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Full StingTalk
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We won't have Bark Madly to kick around anymore....
- Thread starter swampsting
- Start date
swampsting
Now with incredulous facial expression
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Ken's job wasn't to be a fan. And I thought he did a pretty good job. In this new online age where fanbois are "writing," the more traditionally-schooled writers like Ken, who is supposed to be a detached, third-party observer, get ridiculed for not being more overly one-sided in their reporting.
Now, if the people you are covering and working with on a daily basis happen to be pretty good people, you will attain an affinity for them, and maybe Ken did that with Tech.
PJ got on to Ken once for going behind his back to get injury stuff. But PJ also never cut off access on anything else. Anytime Ken needed a quote or story from PJ, he complied.
Bradley was from Kentucky. Schultz was from LA. I don't know that there is anyone from the state right now, someone who knows the state and its sports, who could step in to that gig as the lead AJC columnist.
GT65_UGA89
Not hitting the portal
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I liked Bradley to a degree, particularly when he first arrived at the ajc in ‘84. Cremins was just beginning to build the basketball program to national prominence, and I recall Bradley was complimentary and supporting of our basketball program.
It’s had to have now been 25 years since I’ve read the ajc with any regularity, so I’ve never really seen the Bark Madley side of him, but I’m not surprised that it exists.
It’s had to have now been 25 years since I’ve read the ajc with any regularity, so I’ve never really seen the Bark Madley side of him, but I’m not surprised that it exists.
Bradley had a nice article this year "Bradley’s Buzz: Brent Key has rendered Georgia Tech relevant again" where he provided some good historical context on the level of the Collins dumpster fire.
Great to see Ken S. getting a shot at a higher profile role. Ken seems to care a lot about the craft of writing.
Great to see Ken S. getting a shot at a higher profile role. Ken seems to care a lot about the craft of writing.
TechInNC
Varsity Lurker
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Almost as bad as Schultz. That guy was insufferable...
byteback
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I remember going to a Signing Day event at the Edge one year with CPJ in his second or third season. I believe it was the year JT5 signed. From what I remember, he had a couple of four stars that had committed, but backed out and went to other schools at the last minute. It was kinda disappointing to what was shaping up to be a solid class.
One of the assistant coaches was addressing those of gathered and while they couldn't name individual kids, one of those in the audience asked while Bark was in the audience, "Coach, would you say that Ga Tech suffers from unfair media reporting and hurts recruiting?"
That coach...can't remember his name...his face turned red and glanced over at Bark and looked back at the questioner, "I can't discuss something like that."
GO JACKETS!!
byteback
One of the assistant coaches was addressing those of gathered and while they couldn't name individual kids, one of those in the audience asked while Bark was in the audience, "Coach, would you say that Ga Tech suffers from unfair media reporting and hurts recruiting?"
That coach...can't remember his name...his face turned red and glanced over at Bark and looked back at the questioner, "I can't discuss something like that."
GO JACKETS!!
byteback
Supersize that order mutt
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Assuming Ken is indeed Bradley's successor, I'd say he's off to a great start. He doesn't attempt to water it down in this AJC article about the Sugar Bowl:
By Ken Sugiura
19 hours ago
NEW ORLEANS — An imperfect team in search of a perfect ending, Georgia met its end Thursday. The Bulldogs’ own mistakes and a formidable opponent made for a combination that they could not overcome.
Coach Kirby Smart’s team played a disastrous minute in the game’s midpoint and then could not catch Notre Dame in the final two quarters at the Sugar Bowl, postponed one day because of Wednesday’s horrific terrorist attack on Bourbon Street. Georgia deserved its result, a 23-10 loss to the Fighting Irish in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
A team that fought injuries, a withering schedule and its own inconsistencies, the Bulldogs will have to be satisfied with a season that would be unprecedented for almost any other program in the country — an SEC championship, the No. 2 seed in the CFP and an 11-3 record.
After the game, Smart said he won’t question a decision he made in the final minute of the first half that led to a pivotal touchdown for Notre Dame. Many Georgia fans will.
ExploreGeorgia football’s CFP journey ended by Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl
It happened when the Bulldogs started a drive with 39 seconds left in the half on their 25-yard line after a Notre Dame field goal gave the Irish a 6-3 lead. Smart made the aggressive call to try to ride quarterback Gunner Stockton’s arm to get into field-goal range. This despite the fact that Stockton was making his first career start and the offense hadn’t done much in the half to demonstrate it was capable of the consistent output necessary to get into scoring range quickly.
It immediately backfired. On a first-down pass play from the pocket, left tackle Monroe Freeling couldn’t stay in front of Notre Dame defensive end R.J. Oben, who forced a fumble out of Stockton that the Irish recovered on the Georgia 13.
On the next play, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard connected with receiver Beaux Collins for a touchdown that, with the extra point, lifted the Fighting Irish lead to 13-3.
“Typically when you’re down, you need every possession you can have,” said Smart, whose team was down at that point by a field goal. “And we made a decision that we were going to be aggressive and we were going to try to go two-minute (drill). And that’s what everything says you should do. You can’t give up possessions when you’re trailing.”
That was calamity enough. But on the kickoff to start the second half, Notre Dame returner Jayden Harrison slalomed through the Georgia coverage team for a 98-yard return for a touchdown.
It was a breakdown of a particularly trustworthy unit. The longest kickoff return permitted by the Bulldogs this season until Thursday was 29 yards. The last time a Georgia opponent returned a kickoff for a touchdown was 2018 (Georgia Tech’s Juanyeh Thomas).
“We had leverage on the ball, and we had somebody that couldn’t get him on the ground,” Smart said. “And that’s what football is. It’s fundamentals and tackling. We tackle him there, then we got a chance to stop them.”
ExploreGeorgia players appreciate Stockton for ‘playing his heart out’ against Notre Dame
Notre Dame led 6-3 with 39 seconds left in the first half. Fifteen seconds into the third quarter, the lead was 20-3. Georgia kept up the chase — chopping wood, in its parlance — but the Bulldogs were not going to catch the Fighting Irish on this day.
The Bulldogs were vastly outplayed in the middle eight — the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second — a section of the game that Smart has called one of the more critical in a game.
Georgia fell short elsewhere, too. With his team in the red zone in the first quarter, running back Travis Etienne lost a fumble, denying the Bulldogs a chance at points.
The Bulldogs had trouble keeping pressure off Stockton, who was sacked four times. The mistakes weren’t even limited to the field. On a 67-yard pass play from Stockton to wide receiver Arian Smith in the second quarter that put the ball on Notre Dame’s 11-yard line, walk-on Parker Jones inadvertently got in the way of an official following the play by barely being in the white area on the sideline, which is restricted to officials and on-field players. It was a tough-luck moment for Jones. On the same play, Smart himself was in the white area.
It drew a penalty and pushed Georgia back to the 26. The Bulldogs settled for a field goal that gave them a 3-0 lead.
Smart said that “I call those things undisciplined, self-imposed wounds that you lose momentum on.”
Georgia’s defense largely did its job, limiting Notre Dame’s offense to 16 points and 244 yards, the season yardage low for the Irish and about 175 yards below its average.
But the Bulldogs committed a costly offside penalty on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter when Notre Dame brought its entire punt team off the field and replaced it with the offense in an attempt to do exactly that.
There was about 7:20 remaining in the game when Jalon Walker jumped offside on that play. Georgia was down 23-10. Officials did miss an apparent false start on Notre Dame on the same play.
When the Bulldogs finally got the ball back, there was 1:49 left.
The NCAA football rules committee co-chairman, Smart argued the penalty on the field. He explained after the game that he had been told by the SEC head of officials after UGA tried it in 2017 that it’s not within the rules to run all 11 players off and bring in 11 new players.
Answering a postgame query from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on X, formerly Twitter, former NFL referee and Big East and American Athletic Conference officiating coordinator Terry McAulay said that Smart’s understanding was incorrect and that, “One would think the Chairman of the Rules Committee would know the rule.” Ouch.
Georgia had a chance to win it all. But with this team, with a newbie starting quarterback, lacking the star power of its championship predecessors and up against an excellent opponent, it was going to take a better performance than the Bulldogs gave. It fell in line with the season.
Georgia could afford to allow 170 rushing yards to Kentucky, throw three interceptions against Florida or trail Tech 17-0 at halftime because it was better than those teams. It didn’t have that margin against the Irish, who made the Bulldogs pay.
“Notre Dame played well,” Smart said. “We didn’t play great.”
It was that simple.
By Ken Sugiura
19 hours ago
NEW ORLEANS — An imperfect team in search of a perfect ending, Georgia met its end Thursday. The Bulldogs’ own mistakes and a formidable opponent made for a combination that they could not overcome.
Coach Kirby Smart’s team played a disastrous minute in the game’s midpoint and then could not catch Notre Dame in the final two quarters at the Sugar Bowl, postponed one day because of Wednesday’s horrific terrorist attack on Bourbon Street. Georgia deserved its result, a 23-10 loss to the Fighting Irish in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
A team that fought injuries, a withering schedule and its own inconsistencies, the Bulldogs will have to be satisfied with a season that would be unprecedented for almost any other program in the country — an SEC championship, the No. 2 seed in the CFP and an 11-3 record.
After the game, Smart said he won’t question a decision he made in the final minute of the first half that led to a pivotal touchdown for Notre Dame. Many Georgia fans will.
ExploreGeorgia football’s CFP journey ended by Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl
It happened when the Bulldogs started a drive with 39 seconds left in the half on their 25-yard line after a Notre Dame field goal gave the Irish a 6-3 lead. Smart made the aggressive call to try to ride quarterback Gunner Stockton’s arm to get into field-goal range. This despite the fact that Stockton was making his first career start and the offense hadn’t done much in the half to demonstrate it was capable of the consistent output necessary to get into scoring range quickly.
It immediately backfired. On a first-down pass play from the pocket, left tackle Monroe Freeling couldn’t stay in front of Notre Dame defensive end R.J. Oben, who forced a fumble out of Stockton that the Irish recovered on the Georgia 13.
On the next play, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard connected with receiver Beaux Collins for a touchdown that, with the extra point, lifted the Fighting Irish lead to 13-3.
“Typically when you’re down, you need every possession you can have,” said Smart, whose team was down at that point by a field goal. “And we made a decision that we were going to be aggressive and we were going to try to go two-minute (drill). And that’s what everything says you should do. You can’t give up possessions when you’re trailing.”
That was calamity enough. But on the kickoff to start the second half, Notre Dame returner Jayden Harrison slalomed through the Georgia coverage team for a 98-yard return for a touchdown.
It was a breakdown of a particularly trustworthy unit. The longest kickoff return permitted by the Bulldogs this season until Thursday was 29 yards. The last time a Georgia opponent returned a kickoff for a touchdown was 2018 (Georgia Tech’s Juanyeh Thomas).
“We had leverage on the ball, and we had somebody that couldn’t get him on the ground,” Smart said. “And that’s what football is. It’s fundamentals and tackling. We tackle him there, then we got a chance to stop them.”
ExploreGeorgia players appreciate Stockton for ‘playing his heart out’ against Notre Dame
Notre Dame led 6-3 with 39 seconds left in the first half. Fifteen seconds into the third quarter, the lead was 20-3. Georgia kept up the chase — chopping wood, in its parlance — but the Bulldogs were not going to catch the Fighting Irish on this day.
The Bulldogs were vastly outplayed in the middle eight — the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second — a section of the game that Smart has called one of the more critical in a game.
Georgia fell short elsewhere, too. With his team in the red zone in the first quarter, running back Travis Etienne lost a fumble, denying the Bulldogs a chance at points.
The Bulldogs had trouble keeping pressure off Stockton, who was sacked four times. The mistakes weren’t even limited to the field. On a 67-yard pass play from Stockton to wide receiver Arian Smith in the second quarter that put the ball on Notre Dame’s 11-yard line, walk-on Parker Jones inadvertently got in the way of an official following the play by barely being in the white area on the sideline, which is restricted to officials and on-field players. It was a tough-luck moment for Jones. On the same play, Smart himself was in the white area.
It drew a penalty and pushed Georgia back to the 26. The Bulldogs settled for a field goal that gave them a 3-0 lead.
Smart said that “I call those things undisciplined, self-imposed wounds that you lose momentum on.”
Georgia’s defense largely did its job, limiting Notre Dame’s offense to 16 points and 244 yards, the season yardage low for the Irish and about 175 yards below its average.
But the Bulldogs committed a costly offside penalty on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter when Notre Dame brought its entire punt team off the field and replaced it with the offense in an attempt to do exactly that.
There was about 7:20 remaining in the game when Jalon Walker jumped offside on that play. Georgia was down 23-10. Officials did miss an apparent false start on Notre Dame on the same play.
When the Bulldogs finally got the ball back, there was 1:49 left.
Notre Dame 23, Georgia 10
The NCAA football rules committee co-chairman, Smart argued the penalty on the field. He explained after the game that he had been told by the SEC head of officials after UGA tried it in 2017 that it’s not within the rules to run all 11 players off and bring in 11 new players.
Answering a postgame query from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on X, formerly Twitter, former NFL referee and Big East and American Athletic Conference officiating coordinator Terry McAulay said that Smart’s understanding was incorrect and that, “One would think the Chairman of the Rules Committee would know the rule.” Ouch.
Georgia had a chance to win it all. But with this team, with a newbie starting quarterback, lacking the star power of its championship predecessors and up against an excellent opponent, it was going to take a better performance than the Bulldogs gave. It fell in line with the season.
Georgia could afford to allow 170 rushing yards to Kentucky, throw three interceptions against Florida or trail Tech 17-0 at halftime because it was better than those teams. It didn’t have that margin against the Irish, who made the Bulldogs pay.
“Notre Dame played well,” Smart said. “We didn’t play great.”
It was that simple.
ClydeBrick
All Being Master of Time Space & Dimension
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Yeah, no. Seems to be the same ol' mutt luv to me.
Supersize that order mutt
Dodd-Like
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I agree that that's not a true picture at least of the Tech game, but it's the party line, so I guess Ken has to toe the line on that.
GTRules
You’re Mamma
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GT won that game. Everyone knows it.
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- Nov 25, 2004
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Except @Wrecked who directs everyone's attention to the scoreboard and away from the replay monitor showing the official swallowing his whistle while our QB takes a targeting hit from a dwag player who, by the way, was ejected for the same infraction from the dwag's previous game.
GTRules
You’re Mamma
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There’s one douchebag in every crowd.
OldSchoolJacket
Varsity Lurker
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Good riddance. I remember the days of integrity and class when Furman Bisher was around. My how far we have fallen.He's hanging up his quill.
And Chip Towers (who has covered Georgia for what seems like eons) is also hitting the retirement portal.
When Towers worked in Athens, he was beating the AJC guy on the beat so bad they had to move him to the Falcons, where there was no competition. Which is why Steve Wyche is on the NFL Network today.
Beware - pay wall links ahead.
Georgia Bulldogs playing in another Sugar Bowl is a great way to go out
Mainly, I plan to kick back with my wife and enjoy some time together. We’ll visit the French Quarter and maybe stroll through Jackson Square.www.ajc.com
Bradley’s last Buzz: After 40-plus years, this grateful guy bids you goodbye
I’m a professional. I know how this is done. Game column on deadline when the local team wins the World Series? Did two of those. Game column on deadline when the local team blows a 25-point Super Bowl lead? Did one of those. Predictions? I’ve offered a zillion, two or three of which panned out...
swampsting
Now with incredulous facial expression
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- Dec 8, 2007
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- 8,966
I knew Furman, in his later years. Had dinner with him one night.