Show Us Some Nellie!

This week's Bulldog report appears pregame because this week is packed with activity. My son's commissioning is Saturday evening, and the ceremony conflicts with the game.

Hence, I'll have my DVR going, and I'll watch the game, but I'll be avoiding the news until I'm finished.

I've been reading the post-Boise State sports blogs this week. It seems that the Remler family's sports conversations sounded just like those at Bill King's family reunion: "Some were ready now to write fini to the Richt era," writes King. "Others took the tack I did in my postgame blog, that losing to the Top 5 team in the country in the first game doesn’t necessarily mean a doomed season." Fair enough, but the Remler consensus is that Mark Richt needs to change his tune if he wants to remain a Bulldog. My father in-law says that Mark Richt is too nice a guy and his players know he's too nice a guy, so they don't perform.

Maybe he has a point. The way I see it, Mark Richt is the Pa Ingalls of SEC football coaches.

 

He's youthful looking, has lots of kids, is handsome enough, and he plays fair. Okay, Richt doesn't cry at every warm and fuzzy moment, but in every other respect, he's Pa. And there's nothing wrong with Pa. He's a great guy. People love him. In fact, when he breaks his ribs and can't go to work and his farm is on the brink of foreclosure, all his friends rally around him and do his work so the bank will back off. We all cheer for Pa. 

The problem this week is that if Mark Richt is Pa, then Steve Spurrier is Nellie Oleson. 

 

Who doesn't want to tackle that onion face? But what the Ingallses have learned time and again is that to beat Nellie, you have to give her a taste of her own medicine. That means that if the Dawgs want to be Carolina this weekend, they've got to show us some Nellie on that field. And Richt has to show us some Nellie on the sidelines too. 

I don't want to see any of this Pa Ingalls, glass half-full, positive outlook stuff. Nuh-uh. 

I want to see some of this business.

 

And this.

Not so much of this, though. He looks like he's yawning there. No time for naps on the gridiron.
In other words, maybe Mark Richt ought to get a little bitchy out there, scare some touchdowns into those Dawgs. Can't hurt. Might help.

P.S. If you're reading this blog on Facebook, please go to my blog at Remlerville (http://remlerville.blogspot.com) to answer my question about those rubber bands the players wear on their arms and legs. Thank you.