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8 I Friday, December i, 2006 | The Red & Black
SPORTS
Team has high hopes for trip
Conference winners
indicate bowl prospects
By PHILLIP KISUBIKA
pkisubika@randb.com
Over Thanksgiving break,
the Georgia men’s basketball
team (4-1) won three games,
scoring more than 100 points
in two of those games.
They probably would have
broken the century mark for
a school record third consec
utive time if Alabama A&M
hadn’t started walking the
ball down the court to slow
down Georgia’s quick
offense.
In the Bulldogs’ first five
games, they have averaged
more than 90 points per
game while holding oppo
nents to about 55 points per
game.
While that’s good, those
I t’s a fickle world that we
live in. It’s truly shocking
how quickly people can
put their faith in someone
and lose that faith just as
quickly.
This is especially true in
sports, where you can be on
top of the world one minute
and public enemy No. 1 the
next.
I will never stop believing
that one of the hardest jobs
a person can have is to be
the coach of a college or
professional sports team.
When the team does well,
you may get some of the
credit.
But when the team does
n’t live up to expectations,
the coach gets all the
blame.
The “coaching carousel,”
the term for the merry-go-
round style of firing and hir
ing coaches, is one of the
worst parts of sports today.
Once you get a high pro
file coaching job, you have
to win and win quickly
unless you have both a
patient fan base and man
agement (a rarity nowa
days).
Otherwise, you’ll be
watching games from home
or from a broadcast booth.
When the University of
Alabama fired head football
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia (4-1) at Wake Forest
(5-D
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Winston-Salem, N.C.
Radio: WSB-AM 750 or W-PUP
Bulldog 103.7
performances were against
lowly teams such as Valdosta
State and South Carolina
State.
“We’re really not finding
anything about ourselves,”
sophomore guard Mike
Mercer said. “We already
know what we can do as a
team, and we’re trying to
build chemistry.”
Phillip Kisubika
pkisubika@randb.com
coach Mike Shula this week,
that was the last straw for
me.
Shula went 10-2 last year
and was given a six-year
contract extension in the
spring.
This year, the Tide went
6-6 and sent Shula packing.
Alabama was under
NCAA sanctions when it
hired Shula, which probably
hindered his chances of win
ning.
Those sanctions will end
in January 2007, so Shula
will never get the chance to
coach a Tide program at full
strength.
Unfortunately, the thing
that the coaching carousel
does well is that it deflects
any criticism of college
administrations or profes
sional teams’ front offices.
In Alabama’s case, they
November has been a
tune-up for a December
schedule that should show
what kind of team the
Bulldogs really have.
After a season-opening
homestand, Georgia will play
four of their next seven
games away from Stegeman
Coliseum, starting this
Saturday at Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons (5-1)
are coming off a 94-58 loss at
Air Force.
“The next few games are
big for us,” said senior guard
Levi Stukes. “It’s another
opportunity to show how
good we are and how good we
can be.”
Before conference play
begins in January, the
Bulldogs will have played
fired Shula because the
school couldn’t field a really
competitive team because
of the NCAA rules they
broke.
I salute the schools that
keep coaches around in the
good times and bad because
that’s how you build tradi
tion.
More schools should fol
low the example of Penn
State’s Joe Paterno and
Florida State’s Bobby
Bowden.
Sure, you say, “But
they’ve won champi
onships.” They did because
they got an opportunity to
stick around through the
bad and mediocre years.
Coaches get fired, but
the athletic directors and
general managers stick
around.
It’s truly a fickle world we
live in.
Quick Picks for this week
end’s big games:
> ACC Championship:
Wake Forest over Georgia
Tech
► SEC Championship:
Arkansas over Florida
>- Big 12 Championship:
Nebraska over Oklahoma
— Phillip Kisubika is a
sports writer for
The Red & Black
three top 25 teams: Gonzaga,
Georgia Tech and Wisconsin.
On the team’s tougher
non-conference schedule
head coach Dennis Felton
said, “We’re looking forward
to it. We know our team
would be challenged in a
severe way with our non-con
ference schedule.”
A big part of Georgia’s
improvement has been for
ward Takais Brown, who in
his first three games as a
Bulldog has been a force
inside, averaging 17.4 points
and 4.7 rebounds off the
bench.
“I think the team trusts
me,” Brown said. “Now they
understand what I can do,
and we can put it all togeth
er.”
BOWL: Dogs
happy to
play game
in Atlanta
>- From Page 1
Garver said the Bowl
would consider Virginia
Tech and the loser of the
ACC Championship game
between Wake Forest and
Georgia Tech.
Two Chick-fil-A repre
sentatives scouted the
Georgia-Georgia Tech
game, and a rep was also
at the Georgia-Auburn
game.
The two teams playing-
in the Chick-fil-A Bowl will
split a $5.65 million pay
out.
Earlier this week,
Georgia head coach Mark
Richt said he would “love”
to play in the Chick-fil-A
Bowl.
It would be Georgia’s
third postseason game in
the Georgia Dome in two
years. Georgia won the
SEC title against LSU in
Atlanta last year, and then
lost the Sugar Bowl to
WVU, temporarily relocat
ed to Atlanta, a month
later.
By MARSHALL DUNCAN
mduncan@randb.com
Big XII Championship:
No. 19 Nebraska vs No. 8
Oklahoma (Saturday, 8 p.m.,
ABC)
Despite losing to Texas
earlier this season, Oklahoma
will represent the Big XII
South after the Longhorns
lost to Texas A&M last week.
Without RB Adrian
Peterson, Oklahoma will have
to rely more heavily on their
passing game to get past the
Cornhuskers.
With both teams in the top
25 nationally in points
scored, the team with the
better defense on Saturday
will have a slight advantage.
Each team’s quarterback
has thrown for over more
than yards on the season, so
turnovers, specifically inter
ceptions, will play a key fac
tor in the outcome.
ACC Championship: No.
16 Wake Forest vs. No. 23
Georgia Tech (Saturday 1
p.m., ABC)
At the beginning of the
season few may have predict
ed Georgia Tech to be play
ing in this game, yet no one
saw Wake Forest as their
opponent.
Led by redshirt freshman
quarterback Riley Skinner,
the Demon Deacons have
gone 10-2 to win the Atlantic
Division.
If Tech is going to win this
game, they are going to have
to find a way to get the ball to
Calvin Johnson, held to just
two catches for 13 yards last
week by Georgia. Expect this
surprising ACC champi
onship matchup to be a
defensive struggle with the
winning team connecting on
one or two big plays.
SEC Championship: No. 4
Florida vs. No. 8 Arkansas
(Saturday 6 p.m., CBS)
After a strenuous season
of SEC play, Florida and
Arkansas have come out on
top in their respective divi
sions.
Florida continues to split
time under center between
senior Chris Leak and fresh
man Tim Tebow. For the
Razorbacks, Casey Dick will
start his fifth straight game
at quarterback after replac-
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
ing freshman Mitch Mustain.
However, tailback Darren
McFadden is the true leader
of the Hogs’ offense with
1,485 yards and 14 touch
downs in the regular season.
This is the second time
these two teams will meet in
the SEC Championship, with
Florida winning the previous
game 34-3 in 1995.
If they can stop
McFadden, the Gators are in
good shape to capture their
sixth SEC Championship.
No. 2 USC vs. UCLA
(Saturday 4:30 p.m., ABC)
Even without the talent of
Matt Leinart and Reggie
Bush, the Trojans have found
a way to put themselves in
contention for the national
title.
After a big win over Notre
Dame last week, the Trojans
are just one win away from
competing for the national
championship against unde
feated Ohio State. At just 6-5,
UCLA will be looking for an
upset over their rivals, but
with little talent in which to
do so, USC should pass their
way to victory behind quar
terback John David Booty
and star receivers Steve
Smith and Dwayne Jarrett.
No. 13 Rutgers vs. No. 15
West Virginia (Saturday 7:45
p.m., ESPN)
While this matchup no
longer has national title
implications, Rutgers can
still win the Big East champi
onship with a win over the
Mountaineers.
The Scarlet Knights have
never beaten West Virginia in
Morgantown, and WVU quar
terback Pat White and tail
back Steve Slaton have no
plans to let that happen this
year. On the season, White
has 11 touchdowns passing
and 17 rushing, while Slaton
adds another 14 rushing
touchdowns — a lethal duo
for any defense to contain.
But if Rutgers was going to
beat the odds, this would be
the year to do it. Rutgers is
10-1 going into the game and
bowl eligible for the second
straight year after more than
a 20-year postseason
drought.
Coaches shouldn’t be the only ones
blamed when team underperforms
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