Michael Spencer: The Unresolved Tensions of Evangelicalism

Today I would like to direct your attention to a series of posts over at Michael Spencer’s blog, in which he looks at unresolved tensions in evangelicalism.

In the first post of the series, he looks at that mostrosity known as the Christian worldview (some of us might call it the Biblical worldview or other things).  Basically, the Christian worldview is the idea that when you accept the Bible as true you accept a whole host of things which go monumentally far beyond what the Bible actually says, including (for instance) but by no means limited to the following:  that the earth was created in six actual, literal days; that there was an actual flood covering the entire surface of planet Earth about four thousand years ago; that the sun actually stood still as described in Joshua 10:13-14; that everything the Israelites did to the children of the Canaanites was right because God ordered it; that Saul’s exhibition of what we in modern times would describe as mental illness was in fact the result of an evil spirit sent by God and that most if not all mental illness is the result of demonic activity; that abortion is wrong in all circumstances and anyone who supports it in any instance for any reason whatsoever is an evil murderer with the blood of millions of innocent unborn children on his/her hands; that the only place for a woman in society is in the home; that there will be an actual literal Rapture where all the true believers will be taken away before the second coming of Christ…you get the idea.  Disagreement with any of these, either in whole or in part, to any extent whatsoever, is a rejection of the Bible as authoritatively true, and therefore a rejection of the Christian faith.

What We Know About the 2008 Season After Thirteen Weeks

All right kids.  Enjoy your turkey, and then chomp on this:

Georgia Tech gave Georgia a little something to think about last week.  I hope that Georgia was paying attention to that Miami game, especially Willie Martinez and the defensive unit.  Because if they continue to play up to their usual standard this season, then Georgia is looking at a big fat 0-2 in games where a win would have enabled them to match Georgia Tech’s eight game win streak from 1949 to 1956, which currently stands as the longest streak in the series by either team.  And here’s the thing:  With Paul Johnson at the helm at Georgia Tech now, it will be a LONG time before Georgia gets another shot at matching that eight-game Georgia Tech winning streak.

We told you Ole Miss was going to be dangerous this year.  With Houston Nutt coaching all those kids that Ed Orgeron recruited, you had to figure that Ole Miss would be dangerous sooner rather than later.  And if you did, you were right.  Houston Nutt has two signature wins so far with Ole Miss, one at Florida and the other at LSU.  Speaking of which…

LSU actually got off relatively easy this week.  A week ago, LSU trailed Troy State 31-3 just two minutes removed from the fourth quarter before coming back to win.  Now Troy State lost to Northeast Louisiana, which got drilled 59-0 by Ole Miss.  If you work all that out, LSU should have lost to Ole Miss 197-2.  (Think Ole Miss might have been channeling Georgia this week?)

Featured Link: BloodWater Mission

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Don’t Go Dawgs: Express Your Support for Stafford and Moreno

Those of you who are part of the great Bulldog Nation are no doubt aware of how instrumental Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno are to Georgia’s chances of success next year.  You are also aware that their continued participation in Georgia football next year is by no means assured; they are both widely hyped as hot NFL prospects and expected by many to bolt for the NFL after the completion of the 2008 season.

Here is your chance to express your support for Stafford and Moreno.  Go to DontGoDawgs.com and sign the guest book to leave a message expressing your support.  This decision is ultimately in their hands, but if we do all that we can to let them know that their continued presence at Georgia will be greatly appreciated, they will surely take that into account.

What We Know About the 2008 Season After Twelve Weeks

All right kids.  It’s been a minute since I’ve done one of these, but here we go:

Mark Richt may be the dean of SEC coaches after the 2008 season is over.  No, seriously.  Prior to the start of the 2008 season, he had two coaches ahead of him.  One has already lost his job, and the other is on the hot seat.

Yes, Tommy Tuberville is on the hot seat right now.  Certain administration officials, given the chance to unequivocably support him and end any possible speculation about Tuberville’s future, respectfully declined to do so, instead issuing the usual platitudes about considering the coach’s full body of work and not evaluating the status of any coaches until the season is over.  That right there is a sure sign that the coach in question is in trouble.  Another negative factor for Tuberville is his propensity to go through coordinators (on both sides of the ball) like a fox goes through chickens.

Georgia is on track for a 10-2 record and the third-best postseason destination of any team in the SEC.  Lots of other programs in the SEC would kill to be where we are right now.  But here’s the thing:  A few years back we would have killed to be where we are now.  We thought we were past that point, but alas, that appears not to be the case.

So you still believe that only conference champions should be eligible to play for the BCS championship?  This is an idea that has been floated around ever since the early 00’s, when Nebraska reached the 2001 title game without winning its division of the Big 12 and Oklahoma reached the 2003 title game despite getting beat by four touchdowns in the Big 12 championship game.  It was this sentiment exactly that kept Georgia out of the running for the 2007 title game.

So what would happen if a conference-champions-only requirement was in force for the 2008 title game?  Brad Edwards over at ESPN.com offers this scenario in which we would be reduced to the spectacle of watching No. 5 and No. 6 duke it out for the national championship.  If this would be satisfying to you, then by all means keep on talking about making only conference champions eligible for the BCS title game.

While we’re on the subject of BCS doomsday scenarios, Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution offers what he believes would be the worst doomsday scenario possible given the present standings.  Kinda makes you wish that they would just scrap the whole BCS thing and implement my contract bridge proposal, right?

Notre Dame might still be going to a decent bowl this year.  Given Notre Dame’s remaining schedule, they are on track to finish 7-5.  Even at that, they are still attracting the interest of the Cotton Bowl, the Gator Bowl, and the Sun Bowl.  Must be nice.  Can you imagine Georgia getting into the Cotton Bowl or the Gator Bowl at 7-5?  Don’t think so.  Only Notre Dame can pull something like that off.  That’s why they’re Notre Dame.

Those Friendly Ghosts in the South End Zone Pulled It Through Again

You might not be aware of this, but friendly ghosts (friendly toward Georgia at any rate) have taken up residence in the south end zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium.  They moved in at some point during the early 90’s, and continue to reside there to this day.  During the past two decades, Georgia has won or tied five games at Jordan-Hare that were decided by a touchdown or less, and all five were decided by a play in or near the south end zone during the final two minutes of the game.

–In 1992, Georgia was leading 14-10 but Auburn had the ball inside the 1-yard line with 19 seconds left, first and goal and needing only another foot for the winning score.  Unfortunately for Auburn, they had no timeouts.  Stan White fumbled the snap on an attempted quarterback sneak, the Georgia players took their time getting up and getting back to the line of scrimmage, and some even argued with the ref about who had possession of the ball.  Amidst all the confusion, time ran out and Georgia won.

–In 1994, Georgia trailed then-no. 3 Auburn by two touchdowns in the second half, and came back to tie the score 23-23.  With less than a minute left in the game, Matt Hawkins missed a chip-shot field goal that would have won it for Auburn.  Georgia took over and, after Eric Zeier misfired on a couple of desperation heaves, was ecstatic to escape with the tie.

–In 1996, Georgia came back from a three-touchdown deficit, driving 83 yards during the final minute of the game with no timeouts for the tying score.  The key play in this drive was the final play of the game.  On the play before Mike Bobo was sacked for a huge loss which should have ended the game.  But one of the Auburn players picked up the ball; the ref had to stop the clock just long enough to spot the ball.  This allowed Georgia just enough time to get up to the line of scrimmage, spike the ball to stop the clock with one second left, and run one final play.  On this play, Mike Bobo found Corey Allen just outside the end zone and Corey Allen fell over an Auburn defender into the end zone for the score.  During the four subsequent overtime periods (all played toward the south end zone), Georgia held off Auburn for a 56-49 win.

–In 2002, on 4th and 15 from the 19 yard line with a minute and a half left, David Greene found Michael Johnson in the left corner of the end zone for the winning score.

–And in 2008, Auburn had two long drives that could have won the game.  Both resulted in no points.  (More about these later.)

Quick Hit: Tip Your Hat to Philip Fulmer

Okay, so most of you know by now that Philip Fulmer is out at Tennessee.

Philip Fulmer was the dean of SEC coaches prior to his departure, and as such deserves better than for us to just let him ride off into the sunset without some sort of positive mention.

Philip Fulmer got his start as head coach at Tennessee back in 1992, when he filled in as interim head coach for a three-game stretch while Johnny Majors was out having heart surgery.  During that three-game stretch he went undefeated, including a big win over what was probably the best Georgia team since the days of Herschel Walker.  And when Johnny Majors came back and the team tanked with losses to Arkansas and Alabama, that spelled the end for him and cleared the way for Philip Fulmer.

Philip Fulmer went on from there to a long run of success through the 90’s and early 00’s.  In 1997 and 1998 he won the SEC championship, and went on to win the national championship in 1998.  From 1997 to 1999 he had a run of three straight BCS / Bowl Alliance (as it was called prior to 1998) bowl appearances.  In the 00’s he won the SEC Eastern division three times, in 2001, 2004, and 2007.

Unfortunately, what doomed Philip Fulmer was the perception that he was “old-school”.  College football is almost all about recruiting, and if recruits think that you are “old-school”, that puts a damper on your ability to recruit.  For this reason, the talent level dropped off in the Tennessee program in recent years, and this year it was just too much for Philip Fulmer to overcome despite his best efforts.

Philip Fulmer currently has a career record of 150-52, which means that he will leave Tennessee with one of the top winning percentages of any coach who has been around for longer than 10 years.

Used Car WTF

Here’s a little free advice from the staff here at Everyone’s Entitled to Joe’s Opinion to those of you who happen to be in the used car business:

If you’re trying to sell this car, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!!!!!

Should We Fire Mark Richt?

[UPDATE:  It has been three years (almost) since I wrote this, and I can see that it still gets a lot of traffic whenever Georgia puts in a disappointing loss (which is happening an awful lot these days).  So I feel compelled to note that this is not my opinion now.

This was originally written back in 2008.  When I wrote it, I was operating under the assumption that Georgia would continue to at least maintain the status quo that existed back then, or something reasonably close to it.  Obviously that has not happened.

Firing a head coach is a drastic remedy, and one that should be undertaken with great caution.  Whenever you make a coaching change, there is always the risk that a bad hire could take your program into the wilderness and it would take years or even decades to recover.  But sometimes that risk must be taken.  Had Georgia maintained the 2008 status quo, I would not have felt justified in calling for Mark Richt’s firing.  But in seeing how badly Georgia football has deteriorated in the years since 2008, I now feel that it is something we have to do.]

I’ve noticed that in the wake of Georgia’s disappointing performance at Florida last week, there has been a surge in the number of people who come to my blog looking for the search term “fire mark richt”.  This always happens whenever Georgia experiences a disappointing loss.

I, for one, feel your pain.  Here are my thoughts on this issue:

First of all, Mark Richt is NOT a national championship-caliber coach.  If he was, Georgia would have won at least one national championship by now.

Georgia has had four opportunities to contend for the national championship during Mark Richt’s tenure.  Each time, Georgia has choked at some point along the way.  In 2002, Georgia’s best team ever since the days of Herschel Walker was undone by a loss to a mediocre Florida team struggling to find its way under a first-year head coach.  In 2004, Georgia was hyped as a national championship contender and started the season at No. 3, in prime position to contend for that national championship.  But an early loss to Tennessee knocked them out of the national championship picture, and a later loss to Auburn kept them out.  In 2007, Georgia put together an impressive late-season run and made a most compelling case for themselves to be included in the BCS title game.  Too bad that Tennessee had already shot them down earlier in the season.  And in 2008, Georgia was once again hyped as a national championship contender and started the season at No. 1 in every preseason poll known to man.  But Alabama and then Florida made it known to the entire watching world that this emperor had no clothes.

With all of those blown opportunities to contend for the national championship, it is quite clear that if Mark Richt was ever going to win a national championship at Georgia, he would have done it by now.  Thus it is quite clear that if Georgia is ever going to win another national championship to go alongside the one that Herschel Walker got for them back in 1980, then Georgia is going to require a significant coaching upgrade.

Having said that, let me say this:  I don’t think we should fire Mark Richt.

It’s Really Really Really REALLY Dry Time in the ATL