All right people, here is today’s question for discussion:  With just one month left in the season, is now the time for Georgia to un-redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray?

AJC sports columnist Mark Bradley thinks so.  Murray is Georgia’s quarterback of the future, so why not get him in there now and let him get some meaningful playing time under his feet, so that he will be able to hit the ground running in 2010?  And if Murray turns out to really not be all that, then better to find out now so that you will have the entire offseason to develop contingency plans.  Right?

Just one problem with that, argues AJC sports columnist Jeff Schultz.  You see, if Georgia were a professional team, it would make perfect sense to give up on an apparently lost season midway through and start looking at younger prospects, getting them into the game, and making plans for the future.  Happens all the time in professional sports.  All professional sports.  But Georgia is not a professional team.  Georgia is a college team.  And some of the players on Georgia’s team are seniors.  Some of these seniors will play in the NFL, but some will never play another down of football for as long as they live after they leave Georgia.  When you give up and start making plans for next season, it is monumentally unfair to the guys who are not going to be around next season.

Okay people, what do you think?  Discuss.

Well, it is about time to start thinking of where Georgia will wind up in a bowl game–that is, if Georgia winds up in a bowl game this year.  There are a few possibilities floating around out there, and none of them seem to be particularly appetizing.

Most analysts have Georgia playing Missouri in the Independence Bowl.  The Independence Bowl–the Booby Hatch of bowl games if ever there was one.  Most teams that have an unsatisfying season get to sit home and lay low during the months of December and January and try again next year.  But not the two unlucky teams who get selected for this little jaunt.  No, these teams must suffer the additional indignity of going to Shreveport, Louisiana–that most exotic of postseason destinations–and having to appear incurably excited about it.

I can tell you all about that.  In 1991, my sophomore year at Georgia, we went to the Independence Bowl.  The weather was awful–overcast with highs in the 40s and 50s every day that we were there.  Our hotel was a roach-infested rat trap located on the eastern edge of Bossier City.  But it did have a nightclub–that was one redeeming virtue.  The high point of the trip was the parade through downtown Shreveport.  There are towns in war-torn Bosnia that have more attractive and vibrant downtown areas than Shreveport did in 1991.  I seem to recall passing not more than 200 people during the course of the entire parade.  When the game was over and we were leaving the stadium, one erstwhile Redcoat commented, “THE BOWL TRIP FROM HELL IS OVER!!!!!”

The title sponsor for the Independence Bowl that year was Poulan WeedEater.  (Larry Munson:  “Weedeaters are falling from the sky!!!!!!!”)  This year, the title sponsor is a company called AdvoCare.  Never heard of them?  Not to worry–your ever-faithful Jono had never heard of them until now.  Seems they are a company that specializes in nutrition and sports performance products, and they have a hellaceous business opportunity for anyone who is interested in selling their products.  Here is their website.

There are a couple of alternatives floating out there.  Some pundits have Georgia playing Florida State in the Music City Bowl.  Of course that would bring back inevitable memories and comparisons with Georgia’s last trip there.  That was in 2001, Year 1 of the Mark Richt era.  The weather was very cold and blecky in Nashville that year.  Georgia lost a heartbreaker to Boston College despite having vastly superior talent.  But it was clear to all that Mark Richt was only getting started, and better days were coming soon for Georgia.  To wind up back in the Music City Bowl in Year 9 would leave us all with the inexorable feeling of having come full circle, with the best days of the Mark Richt era far behind us and no prospects of anything better in the near present future.  That would be yet another reminder to all that this once-proud Georgia program has lost its way.  As if we haven’t had enough of those over the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, the erstwhile peeps over at CBS Sports have Georgia playing Houston in the Liberty Bowl.  That would not be too bad–except for just one problem.  This year’s Liberty Bowl comes after New Years Day.  And it isn’t a BCS game.  Which means that nobody will watch the thing–except maybe Elvis.  He’s in Memphis.  Memphis does have some nice places to visit:  Graceland, Beale Street, the Sun Recording Studio, and the Stax Museum of American Soul.  Shreveport offers nothing like that–except maybe a couple of casinos on the river.  And it’s anybody’s guess as to how those made out in the recent Midwest flooding.

Then again, Georgia is not even bowl eligible yet.  And there is no guarantee that Georgia will get bowl eligible.  They should–but that is not guaranteed.  And if Georgia should fail to attain bowl eligibility this year–that just might be the best outcome of all.

–I got your homecoming pics right here, baby.  If you want to see the full monty, you need to check out my Facebook page.  But for the benefit of those of you who are not interconnected with me via Facebook, here is a small sampling:

For those of you who are wondering what it actually looks like to be on the field at Sanford Stadium, here you are.

The Redcoats performing their halftime show.  This show was a melange of 1960’s British Invasion songs, including The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”, The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”, and a song by the Who (I don’t remember which one).

Hey, we actually beat somebody!!!!!  LOOK OUT FLORIDA!!!!!

The Redcoats performing after the game.

–I actually saw Michael Adams on my way out of the stadium.  (There is no picture of him.  I did not wish to be overly obtrusive by taking his picture or asking to take his picture.  So you’ll just have to accept this on faith.)  I said to him, “You look suspiciously like Michael Adams!”  And he said, “Yes I do, don’t I.”

–I’ve seen the shots of Nick Saban on TV.  Ever since taking over the Alabama job, he looks a little bit shorter, a little bit older, and a little bit more like a complete and total dweeb.

–OK Alabama fans, I’ll say it straight out:  YOUR COACH IS A DWEEB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

–I actually went out and gathered a little bit of data about our homecoming opponent.  Tennessee Tech University is located in Cookeville, Tennessee, which is right on I-40, exactly halfway between Nashville and Knoxville.  Here is their website.

Tennessee Tech’s mascot is the Golden Eagles–kinda like Southern Miss, but a little smaller.  They play football in Division 1-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision by those who insist upon quibbling about such things.  They are part of the Ohio Valley Conference, which includes such erstwhile powers as Austin Peay, Murray State, Morehead State, Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois (actually Southern Illinois-Edwardsville–didn’t know Southern Illinois had multiple campuses), Tennessee State, Jacksonville State, Southeast Missouri, Eastern Kentucky, and Tennessee-Martin.

We do what we can here at Everyone’s Entitled to Joe’s Opinion to keep our peeps well-informed.

–Last week a San Antonio Spurs game went into a delay because a bat (not a baseball bat–a real live bat) found its way into the arena and was flying around near the court.  Then Manu Ginobili took charge of the situation with his lightning-quick reflexes.  Here is the video:

Now Manu Ginobili did what any sensible person (with his lightning-quick reflexes, that is) would do in that situation.  Anyone, that is, except for the peeps over at PETA.  They issued this statement in response to the incident.  And Manu Ginobili issued this response over at his Facebook page.  Notice that his response deals more with the fact that bats potentially carry rabies than with anything that PETA said in their statement.

–Congratulations Willie Martinez:  Your defense played an awesome game this week.  Now why couldn’t you have done that against Tennessee or Florida?????

–So what exactly did we accomplish by beating up on poor hapless Tennessee Tech this weekend?  We showed that our team still has a pulse.  That has been very much in question up until this point in the season.

–I have another Michael Spencer post that I want you people to take a look at.  As someone who grew up in the Catholic Church, I totally get what he is expressing here.  And I want you, my fellow evangelicals, to take a good, long, hard look at your churches and at the evangelical landscape beyond your churches, and ask yourselves in complete, utter, brutal honesty:  “Is this the best we can do?”

I am not convinced by the Catholic answers to such issues as the authority/infallibility thing, the perpetual virginity of Mary, etc.  My reasons are basically the same as what has been articulated down through the centuries by many Protestants who are much smarter than I am and who are able to express themselves much more eloquently, so I see no reason to rehash all of that right now.  But is it worth being right on these issues–or at least having a position which I believe to be sufficiently defensible–in order to be where we are now as evangelicals?  If we as evangelicals are right on these issues, then how on earth can we be so wrong in so many other ways?

Let’s face it, people:  We as evangelicals are now just as much in need of reformation as the Catholic Church back in the 1500s ever was–if not more so.

–Here’s the thing about the “man-talk” which Michael Spencer refers to and which is so pervasive in evangelicalism:  There’s not really anything wrong with it per se.  Some men are much smarter than I am and have very good ideas about what God is like and what His word has to say to us, and have the ability to articulate those ideas very well.  But at the end of the day, doesn’t all this “man-talk” leave you feeling kinda empty on the inside?

–Looking at Auburn’s win over Furman this weekend, here is the good news for next week:  Furman, a Division 1-AA team, rang up 35 on Auburn’s defense.  That would seem to indicate that our offense should be able to do at least a little something against Auburn.  The bad news:  Auburn dropped 62 on Furman.  Willie Martinez’s defense is dreadfully ineffective–at least against teams not in the Ohio Valley Conference.  The last time I checked, Auburn is not part of the Ohio Valley Conference.

–AJC sports columnist Mark Bradley can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Georgia’s postseason picture.  And it ain’t a pretty sight, people.

–Me vs Lane Kiffin:  0-0.  Mark Richt vs Lane Kiffin:  0-1.

–Here is why you should be concerned if you are a Georgia fan.  Not because Georgia is no longer worthy to be on the same football field as Florida, Alabama, or LSU.  That’s old news.  We knew that already.  But check this out:  Vanderbilt and Kentucky are not in any danger of disrupting the SEC East pecking order anytime soon.  They’re Vanderbilt and Kentucky.  Tennessee, however, has already kicked the shit out of Georgia and South Carolina, and played Florida and Alabama without completely and totally embarrassing themselves.  (Can’t say that about Georgia.)  Which means that Georgia and South Carolina will now be duking it out for third place in the SEC East.  And with Steve Spurrier at South Carolina, it is by no means automatic that South Carolina will just roll over and let Georgia have it.  Guess what folks?  That’s how it was back in the days of Ray Goof.  And we’re headed right back there, if things continue on their present trajectory.

–So should Georgia un-redshirt Aaron Murray now, with only a month left in the season?  AJC sports columnist Mark Bradley thinks so.  Murray is Georgia’s quarterback of the future, so go ahead and get him some meaningful playing time now so that he doesn’t start 2010 as an unproven and untested quarterback.  And if he proves to not be all that, then you have the entire offseason to develop contingency plans.

Just one problem with that, argues AJC sports columnist Jeff Schultz.  This is college football.  Some of the players on Georgia’s team are seniors.  Some of these seniors will play in the NFL, but others will never play a down of football again for as long as they live after they play their last game at Georgia.  Getting Aaron Murray into the game for no other purpose than to begin pre-planning for 2010 would do a huge disservice to the guys who will not be here in 2010.

–Logan Gray actually completed a pass today.  And to one of his own teammates, too.  If you wish to see the evidence of this, it is on my Facebook page.

–So how’s the weather in Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica?  Today’s high:  -32.  Tonight’s low:  -41.  Windchill:  -79.

It’s about time for that coaching carousel to start cranking up in full gear.  And it figures to spin fast and furious this year.  So before it gets going too fast, let us take our annual peak at who figures to be on the hot seat this year.

Mark Richt, Georgia: Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks, you knew this already.  The good news for Mark Richt is that he has built up a sizeable amount of goodwill over the years, and this should be enough to keep him around another year or two at least.  Also, getting rid of Willie Martinez will go a long way toward removing the heat.

Al Groh, Virginia: The pressure on Groh seems to have been building for several years now, and has reached a fever pitch after an 0-3 start which included embarrassing losses to William and Mary and TCU.

Ralph Friedgen, Maryland: Ralph Friedgen, the erstwhile assistant to George O’Leary at Georgia Tech, took Maryland to the Orange Bowl back in 2001, his first year.  Unfortunately, he hasn’t done much of anything since.  And with Maryland foundering to a 2-6 start this year, the fans are kind of restless.

Bobby Bowden, Florida State: Sad to say it, but it’s true.  After owning the ACC all through the 90s and early 00s, Florida State has become something of an afterthought in recent years.  And the fans are not liking it.  Rumor has it that Bobby Bowden will be back next year, but all he will do is hold the clipboard.  Jimbo Fisher will do the rest.

Rich Rodriguez, Michigan: For a coach who is only two years into his tenure, Rich Rodriguez sure is taking a lot of heat.  With a 1-4 run that includes a 38-13 beatdown at the hands of lowly Illinois, he has not done himself any favors.  The fact that NCAA investigators are swirling around Ann Arbor digging into whether or not Michigan broke time limits during summer practice is not helping matters any.

Ron Zook, Illinois: Illinois had a good run of success through the mid-00’s, including a Rose Bowl appearance in 2007.  But now Illinois is foundering at 2-6 at the bottom of the Big Ten.  Wonder if fireronzook.com is back up and running?

Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville: Since replacing Bobby Petrino at the end of 2006 he is 13-17.  His teams have lost their last 8 against BCS opponents.  He has dropped 3 straight to rival Kentucky and 2 straight to a dreadful Syracuse team.

Tommy West, Memphis: Since winning 17 games in 2003-04, he has been positively dreadful.

Mike Sherman, Texas A&M: Supposedly he is rebuilding, but it is not going well at all.  He suffered an embarrassing loss to Arkansas State in his first year, and just a couple of weeks back he got punked 62-14 by a really bad Kansas State team.  Texas A&M may not keep him around if they can get a program-changer like Cincinnati’s Jim Kelly or TCU’s Gary Patterson.

Bob Toledo, Tulane: At 8-20 in three seasons, he has largely proven to be a bust.  But with the Saints winning, maybe no one will notice.

Charlie Weis, Notre Dame: At the start of this season, the speculation was that anything short of a BCS bowl would not be enough to save his job.  Good news:  If Charlie Weis gets canned, maybe Notre Dame will poach Urban Meyer from Florida and save us all a lot of heartache.  Bad news:  That fourth-quarter rally against Southern Cal may have taken some of the heat off.

Mike Locksley, New Mexico: Granted it’s only his first year, but starting out 0-7 will not win you very many plus points.

Paul Wulff, Washington State: 3-18 in three years.  ‘Nuff said.

Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica, is a crazy place.  It is consistently one of the coldest places on the face of the earth, with temperatures well below -100 degrees (Fahrenheit) and windchills well below -130 during the height of the Antarctic winter.

The sun does crazy things in the sky over Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica, as well.  The sky is pitch black for six months out of the year, but around the end of September you start to see some light.  Around the end of October the sun starts to peek above the horizon.  Now the sun does not move straight across the sky, the way it does here in Georgia.  Instead, it moves counterclockwise in a wide circle at the horizon.  Gradually it moves upward in a corkscrew-type motion, until it reaches 23.5 degrees above the horizon.  This happens around the end of December.  For the next two months it corkscrews back downward, until the end of February when it starts to drop below the horizon.  By the end of March all light has disappeared from the sky over Amundsen-Scott Station.

For those of you who don’t know, Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica, is a U. S. research station located at the South Pole.  It is so named to honor the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who was the first to reach the South Pole, and the Englishman Robert Scott, who reached it a month later and died during the return trip.

Robert Scott was a British naval officer who first made his claim to fame by leading an expedition to Antarctica in 1901-1904.  During the course of this expedition Scott journeyed southward and got to within 530 miles of the South Pole.  Scott returned home as a popular hero.  He won numerous awards for his expedition, including the Legion of Honor.

In 1910 Scott decided to have another go at the Antarctic.  This time his objective was to reach the South Pole.  Now of course Scott had his own ideas about how to go about this.  Sled dogs and skis had proven to be a superior technology, but Scott wanted nothing to do with this.  He showed a marked preference for this thing called “man-hauling”, which consisted of using manpower to propel sledges.  His use of sled dogs during this expedition was strictly an afterthought.

Well, in October 1910 Scott got the word that Roald Amundsen was headed toward the South Pole as well, and that his expedition would actually be a race.  The expedition arrived at Antarctica in early 1911, just in time for the onset of the Antarctic winter.  The idea was that they would reach their starting point, hunker down for the winter, and set out for the South Pole when the weather improved.  Unfortunately, their ship got stuck in ice and they missed their intended starting point by about 35 miles.  They learned that Amundsen was camped 200 miles to their east and a good ways closer to the South Pole, but Scott refused to alter his plans.

In November 1911 Scott and his crew set out for the South Pole.  But there was little communication about who was to do what, what all those horses and dogs were to be used for, etc.  This resulted in much confusion.  In January 1912 Scott reached the South Pole, only to find that Amundsen had beat his ass by five weeks.  There was a Norwegian flag at the South Pole, with a note taped to it along with instructions for Scott to take it and deliver it to the king of Norway.  (How’s that for rubbing it in?)

The return trip did not go well at all.  The weather deteriorated, the health of Scott’s men declined, and by March 1912, Scott was snowed in about 11 miles short of his starting point.  There he and the last of his men died.

Robert Scott was a nice guy who did some amazing things early on in his career.  Because of his early success, he was very well-liked by his friends and countrymen.  But in this race, Robert Scott finished last, and did not even live to tell the tale.

In this expedition, Scott failed because there was confusion, misunderstanding, and poor use of resources.  No one knew what on earth to do with all those dogs and horses.  Scott failed because he was intractable in his plan–he had a game plan and by golly he was going to stick to it.  He would not make adjustments for anything or anyone.  Scott failed because of his dogged insistence upon the use of “man-hauling”.  He included dogs in his expedition only as an afterthought.  Amundsen, on the other hand, knew all about sled dogs and what to do with them, and he used them to great effect.  He did not fool around; his expedition was “lean, mean, and ready for tonight”.

Sound familiar, people?  Because if you change the sport to football, Robert Scott to Mark Richt, and Roald Amundsen to Urban Meyer, the story is exactly the same.

Mark Richt was a coach who became wildly popular both inside and outside of the great Bulldog Nation because of his early successes.  He did tremendous things in the early years of his career, just as Robert Scott did tremendous things on his first expedition to the Antarctic.

But then Urban Meyer showed up, just as Amundsen showed up as Scott was setting out on his expedition to the South Pole.  Mark Richt was unprepared to deal with him, just as Scott was unprepared to deal with Amundsen.  Mark Richt and his staff continued on, business as usual, when it was perfectly obvious that fresh new approaches would be required to deal with the challenges posed by Urban Meyer.  And the result was the train wreck that we saw in Jacksonville last Saturday.

Now bear in mind that, though Florida was ranked No. 1, they had plenty of issues to go around.  They were sorely missing deep threat Percy Harvin.  Tim Tebow was nursing a concussion, and the offense was terribly sluggish.  They had struggled to beat LSU, Arkansas, and Mississippi State in previous weeks, and had looked very unimpressive in doing so.

But all that went out the window the moment this game started.  Florida scored on their first two possessions.  They made it look as if there was nobody on the field playing for Georgia.  Then the Georgia defense figured some things out and actually managed to stop Florida a few times.  Georgia’s offense figured some things out as well, enough to pull within 14-10.

But then Florida kicked a long field goal to go up 17-10.  At first this appeared to be a fine defensive stop, but on closer examination it turned out that Georgia didn’t even have enough men on the field for that play, and there was not even the slightest attempt to block the kick.  The offense went backward on the next series.  Florida got the ball back.  Tim Tebow burst through the Georgia line, made the first guy miss, and he was gone.  24-10 Florida.  Game over.

There was still a half of football to be played, but Georgia might as well have not even shown up.  Joe Cox was intercepted on his first throw of the second half, and just like that it was 31-10 Florida.  Georgia scored a touchdown to pull within 31-17, and was theoretically right back in it.  But Cox just kept throwing interceptions.  Logan Gray came on, and showed us on his very first snap why he hasn’t gotten more meaningful playing time this season.  By the time it was all said and done, it was 41-17 Florida, and it really shouldn’t have been that close.

Now spare me the reading of Richt’s resume.  Seven 10-plus win seasons, two SEC championships, three SEC championship game appearances, three BCS bowl appearances–I get it.  And spare me the sermon about Mark Richt’s excellence in character–I get it.  (By the way, has anyone else out there noticed that Mark Richt has not won a single championship of any stripe since 2005–Urban Meyer’s first year in the SEC?)

Robert Scott was a nice man, and a very popular man, who accomplished a lot on his first trip to tht Antarctic.  Just as Mark Richt is a nice and popular man who accomplished a lot during the early part of his Georgia career.  But in the race to the South Pole, Scott lost.  Badly.  And not only did he lose, he didn’t even live to tell about it.

There is a similar race going on between Mark Richt and Urban Meyer.  In this race, Mark Richt is losing.  Badly.  Just like Robert Scott.  And if things continue on their present trajectory, Mark Richt will not live to tell the tale.  He will end up getting snowed in and dying, only a few miles short of his goal.  Just like Robert Scott.

By the way, read Birmingham News sports columnist Kevin Scarbinsky’s take on the Mark Richt situation.  He makes some excellent points.

–You’ll never guess what they’re selling at Wal-Mart now.  Take a gander at this, people.  No, seriously.

–We love to imagine how big and important we are, and what momentous consequences our actions have upon the world around us.  Especially if you hear the global warming advocates talk.  But consider this:  If you were to build a building fifteen stories high and roughly two-thirds the size of the state of Georgia, you would have enough space to house every person living on the face of the earth, with three thousand square feet of living space per person.  Do the math.  Think about it.  Or consider this:  If you were to get all the people in the world into one big space, standing room only, how big do you think that space would have to be?  Fifteen miles by fifteen miles (roughly the size of Buckhead and Midtown put together) would be sufficient.

–I went to visit my sister in DC for Labor Day weekend.  While I was there, I heard a song on the radio that I liked.  A few days later, I realized who it was that sang the song, and I had a reaction remarkably similar to this:

The song that I thought I liked was sung by Leann Rimes.

–Me vs Lane Kiffin:  0-0.  Mark Richt vs Lane Kiffin:  0-1.

–Seen on a friend’s Facebook page:  “Athens, GA:  A drinking town with a Mark Richt, Willie Martinez, and Mike Bobo problem.”

–This Georgia team did about as well as could be expected against Florida.  Which only goes to show that in order for Georgia to improve, serious changes are in order.  Yes, I mean staff changes.

–Seriously.  After the game, one CBS announcer quipped that if you’re struggling on offense and need to get well, you play Georgia.  If that doesn’t convince you that Willie Martinez needs to go, then I don’t know what will.

–But enough of that.  Let’s turn our minds toward less gloomy subjects, like the weather in Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica.  Today’s high:  -32.  Tonight’s low:  -47.  Windchill:  -70.

–The sun does crazy things in the sky down at Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica.  First of all, it stays dark down there for six months out of the entire year.  Eventually, around the end of September, you start to see a little bit of light in the sky.  Around the end of October, you actually start to see the sun.  It doesn’t move straight across the sky like it does here.  Instead, it makes a huge circle right around the horizon, moving counterclockwise and corkscrewing up until it gets to 23.5 degrees above the horizon at around the end of December.  Then it starts to corkscrew back down again.  It disappears below the horizon around the end of February, and by the end of March, the sky reverts to total blackness.

–So do I make Amundsen-Scott Station sound like a great place to live?  How about a great place to send Willie Martinez and Mike Bobo?

Not that I actually expect this to happen.  I am a realist, you know.  But just on the off chance…

Here is a nifty little rant that I put up the morning of Florida-Georgia 2007.  I think it might have worked–Georgia actually did beat Florida that year.  Take a gander, people.

Who knows?  A Georgia fan can always hope and dream.

Guess what, people?  It’s Florida-Georgia time again!!!!!  And you know what that means:  Time to hop into the time machine and take a blast into the past.  Might as well, because there is not much reason to expect this year’s Florida-Georgia to be worth remembering–unless you are doing some extremely potent drugs.

So back back back in the time machine we go…where we stop nobody knows!!!!!!!!!!

Unless you’ve been living under a mammoth size rock, you are no doubt well aware that singer Kanye West had a little moment (shall we say) at the MTV awards this year.  For those of you who really and truly don’t know what happened:  Watch this video.  Watch what happens at around the 0:44 mark.

In the spirit of this, we are going to blast right back to the original Kanye West moment.  The moment that was no doubt running through Kanye West’s mind when he got the inspiration to pull this little stunt.  Yes, it all started right here on a rainy Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida, right in the middle of a Florida-Georgia game.

The clock was down to less than 30 seconds left in the game.  Georgia had moved the ball right down the field, and had it first-and-goal from about the 10 yard line.  Eric Zeier completed a pass for the winning touchdown–actually what would have been the winning touchdown assuming that the subsequent 2-point conversion attempt was successful.  (There was no overtime back then.)  And then this ref stepped out and said:

“Y’know Georgia, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish dis play, but Florida has one o’ da best teams of all time!!!!!!!!!!  ONE O’ DA BEST TEAMS OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!”

(Okay, so it didn’t quite happen like that.  But you get the idea.)

The year was 1993.  Bill Clinton was in his first year in the White House.  Nirvana was on the radio.  Rush Limbaugh was on TV, and he was seething.  Evangelicals the world over (okay, not exactly) were seething with him, bitching and moaning about how the country was going to hell in a handbasket.  (Sound familiar?)  Somalia was in chaos, and American troops were doing a generally ineffective job of quelling it.  The ATF raided the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco, Texas.  A blizzard dropped several feet of snow and shut down almost the entire Southeast.  Rodney King testified against police officers who gave him the beatdown; this touched off riots all over South Central LA.  Fermat’s Last Theorem was solved.  White House counsel Vincent Foster offed himself.  A Canadian software specialist became the first to mention Y2K.  “Don’t ask don’t tell” came down the pipe.  Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband’s you-know-what.

And on a rainy Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida and Georgia teed it up one more time.

Yes, the weather that day was dreadful. Imagine standing in a cold shower for four hours straight.  In your shoes.  In a heavy wool suit.  With a sorry excuse for a raincoat attempting to cover it.  And then imagine that you are required to keep a smile on your face and yell and scream and generally act as if you are having the time of your life for the full four hours.  You will now begin to get the idea of what the Redcoats endured that day.

It rained heavily for almost the entire day.  The raincoats which the Redcoats wore that day were dreadfully ineffective at keeping out the rain.  (I believe they have since been replaced.  I sure hope so.)  The drainage system in the old Gator Bowl was dreadfully ineffective as well; fans that day had a raging torrent of water sweeping down the bleachers and around/over their feet.

Florida was doing very well that year, firmly en route to what would be their second officially recognized SEC championship, their second in only 3 years.  Georgia, meanwhile, was reeling from the premature defection of Garrison Hearst and Andre Hastings to the NFL.  They got off to a 1-4 start, 0-4 in SEC play, their worst conference start in three decades.  The low point was a most humiliating 20-10 loss, in Athens no less, to a dreadful Arkansas team.  But then Eric Zeier and Georgia figured some things out and managed to win some games in the back half of the season.  They beat Southern Miss and Vanderbilt by impressive margins, and beat an actually somewhat respectable Kentucky team on homecoming, to get to 4-4 heading into Jacksonville.

The game was wild and crazy in the first half.  Florida roared out to a 13-3 lead in the first quarter.  But Georgia came roaring back in the second quarter and took a 20-13 lead.  Special teams miscues–an all-too-familiar refrain throughout the duration of the Ray Goof era–gave Florida ten quick points and a 23-20 halftime lead.

There was no halftime show.  The field was too wet, so both bands played their halftime sets from the stands.

In the second half, Georgia did not do much of anything offensively.  Florida took a 30-20 lead, then a 33-23 lead.  In the fourth quarter, Georgia kicked a field goal to pull within 33-26.

Florida got the ball back, only needing a couple of first downs to be able to run out the clock and chalk up another win.  They got a couple of first downs, but then the Georgia defense stiffened.  Georgia got the ball back with less than a minute left.  Eric Zeier came flying down the field in record time, and got Georgia to first-and-goal at the 10.

Georgia scored on the next play.  The score was now 33-32.  A two-point-conversion would win the game for Georgia.  (Remember this was 1993; there was no overtime yet.)  All the Georgia fans were in complete and utter ecstasy.  That four-hour slog through the driving rain would prove to be worth it after all.

And then the ref had his little Kanye West moment.  He called the play back–get this–in order to award Florida a timeout. Replays showed (there was no instant replay at the time either) that Florida’s timeout had been called after the ball was snapped.

So Florida got their timeout.  Six Georgia points came off the board.  The score reverted to 33-26 Florida.  Georgia’s scoring threat fizzled.  Florida won the game.  Florida went on to win the SEC championship.  Georgia went on to finish with a 5-6 record, ineligible for postseason play.

And Georgia fans headed back home to attempt to dry out from all the madness.

And now it’s time for us to jump back into the time machine and head back to the present.

Who knows?  Maybe Georgia will actually manage to kinda sorta hang in there, like they did in 1993.  And if Kanye West doesn’t decide to show up and do his thing, Georgia may actually have a chance to win this one.

–Okay, so CNN got completely and totally punked by a 6-year-old kid and a balloon.  Imagine that.  Those of you who have 6-year-old kids:  Imagine the possibilities.

–Clemson beat Miami this week.  I’m happy for this guy, and I hope he’s happy too.

–I see that Lake Lure, North Carolina is having an oyster roast in a couple of weeks.  Stay away from this, people.  I don’t trust mountain oysters, and you shouldn’t either.

–Here’s a stunner:  This week Pope Benedict XVI announced a new program by which Anglicans could enter into communion with the Catholic Church while basically remaining Anglican under Anglican leadership.  This holds real promise in places where many Anglicans are disaffected by the liberal and openly-gay leanings of the Episcopal Church, and in places like Asia, Africa, and Latin America where Anglican and Catholic churches are already working closely together.  It will be interesting to see how the Anglicans respond to this.

–What this announcement from Benedict XVI means is that the Catholic Church–in some form or fashion, at least–is now willing to meet other Christians halfway, without demanding that they renounce what they believe and join the Catholic team in order to be recognized as Christians.  We as evangelicals are famous for saying that Catholics are not Christian until they renounce their Catholicism and join our team.  Will we now be willing to at least meet them halfway, and not incessantly demand that they become like us in order to be accepted by us as true Christians?  Can we lay down our desire to be the ones who dictate the terms of “true Christianity” to those outside of evangelical Protestant-dom?

–Ron Zook is safe at Illinois; so says Illinois AD Ron Guenther.  Which means he’s safe for about another year or two, if that.  If he was really safe, then Guenther would not have felt the necessity to make a statement in the first place.

–It took two years for Gene Chizik to win five games at Iowa State.  Now he’s gone and they’ve already won five games this year.  I’m hating life for you right now if you’re an Auburn fan.

–So many of us think that spiritual warfare is all about being in adverse situations while God looks on passively, waiting for us to pray the right prayer/learn the right lesson/rejoice/take a bold stand.  And when you do, God will step in and fight for you and all your troubles will just magically vanish.  If you can do these things, great.  But I’d be willing to bet that it is way simpler than that.  All you have to do to be successful in spiritual warfare is just keep going.  Just keep showing up.  Just keep doing the right thing.  Just keep walking the path that God has chosen for you to walk.  That’s all there is to it.  Don’t grow weary in doing the right thing, as Paul says in Galatians.  Read what Michael Spencer has to say about this.

–It took Alabama a blocked field goal on the last play of the game to get past Tennessee in Tuscaloosa.  I now feel a little better about getting beat by Tehhessee.  But consider this:  Here is what Tennessee has scored on offense in all their games this year.  Against Western Kentucky:  63, against UCLA:  15, against Florida:  13, against Ohio U:  34, against Auburn:  22, against Georgia:  45, against Alabama:  10.  Notice something a little not right with this picture?

–For those of you who are a little slow on the uptake:  Western Kentucky was the only team on that list to give up more points to Tennessee than Georgia.  Georgia gave up three touchdowns and a field goal more than any other SEC opponent.  Georgia is also the only SEC team to have Willie Martinez as its defensive coordinator.

–Halloween is coming up this week, which means time for pumpkins, witches, ghosts, goblins, and all sorts of evangelical stupidness about how it is really a devil’s holiday.  Come on, people.

–Read Michael Spencer’s annual Halloween rant.  Then read this post by Taylor Marshall on how to have a good Catholic halloween.  (It’s okay, people.  No Protestants were harmed in the production of this post.)  Finally, read James Jordan’s “A Different View of Halloween”.  Still think Halloween is of the devil?  I’ve got some lovely beachfront property down in beautiful Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica, that I would love to sell you.

–Speaking of which, the high today in Amundsen-Scott Station, Antarctica, is forecast to be -38 degrees, with a low tonight of -58.  Windchill tonight will be -88.  Brrrr.

–When I was growing up, I always went trick-or-treating as a ghost or a vampire.  Now I would like to go as a Gator fan–complete with jean shorts, flip-flops, and the obligatory mullet wig.  Boo.  Hope I scared you.

–Okay, so going from an off week to Florida in Jacksonville is kinda like walking the Green Mile.  Right, Dawg fans?  Don’t worry, here’s a little something to hopefully put you in somewhat better spirits.

We do what we can for the benefit of our readers.

With Georgia being off this weekend, I have the luxury of being able to observe this weekend’s games from the point of view of a bemused, dispassionate observer.  So in that vein, here is a look at some of the more interesting games that will be happening today.

Florida vs Mississippi State: Florida has struggled profusely in Starkville.  Believe it or not, they haven’t won a game there since 1985.  That includes the 1992 loss in which Steve Spurrier famously berated then-defensive coordinator Ron Zook and the sideline cam caught it and broadcast it to the whole country, and the 2004 loss which cost then-head coach Ron Zook his job.  Mississippi State is improving under first-year head coach Dan Mullen, and could be at an advantage with Mullen’s intimate knowledge of Tim Tebow and the inner workings of the Florida offense.  Tim Tebow hasn’t been quite as sharp since coming back after his concussion; the offense has only managed 36 points in the last two games and was nearly undone by turnovers last week against Arkansas.

Prediction:  Florida 27, Mississippi State 17.

LSU vs Auburn: Auburn got off to a 5-0 start under first-year coach Gene Chizik, but all my Auburn friends tell me that they hadn’t played anybody during that time.  (Hmmm…one of those wins was against Tennessee.  That means Georgia didn’t play anybody in Knoxville a couple of weeks back, and still had their asses handed to them on a silver platter.)  But since then Auburn has struggled, losing to Arkansas and Kentucky.  Jordan Jefferson and the LSU offense are eager for redemption coming off an ugly 13-3 loss to Florida and having had a bye week to sit on it.

Prediction:  LSU 27, Auburn 22.

Tennessee vs Alabama: Man, please.

Prediction:  Alabama 45, Tennessee 10.

Georgia Tech vs Virginia: Georgia Tech has not won in Charlottesville since 1990.  The most rankling loss for Georgia Tech in that span was in 2001 when Virginia beat them on a hook-and-ladder.  After losing the first three games this season in classic style, including embarrassing beatdowns at the hands of William and Mary and TCU, Virginia has managed to figure some things out and win some games.  Don’t look now–but they are 3-0 in ACC play and the only unbeaten team in the conference.  Georgia Tech is coming off an extremely emotional win over Virginia Tech where the fans bum rushed the field, tore down the goalposts and carried them up to the president’s house.  Under Chan Gailey, you could count on Georgia Tech to lose this game.  Not anymore.

Prediction:  Georgia Tech 35, Virginia 32.

Miami vs Clemson: Miami is the up-and-coming power in the ACC.  Since losing 27-7 at Virginia Tech, they have rebounded nicely with huge wins over Oklahoma, Florida A&M, and Central Florida.  They also have wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech to their credit.  Clemson has some playmakers on offense but they have struggled to 3-3 overall.

Prediction:  Miami 38, Clemson 23.

BYU vs TCU: TCU has a tackling dummy sporting a BYU helmet in their weight room.  Think this game isn’t big for them?  Meanwhile, BYU is eager to atone for their Florida State beatdown, and that could start this week.

Prediction:  BYU 45, TCU 38.

Iowa vs Michigan State: A Michigan State team that got punked by Central Michigan, choked against Notre Dame, and nearly choked against Michigan, is suddenly playing much better.  Iowa is a very tough-minded team, and they will need all the toughness they can bring for this one.

Prediction:  Iowa 31, Michigan State 30.

Texas vs Missouri: Texas hasn’t lost the week after playing Oklahoma since 1997.  Missouri is struggling to rebuild this year.

Prediction:  Texas 31, Missouri 14.

Washington vs Oregon: A suddenly improving Washington team under first year coach Steve Sarkisian has already pulled off an upset win over Southern Cal, and they may actually have a chance to win this one.  Oregon had better not be looking ahead to its own game with Southern Can next week.

Prediction:  Washington 37, Oregon 34.

USC (no, not that one) vs Oregon State: Southern Cal has had a bit of trouble with Oregon State lately.  But no problems with them in California.

Prediction:  Southern Cal 45, Oregon State 13.