Recap of the Weekend: Stressful first quarters and Bruce Springsteen., two things I can live without.

Well, folks, life is returning to normal here in NYC. The subways are running and power is back on in most of the city. Sandy's impact was felt by millions of people, some more than others, across the Tri-State area. I must say that I applaud the efforts of Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Cuomo and Governor Christie during this week. For an area that was as unprepared for a hurricane as Georgia is for a blizzard, they did a wonderful job. New Yorkers and New Jersey folks are resilient people. The press has reported the recovery and cleanup pretty much 24/7 and the above mentioned men have held press conferences to keep us up to date. During one press conference with Governor Christie, a female reporter posed the question, "Governor, Bruce Springsteen says that he is very impressed with your efforts here and he thinks you have done a fantastic job helping New Jersey get back on its feet. How do you feel about that?" Governor Christie handled it well, made a joke about it, and moved on quickly. I'll sum up his comments, non-PC style:

"Ummmmmm, cool? Good GOD, woman! I couldn't care less what that liberal jackass thinks right now. The Atlantic City boardwalk is in the %^$^$ ocean!"

I thought it was a question posed in poor taste and it was yet another "sign of the apocalypse" in terms of moronic human behavior. Amidst the utter destruction that is the Jersey Shore, we still care about the thoughts and opinions of millionaires who live in another reality. I know Springsteen is from Jersey, but my goodness. Let's call Kim Kardashian and discuss the reopening of the subway. Get Angelina on the horn, I'd like to know her opinion about when New Jersey Transit should go back fulltime. Better yet, get Snooki, I'm sure she has some really intelligent thoughts on the engineering specifications of the new dikes that will need to be constructed after the flooding. Ugh. I'm going to stop talking now before I put my head through a window.

On a lighter note, the Rebels of Ole Miss rolled into Sanford this weekend, looking to extend their SEC win streak to 3 games. A couple of weeks ago, I opined that Ole Miss would give us a hard time and we would vastly underperform. After watching the first half, my summation appeared to be correct. Then, as if some awesomely incandescent light bulb came on, our offense went on the warpath and destroyed Ole Miss. Jekyll and Hyde University, that is the best description of the team this season. We bullrushed #2 Florida into 6 turnovers, made them look pedestrian, and ruined their season. We come out against Ole Miss, whose lone SEC victories include Auburn and Arkansas, and make them look like contenders for a half. I just don't get us sometimes, but I will take a 27-point win  any day of the week.

We kick off and Ole Miss does not attempt a return, even though Blake Sailors was the only UGA player in the screen when the returner caught the ball. "Awesome, they are scared," I thought. Three plays later they are on our 25 yard line, courtesy of blown coverage. So much for them being scared. Their quarterback, Bo Wallace, is a tough cookie. I think he has transferred about 47 times but he seems to have found a home in Oxford. No, really. This guy went to Arkansas State and East Mississippi Community College before joining the Rebellion. I think there may have been a stop at Devry in there somewhere too. Anyhow, he threads the needle on a long pass and they end up with a field goal. Not the beginning I was looking for, but I was glad to hold them to three.

**Side note: I watched the Florida-Missouri.....game? It was as entertaining as watching gravel in my old driveway. I could not help but notice the empty seats in the Swamp. I guess they were too busy repainting their red wood decks to show up. Florida did its best to give Missouri the game and just completely bury themselves. Too bad for Missouri that James Franklin is absolutely terrible. Seriously, that guy could not hit a double wide if he was an F5 tornado.

We get the ball and instantly go into what I like to call "Georgia Tech" mode. That's when you suck beyond belief, can do nothing right, and cause even the hardest of diehards to question why they watch the game. Murray is sacked twice and we go three and out. The defensive end from Ole Miss abuses John Theus with aplomb and Dallas Lee does his best "Ole!!!!!" impression and Murray pops up with that damn "deer in the headlights" look. Three and out. Throwing into double coverage. False starts. It looked like an 8 and under game, I fully expected to see Kenarious Gates drawing pictures in the grass with his cleats and ask to go to the bathroom in the middle of a play. Ole Miss gets the ball and scores a touchdown on a tackle-eligible trick play to make it 10-0. The CBS announcers start with the "uh oh" talk and they show Hugh Freeze on the sidelines going nuts. I calmly walk to my bar in the apartment, pour a glass of Johnnie Walker, and stew on my couch. The Pourhouse has no power, we are losing 10-0 and I see a bunch of Florida chatter on Facebook..."Go Rebs," "Dawgs goin down," and "Over-rated!" I logged on to Delta.com to analyze whether I could fly down to Athens and get there before the game ended. I was going to re-enact a scene I saw after we lost to LSU in 2009. A drunken fan, in his anger, confronted Mike Bobo walking out of the press box and said, "why can't we just f***** beat somebody?!?" He repeated himself over and over. Bobo screamed obscenities at the man and he was removed from the stadium by police. I honestly had the same question. I was prepared to ask it after the first quarter yesterday.

The second quarter saw one of the craziest minutes of football I have ever witnessed. In a scene reminiscent of "The Longest Yard," there were four turnovers in six plays. Keith Marshall fumbles and gives it to Ole Miss in our territory. Two plays later, Ole Miss fumbles and Damian Swann runs it back to their 30. Two plays later, Todd Gurley fumbles and Ole Miss recovers. Then, Bo Wallace throws a 50 yard bomb, unfortunately for him, his receiver was 60 yards downfield and Alec Ogletree intercepts. Despite this video game action, we manage two touchdowns in the quarter to take the lead.  Murray does his best David Greene, hides the ball on a fake handoff and finds a wide open Marlon Brown for six. Then, before the half, he hits Tavares King on a forty yarder that gives us a 14-10 lead. You feel the tide turning and the Rebs seemed spent going into the locker room.  Although I felt better, the lack of urgency from the team really disturbed me. These "coming out flat" games are getting old.

Well, if the first half was flat, then the second half was a beach ball inflated to the size of Pine Log, Georgia. Murray absolutely roasted their secondary. 384 yards and it could have been more if Richt had not backed off in the fourth quarter. Malcolm Mitchell scored on a pass with about 12 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter and you could watch Ole Miss literally start packing up on the sideline. By the time the quarter ended, Ole Miss was already in Cullman, Alabama in their minds. The defense clamped down hard and Wallace ran for his life. The little screen plays that worked in the first half were snuffed out. Alec Ogletree was all over the field. He had 11 tackles and caused a safety with about a minute to go in the 3rd. Jarvis was his usual disruptive self. Damian Swann gets better each week, that guy just seems to be in the right spot all the time. Ole Miss's defense, on the other hand, was the opposite of clamped down. They were a leaky O-ring that burst and their proverbial septic tank filled their backyard, the backhoe operator called in sick and they were downwind all weekend. Zander Ogletree, Alec's twin brother, scored his first career touchdown. He has filled in for Merrit Hall nicely. Rantavious Wooten, in a moment of clarity, actually caught a pass for a touchdown. Wooten has been synonymous with dropped passes. In fact, there are only a few things I am more sure of than a Wooten drop during a UGA game:

1) Keith Richards is going to light a cigarette one day and just disappear in a cloud of smoke and methadone resin. (this also applies to Ozzy Osborne, Dickie Betts and possibly Gregg Allman)

2) Jay Cutler will frown when his kid is born and say, "Damn, took you long enough."

3) The Falcons will lose a game and everybody will fall off the bandwagon so hard that Jim Cantore will show up in Atlanta to report the earthquake.

4) I WILL NOT watch Honey Boo Boo.

5) Georgia Tech will listen to "Call Me Maybe" and have a towel fight in the shower after practice this week.

In any event, we did extremely well in the second half and any Dawg fan would have to feel optimistic about our chances to return to Atlanta. We just have to get through Auburn, who is limping through a terrible season and will likely lose 137-0 to Alabama in a few weeks. Gene Chizik was actually seen scoping properties in Charlotte so he can be closer to Cam and ride his coattails some more. Cam is having a tough time these days, so riding his coattails might be harder with people like Patrick Willis battering him into submission every week. It warms the heart, it really does.

So, we move on to the Plains soon. We will be without Marlon Brown, who tore his ACL, thereby ending his UGA career. Thanks for the memories, Marlon. Personally, I hope we slap a giant nail in the coffin of the Auburn Tigers. I don't want Richt to let up. I don't want the game to get out of hand, I want it to get of the the stratosphere. They will be upset minded but if we come out clicking on all cylinders, I expect a beatdown. Plenty of recruits will be there and they need to see that Auburn is nothing more than Clemson with a lake and a fight song they stole from us. Go Dawgs!

Other highlights:

1) I attended the first professional sports event in Brooklyn, NY since the Dodgers left. It's not often you get to be part of history, but I was. I guess this is how Auburn feels right now, they are making history for so many people right now.

2) Alabama/LSU was the bloodbath that everyone expected. McCarron showed real poise in leading the Tide down the field in 1:30 to win the game in the most hostile stadium in college football. I always enjoy when the TV cameras pan the crowd in Baton Rouge, I swear I saw one guy eating a truck tire.

3) Kansas State and Oregon have an outside shot to play for the national championship. Could you imagine? "Let's go boys, dozens of people are ready to watch the game." (+1 for League of Their Own reference) Let's hope for the sake of fans everywhere that this does not happen. That would be like a World Series between Toronto and Cleveland, people would purposefully have to do laundry every night just so they wouldn't have to watch it.