Live from G-Day: Stafford, Moreno return! (But only to coach)

Athens – I apologize in advance. There’s every chance I will, during the course of today’s live blog, refer to Joe Cox as Bobby Cox. Due to the two-hour rain delay Friday night and Mike Gonzalez’s extremely odd blown save early Saturday morning, I didn’t get home from Turner Field until 2:07 a.m. EDT. I left for the Classic City at 9:07. Full disclosure: I took a half-hour nap in the car, though not while driving.

So here I am. I just spent 40 minutes fooling around down on the field taking pictures and shooting video, some of which will be posted here as the afternoon proceeds. I talked to Garrison Hearst, who was playing in the alumni flag football game, and he said Knowshon Moreno was a better collegiate back than he ever was. (I don’t know about that. Hearst was really good himself.)

Speaking of whom … Moreno is “coaching” one side in the spring game today, and his partner-in-yardage Matthew Stafford is “coaching” the other. Moreno showed up wearing a visor, just like Spurrier. Stafford showed up wearing shorts, though not jean shorts, which makes him not quite like a hated Gator.

Follow along as the day progresses and I’ll keep you apprised of any other fashion developments. And I’ll try to get around to football at some point.

Halftime update: It’s 3-all at the break, and I’d have to say this isn’t even the worst spring game I’ve seen in the past year. (Nothing will ever top, if that’s the right word, Georgia Tech’s wretched display of April 2008. And let the record reflect that the team seemed to do quite well once the real football began.)

I’d have to say Logan Gray looked a little better than Joe Cox that half, which probably doesn’t mean much. And I’d have to say Willie Martinez’s defense didn’t give up a touchdown, which is a heck of a lot better than it did when last Georgia played on this field. (I believe Tech was involved in that game, too.)

And I just saw Mark Richt leaving the WSB radio booth and I told him that was the best-coached half of Georgia football I’d seen since Jim Donnan left. “That’s because I was up here,” Richt said. We both laughed. (For the record, I was kidding. I’m a kidder.)

Second-half update: The legendary Vince Dooley is sitting behind me, and I asked him to name the greatest spring-game performance he ever saw. He couldn’t think of even one. I asked him if Herschel Walker ever played in a spring game.

Said Vince: “I don’t even remember.” He turned to the legendary Dan Magill and said, “Dan would remember.”

Magill, who knows everything about every Bulldog ever, said Herschel did not participate in any G-Day festivities. He was always off running track or signing with the USFL.

Final recap: Andrew Jensen kicked a 48-yard field goal to put the Red team ahead with 5:47 left, and Carlton Thomas ran 20 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play to seal it. Red 13, Black 3. Not the best spring game ever played, but not the worst, either.

Writing a column now. (With more Bradley video to come!) I’ll keep checking back here periodically to see if fisticuffs have broken out. And thanks for hanging with me so far.