Congrats to Andy Staples, who’s managed to pack every single “here’s why Mark Richt is in trouble” angle known to man into this black hole of a story. I’m not exaggerating:
- “You probably know it’s entirely possible that Richt’s Bulldogs and Miles’ Tigers have the talent to finish this season in the top 10. You probably also know that either one could get fired if things go sideways this season.”
- “Two Augusts ago, could you have imagined any scenario in which Tommy Tuberville would be fired at Auburn and Phillip Fulmer would be fired at Tennessee?”
- “It may not be fair. It certainly isn’t sensible. But that’s the SEC.”
- “In any other conference, Richt’s name wouldn’t appear anywhere near the phrase “hot seat.” … He’s never notched single-digit wins in back-to-back seasons. Yet here he is.”
- “Evans is gone now, thanks to a late-night traffic stop and a pair of red panties in his lap.”
- ” … McGarity was the de facto consigliere for Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley.”
- “After last season, the fiercely loyal Richt had to sacrifice defensive coordinator Willie Martinez and all but one defensive assistant to keep the natives happy.”
I mean, seriously, did he miss anything there? It’s the conference; it’s the new athletic director (bonus points for the red panties mention and the Mafia analogy); it’s us. Crazy is just how we roll here.
All of which is summed up in the most hyperbolic statement of all.
… Here’s the problem with those national title expectations. In every other region besides SEC country and Austin, Texas, people understand that only one team can win the BCS title in a given season. But the people in Athens, Baton Rouge, Gainesville and Tuscaloosa legitimately believe their team should win every year.
If that’s true, I guess Urban Meyer is on the hot seat.
In response, I thought we might try a scientific experiment. A childish one, too. That’s right, it’s time for a poll.
Get The Picture 
Is there a C option? Perhaps a write-in vote for flogged mercilessly or forced to read Andy Staples non-stop for 24 hours… victim’s choice.
This hot seat tomfoolery is all hullabaloo, hogwash, and balderdash all rolled up in a baloney & poppycock sandwich. (Did I get ’em all?)
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+1, you beat me to the punch.
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Worse. It has been orchestrated and promoted by people who are enemies of UGA football as a means to undermine our program. They WANT the University of Georgia football team to fail. They are afraid of the Dawgs. CMR has beeb as successful as any Coach in the SEC now except he just hasn’t been lucky enough for the Dawgs to get to play in the BCSNCG which easily could have happened twice already. So they concoct a phony story about our coach being on the “hot seat” to: (1) piss him off at the fanbase hoping he’ll quit; (2) convince some of our stupider fans that a change should be made to foment insurrection among the fanbase; (3) to hinder UGA recruiting the best players by causing doubt in their minds about CMR being the head coach the whole time they would be in Athens. F#ck ’em! If I hear anyone talking like that in my presence I will straighten that guy out fast and if he doesn’t like it he’ll be eating a knuckle sandwich.
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+ 1. But I am getting a little too old to engage in fisticuffs again.
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In the Air Force we call it “Bafoonery”.
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In the spirit of the hotseat meme, shouldn’t your poll options be:
“Mark Richt should be fired.”
“Mark Richt should not be retained.”
😉
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hahahaha
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You can’t accuse him of not having covered his bases. Jeez. I’d personally love for one, just one, of these so-called “writers” to offer up a suggestion for a suitable (read better) replacement in the event Mark Richt is fired. It amazes me that 90 wins in NINE SEASONS and two SEC titles over those same nine seasons still is lost on so many people.
I’m tired of preseason. Let’s get on with the show.
Go Dawgs!
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The kicker to articles like Staples’ is that if Georgia wins ten games this year, those same pundits will chastise the fan base for having put Richt on the hot seat in the first place.
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Yeah, if we were to win the SEC, every article next pre-season would be titled “Richt silenced rabid fanbase” and “how dare you people be so fanantical”.
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but then the meme will become “Mark Richt is a nice guy who can’t win a national title.”
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And don’t forget the inevitable “the SEC is down” statement.
When Bama or UF win it, the conference is a “powerhouse.” But if anybody else is on top, then the conference is “in a transitional period” or some other well spun horseshit.
Which is all fine with me, so long as we win it or at least play for it.
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As a Texan dawg, you probably remember all the UT fans wanting to dump Mack Brown because he couldn’t be OU, and he certainly couldn’t win the big one. He seems to be a lot smarter recently since Vince Young and Colt McCoy went through there.
Mark Richt is at least the equal to Mack Brown, and he will win the BCS championship at Georgia. I just wish he’d hurry up. (Yeah, I’m impatient.)
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“be” = “beat”
damn, I can’t figure out this typing thingy
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We all know who the “suitable” replacements would be: Jon Gruden, Brian VanGorder, Kirby Smart, and other such complete idiocy.
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Hopefully none of the above, that works for me.
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+1
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Usually if you are on the hot seat the fans and alumni are disgruntled. Don’t see that here. The only people calling for Richt head are idiot writers and CFB pundits.
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These articles are insane. Media pundits have literally created their own story, run with it all preseason, rerun with it, and like Senator said, will use it to chastise the fan base if we have a good season. Unbelievable
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“But the people in Athens…..legitimately believe their team should win every year.”
Been a Dawg fan my whole life, and I’ve never met a SINGLE person who believed UGA should win the NC every year. Wished: Hell yeah. Believed: you gotta be nuts. These writers are nothing if not masters of hyperbole.
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Exactly, Truck. Why, I myself had some doubts that we could win the national championship back in 1977. Conceivably, UGA could have another year where I would harbor some doubts before the sun expands and consumes the solar system.
“Every” year. That’s just crazy talk.
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SI lost all credibility when Rick Reilly jumped ship.
Hey-O!
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As if you needed this, but I bought the SI SEC preview on an impulse at the grocery store. I flipped straight to Georgia, of course. I read the first sentence, closed it and I haven’t looked at it since.
I don’t have it with me, so I’ll have to paraphrase:
Georgia will struggle to replace “star” quarterback Joe Cox who threw…
I put the word “star” in quotation marks because that was the word SI used.
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Yes?
– Fulmer’s UT teams had either become demonstratively lousy or just lucky (that ’07 version should have lost the East by 3 games).
– Tubs always had to maneuver the Barn’s political quagmires; plus they had tried to can him before.
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And they’d both had losing seasons prior, a couple of 7-5/8-4 seasons, and Tuberville had that insanely bad loss to Bama… but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good narrative.
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Exactly. Anybody remember the AU plane going to see Petrino at UL and getting caught doing it? The memory of these experts is so short.
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Senator, can you start having a blog post daily on the ‘dumb writer du jour’ on the hot seat meme?
May I suggest we start tomorrow with why Andy Staples is on the hot seat and how SI editors are so very unhappy because they expect every article Mr Staples writes to win the “whatever writers can win” award?
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I like the writers on the hot seat thing. Good idea. If we could reverse the hot seat idea that’s been run in the ground, maybe they will leave Richt alone. Does anyone know when the first article came and who reported it?
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I don’t know about that, but I want Jay Mariotti in the writer hot seat pool.
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I think it’s entirely credible to speculate that Richt could be fired at the end of the year. Here’s my scenario: Go 3-8. Fail to win a single SEC game. Lose to Florida by 28, Auburn by 24, and Tech by 35. Get picked up for DUI (panties optional). Yep. That should do it.
Meanwhile on the planet we live on where the sky is blue and there’s only one moon…
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It’s guys like this staple moron that make me want to hide my JRL degree. Where do they get these hacks?
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In a way, I can’t help but think having crap like this published in August is going to help us when the season starts. Lots of people, both on the staff and team, with something to prove. As has been noted, Richt seems to do his best coaching jobs when he has the spurs being put to him a bit.
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What I hate about this crap is related to what I hate about the BCS.
Between the 2002, 2005, and 2007 teams, at least ONE of those would have won a national title given a 4 or 8 team playoff. I’m absolutely convinced.
That’s what sucks.
If it weren’t for this worthless BCS system, Richt and UGA would have at least one title by now. 😦
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And, of course, 2002 would have played for a national title in any year last decade sans 2005, 2004, and…2002.
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No.
If Coach Richt doesn’t go 12-2, which is great, and instead is 10-3 and therefore the 5th Consecutive Year we didn’t even play in The SEC Championship Game – with the prospects DIM for 2011 losing 15 seniors and 4-5 juniors, Mike Bobo is toast and Coach Richt is on the hot seat.
Bank on it
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“… Urban Meyer is on the hot seat.”
So, it’s true then.
You heard it here first, folks.
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You crazy Dawg fans.
I can’t believe yall would put a coach like Richt on the hot seat.
🙂
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