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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wednesday afternoon notes

The A.J. Green jersey-selling story has re-ignited the debate, at least in some quarters, over whether college athletes should be paid.

Georgia head coach Mark Richt was asked about that on the weekly SEC teleconference. Richt started out by pointing out that a lot of players do get extra money, through Pell Grants.

But Green, whose family Richt said was “middle-income”, would not qualify for Pell Grant money. So the coach wondered if there was a way to get a little more money to someone in Green’s position.

“Maybe there should be something across the board where everybody can get a little bit more than what they’re getting,” Richt said.

The problem, as Richt went on to point out, is the inequity that would create. The SEC clearly has the money to pay football players, as do most other Division I-A leagues. But then athletes in non-revenue sports, and athletes at all levels, would want some. And college presidents, and the people who run college athletics, don’t really want to delve into that morass.

“As long as we’re structured the way we are, it’s just not gonna fly,” Richt said.

- You may have heard that Colorado is using this weekend to honor its 1990 national championship team. Well, national champions according to some people.

The Buffaloes lost one game (to Tennessee), tied Illinois, and beat Missouri thanks to a (cough, ahem, cough) extra down. So there’s another team in the state of Georgia that claims to be champion that year.

I got a bit of a kick out of Colorado’s weekly release, which I’ll quote:

Now apparently, our use of the word ‘concensus’ upsets a few folks around the country. It’s not to slam others, but rather to strengthn CU’s case for that season since many point to the Fifth Down game or the clip on Raghib Ismail’s punt return in the Orange Bowl and say our title is tainted. But fact is fact; at the time nine basic postseason polls were recognized as determining a unanimous or consensus national champion: Colorado topped in six of those: Associated Press, FWAA (Football Writers Association of America), National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame (MacArthur Trophy), USA Today-CNN, Sporting News and Football News. Georgia Tech won the United Press International poll (by 1 point) and Miami, Fla., the Sagarin and New York Times computer rankings.

(Like how they stuck the “by 1 point” in parenthesis?)

Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who was in high school at the time, was asked Tuesday who he thought was the legitimate champion that year.

Bobo gave the politically correct answer.

“It was Colorado,” he said with a smile. “Shawn Jones was the quarterback for Tech then and my Dad coached him, so I kind of pulled a little for Tech – back then.”

Among the notable alumni of that team who have RSVPed for Saturday: Then-head coach Bill McCartney, former Colorado coach Gary Barnett, who was the quarterbacks coach on that team, quarterback Darian Hagan, and former NFL players Chad Brown (an inside linebacker), Jay Leeuwenberg (a center), Mike Pritchard (receiver) and Tom Rouen (punter).

- Colorado reserve defensive tackle Conrad Obi, who grew up in Grayson, Ga., originally committed to Georgia. He said Wednesday his switch was nothing against Georgia.

“I was just looking for something new,” Obi said.

In fact, Obi said Colorado wasn’t recruiting him until the Buffaloes lost at Georgia in 2007. Obi was at the game, and decided he was interested in the Buffaloes, and sent his film to Boulder.

- Does anybody else think “Mad Men” has slowed down a bit as the season has gone on? I’m not sensing a big finish to it, but perhaps I’m wrong. Don Draper is now telling everybody he’s really Dick Whitman, so it doesn’t seem like that will be the big finish. I’m not complaining, but I guess the home run episode a few seasons ago – Don and Peggy’s star showing – just set the bar real high.

- Speaking of TV, any “Dexter” fans out there? I liked the first episode – one Dexter kill, and one weird Debra hook-up - check, check. But am a bit curious to see where they’re taking the rest of the season. The fellow detective on the trail of Dexter’s secret life – didn’t we do that with Dokes in Season 2?

- Ironic story that may only interest me, at least on this coast: Sacramento is in danger of losing its NBA franchise, unless the Kings can get a new arena deal. This would have to be the first time in history a mayor who presided over a team losing town actually PLAYED in that league: Sacramento’s mayor is Kevin Johnson, the former All-Star point guard.

11 comments:

Carter said...

Seth, You said you have a mailbag coming up. I am not on Twitter, or any other social media for that matter, and e-mails seem so formal anymore. So hopefully you can take my question from the comments.

Basically, what I want to know is whats up with Rantavious Wooten (AKA Wooten-DA-Ballcarrier)? Must see clip here re his nickname: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmHHmcplNnM.

Since you weren't here last year, Seth, you might be surprised to know Wooten is on the team, given how much PT he's gotten this year.
He proved he could make plays when given the opportunity last year. Maybe a play-maker could have helped in all the quarters where we couldn't find the end-zone the past 3 weeks.

Anonymous said...

Not that my opinion will make or break your day but the Blog has improved exponentially. Thanks for your efforts.

Anonymous said...

Is the game Saturday going to be televised whatsoever? Any one know?

PTC DAWG said...

Fox Sports...HIDEF 7 PM

Ever thought of using google?

Anonymous said...

I also believe that the quality of this blog has improved from when you just started out here. Keep up the good work, Seth.

Uncle Dawg said...

College athletes getting paid... hum. Please remind me, what is the value of a 4 year degree from UGA? And, how much does it cost to attend Vanderbilt?

Just wonderin'

Anonymous said...

Colorado tied Tennessee and loss to Illinois, not the other way around...

But who's counting at this point, all I can hope for is a measly win.

Anonymous said...

There are those who say that Coach Richt is the Best Coach in The SEC over his time here at Georgia. That is a bold-faced lie.

There are those who say that Coach Richt is the # 3 best coach in winning percentage over his time here at Georgia. That, too, is a bold-faced lie.


JUST TELL THE TRUTH. Or else, just FLAME, or some other off-topic post.


Winning Percentage Coach at Current School

.928 # 1 Chris Petersen Boise State 52-4 year 5
.859 # 2 Urban Meyer Florida 61-10 year 6*
.823 # 3 Mack Brown Texas 131-28 year 13
.823 # 4 Jim Tressel Ohio State 98-21 year 10
.823 # 5 Chip Kelly Oregon 14-3 year 2
.822 # 6 Nick Saban Alabama 37-8 year 4*
.812 # 7 Bob Stoops Oklahoma 121-28 year 12
.795 # 8 Brian Kelly Cincinnati 35-9 year 4
.785 # 9 Les Miles LSU 55-15 year 6*
.760 # 10 Gary Patterson TCU 89-28 year 11
.752 # 11 Joe Paterno Penn State 397-130-3 year 45
.752 # 12 Mark Richt Georgia 91-30 year 10*

After 2005 to-date this where our Program dropped off to :

# 1 at 52-04 Boise State Chris Petersen
# 2 at 52-07 Florida Urban Meyer
# 3 at 48-08 Ohio State Jim Tressel
# 4 at 48-09 Texas Mack Brown
# 5 at 47-09 USC Lane Kiffin after Pete Carroll
# 6 at 46-10 TCU Gary Patterson
# 7 at 46-13 Oklahoma Bob Stoops
# 8 at 44-12 BYU Bronco Mendenhall
# 9 at 44-12 Utah Kyle Whittingham
# 10 at 44-13 LSU Les Miles
# 11 at 43-13 West Virginia Bill Stewart after Rich Rodriguez
# 12 at 43-13 Penn State Joe Paterno
# 13 at 43-15 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer
# 14 at 42-15 Cincinnati Butch Jones after Brian Kelly
# 15 at 40-17 Boston College Frank Spaziani Jeff Jagodzinski Tom O’Brien
# 16 at 40-19 Central Michigan Dan Enos Butch Jones Jeff Quinn Brian Kelly
# 17 at 42-14 Wisconsin Bret Bielema
# 18 at 42-16 Missouri Gary Pinkel
# 19 at 40-16 Oregon Chip Kelly after Mike Bellotti
# 20 at 39-16 Texas Tech Tommy Tuberville Ruffin McNeill Mike Leach
# 21 at 39-17 Georgia Bulldogs Coach Richt & his sorry butt “coaching staff”

Anonymous said...

I love how our society deals with folks that screw up. Instead of punishing the offender we come up with ways to excuse the behavior. AJ Green broke a rule by selling his jersey. So what do some folks say? AJ sold his Jersey because athletes don't get paid. No, AJ sold his jersey because he didn't have the moral standing not to break a rule. Now, I'm not saying that AJ deserves the death penalty. We are all morally flawed. But stop making excuses for a guy that broke a rule.

Anonymous said...

I agree that this blog has gotten better (minus the censorship).

Willb said...

Hey anon 1:35 your list and everybody elses stupid list are starting to piss me off! Most of those coaches have been at those schools for less than six years! I could make a list of any coach in history and make it seem like they sucked at some point! Do you think any coach has been consistently great for his whole tenure? Especially at ga!

Another question for you fire Richt "fans". What other coach in the sec would you rather see at ga ? Other than saban and meyer? There is no other coach after these two I would choose before richt! I think I would take him over Meyer too! I don't like the guy!