FEAR IS NOT AN OPTION

Georgia head coach Mark Richt will take the podium Thursday at SEC Media Days and meet the throngs of media that represent the greatest and most passionate fans in the game. We fans empower those members of the media in attendance to pick, prod and pry for any and every piece of information that we have not somehow already found and devoured during the football information famine that is the time between the end of spring practice and the start of fall camp. Richt will be joined by Aaron Murray, Ben Jones and Brandon Boykin for the event. This seems to be a crucible appropriate to harden Richt, the group of DAWGS at his side and other Georgia men that should be taking notes, for what lies ahead for when it comes to the 2011 season for the men that roam between the hedges…fear is not an option.

The time draws very near for Georgia to begin to reclaim the shine that everyone associated with the program had come to expect during Richt’s tenure in Athens. The shine that only comes from the warm light of the adoring spotlight shone on a program that expects to finish every season with double-digit wins, dominates the in-state wanna-be school and competes for league and national championships. It is not until you fall out of that light that one truly realizes just how cold it is out there in the darkness. That darkness is where the DAWGS find themselves after three seasons of declining win totals culminating in last year’s dismal 6-7 finish.

The amount of work and dedication required to battle your way back into the light (and the collective national college football consciousness) can be intimidating. There is no one person that must work harder than the rest, but rather it requires an overall uplifting of focus and effort for everyone involved with the program to achieve this favored spot once more. And it’s too late to start now. If Richt and his DAWGS have not already made the adjustments to their practices and attitude that are required, then this season will much more like the last few than anything the DAWG Nation witnessed from 2001-2005.

Each and every player, coach and yes…fan…that bleeds red and black must not be afraid to do what is necessary to snatch our beloved program by the collar and change the course of the near future of Georgia football. This will not be done by any singular gesture, but in each and every small one. How you prepare as a player, how you game plan as a coach and how you support your team as a fan will have an impact on the ultimate evolution of the process in Athens. Coach Richt cannot be afraid to take that chance to break a game open or put his boot on the neck of an opponent. Murray, who for my money is the best quarterback in the league, cannot be afraid to make that throw through a key hole when the game is on the line. Jones cannot be afraid to demand perfection from his line mates in this league that requires nothing less. Boykin cannot be afraid to break on that pass with a 50/50 chance to change the course of a drive or a game or a season.

These men are not alone. It will take everyone. Isaiah Crowell cannot be afraid to carry the ball 30 or 40 times because he’s a freshman. Tavarres King cannot be afraid to be a no. 1 receiver. Coaches Grantham and Bobo cannot be afraid the put their players in position to make that key play that could change a season, even when it could cost the game. The DAWG Nation cannot be afraid that we have been left behind by the HATED Gators or the Chickens in Columbia.

Georgia cannot be afraid of any challenge. There is no reason to be. We are GEORGIA! We are the DAWG Nation! We are the breed of All-Americas, Heisman trophies and championships. We are the breed of Herschel, Munson, Greene and Pollack. We must rise to meet every challenge, for our history demands it of us.

The hour is at hand. We must not doubt. We must not be afraid.

Fear is not an option.

Glory, Glory.

DAWGBEASTS and the GAMECOCKS

WEEK TWO
GEORGIA vs. SOUTH CAROLINA



JUSTIN HOUSTON – On a day when there wasn’t much that resembled the DAWGS season opening performance on the defensive side of the ball, Houston stood out. Playing the way we members of the DAWG Nation expect our defense to play, Houston finished with 10 tackles, including the three sacks and two more tackles for losses of 10 yards. Displaying the form that says everything about what makes Houston worthy of praise here at A DAMN BEAST!!! and worthy of DAWGBEAST status, the Georgia star summed up his performance like this after the game:

"I don't look at individual stats," Houston said. "The team lost. No matter how good I did, it doesn't matter because the team lost. If the team lost, I lost. That's the way I look at it. That just means I've got to do better for us to win."

AARON MURRAY – (14 of 21, 192 yds) Murray showed us what could be in store on Saturday as time after time he surveyed the field, stepped into the pocket and fired strike after strike down field (avg. 9.1 yds/att). The only thing holding Murray back on Saturday seemed to be that when it mattered most late in the game, our receivers did not have the ability to get open. Each time we see him facing live bullets, Georgia’s RFr. quarterback looks more and more like another studious RFr. that believed all the little things mattered and played with poise beyond his years, David Greene. With that said, like Greene, Murray will need the help of his teammates if he is going to have the same level of success that Greene enjoyed.

RETROBEAST: DAVID GREENE, #14 QUARTERBACK (2001-2004)

When I first had the idea to do a special series of posts focusing on my favorite University of Georgia football players from the past, there were a handful of names that immediately came to mind. This blast from the past will focus on one those players. I just hope this entry can reach the level of excellence that this favored DAWG is known for…..

RETROBEAST: DAVID GREENE, #14 QUARTERBACK (2001-2004)



David Greene is easily one of my all-time favorite DAWGS. I loved everything about Greene…his number, that he’s a lefty, his calm demeanor, his fiery competitiveness, his leadership, his toughness…everything. As important as all of those things were, I particularly enjoyed that although Greene may not have been the best overall athlete on the field (and would admit as much), he fully understood the nuances of the game and mastered their execution. Watching Greene play quarterback at Georgia was like watching a maestro conduct his orchestra. At times, it was truly a thing of beauty.

Greene, the magician



More than anything else, Greene’s legacy at Georgia is that he was a winner. During his time in Athens, Greene led his teams to 42 wins making him the winningest quarterback in NCAA Division I history. In 2009, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy passed Greene's win total to set the new NCAA mark for the most wins by a starting quarterback with 45.

Among those 42 wins were four consecutive victories over bitter, in-state rival Georgia Tech. One of my favorite memories of Greene comes from his final meeting with the Jackets in Athens in 2004. During what was a sloppy game in a rain soaked Sanford Stadium, Greene displayed the toughness and a will to win that defined his time as the DAWGS signal caller. Greene injured his thumb after hitting it on a helmet on a pass attempt and would leave the game for an extended period of time. DJ Shockley would play in Greene’s absence. Shockley would struggle to move to the team and ball security was an issue on seemingly every play. While Greene was out of the game, Georgia Tech would even manage to take the lead. You could clearly see it on the sidelines (and television replays would confirm) that Greene could see the game slipping away and was anxious to get back in the game. Moments later, with the thumb on his throwing hand heavily bandaged and with what we would find out later was a broken thumb (cracked tip), Greene returned to the field. Greene would play through the pain and the elements and lead the DAWGS to a fantastic victory over the Jackets with a force of will that has earned him a special place of honor in the mind of this member of the DAWG Nation.



As fantastic as that win was for Greene and the DAWGS, the game that sent shockwaves throughout the SEC and announced with authority that he, Mark Richt and the DAWGS were for real was the victory at Tennessee in 2001. On that October afternoon in Knoxville…where a redshirt freshman quarterback and an unproven head coach proved their mettle in the crucible of Neyland Stadium…Greene and Larry Munson became forever linked by a series of events in game that has come to be known by just two words…Hobnail Boot.

P-44 Haynes



After what the DAWG Nation witnessed in Knoxville in 2001, there was a strong belief that anything was possible for Richt’s DAWGS with Greene running the show. In 2002, with Georgia trailing the Tigers, those hopes were realized on the plains of Auburn when Greene found Micheal Johnson in the back of the end zone on 4th and 15 for the touchdown that would give the DAWGS a comeback win, their first SEC East Championship and a spot in the SEC Championship game where Georgia would defeat Arkansas and claim its first SEC Championship in twenty years.

70-X-Takeoff





You can check out the recap from the game HERE.

To the victor go the spoils.

When you’re as successful as Greene was during his time at Georgia, others tend to take notice. Greene was honored as SEC Freshman of the Year in 2001, SEC Championship Game MVP in 2002, Second-Team All-SEC honors in 2003 and 2004 and was a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist in 2004.

For more information on Greene you can check him out on Wikipedia.

David Greene was a favorite of this DAWG fan, a winner on the field and a total class act. He set the standard for all that it means to be a football player at Georgia under head coach Mark Richt. During his time in Athens, Greene forged a legacy that will forever be remembered as a turning point in the program’s history and a golden era by those of us in the DAWG Nation.

Glory, Glory.

RED, BLACK AND GREEN

As you all know, St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow. In honor of this all-around fun holiday, we here at the BEAST want to know...When it comes to the red and black, what color of green is your favorite?





Be safe out there DAWGS. Celebrate responsibly and have a green beer on us while you're at it. Cheers!

DAWGBEASTS OF THE FUTURE…IF YOU WANT US, THE DAWG NATION WANTS YOU!

I am a very fortunate man. I am married to a phenomenal woman in Wifey, I grew up in a home with two loving and very supportive parents, a great younger brother that I have a wonderful relationship with to this day and I have more real friends than most could hope for. I am a very fortunate man. I know it and I consistently take advantage of any opportunity to list, for anyone that will listen, all of the varied reasons why. Among those many blessings, I count the fact that I was born in the South and have lived the duration of my life in the great state of Georgia right up there among the best of them. I know where home is. These facts played no small role in my choice to attend the finest school in the land, the University of Georgia. I am proud of my home state and I am proud of my school…in every way.

I tell you that to tell you this.

When I think about the unofficial national holiday for those of us that live and breathe college football, national signing day, I cannot help but think of the process that each young man goes through in choosing the school he will play for, represent and call home for the next three to five years. This process is different for every player, but no less angst-riddled.

When it comes to the University of Georgia, I am invested in this annual process too and for more reasons than just the wins and losses that may or may not result from any player choosing to become a DAWG. Like I said above, these players will become representatives of UGA whether they like it or not. For those of us that truly love the University of Georgia for reasons more than what happens on Saturdays in the fall, that is no small thing. This is just one more reason I am proud to have a person like Mark Richt leading our program. I trust that he will bring quality young people into the program and that he will help develop them into even better young men both on and off the field that we in the DAWG Nation can be proud of.

As Signing Day 2010 approaches I have the same hope that I have every year…that these young men are at peace with their decisions and that they truly WANT to be at the University of Georgia. To me, this is absolutely the most important factor in this entire process.

I want players to come to UGA that WANT to be Georgia Bulldogs. Players that WANT to wear that G on the side of their helmets and play “between the hedges.” I want players that have a genuine dislike for the color orange, that can’t stand the Techies and that truly HATE Florida.

Don’t be misled DAWG fans, unlike Bigfoot, these players actually do exist. The first example that pops into my mind is this weeks RETROBEAST, Greg Blue. I can remember listening to Blue, an Atlanta native, during a radio interview back in 2001 after his commitment to be a part of Coach Richt’s first recruiting class. Blue talked about his utter disdain for the Techies and how he COULD NOT WAIT to play against them saying that he wanted to “knock somebody’s head off.” Need another example?? How about DJ Shockley? Shockley was an all-world recruit and another Atlanta native that could have played anywhere in the country. Shockley chose to come to play for Coach Richt and the University of Georgia. Despite having to sit behind David Green for four years, Shockley stayed at Georgia and ignored those calling for him to transfer to another school so he could play sooner. Shockley stayed because he believed in Coach Richt, because he loved the University of Georgia and because he simply wanted to be a DAWG. When his moment in the sun finally came, DJ took full advantage leading the 2005 DAWGS to their last SEC Championship. How ‘bout another? Nation, I present for your viewing pleasure…AJ Green. Green was another 5-star recruit that had his choice of schools when signing day rolled around in 2008, but despite the fact that he was not a Georgia native and the best efforts of the national power houses (including Urban Meyer and the HATED Gators), Green was all DAWG.

It is happening with the 2010 class too. Georgia safety Jakar Hamilton, a JUCO transfer who enrolled at UGA earlier this month, had this to say in a telephone interview with UGASports:

"Man, I can't wait to get there…I don't think a player should commit just for a coach, they should commit for what the school has to offer. Georgia is ranked No. 1 in the APR, and is one of the top academic schools in the SEC; to me it's the total package. Plus, I get to play for a good, Christian coach like Coach Richt; it's everything I ever wanted."

Hamilton was later quoted in the AJC talking about the physicality with which he plays the game that will soon be on display in Athens:

“I’m one of those players who just don’t care. I’ll throw my whole body even if I have to break something to do it. . . . If I have to catch a concussion, I’ll do it.”

In the end, Hamilton chose the DAWGS over Alabama, West Virginia, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Auburn.

I LOVE IT!

Then, just yesterday, news broke that the DAWGS picked up their first commitment for 2011…Tucker athlete Chris Sanders.

Sanders told UGASports.com that he has always wanted to be a Bulldog and that he just could not ignore the pull of the home state school. Sanders chose the Bulldogs over West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Duke and he believed Alabama was on the verge of offering as well.

Saturday, the ball just kept rolling for the DAWGS as news came that Georgia picked up their second commitment for the class of 2011…Griffin safety Corey Moore. Moore says that he “grew up a DAWG fan” and simply loves Georgia.

Nation, this is exactly what I’m talking about. I want players at the University of Georgia that WANT to be at the University of Georgia and nowhere else. In my mind there is something different about this kind of player, one that believes he is part of something and that he is playing for something greater than self. You couple that type of commitment with the type of commitment that Coach Richt has made to guarantee the development of these young men and his program and I believe you have a recipe for a great deal of sustained success. Glory, Glory!!!