I’ve gotten a fair amount of correspondence over the past few days about Cornelius Washington’s Facebook blow up and the offended response of a random fan that the Red and Black saw fit to publish for some reason (well, okay, for the usual reason). Anyway, I think the latter, as well as the online commentary that it engendered, missed the bigger picture.
It really doesn’t matter whether Washington was justified in being pissed off. It just matters that he was. And that he’s probably not the only player on the team who got angry in the wake of Crowell’s dismissal. Which means that Mark Richt has a potential problem on his hand with regard to managing team chemistry.
So this post over at Bernie’s place about Washington’s apology comes as a relief, quite frankly. I don’t know if cooler and wiser heads prevailed by sitting him down and explaining things to him, or if he settled down and figured it out on his own, but in either case, this is what common sense sounds like:
… Although everyone is entitled to their own opinions (even all the people who had negative things to say), I am at fault because no matter how I felt I should never have let those feeling get control of my better judgment. I should have kept it to myself and let the entire situation die down. My biggest regret about the whole thing is that it has cause so much disruption amongst the team…
Hopefully that puts the anger over the anger in the much ado about nothing drawer. Move on, folks.
Get The Picture 
I think moving on is the only thing we can do in relation to Cornelius Washington, Isaiah Crowell, and the season at hand. However, Washington’s post touched a nerve regarding some much bigger issues that, frankly, it would be nice to have real discussion on, if that were ever possible: a. Players are not always going to react well to hyper-scrutiny and criticism, even with the love and financial support that currently comes with being a player; b. Many fans apparently think players take their status for granted, and are unwilling to back off of the hyper-scrutiny and criticism; c. How will the changing landscape of CFB and player-fan relationships evolve as players push for more rights/do fans really think these rights are justifiable?
Move on from CW and IC, yes, but the larger issues are going to still be there under the rug, IMO.
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As much as I would like to think everyone has moved on and that team chemistry is at an all-time high, I can’t help noticing how much that read like the Facebook equivalent of a hostage video.
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Team chemistry is what Richt likes and that is why he let go of Crowell.
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I read the fan accepted what Cornelius wrote but I do think too many fans are have an unhealthy view of their role. Win or loose I support the DAWGS. Loud obnoxious fans get more press and it hurts the team. I hope they can tune out the noise and not let the negative bellies distract them. The fans should not hurt the teams by tearing down or piling on a player that is down. It hurts our current players and it hurts recruiting. I don’t see that type of reaction from any other SEC team fans.
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Debby you must not pay attention to any other SEC team’s blogs or fan sites. Every fan base rips players and coaches just as much as we do.
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I read ESPN, FOXsports, an other sites and I don’t see the type of tearing down of players by a team’s own fans. The coaches I do see but not to the extent I see by DAWG fans. I don’t pay for insiders stuff and maybe it is there but a portion of our fan base seems to thrive on posting ad nauseam about any minor issue. I don’t see that here.
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Debby – Maybe it is because you read comments from fans of teams that don’t consistently underachieve given the resources at hand (e.g., Alabama, LSU, etc.).
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I’m not one to rip players – even the biggest and/or most mature player is still a kid, and they don’t get paid a dime for a team that generates millions. On the other hand, coaches, administrators, etc. are fair game. Many are well, if not extravagently, paid. We all know coaches sit in recruit’s living rooms and make all kinds of promises. I’d like to hear CMR’s explanation to IC’s mother (and the other true freshman’s parents) why he was out at 3+ am – with weed and weapons no less. It appears to me that our powers-that-be don’t exercise any control over these kids whatsoever. Don’t the youngest guys merit close scrutiny? Didn’t we put Van Halanger and Eason as watchdogs over the kids to prevent these problems(?) – seems that didn’t last very long, and are those old CMR buddies still collecting paychecks? The IC and C.Wash issues have been discussed ad-nauseum. Isn’t it fair to ask ‘where are the (paid) adults in all this?’
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What are they supposed to do? Lock them in their room at midnight? At some point the kids have to take responsibility for their actions. How is it that you don’t ever hear about Aaron Murray or Chris Conley or Jarvis Jones getting into trouble with the law or breaking team rules? Those kids have their heads on straight and walk the straight and narrow..IT’S NOT THAT HARD!
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+1
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+1 more.
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Hey, I know CMR is a much better human being than the coaches at our neighboring state schools. But you’re saying the people who are paid to run our program have no responsibilities in regard to off field life whatsoever. That’s b.s. They recruit these kids to UGA. They make inferences to the parents that the kids will be looked after, if not outright promises. I just want an answer to the question – where are the paid adults when this goes on? If we’ve decided not to do any supervision, then be honest about it and say that’s our policy. IC had 3 recruits in the car with him – not sure they are even 18 yet. If that doesn’t raise red flags, then don’t act surprised or complain when we have substantial attrition every year. Guess what – the shoes are going to keep dropping until more control is attained. Anyone who expects teenagers to police themselves doesn’t know ship about kids.
There’s always an upside – it’s a great time to be a walk-on. Plenty of schollys for anyone who wants one.
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Did you have someone monitoring your every move as a freshman in college?
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No shit. And just think about what you CAN get away with in Athens that you can’t in everyday society!
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Why on earth would Richt have to explain anything to Crowell’s mother? When I did something stupid when I was younger, the only one who had to explain anything was me.
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And the person I was most afraid of having to explain it to was my mother.
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Can Richt even have contact with the players now? I thought the NCAA had pretty specific rules on exactly who can have player contact…as well as how much contact can be had.
If that is the case, the paid officials were following the rules when this player was…um…not.
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kids are considered adults in the eyes of the law at 17 YOA for purposes of criminal responsibility. I don’t think our coaches even have any authority over them at this age and during this time of the year(during the summer). I’m not defending Crowell because I do believe he was an energy vampire but get off Washington’s back, it is actually ok for teammates to have each others back, it is a team and he was his teammate and I would hope that his first reaction would be to come to Crowell’s defense. I just read Bobby’s rant on Washington’s facebook post and I wonder if he would think playing for the Dawgs is such a privilege if he had to run the 2 mile conditioning drill at 6;30 AM,or practice in pads in August ,or ice down 10 different bumps and bruises. Probably not. Mostly I’m offended that he thinks Cornelius Washington became a massive human with NFL potential just by being born. No Damn way, he is that big ,fast and strong because he has talent AND he worked his ass off. At some level CW is right all the fans who think these guys don’t work hard to play for UGA either have never spit blood out and gotten back in the game,never played the game or just frustrated that they never worked hard enough to maximize the their potential .
Either way our players are just young men who sometimes speak first and think of the ramifications later…. give it a rest you Bobby types who think if they had been given the chance to just stand on the sidelines you would have done whatever it took and been perfect gentlemen representing UGA. BS you would have still been the mushy brained 20 YOA you were when you were stupid enough to get caught DUI.
Fans should be fans ,critics should be critics. If you want to be a critic, the Falcons have plenty of season tickets still available I choose to be a fan and support our players I just wish the rest of our fanbase thought the same way. I’m though venting gotta go to work.
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Nothing really new is going on here. This is all part of the “destructive culture” problem that many of us have been talking about for years now, the culture that began to develop in the 2005 season and progressed until Richt began to address it some two years ago now.
Without going into it again, Richt lost control of the program and a “cancer” spread across the team. ONE of the many symptoms of this cancer was what many of you have referred to as a “sense of entitlement” among players. Some of the “cancers” were able to heal themselves to some extent or another, but naturally it takes awhile for attrition to ‘excise’ them all, it could not possibly happen overnight.
After this year most, if not all, of the cancers will be gone, thankfully. And IMHO, Cornelius Washington is one of them, something I’ve said off an on for several years now.
For several reasons. One is, we’re still waiting to see him play a game where he gives 100% effort every snap and doesn’t both loaf and take plays off. When Washington goes 100%, he is a formidable force, no doubt about that. But that doesn’t happen near as often as most people think.
It’s quite clear on the game film, actually, and Washington will have to go a long way toward fixing that if he wants to improve his NFL stock. He could make quite a bit of money this year, just by changing his ‘us against the world’ attitude and putting it to work for his team and his future.
So Washington needs to change his attitude. We need him to do that, because those kind of players are rarely there when the going gets tough and you really need them. And his family an all the people around him need him to do that.
For their future will be significantly affected if he doesn’t do it.
~~~
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So good to know we have people commenting on the blog who are so close to the team that they can assert who is and is not a “cancer.”
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Do you know what IMHO means?
But never mind. It so happened that I was the one who coined the term “cancer”, in 2008. Since then it’s been used by people all over Dawgnation, in the media, and even by members of the team .. Christian Robinson and Aaron Murray, to name several.
I don’t apologize for it. It was, and is, the bloody truth.
~~~
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Do you seriously believe that?
Because people have been using the term “cancer” in that exact context for quite some time.
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Not sure what you mean … of course I believe that, I just stated it was the truth. It has been talked about at length for years now.
But the important thing to know is it’s almost over, at least as far as I can tell. Richt finally recognized the problem, and has taken great pains and made major changes in the program to deal with it, all in the last two years.
As previously stated .. most, if not all, of those players affected by the destructive culture will be gone after this year.
It’s just that Richt couldn’t change this particular thing overnight. That would have been, not only self-destructive, but unfair to the players he had signed and taken responsibility for. And, of course, there is nothing about Richt that is unfair.
Attrition has been bountiful enough as it is, as everybody is more aware of, now that the numbers are getting a little bit on the drastic side (not all were ‘cancers’, of course, but some were).
Hope this answers your question.
~~~
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IveyLeaguer, your own attitude is a bit mystifying (and entitled), based on these few posts…
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Then don’t read them.
I don’t apologize for knowing what I’m talking about. This is a very old subject. Plus, the written internet post is not a perfect medium for communication.
My style is what it is, I won’t change it. If it’s offensive to you, I apologize. If I’m ever wrong about what I say, point it out.
I’m always at the ready to admit when I’ve been proven wrong.
~~~
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We are truly in the presence of greatness! Thanks for spelling it all out for those of us that can’t read good ivyleaguer!
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I answered what I guessed was an honest question. Maybe I guess wrong.
~~~
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Re: IMHO–I think you made a mistake with the “H” there, podner.
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You have no clue about what I think or write. Podner.
~~~
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Sorry…”asshole.”
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+1000
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Kids will be kids and will do some idiotic things. A quick skim of the Red & Black or the Athens Banner Herald will clue you in to the fact that many non-student athletes attending UGA keep local law enforcement busy. I would even go out on a limb and say that there is a greater percentage of non-student athletes who have had run ins with the law than student athletes. We as fans simply don’t hear about those.
My problem is that it seems our Coaches/Athletic Association/Administration want to tout their product, but have no idea/desire to do what is perhaps necessary to protect it. Though I cannot be sure, it does not appear that we have many of the policies in place that I have heard other schools have. Specifically, having a Team rule that freshmen must have a senior with them when they go out or suffer some consequence. Or, have paid Athletic Association positions whose basic responsibility is to accompany players out, or at least hang out at the places they would go, with the sole purpose of keeping an eye on them and if need be, intervening when, not if, things get out of hand.
There was an article referenced on this site not long ago about how many people worked for the Alabama Athletic Association. Is it not reasonable to think that some of those workers filled this purpose? Sure, they would have to report to the office and perhaps produce a report for someone on how many pencils remain in the supply closet. But, I believe this would be money well spent if it could help minimize black-eyes for the program. Our AA leadership is either naive or doesn’t care.
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Move along, nothing here, nothing to see.
You carry a weapon that ends up with a felony tacked to it and cant’ get the charges dismissed PDQ – you can’t play at UGA.
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If the players are angry, I think most of them are angry at Crowell. Think of all the stories we heard last year of players furious with him for not pulling his weight and being a whiny punk when he got hit in practice. Crowell had legitimate injuries last year, but I don’t think he legitimately tried to play through them either. Think of the players who did play through, looking over at him sitting on the sidelines while they suffered. I’m sure the people who were good friends of his on the team were very mad that he got kicked off. I’m sure the rest were pissed that he once again hurt the team. Fortunately, it is the last time.
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