A realization hits when you see Courtney Kupets, Tiffany Tolnay, Grace Taylor and the other UGA Gymnasts perform.

You are suddenly aware the best athletes on campus do not play at Sanford Stadium in the fall.

I mean, seriously.

This is my first year of covering the back-to-back-to-back-to-back NCAA Champion Gym Dogs and I can only think of one adjective.

Damn!

Is that an adjective? Not sure. But what am I sure of is that Stegman Coliseum--in all due respect to everyone who has performed there--is the house Suzanne Yoculan built.

I was never that caught up in gymnastics before this year. Sure, I watched the Olympics. I am old enough (gasp!) to remember Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci and how they got our attention years ago. But for me, honestly, it took a back seat to other sports. Not anymore.

A Gym Dogs' event is just that. An event. Complete with fireworks, laser lights and, once the overhead lights come back on, some of the best single performances you will see from student-athletes.

In addition, the enthusiasm of the athletes is startling. Standing in the back hall area prior to the entrances of the teams, I have heard the Gym Dogs chant--the entire team I'm talking about--"It's great to be a Georgia Bulldog!." A few weeks later I listened as the Crimson Tide team sang, "Yea, Alabama" before running into the arena.

Once the event gets underway, the precision, the grace and this sheer ability at first catches you off guard, but then you realize you are seeing something special. I was there when Kupets performed on the bars and beam against Alabama. And I never thought seeing a number flash up on the scoreboard would move me, but seeing a 10.00 appear was as as exciting as anything I have seen this year.

And then afterwards. After you have seen what you think is a spectacular performance, after all the roses have been handed out, all the confetti has been shot out of the cannon for another Gym Dogs win, the reporters are led back to interview the team and...and...the girls are...NOT HAPPY!?

What?

Well, I should qualify that. They are happy to win. But not happy in that they think they can do better. Not just better, but a LOT BETTER.

So perfection comes with a price. And that price is a realization that you may never get there, but you will never stop trying.

Go see the Gym Dogs perform this year. And you will say the same thing I first said.

Damn!

I have often wondered why fans get so shook up about athletes leaving school early and going to the pros.

There's always someone else.

Matt Stafford set a Georgia single season touchdown record with 25 this past season and announces he leaving school early and heading to the NFL Draft.

You had a fine career in Athens, Matt, but:

There's always someone else.

Knowshon Moreno rushed for over 27-hundred yards in only two season at Georgia and he too is going pro.

You were a sensation, Knowshon, but:

There's always someone else.

To me one of the wonderful things about College Football is the new faces we see at key positions every 3-4 years. Granted, Stafford was good, but aren't you kind of excited to see how Joe Cox will perform. Or even if he will perform. Could be that Aaron Murray or Logan Gray or Zach Mettenberger prevails during summer camp.

Knowshon was incredible. But are you just thrilled about the prospect of Dontavious Jackson living up to his hype or if Washaun Ealey can scores as many touchdowns in Athens as he did at ECI?

And if you are all tied into ratings by the "services," did you know that Jackson was ranked the overall 8th best running back in the country when he left high school? Not good enough for you? The fact is Knowshon was ranked the 10th best running back in the country when he left New Jersey.

With A.J. Green coming back, with a more experienced and healthier (hopefully) offensive line and some new blood in the backfield, I am pretty pumped about the 2009 Dogs.

Stafford and Moreno were wonderful. Great young men to make UGA proud.

But have a nice NFL career, guys. I have not lost a minute of sleep over your departure. Why?

There's always someone else.

I am not the type to get all hyped up about the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry. I have many good friends who want to see Tech go DOWN. I mean really go DOWN. To me it's no big deal. Florida is my passion. Or, rather, beating Florida. To me the Gators are the real rival.

My kids are different, in a way. Their journey through the Georgia Public School system gave them exposure to many goofy Tech fans. And, according to the kids in the Schiavone household, you have never experienced anything as obnoxious as a goofy Tech fan.

Maybe they are right.

Did you hear the one about the team that was so pumped about the win over the Georgia Bulldogs that they not only gave their coach a contract extension, but also bought rings for their players?

Well, it's true. The former is a no-brainer. Paul Johnson is a damn good coach, and they needed to make sure he is in place. But rings?

Yes, look no further than North Avenue for the latest craze. Schools are able to give players gifts totaling $500 for bowl games. For Georgia Tech, part of the booty includes a ring with the score of the win over the Dawgs within the design.

And maybe all you need to know about why the Jackets won the game is wrapped up in that ring.

Maybe, just maybe, they wanted it more.

If you are like me, you have grown weary of ESPN commentators who continually criticize coaches. Okay, I get it. These guys are on TV because it makes for (sometimes) good TV. But if I ever have a suicide party, Mark May, Lou Holtz, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard will be on my invitation list. Hey, I grew up a big Redskins fans, but if I never see Mark May again, it will be too soon.

So I have come up with what I think is a sure-fire hit. A new show that will allow the revolving door of coaches in college football to speed up.

Hire A Coach.

Here's how it works. Tennessee grows tired of Lane Kiffin (yes, I know we all see this one coming) and they announce that they have fired him. Then they announce that their new coach will be selected on the next episode of ESPN's Hire A Coach!

The following week. A panel made up of May, Holtz, Herbstreit and the other idiots will do a one hour show and give the top four guys who they think should take over at Tennessee. These four will be highlighted with video footage and testimonials from former players.

The final segment will be a vote from the ESPN Nation. The coach with the highest percentage of votes gets the job.

But here's the catch, if that coach flops then one of the ESPN announcers gets fired as well.

It's called accountability. And announcers these days who have a profound influence on the games they cover have none. Each of the above announcers will deny in public that they have that big of an influence on the game, but privately each knows they do. They wallow in the glory.

It's the world we live in. The information age has brought with it a flood of bad opinions. And with all that, coaches in college and pro sports will continue to get fired and hired at a rapid fire pace.

I just wonder why most times the guys who clamor for the change have no responsibility when it comes to disaster.

"We were very soft, a very selfish outfit a year ago, and we didn't protect the quarterback and we dropped the ball twice. That's how we lost that game."

No, how they lost the game was they played a better team.

The fact that the Dawgs won 42-30 and the fact that the "Gator Stomp" celebration is all anyone is talking about will make for quite an atmosphere for Jacksonville on Saturday. Gator fans will be stoked, and they should be.

I have seen many great battles between the two teams over the past years, but this one has more on the line than the others. The winner will keep their SEC East title hopes alive as well as their hopes for a birth in the BCS Title game.

The loser will be knocked out of a chance to go to the Georgia Dome in December. And if it's Florida. look for the excuses to begin again. It's one of the things that makes the rivarly great, and one of the things that makes it so easy to be a Gator Hater.