Posts

An Ode to Niumat

-
An Ode to  Niumat Ken  Niumatalolo  is the best head ball coach in the history of service academies. Every article written should have started with the sentence above. It isn’t particularly close either. To compete on a national level for over a decade with the restrictions and limitations of a service academy in the 21st century does not, under any circumstance, deserve a firing. He deserves better. I hope this is one small way for him to get  the respect he earned . In high school I thought maybe I would have a shot to play for Coach Ken. It didn’t work out, but I got to know him in another way. Two or three times a week at lunch, Coach Ken played tennis on the courts behind our dorm. On my way to class, I sometimes walked by and talked to him about the previous or upcoming game. It was never serious, not like I figured out how to beat an opponent’s scheme or anything, just some fun moments usually trying to convince him to move DJ Sargenti to linebacker (a  decision  that worked out
Post a Comment
Read more

Plant Where You'll Bloom: 2022 College Football Lesson Two

-
Plant Where You'll Bloom There is a saying I consider famous: "bloom where you're planted". I understand it as a way to say wherever you find yourself, make the most of it and find success. On the surface I think that is appropriate and a good mentality, and in a lot of ways you probably cannot control where you are "planted". But when you can control it, I believe the better attitude to have is to plant yourself somewhere you can bloom. Last week College Gameday did a special on Nick Saban's assistants, in what I like to call the Nick Saban Coaching Rehabilitation Program. In short, he has a history of taking struggling coaches under his wing and churning them out like a machine back into the head coaching world, with many finding success in their new roles. I don't hide it at all, to the displeasure of many of my fellow Georgia fans, but I keep Coach Saban in a very high regard and have no doubt his actions help these other coaches out. As highly a
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Coaching Matters: 2022 College Lesson One

-
Why Coaching Matters   For those looking for the regular UGA analysis, I decided to switch it up  this season because the pressure is finally out of Athens and certainly no  one at Georgia needs my opinion. There are, however, many programs across the  country who could benefit, and I also want to relate more to life than  to football. So instead each week I’ll discuss a major takeaway from the  games and how it translates to a quality lesson of life. I will also steer  this towards young men, because I feel young men are the overlooked  population in today’s society and they need all the help and mentorship  possible to grow strong and effective in life - that isn’t to say young  women can’t learn from this though because every lesson will be mostly  universal. I really wish my biggest takeaway from week one is how Georgia and Alabama  will be the clear apex predators once again this season. While that’s true  so far in my mind, and it is time to formally recognize Todd Monken as the 
1 comment
Read more

2022 College Football Predictions

-
Playoff teams: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Alabama 4. Southern Cal I will explain more why I like Georgia's chances at the end, but you always have to respect a reigning champ with a lot of returning talent. I like Ohio State's schedule and CJ Stroud played really well towards the end of the year. They get Notre Dame and Wisconsin at home, back to back games against Iowa and on the road to Penn State might be a challenge, but the only game that really scares me is away at Sparty. They avoid Purdue on the road and a strong finish last season could lead them to a strong year. Alabama is a given until Saban retires, but I have them at #3 since I think they lose to Georgia in Atlanta. A returning Heisman winner is always a solid offseason but even without the future top ten draft pick they have probably the best defense in the country. Southern Cal finishes my list, although I don't see them as a top-4 team. They have a favorable schedule, with one concerning game away at Utah
Post a Comment
Read more

Villanova Basketball, Class of 2006 – the Best Recruiting Class you Never Heard of

-
Villanova Basketball is to my father like Georgia Football is to me. If he could trade all his other teams for the success of his small Catholic alma mater, he would. Luckily he doesn’t have to. As an alumnus, my dad experienced three Villanova national championships (’85, ’16, ’18) and unrivaled success in Big East and national competition. As they punch their ticket to their seventh Final Four appearance, fourth under the leadership of the best coach in NCAA history not named John Wooden, I think about where Nova was as I grew up. The guys used to laugh when I told them how good Villanova was. Very few of my friends even heard of them at that point, and even fewer believed they had a chance to become the juggernaut Jay Wright built. But I knew, maybe with a lot of optimism, but really I knew they would make it happen. The base for my belief was in the class of 2006 – Jason Fraser, Randy Foye, Allan Ray, and Curtis Sumpter – along with 2007 grad and current assistant Mike Nardi and
Post a Comment
Read more

Rafa and Roger: the Most Likeable Legends

-
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are what every sports star should strive to be like. While sports media will focus on Tom Brady and his retirement, and rightfully so as he is probably the overall greatest sportsman to ever live, one of my favorite stories of the week unfolded on the tennis courts of Australia.  Before expressing my gratitude for Rafa’s magical career and Roger’s brilliant victories, it’s important to highlight the success of Ash Barty, the first Australian woman to win in Melbourne in decades. For someone to nearly walk away from the sport altogether and come back to dominate is impressive, so congratulations to her and her team. If you asked a younger me about tennis, I’d probably laugh and say tennis is a sissy sport. No contact, don’t care. But as I grew in maturity and perspective I found an interest in the game. There’s a lot to love about tennis: anything that encourages fitness is a positive activity, you can find courts in a lot of places, it’s relatively cheap
Post a Comment
Read more

2021 UGA Football: National Championship

-
UGA Instant Analysis  Championship Week: W @ Alabama; 14-1 For the first time in my life I got to celebrate a Georgia Football national championship. As a fan, I’m so excited for this team I love to finally come out on top; some of my best memories involve UGA and my wife (the actual bulldawg) and this just makes it all sweeter. As a father, I’m so happy for these young kids to experience such joy. As a leader, I’m so proud to see Kirby Smart set the example he does for these young men and for the state. I’ll keep the analysis short and mostly positive to leave room to talk about these young savages.  The offense looked bad early. Really for three quarters I didn’t have much faith. For all the gushing over Stetson this week, he played poorly and got bailed out by his defense. I really think if a Bryce Young-type QB led this team they probably win by 40. But he kept it together and delivered in the end to get the job done.  The real UGA MVP was Jake Camarda. He won’t get the credit he d
Post a Comment
Read more