Dawgs in Hawg Heaven!

Here we go again! Another shootout for the Georgia Bulldogs, this time in Arkansas. For a team that’s supposed to be “finding themselves” offensively, the Dawgs sure are racking up a whole bunch of points. 93 to be exact in the past two games! Final score last night, Dawgs 52 Razorbacks 41. That’s a lot of scoring, and most was thru the air again. I’m not sure what to make of the GA defense this year. They are giving up way too many points. Most of it from the passing game. The defensive line looks like it is often on the verge of squeezing the line, but the opposing quarterbacks just seem to find the room and time to throw at will against our LB’s and secondary. Is this a bend but don’t break defense that is breaking too much? I just can’t figure it out. Is the SC and ARK offense that good!? And the turnovers and penalties are killing us! It always seems to happen on a big play or when we are in our own end. I have to hand it to the Dawgs though. They come right back and either score points or play some tough red zone defense when they need it to win the game. It sure is tough on the ole ticker though Some exciting football the past two games. I’m ready for a game with more spread. Say…GA 30 Arizona State 14? It’s great to be 2-0 in the SEC. Lets hope someone can figure out Florida before we go to the Cocktail, because if the Dawgs defense doesn’t tighten up, the Gators will roll all over us. FLA has a great D so I don’t see ANYONE scoring much on them. But I guess we just need to play a game at a time and not look past anybody. Our schedule is tough. But that could be a good thing down the road. GO DAWGS!

Dawgs Win!

Oooweee…what a game last night between the GA Bulldogs and SC Gamecocks! This was supposed to be a low scoring affair but it turned into an offensive slugfest right out of the box. Final score Dawgs 41 Gamecocks 37. SC racked up 427 yards of total offense to GA’s 308. So…now I’m wondering…are the Dawgs and Gamecocks defenses that bad, or are their offenses that good!? I think it may be a little of both. The Dawgs gave up way too much yardage but were great in the red zone where it counted. Thus the win. The offenses on both sides opened up pretty early, maybe by necessity for GA as SC controlled the ball and scored thru most of the first quarter. I’m thinking maybe Spurrier and Richt both had something up there sleeve in preparation for this game as they both commented on how they thought this game would be another low scoring gig. Sure I can see Spurrier trying to pull the wool over our eyes since he loves to throw the ball, and the Gamecocks threw 53 times last night. As for Richt, once we got behind we had to open it up, and you have to give credit to both offenses as they executed very well, particularly the offensive lines. GA turned the ball over three times and were penalized 13 times for 108 yards! This is something that GA has to improve on since turnovers and penalties have been a recurring theme for the Dawgs the past few years. They can’t keep beating themselves. Great play by Rennie Curran to tip a pass near the end zone to keep the Gamecocks from scoring a winning TD with 22 seconds remaining. Rennie saves the day! I’m glad this one is over. It is great to have that first SEC victory under our belt. SC is a very good football team and I think they will do well this year and stun somebody before the season is over. As for the Dawgs…well…the defense has got to cause more turnovers and rush the quarterback better. And the offense has to protect the ball. And both sides need to cut down on the penalties. Otherwise we will stun nobody. Richt and company will have plenty of game film to go over. If you want to check out the highlights, stats, post game interview, etc., click here. Arkansas here we come!

Strike Three?

Oh well…it looks like my beloved Braves are definitely out of the playoff picture again this year. Too bad. They have real good starting pitching which usually translates to a pennant chasing ball club. But not this year. No speed, can’t seem to move runners around the bases, don’t make productive outs, a lot of injuries (but not as many as the Mets)… I guess if your team pitching era is around 4.00 and your runs scored per game is around three…well…you can do the math. The Braves need some players that can run AND hit. I don’t care too much about homers. They will come. But you can’t teach speed and it sure rattles the opposing pitcher and defense when you have runners that will steal and that will take two bases on a single, and three on a double. One or two more runs scored per game this year and the Braves probably would be a division winner once again. Or at least the wild card. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Dawgs SEC opener

Let the games begin! Can’t wait till tomorrow night to see my UGA Bulldogs take on the SC Gamecocks between the hedges in Athens, GA. I always get psyched for the SEC opener. I didn’t have high expectations this year for the Dawgs since we lost Stafford and Moreno to the NFL draft. But now that the SEC action starts for Georgia I sure am getting excited about an opportunity to compete for the SEC crown. The Dawgs have a very tough schedule this year, so it won’t be easy. I’m hopeful that our defense can see us thru the grinding schedule and keep us competitive in the SEC. Lets pray we don’t lose nineteen players to injury this season like we did last year! The offensive line is really going to have to step up this year too. We need Joe Cox to get some good live reps (i.e. protection). I think the running game will be good. We always seem to have the wheels, just need to block. Richt and Bobo usually come up with a pretty good offensive game plan, although I think they will be tested this year. Or more importantly the players will need to execute. We’ll see. Tomorrow nights the night, GO DAWGS!!

The Beatles Remastered Box Set CD’s 2009 Mono vs Stereo

The much anticipated release of the The Beatles Remastered Box Sets occurred this week. I’ve been reading as much as I can on these remasters, particularly on what the difference is between the mono set and the stereo set. Here is a link I found that might help you in your decision to buy. Be sure to read ALL the comments. I’m currently thinking of buying both sets, but I just can’t afford it at the moment

Lennon and McCartney

OK…like so many other millions of listeners out there I admit I am a rabid Beatles fan. Their music still touches me even after listening to the same songs hundreds if not thousands of times. And being a guitar player/musician for most of my life, perhaps that explains why I appreciate Lennon and McCartney music so much. A lot has been written about the Beatles and about John and Paul, thus I hesitate to write anything at all about them. But today while listening to a couple Lennon compositions (“She Said” and “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”) I felt an urge to speak. These two compositions are amazing. Not necessarily lyrically, but musically. Although I hate to get into the Lennon vs McCartney argument that pervades much writing on these two composers, I must say that there is definitely something that I personally get more satisfaction from (both musically and lyrically) when listening to compositions primarily authored by John Lennon. Of course this is always a matter of personal tatse. What I consider “ear candy” some might consider rubbish. Anyway, it is often hard to distinguish which of the two composers wrote what part of the songs, as theirs was truly a partnership even though many songs were penned w/o the other present, often in the songs infancy (and in fact, George Harrison had some compositional role, albeit maybe not that often). However, She Said and Happiness really seem to be primarily Lennon compositions, at least from what my ear tells me. That said, let me tell you why these two songs move me. First, there are the tempo changes. Both these songs are prime examples of why I believe that Lennon was such a naturally gifted song writer and singer. The tempo changes in both these songs, as if by magic. Rhythmically, they might look very unorthodox on paper, yet when you hear them, it sounds so natural. I think Lennon just had this natural rhythm inside of him. I have read that studio musicians that played for John after he left the Beatles were amazed at his sense of guitar rhythm. For instance, a session drummer once commented on how well Lennon played in the pocket (drummers lingo for staying in time so well). Lennon never considered himself a great guitar player (or a great singer either for that matter), however, if you have ever seen a live Beatles video from 1964 or 1965 it is clear to me that he was indeed a titan of rhythm guitar on stage. It is this natural ability to write a song with so many strange rhythmic signatures that makes me wonder why I even try to write a song at all. Everything I ever tried to write usually ended up a boring 4/4 signature. So I guess I am in admiration and awe of Lennon’s natural gift for writing songs that are NOT of traditional time signature. The second thing I wanted to speak of was vocals. John apparently didn’t have much faith in his vocal talent, which has always baffled me. When I hear him sing on both She Said and Happiness I get goose bumps. Lennon had a great gruff sounding voice, just perfect for rock and roll. But he also had a strong mellow tenor. His vocal “when I was a boy…” on She Said is brilliant. His intro vocal on Happiness “shes my girl, who misses much…” and his vocal “when I hold you, in MY arms…” are nothing short of fantastic as he goes from mellow beginning to hard edged ending. What a lucky lad this fellow John Lennon. With not only a natural gift for writing musical composition, but an equally natural gift for presenting it. I should think that half the male population would die for just one half of those two gifts. That’s not to say that Lennon and the rest of the Beatles were all natural talent, as they worked bloody hard particularly from 1963-1966. So…in closing…I guess I wrote this as a reaction to hearing two great songs today that I had not heard in awhile. And I suppose I might get the urge to write another piece after hearing another Beatles tune in the not too distant future. Although some of you might think this was all a bunch of drivel.

Sport Magazine

I have been a baseball card collector for many years. I started collecting around 1965 when I lived in SF and used to go to Candlestick Park and watch Willie Mays and Willie McCovey knock the cover off the ball. Now…I have to start by saying that the cards I collect are what most in the hobby call “beaters”. That is, cards that are not in the best of condition. This is a pre-requisite for being a “set collector” of baseball cards manufactured in the 1950’s and 1960’s, unless you are a millionaire. See this website for a glimpse of the type of collector I am (I am a proud member of OBC). Well, about 10-15 years ago it finally began to sink in that there were some cards that I was just not going to be able to attain or afford, even in beater condition. For instance, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. That’s about the time I discovered Sport Magazine. Sport Magazine started publishing in 1946 and ceased publishing around 2000. So I started buying some Sport Magazine issues on eBay just to see what they were like. I focused on issues from the 50’s/60’s since that is the era I followed baseball as a kid and I have fond memories of players from that era. What I began to realize after going thru a few of these magazines was that they contained some great color photo’s of some of the most famous and not so famous sports stars of the era. That is to say, not only were the cover photo’s cool, but the full page photographs INSIDE the magazine were fantastic! And…the photo’s inside were usually in a lot better shape than the cover photo’s (for obvious reasons). So I started hunting down issues that contained color photo’s of the players I liked most from the 50’s/60’s (like Mays, Mantle, etc.). Also, being a football and basketball fan too, I realized that I could get great photo’s of other famous athletes, in their youth. And the nice thing is, Sport Magazine issues are still pretty cheap on eBay. So although I may never be able to afford a 52 Topps Mantle I do have some nice full page color photo’s of a young Mick from those early years in his career. And…I have the cool articles to go along with the photo’s. BTW…there were some pretty good sports writers contributing to Sport Magazine in the 50’s/60’s. Just thought I’d share this with any other sports card collectors out there.

Ball Four

I just finished reading the best baseball book ever written. And I’ve probably read it about 10 times since it was originally published in 1970. In fact, I’m still reading the first edition that came out in paperback. The book is called “Ball Four”, by Jim Bouton. The book is a fun and easy read. For those of you that have not read Ball Four yet, it is basically the diary of a major league baseball player, Jim Bouton, written during the 1969 season when he was with the expansion MLB Seattle Pilots who only existed for one year before moving to Milwaukee as the Brewers in 1970. Funny and insightful, the book allows the reader a glimpse of what life really is like for a major league baseball player, in this case a pitcher. The book was controversial when first published as it exposed some things about the game and its players that MLB (and many MLB players) did not what the public to know. Bouton was a pitcher and a pretty good one at that. He played for the Yankees during the peak of his career and won over 21 games in 1963 and won 2 games in the 1964 World Series. Being a teammate of Mickey Mantle and many other Yankee greats makes the book even more enjoyable as Bouton writes about his now famous Yankee teammates. But he also writes about his teammates on the Seattle Pilots in 1969. It is refreshing to read about the experiences of MLB players that were not stars or HOF’ers but were still good enough to make it to the “big show”, even if their visit was brief. BTW…Ball Four was not the first diary style book written by a MLB player. Jim Brosnan (also a pitcher) wrote “The Long Season” and “Pennant Race” which cover baseball in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. I highly recommend all three books, but be sure to read Ball Four as it is by far the best baseball book ever written, IMHO. One last note, if you collect old baseball cards like me, I really enjoy taking out my 1969 baseball card set when I read Ball Four as it allows me to see the players as they looked when they were written about during the 1969 season. It sort of makes the players I’m reading about seem more real.

Braves and Bulldogs

Well…it looks like the Atlanta Braves are going to miss the playoffs again for the fourth straight year.  Kinda’ tough to take after watching them breeze to fourteen straight playoff appearances (1991-2005).  This year the starting pitching has been good, the bullpen OK, but the hitting just not good enough.  Chipper is mired in one of the worse hitting slumps of his career right now.  Very unusual to see.  Since the Braves look like they will be unable to sustain a winning streak good enough to capture the wild card spot, I’m pulling for the SF Giants to beat out the Rockies for the wild card.  Like the Braves, the Giants have very good starting pitching.  They also have been able to win games playing “small ball” this year, something I wish the Braves could do.  Stealing bases and moving runners around via bunts, hit and run, and productive outs is something I think the Braves need to improve on.  Of course they need the players to do that.  Maybe next year!

So the University of Georgia Bulldog football team opened the 2009 season with a loss on the road to the OSU Cowboys.  The Dawgs didn’t play too bad considering they lost their starting quarterback and star running back to the NFL this year.  I was hoping to see the Dawg defense cause some turnovers, but it didn’t happen.  The defense played pretty well, particularly against the run.  The Cowboys offense features a star QB, RB, and WR which the Dawgs held at bay for part of the game.  But you have to give OSU credit for being able to get the football in the end zone when they needed to.  The Georgia offense was OK.  Two crucial Georgia turnovers decided the game.  There were some missed catches too.  The running game was not bad but I missed seeing runners make bigger gains like Moreno did last year.  Of course Moreno was pretty special so the Dawgs may just have to keep pounding that line with a punishing running attack to keep the opposing team offense off the field.  I hope the offensive line can stay healthy this year.  I read where the Bulldogs last year lost nineteen players to season ending injuries.  Wow!  I also hope the defense can stay tough and make big plays and cause some turnovers.  The Dawgs can still compete for the SEC title if they can win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball this year.  The defense really has to step up and keep improving each week.  Same with the offensive line.  I’d like to see the Dawgs go back to the Dooley days of a ball control running game with a great defense.  We’ll see!

Well…it looks like the Atlanta Braves are going to miss the playoffs again for the fourth straight year.  Kinda’ tough to take after watching them breeze to fourteen straight playoff appearances (1991-2005).  This year the starting pitching has been good, the bullpen OK, but the hitting just not good enough. Chipper is mired in one of the worse hitting slumps of his career right now.  Very unusual to see.  Since the Braves look like they will be unable to sustain a winning streak good enough to capture the wild card spot, I’m pulling for the SF Giants to beat out the Rockies for the wild card.  Like the Braves, the Giants have very good starting pitching.  They also have been able to win games playing “small ball” this year, something I wish the Braves could do.  Stealing bases and moving runners around via bunts, hit and run, and productive outs is something I think the Braves need to improve on.  Of course they need the players to do that.  Maybe next year!

So the University of Georgia Bulldog football team opened the 2009 season with a loss on the road to the OSU Cowboys.  The Dawgs didn’t play too bad considering they lost their starting quarterback and star running back to the NFL this year.  I was hoping to see the Dawg defense cause some turnovers, but it didn’t happen.  The defense played pretty well, particularly against the run.  The Cowboys offense features a star QB, RB, and WR which the Dawgs held at bay for part of the game.  But you have to give OSU credit for being able to get the football in the end zone when they needed to.  The Georgia offense was OK.  Two crucial Georgia turnovers decided the game.  There were some missed catches too.  The running game was not bad but I missed seeing runners make bigger gains like Moreno did last year.  Of course Moreno was pretty special so the Dawgs may just have to keep pounding that line with a punishing running attack to keep the opposing team offense off the field.  I hope the offensive line can stay healthy this year.  I read where the Bulldogs last year lost nineteen players to season ending injuries.  Wow!  I also hope the defense can stay tough and make big plays and cause some turnovers.  The Dawgs can still compete for the SEC title if they can win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball this year.  The defense really has to step up and keep improving each week.  Same with the offensive line.  I’d like to see the Dawgs go back to the Dooley days of a ball control running game with a great defense.  We’ll see!

Blondie

Every once in a while I get in a mood to drill through YouTube looking for live video performances of some of my favorite bands.  I recently stumbled on the video of a band from the 70’s/80’s that I’d completely forgotten about.  Blondie.  For some reason I don’t remember hearing much of Blondie’s music when they were peaking (late 70’s/early 80’s).  Perhaps it is because I heard “Heart of Glass“, one of their hits that sounds a bit disco’ish, and I wasn’t too fond of disco back then.  However, after searching YouTube the past few days I’ve found quite a few songs that Blondie wrote that I think are quite good.  Two of them being “In The Flesh” and “X Offender” off their first self-titled album Blondie.  Like most successful bands it seems like the first 2-3 albums are always the ones I like best because the songs sound so raw, fresh and full of energy (the performances too).  I suppose most composers begin to run out of good material after a few years.  Or maybe they just get lazy after having some success  Blondie is no exception, however, they are interesting in that they wrote songs that seem to cross over into many genres.  I think the backbone of Blondie was Deborah Harry (lead vocal), Chris Stein (guitar), and Clem Burke (drums).  Harry was a very good singer and front woman, Stein and Harry wrote many diverse songs, and Burke provided a Keith Moon type of energy.  Watching Harry perform is a lot of fun!  Her vocal talent and sincerity in performing the song is refreshing.  Particularly when comparing to most of the orchestrated and gymnastic off pitch performances I’ve seen from most of today’s band front men and women.  For some reason when I watch Harry perform I’m reminded of Freddie Mercury.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps it is her mannerisms and vocal range.  Check out these 2 performances “Dreaming” and “Pretty Baby“.  I know Blondie has recently made a comeback, but I just can’t seem to stomach watching and listening to all these old bands that look like they belong in a geriatric ward  I guess I just want to remember them in their former glory…young and full of it