Fall is Autumn is Fall

Cut to the chase....random thoughts on the seasons (and the current season)

I hear a lot of people say fall is their favorite time of year. When it's fall.

When it's spring/summer/winter, I hear the same thing (well, maybe not so much with winter). I enjoy all the seasons for what they are, but if I was asked to prioritize, it would be in this order:

1. Summer
2. Fall
3. Winter
4. Spring

So I know you're already calling B.S. on me, which is good, I probably deserve it most of the time.

BUT!

...I'm serious, winter is better than spring for me. Some pros/cons between winter and spring...

Winter - PROS

• Christmas time
• A chance of snow, which means a chance of not being able to leave the house or do anything (which can be refreshing)
• Getting to use the nice coats for a few weeks before they get mothballed again
• Family time, LOTS of family time during the winter months
• No yard work

Spring - PROS

• Warmer weather
• Pretty flowers

...and that's really it for me on spring. As for the cons...

Winter - CONS

• Cold...I mean, C-O-L-D. Even our mild Georgia winters are too much for me. Gimme the heat
• Lack of physical activity, sports (football's over, and basketball does nothing for me)

Spring - CONS

• Pollen
• Yard work
• House cleaning
• Pollen
• POLLEN!!
• YARD WORK!!!!

I think I've made my point.

But fall is now, fall is special. Pumpkins, leaves, football, Oktoberfest, camping, festivals, carnivals...plenty of things going on all the way into Thanksgiving, America's biggest food holiday.

Never mind that fall is when I tend to have the most business. For 2-3 years now, I've had limited business in the first half of the year and blowouts all during the fall months. Dunno why, but I guess there's something to be said about consistency.

Football...not a special year if you're a UGA fan like me. No matter, can't win 'em all, and even thought they're not one of the top games in the country this year, they're still playing good football. And even a bad day of football beats a day of working.

Oh yeah, since I never update my blog anymore, I should mention this....Hilary and I paid a visit to the bro-in-law Blake up in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend. Never been to Chicago before, but really a very nice town. Probably the nicest big metropolis style city you'll ever see. Makes it all the more interesting as to why Rio de Janeiro picked up the 2016 Olympics over Chicago. From what I know of Rio, it is everything that Chicago isn't (and I don't mean that in a good way). Not to be down on Rio, but it seemed like a strange choice. Guess we'll see how it plays out in about 7 years.

But Chicago...great town. Apparently every restaurant recommendation there is made based on whether or not President Obama has eaten there. Ask for a good pizza place, you'll be told about a place and then "...and Obama always eats there." Guess that's how it rolls when the POTUS is a hometown man.

Probably went the same way when Carter was in office and all those people went to tour Albany, GA. Oh, wait.....probably not.

Caleb is getting big. He's in like the 89th percentile on height. Runs everywhere, walks only when asked. Best part of it all....whenever he sees something red and black, or sees a UGA "G" logo, or really even a large G of any kind, he says "Georgia." Love it, now we gotta work on his passing skills.

Goodbye.

Too many days separating me from football...

The title says it all...right now, one of the persistent thoughts in my mind is the upcoming football season. In particular, it's UGA football that is fighting obligations for brain time.

The other (obvious) persistent thought is updated over at Caleb's blog.

So there's all kind of speculation about where UGA will be ranked, or where UGA will end up at the end of the year. For once, it's nice to have Georgia be the topic of preseason discussions, and not just because the whole team is being arrested for one thing or another...although that's always a common reason at UGA for some reason.

So is it better to be ranked high and get a big ol' bull's eye on you? Or, is it preferable to be ranked low, and have to prove yourself against all the naysayers? Right now, it looks like only a handful of people are predicting UGA to go undefeated, and the schedule is perhaps a little bit too intimidating to expect all wins and no losses. Even worse, as we learned last year, some of those sleeper games at the beginning of the season can have the undesirable effect of putting a football team to sleep, or giving the team more confidence than they have earned by defeating much lesser opponents.

So we start with Georgia Southern...while they are usually a Division I-AA powerhouse, they are still Div I-AA, which means - theoretically - that they aren't as good as any of the other 120 football teams in Division I-A. That being said, we've certainly opened the season with weaker opponents in the past, so this is good enough (and certain to stir the conversation around whether or not UGA, as a big name team, will get shocked like Michigan did last year when Appalachian State ruined their picnic).

Then there's Central Michigan...again, not a huge threat, but they aren't pushovers either, and are probably going to be more of a surprise than GA Southern proves to be.

Follow those two with a weekend in Columbia, SC against the Gamecocks and the king croc-cock himself, Steve Spurrier. This game last year still stings, because it stands out in my mind as the one game of the two that we lost that we should have won (easily)...it's the game that I think took us out of the SEC championship and the National Championship games. Sure, we lost to Tennessee, but they're usually a tough opponent, and they played well to the end of the season. South Carolina proved to be quite beatable down the stretch, and UGA was but one of their very few conquests. So this year is about not making that mistake again, and NOT losing to Steve Spurrier's team. It's do-able...they're still dealing with a fairly young team.

Next is Arizona State, probably the first time in as long as I can remember that Georgia left the south to play football. ASU is no pushover...they gave USC a run for their money last year, and are usually in contention for the Pac 10 title. With the unique climate and big game atmosphere out west, makes a man wonder how his team will play out.

Alabama comes in after that for their 2nd loss to UGA in as many years. Really, I think Saban will have Alabama in good shape sooner rather than later, but this isn't the year. I like Bama...like 'em a WHOLE lot more than Auburn...but they're in a little over their heads trying to beat out this UGA team in Athens this year.

Tennessee...oh, how I hate thee, Tennesee. Rocky Top isn't a bad song, it's just that I lose my head after the 140th time they play it each game. It also doesn't help when they're beating you pretty soundly, which is the story of the last 2 years, and 3 of the last 4. They're gonna have a good team this year, and they usually do. But...and this is a big "but"...I doubt Georgia is going to forget how they fell asleep last year. My money says we'll see Georgia win this one pretty easily.

That's the first half of the season, and I can see UGA going undefeated all the way 'til Jacksonville for the Cocktail Party...but at that game, we'll probably be looking at #1 and #2 playing each other for the top spot, and it'll be tough to call until about halfway through the 3rd overtime period.

I might try posting a mid-season update once we get to October, but for now I'm going crazy counting down the next month full of days until kickoff.

GO DAWGS!