Isn’t Georgia-Florida motivation enough?
Can we call a timeout on cheap motivational ploys? (Associated Press)
The dueling insults story is easily the most predictable aspect of coverage this week leading up to Saturday’s Georgia-Florida game.
Mark Richt thought his 2007 team was flat, so he challenged them to get an excessive celebration penalty after their first score against the Gators that year. The whole team danced in the end zone and Georgia went on to win the game. The special attention SEC officials have given the Dogs since then has made some question Richt’s move, but at the time many hailed it as a great motivational ploy.
Urban Meyer didn’t think so. He told the world that it was a “bad deal” and would be “forever in the mind of Urban Meyer” (why is it humorless prigs always like to refer to themselves in the third person?). So he used it as a motivational tool all during the offseason, and in 2008 his Gators took it out on the Dogs.
That wasn’t enough for Meyer, of course, so he childishly extended the game with a couple of unnecessary timeouts, just to rub some salt in the wound and thumb his nose at Richt.
And nobody is surprised to read that Georgia has pictures of Meyer calling timeout and the score of last year’s game posted in its locker room and weight room.
A.J. Green says the pictures are “motivation for me” because the timeouts were “a sign of disrespect. So I’m going to play my heart out.”
Meanwhile, the Gators are still trying to milk some motivation out of the 2007 dance, with defensive tackle Terron Sanders telling the Orlando Sentinel it was “a sign of disrespect” and “a slap in the face. We can’t just let it be a one-year thing where we feel like we took care of it. We always have to look back at it as disrespect.”
What’s ridiculous is that programs of the caliber of Georgia and Florida need to look for signs of “disrespect” and motivational gimmicks in order to get their players up for the annual showdown in Jacksonville.
Why is all this posturing and bulletin-board stuff necessary? Would A.J. not play his heart out if the Gators hadn’t disrespected the Dogs last year? Of course, not. He plays his heart out every week.
But especially in a game like this, that should be the norm for all the players on both sides.
As Richt said in his Tuesday press briefing, “I don’t think this game needs anything extra from the past to get anybody excited to play.” If anyone on either team doesn’t “respect” the other program, you have to question whether they even belong on the field.
After all, this is Georgia-Florida, a storied rivalry. The crowd is split 50/50 so the noise is almost constant. In most years, the game decides the SEC East. The two programs battle over the same recruits in each other’s territory. That ought to be enough to get the players pumped to the max for this game without the coaches having to resort to the old “remember what they did last year” bit or on-field stunts or cheap-shot attempts at showing up the other team.
It’s the Dogs and Gators, so shut up and play!
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211 comments Add your comment
Tom in Cedartown
October 28th, 2009
8:19 pm
UGA will never beat Florida while Meyer is at Florida and Richt is at UGA. Richt and the other two stooges have to go. When are Dawg fans everywhere going to raise their voices in unison to get rid of Richt the Loser?
This will be a beatdown of Biblical proportions. Urban Meyer will literally “part the red sea” and the Dawgs will drown.
kirk77
October 28th, 2009
8:20 pm
Florida wasn’t undefeated in each of the two years they won the championship puppies, winning the big games at the right time is something Dawg fans wouldn’t understand because it never happens.
Tom in Cedartown
October 28th, 2009
8:21 pm
Hey, I like Snoop Dawg. He has a very good way with words. And he’s right, Richt has to go. What are we waiting for?
Dawg Insanity
October 28th, 2009
8:22 pm
Puppies, sing it with me now, “we’re #48, we’re #48″
sweet, keep drinking the dawgie kool aid and stay delusional as always about the
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwgs
Patrick
October 28th, 2009
8:23 pm
Still waiting for an answer to my question from the UF fans. Why has the mighty, mighty University of Florida never fielded a team that has not been defeated? Why? Please tell me why.
Loula dawg
October 28th, 2009
8:24 pm
another season of underachieving, I blame the coaches.
Snoop Dawg
October 28th, 2009
8:24 pm
The Mark Richt Dawgs are in a free fall from 1st World to 3d World status. Preacher Man is hauling out all the gold. He’s gettin so much gold he’s gotta hire an accountant to count it all. He ain’t no coach. He’s a Buddha on the sidelines. The Marlboro Man without a Marlboro… Keep drinking that Koolaid, doggs…
Danny Boy
October 28th, 2009
8:24 pm
Don’t be dumb enough to bet on UGA unless you get a whole lot more than 16 points!
Maybe UGA + 40 points, I might bet on that. Maybe. Well, probably not. No.
Gainesville Dawg
October 28th, 2009
8:25 pm
Undefeated seasons are great, few and far between. What matters are championships, Florida wins them, we don’t, period end of story sorry to say.
Danny Boy
October 28th, 2009
8:26 pm
Snoop Dawg, you must be a professional writer, I really like your style. Keep telling it the way it is!
Music City Bowl
October 28th, 2009
8:28 pm
likely now out of reach for the Dawgs, ouch, season to forget 4 sure.
Patrick
October 28th, 2009
8:28 pm
kirk77, I understand that as it is common knowledge. Please explain why UF cannot field a team that can win out wire-to-wire. Beyond that, please explain why an SEC West team has exposed the Gators in each season for many, many years now. I just want to know why. Thanks in advance!
Valdosta Buck
October 28th, 2009
8:30 pm
Hey Kin’cade, Dawgs win this weekend and BTW, Phillies are going down brother.
oh, sorry, I mis spoke, just drank a gallon of UGAly kool aid.
kirk77
October 28th, 2009
8:34 pm
UGA rocks, they will destroy Florida this weekend, they beat up on Arkansas, they beat LSU right, will whip Auburn and beat up on Alabama in the SEC championship game. Who will the Dawgs play for the championship, Texas I guess right, in the bag, they’ll win, #48 to #1 in just a few short weeks. Go Dawgs.
Snoop Dawg
October 28th, 2009
8:34 pm
Yo Dawgs, it just occurred to me that the Water Girl might be serving up her hubby’s Koolaid to all of our 4-star and 5-star recruits instead of water. Might need to to have that water cooler inspected… This could explain why the Dawgs seem so disoriented on the O-line and on the D at game time this year… It’s a fambly affair…
Kincade
October 28th, 2009
8:35 pm
Hey Buck, bad news, Tennessee just scored again, 79-19, woof woof
Tulsa Dawg
October 28th, 2009
8:37 pm
with our season already toast, maybe a loss to UF, Auburn, GT will get us the changes we need to get back on track.
hata
October 28th, 2009
8:39 pm
what is uga ranked anyway??
Poor Puppies
October 28th, 2009
8:39 pm
about to get smacked down again this weekend and if that’s not bad enough, Auburn and Tech is on the horizon. Hope the coolers are packed this weekend in J’Ville.
Dawg Doo
October 28th, 2009
8:40 pm
We’re #48!!!!!!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
beatdowns galore
October 28th, 2009
8:41 pm
Look on the bight side…. Dawgs sure wont be going to the Crapital One Bowl again taking on a Mich State or a sucky Wisconsin team. Its time for CMR to leave too… I mean this clown gave Willie a raise last year. Dawgs will be lucky to get an invite to the Music $hity Bowl…….
SonOfBear
October 28th, 2009
8:42 pm
If yall force changes in cowtown, then the program will be set back years. richt and garner have good relations with the highschools here and can get anybody that Tech isn’t after. Fire Richt and you’re telling potential coaches they have to win more than 10 wins a year with urban, kiffin, and Johnson on the schedule every year. Only Ty Willingham would take that job.
Patrick
October 28th, 2009
8:43 pm
kirk77, please answer my questions. Nice attempt at sarcasm but I’d just like to know why UF cannot complete a season without a loss. UGA has done that so why not UF if they’re all that and a bag of chips?
SonOfBear
October 28th, 2009
8:46 pm
hey pat, it’s not 1980 anymore. there is a lot more parity now and a trans am won’t buy you an undefeated season anymore.
jason
October 28th, 2009
8:47 pm
Look for Gray in the zone option, but passing this time. Also, look for Charles on the TE Post route. It should be there after throwing long to Green and King a few times. Charles and White are the keys. The UF safties play deeper than anyone so to not give up the big play. If Charles and White get going, Green will follow with a huge game.
Danny Boy
October 28th, 2009
8:47 pm
Take UGA and 55 points. Bank on it!
Tripod
October 28th, 2009
8:48 pm
If uga is all that great, why can’t they get more than one national championship in the last 50 years?
My Dixie Wrecked
October 28th, 2009
8:51 pm
Tebow aint gonna lose to a defense that still doesn’t know how to tackle. Richt better have some new gimmicks. maybe people skipping across the cross bars or walking the camera wire.
beatdowns galore
October 28th, 2009
8:51 pm
Oh for crying out loud…. some of you blind homers think Richt is the only person that can coach UGA. He cant win the big ones! He is the worse game day coach in the nation. Gators will find their offense this weekend. In the long run it will open more eyes of the blind homers out there!
Hugh G Rection
October 28th, 2009
8:52 pm
I would give 55 points with uga
Patrick
October 28th, 2009
8:53 pm
SonOfBear, you are correct! There IS a lot of parity but it seems that buying referees instead of Trans Ams has paid off handsomely for some teams. If you’re a ‘Bama fan then I have no beef with you as I like to watch their defense kick some serious booty. Let’s hope the Tide can kick the Gators’ behinds but good if in fact the SECCG makes it happen.
a goofy toothy dawg fan
October 28th, 2009
8:58 pm
Im bringing my Glad trash bags with a “G” on them. Who do we play this weekend?
icedawg
October 28th, 2009
8:58 pm
It’ll probably be another embarrassment.
SonOfBear
October 28th, 2009
9:01 pm
I don’t think UF has to buy the refs. I think the SEC takes care of that. Protect the top two teams and get two into BCS bowls. Much more conference money.
Silent Majority
October 28th, 2009
9:05 pm
Let’s cut to the chase here. The magic won’t happen for the Dawgs until Richt is replaced with a Meyer~Miles~Sabin. It’s like professional football – the best coaches go where the money is. For enough $$$$, we can have any of those coaches. It’s that simple, really. Sack Richt and buy a winning coach.
I’m tired of suffering through this every year and being eliminated from any chance of winning the SEC by mid-season. Now… let’s all get together and make our voices count.
We can be winners again, it just takes the right coach.
Patrick
October 28th, 2009
9:06 pm
Amen to that, SonOfBear. Roll Tide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GTech78
October 28th, 2009
9:07 pm
Dawgs lose by 40+ points, another humiliation. I love it!
GTech78
October 28th, 2009
9:08 pm
The refs are NOT why UGA keeps losing.
Loud Minority
October 28th, 2009
9:08 pm
winners again? when were we winners like Meyers, Miles, or Saban’s teams? We have the money for them but would end up with a Charlie Weis or Rich Rod
Dabney93
October 28th, 2009
9:10 pm
Well, no, we were never big winners, not really.
Loud Minority
October 28th, 2009
9:15 pm
We can pay Paul Johnson more than the $2.5 Tech is giving him. He is obviously a winner. He embarrassed Richt last year with a team predicted to win 3 games. It’s weird to us…he overachieves instead of underachieving
Ford
October 28th, 2009
9:16 pm
190 comments on this blog as I write this. And of those 179 are from Techies and Techies pretending to be Gators. Amazing.
uuugh...
October 28th, 2009
9:27 pm
I hope tech plays a 2 loss Florida in a BCS bowl (w/ Alabama playing for BCS champ). Both teams run their QB all the time taking advantage of an extra blocker.
Maybe a bowl beat down like the one they got last year will humble the tech fan base.
They mock us for being frustrated because we are not better…and nobody is doing anything about it.
Tech fans are as bad as Florida fans these days. At least Florida has won something.
DawgVoiceofReason
October 28th, 2009
9:43 pm
There are few things more ironic than Gator fans coming on a Dawg blog lecturing UGA fans about a lack of class. Florida fans (with some exceptions) and it’s head coaches are the quintessential representation of lack of class. It seemed to have reached the nadir during the Spurrier years, when he single handledly became the most hated man in the entire SEC among ALL of the other teams. Until Urban Meyer set a new low last year with his two timeouts in victory over the Dawgs. Of course Mark Richt made a mistake the year before with the endzone celebration, but he never had any intention of insulting Florida and he both admitted his mistake and sincerely apologized to all that he had offended. Meyer DELIBERATELY CHOSE to rub it in Georgia’s face. He was not MAN enough or decent enough to win in style and let the victory speak for itself. But it was no surprise; he, like the University he represents, is TRASH and will NEVER have ANY CLASS. He could win more championships than any coach who ever lived but he will never have my respect with that approach. He may kiss Tebow’s rear but he obviously hasn’t learned anything about what Tebow promotes off the field.
GR82BAG8R
October 28th, 2009
9:45 pm
uuugh… Tech has won something as well (45 – 42). Florida fans have two out of the last three BCS NCs to revel in. Perhaps that is why they are “bad”. As far as Tech, they are mocking you because Georgia has much better talent, but yet performs much worse on the field. Tech does not have, and will not try to recruit blue chip athletes. AJC reported last year that Tech’s football team has the highest SAT scores of any public university. What does that tell you about what they are trying to build? No wonder they are giddy about the prospects of beating Georgia again this year. It’s like the smart kid in class beating up the class bully at recess.
I am looking forward to Saturday. Are you?
Mike T.
October 28th, 2009
10:11 pm
Tech has won something as well (45 – 42).
Yeah a fluke 42-45!
Georgia flat out sucks!
October 28th, 2009
11:28 pm
Hey mutts the weeds have over taken that 1 national title.Mark Richt hasn’t and never ever will win a national crown at UGAY. Keep him, nobody scared of UGAY and where are the flea bags ranked at? what can’t here you? 30 years of sucking,that’s ugay football for you!
GaCFB
October 29th, 2009
3:45 am
LSU (8-5) – 33 points
#14 Georgia Tech (9-4) – 3 points
*The power difference between the ACC’s top teams and the SEC’s top teams is very clear. 9 out of 10 times I’d take LSU/Florida/Alabama over Georgia Tech
Cha-cha-cha-cha-changes
October 29th, 2009
4:41 am
I hear that Mark Richt is going as Urban Meyer for Halloween this year.
red5.ws
October 29th, 2009
8:24 am
siiiiigh, another guy who doesn’t mind giving UF a home game every year.