You wouldn't know it by today's weather here in Athens, but the calendar has flipped to March which means there is a lot going on in the world of sport. College basketball is entering its final week of the regular season with what is sure to be a wild couple of weeks of tournament play to follow. Spring training has started in both Florida and Arizona so we're less than a month away from opening day. Also right around the corner is the first major golf tournament of the year, The Masters, so preparation for that is well underway as well. I'll be honest, none of this translates to football season, but spring practice is also set to kick off soon so if you're dying for that, there is a little relief. Spring sports usually occurs in a flurry before the doldrums of summer so we've got a lot we can touch on.
I'm going to try something new with today's column. Each bullet point will be a hash tag. If you want to comment about anything you can use that on twitter or just comment here on the blog.
1) #PGADawgs - Though it flies under the radar usually until about this week when the World Golf Championship tees off at Doral, the PGA season officially started back in October. So far, 4 former UGA players have taken home titles. Chris Kirk took the McGladrey Classic in Sea Island back in November. In the same month, Harris English won the OHL Classic in Mexico. English also teamed with Matt Kuchar (a Georgia Tech grad) to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout in December. Bubba Watson won his first tournament since the 2012 Masters at Riviera in February and this past weekend Russell Henley stormed past Rory McIlroy to win the Honda Classic in a shootout. All in all, not a bad showing for the ol' alma mater. Already over $9,000,000 in winnings before the first major. That puts them in first place in the Rivals Cup, "awarded" to the school who's former players perform best over the course of the PGA season. That's $6,000,000 more than the team currently in 2nd place, Baylor. There's a long way to go but the season certainly looks promising for former Bulldogs and their fans.
2) #WhosAtQB - Spring practice for football is gearing up with Texas A&M being one of the first schools out of the gate starting this past Friday. Staying in the SEC, South Carolina starts today and Ole Miss starts tomorrow. After last year's stellas QB class in the SEC, one of the big questions is going to be "Who's that guy playing QB?" Gone are Johnny Manziel, AJ McCarron, Aaron Murray, Zach Mettenberger, Connor Shaw, and James Franklin. The big question in some of these cases is who is going to replace them. In other situations, like UGA with Hutson Mason and South Carolina with Dylan Thompson or Missouri with Maty Mauk, the question will be can the new guy win ball games. Nothing really changes in the SEC though. Programs are expected to win and some of the highest expectations will be in places with a new face under center. Keep an eye on how these guys look in the spring. It doesn't translate to winning in the fall but it will at least give us something to talk about until then.
3) #QuitHating - Well, maybe not. The NBA made him change his Batman-ish looking mask, but Lebron continued his super hero impression last night dropping a career high 61 points. What surprises you is not the fact that Lebron is capable of scoring, but what is surprising is how he managed to do it. It was efficient. He shot 67% from the field, making 22 of his 33 attempts. He also canned his first 8 three-point attempts. Amazingly, people are still divided on Lebron. I understand that "The Decision" left a bad taste in everyone's mouth and some people (especially in Cleveland) aren't over it. Here's the problem. Lebron is the best player in the game. On top of that, he's a nice guy. We were all in such awe of Jordan (and rightfully so as he was amazing) but Lebron is amazing and a much nicer person than MJ appeared or appears to be. Quit hating and start enjoying.
4) #GimmeNemi - We're in the last week of regular season college basketball and things are ever interesting in the basketball challenged SEC. Florida solidified its place as perhaps the best team in the country while the other standard bearer for the conference, Kentucky, dropped a home game to Arkansas and a road game to lowly South Carolina. Not exactly the vote of confidence needed by other teams that the SEC wasn't as bad as they thought. Now Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and even UGA are battling for bubble spots that may not be there. Arkansas looks to be in the best shape at this point but that loss by Kentucky to Carolina didn't help. They've got Ole Miss at home and then Alabama on the road. Tennessee also has a favorable schedule with Auburn on the road followed by a home game against another bubble team, Missouri. That game in Knoxville might very well be an elimination game for both schools. The Tigers have a home game against A&M, which they should win, before finishing with the Vols. That leaves UGA which, despite the worse overall record of the bunch, is in 3rd place alone in the SEC standings. The Dawgs get a bad Miss State team at home and then travel to LSU for a game that may decide whether they are 3rd or 5th in the standings. Regardless, the Dawgs need to finish winning 4 of 5 to have any chance at the Big Dance. GRH will be at the game Wednesday night so you can keep up with us on our Twitter feed.
5) #NoCompetition - As opposed to the parity I just described in one conference of men's basketball at the NCAA level, I just have to shake my head at the lack of competitiveness in women's basketball. UCONN finished another undefeated regular season last night. I guess, that in of itself doesn't mean they didn't have any competition. But they won their last game on the road against 3rd ranked Louisville by 20 points. As an undergraduate, I used to go to a lot of women's basketball games. Frankly, they probably play more fundamentally sound than the men do at any level. As a fan of the game of basketball, I like to watch it when its played "the right way." But when the champion is a foregone conclusion it makes it tough to stay interested over the long haul. The NCAA tournament is a prime example. People love the uncertainty of the men's bracket. Aside from a 16 seed beating a 1, anything can happen (and that will eventually happen too). But on the women's side, you can almost go ahead and pencil the four 1 seeds into the final four. Well, 3 out of 4. How can there be so much difference between these two sports? Just food for thought today.
Anyways, enjoy Fat Tuesday. Have a hurricane for me. Follow us on Twitter @GRHuddle or like us on Facebook and I'll see you next week.
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