1. Over Hyped from the fans - I keep reading about how good things are, how we should contend for the East. Well I see one or two injuries away from doom. Heck, we are not even starting the season fully loaded. Granted some of that is bone-headed issues, but others are injuries
2. I just get the feeling of the other shoe that will drop and just crush the season. 
3. Depending on too many young guys to carry the load. This is from the RB to the lines to the Defense. Just too many players with the FR or R-FR letters in their names.
4. I'm hoping for 8-4. Loses to BSU, SC, Either TN or FL and then Kentucky. I know this isn't popular, but that's what I feel.
5. I don't look at the numbers in the pre-season. I know some take a lot from it, for me I look for one word. INJURIES. If that is none, then good. So far this hasn't been the case. Most seem minor, up see number 3. When those 2 meet up, watch out. 

So am I down on the dawgs, no. But I don't believe that we are as good as many think.

SIDENOTE : Please don't go all ape shit over the new NIKE uniforms. It's not like they are changing the name or the school colors. 

Well after sitting on it for a few weeks, I came to the conclusion that I just got burned out on the excitement everyone on twitter and Facebook was showing. Now, nothing is wrong with this, but it seems since the end of the bowl game everyone has been counting down to the first game. Then over the last few months this has really ramped up. So bad that I have muted and unfollowed folks.

Nothing wrong with off season excitement, but it was becoming such a bore that it seemed many didn't live a life from January to September. I'm all for a cheer and a rah rah, but damn folks take a break. Now I do like reading the stories and thoughts about a season on many of the blogs I follow, those are not the rah rah rahs that I'm speaking of. It's the constant stream of fandom that sleeps and breathes on the actions of an 18 or 19 year old kid.

Another aspect that social media and the 24 hour news cycle has brought out is how many fans live in the past or the future. This is not 1980 folks. Get over it. Also take a break from the class of 2016. Just step back and enjoy what's in front of you.

I also feel that this over the top rah rah rah is being done to try to show others that they are the biggest fan. That they bleed the school colors the most. It's like a group of animals all showing each other up for the attention of some mythical sports overlord. Heck, they could make a show about it and have it on espn. Now this all could be for show in Social Media land and in real life they don't think about it, but I'm willing to bet that's not the case.

I have my school gear like everyone else, but I don't hunt out rival fans for debate or jump on every message board and scream at the top of my lungs how great my team is. Remember folks, there are other things out there to enjoy.

I've now reached a point that I have no idea of game times or who we play when. I'll leave it up to my espn app to tell me when games start. As I did several times last year. And truthfully, really didn't miss it.

This waning of excitement started last year and matches up with some changes in my life as well. So I think those changes opened my eyes to this rabid fandom and how much people live through it and how much it just didn't fit who I am.

Also since my life changes I've noticed a few other disturbing trends, but I'll save that for later.

So now I want to set some expectations for this site :

• More posts, now that I have some stress removed from my life, my mind is freeing up to think about things again. (This will be a post)
• I will expand into what I learn on my way to learning to run
• Less sports. I know, I know. Lets say less football talk. (There will be a post here)
• I will continue to avoid too many posts on religion or politics. These are just grounds for hate and those topics seem to invite the closed mind in thinking
• I'll be turning off commenting on some posts (Future post on this)
• I hope to start sharing more via images. (Need to think this one over a bit)
• Redesign possible. Thinking this is needed as I change my thinking

So I hope I still have some readers out there, if not, I hope to win some back. But this site was created originally for me to share and for me to vent so I will continue to do that. 

Thanks again everyone and it feels good to get back to this. 

This story basically started in August 2010. I started physical therapy for a nerve issue in the lower back. This required treatment twice a week for 8 weeks. They also had me walking 20 minutes 3 times a week. This kicked in the exercise bug. Also my walks started to have 30 second jogs in there. And those jogs felt great mentally and physically.

Jump to October 28th. I got sick as a dog and laid on the couch for the weekend. And at this point I decided I had had enough. I put down the smokes. I decided to quit for good.

Now, over the last 20 years I have quit before, but never filled that void with something. This time, I had exercise and my new found fun, running. Well technically maybe jogging, but that's for others to debate.

So I have quit cold turkey. What to do. I started my on and off relationship with Jillian Michael DVD's. These really started to make me just feel better. Most of the off time was because I was sick. I swear I had never been as sick as I was in the 4 months after I quit. So not to make matters worse, I would just rest. No walking, jogging or exercise. And to help matters, I also dropped my soda count. I have one here and there, but not the 6 or 10 a day. I replaced it with water. That switch is when I stopped getting as sick. This also helped keep off any pounds that might have shown up. So Who Knew. Well apparently everyone.

During this 4 month period I joined the Dailymile social network site for those that want to track their runs, walks, swims or rides with the networking twist Also great for overall exercises and fitness. This site was a great help to keeping me going. The motivation to do another run or another workout was great. Granted no one knew about the smoking thing I was going through. Actually very few people knew. A couple on twitter and some close family.

So basically the months from November thru February, I was either getting an infection or getting over one. Let me tell you, this was not fun. It was very discouraging. The healthier I tried to make myself, the worse I felt. But I know now it takes time to heal the body. I never missed work, but just felt bad with lots of coughing.

Come Spring in March of 2011 is when things finally turned around, outside of the allergies that now seem to effect me. I was back on my C25K plan with regular workouts. I guess I was getting in 4-5 days of exercise in some shape form or fashion. With this, I had made the decision to run an official 5K race. When I made this call, I could go about 2 miles with jog and walks although I did 4 miles with that method at Thanksgiving.

Well this plan to run a 5K turned into a start and stop game. I actually started the C25K plan when I joined Dailymile in December of 2010. It was also when I got fitted for real running shoes. But with the illness, I rarely made it past week 2. So repeat this until around March as I said earlier. That's when things really got good. I was able to get going and stay going.

So let's get to why I'm writing this. I made a promise to myself that I would tell the story when I completed my first 5K or one year. For a while I thought one year would get here first.

Since this is not October 28th, I must have completed a 5K. Yes I did and it was great. Granted I am only half way through the C25K plan and I still have to take walk breaks, but I did it. Now I'm looking for my next. My time for the 3.11 was 35:15. Now the race was actually long at around 3.24, so I used my Garmin for the 3.11 time. Hoping my next one is really a 5K.

So why did I run it before I completed the plan. I was convinced by the Dailymilers in Winder that I was ready. They also said I could do the next one forever and never run one. So thanks to them. Also thanks to the race. It was a perfect event for number one. Nice family event.

Now this race, it was more emotional than I thought. I actually got watery eyes right before the start. The actual race I remember parts, but found I would just zone out for periods of it. As I came up towards the end, I got emotional again. I know others run faster and further but this was for me. And wow. It was incredible.

But this post isn't about the race. It is about helping others get there. I didn't think I could do it, but I did. So now others can use me for motivation.

So it is possible to do this.

I went from a pack a day to 5K in a little over six months. I still have a long ways to go, but I'm on my way. Not bad for a 40 year old. And if anyone wants to follow me through my training and fun on Dailymile, you can find me here.

So if you found this, please let me know if you want help. Also become friends with your doctor as you'll want to keep them in the loop.

FREE THROWS

Last year, we made great strides and won games because of our free throw shooting improvements. This time the dawgs won despite free throws. Shooting 62% will not win you many games, period. 

So in two games, we have had issues with REBOUNDS and now FREE THROWS. At least we are having these in different games. I know Coach Fox will fix these or the players will feel the pain.

On a different note, Watch out for Connor Nolte, Gerald Robinson and Jeremy Price. Connor isn't the best player, but wow he is all over the place. Last night he led the team in Minutes. Gerald will be just fun to watch. He made some great passes and moves, something we haven't seen in a while. Finally JP, well he is slowly becoming a leader on the floor. He will have to maintain his control, which I could see him losing last night. 

Finally a word on Trey. What the TV won't show and many miss, is how much he is coaching during the games. He was doing one on ones during timeouts and when the game had stops. This was more of the on the court players going over to him than him calling out. He is going to be great when he gets back. My take is, he should not come back until late December. 

I think we can beat Tech and some others without Trey and no need to take a chance on his injury. Lets just save him for SEC play with a warm up with the late December games.

GOOOOOO Dawgs. 

REBOUND

No way should the dawgs have been out rebounded by 10. This alone nearly cost us the game. 

One other area jumps out at me, at that was the man to man defense. At times the dawgs struggled to get back and then there was some confusion on who had who. Both the rebounding and defensive missteps are fixable. So I'm writing this one off as first game nerves. 

So Dawgs win 72-70. 

Shout out to Jeremy Price who down the stretch showed some great senior leadership and brought the dawgs back. He will be a great asset as the season continues. 

And like the football team, we missed our star in Trey. He was dressed and without a boot, so this is encouraging, but would rather him sit as long as needed. We need him at 100% come SEC play.

ESPN and the like are getting on the bandwagon. Georgia is now getting listed by the media as missing on players. Hell, two years ago we weren't even on the list. So everyone, sit back, enjoy, but also keep things in perspective. 

We are in year two of the building of Georgia Basketball. Yes we have had teams in the past. Some that were pretty good, but we have had far more that were just bad. Either at the coaching level or the talent level. To show you how far the excitement in Georgia Basketball has come, we had more people at an exhibition game than we had at some of the early games last year and a lot more than we had during some of the Felton Years. 

So what did I hear and see at the Meet the Team and Exhibition Game

• Jeremy Price is looking fit having lost a good deal of weight or at least turning it into muscle. So look for big minutes and production here. Oh I wish he would have been under Coach Fox for four years. He could have been a great player.
• Trey Thompkins, is well Trey. He was out with a bum ankle and we are not sure when he will return, but when he does, expect lower minutes until SEC play. 
• We actually have a bench this year. With Connor Nolte, Gerald Robinson, Marcus and the crew, we may be able to have a second team come in and play and score.
• In the exhibition game, we turned the ball over way too much and didn't have enough assists or rebounds to make me happy. Hoping this improves with some actual game play. 
• Defense is a big factor this year and Coach Fox has made it a priority. The problem he says is the number of fouls coming out of the Man Defense. So don't be surprised by some early man followed by zone when the foul count goes up. 
• The Stegeman renovations are looking great. This place will be fabulous when completed. Arthur Johnson says by the 18th of November all the graphics will be in place. 

I expect some nice things from the hoop dawgs this year, but I ask each of you to keep a level head. Yes we have two players that could go pro. But remember, before Fox, I don't think either would have gone pro unless it was in the D-League. We are still learning as a team. So yes, I think we will make the NCAA tourney this year. I would even go as far as sayign we might win the first game. 

Do I think we are a Sweet Sixteen team, doubtful. But not ruling this out. But I do think we are a First round win team. Now if we made a run and made the Sweet Sixteen, would I be shocked, no. But remember, this team didn't win a road game last year, and then only one a game on a neutral court. As the saying goes, it can take some time to turn a ship around. And I think we are about half way there. 

So come out if you can and support the hoop dawgs. I know I'll be there for each home game. 

You can find some of my Meet the team pics here on flickr.