Georgia AD Greg McGarity clarifies comments on Vanderbilt game postponement
Greg McGarity raised eyebrows with his comments venting about the postponement of the Georgia-Vanderbilt game.
The UGA athletic director, who is leaving his post at the end of the year, didn’t shy away from saying he was frustrated and angry with the situation, emphasizing that the Bulldogs have handled COVID well:
“I don’t take things personal, but when our institution suffers, it upsets me greatly,” McGarity told reporters.
“When something affects our school, it’s extremely frustrating.”
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“They should be angry, and we’re angry, too,” McGarity said.
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“It’s just so frustrating when you have coaches and players and support staff that make significant sacrifices to stay safe, and they do so, and then they have no competitive benefit other than their health.
“We have shown the ability to stay healthy by being disciplined and following the advice from Coach (Kirby) Smart and (Head trainer) Ron Courson. We are an example of what can be done with discipline and a desire to play college football.”
Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee later released a statement on Twitter that appeared to be a response to McGarity’s comments, noting she is “as competitive as anyone”:
“I’m as competitive as anyone and we were all looking forward to getting back on the field to face Georgia. We will never compromise the health and safety of our student-athletes. We are already preparing for Tennessee and look forward to wrapping up the regular season at Georgia.”
Later Friday, McGarity clarified he wasn’t frustrated with Vanderbilt or the Commodores AD.
“It centers around the entire situation,” McGarity told Jake Rowe of 247Sports. “It was not a shot at Vandy. I totally understand their dilemma. They’ve got a mix of COVID, they’ve got a mix of opt-outs, they’ve got a mix of injuries, so it was never meant to take a dig at them. But the frustration comes to a point when we’ve been essentially COVID-free all fall and the sacrifices that these young men and the coaches have made to stay safe and stay healthy, just hasn’t been consistent across the college landscape. And that’s the frustrating thing.”
The “We will never compromise the health and safety of our student-athletes” schtick is a cop-out and a farce. There isn’t a college in the world where student-athletes are in any real danger for the Wuhan virus, and the data bear this out! Thus, there isn’t a serious or science-based justification for the cancellation of ANY college or high school sporting event because of the Wuhan virus.–That’s what McGarity should’ve said.
When your unemployment begins on January 20th CNN said don’t bother applying for that Don Lemon show writer position lol
Ha! CNN and Don Lemon could use a few good writers! (Among MANY other things!) Though, typing “for” instead of “from” might indeed cost me! And I’m still hoping that Biden is the one unemployed on 1/20/21!
Maybe because they are taking the precautions.
With 2802 deaths reported in the USA for Thrusday alone I’m pretty sure that’s not what he should have said.
And how many of those were under 50? How many were under 30? (Almost certainly ZERO!)
Maybe none but where did the 50 + year olds get the virus- that’s the point.
Replying to Glenu (since no “reply” option available under their reply): No, “the point” is that NOTHING we’ve done or are currently doing is going to keep people from eventually having exposure to this virus. We “slowed the spread” enough to deal with the serious cases, thus it is LONG past time to open up everything and get on with our lives! We cannot shut down our economy and our culture every time such a virus comes along waiting on a vaccine (that may or may not be effective).
Just because younger people aren’t dying, doesn’t mean they’re not getting it and not having long-term affects. Not to mention, they can spread it to older people who can die. Quit watching Newsmax and quit acting like the virus isn’t a thing because it doesn’t fit your “reality.”
It’s like he knew he needed to back track but then halfway through just couldn’t Lol.
I’ve tried to comment on the game cancellation on the Vanderbilt page and the comments are being moderated. We’ll see what happens here…
I have been told that the game was not cancelled for the stated reason, but rather because players refused to play.
I heard the players revolted because of the kicker circus. Not so much because Sarah played but because of she supposedly blasted the players in a halftime speech.
They deserved it based on what I saw
I think SDS moderators must see themselves like the Twitter mods do: if they disagree with your rational viewpoint, you obviously need censoring .
Not a Georgia fan, but totally understand McGarity’s frustration. I bet he really is ticked at Vandy – even though he’s not saying so. UGA is proof that a team can stay safe and healthy if the players are all-in. It’s pretty evident at 0-8, Vandy’s players probably don’t care if they play again this season.