Welcome to the countdown…it’ll be here before you know it!

SEC commissioner Mike Slive has lobbied for a college football playoff, but even playoff advocates don’t want the government anywhere near the issue.

“The last time I looked, we were in a recession, fighting a war in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Slive said. “We’ve got a health care program that desperately needs help and I would hope that the Congress will make sure that they work on these problems and let us take care of collegiate athletics.”

I’ve said that the Georgia Dome offers very little to Georgia even when it comes to the Georgia-Florida game. But Mark Richt has come up with the only scenario I’d go for to bring a regular season Georgia game to the Dome: if the opponent is willing to sacrifice a home game.

“We have a neutral site game (against Florida) already, so every other year we’re losing a home game,” Richt said. “If you have another neutral site situation, you’re losing another home game, and I don’t think we should trade a home game for a game in the Dome. But if they want to trade a home game to play in Atlanta, that would be great for us.”

That sounds like exactly the right approach. And it’s not without precedent – even for conference games.

After learning that Georgia wouldn’t host a regional in this year’s NCAA baseball tournament, the only question was the destination. Georgia will be the #2 seed in the Tallahassee regional hosted of course by #1 seed FSU. #4 seed Marist and #3 seed Ohio State are the other teams taking part in the regional. Georgia will open play against Ohio State at noon on Friday (ESPNU).

If the Dawgs emerge from the Tallahassee Regional, the bracket has them playing the winner of the Oklahoma regional (hosted by the Sooners if they win their regional).

Georgia and FSU have played twice this decade in the postseason. FSU was sent to Athens for the 2006 regionals. The Seminoles beat Georgia 6-4 in a winner’s bracket game, and Georgia had to win two straight over the ‘Noles to advance. Georgia handled FSU 7-1 in the second game the Bulldogs played on Sunday, and they wrapped up the regional with a tight 3-2 win on Monday night thanks in part to a great pitching performance by Trevor Holder.

The most infamous series between the two teams was the 2001 Super Regional in Athens. Georgia advanced to their first College World Series since the 1990 title season, but the big story of the weekend was the arrival of Kudzu Hill and the Georgia crowd as a real advantage for the Diamond Dawgs. FSU coach Mike Martin commented,

”Georgia deserved to win. They played outstanding. The atmosphere was unbelievable. This environment was as tough as I’ve seen in 22 years of coaching. We don’t ever want to come here again.”

Georgia’s homefield advantage came through over the Noles again in 2006, but they’ll need to find their own motivation heading into a tough place to play at Tallahassee. The Seminoles were the top seed of the ACC tournament last week, but they fell to Virginia in the championship game, possibly costing the ‘Noles a national seed. FSU was 42-16 on the year and ranked #12 by Baseball America entering the postseason.

The Dawgs split a pair of games in Tallahassee in 2008.

The Dawgs weren’t one of the top eight national seeds of course, but the SEC is still well-represented among the national seeds:

1. Texas
2. Cal State Fullerton
3. LSU
4. North Carolina
5. Arizona State
6. UC Irvine
7. Oklahoma
8. Florida

Eight SEC teams received bids: LSU, Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, and Vanderbilt.

It was a rough start for the softball team in the opening game of the Super Regional. The starting pitcher struggled with control and had to be replaced in the first inning. Ohio State was limited to a single run, but they added three more on a 3-run home run in the 3rd. A 4-0 deficit is usually trouble at this level of softball, but the host Bulldogs exploded for five runs in the 5th and added an insurance run in the 6th for a 6-4 win.

Georgia and Ohio State will play again at 4:30 on Friday afternoon (ESPN2) in Athens. If Georgia wins, the Super Regional is over, and it’s on to Oklahoma City and the WCWS for the first time in program history. If Ohio State wins, the two teams will turn around and play a deciding game around 6:30.

Thanks to an extra-inning win, the Diamond Dawgs will have plenty of time to tune in to the softball games if they wish. Georgia earned a valuable day off with a tight 2-1 win over Arkansas, and they advance through the winner’s bracket into Saturday’s semifinal.

The game was a showcase of pitching and defense. Bulldog starter Trevor Holder was masterful in his hometown. Holder allowed just three hits through eight innings and at one point retired 15 batters in a row. With Georgia up 1-0, Holder was given the chance to close out the game in the 9th but allowed a pair of cheap singles and was replaced by closer Dean Weaver. Weaver inherited runners at first and third with no one out and retired the next three batters, but a long flyout was enough to plate the tying run.

Georgia couldn’t answer in the bottom of the 9th, and Weaver got out of a little trouble in the top of the 10th. The bottom of the 10th got off to a positive start with a Cerione single. Cerione advanced to third on a Poythress double, and Massanari was intentionally walked to get to Joey Lewis who had struggled so far in Hoover.

Lewis needed to make contact of some kind, and he delivered with a sharp grounder that was fielded by the third baseman. The throw home was wide though, and Cerione scored the winning run.

Though the final play earned Georgia the win, it was very nearly a disastrous blown call that would have added some controversy to the outcome. After spearing Lewis’s grounder, replays showed that the Arkansas third baseman touched third base with his throwing hand while the ball was in his glove. That should have retired Poythress on the force at third but removed the force on Cerione running home. The Arkansas catcher should have been required to tag Cerione. But the call at home plate seemed to be that the catcher’s foot was pulled off the plate. That’s only a call you make if you believe the force was still in effect at home. Cerione was safe regardless; the catcher was pulled off the plate, and no tag was applied. It would have been interesting though to see how the call was handled if the catcher was able to keep his foot on the plate – I think everyone from the umps to the TV broadcast missed the 3B touching the bag.

Most Bulldog hitters struggled against the Arkansas pitching, but the bright spot was Rich Poythress going 3-for-5. Poythress has seen his average drop by nearly 50 points over the last month to “only” .378, and it hasn’t helped the struggling Bulldogs that their biggest bat was also slumping. Hopefully he can keep this up and be the catalyst that sparks a run through the postseason. Georgia’s experienced players from last season’s amazing postseason came through in the 10th with Cerione’s leadoff hit, Poythress’s big double, and Lewis’s hot shot that won the game.

Georgia gets the day off on Friday waiting on any one of three teams to emerge from the loser’s bracket. They’ll play at 2:30 ET on Saturday with the game televised by Fox Sports South. If they win that game, they’re on to Sunday’s championship game. If not, they’ll play the same team again in a rubber game Saturday evening.

The athletic board today approved almost $40 million to begin expansion of the Butts-Mehre facility this summer. The project could take as long as two years to complete.

For preliminary plans of the expansion, download this PDF that the Georgia Sports Blog posted last year. What’s Georgia going to get for $40 million?

A new 12,000 square foot strength and conditioning area, a training room of 8,500 square feet, new football coaches offices and a multipurpose room with a turf field that will be used for both drills and walk-throughs by the football team and be converted for receptions and other hosting functions.

To be clear – this is not an indoor practice facility. If you look at the plans, the “turf field” described above isn’t but about 20-25 yards deep. It’ll just be an area where the team can duck inside on a bad weather day and still get something done. As Marc Weiszer reported in early 2008, any attempt a proper indoor practice facility would likely happen down the road at the sports complex on South Milledge Avenue beyond the bypass. We’ve known for some time that Coach Richt prioritized this project above an indoor practice facility, and Damon Evans indicated that other projects will still maintain priority over an indoor facility.

The biggest impact of this expansion will be in the additional weight room / training / conditioning / rehab areas. The added space for sports medicine will be very welcome.

Funding for the project is expected to come from a mix of private donations and new debt. The Athletic Association will reach into its deep pockets to get the project underway, and they’ll be repaid as the private donations come in. It’s noteworthy that even in these tough times the Athletic Association plans an 11.2% increase in revenue for the 2010 fiscal year. Hartman Fund contributions are down a few million dollars, but income from the new SEC television deal will more than cover the projected drop in donations.

No word yet on the biggest question – what’s the temperature setting going to be for the turf practice space?

Last year I called the SEC baseball tournament the world’s most meaningless playoff. Sure enough, an early exit had zero impact on Georgia’s national seed. Can you name another postseason event where the top four seeds losing on the first day is just a nice bit of trivia instead of big news?

Georgia was one of the bottom four seeds that emerged from Wednesday with a win, and they’ll face Arkansas on Thursday evening. Credit Cerione with a big game, and it was encouraging to see the bullpen hold the lead. It’s still tough to find meaning in the tournament for Georgia – their spot in the NCAA tournament is pretty much set, and it’s unlikely that a tournament championship would put them back in contention to host a regional, much less earn a national seed.

But a good showing in Hoover is more important than usual for a few reasons. First, the Diamond Dawgs are still seeking their first SEC Tournament title. That would be nice to pick up in a year in which they faded from the race for the regular season championship. Bigger though is the need to get back into the mindset of winning heading into the NCAA tournament. Georgia finished the year on shaky ground and confidence waning. Even the hitting that carried the team for most of the year faded down the stretch. The team needs a few wins in a big way, and getting them with a tournament title at stake is a nice bonus. It might also get them into a more favorable regional if they are forced to hit the road.

It’s been a week of good news for sports fans with Comcast cable. First the cable company and the NFL reached a settlement ending the ridiculous squabble over the NFL Network. Now it’s official that Comcast will add ESPNU to most markets, especially in the South, in time for football season. As an added feature, Comcast will also add access to ESPN360.com which more or less means FREE GAMEPLAN.

I’m glad to see the news, but – honestly – it’s about time. These are basic networks and features that other cable and satellite companies have offered for years. Comcast isn’t doing its subscribers some big favor; they’re playing catch-up to the competition.

ESPNU is important because it’s a key part of ESPN’s $2.25 billion deal with the SEC announced last year (that linked article is a very good summary of what’s going to change). ESPNU is also likely to be the home of several SEC basketball (men’s and women’s) games as well as coverage of “Olympic sports”. Here’s a reminder of how it will break down for football:

• CBS still gets the first pick for the 3:30 slot.
• ESPN and ESPN2 will continue national broadcasts of the #2 and #3 SEC games each week.
• ESPNU will carry at least 13 additional SEC games, and most will be in prime time.
• ESPN will also produce and brand regional broadcasts to take the place of the 12:30 JP games. Word on the DawgVent has these games on Peachtree TV in Atlanta, but they’ll be available on other local stations across the region (just like the JP games were – just check local listings each week). These regional games will also be available as part of the ESPN Gameplan package and also on ESPN360.com.

Got all that? The main point is that there will be a ton of SEC football on TV beginning this fall, and now most major cable and satellite providers will have it all. I only hope that HD feeds are included as well. Since JP/Lincoln Financial went to HD for the regional games last year, a return to standard def broadcasts by ESPN would be a step backwards.

PS…I know I’m asking for some dish evangelism with this post, but my unhealthy attachment to my TivoHD means I’m stuck with cable.

Poor Anthony Grant and Mark Fox. They’re going about the business of getting settled, setting up staffs, establishing recruiting ties, and doing all the right things to get their new programs off on the right foot. Meanwhile John Calipari lands at Kentucky, finalizes the nation’s top recruiting class, and sets the Wildcats up as the presumptive favorite for the national title in Year 1.

Top-rated point guard John Wall ended the speculation today by announcing that he’ll join Calipari’s Kentucky team. He’ll complete a class of six newcomers who are all among the top 40 prospects in the nation according to Rivals.com.

With the SEC still recovering from a down period, Kentucky is now the clear favorite to win the league in 2010. Could they dominate the league like Calipari’s Memphis teams came to dominate C-USA? Given the expectations put on even ordinary Kentucky teams, would anything short of a national title for this group be a big disappointment (not to mention great comedy for the rest of us)? We might only get one year to find out – Wall and others in the class are considered one-and-done prospects who will put in only one season in college before jumping to the NBA.

Calipari has made things tough enough for newcomers like Grant and Fox, but even proven SEC veterans Pearl, Donovan, and Stansbury have to be a little uncomfortable now.

Georgia’s football team will open the 2009 season on the road against a likely top 15 opponent. The opener in 2010 might be a little lighter fare.

The AJC is reporting that Georgia will open the 2010 season with the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette. The Dawgs have played a number of nonconference Louisiana teams including Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State, but this will be their first meeting with Louisiana-Lafayette. The game is set for September 4, 2010, but the AJC notes that there is wiggle room if the Dawgs need that opening date to accomodate another opponent.

Georgia still needs one nonconference game to round out the 2010 schedule. The possibility of playing the season opener in the Georgia Dome generated some discussion a few weeks ago, but with just five home games currently set for 2010, it’s almost a given that the final opponent added to the 2010 schedule will be a true home game.

In addition to Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia is already set to play two BCS-conference schools in 2010: Georgia Tech and @ Colorado. The home schedule looks like this as-is:

– Louisiana-Lafayette
– Arkansas
– Tennessee
– Vandy
– Georgia Tech

Does that need improvement? The road games will include Colorado, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Kentucky (and of course Florida).

The Diamond Dawgs head into the postseason losers of 11 of their last 13 regular season games. The SEC Tournament begins against Ole Miss on Wednesday in Hoover. There was a lot more going on over the weekend though…

• The softball team beat host UNC twice and took the Chapel Hill regional with a walk-off home run on Saturday. Georgia will host Ohio State in the Super Regional this Thursday and Friday. Both teams will be battling for their first trip to the Women’s College World Series. All games will be on ESPN2.
• The #2-seeded women’s tennis team got a scare from SEC rival South Carolina, but they emerged with a close 4-3 win to advance to Monday’s NCAA semifinals. Duke is up next.
• The news wasn’t as good for men’s tennis. Their streak of consecutive national titles is over after a loss to Texas in the round of 8. Georgia hadn’t lost an NCAA tournament match since 2006. The Dawgs took the doubles point on Saturday, but weather forced postponement until Sunday morning and took away any momentum Georgia had.
• The men’s golf team fought back from a rough opening round to tie for second at the NCAA Southeast Regional. The result was more than enough to qualify them for the NCAA Championship in Ohio.
• Lady Dog point guard Ashley Houts is one of 14 finalists for the U.S. national team that will play at this summer’s World University Games. She’ll train with the team in hopes of making the 12-member travel squad.
• The men’s basketball team will make a trade with the state of Tennessee. Former guard Zac Swansey will transfer to Tennessee Tech. Tennessee State guard Gerald Robinson will transfer to Georgia. Robinson averaged 17.8 PPG as a sophomore and will have to sit out next year.

Last week Blutarsky and I were holding on to a slim thread of hope that Coach Richt’s comments about the relative heat in Jacksonville were a bit tongue in cheek.

It turns out to be a variation on an old theme. Marc Weiszer of the ABH went back into his archives and found a similar quote from 2005. I know what Coach Richt says is technically correct – Georgia has adjusted to slightly cooler weather by that point in the season – but the state of the series is such that any comment about the conditions or the location is going to come off as whining. Weiszer notes that Richt’s 2005 comment came after a Georgia win, and it’s not a coincidence that a similar observation under those circumstances drew a lot less reaction.

It’s a busy weekend for the Red and Black…

• The Diamond Dawgs continue their final regular season series at South Carolina. Last night’s opener was a disappointment, and the lackluster offense that hurt them in the Vandy series showed up again in Columbia. Georgia had enough offense to overcome errors on Tuesday night in Atlanta, not so last night. Alex McRee will try to even the series tonight at 7:00, and the regular season will end Saturday afternoon.
• The men’s tennis team survived a close call with Illinois and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. They’ll get Texas next who upset SEC foe Tennessee.
• Men’s golf dug themselves a bit of a hole on the first day of the NCAA Southeast Regional but have come charging back today. They’re currently in sixth place and only one shot out of fifth. Only the top five teams advance, so Georgia has some work to do through the rest of the weekend.
• Softball advanced past Radford and will play North Carolina this afternoon. Georgia is in the odd position of being the #1 seed in the regional but playing on the field of the #2 seed. The regional, as in baseball, is double-elimination.
• The second-seeded women’s tennis team plays in the round of 16 on Friday against 15-seed Florida.

I admit I was a little surprised to see Kyle King unload on Jim Donnan this morning. Not many of us have especially warm feelings for the man as a coach or for the circumstances that led to his dismissal, but wanting to puke over the news of Donnan’s election to the College Football Hall of Fame seems a bit over the top.

Rehashing the Donnan era might seem as pleasant and relevant as revisiting the Gerald Ford administration, but since the door has been opened we’ll go through it. All of Kyle’s criticisms are familiar and valid, but that’s why Donnan was replaced. It’s possible to acknowledge the shortcomings of those five years while granting that, yes, Donnan did elevate the program. I can’t imagine anyone who was also at the 1995 Florida game calling the 2000 South Carolina game his low point as a fan.

Donnan’s comments about his time at Georgia that Kyle cites were, if anything, understated. “We did some good things [at Georgia]…I feel like we came into a program that was on probation and got it started.” We can’t even grant him that? It’s not as if he’s asking for a 2002 SEC championship ring (are they still available on eBay?).

Georgia under Donnan won more games than they had over the previous five years, and the four-year stretch from 1997-2000 saw the most consistently successful stretch of Georgia football since the amazing run ended after 1983. After coming in on the tail end of four straight seasons with six or fewer wins, Donnan began a streak of 8+ win seasons and bowl appearances which continues to this day. More importantly, Donnan’s recruiting efforts stocked the cupboard at many positions and provided a core of upperclassmen which would win two SEC East titles in Mark Richt’s first three years. Yes, I think it’s fair to say that Donnan helped to get Georgia’s resurgence started.

Of course it was Donnan’s inability to get the most out of that collection of talent that led to the coaching change. But the 2000 season was a great example of how Donnan had elevated the program and our expectations for the program from when he started. Instead of firing a coach for three consecutive seasons with six or fewer wins, we had grown dissatisfied with an 8-4 year that failed to deliver on the promise of a preseason top 10 ranking. The infamous “55 years” quote that serves as Donnan’s Georgia epitaph wasn’t a misjudgment of talent; it was justified enthusiasm over a roster we all knew was loaded.

Really, though, it comes down to this for me: Donnan, since leaving Georgia, has been nothing but a gracious advocate for the Bulldogs and deferential to Mark Richt. In his position as a member of the media, he’s managed to be frank and open when it comes to the Bulldogs without coming across as petty. He’s had plenty of chances to land the typical analyst cheap shots (especially when it comes to “meaningful player discipline”), but he’s even avoided those. In the eight seasons since his termination, Donnan has really only been openly critical of Michael Adams, and I don’t think he’s alone in those feelings.

Donnan’s detractors don’t have to throw a party over his Hall of Fame election, but they could do with a little bit of the grace he’s shown since he left campus.

On a somewhat-related note, I think Kyle, myself, and most of you reading this would agree that it’s a travesty that Erk Russell isn’t eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame due to the requirement “that one be a head coach for at least 10 years”. That’s a bug that needs to be fixed.

Rally Rat strikes again

No offense to the tennis and softball teams that recorded wins over Georgia Tech this year, but the rare possibility of getting swept in the major men’s sports by Tech wasn’t sitting well. Fortunately the Diamond Dawgs came through with a 7-5 win over the Yellow Jackets last night at Turner Field. It was Georgia’s 5th straight win over Tech in the annual charity game set up to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

It was a perfect night for baseball, and 24,665 humans as well as one very important rodent turned out to watch the game. It was the second-largest crowd in the history of the event, and it was the sixth-largest crowd for any regular-season NCAA baseball game. The event was well-run, and the highlight of the night was the presentation of over $2 million to CHOA.

To be honest, it wasn’t the prettiest game for either team. Walks, errors, hit batsmen, a balk, and poor baserunning were as much a part of the game as timely hits and pitching. Both teams overcame deficits, and a three-run seventh inning for Tech tied the game and set the stage for a great finish.

The late innings were framed by a pair of managerial decisions. In the 8th inning, Georgia pinch hit Jonathan Thomas for Zach Cone. The tactic worked on offense – Thomas drew a walk – but it was very nearly disastrous on defense. In the bottom of the 8th, Thomas misjudged a deep fly ball to the warning track, and the two-base error put the go-ahead run in scoring position with no outs. It was a clutch job by Palazzone and Weaver to bear down and keep the score level going into the final inning.

In the 9th Tech skipper Danny Hall elected to walk Massanari after Poythress doubled to the base of the 400-foot marker in center field – Georgia’s second near-miss to dead center of the night. Massanari had homered earlier in the night but hasn’t done much since the 3rd inning. The intentional pass set up Lyle Allen with two baserunners, and his single ended up plating the deciding two runs.

Allen was the star at the plate with two singles and a double, and Justin Earls came up huge on the mound after shaky control chased Georgia starter Cecil Tanner. “Earls changed everything, and he got control of the game,” said Perno. Dean Weaver was also solid in getting the last out of the eighth and holding Tech scoreless in the 9th.

An important final regular season series at South Carolina is up next. Georgia is already assured of a spot at the SEC Tournament and likely has an NCAA bid sewn up as well, but it’s all about positioning now. The key question though: will the South Carolina health department be waiting on the Georgia bus in hopes of taking out Georgia’s most valuable pet?