I heard more than a few questions like this raised yesterday after the news about the suspended running backs was released. Can’t say I’m much surprised by that; it’s the nature of the world we live in these days. And I certainly don’t have any direct knowledge to say whether questions like that are justified on this occasion.
But there are a couple of things I do wonder about in response to that concern.
First, if Richt was going to manipulate the situation, wouldn’t it have been cleaner to do it by timing the test so that the results weren’t produced until after the Florida game as opposed to timing the release of the bad news? That way, he’s got plausible deniability in spades as opposed to taking the risk of covering up knowledge beforehand.
Second, for all those hinting at Richt’s supposed perfidy here, isn’t it worth considering that this kerfuffle would be a total non-issue at more than fifty schools which don’t suspend players the first time they flunk a drug test?
Just askin’.
Get The Picture 
Do you know for a fact that the suspensions are drug related?
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For a fact, as in have I seen a copy of a report? Nope. But there’s an awful lot of smoke out there which indicates that it is.
Besides, at least in Crowell’s case, it’s a little too early for it to be about academics, isn’t it?
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“A lot of smoke” … get it?
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I was just asking. I agree that a lot of signs are pointing in that direction.
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There’s a source within that says it was drugs. – http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7178202/georgia-bulldogs-suspend-three-running-backs-one-game
And “perfidy”…had to look that up after dusting off the dictionary. I tip my cap.
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I’ve been saving it up for the right moment. 😉
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Not only did you correctly use “perfidy”, but you paired it in the same sentence with “kerfuffle”. That’s impressive work.
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+ 1,000,000
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Just don’t get your brains all over Vincent Vega’s backseat. I ain’t calling the Wolfe.
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Nice “tip of the cap” to Dwight Yoakum/Elvis Presley, always one of my favorites.
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Indeed. DY is my hero, this recording is one of my favorite cover songs of all time. Ironically, or not, The Fine Young Cannibals’ cover of the same song makes the list as well.
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Rosanne Cash doing Viva Las Vegas is pretty good also
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Missed tutoring sessions, late to group meetings, missed classes, among other issues. “Violation of team rules” always gets assumed drugs when the majority of them are for other reasons. This is one I don’t think equals drugs Senator.
Also, if we suspend for 10% of the season on a first failed drug test, that’s 1.2 games, which we’ve generally rounded up to an even 2 games. These kids are NOT suspended two games, so it may be they skipped a class Thursday morning. Or have all been habitually late to group meetings, or workouts. The idea that it’s drugs is unsubstantiated by the facts.
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Again, see the link to the ESPN piece which broke the story. They claim to have an inside source who indicated it was in response to a failed drug test.
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I’ve seen that. But just cause they say they have a source doesn’t mean the source is correct. Again, simple math, if our drug suspensions have been 2 games repeatedly under Richt as per the 10% of the season requirement, and these 3 are suspended for a single game. 1 does not = 2. It’s not like ESPN, or their source is infallible. They may be right, but if they are, then we are now deviating from the long standing past precedent of kids serving 2 game suspensions on their first failed drug test. That the kids all skipped a class, or were habitually late to workouts/meetings/tutoring sessions, etc make a lot more sense than a failed drug test.
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The AJ-C has confirmed the story with two sources.
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Then we have no deviated from past actions of having these things run 2 games instead of 1.
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Now deviated, not no. Oops.
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1.2 games rounds out, not up, to 1 game. Richt says so too.
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“so it may be they skipped a class Thursday morning. ”
I would be amazed if any Division I-A player in history has ever been suspended for a game – even the NM State game – for missing a single class.
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Two words for the Gaytors:
Jarvis. Moss.
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Two more:
Marcus Thomas.
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I’ve heard rumors that college kids will partake in alcohol and marijuana while students. Even worse the the claim they they might have premarital sex as well. I’m shocked and appalled.
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We get a response like this every time something like this happens and to me it is kind of a dumb way to look at it.
I get the point that college students do all of the three things listed above, but if a student gets caught by the police doing the first 2, they get penalized some way. However, student athletes are different. They get certain perks that most of the other students don’t get, therefore, you could argue they have more to lose by making the same bad choices that the general public makes. However, they know they will be tested, unlike regular students, which makes drugs a really stupid choice.
Furthermore, as the chart that the Senator linked to, UGA has one of the toughest policies against this crap in the SEC and Richt is a pushover on discipline like Spurrier is or Meyer was.
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You mean Richt “isn’t” a push over on discipline, right? Because I think it can be argued that our approach puts us at a competitive disadvantage with regard to our peers.
Thankfully, if this is the case, these players weren’t caught by the police, but by the organization which holds them to a different standard than the rest of the student population. That organization can set policy with regard to its policing of its charges as it sees fit. Losing a game’s worth of playing time seems about right.
I’m not sure why any Georgia people would want to start parsing out time-lines, etc and making moral judgments when it seems to me the players are being punished for letting the team down.
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Yes, thank you for the correction. It should have read “isn’t a pushover”.
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I don’t think any Georgia people are doing that. The media seems to be questioning it due to the timing of it. Can you imagine if he’d been suspended on the Friday before the UF game? If I was a reporter, I’d chase the story. If they held the information until after the UF game then they’re giant hypocrites and would be labeled with the dreaded “win at all costs mentality” tag. Me, I just want them back for Auburn.
Also, dont’ get me started on why UGA has this policy in place to begin with. I completely agree that it puts us at a disadvantage when other schools don’t have as strict a policy. Hell, even the laws against weed say it’s just a misdemeanor for possession but that’s another discussion.
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“Hell, even the laws against weed say it’s just a misdemeanor for possession but that’s another discussion.”
Careful whatcha say there buddy!
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OH YEAH???
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I hope your not out of beer!
😉
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Ben, for sure.
Although there are plenty of Georgia people who will parse all this out to paint the players and the coaches in the worst light possible. I just shake my head at the negativity of some and did not mean to direct that at Jason or any particular person.
It’s similar to the criticism leveled at Crowell since day one: rumors of his conditioning were all too easily accepted as indicators of “prima donna ness.” I have my suspicions as to why, but I’ll keep them to myself. From my vantage point, he appears to be a freshman who didn’t have to work hard in HS (i.e., just like a lot of UGA students and academics).
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Big deal. I’m pissed off that UGA drugtests players. Is UGA drugtesting all the students? Are we living in a police state now? Are there national security concerns here? WTF?
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The WTF part I like best is that we have players who don’t bother to figure out how to time their partying so it does not intersect with the “periodic/non-random tests” calendar:
“Georgia athletes are subject to preseason drug tests in every sport, random drug tests by the NCAA and periodic/non-random tests by the athletic association.”
http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2011/11/01/isaiah-crowell-among-3-tailbacks-suspended-for-new-mexico-state/
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What the hell is the fuss? Spurrier says we have 4 more suspensions for Crowell before he is in trouble. Cheez!
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Reports now coming out that Hi-C (Crowell’s new nickname) sat out the 1st quarter of the Vandy game due to poor work ethic and his lack of effort (not wanting to carry the ball 25+ times). Also there could be more than just the failed drug test for Hi-C. We will see.
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Yeah. I’m beginning to worry about Crowell. Do we have another Ealey on our hands?
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What would Randal Pink Floyd say about this?
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Randal may be too numb and comfortable to comment
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As I understand it, the test was given on Thursday before the Cocktail Party. I know UGA has money, but even thye can’t rush labs to get results same day. I think this only grabs headlines because all three got pinched.
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Why would they want to rush the lab to get results even if they could? Pay more money to stick a knife in your own back. There is no story here. Hell, ten of the schools wouldn’t have suspended them.
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If UGA didn’t time this the way they did, I would question the leadership of Richt and McGarity. Test ~10 days prior to lay-up game (should be a lay-up anyway), knowing that the results take 5-7 days to come back. If they are clean — great. If they fail, you suspend for said lay-up game. This is how you manage college athletes and mandatory testing in 2011 (and in 1981 had there been testing at that time).
What will be hard to endure is all of the manufactured outrage by media, rivals and those pursing a ‘hot seat’ agenda (anti-CMR crowd w/in UGA fan-base).
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Let me get this straight, “random drug tests” where results take “5-7 days” to come back were conducted the Thursday before Georgia-Florida, which is a week before the New Mexico State game?
If UGA’s going to have a more strict substance use policy than the majority of SEC schools, then I sure don’t mind the “randomness” of that testing schedule.
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Seems like there are 40 of them. Som eone checked and reported that. The Senator?
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The only thing I question in your post, Senator, is whether this was the first failed drug test for them.
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If it weren’t, they would have been suspended before. It’s mandatory.
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Yes, the second you get what Figgins got, six games.
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I already knew that Boo was a me first guy. Monday he complains publicly about playing time. Tuesday he gets suspended. I have seen and heard just about enough from Boo. Maybe he needs to join Ealey down in Jax.
I am beginning to have some doubts concerning IC’s dedication to the program. There is something about his attitude during the game that doesn’t sit well with me. He seems unmotivated and has a low tolerance to pain. Jarvis Jones has been playing full speed with a sprained MCL. If I hadn’t read about it, I would have never known. IC, on the other hand, can’t play through a bruised wrist. Knowshon was another guy that took himself out of the game more often than I thought necessary. WTF is going on with Georgia running backs?
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Agree Completely. IC seems like a prima donna at times who cannnot “tough it out” in hard games. Kudos to Gary Danielson for pointing out the difference between IC and RSIV when it comes to desire and effort.
Just wish Rich Sam had IC’s innate abilities. Can you imagine?
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I think that’s called “Trent Richardson.”
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IC best get used to some discomfort, or carry some Aleve in his sock, because should Keith Marshall come on-line for 2012, as many predict, he will be pushed. Something tells me he doesn’t have a Washaun-type personality though.
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Thanks for pointing this out. Yesterday, I almost went down the road to perdition with a certain football ‘expert’ based in Atlanta due to his insistence that Richt is shady based on the ‘rumor’ that the results were known before the Florida game.
Of course, this same expert also insists that the Newton family was unfairly vilified and Nick Fairley was a clean player, so there is a credibility gap to be dealt with.
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So, the expert is really a troll. Don’t feed the trolls.
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Thankfully, I stepped from the edge. Don’t argue with idiots and all that.
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I heard about the failed drug test Friday morning in Jax. The guy that told me said he had inside information plus he asked one of the players if they were tested last week. The player told him they were tested on Wednesday.
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Seth used the word kerfuffle in his Vanderbilt posts regarding CTG and Franklin. And now here you are with the kerfuffle. Y’all been watching Jeopardy or something? What’s up with kerfuffle? Great word. Just not one you see too often. Especially not twice in such a short period of time.
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First!
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Kerfuffle. I thought that was some sort of danish pastry.
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I thought it was a fart with shorts wadded up you butt. It muffles your spincter resonance.
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Ever get the feeling these beat reporters ( Seth Emerson great example) use words to make them appear intelligent but the readers know better? It’s like a painfully forced use of words generated from a thesaurus.
Other catchy buzz words I’d like to see them quit using: “a la”, “caveat” or “signature win”. Just use common English.
Unfortunately for Dawg fans, we lost the only beat reporter worth a half roll of toilet paper with David Hale. Seth Emerson should quit writing. I read one if his mailbags recently. It was a good laugh
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Well that’s kinda harsh.
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Well, it’s kinda true. He’s awful. Is it too late to get David Hale back or too early to cut this one loose and get a new one?
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“Seth Emerson should quit writing.” I’ve fired my share of employees for non or poor performance. Never enjoyed it. Once got a framed 8×11 for the holidays that stated: ” Last time I needed my Dad was when he got my Mom pregnant , so makes you think I need you?” and had my signature under the quote. I didn’t appreciate it but made me stop and think. “Seth Emerson should quit writing.” That’s pretty strong! You on board with that? I still think its harsh. Maybe someone should get in his bosses’ ass if he’s not getting it done? Frankly, I wish I could look at both(Keese,ScooBoo) you guys performance evals! And make recommendations! Thank you very much.
just sayin”
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I’ll save you the time and trouble Homer. Performance evaluation findings – “not meeting performance standards”. Recommendation – “termination”. Result – “terminated”. It’s a cold, hard world out there. If he is the best they can find, the journalism profession is in worse shape than I thought….and that is saying something. The gap between David Hale and Seth Emerson is miles wide.
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I take back the blanket statement about all the beat writers. Gentry Estes does a decent job but you have to pay for the site.
Btw senator, in no way am I grouping you in with my little rant
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The good Senator is neither a “beat writer” nor a “beat reporter”. I seriously doubt he is offended by your “little rant”.
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Keese:
“Other catchy buzz words I’d like to see them quit using: “a la”, “caveat” or “signature win”. Just use common English.”
“my little rant” .
Did you see what I did there? This is too easy.
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Hiding the results is one thing, testing all players of the same position is another. I understand the premis behind random testing, but you can’t test all RB’s at once. Poor risk management…
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That’s the attitude I’m looking for! (seriously).
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That, I think, is a very, very good point! Because I guarantee you, they weren’t using a computer to generate random selections. Obviously, they decided to test all of the running backs with this last batch. If they’re picking who tests based on position, then you have described it perfectly–poor risk management.
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That makes it nonrandom. So why do we refer to it as “random” testing? My suspicion is that someone turned them in.
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It was a smart move if they knew it would be done in a way where any suspension was done before this game and they knew they were toking IMO. They’ll all be around for the rest.
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This I think belies some foreknowledge of a situation. Did someone know about the suspendable offense beforehand and make a determination to “randomly” test these guys? I think that is very possible; and just where does Coach Bryan McClendon fit in to it (if at all)? Positively or negatively?
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Fire Dave Van Halanger!!
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Fire Russ!!!!!!!1! You know it was Russ that sniffed out that weed. If it wasn’t for Russ and that meddling McGruff the Crime Dog, they would have gotten away with it!
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+1. Scooby
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What? I thought we did…oh, Mark keot him on the payroll for player character development purposes…
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I was told the test was on Thursday before the Florida game. If that’s so, no way Richt could’ve known that it was a conclusive positive until afterwards. The lab may have called and told them that they had to test some again to make sure it’s not a false positive. But a conclusive positve test generally takes three to four business days. They don’t just get it back and say posive stack, negative stack. They have to do more tests to make sure so that they are don’t screw someone over with a false positive. If UGA was able to schedule the test in a way that would keep them from knowing the results before UF, more power to them.
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I used to work in this business and kckd is exactly right. It’s possible the initial test (the result of the cup or the dip) was positive. But results of a POCT (Point of Care Test) are not reliable and WILL NOT hold up in a courtroom. The specimen has to be sent off to a lab for confirmation. This can take days and sometimes over a week to get done. I am guessing somebody leaked that there was a positive on a POCT and that’s what the rumors were about, which means Richt and company are totally right in the way they handled it…period.
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From what I have heard, this is exactly what happened. I heard (from friend inside progrtam) there were positives on Friday but they had to be confirmed.
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Huh-huh-huh…..you said “leaked.” Huh-huh-huh.
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If Richt really delayed these suspensions, then the DAWG nation should be proud of him having really gone out of his comfort zone. This is a new day for the DAWG nation. Look at how Bama, LSU, TENN, UF, SCe, AU handle similar problems.
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+1.
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If the DAWG nation like any kind of championship forget about being holier than holy.
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Richt has finally learned a lot on the suspension of AJ Green last year. Timing is that important.
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Richt also learned from Meyer handling of the eye gouging incident. He probably can consider just suspending players a quarter on 2 games when offenses require a half game suspension.
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A lot of us saw this potential in Crowell – i.e. the prima donna attitude and now this drug thing. Lets just hope Marshall commits to the Dawgs, because I suspect Crowell’s tenure at UGA may be short lived!
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I see a lot of the same potential in Crowell that i saw in Moreno ;But, i was never completely sold on Moreno & now not on Crowell. They both come out of Games too much, particularly in crucial situations like in the Red Zone. Am I Wrong?.
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No, they have that disappearing thing in common. Never understood that with Moreno at all, not as surprised with IC, but disappointed in his commitment anyway. This is enough for me to encourage a HS running back to take a close look at UGA for next year. I don’t like the way this is shaping up.
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HS backs ain’t stupid. They are watching this and probably see on opportunity here. Crowell’s actions are not only self-defeating they are actually actually encouraging future competition.
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Unless the HS backs like to toke as well.
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The press is going to run with this due to the type of person Richt is. As a man of integrity, there will plenty of hack’s who are looking for the smoking gun. Just the way the world is…
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I doubt it………….ADGM has already confirmed the test results did not come back before the game.
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A couple of comments here….
Does Mark Richt really control when a drug test is administered? I would think that this is a compliance office decision. And it makes sense that the week after the bye they test the kids.
I think what Richt DOES have control over is when a suspension is enforced and how many games that suspension lasts.
There were lots of rumblings last week that IC and others failed a drug test. And sure enough, Tuesday after the UF game, 3 tailbacks including IC are suspended. I think there’s enough smoke to make an argument that Richt and McGarity knew of the violation last week but did not enforce the suspension until after the SEC match w/ UF.
Also, (I might be mistaken) hasn’t Richt’s punishment for a failed drug test always been 2 games?
I think if we assume (maybe wrongfully so) that there was knowledge of a violation before the UF game but the suspension was not enforced until afterwards, it shows us something I don’t know if we’ve seen before. I think it shows us that McGarity and Richt chose to field the best team it could instead of disciplining players for the Florida game and the Auburn game (if it’s the case that they usually suspend for 2 games).
Right now, I think I’m okay with that. However, I think this situation highlights how badly we really need Richt to land Keith Marshall.
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http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2011/11/01/isaiah-crowell-among-3-tailbacks-suspended-for-new-mexico-state/
and there we go… some level of confirmation
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The suspension is a mandatory one game. He could give them more if he wants, but he has to give them one.
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To their credit, only the most entitled, rageahol-addicted message-board elements of Gator Nation seem to be latching on to this. Those crazies in the minority, though, are a definite puzzle — they tut-tutted Grantham for his sideline confrontation at Vandy despite the fact that Muschamp has been throwing profane temper tantrums at the refs all season long, and now they’re launching conspiracy theories about Isaiah Crowell exactly one year after Time To Die Rainey just magically returned from his suspension in time for the Cocktail Party. Sometimes it seems as if Georgia is held to standards of behavior, ethics, decorum, whatever you want to call it that nobody else in the SEC is expected to follow.
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UGA is the Republican party of the SEC. We must not have any morale lapses because we try to take the moral high ground so if we fail we are labeled hypocrite. The rest of the SEC don’t see the harm in the occasional smoke or blow job.
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To me that analogy only works if UGA coaches/administrators (and UGA fans) are constantly attacking people and talking down to them for breaking those rules.
And at the same time, breaking the rules more than anyone else.
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“UGA is the Republican party of the SEC.”
Geez, that’s the biggest news I’ve heard since the story broke about Mooselini repeatedly scoring
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-09-14/news/30177724_1_mcginniss-book-real-sarah-palin-palin-camp
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Really? The Republican Party of the SEC. Can I come by and campaign? The players are old enough to vote, right. Do I get to go in the locker room, after games, while they are in the shower? My campaign manager will be in touch with, who’s the coach? Mark Right? Yeah. I’ll be there at the next game!
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Michele will give her standard lesson on pipelines, the Spanish-American War and what happens when you turn a series of 6’s upside down
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69Dawg- we now have a choice between a smoke or a blow job? Tough choice. Think Walsh would take the sex.
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IC would undoubtedly want both.
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meh
This won’t stop me from mocking UGA fans, players and coaches, but is a lot of nothing.
There ARE no standards to how a school must treat drug use. Every SEC school does it differently.
No big whoop.
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Agree with you Mike. I think the threshold should be if they are too zombyed to walk. Then put’em on the coverage team. At least the runner might trip over them.
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Maybe that is what Demps and Debose saw. A bunch stoned ST players.
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certainly what I saw out there!
Maybe the tests were confirmed at the Gator Bowl?
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Lance Armstrong thinks this is total bullshit.
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I don’t want to say I’m gunshy about such things, but I was a little concerned when I saw this ajc headline:
“Dog given LSD euthanized, couple that ran naked charged”
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And what’s with all the internal “leaks”? Snitches should get stitches!
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Sometimes I blame it on a woman, the one that my poor heart bleed.
Sometimes I blame it all on money.
Sometimes I blame it all on me.
It’s my last ride sitting in the back in a long white Cadillac.
Lyrics from Long White Cadillac by Dwight Yoakam.
Caught in a trap, can’t walk out.
Twenty years now. Where did they go. Sometimes I sit and wonder why.
Yoakam and Seger. Great song writers and performers. Wonder if these guys listen to those lyrics and think about life.
Dwight…how did you get to perform with Penelope Cruz and Selam Hyek in the same movie. Damn, that would be a ride. And how some little freaking drug compare to that. Or maybe performing for 92,000 plus in Sanford Stadium and writing your own lyrics of new rushing records in the SEC.
If you are not man enough to see that, well, when in hell will you be?
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Damn Will… I don’t know what to say, but I like what you said.
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All I know is Ken Malcome better grow some dreads if he wants to compete with the other UGA rb’s for more smoking, I mean playing time.
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Sorry to zag sideways, but do you think that Butler has a clue about Walsh? He ia another cog in the FG unit by holding the ball. Could there be some placements that aren’t max to account for some misses. Does he have a sympathy kicking problem?
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The political IQ of this board is inverse to the football discussions. You people cannot be that stupid on politics, so let’s just say you have an agenda. Go push it somewhere else, only the ignorant, naive and lazy would buy the sheet you are selling.
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CMR does not have any say in the decision of our policy regarding player suspensions for violations of team policy by DESIGN. if we played UF this week, they would be sitting. Period. Preliminary tests results were known last week, but had to be CONFIRMED. that came in Tuesday. Our policy (and Kentucky’s) is more strict than all other SEC institutions and exceeds NCAA policy. CMR is no Jim Tressel.
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