They competed no matter where they were playing

Dixon is one of the most self-motivated people Ive ever met, and hes got that perfect blend of enthusiasm and dedication, something I wish I had more of (especially the dedication part).I know Anthony has had some issues, said coach Dan Mullen, referring to an offseason DUI arrest, but he comes to work every single day. He does what he loves, and he loves what he does.And he cant wait to bounce out of bed each day to do it again.. It was a blowout from the beginning. The Bears (3-1) took the tipoff to start the game and then proceeded to mount a 16-2 lead before the five-minute mark over the Nashville-based NAIA Fisk University.Fisk (0-6) seemed to be hopelessly outmatched against Mercers starters and top scorers, as the Bears would shoot close to 60 percent from the field in the first half.

While the game was more of a tune-up for the Bears' matchup against the ACCs Florida State Seminoles coming into town three days later, Mercer played everyone on the bench and saw quality minutes from their starters in the 110-45 win.The game set three University Center records on Wednesday night: the most points scored by a team (toppling the 2005 mark of a 105-101 win over Troy), the biggest margin of victory (the previous largest margin was 32 points against Savannah State in 2005), and equaled the most rebounds in UC history with 58. After the game, head coach Bob Hoffman said on MercerBears , It was great to get to play a lot of people tonight. They competed no matter where they were playing. For the Bears fans that saw a tight exhibition game against Division II GSCU, the blowout win was a sigh of relief. It was also an opportunity to see many of the new faces on the floor this season for the Bears While E.J. Kusnyer and Daniel Emerson would finish with 14 points each, guards Ridas Pulkauninkas and James Florence dropped 13 points in limited action.Clearing the benches throughout the game, the 2,000-plus fans in the UC saw hometown product David OShaughnessey score his first five points at Mercer, as well as fellow freshmen and transfers Chris Smith, Jake Gollon, Michael Jenkins, Brandon Moore and Tevin Swann see plenty of the hardwood in the second half All 15 players for Mercer ended up scoring on the night. For Fisk, Michael Brodnax would net 12 points while teammate Bradley Grayson would add in 10. With only two players finishing in double figures on the night, the Bulldogs would end up shooting only 29.7 percent from the floor.

Now, the Bears turn their sights to the CSS-TV matchup against Florida State, a team that has already beaten A-Sun opponents Jacksonville and Stetson by considerable margins in Tallahassee early this season. Photo Courtesy of Alex Lockwood Photography This article is also featured on The Bear Zone. Uga VII. Rest in peace, buddy.Before I get to some Georgia Tech news, let me first say that it breaks my heart to see Uga VII pass away at such a young age.He was only four years old, and all indications are that he died of a heart attack at his home in Athens, Ga.It was just a few weeks ago I was watching him on television, on a scorching day in Athens, laying on a huge bag of ice in his house on the sidelines. Very sad, indeed.And listen, Tech fans, I have seen many of you posting cruel things about Uga VII's passing on the blogs and message boards today, and this garbage should immediately stop.Not only was he the Dawgs' mascot, but he is also a beloved pet of the Seiler family, the folks who have bred Ugas for the University since the very beginning of the tradition. So grow up guys, and show some class; you're acting like Georgia fans.Anyways, on to some Tech stuff: Awards I don't know how many of you noticed, but Georgia Tech played their best game of the season at Duke.They absolutely dominated both lines of scrimmage; manhandling Duke on offense and getting a ton of pressure on Thaddeus Lewis on the defensive side.Due to the domination in the trenches, two Tech players were given weekly awards by the ACC: Junior DT Ben Anderson won Defensive Lineman of the Week, and Senior Guard Cord Howard snagged Offensive Lineman of the Week. Congrats, guys. Injuries As far as injuries are concerned, Georgia Tech has certainly had their fair share this season.First is was Jaybo Shaw's collarbone and Roddy Jones' wrist.Then many defensive players began to miss significant time, and the offensive line was recently described by Paul Johnson as being "pieced together."That being said, the Yellow Jackets will likely go into the Georgia game as healthy as they have been all season, especially on defense.However, there are a few causes for concern: starting C Sean Bedford has an injury to his foot/ankle, and likely will not play in the UGA game.

If he is not able to go backup C Dan Voss will take his place.On a better note, backup G Omoregie Uzzi is likely to play in the next week's game against the Dawgs after missing the Duke game with a sore back. Rivalry Game News Next week's game against the Dawgs certainly figures to be another good one.Any Tech fan worth his or her salt knows that, without a doubt, the Georgia game is the biggest one of the year.Not the ACC Championship, not the Orange Bowl, not the Virginia Tech win. FS Bacarri Rambo is likely out for both games, as well.This is certainly a worrisome game for Tech, however, as Georgia possesses a plethora of playmakers on offense, and Willy Martinez's sieve-like defense performed much better last week against Auburn.A win over UGA would give Tech 11 wins for the first time since 1990, and possibly vault them up even higher in the BCS rankings.A loss would, well, I don't even want to talk about that.Let's just hope Paul Johnson and Dave Wommack can iron out some of the defensive kinks (especially pass coverage) before the 28th, or else I'm afraid it could be a long, high-scoring affair.Either way, it's shaping up to be an exciting installment of Clean, Old Fashioned Hate. . Since Notre Dame signed the contract with NBC to broadcast every Irish home game to the entire nation in 1991yes, its been that longthese games have become marathons, usually lasting well over three hours and sometimes approaching the four-hour mark.There have been periodic references to this trend in the media, but Ive never seen a great outcry from anywhere or even a close look at why this is the case (more and longer commercials, Ive always assumed).And really, who in the mainstream media is going to do such a critique, NBC Or any of the other outlets, ABC, CBS, ESPN, who rely on the popularity of televised sports to make millions Theyre not going to explore the annoying trend to more commercials and longer games out of South Bend or anywhere else. Something about not biting the hand that feeds you. That contest against USC lasted three hours and 40 minutes, crushing the OSU-Iowa tilt, which went just over three hours (3:05).And while the ND game ended in regulation, Ohio State won after one overtime session (if "session" is the right word for the weird college football OT format). That Big Ten game went about 2:50 in regulation.Way to go Irish! Im not going to document every commercial break for you from that USC game but Ill hit some lowlights.We get our first commercial break less than two minutes in (13:04) after one USC possession.Four commercials and the Irish are on offense, but quickly turn it back over to the hucksters (at the 10:56 mark).Five more commercials and back to Notre Dame Stadium.