Bracket Busted Day One?

I hope not! Unless you had the Tarheels or our Dawgs winning the whole thing, you’re probably OK.

I haven’t done a deep dive into who’s picked who just yet. We’ll save that for Sunday.

Here’s the standings as of noon Friday:

Here’s your (early) top ten. 12 points or better on Thursday and/or Friday with no major damage down the ticket is strong as potash.

Enjoy the Madness!

Your humble commish,

Dawglicious

P.S. I haven’t found a way to post a link to take you from this post to the app, so check on your picks through the Splash Sports app you downloaded to play

Not With a Bang, But a Whimper

I’ll just leave this here.

It was awful, and that is all I have to say about that. How’re yall feeling?

Spring Practice Day 3: News and Notes from the Twitter Feed

Here ya go. Media had twenty minutes to observe, so there’s still not much. First, for the number changes:

Next up, who’s wearing the Captain Blue helmets?

Surprisingly enough, one of the blue caps was Ethan Barbour. I’ll spare you the click to the AJC.

And for those of you worried about Gunner’s reads, here’s a little inspiration:

That’s progress in my opinion, and in many of yours. Camp says he’s more relaxed, more comfortable having a year under his belt. Was Carson more comfortable in year 2?

Only time will tell.

Fabris Pool March Madness is Here!

This link is for NEW Pickers only! (meaning you didn’t participate last year)

https://sm.app.splashsports.com/contest/?jCode=1706b458d71946d3a37087948422d2c8

If you played last year and can’t remember your login, use this link:

 https://app.splashsports.com/account/forgot-password

Those that played last year, also look for an email from me to sign in.

Your humble commish,

Dawglicious

Reach out to me at Dawglicious at gmail dot com if you have trouble!

Bounce Back Saturday: Diamond Dawgs Rock Rocky Top

Nice recovery, and if you watched the game, it featured some damn fine pitching on both side of the diamond.

Our started got pulled after having some tightness and in came Caden Aoki, who threw a gem in relief to close out the game and bring home the W for the Dawgs.

And based on some comments yesterday, yes, perhaps I’m being an old fart when it comes to the dugout antics of our squad. They were quite polished and professional throughout, so I need to tamper my traditionalism a touch and embrace what Wes Johnson is putting together.

After all, at least there’s nothing like this going on in the dugout:

This seems to match well with a team with Yell Leaders, yes. Yeesh.

Another Natty in Athens

I’ll say things have been getting solid with some of our programs as of late…equestrian, tennis, gymnastics, and especially track and field…

Congrats…AGAIN. What an accomplishment and some serious props to building a stable and repeatable product and improving what was a mostly forgotten about program in Butts Mehre.

I like to drop another fun fact here, too:

Hee hee.

Jordan Davis: If You’re Not Getting Better, You’re Getting Worse

Jordan’s mom was sick of him sitting around the house and eating her out of house and home. Getting out of shape, being lazy, so she drove him down to a local football field and dropped him off.

He hated it. But the team offered free meals. He was 15, hooked on video games and junk food, mythology, and DJing and a music career. He loved playing basketball because he was bigger and the little guys would just bounce off him in the paint. He’d foul out often. He was out of shape. He was overweight.

Because of his size and the mythology that surrounded him, he enrolled at Mallard Creek High as a sophomore, and enrolling counselor was the football coach’s wife. She insisted he meet her husband, and was asked he played football. He responded in the negative, because he was a basketball player. His mom was working two jobs and couldn’t keep up with money because of his appetite.

“I was working two jobs,” Allen said, “and he was eating me out of house and home.”

That night, Allen informed her son he was going to football practice the next day. He didn’t have to play, she said. He could fetch water, serve as the equipment manager, “put Band-Aids on knees, if he had to.” Allen just wanted him off the couch.

The next morning, Allen roused her boy from bed bright and early, shuffled him into the car and drove him to practice. She opened the passenger door and shoved Allen out, telling him she’d return after teaching her summer school classes.

Davis stood there, befuddled. Eventually, Palmieri and a few other coaches found him and directed him onto the field, where he watched and baked in the sun.

“Oh, he hated it,” Allen said. “And he hated me for making him do it.”

But the next day, Davis returned. Eventually, he relented and started running through drills with the rest of the team. He stuck with it through camp and into the school year, but still, he was miserable.

Each day after classes, the team lifted weights. Davis was 6-foot-6, more than 300 pounds, and he struggled to bench press a fraction of his body weight. He begged teachers to let him sit in on tutoring sessions and, when that failed, hid in bathroom stalls, sometimes for up to an hour before coaches eventually found him.

“He was literally in tears, crying, saying, ‘I can’t do it,'” former Mallard Creek defensive line coach Shon Galloway said. “But he’s come a long way.”

Weeks passed. Davis got reps on the JV team. He asked questions, learned techniques. He improved. Before long, the kid who sobbed on the weight bench was squatting 400 pounds with ease. He had become a wrecking ball seemingly overnight. His first game on the defensive line came for the JV team, and Palmieri remembers the opposing center was so rattled by Davis’ size, he snapped the ball over the QB’s head nearly a dozen times. Mallard Creek had a genuine prospect.

Only one problem remained: Davis still believed he was a basketball player.

From three star prospect to a guy who could literally have a statue made of him at Sanford to an honorary Redcoat, what a long, strange trip it’s been. And he’s deservedly getting rewarded for it. Jordan Davis, ladies and gents, can take a bow.

Damn Good Dawg. And when it’s all over with in the NFL, maybe he needs a spot on the strength and conditioning staff in Athens working with the bigger guys.

Go Dawgs!

A Mean Machine in Red and Black

Jordan Davis, ladies and gentlemen.

Well deserved to a DGD and integral part of Georgia’s National Championships. From a three stars to being an honorary Redcoat, to now the highest paid interior defensive lineman, what a wild ride.