Published October 15, 2010 - 9:13am
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I write this as iTunes blares out “The Devil went Down to Georgia.” These days in Athens one would think the very Devil himself has set up shop on the corner on College Ave. and Washington Streets. Yes, UGA did win the “Fulmer Cup” this off season, if you don’t know what that is; you are probably on the wrong website
My questions is, “would you rather win the Fulmer Cup or lose the Richt Cup?” The so called “wave” of arrests of football players at UGA must be taken in context. Below are two examples of what other teams fans have to deal with. I am NOT saying that any crime is ok; just we need to remember the spectrum varies greatly.
An example from that school down South
RONNIE “AK-47” WILSON
Charge #1: Aggravated assault, battery and use of display of a concealed weapon during commission of a felony in April 2007 for shooting a semiautomatic rifle after a dispute with another man.
Outcome: Wilson pleaded no contest to battery and discharging a firearm. The felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and later dropped. Wilson was placed on two year’s probation and given 100 hours of community service.
Charge #2: Misdemeanor possession of marijuana in January 2008.
Outcome: The charge was dropped despite serving probation for his original arrest.
Charge #3: One count of battery and one count of assault for an altercation at an apartment complex in October.
Outcome: Nothing has been ruled on the case, according to court records.
Team punishments: Wilson was suspended for the entire 2007 season stemming from the gun charge, including a full-year suspension from University of Florida academics. Wilson rejoined the team in 2008 but was suspended and eventually kicked off after the third charge.
An example from the University of Tennessee
According to Tennessee station WBIR, an NBC affiliate, three University of Tennessee football players were arrested early Thursday morning and charged with armed robbery. A Knoxville Police Department spokesman told WBIR that the three students, Nu’Keese Richardson, Janzen Jackson and Mike Edwards, plus female driver Marie Montmarquet, were being held at a detention center after allegedly attempting to rob three Maryville residents at a Pilot convenience store.
According to the victims, the men were sitting in their car when one of the students opened the driver’s side door and demanded money from the three, who reportedly showed them empty wallets. After the students left the scene, the victims described their car, which police then located, finding Richardson, Jackson, Edwards and Montmarquet in the process. An air-powered pellet gun, two black hoodies (which the victims described the alleged perpetrators as wearing) and a marijuana grinder were found by police. Montmarquet claimed that the grinder was hers and was subsequently hit with a drug charge.
This report is quite interesting in the fact that the RB Bryce Brown has been reported saying he wants to be released from his scholarship from Tennessee after complaining of what he considered “questionable behavior” from his teammates. Supposedly he was actually in the elevator when these three UT players were discussing the robbery planning.
Back To Georgia…
Now taken in light of these two examples and believe me there are many more out there, the “Scooter-Gate” at UGA seems pretty mundane.
Mark Richt is the longest tenured Head Coach in the South Eastern Conference….say that with me everybody…..10 years in the SEC. UGA has the current longest streak of 8 wins or more in the country.
Nobody else can say that, not Urban Meyer, not Nick Saban, not Les Miles, not Joe Paterno, not Mack Brown….nobody. And the Georgia fans want Richt run out town on a rail because some 19 and 20 year old young men can’t pay their traffic tickets?
Imagine if every other college kid in Athens got his/her arrest story splashed all over the media. Do we go after their professors or parents? Do we want to pull their scholarship? No…..So why does it make sense that a football player gets arrested and we want blood?
Imagine you are in charge of 100 young men; you are responsible for their grades, their care and feeding, their conduct on and off campus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every misstep played out in the National media. Imagine yourself on ESPN because your kid failed to pay a speeding ticket. Seems pretty easy? You couldn’t pay me the $4M per year to take on that kind of heat. …and I doubt not too many people would either.
Championships take some luck and a lot of hard work. Coach Mark Richt has certainly put this team in a position year-in-and-year-out to win championships.
I’m sure if you gave any Head Coach in college football this option, “You can win 8 or more games for 13 years OR you can roll the dice and see what you get.” Line forms to the left please…..
The 2002 team was a Terrence Edwards catch away from beating Florida and going to the BCS Championship game. They did beat FSU in the Sugar Bowl to finish #3 in the country with a record of 13-1. The most wins by a UGA team EVER….that was under Mark Richt’s watch.
The 2007 team was a win against either a South Carolina or Florida win away from the SEC Championship vs. LSU and possibly another BCS Championship Bowl appearance. The pineapple-crushing defeat they put on Colt Brennan and Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl that year was probably their most complete game. I would bet money they beat Ohio State (0-9 vs. SEC teams in bowls) in the BCS game if they had played. Remember LSU lost TWICE as the #1 team in the country and STILL made it to the BCS game. You need some luck….or a good Vanderbilt FG kicker…to get to the big game.
His record is 92 wins and 31 loses. 92 wins in ten years people….put the pitch forks away.
But “Hey Coach, can we beat Florida this year? Please……..”
Yeah, God forbid we get a coach in here who can utilize the incredible resources this program has, and realize the massive potential at UGA. Say what want, but considering the talent, money, facilities, recruiting, and resources at Georgia, Richt has sorely underperformed.
There’s a saying that goes something like this. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. You can use stats to support whatever agenda you are pushing. But the fact is there have been 25 arrests in the last few years. That’s shameful and embarrassing. You can spin it anyway you want. But things like hit and run, DUI, and assault, are not funny. It only shows that these players don’t respect or fear Richt or his punishment.
One last comment. How long are Richt sycophants going to keep throwing out that win total as the sole reason he shouldn’t be fired? It’s pathetic.
An answer from the Richt sycophants. I believe that 2011 will be the last year for CMR & I hope we get a better (more successful) coach.
Statistics be Damned. I have been in the stands since the mid-fifties watching the Dawgs. CMR was, is, & will continue to be the best HC that My Dawgs have ever had. His days are numbered but what he has accomplished will be the standard for future coaches.(The last decade was the best won-lost percentage for any 10 year period in Dawg history). I hope whoever follows can measure up.
Richt is putting all of his eggs in one basket counting on a win this year vs. the gators. In 07 Richt inspired his players to a win by encouraging them to do the “River Dance” on the field after a touchdown. Last year they came on to the field donning black uniforms very reminiscent of Grambling. Rumor has it that this year Richt has challenged Urban Meyer to an arm wrestling match at midfield before the game.
Hunker down Dawgs!!!
I have been a dawg for over 50 years and seen every coach and team since Coach Butts. I would caution this about what you want. You might get what you ask for. If some fans had their way, there would be a new coach every year because last years coach didn’t do what the fans thought they should. Most of them that claim to know what the problems are never had a helment on and never took a snap, much less coached anything above checkers. I think all those studs that claim to be coaches should be given the chance one of these Saturdays. My guess is they couldn’t beat their way out of the crap house. I also think these guys should pick the next head coach so they can show the whole country how much they know about nothing. tbone’s got it figured.
When I was a growing up, my dad had a rule that unless you could do better than the guy that was doing it, you kept you mouth shut and supported the team. Richt is a quality man and a quality coach, something most fans don’t have a clue about. If you win you’re great , but if any adversity strikes the team, all you hear is what he should have done. Go Dawgs!
UGA is still proud of, and bragging about, beating Hawaii and Colt Brennan in the 2007 Sugar Bowl. This after Fox Television game day announcers vehemently complained about Officiating and not calling UGA for consistently jumping the snap and late hits on Colt Brennan after release of the ball.
So for UGA to hang their hat and be proud of a Rigged Officiated Game, even though it was rigged by the BCS, it is shameful.
Go look at the box score, UGA has nothing there to be proud of.
If Mark Richt were coaching at LSU, Florida, Alabama or Texas he would already be terminated regardless of time remaining on his contract!
There is a window of opportunity here but Coach Richt is “blocking” the window. Will Muschamp and Kirby Smart are going to be going to higher paying Head Coaching Jobs and the Dawg Nation is stuck with mediocre Mark Richt. Smart and Muschamp are Georgia Grads, Richt is not! Would you rather miss an opportunity and be a “middle of the pack” SEC team?
Wake up people, it’s the 21st Century! Nobody seems to get it! It’s a high stakes poker game called “Championships Plural”(The National Championship and The SEC Championship) It started at the beginning of the 21st Century. Mark Richt and Georgia were playing at the table with two SEC Championships! Over the past four years “Middle of the Pack Mark” has posted no Championships and is no longer at the table with LSU, Florida and Alabama.
The only person that can put Mark Richt on the Hot Seat is MARK RICHT! Not me , not you, not the Mark Richt Apologists! Duh! Mark Richt got himself into this situation.
Opportunity Cost is Opportunity Lost! Richt has had 10 years to win the National Championship. Will Muschamp and Kirby Smart, Georgia players and grads, are going to accept Head Coaching positions within the next year to two years. Could Smart or Muschamp do any worse?
BS
CMR does NOT have the best winning percentage of any UGA Coach ever over a 10-year period
Wally Butts had a BETTER 10-year winning percentage and includes a CONSENSUS NC
Vince Dooley had a BETTER 10-year winning percentage and includes a CONSENSUS NC
What we have here is a group who want no separation of Church and State
Unwilling to study the truth that we are 40-18 since the last time we were in The SEC Championship Game
That was 2005
This is 2010
Next season, CMR loses 15 seniors and 4-5 juniors
Those 20 players have been 40-18 since we last even made it to The SEC Championship Game
And, those players are 11-11 vs SEC East.
In the meantime, we are # 2 in Fulmer Cup Standings as well during this 40-18 after 2005 to-date
Don’t try to tell me that Montez Robinson did not 3 times beat up a coed at UGA as CMR player
Don’t try to tell me what Zach Mettenberger did to that coed too, is not deplorable
2 recruits committed to CMR in the last 6 months as well have now both seen their senior seasons removed for them for their actions, and 1 of those 2 was sex in a classroom in front of the Principal with a 14-year old.
This all in the last 6 months since 7 March 2010. Oh, yeah right this is all a motor-scooter infraction. We are ALL fed up with it, and you run in here to provide biased EXCUSES because you like the man as a Christian who FORGIVES ALL THESE, for example, while you throw in our faces that OUR GUYS have done NOTHING WRONG. Absurd.
And, now Caleb King tells a coed here at UGA now that he will not repay $500 loan and if she goes public, he will publish nude pics and video on the Internet.
I’d challenge the commenters on here to come up with somebody better then CMR.
Moe Bile- you must be one of the thug losers Hawaii has in their stands. I was stationed in Hawaii three years and can attest to the racist attitude of most Hawaiiians. Waipahu, Wahiawa and Nanakuli to name a few..
I saw all the hate and vitriol from the Hawaii blogs spewed at UGA fans as “rednecks.”
Go back and watch the game…Marcus Howard who crushed Colt Brennan repeatedly was the South Carolina HS State Champ in 110m hurdles…..at 6’2″ and 235 lbs.
Hawaii was fooled by the WEAKEST SCHEDULE in the nation that year.
@ Joe – One might make the argument that players who are guilty of the level of offense you are speaking of ( Hit and Run, DUI, and Assault) are not only not afraid of Coach Richt and his punishment, but they are also NOT afraid of our Judicial system. Doesn’t say much for these grown men does it? Or perhaps it doesn’t say much for the parents, teachers, administrators etc. who have let them get away with things their whole lives because they are excellent athletes who bring something to the table. Or perhaps it might even be that some of these guys at the ripe old age of 20 just are not mature yet, hence “stupid” things. Maybe some combination of all the above?
I am not making excuses for them, illegal is illegal. However, I do believe that there is some differentiation between assault and driving a SCOOTER without a license. I see your point and agree, discipline is necessary. UGA is by far not the only University with this problem, and I wonder how much screaming for the Coach’s head would be going on if UGA had won a couple more SEC Championships and perhaps a National Championship? Food for thought.
I agree with what most people are saying – it’s frustrating being a Georgia fan and watching all of these players doing all these stupid things with no end in sight. But I think Richt is doing a *better* job of punishing his players with suspensions and cutting them off the team on occasion, as was the case with would-be starting qb Mettenberger. But I’ll still defend Richt to the end – he’s been a much more visible leader on the team the past two games, even with symbolic gestures like leading the team out of the locker room. The players still love him, most of the fans still love him (even if it’s a slim majority), and I think we would be extremely short-sighted and rash to fire him after this season. I’m frustrated too, but it won’t do anyone any good to fire the man who’s made the post-Dooley Dawgs what they are.
Oh and a side note, the 2007 Dawgs beat Florida, so we were “a South Carolina and Tennessee loss” away from the BCS/SEC championships. Not to be picky, but that was the last time we beat the Gators!