Bulldogs fans' 2014 football expectations mostly optimistic
This week saw 11 members of Mark Richt 2014 Georgia football team named to the Athlon Sports Preseason All SEC Team: Tailback Todd Gurley, inside linebacker Ramik Wilson and placekicker Marshall Morgan were named to the first team, while flanker Malcolm Mitchell, center David Andrews and outside linebackers Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins were second team picks. Tackle John Theus and cornerback Damian Swann were picked for the third team, and defensive end Ray Drew and inside linebacker Amarlo Herrera were named to the fourth team. Gurley, Wilson and Floyd also were named to Phil Steele's Preseason All America Team this week.
Meanwhile, the Dogs were on something of a recruiting tear this week, beating out Bama for a verbal commitment from four star tight end Jackson Authentic Steve Atwater Jersey Harris of Columbia, Tenn. That followed Georgia landing commitments from defensive back Deandre Baker, outside linebacker Gary McCrae and linebacker Juwan Taylor earlier in the month. And with the Mark Richt Camp taking place Saturday, more commitments could follow.
Also, wide receiver Charlie Hegedus, who played at Lassiter High and spent two seasons at North Carolina State, announced he was joining the Dogs as a walk on. He be eligible to play immediately.
All in all, good week for the program. So I thought it was a good time to take the temperature of the Bulldog Nation on the coming season. On Facebook and Twitter, I asked followers of the Blawg this question: What are your expectations for UGA football in 2014?
Responses I got are included in this week Junkyard Mail. start out on a very positive note. Jessy Fowler writes: Expect: 3,000 yards for [Hutson] Mason, 1,200 yards for [Todd] Authentic Shannon Sharpe Jersey Gurley, improvement on defense, beat Florida and Tech, win the East, lose the SEC Championship Game, win the Capital One Bowl. Desire: win the SECCG, secure playoff berth, win the first ever College Football Playoff. Not too much to ask either way, right? GO DAWGS!
Dillon Brinson writes: Love your Blawgs, Bill. I think most fans would agree that barring another season of injuries to key players the Dawgs should at least make it to the SEC Championship game. It seems reasonable given the talent we have on offense and assuming Coach [Jeremy] Pruitt can turn the defense around. Beyond that point is anyone guess.
Hal Marshall writes: I expect the Dogs to bounce back to about where they stood in 2011 and 2012, meaning I see an 11 1 or 10 2 record and making it to the Georgia Dome as the Eastern champion. Not ready to go all the way and predict a conference championship. But, if Georgia did go 11 1 and was the loser of the SEC Championship Game, do you think that would be good enough to make the playoff?
Sally Jackson writes: My expectations for my Dawgs this season are the same as every season: 12 0, baby! Remember, you asked for expectations, not predictions. And I always expect Georgia to be able to beat anyone and everyone on the schedule. Now, if I had to predict a season record at this point, I think I go 11 1. I really think the only games in question are South Carolina and Auburn, and I believe we split those. Go Dawgs!
And Asheville Dawg kept it succinct, simply writing: I see and expect another 10 win season. Good enough to win the East!
Sally, sounds like you almost as optimistic as my brother Jon, who not only always expects the Dogs to go undefeated, but makes that his official prediction as well. Jessy, I don know if 3,000 yards throwing is an overly optimistic expectation for Mason or not, but I will say that if he does match Aaron Murray in that regard I think Georgia will be in very good shape. Like Dillon says, barring injury, I think a big season for Gurley is a pretty safe expectation. And, Hal, I say the answer to your playoff question would depend on how many other one loss major conference teams there are (and who they are). But, especially if the loss in the championship game was a close one (as in 2012), I say a Georgia team with one regular season loss and a championship game loss would at least be in the conversation.
Not everyone was as optimistic as the above folks, however. Ed Carlton writes: my expectations are tempered by all the personnel problems on defense and the fact that I heard somewhere even Jeremy Pruitt is predicting that because he doesn have all the talent on board yet that he needs, he won be able to match last year showing with FSU. Yeah, the Seminoles had a green secondary, but the talent level was considerably above Georgia I afraid I see a 7 5 year in 2014. However, my expectations for 2015 are considerably higher!
Ed, you right about it being unlikely Pruitt will be able to do quite the job in his first year in Athens that he did at Florida State. The question is how much the secondary will be improved over what Todd Grantham had last season. If there is even a modicum of improvement and Mike Bobo offense stays healthy and performs up to expectations, I believe the Dogs should still be able to have a much better season than you expecting.
Mark Richt and Mike Bobo are likely to continue to balance the Dogs running and passing attacks. (Dan Evans / UGA)
Checking out some of the other mail, Larry W. Tucker writes: It early, but on paper we should be loaded at tailback. Do you think that Bobo might try more running plays using up tempo and keeping a fresh Terrell Davis Jersey back in there at all times? I know he is big on balance, but you sure can argue with the results Auburn put up last year. Turman and the two freshmen, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, he is likely to keep a fresh back in unless Gurley is, as Richt said recently, really pounding it. Then they let him pound away.
Lamar Westbrook writes: Hey when will it end? Every time I check lately, a Georgia player is in trouble or leaving for another school!! Also the school happens to be Louisville every time. If I am Richt, I would let them leave but there is no way I would let them go to Louisville! Correct me if I am wrong, but can Richt put stipulations to where they can go to?
Lamar, Richt could indeed put restrictions on where departing players can transfer, but he chooses not to do so. I don see him changing his stance on that, either.
And, switching sports, SSI Sammy writes: what do you think of the proposal that the Georgia and Georgia Tech basketball coaches have come up with to play every third year at Philips Arena in Atlanta? Sounds to me like a good way to goose interest in both of the state top college basketball programs!
Sammy, that certainly the idea. As Tech coach Brian Gregory told the AJC, "We want to get it where it's a big game in the state. I think that'd be good for us, and it'd be good for college basketball in the state." Of course, it not a new idea. The game was played at the old Omni from 1981 to 1994, but then moved back to on campus because UGA officials thought the Atlanta location favored the Jackets, which it probably did. Still, as an every third year arrangement, I think it might be worth trying. Since the game is usually mid week, it would certainly make it easier for UGA supporters in Atlanta to attend. Anyone think it a bad idea?
Filling up unused lower level seats could help improve the atmosphere at Stegeman Coliseum. (UGA)
Meanwhile, another possible tweaking to UGA basketball games is under consideration and Steve Atwater Jersey it an idea I heartily back. Apparently, UGA athletic director Greg McGarity was impressed with the level of crowd intensity at Georgia two NIT games this past season. Even though they were small crowds, because those games were general admission, everyone sat close to the court and it made for a much more boisterous atmosphere. That in contrast with regular Georgia home games at the Steg, where many of the lower level seats that are assigned to season ticket holders remain empty something that bothered me for years. I always wondered why, at some point, they don let fans from the upper levels move down into those empty seats. And that exactly what McGarity and his staff are trying to work out, the Athens Banner Herald reported, with their thinking being that, possibly at the 16 minute or 12 minute mark of the game, fans will be allowed to come down and fill empty lower level seats.
This upcoming season is all about the defense. And it all comes down to the secondary. If Pruitt can get those guys on the same page and have them being able to get some 3rd down stops, then it could be a special season. But that is alot of ifs. The front 7 will be good. They were last year and that is the only reason that the defense was not even worse than it was. I don't see the secondary being any worse and I do see them improving unlike last year.
The offense could be our most potent ever. Alot has been made of Mason's arm strength and the potential lack of a down field game. Mason can chuck the ball 30 yards folks and that is all you need to be able to make teams respect the deep ball. If a guy is behind a safety and you get it over the top then you can have explosive plays. With the RB corps that we will be trotting out on Saturdays this fall, safties will be cheating up to stop the run. David Greene did not have a big arm and he managed to get the ball deep a few times. mason can as well. The key is getting rid of the ball sooner. When you get air under the ball it gives the DB a chance to recover. But if you get the ball out when the WR is just getting separation, you can still float it a bit and have the receiver run under it. I think we will be surprised by how Mason uses his reads to manufacture a deep game. If those safeties start cheating up, make'em pay. And I think he will.
Again, none of this is a given. The key is how the secondary comes together early. If they can be just good enough to keep us in the game early (Clemson and SC) then it will be just a matter of how many guys we can keep healthy to face down UF and Auburn. The defense will be better and it may be significantly better later in the year. That could be a heck of a finish.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season. Shannon Sharpe Jersey I'm confident in our offense and expecting Mason to do well, although his passing stats will not be like Murray's. Like if the defense improves at all, as they should, we should have a realistic shot to make the SECCG and see what happens from there.
Have they fixed (gotten rid of, by any chance) the targeting rule? That was the single worst conceived, implemented and enforced rule I have ever seen. It had a huge negative Terrell Davis Broncos Jersey impact on the game of college football and did nothing it was ostensibly designed to do.
The Cabanas will be Great in September, possibly OK in October and TERRIBLE in November and December, for Jaguar fans. So, our game falls into the late part of the "iffy" period. They just better make up for the missing seats. While I do think it would be fun (say, when the Falcons play the Jaguars) if the weather was right and someone else was paying for it ("rent one of the four poolside cabanas on the first level for $12,500 a game"), I don't see it being a winner overall. After the initial interest is satisfied, it will be a loser due to the limited use.
Did ya'll hear that Jax took out 7,000 seats from their stadium to put in a pool and cabana (or something like that)?
Can Authentic Brian Dawkins Jersey Jeremy Lin Join The NBA's Top
I am a senior editor at Forbes and focusmainly on the business of sports and our annual franchise valuations. I also spend a lot of my time digging into what athletes earn Authentic John Elway Jersey on and off the field of play. I've profiled a bunch of athletes that go by one name: LeBron, Shaq, Danica and others. I also head up our biennial B School rankings, our list of America's Best Small Companies and our annual features on the Best Places for Business (metros, states and countries). I joined Forbes in 1998after working 3 years at Financial World magazine.
The power of Jeremy Lin seems to know no boundaries. He is boosting ticket prices across the NBA. He might be the impetus for a deal in the ongoing dispute between Time Warner and MSG. And maybe most impressively, he triggered a sell out at the Air Canada Center for the New York Knicks game against the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night when the Linsanity show hit the road. Yes, a sell out for the 9 21 Raptors who got a first hand look at the movement sweeping the globe when Lin buried a three pointer with 0.5 seconds left to win the game.
But when does Lin get paid for giving the Knicks and NBA a shot in the arm? His contract this season became fully guaranteed this week and is worth $762,000. He'll earn 80% of that as the NBA lockout trimmed Dennis Smith Jersey the 2011 12 season to 66 games from 82. Lin's only endorsement deal is with Nike which pays him little. Most NBA shoe contracts are for very small amounts of cash or just merchandise for all but the game's stars.
Last month we looked at the NBA's top earning players in terms of salary and endorsements Brian Dawkins Broncos Jersey led by Kobe Bryant at $53 million. The cut off for the top 10 was $22 million. All of these players are veterans and earn playing salaries of at least $15 million.
Lin likely has a couple of years before he'll John Elway Broncos Jersey join this elite list. He will be a restricted free agent after the season and the Knicks can match any contract offer he gets. Yet the intricacies of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement and salary cap will likely limit Lin to a contract next year that starts around $5 million whether with the Knicks or someone else.
Off the court is where Lin has room to cash in. There are only 10 NBA players that earn more than $5 million annually from endorsements by our count. That group is separated into Bryant and LeBron James who make $25 to $30 million a year and then everybody else who is much further down the pay scale.
The driving force in every NBA star's endorsement portfolio is his shoe deal. Nike and Adidas are willing to pay up because these players directly drive sales of basketball shoes and apparel. But in recent years, shoe companies have stopped shelling out for unproven talent. The only significant shoe deal the past three years for a young player was the five year, $25 million contract Dennis Smith Broncos Jersey John Wall inked with Reebok.
Seven figure non shoe deals are even rarer in the NBA with very few outside of Kobe and LeBron. Those two are the gold standard having transcended their sport and reached global icon status. Can Lin do the same? He's trending that way, but he's only 10 days in while Kobe and LeBron have been both been in the public eye for 10+ years.
Basketball players have an advantage over baseball and football players when it comes to endorsements because of the global appeal of the game. It allows them to ink lucrative deals in Asia as Bryant has done. Bryant has scored deals with his website, Smart Car and others in China in recent years.
The holy grail for any athlete who wants to cross over and appeal to all demographics and regions around the world is Tiger Woods. At his peak, Woods signed global deals that earned him $105 million annually. Maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let's see how Lin co exists with Carmelo Anthony on the court first.
Coach Beats on Both Edges
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Despite lingering economic woes, Coach, Inc. (COH Analyst Report), the designer and marketer of fine accessories and gifts, recently posted better than expected second quarter 2012 results on the back of healthy sales in North America and China.
The cheap ray bans quarterly earnings of $1.18 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15, and increased 18% from $1.00 earned in the prior year quarter, buoyed by strong top line growth.
The New York based Coach, said that net sales for the quarter came in at $1,448.6 million, up 14.6% from the year ago quarter, and outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,430 million.
Direct to consumer sales jumped 17% to $1.28 billion, driven by an 8.8% rise in the North American comparable store sales and strong growth in the China business with a double digit rate increase in comparable store sales. In Japan sales remained flat, excluding foreign currency translation, whereas in dollar terms sales grew 6% when adjusted for a stronger yen. North American sales climbed 15%.
Indirect sales remained flat at $166 million on a comparable basis, affected by the timing of international shipments. department stores sales were even with the prior year holiday period.
The rise in sales was a positive indication for the luxury goods market, battered by the recent economic upheaval. Coach sustained focus on store sales productivity, merchandising, and marketing and strategic pricing have helped it remain afloat in a difficult consumer environment as well as drive comparable store sales growth. Coach remains optimistic about its dedicated men's stores, and expects the Men business to rise twofold to more than $400 million in fiscal 2012 on a global basis.
Gross profit increased 14.2% to $1,045.2 million spurred by top line growth. However, gross profit margin contracted 20 basis points, but was strong at 72.2%. Adjusted operating income rose 15% to $521.2 million, whereas operating margin expanded 10 basis points to 36%.
Management remains confident of sustaining double digit growth in both top and bottom lines in fiscal 2012. The company long term growth drivers include expansion of its global distribution model and entry into under penetrated markets. The company lays more emphasis on globalization cheap fake oakleys and accelerated international distribution growth, especially in Asia.
Management now expects to achieve at least $300 million in sales in China backed by sustained growth momentum it is currently witnessing. As a part of its strategy to directly control certain Asian markets, Coach is now directly operating domestic retail business in Singapore and Taiwan. The company is also under discussion to acquire its Malaysian retail business in July.
Coach maintains a healthy balance sheet with a significant cash balance and a negligible debt load. The company also has been proactively managing its cash flows by making prudent capital investments and enhancing shareholders return. The company strong liquidity, positions it to drive future growth.
The company ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short term investments of $1,085.6 million and total long term debt of $24 million with shareholders equity of $1,868.7 million.
Coach also notified that it bought back approximately 4.8 million shares at a cost of $62.48 per share, aggregating $300 million during the quarter.
Currently, we have a long term Neutral rating on the stock. Moreover, Coach, which competes with Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL Analyst Report), holds a Zacks 3 Rank that translates into a short term Hold recommendation.
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