UGA

By Bradley G

February 21, 2006 04:27 PM | Link to this

It would seem MR would save himself a lot of trouble if he would take the keys away from every player until they lose their eligibility. That way, he wouldn’t be facings problems with Sims, Ellerbe, Elmore, AND Smith. Seriously, he needs to get tougher, and I applaud his efforts to step up the suspensions. Sims and Ellerbe need to be gone, and Elmore needs to join Ian Smith with two-game suspensions. BTW, good blog Carter.

By Rhino

February 21, 2006 04:31 PM | Link to this

Let’s send a strong message to all students at all schools. Get caught with alcohol while underage or illegal drugs and leave school immediately! This will let all students know that there are repercussions for their actions. Why should only athletes be singled out?

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 21, 2006 04:39 PM | Link to this

Richt is doing what needs to be done. Those kids have the civil fines and punishment to do also. I think 2 game suspension for players that actually play is good, but what about the ones that don’t?. As for Sims and Ellerbe it appears they need to go somewhere else and do their criminal work. They just blatantly disregarded the rules and should be kicked out on their ear. As for Elmore, what is he thinking. His car is already on the police reports. I think CMR should make them stand on street corners with the big boards around their necks that reads “I am an idiot” along with their jersey number and names. How about some public humiliation maybe that will help.

By Donnie Mac

February 21, 2006 05:08 PM | Link to this

Id like to see you go out there and control those hodulms. Good luck with that one.

By Bryan G.

February 21, 2006 05:20 PM | Link to this

It’s just silly how much crap is going on at UGA with the players. It seems as though as soon as the coaches leave these guys that they just start going crazy every January-March (and then again from April to August after Spring Ball). This crap has to be stopped. Sadly, I don’t think this problem is JUST a UGA problem, though.

By Dawg 05

February 21, 2006 05:26 PM | Link to this

Sims should have “I’m an Idiot” tatooed on his forehead and have the same phrase superimposed above his head during TV broadcasts for the 2006 season. Realistically, if he can’t get the hours he needs his career is over at UGA. This is Ellerbe’s first go around the jailhouse block so I think a multi-game suspension would be good for him. Put him on a short leash and if he screws up again Derrick White his butt. Ian Smith gets what he deserves. I don’t know what Mudcat did, but I don’t think a suspension would affect him since he never makes it to the playing field. Oh, and they should all run 100 stadiums @ Sanford in mid July.

By geechee

February 21, 2006 05:45 PM | Link to this

“I’d like to see you go out there and control those hodulms.”

Screw you!! These are alcohol related incidents. Watch who you are calling a hoodlum. Did you never drink when you were underage? Oh you did? Well then that makes you a hoodlum I guess.

By geechee

February 21, 2006 05:57 PM | Link to this

“Sadly, I don’t think this problem is JUST a UGA problem, though.”

Bryan is absolutely right. Let’s don’t act like this is a UGA problem when it is an NCAA problem or more precisely an American university system problem. Here is a short list I just posted on Bill’s blog.

Between January and April of last year South Carolina had 11 players arrested. This did not include SC’s leading rusher from 2004 who was tossed off the team for failing a second drug test.

Since February 2004 UT has had 12 players arrested, 4 of these were for separate incidents of assault which all occurred in the first two weeks of April.

Under a revised policy implemented last year, South Carolina football players can now test positive for “recreational drugs, alcohol and anabolic steroids� (NCAA banned list) at least three times before being dismissed from the team.

LSU Tigers defensive end Chase Pittman was arrested in July 2005 and charged with assault for his role in a bar fight

January 9, 2006 Louisiana Tech Running Back was arrested and booked with forcible rape.

January 4, 2005 LSU Defensive Tackle was arrested on a charge of felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

December 21, 2005 Wisconsin Running Back was arrested after he allegedly choked a 20- year-old woman.

December 16, 2005 Wisconsin Wide Receiver was arrested and temporarily jailed after a fight over an alleged theft of money.

October 16, 2005 Alabama Backup Quarterback was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

September 16, 2005 Kansas State Running Back was arrested after he nearly ran over a campus parking services employee while having his car wheel-locked for unpaid parking tickets.

August 28, 2005 Maryland Basketball Guard was arrested on charges of refusing to leave the scene of a fight and trying to flee when police went to handcuff him. August 28, 2005 University of New Mexico Quarterback was charged with drunken driving.

August 23, 2005 Baylor Guard was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

July 12, 2005 Michigan State Running Back has been charged with assaulting a woman.

July 10, 2005 UNLV Wide Receiver was charged with trying to spend counterfeit $20 bills.

July 6, 2005 Florida State Linebacker was charged with domestic battery and resisting arrest without violence.

I can list many, many more if you like. The list is incredibly long and I just pulled a few out.

By northwestDAWG

February 21, 2006 05:58 PM | Link to this

a 2 game suspension this year will mean something because of who we play in that 2nd game and long as SOS is there and they’re are our 2nd game it will continue ot have an effect. Someway, somehow MR has to get the message across to the players that what they do really does affect the way people view Ga. It may not be fair, but players at the major schools create a bad name for their team, school and others trying to decide where they want to play. The old saying of “the higher you go up the tree, the more your butt is exposed” applies to the players. It is what it is.

By AltamahaDawg

February 21, 2006 05:59 PM | Link to this

Come on Bryan , we are talking one half of one percent. Lets not group all the players in that.

Not a big deal. This has been going on at every school since the begining of time. Its just publicized now.

By Bulldog Bry

February 21, 2006 06:00 PM | Link to this

Ian Smith passed out drunk in a bathroom. If an IT major did that, would it be a big deal? He would have to pay for the damaged door and program the bar’s computer system for free. Ellerbe and Elmore will pay dearly for their traffic violations. More than likely, Sims and Ellerbe will not play again at UGA. If they do, it will be because someone stepped up and said “these guys screwed up, but I’m going to make sure that won’t happen again.”

How many of you have had someone do that for you once in your life? That’s what I thought.

It’s all too easy to pick your moment to say, “if a regular student did that then blah blah blah”. But then we’ll turn right around and say, “they should be treated differently because they are a representative of blah blah blah.”

Before you point your finger, decide for yourself if YOU would want to be 1) treated the same as everyone and all that goes with it, or 2) treated differently than others and all that goes with it.

By chuck

February 21, 2006 07:01 PM | Link to this

I have been out of the loop for a few days and will be for a few more, but had to post on Curry as a possible AD choice for Tech. Please, God, let him get hired. I could give a crap what he does for Tech, but he is one of the worst announcers ever. Not only is his bias against some teams (UGA b/c of his Jacket blood and Bama for getting canned), but he is just awful. It takes forever to state a point and when he does, he usually is stating something obvious or droning on about some life lesson. I don’t usually watch football on the weekends to get some life altering revelation, I just want to watch football. Please get off of my t.v., Curry.

The only problem is ESPN will probably promote Bob Davie who is just as poor.

As far as the topic, just about every student who isn’t holed up in the basement of the library, has either some sort of minor brush with campus officials or local officials or has a close call or a friend in that situation. It is called college, people push their boundaries and sometimes they go to far and need to have tighter boundaries put in place either by themselves or by someone else.
There isn’t a lack of institutional control. Anyone who says that and is too critical of these incidents either forgot about college or didn’t have any fun while they were there. I don’t condone drunk driving at all, but public intoxication, come on, that is called Friday and Saturday night for the general campus population, the athletes just live under the microscope.

Go Dawgs!

By GW

February 21, 2006 07:13 PM | Link to this

I guess on the first offense Richt should cut off one arm, second, next arm and so forth. What can he do besides suspend these guys? He’s proven if they keep it up he’ll run them off. The player has to decide if playing time and embarrassment are worth it. From now until September is a long time for these kids. To most teenagers the future is the next hour or the next day at best.

By Eric Stratten (rush chairman)

February 21, 2006 07:57 PM | Link to this

The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests; we did. But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few sick, perverted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg! Isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do what you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you bad-mouth the United States of America! Gentlemen!

By Bryan G.

February 21, 2006 08:47 PM | Link to this

Altamaha, we’re not talking about “one half of one percent.” There are 85 scholarship football players and 3-4 are in trouble right now…who knows how many we’ll have this offseason. 4 out of 85 is closer to 5% than .5%. The problem is that these episodes are WAY too public and occurring way TOO often.

Last year we had, what…8-10 guys in law problems? That’s almost 10% of the scholarship players.

By Scooter

February 21, 2006 09:09 PM | Link to this

I wonder what impact there is of these guys not living at McWhorter any more. As I understand it, they all live on their own either on or off campus and so there is no way for coaches to keep tabs on who comes in at what time and what they’ve been drinking. Hey, looking back to the early 80s, if you knew you had to walk past Wayne McDuffie to get to your room after drinking and showing your &%$* bit, somehow, it would probably make you sober up pretty quick.
The tough thing for these guys is that everybody wants a piece of them, particularly when the alcohol gets flowing.

By SugarDawg

February 21, 2006 09:19 PM | Link to this

The old saying, “I wish I knew then, what I know now” will probably be on some of these guys minds down the road. Some of these guys may never get to wear the red and black again and it’s nobody’s fault but their own. These players get a free ride through college, and although people make mistakes, sometimes a little common sense is worth a million. I know CR is doing all he can to change the attitude of some of these guys, but sometimes people will not learn because they don’t care and they don’t want to learn. One little slip up and I would hope CR would tell these guys to take a hike. How quickly these guys forgot what happened to Derrick White.

By GBM

February 21, 2006 10:32 PM | Link to this

I’ll bet you were a lot of fun to hang out with in college Rhino.

By AltamahaDawg

February 22, 2006 07:47 AM | Link to this

I was talking student atheletes in general Didnt think we were limiting this discussion to ONLY varsity football players. This is hardly an epidemic anyway you slice it. Plus these players dont owe any of US a thing. We talk like WE are so outraged. Why? Cause we buy tickets for the privaledge to attend a football game? If those kids disappoint themselves, their coaches, and their parents, by making a mistake they will pay the price. Its not some reflection on you or your life there folks, relax. FYI if you worry about being embarrased in front of your buddies who are fans of other schools (which is the only thing i can imagine would outrage you guys so much) Dont worry , it come around.

And Sims got what you guys all wanted. Missing the season. I hope thats what you would have wanted for you own child too. Thank goodness CMR sees thru the hype and offered an extention of love and forgiveness for 07. He’s more concerned about the players than the embarrassment appearantly. If Sims blows it again then it won’t matter.

By AltamahaDawg

February 22, 2006 08:03 AM | Link to this

Sugar, I must have misread that……..one little slip up and “take a hike”?

By GW

February 22, 2006 08:42 AM | Link to this

Gainesville paper reports 2 Gator players fired shots into a woman’s apartment. Police said they can’t prove intent so they won’t file charges. One player possessed 2 assault rifles and 1 S & W 38 handgun. Read it on GatorSports.com

By AltamahaDawg

February 22, 2006 08:47 AM | Link to this

Sure GW, but UGA players are getting actual Traffic Violations, this crap has to be stopped! Failure to signal far enough in advance, Kick em off the team!

By godawg

February 22, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this

I posted this last night on the Junkyard Blawg which now they have closed but wanted to follow through on my promised update. Here’s the first part:

I’ve been furiously setting up my home computer to pull this story off for this blog (as many of you know I just moved from Athens to Tenersee). I’ll just copy and paste as the hour is getting late and work comes Early but NOTE: This sad tale occurred in late Jan. 2004. Like Paul Harvey, tommorrow I’ll tell you THE REST OF THE STORY:

How a $20 Bag of Marijuana Cost $57,600 and more

This is a true story of three 19 year-old girls who attend a state university. The story may seem humorous because of their naivety, bad decision making and general comedy of errors, but to the girls and their families involved it was anything but funny. The girls, Callie, Mary and Holly (not their real names) were attending the school on athletic scholarships and living in an athletic dormitory. All the girls were from upper middle class families and had graduated last year from their respective high schools with honors and to accolades of a bright future. Teammates, Callie and Holly shared a dorm room while Mary lived a few doors down the hall. As freshman in their second semester and for the first time living away from home they were happy with their independence and confident in their freedom to live as young adults. That confidence was shattered in a few short hours late one Saturday night.

It all started after a big win by their team in a neighboring state. The girls returned home happy and excited by their performance in the win and decided to celebrate. Not of legal age to drink, they nonetheless went to a local club and danced but drank nothing but soft drinks. They returned home around 10:30 pm and looked for more ways to celebrate. Mary said she knew someone who would sell them $20 worth of pot (enough to roll a few joints). Holly said she was out of money but if they would pay for it she would drive Mary over to get it and pay them back later. So Holly took Mary to a large apartment complex where she waited in the car while Mary disappeared into a building. A few minutes later Mary returned and said they were all set and they returned to the dorm where Callie waited. After a long discussion of how and where to smoke, they decided to light it in Callie and Holly’s dorm room and to use a pipe Mary borrowed since they didn’t know how to roll a joint. To avoid detection they conspired to cover the smoke alarm with a dishcloth and then proceeded to smoke a small amount of the substance. Unbeknownst to them, in the process of covering the smoke alarm they inadvertently disconnected the device from its wall mount. This sent a signal down to the desk monitor at the entrance to the dormitory who then promptly dispatched a couple handy campus police officers to investigate the problem. Upon arrival outside their door the officers knocked to inquire about the nature of the alarm malfunction. Unable to look through the door (the peephole being vandalized by football players some weeks earlier) Callie opened the door not knowing police were on the other side. Meanwhile at the knock on the door Mary grabbed the pot and pipe and ran and threw it under Callie’s bed. Of course when Callie opened the door the officers immediately recognized the odor of burning marijuana and demanded entrance. At first the girls refused, but after a time of harassment and assurances by the original officers (and a few others who were called to the scene) that they would be in even bigger trouble if they continued to refuse they signed a consent to search form. In time they found the incriminating substance and since it was found under Callie’s bed they promptly arrested her. The night had only just begun.

Callie, upon arrival at the police station was subjected to rigorous questions about where the pot came from and who else was involved. Threatened with remaining in jail until Wednesday and told that if she lied to police she would be charged with a felony she told them that Mary had made the buy. The officers then returned to the dorm and knocked on Mary’s door and confronted her with Callie’s accusations which she denied. The officers said okay and made as if they were going to leave her alone. Mary closed the door and in response to questions from her roommate as to what was going on proceeded to tell her the whole story. The officers did not in fact leave after she closed the door but instead stayed and listened to her relate her involvement to her roommate. After she finished the story they re-knocked on the door and took Mary into custody. Like Callie, Mary was soon being subjected threats of vigorous prosecution if she did not immediately tell all she knew and if she lied to the police. She soon told the whole story, who she bought from, who was smoking and along with Callie signed a statement. Callie and Mary were bonded out by friends Sunday morning. Holly, hearing what had happened to Mary, left the dorm and went to a friend’s house and called her parents and tearfully related to whole sad tale. Her parents then told her to stay away from her dorm and at first light to drive home, some three hours away. The next day her parents started making inquiries into the situation in relation to their daughter. After receiving assurances that a decision whether or not to arrest Holly would not be made until Tuesday and that she would be given an opportunity to turn herself in if needed, Holly was allowed to return to school. Legal counsel was retained to represent Holly on Monday morning. On Tuesday Holly’s attorney received a call from the police directing her to turn herself in. Her parents accompanied her to the police station where she was arrested, fingerprinted, photographed, transported to the county jail and booked in. Holly’s parents followed her over to the jail and bonded her out. On the advice of counsel she made no statement. Three girls had now been arrested for simple possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. The experience was terrible for the girls but they were only beginning to realize the consequences.

Monday morning all three girls were kicked off their team and had their scholarships revoked. Their names were in the newspaper and everyone on campus knew what happened to them. They were told to vacate the dormitory and to report to a student judiciary hearing. All three girl’s families retained local counsel for each them in an effort to get the charges reduced or dismissed to protect their future employment status. They all now had criminal records. Student judiciary allowed them to remain in school but required them to perform community service and write a paper on fire safety. They found new housing off campus, attended classes and awaited their court hearings. After much deliberation among the families and attorneys on how best to defend the girls (suppress the search on the grounds of excessive duress by the officers or suppress the statements by Callie and Mary on the same grounds, although this would not help Callie), it was decided to work the best possible plea agreement with the solicitor. The plea agreement required that they appear together and voluntarily plea guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana. In exchange for the guilty plea the court agreed to postpone sentencing for a year. In the intervening twelve months if the girls satisfactorily completed probation with drug testing, performed forty hours of community service, attended an alcohol and drug awareness course, and paid a fine and various related court and administrative costs, the charges would be dismissed. Furthermore the solicitor agreed to have their arrests expunged from their record thereby removing their police records from everyone’s eyes but the police. They now have a chance to protect their future employment status. However if they violate any terms of the agreement or get into trouble again in the twelve months they will immediately be convicted and re-sentenced.

The total cost of this whole debacle is impossible to determine as the girls are all currently on probation and it’s hard to put costs on things like family travel expense and time off from work. We can get a rough idea based on the approximate numbers of money spent and money lost.

Bail Bonds (3 @ $100)………. $300 Attorneys Fees (3 @ $2500)…. $7500 Lost Scholarships (21 semesters @ $1000)…$21,000 Lost Housing (10.5 years @ $2500)…..…$26,250 Fines, Court Costs, etc. (3 @850)….……$2550 TOTAL $57,600

All for $20 worth of marijuana.

By godawg

February 22, 2006 08:58 AM | Link to this

“By geechee

February 22, 2006 12:13 AM | Link to this

godawg, I’m speechless, which as you know is amazing in itself. How long ago was this? Contrast this with my post from above; Under a revised policy implemented last year, South Carolina football players can now test positive for “recreational drugs, alcohol and anabolic steroidsâ€? (NCAA banned list) at least three times before being dismissed from the team.”

This occurred in late January 2004 at a school within the University System of Georgia. I don’t want to give too many details because some of the girls are still there. Update on them to follow.

By AltamahaDawg

February 22, 2006 09:00 AM | Link to this

Could somebody give me the condenced version of that story in less than 5 sentences?

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 22, 2006 09:05 AM | Link to this

godawg, NOW THAT IS A FUNNY STORY. LMAO. See that is why you shouldn’t do drugs.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 22, 2006 09:29 AM | Link to this

Scooter, you make a good point. I guess I didn’t know that the football players were now scattered across Athens. I think having them in one place, allows the university to keep an eye on them and also would help with car pooling home from the bars. Or if they steal a car they at least know where to find it.

By AltamahaDawg

February 22, 2006 09:32 AM | Link to this

Yes that was concidered preferential treatment to have them at McWorter. I do think the underclassmen are still there.

By godawg

February 22, 2006 09:50 AM | Link to this

Update on Party Girls:

Callie was yanked from school by her parents and began taking classes at a school close to home. She lived at home until her parents felt they could trust her again.

Mary remained in school, gained weight and has not participated in organized sports since.

Holly devoted her now free time to her studies and promptly made Dean’s list. In the fall of 2004 she asked for and received forgiveness from the Athletic Director and her Coach. But not her teammates. Her teammates felt that she let them down and they didn’t want her back.

Holly continued to study, making Dean’s list every semester, and began training on her own. She also spent time with area young people teaching them her sport.

Holly again approached the AD, the Coach and the team in the fall of 2005 and asked if she could come back. This time they all said yes.

She’s having her best season ever and has become a team leader. She makes a special effort to work with freshman and educate them as to how important it is to devote their time to their studies and sport, and how to stay out of trouble.

Holly will be a senior next year and continues to maintain a 4.0 while competing and has just begun her student teaching. She plans to go straight into grad school following graduation and get her masters degree in education. She wants to be a teacher.

Her parents are very proud of her. I should know, she’s my daughter

By animaldr

February 22, 2006 10:10 AM | Link to this

OK- This is a story from our own 1980 football team.

Scott Woerner, Chris Welton, Frank Ros (Captain), Hugh Nall and Nat Hudson killed (with bow and arrow) a university research pig, stole it, cooked and ate it with the entire team at a party with 127 cases of beer and 8 kegs. This party was for the freshman players.

Now given todays climate what would happen today? Could we win the Nat’l championship without half of the defense and half the O-line?

Let’s see what charges would be brought. Cruelty to animals, theft, underage drinking, DUI at least.

OK, what punishment would be fair? Well they had their summer scholarships revoked and they had to paint the wall around the practice fields.

We act like the kids of today are so terrible and the football players are criminal thugs. Get real. Most of these offenses are rediculous. A 2 game suspension for public intoxication. Give me a break. Parking violations? Now DUI is bad. But all the rest is crap.

We’ve been debating this for 3 days and we still have months before the season. I think the press needs to stop the headlines of “bulldogs in trouble again”. Let the coach handle it without fear of the headline “coach goes soft”.

GO DAWGS!

By godawg

February 22, 2006 10:19 AM | Link to this

I thought the pig theft was hilarious at the time. As I recall, they also had to pay UGA for the pig. I thought Coach Dooley’s punishment “a la Tom Sawyer” of making them “whitewash” the fence around the practice field was pretty good. I remember some of them saying how long it took, how hot it was and how hard it was.

You’re right animaldr, today PETA would have been all over them and they’d make the national evening news.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 22, 2006 11:06 AM | Link to this

godawg, great story! I am sorry that you had to actually live through it. I am printing off a copy of this for my office manager’s daughter who is going off to school on an athletic scholarship next fall. And I will always remember it to tell my own daughter when she gets a little older. I never did drugs (besides them being bad for you) due to the fact that if I ever got caught I would not dare call my dad to bail me out. Jail would have been a safer alternative.

By Bryan G.

February 22, 2006 11:08 AM | Link to this

Altamaha, that’s exactly what I would want for Sims. Not only did he break rules, but he didn’t perform the discipline asked of him by the UGA judiciary.

In and of itself, using those parking passes and a DUI aren’t that bad. But if you don’t comply with a disciplinary authority, the punishment must be more severe. If he didn’t show up to Court, he would have been thrown in jail. If you don’t comply with the University, you get kicked out.

Yes, if you bring in ALL the student athletes, there isn’t a big problem. But there IS a problem with the football team. The buck stops with Mark. These boys represent MY ALMA MATER. I’m sick and f-ing tired of reading this kind of crap. This is why UGA can’t be taken seriously as a school: because morons like these kids keep getting into trouble and it brings us bad press.

And, please, I don’t want any Charles Barkley “I am not a role model” arguments. These kids ARE role models. I know they were for me when I grew up. They need to get their acts together and Richt needs to bring it about.

By crs

February 22, 2006 11:50 AM | Link to this

Ummm, Carter, we talked about this topic yesterday, this kind of originality is what makes the AJC the AJC!

By crs

February 22, 2006 11:55 AM | Link to this

Bryan G, settle down my friend, put this in perspective, Sims is a bum and will most likely be panhandling on the corner of Roswell Road, when you drive by him, toss him a couple coins from your 750IL. No one will ever even remember he was at UGA.

By godawg

February 22, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this

Thanks kalamazoo! We’re just thankful she learned a valuable lesson early and has put it behind her. Every one of these girls were the type that you would think “there is no way they would ever do something that stupid”. Nobody’s child is immune.

I’ve always wondered about the justification of why they received such harsh punishment (participating in a non-revenue producing sport) versus a footaball player at the same school, same year got traffic violations, DUI, underage etc.etc. and not only stayed on the team but kept his scholarship.

By Bradley G

February 22, 2006 12:26 PM | Link to this

crs, Bryan G can get carried away sometimes, but he is still right. There are four football players already in some legal troubles and we aren’t even out of February yet. Six athletes last year, four already this year… When is it going to end? These guys get football scholarships to represent UGA, and that means they have to live with the unfair standard of being even more scrutinized than the average student. If they can’t handle the additional burden, look for another form of extracurricular activity…preferrably a legal one.

By crs

February 22, 2006 12:42 PM | Link to this

Lets be real, most of these guys are thugs who grew up in the roughest neighborhoods and without football would never have been able to get to college, most would be working hustling or at the local 20 minute lube. Sadly you can’t be both successful on the field and have a team of saints. If you wanted a team of saints you should have gone to or be a fan of Duke or Vandy’s football team. When these kids get away from structure this is when these problems happen, when they are away from MR and the team and the other coaches. Lets remember too, MR by his own admission was no saint either in his days at Miami.

By GW

February 22, 2006 02:11 PM | Link to this

Now even Navy has one accused of trouble, RAPE.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 22, 2006 02:36 PM | Link to this

GW, He gets to face a military court too.

By Scooter11

February 22, 2006 03:01 PM | Link to this

Bryan G: In and of itself, DUI IS bad, under any circumstances. It can affect so many other lives. I hope you meant “underage drinking”; I can agree with that.

By geechee

February 22, 2006 03:19 PM | Link to this

Her parents are very proud of her. I should know, she’s my daughter

And now I am very proud to know you, godawg.

When I read the beginning of your story last night it upset me very much, not only did the punishment seem way too extreme but, I somehow felt if they had been boys it would not have gone as far as it did.

I am glad this seems to have had a happy ending for Holy and she turned a very negative experience into one of the strongest building blocks of her life. She will be a very good mother someday. As Nietzsche said “that which does not kill me, makes me stronger”

It is a credit to Holly that she was able to use this experience to better herself but I also feel she was able to do it because of the strong support from her family. You are a very good dad godawg

By godawg

February 22, 2006 03:43 PM | Link to this

Thanks geech. I like to think that she is an example of why young people should get second chances.

By gdawginkalamazoo

February 22, 2006 04:01 PM | Link to this

I like to think that she is an example of why young people should get second chances godawg, I believe that also. Lucky, as geechee said, your daughter has a loving and supportive family. Some of these athletes don’t have that. That is why I do think that they need that second chance. However, they need to take advantage of it and not abuse like Sims has. He totally ignored the punishment. Where is our program’s mentors and “big brothers” at to help these kids and support them. We can be asking too much for that can we?

By geechee

February 22, 2006 04:04 PM | Link to this

I’m reposting the policy change at USC to make a point.

“Under a revised policy implemented last year, South Carolina football players can now test positive for “recreational drugs, alcohol and anabolic steroidsâ€? (NCAA banned list) at least three times before being dismissed from the team.â€?

I saw this as a statement by “the ole ball coach” that he gets it. He has not forgotten what it was like to young and he is able to communicate with kids on their level. He understands that kids will be kids and that his job is working with kids.

This is a big reason that so many kids want to play for SOS. They understand right away that this is an adult they can talk to and will understand their viewpoint.

I see MR cut from this same cloth as Spurrier which is why some of the best players in the country flock to both of them.

I’m not sure if anyone else has but, I also have noticed a mutual appreciation and respect between Richt and Spurrier. They are both two men who are very sure of themselves and unafraid to speak their minds or stand up to people who may disagree with them.

By godawg

February 22, 2006 04:13 PM | Link to this

“I see MR cut from this same cloth as Spurrier which is why some of the best players in the country flock to both of them.” I agree the similarity is there in some respects. Thankfully MR is not as cocky as the Evil One. (Sorry ‘bout the pun).

I also be believe in giving credit where credit is due. I know we sometimes give you a hard time Carter (ok, so a LOT of times)but I just wanted to say I liked your Q&A w/CMR.

By geechee

February 22, 2006 04:25 PM | Link to this

godawg, I would like to add to that post. Carter’s article “More QBs starting in first season” which appeared the day before the Q&A was even better. I was going to say that on the blog after I read it but the blog that day had been written by Chip and I didn’t know if Carter would have seen it. I then forgot about it till reading your last post.

By geechee

February 22, 2006 05:46 PM | Link to this

Naval Academy Charges Quarterback With Rape

Though it pains me to see that this kid is from my beloved birthplace, Savannah, it should give a little perspective to the posters who feel that UGA athletes who get caught drinking or stupidly drive after drinking are somehow hardened criminals. I thank the lord that UGA has a coach that is not only bordering on genius but is also a level headed and rational thinker.