THANK YOU, LARRY

There will be, there only ever could be, one Larry Munson. I am thankful that I can say I grew up in Georgia and had the privilege of listening to Larry as we both lived and died with the DAWGS. Munson is just as much the reason I went to the University of Georgia as any other and he is absolutely one of the main reasons I wanted to become a sports journalist. I always told myself that if I ever had the chance to live out my dreams, I would never forget what I learned from Larry. While it's a job and you have to be professional, if you feel deeply enough about a team or a place you have to let it show because honesty and transparency matter in broadcasting and journalism and allowing your passion to bleed through only makes the experience of the listener or reader more real and that much richer. I have worked very hard, been very fortunate and as a result, I do get to live out my childhood dreams every day. What's more, I even get to cover my beloved DAWGS and represent the University of Georgia in the process. I will always remember Larry Munson as a fan and I am honored and humbled to be able to claim membership in the fraternity of journalists that have covered (and in my case, lived and died with) the DAWGS...just like Larry.

You did not have to be a Georgia fan to be a Larry Munson fan but if you're a DAWGS fan and have ever heard Larry Munson paint the play-by-play picture of a Georgia Bulldogs game, you most certainly have a favorite Munson call. My favorite call comes from 2001 on Rocky Top against the Tennessee Volunteers. The play was huge at the time and would no doubt have gone down in Georgia lore on its own merit, but because Mr. Munson was behind the mic there was no doubt it was an instant classic. Now it is known by only three words...the hobnail boot. This play and this call mean the world to me because of everything it meant at the time and has meant since. It will forever be my favorite call by the legendary Larry Munson.



Thank you, Larry. Thank you for everything.

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.

WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?

When you take a quick, superficial look at the upcoming football season for the DAWGS, you will either see a team riddled with holes and questions or you will see a team that should once again be considered a contender in the SEC Eastern division and therefore a contender for the SEC and national championships. We here at the BEAST can see both, depending on the day…the humidity in Dublin…the lake levels at Hartwell…and which way the wind is blowing in Toccoa. Point is no one knows how the season is going to play out…and that’s part of the fun of it…but today we encourage you to channel your inner Larry Munson as we point out just a few of the ill fates that could befall our beloved DAWGS in 2010.

Aaron Murray

How does a program like Georgia end up with no better option for a starter at quarterback than a freshman (RS)? We all know the twisting road that led the DAWGS to this point and I am not going to rehash it here, but this is the situation the Georgia program finds itself in and the tide of the upcoming season will probably rise and fall with how well Murray handles the rigors of his first Southeastern Conference campaign. Regardless of how talented Murray may be, we’ve seen what can happen when your team lacks experience at the most important position on the field. In 2006, true freshman Matthew Stafford…the same Matthew Stafford that would eventually lead the DAWGS to a #2 national ranking in 2007 and become the overall #1 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft…struggled mightily between the flashes of the brilliance that was to come and the DAWGS finished the regular season at 8-4. In 2009, Joe Cox…a fifth year senior that was a DAWG through and through and that had performed pretty well in spot duty while backing up Stafford…provided Georgia with serviceable play at the position, but failed to play up to the standards the coaches, the fans and even Cox himself expected and the DAWGS finished the regular season 7-5. Murray may be turn out to be great, he may even be great this season, but history says it will be a tall order.

Todd Grantham

Ding-Dong the witch is dead. Georgia finally has a new defensive coordinator and he has been wholly embraced by the DAWG Nation. Grantham comes with an NFL pedigree, the Nick Saban seal of approval and he’s promising a style of defense that will have both his players and the Georgia fans frothing at the mouth before the pre-game warm ups are done. Sounds great and I can’t wait to see it. But I haven’t seen it yet. None of us have. G-day served up the vanilla well enough to rival your closest Bruster’s and that just ain’t enough to make the DAWGS opponents cower in fear. Not to mention that along with this new defense come new positions, techniques and responsibilities for most every player on the unit. Heads will be spinning inside those red helmets early in the year to be sure. We’ve often wondered over the last few years how a team with as much talent as Georgia has on the defensive side of the ball can be gashed the way they have been recently…is it the fault of the coaches or have we seriously overestimated that “talent”? I guess we’ll all find out together. We’re all looking for big things from this new defensive brain trust, Mark Richt included, but until we see it on the field this will remain a much talked about question mark for the 2010 Georgia squad.

Offensive Line

What? How can an offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks in the league last season and returns all five starters…not to mention the possible return from injury of an All-American at tackle…be a downfall for the DAWGS? In this case, too many cooks could really spoil the DAWGS stew. Depth is a blessing in football, especially along the lines of scrimmage, but how long it takes the coaching staff to sort out exactly which combination of pieces allows them to put the best five players on the field could be the key to whether the 2010 season will be a success or something much less satisfying for everyone involved. You can’t win a championship in the first month of the season, but you can certainly lose one and two road trips in the first four games along with a home game against a team with a high-powered offense in Arkansas in week three will be quite the challenge. If there is still shuffling along the offensive line a month into the season, then it’s a safe bet that the very things that the DAWGS are counting on to buoy them in the early going…a productive running game and Murray not being put on the turf every time he drops back to pass…will not be there and Georgia will be lucky to get out of the first month at 2-2 with virtually all hopes of an appearance in the championship game having gone by the boards.

Wow. I know, right. What a bummer.

Good news is…that is only one side of the coin. We will be coming to you live and in color very soon with some of the reasons that this very same Georgia team could be lifting the SEC Championship trophy in early December in Atlanta so keep your eyes peeled. Or, you could always stay up to date with the BEAST by becoming a fan of the blog on Facebook or you can follow us on Twitter….with options even…HERE or HERE.

Glory, Glory.

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.