Sports

Dogs hyped up in 2008

• At the annual Pigskin Preview on Tuesday in Macon, the Georgia football players and staff talk about how they’ve dealt with summer of lofty predictions as they approach one of the most highly anticipated seasons in recent history.

Paul Dehner Jr.

MACON — Whether walking around campus or the streets of Athens, Bulldogs defensive end Dannell Ellerbe hears the same two words repeatedly tossed in his direction: National championship.

Facing the media from every corner of a state as excited for the University of Georgia football season to begin as any in recent memory, he knew the barrage would continue as he sat down at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame’s Pigskin Preview on Tuesday morning.

“All I hear is national championship,” Ellerbe said. “I have been hearing it since last year. I just hope we get it so I can stop hearing about it.”

Sorry, Dannell, there is no avoiding the phrase as hosts of pundits begin to print, post, blog, stream, podcast and broadcast preseason college football projections into the lull of sports summer.

Scout.com: Georgia No.2; Athlon Sports: Georgia No. 5; ESPN: Georgia in BCS National Championship Game.

Thanks to these lofty assessments, seven consecutive wins to finish last season, a 41-10 throttling of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, a top-tier recruiting class and the return of two Heisman hopefuls on offense, the tone of this offseason strays away from cultivating optimism at UGA.

Rather, the key right now is keeping egos in check; specifically, trying not to read the predictions.

“It’s hard not to,” tight end Tripp Chandler said. “It’s all over the place. You try not to because you don’t want to get caught up in hype and how good someone thinks you might be. You just try to keep your focus on what you are doing each and every day with the team.”

The events taking place in Omaha, Neb., sure aren’t helping the pressure already surrounding the Bulldogs.

With MLB first-round draft picks Gordon Beckham and Joshua Fields leading a Georgia baseball team on the verge of capturing the national title at the College World Series, the daunting connection floats like a hanging breaking ball at the Bulldogs football brass.

Mark Richt learned that in person at Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday night.

“After the game I shook Beckham’s hand and he said, ‘If we win (Tuesday) night that means you guys got to win a national championship, too,’ ” Richt said via teleconference from the Cornhusker State. “I am sure it will be even more pressure to get a championship.”

That pressure proceeds nearly every Bulldogs season. With two Southeastern Conference titles already tucked into the trophy case this decade, it comes with the territory.

But as Georgia’s players amass along the border of the 2008 season, they can’t deny this year’s anticipation is not blown out of proportion by the always rabid fan base.

This season really is different.

“This year has a little extra spice to it, a little extra buzz,” Chandler said. “I think we are happy to have it, you definitely want to be in the position we are in. I think it comes with some pressure, but it is a good pressure.”

Assistant coach Rodney Garner says the coaching staff has had discussions about dealing with the extra hype as the team endures summer workout sessions.

From this point forward, only more attention will be cast upon the team as camp begins in August.

And with the attention comes the potential for distractions.

“I haven’t read any of the magazines or anything like that, but we are not naive enough to think that these kids aren’t,” Garner said. “The biggest challenge is keeping your kids focused. They have to understand they have not arrived.”

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