against UGA, he’s got a lot to say.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DMlNX4D8zwc?si=8yRBbC-wcUqMFwJd

Do I understand why he’d be mad about not getting recruited by UGA? Sure. Do I understand why he’d be mad after getting his ass beat as part of the Brent Key Weeping Blowhard Experience? Absolutely. He grew up in the shadow of UGA, they judged him not up to The Standard. He’s entitled to his opinion.

But damn, son. Don’t you have access to media where you live? Is there a coach and a program in America that turns bulletin board material into rocket fuel better than UGA? Bangin’ your gums about how much you hate UGA hasn’t worked too well for ol’ Brett. People around Gainesville can tell you how well it’s worked out for them since Irvin Meyers left.

I guess we will see him at MBS this fall. Appreciate the help focusing, amigo. Kirby and his team probably won’t acknowledge a word he said in public, but I’m guessing it may come up in private. He better hope he doesn’t have an alligator mouth and a hummingbird ass.

FTMF. I hope Ryan Pugliese takes his UGA GF after we beat his ass in Atlanta. Sounds like she should jump in the Relationship Transfer Portal and trade up.

In keeping with JP’s post about the off season doldrums, I realized I haven’t posted anything on a good little while. It is possible this is considered a positive development here, but it’s mostly because (I think) one word press update or another hid the “publish” menu from me. So, today I decided to hunt for it.

I’m thinking I found it (possibly tough luck if you are an Auburn fan). I’m just throwing this up here to see if it works. If it does, I may weigh in with my deep thoughts, insightful comments, and (of course) the sarcasm for which I am best known.

Lets see if it works.