It's funny because before the tournament started I commented that these games in Hoover are meaningless. Some disagreed and that is OK. As Rain and other have emphasized losing in Hoover rarely ever hurts you. In fact historically teams that play deep into the tourney often don’t get very far in the post-season. But then the games start and my inside fan comes out loud and kicking and suddenly the games matter. I sometimes wear my reactive emotions on my sleeve in my posts - both in the agony of defeat and in the thrill of victory. And sometimes they even sound irrational - when I go back and read some of my posts I can only laugh or cover my eyes. The funny thing is I am actually sitting down calmly when I type my comments. Not long after that the dust settles and I am able to see wins and losses from a different, often big picture perspective. And being I don't have any fellow Dawgs to watch these games from my home in Virginia, UGASports becomes my avenue to watch games with friends I've never met. And I get to do it real time, emotions and all. Until Rain chimes in with great wisdom and rational thought. Bless you my friend!
So, back to today's loss in Hoover: Thankfully today's game didn't mean anything. And yet at the same time it was a hard game to watch. It was especially hard watching the top of the Dawg's order go 2-15 with Condon and Phelps both going 0-4. By the way, if anyone is watching, the balls are now flying out of the park in Hoover. What a difference a couple hours makes. While today’s game was not very fun to watch I think it would have been easier to stomach not having lost the last 2 games to our biggest rival at home. Had Georgia won the series vs Florida, losing today would only have seemed less important. But looking at the big picture, as it sometimes takes me longer to do, this team finished the season 17-13 in the conference, and just one game short of 40 total wins (no thanks to Tech). It wasn't that long ago that would all have been happy going 3-3 in the last 2 series, finishing with 15 wins and a lock to be in a regional as a 2-seed. Instead this team is a lock to host a regional, greatly exceeding any expectations any of us had at the start of the season (except maybe C17Dawg
).
I initially hoped Georgia would try to win a game or two in Hoover to hold onto that national seed but that was all based on prediction and speculation by D1Baseball and others. Would it be nice to have been a national seed? No doubt. But being that was never a guarantee, is getting bounced from Hoover early a bad thing? No, it isn't. Would it have been nice to end the season with a more hard-fought game? Absolutely. Am I afraid this team is in a slump at the worst possible time? No because if a slump is going to happen (after being on the highest of highs) I'd rather get it over with now and just flush it on 2 weeks of rest. Because, in the end our guys are hosting and Hoover didn't change that. The funny thing is Georgia still has a good enough resume to potentially be a national seed if teams around them don't enhance their stocks. I'm not saying Georgia has a chance to be a national seed (well, yes I am), but wouldn't it be something if on Monday Georgia gets named the #8 seed? Most likely Georgia will be in the #9-12 range and will have likely have been there all along no matter what D1Baseball projects. But with a top 10 RPI you never know.
I'll see some you in 2 weeks at Foley. Go Dawgs.
So, back to today's loss in Hoover: Thankfully today's game didn't mean anything. And yet at the same time it was a hard game to watch. It was especially hard watching the top of the Dawg's order go 2-15 with Condon and Phelps both going 0-4. By the way, if anyone is watching, the balls are now flying out of the park in Hoover. What a difference a couple hours makes. While today’s game was not very fun to watch I think it would have been easier to stomach not having lost the last 2 games to our biggest rival at home. Had Georgia won the series vs Florida, losing today would only have seemed less important. But looking at the big picture, as it sometimes takes me longer to do, this team finished the season 17-13 in the conference, and just one game short of 40 total wins (no thanks to Tech). It wasn't that long ago that would all have been happy going 3-3 in the last 2 series, finishing with 15 wins and a lock to be in a regional as a 2-seed. Instead this team is a lock to host a regional, greatly exceeding any expectations any of us had at the start of the season (except maybe C17Dawg
).I initially hoped Georgia would try to win a game or two in Hoover to hold onto that national seed but that was all based on prediction and speculation by D1Baseball and others. Would it be nice to have been a national seed? No doubt. But being that was never a guarantee, is getting bounced from Hoover early a bad thing? No, it isn't. Would it have been nice to end the season with a more hard-fought game? Absolutely. Am I afraid this team is in a slump at the worst possible time? No because if a slump is going to happen (after being on the highest of highs) I'd rather get it over with now and just flush it on 2 weeks of rest. Because, in the end our guys are hosting and Hoover didn't change that. The funny thing is Georgia still has a good enough resume to potentially be a national seed if teams around them don't enhance their stocks. I'm not saying Georgia has a chance to be a national seed (well, yes I am), but wouldn't it be something if on Monday Georgia gets named the #8 seed? Most likely Georgia will be in the #9-12 range and will have likely have been there all along no matter what D1Baseball projects. But with a top 10 RPI you never know.
I'll see some you in 2 weeks at Foley. Go Dawgs.
