Your daily dose of sanctimony from Mark Bradley:
… Still, Richt needs to grasp that current events have swung public perception against his brand of gentle prodding. It would be a shame if Georgia’s first national championship since 1980 gets lumped with Florida State’s 1993 triumph (remember the Foot Locker raid?) and Nebraska’s 1995 crown (remember Lawrence Phillips?) as tarnished titles. This is too sound a program, and Richt too good a man, for that to happen.
Richt said he has “already read [his players] the riot act” and is considering rendering downtown Athens off-limits. But will that be enough to halt the run of late-night distress calls to this increasingly frustrated coach?
Look, I’m certainly not defending what occurred, but most of what’s happened in the offseason has been alcohol related. The truly serious offense – Michael Lemon’s assault – has been dealt with by outright dismissal from the team and the school. Surely that’s as firm a punishment as could be doled out to the player. As for the rest of the misbehavior, Bradley seems to indicate that Richt isn’t being tough enough with his choice of suspensions and internal discipline.
So, I’m just curious what Bradley would suggest as a new, improved course of action for a kid caught in public with a beer in his hand, or too many in his system. Public stocks? Tasering the little darlings any time they don’t follow the law? Caning? Because if he’s got something that would seriously reduce underage drinking, he’s wasting his talents as a newspaper hack.
Get The Picture 
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!
Seriously comparing what has occurred this offseason with some extreme cases of troubled programs is ridiculous. It would be interesting to know how many non-student athletes have been arrested for the same thing in Athens (or any college town). Suspending the players from games is about the harshest punishment Richt can administer, barring dismissal. Think about it for a minute Mark. These kids have busted their butts for 6 to 7 months to get ready to play. Now they can’t because they made a bad decision. That’s tough. What if you had busted you rear on an article for that long only to be told you couldn’t print it because you got a traffic ticket or whatever.
If Mr. Bradley can show me a college campus in America that doesn’t have alcohol related arrests then I will gladly apologize and never speak on this subject again.
I’m not condoning what these kids did but heck even I had a couple of beers after the polls came out. It’s the first time in school history UGA has been preseson #1. Plus camp was a day or two away. I would imagine there was a lot of excitement on the players part and they needed an outlet.
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Dean, Have you ever been to Bob Jones University up here in Greenville? Anyway, I sometimes feel sorry for ajc folks getting blasted on their own blogs. It seems to me that the Dawgs tend to like, perhaps respect is a better word, Chip but Carter (is he gone?), Mark, and Terrance, definitely are not as popular. While people should definitely remember the Golden Rule when they are blogging (some of the name calling is ridiculous and cowardly) Mark Bradley definitely needs to get a clue. Character in Athens is the best I’ve seen it in my 22 years of following the Dawgs.
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Rico,
Yes. I grew up in Pickens and knew a couple of girls that got sent there by their parents. Kids go to Bob Jones for two reasons, 1 – the obvious reason, and 2- their parents send them there in an attempt to straighten them out. I’ve been to some great parties with Bob Jones students.
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“Suspending the players from games is about the harshest punishment Richt can administer, barring dismissal.”
Dean, while I would normally agree with you, I’m not sure the suspensions have really worked as the deterrent CMR hoped they would.
I think that’s where the frustration lies from many fans & supporters. I don’t know what the answer is, or if there even is one, other than banning downtown.
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What ticks me off most about this is that we’re being labeled as an ‘out of control’ program while our biggest rivals have a guy using a dead girls’ credit card and another guy shooting off assault rifles on campus (and being reinstated) and none of that is ever mentioned by the media.
I’ve had a few beers in my day, even peed in a place or 2 I shouldn’t. I’ve never used a dead girl’s credit cards or fired weapons in a public place. Guess I’m also out of control and in need of discipline.
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Ally,
I agree it has not been a corrective action for the issue. However I believe it has worked on some but there are and will always be kids that no matter what the consequences will still do what they are told not to do. I don’t know what other options CMR has when it comes to discipline, other than the “in house” type. Even with the strict policy UGA has on alcohol related issues it hasn’t stopped. Hopefully now that camp has started and the players have a lot less time on their hands this will be the last we hear of these issues until next offseason. But as the Senator stated these are kids making typical college kid mistakes. They’re not selling drugs, beating up their girlfriends, armed robbery or whatever.
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“Even with the strict policy UGA has on alcohol related issues it hasn’t stopped.”
Exactly Dean. So, it may be time to figure out another preventative method. Again, I don’t know what that it is – its not my job to figure that out, praise Jesus – but its clear the suspensions didn’t work this summer.
And, no offense to you or the Senator, but I get so tired of hearing the “typical college mistakes” defense. The fact of the matter is, these student-athletes are not typical college kids. Much more is expected of them, and much more is given to them.
You’re right in that the quality of arrests aren’t as criminal in nature as the types you mentioned. Thank God for small favors. But, the Quantity of arrests & incidents is what makes it look so much worse, as if there is a pervasive problem within the program. I think that’s why we’ve garnered so much media atention lately.
And, that brings me to another point concerning the “its not as bad as other crimes” issue. I’m sure you remember Chris Rock’s standup from a few years back when he talked about patting guys on the back for not getting arrested, paying child support, keeping a job, etc. His argument was, why pat them on the back when that’s what they’re SUPPOSED TO DO?
I feel the same way about this situation. I don’t want our players to think that they should get a pat on the back because their crime wasn’t as bad some other player’s crime, you know? Bottom line – they broke the law & violated team rules. An arrest is an arrest is an arrest. Its all bad, regardless of the offense.
But its just my opinion, which isn’t worth a penny. Again, i hate to disagree with you, but please know I respect your opinion nonetheless.
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Ally,
Your points are valid and well said as they always are. And again I’m not condoning what any of these guys did. Yes they made a mistake and should have to pay accordingly. A lesser evil is still an evil no matter what. I just don’t feel like the program is out of control given the nature of the arrests. We are also in agreement that there have been way too many arrests for the same violation. But for MB to mention this team with the FSU’s and UN’s I think is a bit much. Also for me to casts stones at these guys for doing the same thing I did while in college (albeit no UGA) is hypocritical.
I don’t mind you disagreeing with me because you do it in a respectful manner and it’s your right. I realize my opinions are strong and a lot of times not well thought out so I expect there to be some disagreement with my comments. In addition I also respect your opinion more than most of the ones who comment on this blog. Anytime I see a comment from you I always read it. I appreciate your perspective.
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And, no offense to you or the Senator, but I get so tired of hearing the “typical college mistakes” defense.
Whoa, whoa, whoa there. My point isn’t to defend the behavior of the kids – it’s to get on Bradley’s case for shaking a finger without offering a meaningful suggestion on how to curtail that sort of behavior. As a father of three, I’d love to hear something concrete. Maybe I’d learn something useful.
Of course, the reality is that Bradley doesn’t have a clue about what might work better. And I’ve got to tell you, again as a father of three, that sometimes you simply can’t get through to a teenager who thinks he or she is indestructible and can’t be bothered to worry about the consequences of stupid behavior until the horse is waaayy out of the barn.
My guess is that whatever Richt comes up with in the short term – like banning the kids from downtown Athens – will benefit his peace of mind more than it will teach the players responsibility. But if it cuts down on the embarrassing news, it’s probably a net gain for the rest of us. 😉
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Sen – I was referring to this comment by Dean: “But as the Senator stated these are kids making typical college kid mistakes.”
Dean – Looks like we agree much more than we disagree on this topic. And thanks for the nice compliments 😉
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I don’t have a problem with the media focusing on the arrests. They get paid to sell newspapers and TV time and Lord knows this is doing that. However, how about a little context?
As mentioned before we didn’t just reinstate a guy who discharged a firearm in a parking lot. We also didn’t have a player perform a rap about guns and killing people (although kudos to Oklahoma for the way they handled that, I’d like to think we’d do the same). The point is, this is happening all over. I know as #1 we have a target on our back, but Florida and Oklahoma are both in the top 5 as well. Instead of writing about UGA exclusively, maybe a “hard-hitting expose” about player behavior overall is in order. And by all means, mention UGA in that…we’ve certainly earned it for better or worse.
Also, perhaps the coverage should be mixed around a little. For every Hinton or Baldwin, there is a Richard Samuel (early entrant at 17 and already completed 21 hours I believe) and Thomas Brown (completed 21 hours in the fall during football season to earn his degree in December).
There is a lot going on in Athens, both good and bad — and it all deserves coverage. Furthermore, a 1000 word piece and a 3 sentence blurb are not the same thing.
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I’ll start with ‘I don’t drink and never have’, but alot of the guys I ran with didn’t either. What do you think we could do if we tried to recruit only guys who honestly said they had no interest in drinking? Can we find 100 top quality athletes that don’t drink? Would we field a better team if their bodies weren’t having to overcome the toxicity of a social drink (much less a bender)? Is it too naive to even consider it a possibility?
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Senator,
I apologize for throwing you into the conversation Ally and I were having. I got carried away and lost sight of the point you were making.
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