Tire Store Report Georgia

Our thanks to so many of you who inquired after our health because there was no Tire Store Report after ULM.  There’s no truth at all to the rumor that Pee Wee let the hydraulic lift down on us (well, at least this time).  Frankly, we thought the Commissioner did such an outstanding job on The Grades last week, there just wasn’t much to add.  Besides, the Comptroller said we were getting a little snippy with the staff and some of the customers, so we locked up the service bays, turned off the alignment machine, and hung out the Gone Fishing sign for a few days.

Of course, we planned our trip back home to make sure we could watch the Crimson Tide play a little football over in Georgia.  It was a gray sloppy day.  Nonetheless, it will stay as a sunny memory in our football minds.  Alabama, given up on after as self-destructive an outing as any we can remember two weeks ago, served notice that they “ain’t dead yet”.  They served that notice by handing Georgia the worst defeat it has ever suffered at Sanford Stadium. 

The Commissioner has done his usual outstanding job of analyzing the game.  Just a few thoughts:

Offense:  We can only hope we get to play every game in near-monsoon conditions.  A focus on running the ball (47/64 plays), better offensive line play in both the passing and running games, running backs who weren’t afraid to hit the gaps strong, and mostly better ball security proved that this team can win games by scoring points in a variety of ways, especially combined with….

Defense:  Aside from one long run by Georgia’s Heisman candidate running back, Alabama’s stop troops clamped down on Georgia.  The Bulldogs field one of the best receivers in the conference.  He had three catches on the day.  Defensive linemen were solid at the point of attack, flew to the ball, and have made an art form out of slapping attempted passes back at opposing quarterbacks.  We even returned interceptions.  The very young DBs are growing into the game very quickly.

Special Teams:  Not only were the specialists special, we can find little to criticize.  In a game like this, every kick and catch was an adventure.  Our substitute long snapper has been completely unnoticed, which is what you want.  J.K. Scott is not yet what he was last year, but punting the football on Saturday was probably more like kicking the whole pig instead of just a skin and he dropped one inside the 20, nearly put another inside the 5, and had a long of around 50.  Our place kicking was down the middle on PATs and FGs.  We even kicked off the football into the dadgum end zone on a few occasions.  It still scares the tar out of us that Cyrus Jones is returning punts, but he did a creditable job in adverse conditions, even when Georgia tried to kill him (see below).  And the blocked punt for the touchdown happened so fast we blinked and nearly missed it.

Officiating:  F.  Hubert Owens’ crew had the premiere SEC game of the day.  Many believe that since Steve Shaw got kicked upstairs to oversee SEC officials, this is the best crew in the conference.  That may well be so.  It may also be the equivalent of being the prettiest bearded lady at the side show.  Georgia’s players were yapping (get it?) at Alabama before the game even started.  This was clearly going to be a chippy game.  Hubert and the boys darn near let it get out of hand on two or three occasions, and that’s just what we were able to see on television.   Normally, I’d not be so paranoid as to suggest the officials are tossing laundry on the field to make an example of Coach Saban who has for two or three seasons been criticizing the officials’ performance, particularly with regard to the various advantages sought by the HUNH crowd.  But after a call for offensive linemen downfield last week (when the replay showed that all of the linemen were within the correct 3-yard zone) and a call this week for “roughing the center” which not even Verne and Gary could put a fig leaf over, it’s well to remember that even paranoids have real enemies.  These blind mice apparently even almost marked off penalty yards against Alabama when a Georgia player was (correctly) flagged for a very late hit on Cyrus Jones during a kick return.  The miss was that they also should have flagged the Georgia player for targeting -- it may not have been, but it was plenty close enough to let the booth review it in slow motion.  We understand this is how the rule is supposed to be enforced -- call anything close and let the booth review.  Just in case you’ve forgotten, down here at the Tire Store we think the coaches, players and fans of the best football conference in America deserve at least excellent officiating -- we don’t have it, and we aren’t even close.

Broadcast:  G (or some other grade lower than F).  Verne has been mispronouncing names for so long he now has Gary doing it along with him.  And Gary, who is actually a fairly knowledgeable football guy, puts together packages in advance that he’s desperate to air no matter what happens in the actual football game.  We can even live with that.  What we can’t live with is having our collective Crimson Noses rubbed in it.  First, CBS decided to promo the network’s sports channel re-airing of the South Carolina Alabama game from 2010?  Really, CBS?  You chose to promo that during our game with Georgia?  Even Gary said Alabama fans wouldn’t want to tune in.  Who in the audience did you think you were reaching?  Some South Carolina fans who still had the stomach to watch football after what their team had done earlier in the day?  Second, in the middle of what was actually a pretty relaxing second half, you put together a video montage of miraculous plays that resulted in losses for Alabama?  Didn’t see one of those for Georgia.  In fact, I can’t recall your network actually having done one of those for any team, and we mostly see the CBS broadcast every week (admittedly we often have the audio portion turned off).  Note to the programming department -- we suggest showing a team’s most painful historical moments during its games on your network is not your most brilliant strategy.  It would be like watching hidden camera slow motion replays of all the times we’ve dropped lug wrenches on our big toe.  Maybe they are hoping to get Maalox to sponsor it?

Back to Tuscaloosa for the Arkansas game and homecoming.  Arkansas gave a gritty performance and cost Tennessee its third two-touchdown lead of the season.  Hope to see you on the Quad.  I’ll be the guy in the crimson shirt eating a barbeque pork sandwich.  Be sure and say “Roll Tide”.

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