UGA

By desertdawg

February 17, 2006 06:44 PM | Link to this

I remeber the Final Four in 83— we were in Panama City when the Dawgs beat UNC in the regional final and my buddy drops his trousers in the bar to expose his UGA underwear and we were barking like the DAWGS we are !!!

By animaldr

February 17, 2006 07:57 PM | Link to this

I will always remember Durham’s Dogs fondly. I was ready for change then, but, I may now realize BBall is a strugle for UGA- and it was not Durham’s fault.

I know this is not the time- but, Sims and Ellerbe getting kicked out of school or off the team for DUI’s seems to be an over reaction or counter productive to personal development.

I’m all for player discipline. But why is conduct for a student athlete treated differently by the Judiciary and University than reg. student behavior?

Is a player able to make a mistake- admitt it- make ammends and get another chance? Or is it a one strike system? These are young men- and we all did things we should not have done at that age. Has the media attention caused the coaches and the university to over react?

I remember Grant being denied admission for charges of misconduct in the 10th grade. But I also know a young man at the university with sexual assault and drug charges from High school (he served time) that got in to the Great University of Georgia. He is not an athlete- Is that the only difference?

Should/Does UGA suspend or put on probation every student with a DUI?

At the risk of being totally out of line- Pres. Adams attended the funeral of a young man that died due to alcohol, cocaine and heroin. Was that out of respect for the lifestyle or the socioeconomic status of the student and his family?

There needs to be equity in the way infractions are handled for student athletes and reg. students.

I applaud the job of Felton and the team this year-

And I’m ready for some football!

GO DAWGS!

By geechee

February 17, 2006 09:20 PM | Link to this

animaldr, Sims in deeper than just a DUI. Here is the link to the Josh Kendall article.

Ellerbe’s fate at this point is in the hands of MR and has not gone past that as Sims’ has. Ellerbe’s case will probably be totally up to MR. For the time being that is an indefinite suspension only from the team and not school. MR is probably giving Ellerbe something to think about and sweat over but he will probably be allowed back with a 1-3 game suspension.

I totally agree with you that players should not be held to tougher standards than the average students. We all know what goes on at UGA and its national reputation. Face it students know how to party in Athens and athletes are students. They will make the same mistakes as other students and in Athens that has always been part of the growing process. Though MR is a deeply religious man, I think he understands this better than most.

He has busted players for pot in the past and suspended them but I don’t remember him ever kicking any of them off the team for this. I would place Ellerbe in this group but Sims’problems go way beyond this as it says in the article and his fate is probably out of MR’s hands at this point.

By animaldr

February 17, 2006 09:53 PM | Link to this

Geechee, Parking tickets? Please. I did not want a parking permit and thought I had a great thing going for 3 years of undergrad. I parked where ever I pleased for 3 years. I did not think they would link a car in my Dad’s name to me. Then the last time I was to register my record was flagged for $400 of parking tickets.

My point (actually I don’t have one) is the university makes alot of money off these guys. They get a scholarship and little else. Then if they get parking violations a DUI and “have an attitude” they lose it ALL!

I think Hillary Clinton might think UGA is being run “like a plantation”!

By Ron Roberts

February 17, 2006 10:35 PM | Link to this

Hey…

Can we get back to honoring the BASKETBALL coach?

Now ya see why basketball is always in the shadows of football at Georgia, foiks?

I’m not just venting at you guys; it’d be nice if they AJC left a blog open for UGA football. It’d also be nice if they policed the a-holes who childish ruin the blogs with their insipid Bobby Cox “booger” jokes and UGAY crap, too… but that’s obviously asking far too much.

But can we at least get back to honoring Hugh Durham?

If memory serves, his last season was a 20-win season at UGA, wasn’t it?

We only got an NIT bid (the early schedule was weak - but who’s isn’t nowadays? I was attending UGA at the time, and his last coupla years, the ‘Dawgs underperformed and recruiting wasn’t going well, so the time for a change was due.

But the guy was devoted to that basketball program, took us to the Final Four, had us winning a conference title, and competitive, year-in, year-out. He was a good guy, one of the most approachable coaches anybody in the media would meet, and a winner. Glad he’s being honored. It’s a bit overdue, in my opinion.

By geechee

February 17, 2006 11:14 PM | Link to this

animaldr, I wasn’t arguing the point with you. I agree with you. I was just saying that Sims future was out of Richt’s control at this point. I don’t think Sims was being singled out. He was given 15 hours of community service for the parking tickets and then did not even perform a minute of it. That is where the trouble started. Then came the DUI. Even if he loses his appeal he is not expelled. He would be suspended for one semester only, the same as the average student. Losing those credits would however make ineligible to play this year. It would then be up to him if he wished to remain on the team and play next year. That’s my take at least.

By Jim

February 17, 2006 11:20 PM | Link to this

National media people routinely speak of Georgia’s lack of a basketball heritage. They forget 1983. They forget the better part of the Durham era.

My family began attending UGa games in the last year’s of John Guthrie. Awful. Durham made things change fast. Just having a team that could compete was glorious.

My favorite moment from those years was when they finally beat Kentucky, at home. Vern Fleming dribbled a ball so far out of bounds that it almost hit Joe B. Hall in the foot. No call. He went insane. That we were (a) beating Kentucky and (b) getting the kinds of calls they always got made it a think of beauty.

There were downsides. I wish I never heard of Cedric Henderson. But on the whole it was a lot of fun to cheer for Durham’s Dogs.

By Kyle

February 18, 2006 12:16 AM | Link to this

One of my fondest memories was of one of his late 80s/early 90s teams. We didn’t have a real big man (we did have the lanky shot blocking crowd pleaser Nevil Austin, and little depth otherwise in the front court (sounds familiar)). Durham played 3 and 4 guards a lot of the time and dubbed them the “running runts.”

My heart cracked when we were making a good run in the SEC tournament only to have Willie Anderson bounce the ball off his knee and out of bounds to seal the Dawgs fate.

I think of Hugggghhhhhhhh every time I catch an interview of Chuck Amato.

By AltamahaDawg

February 18, 2006 01:53 AM | Link to this

Kyle for some reason Hugh was constantly plagued by the “ball off the knee play” in the closing minutes of games. Used to drive me nuts. Fight back in it, one last posession and never get a shot off.

Tell you what though, the guy was just plain funny as hell. Best Bball show around on sundays nights.

I was a student during the final 4 run, so I’ll always remember Hugh fondly.

By Jim

February 18, 2006 08:19 AM | Link to this

His postgame show - also funny. One night Wilkins took a beating in the lane but got no calls. After the game, in what I presume was an attempt complain about refereeing without getting in trouble, Hugh observed sadly that Dominique Wilkins was not as good an athlete an we had all thought. He couldn’t seem to stay on his feet.

By BIGNCDAWG

February 18, 2006 09:33 AM | Link to this

Hugh Durham was great compared to the Red Lawson years. In the barn, those peanut shells would come raining down from the balcony after the crowd got excited and started stomping their feet. There was rarely anything to get excited about in those days.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 18, 2006 11:31 AM | Link to this

I was suprised and hated to see Hugh go. He was a good coach who was happy were he was and had the ability to coach winning teams and recruit players to a stable program. Stable program being key. Look at us since he left. What a mess. Hopefully DF sticks around but I doubt it. Look at Mike Davis. The second you become a critic of the fans that’s one foot out the door in my opinion.

Back to Hugh. He was great. As many of you mentioned above his show and post game comments were always great. A shame he left.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 18, 2006 11:32 AM | Link to this

I mean a shame he was forced to leave. God bless Hugh Durham. I am glad he is getting his due in Athens this weekend.

By GW

February 18, 2006 12:22 PM | Link to this

Hugh Durham came to Georgia when I was a student there. His post game radio comments were always the highlight of the week. The best was when he said, “the bad news is Lavon Mercer pulled a muscle, the good news is Lavon has a muscle.” He also told Lavon not to worry about fouling out, you ain’t that good. Lavon Mercer was a great guy. When Durham brought in Dominique Wilkins it was unbelievable.

By SamoanDawg

February 18, 2006 07:32 PM | Link to this

Sims needs to serve his time and be a man about it. He’ll just have to suck it up and sit out this season, if they allow him back. Same goes with Ellerbe.

These are young men making poor choices like many of us have. But they are in the spotlight all the time.

Richt is doing a good job handing out suspensions. If they don’t learn from their mistakes… you are outta here.

By SamoanDawg

February 18, 2006 07:39 PM | Link to this

Need more football blogs!!!!

I’m ready for some football!

NCAA Football Freak!

Yo brah.. it’s depressing!

By animaldr

February 18, 2006 07:41 PM | Link to this

Samoan, You’re not allowed to comment about football until next week. Sorry.

But, they are “in the spotlight” and “under the microscope”. That does not change the fact that they are college students. They should be treated the same as other students. I am not sure that every university infraction and every traffic violation should result in game suspensions.

Why must all suspensions be served in the first 3 games?

Go dawgs!

By ron

February 19, 2006 09:35 AM | Link to this

sorry blog fans for this football related matter.something has got to be done with the off the field related crime matters,DUI’S,THEFTS,DRIVING WITH SUSPENDED LICENSE AND OTHERS.it’s embarrasing,we are what MIAMI used to resemble,we just haven’t won the number of national titles they won in their thug days. however i understand alcohol related problems in athens affects the general student population. .coach richt’s two game suspensions are not getting the athletes attention,i would suggest a one year ban to GMC and if the athlete can convince the coaching staff that he’ remorse for his behavior then he can be reinstated.if the player refuses to accept the banishment to GMC then his scholarship is revoked.even some athletes have spent months in the clarke county jail for misdemeanors it’s still not a deterent.

By SamoanDawg

February 19, 2006 11:15 AM | Link to this

animaldr, Alright, next week we talk football..

But, I think I rather have the players suspended on the first 2-3 games, than in the middle of the SEC battle.

I agreed with you though, that all students/athletes should be treated the same. Sadly though, that’s not what media wants. Media feeds off of it.

By SamoanDawg

February 19, 2006 11:43 AM | Link to this

GMC works for some. But, not for Josh Johnson. He blew his chance to play for a big time program.

But, I don’t think we’re quite as bad as Miami was.

By ron

February 19, 2006 02:27 PM | Link to this

how long will it be before some player is driving under the influence kill a car load of young persons or an elderly couple going/coming from morning church services.these situations happen too frequently.once it happens then the press wants to elicit sympathy toward the player.if this should happen family members should hold the university liable and sue in courts.however i’m sure that there caps in liability awards for state operated institutions.however there are no caps in salary in awarding athlectic administrators/coaches salaries.if you check your open records act you’ll see that coaches are the highest salaried employees on the state payroll.georgia’s assistant coaches make far more than georgia universities/college presidents.

By animaldr

February 19, 2006 02:33 PM | Link to this

I don’t see the thug image. What I see are college kids being college kids.

By AltamahaDawg

February 19, 2006 03:17 PM | Link to this

Ron??????

These boys just dont get chained to a post every day. Not sure what exactly it is you are demanding.

I’d say the concequences of hitting somebody in an automoble is pretty much the same for the general pubic. Not sure why you single out football players with that warning.

How is salaries even an issue? His coach makes more money than his councelor or professor (or parent), so its the coaches fault?

I agree the coaches should do eveything they can, I beleive they are. Not a perfect world up there in Athens.

By Alaskadawg

February 19, 2006 03:37 PM | Link to this

It’s about time Georgia honored Durham. I was a student at UGA from 1987-1991, and it was always exciting to watch the men’s team play. I think he should have been given a few more years so he could retire from Georgia. It’s pretty disgraceful how large universities like UGA boot coaches who have been dedicated in favor of a supposed quick fix situation. Hugh Durham took the UGA job when basketball in Athens was less than a joke. The administration at UGA has done this to Durham and Vince Dooley. I can only hope they don’t continue this pattern of showing the door to dedicated and successful coaches beacuse they think the grass is greener on the other side.

By geechee

February 19, 2006 04:02 PM | Link to this

ron, I guess I’m an idiot for not knowing this but what the hell is GMC and how would banning athletes from it for a year keep them from drinking on the weekend in Athens GA.

Are you saying that regular students should be allowed to enjoy the entire UGA/Athens experience and allowed to be normal college kids who make normal college kids’ mistakes but football players must be perfect angels and should only be allowed to go to classes and to the grueling hours and hours of practice and weight training and nothing else?

ron, slavery was outlawed almost 150 years ago.

By AltamahaDawg

February 19, 2006 05:12 PM | Link to this

Georgia military college. I dont think we have a take our banned players arrangment with them.

By geechee

February 19, 2006 05:54 PM | Link to this

Thanks Alt, I guess I should have known that but he said banned when I think he meant banished. When he said banned, I thought he might have meant that suspended players should not be allowed to drive any GM cars for a year. That to me seemed like a reward. :)

By ron

February 19, 2006 06:05 PM | Link to this

gentlemen i am not stating that college students/athletes should not enjoy college experiences,they should enjoy all privileges that afford them,social clubs,fraternities,sororities and other organizations they have an interest in.what i’m saying is that any student/athletes that drinks and get behind the wheel of an automotive vehicle should face the ultimate punishment.there have been so many instances in which dawg players in recent years have been arrested and convicted of dui and the mere punishment has been a suspension of 2-3 games.apparently coach richt’s method is not working since the behavior keeps repeating with different players.look at todays article which mentions ELLERBE (dui,auto theft),ANTONIO SIMS (dui).is this what we dawg fans refer to as the college experience? sure until a player runs a red light while your family member is crossing a street in athens and gets hit/killed or your precious daughter is out for a ride and a drunken player hits her head on driving drunk with a stolen vehicle.sure college experience consists of having a couple of beers in the pubs,parties and one knowing their limits.no one is entitled to get drunk and get behind the wheel of a vehicle, student nor student athlete.MR.GECHEE what does this have to do with slavery? all students and student athletes are afforded the same privileges as any other while enrolled in good standing.

By geechee

February 19, 2006 06:57 PM | Link to this

“what i’m saying is that any student/athletes that drinks and get behind the wheel of an automotive vehicle should face the ultimate punishment.”

ron it is crazy that you want to hold kids to some stricter set of rules than adults. You feel that kids should be more mature than adults and if they are not then they “should face the ultimate punishment”. I guess that means their lives should be ruined for a mistake they made as a kid. The President had three DUIs as a younger man yet he did not “face the ultimate punishment” and he seems to have turned his life around.

Nobody is condoning DUI here ron but have you considered that maybe other schools simply cover up these mistakes by athletes and this is no longer an option at UGA.

What about the top defensive lineman in the SEC getting busted for possesion of pot with intent to distribute last month at LSU? What about the three UF students that fired shots into a womens apartment last week? What about grand larceny at Carolina or up in Knoxville? What about the the Tech player who was busted for drug distribution and allowed to contunue to play by court order no less.

ron it is easier for you to judge than us. We have all made mistakes when we were younger. We were not perfect angels as you were. The fact that you are one of the few adults in this country who never made a mistake as a kid puts you in the minority and also explains why you can’t understand that kids will drink and some of them will drive afterwards and a few of them will get caught.

Maybe you right, taking these kids out and shooting them will slow down DUI but you must also see the opposite side of the coin which is capital punishment for DUI is going to grossly affect our recruiting.

By geechee

February 19, 2006 07:03 PM | Link to this

Sorry, that should have read three UF “players” not “students” though they were also students.

By AltamahaDawg

February 19, 2006 09:13 PM | Link to this

still puzzled by the salaries reference.

By ron

February 19, 2006 10:33 PM | Link to this

mr.geechee your thoughts are not one of rationalization.first you reference the president making mistakes as a younger man having dui’s and not having his career destroyed.that’s a simple explanation in which this country has different laws one for the halves & halve nots. you must realize when an individual gets behind the wheel inebriated he/she has the capacity to destroy a life/many lives and what are we to say “judge forgive him it’s a youthful mistake or a youthful indescretion,i promise he want do it again.” try explaining that to a parent/family members. are we to make exceptions for youthful indescretions while they have taken lives.it’s apparent that the state of georgia needs a strong ad campaign warning against 1.youthful drinking warning kids against the use of alcohol. 2.penalities for driving under the influence including alcohol, prescription drugs,and illegal substances. having grown up in rural georgia as a youth,walking the roads seeing beer and whiskey bottles along the highways, georgia has a history of drinking and driving.still today when i visit georgia some of those same roads continue to have bottles & cans thrown from car windows.in finality mr.geechee what we did as youth and got away with w/o being caught we should counsel our kids/youths that these things are illegal and must be made aware of the consequences.no child should be encouraged to drink and get behind the wheel and get caught,if caught the parent is expected to say “it’s okay just a youthful indescretion.” and please don’t try to justify your rationalization by saying other states has the same problems,this i know as well as other colleges/universities. it’s an epidemic and need to be addressed nationally not with just the university of georgia or the state of georgia.

By Steve

February 19, 2006 10:44 PM | Link to this

It is a shame that Durham saw the game on Saturday because that was an embarassing performance.

UGA-Vandy Recap

By geechee

February 19, 2006 11:32 PM | Link to this

ron I am not at all arguing that what you have said especially in your last post is not real and important. I’ll say here and now that it is. In fact I can remember agreeing with much that you have written in the past on this blog.

My only concern here is reading all week that the University of Georgia’s athletics’ program and especially its football program is infested with this criminal element that simply does not exist. Let me say, I know this is not what you are trying to say here but is what a lot of people have been trying to say all week.

I think and I hope that you would agree, there is a huge difference between someone doing stupid things and making stupid decisions to drive because they are young and drunk and someone making conscious decisions to commit violent crimes, to fire weapons at other human beings to distribute drugs, and to commit grand larceny like is taking place at on at least a half dozen other Southeastern campuses. These are the types of crimes that have been reported at other schools in the SEC and across the country.

I would love to see UGA have a squeaky clean program made up of perfect role models but that is not going to be. If, I’m going to read about UGA athletes running afoul of the law, I am going to let out a sigh of relief if it turns out to be a DUI or smoking pot as opposed to distributing drugs, B&E, grand larceny, or shots fired.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 20, 2006 09:59 AM | Link to this

Wow people, if you guys can stop all the drinking and driving in the state of Georgia AND control what every individual does that would be great. The athletes SHOULD be held to a slightly higher standard. They are given (and earn) scholarships to play football and other sports. I doubt that some the trouble makers would even set foot on a college campus if that opportunity was not afforded to them. Sure they generate plenty of money for the universities, HOWEVER, they are also provided the opprotunity get a college education and/or move on to multi-million dollar contracts in the NFL. It seems to me that they would want to live up to a higher standard. Reading Richt’s comments the other day regarding discipline I think he is doing a stand-up job and handling it in the right way. As he said it is up to the indidvidual to carry himself in the proper manner. If they don’t they are gone. If they learn from their mistake and straighten up they get a second opportunity. Look at that kid that died from heroin, cocaine, alcohol overdose. Now how many of those kids arrested do you think will serve any time in jail over that. After lawyering up I bet none. If you everyone is treated equally in our justice system you need to wake up, you are dreaming. He who has the best lawyer wins.

AND, UGA does not have a thug element to its program. Whoever said that is sadly mistaken. The kids who do wrong are punished. Not like FSU and Miami.

By godawg

February 20, 2006 10:59 AM | Link to this

I would like to see some numbers such as percentage of athletes involved in alcohol related offenses compared to general student population. If it is significantly disproportionate then I’d say its a big problem (its just a problem now). After living on and off in Athens for 35 years, I’ve got a feeling the athletes as a group get in a lot less trouble than the average student. They just get more publicity.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 20, 2006 11:38 AM | Link to this

godawg, I would bet it would be either the same percentage wise or less. You are dead on with the publicity aspect. For some twisted reason there are some people out there who want to see the athletes fail.

By godawg

February 20, 2006 11:49 AM | Link to this

I am friends w/Sheriff Edwards and know the jail is a zoo on weekends as they try to process the logjam of students. Also went to traffic court for a tickets and was astounded by the number of dui/underage possesion/consumption etc. cases involving students. Kids ARE going to party AND get in trouble while doing it. Nobody believes it can happen to them. Athletes are just a subset of the larger group. I believe in giving a person a chance to learn from their misdemeanor mistake.