Hangin’s too good for ’em.

Of all the over-the-top points in this sanctimonious exercise in hyperventilation, this stands as my favorite:

… Richt has got to do something, or he needs to be shown the door. The University cannot continually endure summer after summer of this juvenile and immature behavior from its most high-profile athletes.

A start would be bringing in more high-character players. Could you imagine these shenanigans happening during the reign of David Greene or David Pollack? They would not have allowed it.

To which I can only reply with two words:  Odell. Thurman. Funny, you’d think a self-described “fourth-generation Georgia student and an ardent supporter of the Bulldogs” would have remembered him.

I’ve got two predictions for you.  Coming down the turnpike are meant-to-be-taken-very-seriously proposals that (1) the football team wear the initials “JG” on their jerseys and that (2) Mark Richt be required to cut a public service announcement about drunk driving that eulogizes Jordan Griner.  Because those will show that we mean business about this problem.  An empty gesture that makes so many feel better without having to make hard decisions about what’s really going on is what 21st century American society is all about.

On the other hand, maybe Fitzpatrick’s on to something here with his run the bums out of town approach.  How about we extend it to revoking the HOPE Scholarship of any student pinched for underage possession?  Nah, wouldn’t work.  We’d be putting too many “high-character” kids at risk with an approach like that.

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UPDATE: This post at Bernie’s is proof that great minds think alike.

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UPDATE #2: Just to give you an indication of how absurd the “Mark Richt has to do something” blather is, check out this post from Marc Weiszer’s blog.

“Now my feeling is every single Georgia football player must have not only a valid license but a Class C (unrestricted license),” Richt said. “I can’t snap my finger and get it done overnight. If a kid gets a ticket and he doesn’t take care of it quickly enough then he could find himself with an issue there. It’s a real pain in the rear quite frankly.”

For a story I wrote in April on motor scooter safety, it was clear that efforts have been made by Georgia’s support staff to ensure that players that drive have proper license and insurance. This weekend’s incident shows that there’s still work to be done there.

I don’t know if I’m more amazed that Richt has assumed the responsibility for this sort of stuff (don’t these kids have parents riding their asses about it?) or that it seems expected that he should.