Congratulations to Slic Ric on three in a row! Maybe just as amazing is PMac's three appearances in a row. The championship is kind of a crap shoot and I'm confident in saying no one will ever make back to back to back appearences again.
Now my editorial and I dont care about all the grammatical stuff.
I'm not over the loss. I don't think I'll ever fully get over it. I'll probably never watch the replay. Easily my most heartbreaking Georgia event, surpassing the 2008 CWS. People have said things like how proud they are to be a Georgia Bulldog, how valiant Georgia played, and it was one of the best college football games ever. All of these things are true. But all of that seems so minuscule in the big picture of what happened last Saturday. Despite what Alabama has done over the last 4 years, winning a national championship in anything, especially football, is so ridiculously difficult. To be that close and fall short, you can't spin it or find the silver lining. I'm proud as hell from top to bottom, but never will that game hold any good memories.
When Ogletree scored I firmly believed we were going to win. Everything since South Carolina had fallen perfectly into place and we had an 11 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Though we were only 5 yards away and things could have easily ended differently, Bama was better. The referees, who favored Alabama, did miss a Bama touchdown immediately prior to the Cummings INT. That blocked field goal would not bounce that perfect for Georgia if it happened 100 more times. Alabama told Georgia what play it was running for the entire 2nd half and the Dawgs never could or would stop it. Georgia had a shot, but as has happened almost the entire time since the mighty Munson retired, old lady luck was not on the Dawgs side at the end.
Watching the College Football Awards was no fun. The bowl season and ESPN will be torture over the next month. If Georgia wins the next 5 MNC's, I still don't think I'll get over losing this one, not winning a championship, not going to Miami, and the month of not seeing Georgia everywhere.
Moving on, I really hope the Dawgs beat Nebraska. 12-2 looks a lot better than 11-3. Either way, it doesn't mean a thing come January 2nd. The defense could be bad next year, the offense could be really good. But the last thing I want to mention is how I gave up on Mark Richt after South Carolina. I have always been a Disney CMR'er but after the Carolina game I was off the ship. Two months later, I believe CMR is the man for as long as he wants to be. In 2002, Georgia was one play away from being the best team in the country. In 2005, SEC Champions. In 2007 Georgia was the best team in the country at the end, no one can tell me different. In 2012, 11 years in, Georgia was five yards away from playing for and winning a National Championship. All of this, including multiple 10 win seasons, with three different defensive coordinators, with Donnan's players, with his players, and never saying or doing the wrong thing. I know a lot of people get discouraged with the nice guy image and the recent struggles in big games, but there is no other coach I'd rather have leading Georgia than its best coach in school history.
Go Dawgs!
Now my editorial and I dont care about all the grammatical stuff.
I'm not over the loss. I don't think I'll ever fully get over it. I'll probably never watch the replay. Easily my most heartbreaking Georgia event, surpassing the 2008 CWS. People have said things like how proud they are to be a Georgia Bulldog, how valiant Georgia played, and it was one of the best college football games ever. All of these things are true. But all of that seems so minuscule in the big picture of what happened last Saturday. Despite what Alabama has done over the last 4 years, winning a national championship in anything, especially football, is so ridiculously difficult. To be that close and fall short, you can't spin it or find the silver lining. I'm proud as hell from top to bottom, but never will that game hold any good memories.
When Ogletree scored I firmly believed we were going to win. Everything since South Carolina had fallen perfectly into place and we had an 11 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Though we were only 5 yards away and things could have easily ended differently, Bama was better. The referees, who favored Alabama, did miss a Bama touchdown immediately prior to the Cummings INT. That blocked field goal would not bounce that perfect for Georgia if it happened 100 more times. Alabama told Georgia what play it was running for the entire 2nd half and the Dawgs never could or would stop it. Georgia had a shot, but as has happened almost the entire time since the mighty Munson retired, old lady luck was not on the Dawgs side at the end.
Watching the College Football Awards was no fun. The bowl season and ESPN will be torture over the next month. If Georgia wins the next 5 MNC's, I still don't think I'll get over losing this one, not winning a championship, not going to Miami, and the month of not seeing Georgia everywhere.
Moving on, I really hope the Dawgs beat Nebraska. 12-2 looks a lot better than 11-3. Either way, it doesn't mean a thing come January 2nd. The defense could be bad next year, the offense could be really good. But the last thing I want to mention is how I gave up on Mark Richt after South Carolina. I have always been a Disney CMR'er but after the Carolina game I was off the ship. Two months later, I believe CMR is the man for as long as he wants to be. In 2002, Georgia was one play away from being the best team in the country. In 2005, SEC Champions. In 2007 Georgia was the best team in the country at the end, no one can tell me different. In 2012, 11 years in, Georgia was five yards away from playing for and winning a National Championship. All of this, including multiple 10 win seasons, with three different defensive coordinators, with Donnan's players, with his players, and never saying or doing the wrong thing. I know a lot of people get discouraged with the nice guy image and the recent struggles in big games, but there is no other coach I'd rather have leading Georgia than its best coach in school history.
Go Dawgs!
posted by JJBA | 8:18 PM
7 Comments:
"CMR is the man for as long as he wants to be." This times a million.
What Richt has done, bringing a program back from the dead more than a decade into his tenure, cements him as an all-time SEC great. Whether he ever wins "the big one" or not.
Thank God somebody said it. Sorry stopped reading after second paragraph. This whole "proud" thing is starting to irk my ass. Yes I'm proud of the team and the coaches for that matter but the fact is we came up 5 yards short of a National Championship. There is no getting over that period. I didn't watch anymore football Saturday night and really haven't watched any since. Haven't turned on ESPN, didn't watch the awards show tonight (hope JJ29 won something). Anytime I hear Alabama-Notre Dame it stings because that should've been Georgia. Face it, it was one hell of an effort but we failed to take advantage of the best chance we might ever have at a MNC so the game rings hollow for me. That being said, I can't fault anyone, players or coaches. There's no scapegoat here. No calling for Hutson Mason or firing CMR. Bama simply made one more play and it fucking sucks. The shittier part is, because it was such a classic, is it's gonna be replayed on multiple channels every year for years to come. I'll stop there. In summary, we blew it. End rant/.
Ok just read the rest of it. Firmly onboard with CMR. After watching the shitshows going on all over the league with schools looking for coaches, I don't want any part of that. Georgia won't find anyone better CMR (unless CPC comes back to college). I also know CMR isn't going to stab the university in the back ala Biellema or do anything to bring shame to the university like Petrino's motorcycle accident. I've bitched about the coaching but never once disputed the guy's a class act.
So you guys are "proud" too.
I think what people meant is we are glad we showed up to play a complete game against the best team in the country with everything on the line. We'd still rather be Georgia fans with CMR as our coach, blah, blah, blah than be Alabama fans.
It sucks that we lost. The more invested the fanatic, the more it hurt. Unfortunately, the sting of that loss will only get worse in time (if we dont win it all sometime soon).
So while there's no silver lining and no sense of pride from merely hanging with Alabama, I am prouder than ever to be a Georgia fan.
Am I less of a fan because I have grown to hate bowl season? I love the season that the BCS creates but I am excited to watch maybe 4 bowl games. And no, GA is not one of them. Even if we were playing Louisville in the Sugar, I would not be excited. The season is over no matter what anyone tells me. The excitement surrounding receiving BCS bowl berths is completely manufactured by the WWL, along with the Heisman.
The Heisman is a joke. And I am no more proud to be a Georgia fan today than I was last Friday, I was already tremendously proud. You can't blame anyone for how they feel or for their thoughts and reaction to the game. I'm just saying it wasn't just another game. Who knows when that opportunity comes up again? Hopefully it wil be sooner than 30 years from now.
ROLL TIDE!!
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