Misc.

Sad to lose Mark Strand at age 80, which doesn't seem all that old to me anymore. I didn't know him well at all, but he was a fine poet and added much to America's literature

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I don't live or die by UGA football, though I enjoy it every year and cheer for my alma mater's team. But in more than 50 years of listening to UGA football and watching it in person and on TV, yesterday's end-of-the-game decision to pooch-kick after what should have been our winning TD with 18 seconds left sets a new standard in horrible play-calling.

In fact, that was the single worst play call I've ever seen in football at any level, and I remember football well back to 1956. Coach Mark Richt's explanation after the game was almost surreal.

Here is what the AJC reported he said: "If you kick it deep, there's a chance they could set up a return and take it to the house. If you squib it, it's hard to get a touchdown on the kick. But your squib does tend to end up giving them more field position. That's the difference."

I know from reading others' comments online that vast numbers of people were, like me, saying the ONLY way we could screw that up was to pooch kick it. If the kick works, Tech is close to getting a game-tying field goal. If the kick "fails," whatever that could have been, Tech is close to getting a game-tying field goal. Either way, we "lose."

And at the very least it's the head coach telling the world he didn't trust his kickoff team to prevent a 100-yard return for a kickoff.

I know after the horrible loss for UGA, people were talking about all game's firsts, including the first-ever overtime game in Sanford Stadium. But for me it will always the game with the single worst call (offense or defense) I ever saw.

Bring on baseball!