Why yes, faithful readers, I am still alive.

For those of you who are patient in awaiting each new post, I applaud you.  I know Adam has already given his excuses about the end of the semester, and I'm going to coincide with my frantic schedule, in what is the most miserable time of the year.

Think about it.  Not only is college football almost over, but Georgia fans are already forlorn due to the last two games.  Finals (Or Evaluations) are coming up soon, and the temperature is dropping to coincide with peoples immune systems.  For those of you who haven seen it, I intended to point you towards DawgsOnline earlier in the week for your weekly optimism boost.  I would have provided such points myself, but I was stuck in my personal corner of paradise filling prescriptions for sick people, stopping every few minutes to frantically refresh my cell phone browser hoping that we were not really going to lose to Kentucky.  Again.

Fortunately, we did not.  From what I understand, those last five minutes or so may have been the most exciting Georgia football that we've witnessed all year, sans perhaps those first few minutes of the LSU game.

But back to reality, Georgia has two more games ahead of them with a glass floor keeping their expectations absurdly high.  If we were to lose to either Auburn or Georgia Tech, fans would riot, Rivals! would explode, and nothing would really change.  Hence, why we are now entrenched in "The Most Miserable Time of the Year." for another month or so, until Christmas Traffic is enveloped into "the Holiday Season."

In the spirit of the early-November blues, this Friday's predictions post will be integrated into a personal favorite list of mine, which we will probably see again during the doldrums of early January, "Things that Suck."

1. Paul Pierce.  I already hated Paul Pierce before this week.  Between his constant crying, his gang signs, and the taunting of Al Horford that was not nearly as publicized as Horford's retaliation; Pierce is just another reason why I hate most of the city of Boston.   Which makes it that much more painful that, after Marvin Williams hit a three pointer which may have been the only clutch shot any Hawks has had to take in the past decade, Pierce hit a J over an outstretched Al Horford (who did a fine job defending) to give the Hawks their first loss.  Not to say that a 1 point loss in Boston is not encouraging given the playoffs last season, but couldn't it have been Ray Allen to hit that shot?
2. The Jets.  Actually, I lie, because the Jets are now in sole first place of their division after an impressive showing against the Patriots last night, but I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be a Jets fan this season, because you have no idea who is going to show up.  Thomas Jones has been the very definition of boom/bust this season, and Brett Favre never seems to know which jerseys he should be throwing to.  I guess it's understandable given that he's been looking for Green and Yellow for the past 72 years, and he's certainly an improvement over Chad Pennington.  Actually, I take that back, because this season must be awesome for Jets fans, because the alternative to this team is, well, the Jets.
3. The last month of school.  Just to keep you guys on your toes with a little breather.  I'm sure those of you who have already graduated can vividly recall that lack of motivation that haunts you the further you get through the semester, and let me tell you how much it's haunting me right now.   One day I'm going to learn not to sign up for an 8 AM class, and one day I'm not going to allow myself gaps in between classes where I could potentially go home and not come back.  But in the mean time, I've got lots of tests to fail.
4. On that note, Biochemistry.  Enough Said.
5. Back to sports:  This week in college football.  I guess it would have been more impressive at the beginning of the year with Georgia/Auburn and Florida State/Boston College losing most of their luster, but as of right now there aren't a lot of significant games going on.  Depending on which rankings you use, the only ranked/ranked matchups are going to be Florida/USC, where Spurrier is going to make an attempt (and fail) to not become another statistic on Florida's quest to domination, and Maryland/North Carolina.
6. That match gets it's own bullet point, because it epitomizes my feelings on the BCS right now  Maryland/North Carolina could very possibly determine who goes to the BCS from the ACC.  In a season where the leader has fluctuated based on "who wants to screw up the least," football fans are going to be rewarded with a UNC/Utah matchup, in what could very possibly be the least-anticipated BCS game of all time.  Meanwhile, one of Oklahoma/Texas/Texas Tech is going to be screwed, and will have to take retribution in demolishing LSU in the Cotton Bowl.
7. Flu Season.  Even though it's not officially here yet, flu season is going to be a critical part of your lives very soon.  Last year's epidemic was the worst one Georgia has seen in a decade, and this year looks to be just as bad if not worse.  This makes me miserable because I work in a pharmacy where I practice my masochistic tendencies.  This should make you miserable because even if you do have a bulletproof immune system, there's going to be at least one sporting event in the next month and a half that will be decided by a player being off of his game because his muscles don't want to work.  They can't all be Michael Jordan, and that's not how you want to end the college football season.
8. SEC fans.  Really, fans of major college football programs in general, but the SEC epitomizes most of this.  Auburn and Tennessee both have had awful years.  Fulmer is gone, and that was probably overdue.  Auburn fans are clamoring for Tuberville's head as well, however, which is ridiculous.  Plenty of people have noted how Tommy rebuilt Auburn like CMR rebuilt Georgia, and it would be ridiculous to fire him, with nobody better available.  However, it was ridiculous for them to fire their OC halfway through the season without giving him the opportunity to build his offense, so I wouldn't put it past them.  And before anyone gets defensive on me - Trust me, as someone who suffered through high school as a Georgia Tech fan, Georgia fans are just as, if not more annoying than Tennessee/Auburn/anyone else.  Remember two weeks ago when everyone was calling for Mike Bobo's head two weeks ago?  Is anybody still doing that?
9. Willie Martinez.  And yes, I'm a hypocrite.  But I'm a consistent hypocrite.

So, I apparently failed to incorporate my predictions into the List of Suck, so I'll break them down for you relatively quick.  For those of you paying attention, my success rate of 50% is still on the line.

Georgia will beat Auburn.  Yes, you shouldn't discount a rivalry game, and yes, the underdog traditionally wins this game.  But the difference between, for example, a 2006 Georgia team that was letting Stafford develop at his own pace, versus an Auburn team this year that still doesn't know who their playmaker is astronomical.  Not to say that the Bulldogs are going to blow the Tigers out, because they don't seem capable of doing that to anyone.  But look for a 34-24 victory.  And yes, I predicted Auburn to score more than 20 points.  Who does that reflect on?

Georgia Tech will beat Miami.  This is based entirely on the miraculous discovery by Adam that Jonathan Dwyer and gang will continue to do whatever we predict them to not do.  I'd offer analysis on this game, but it would obviously be wrong.  Call it 17-13.

Look for an upset from either Stanford (against USC) or Illinois (against Ohio State).  Reason being, both of the favored teams traditionally lose at least one game that they should not.  Illinois has the added bonus of actually being a good team that has underachieved all year.  Ohio State will probably be watching for them this year.

The Falcons will prevail over the Broncos by sheer fact that, if Drew Brees can't abuse Atlanta's secondary to overcome defensive inadequacies, Jay Cutler probably can't either.  Denver also has the added disadvantage of not really knowing who is getting most of the carries, as everyone is hurt.  This is good news for anybody who has part of the Broncos passing game on their fantasy team (Re: Me)

And I will still not get enough sleep, nor enough time to study for my next test.  Yay Physics!

Until Next Time.