James Franklin got the number of the truck that hit his team last Saturday.
“I’ve been doing this for almost 20 years now, and I thought that was as impressive of an offense as I’ve seen in terms of a veteran quarterback, physical offensive line, physical running backs and speed on the perimeter as well as size.”
Of course, I can’t help but notice he didn’t have any compliments for Georgia’s defense.
Filed under Georgia Football, James Franklin Is Ready To Rumble
It starts here:
Remember when I revisited my Program Pecking Order this summer? It apparently stirred up a pair of Georgia bloggers, Senator Blutarsky and Travis Fain, the Dawgbone. They took such umbrage with my 2007 premise that 100 average college football fans in Montana would not recognize a Georgia football helmet as universally as they would a Michigan one that they sought out a volunteer to literally conduct the experiment. “Hoppy” Hopkins, a 35-year-old freshmen English teacher at Great Falls (Mont.) High and a diehard Georgia fan, heeded the call to undertake what became known as “The Montana Project.”
I’m in awe of the passion and energy it took for that online community to put that thing together.
And graciously finishes with this.
Stewart: Well — in the end, was it worth it?
Hoppy: Oh, absolutely it was worth it. I had no idea people would take to it, no idea it would get so many hits on YouTube, but mainly, it made people smile. The best quote I saw on one of the blogs was, “This is reason 1,750,000 I love college football right there.” That’s why we do these things. Absolutely, unequivocally, it was worth it in so many ways I never expected. Amazing.
And it’s amazing to me that one seemingly innocuous Mailbag passage could inspire such initiative. Kudos to everybody involved.
Agreed. I had a blast organizing this. Hope y’all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Filed under GTP Stuff
I’m not in agreement with those who accuse the NCAA of running a plantation system when it comes to student-athletes. No, it’s more like the experience you get at a car dealership.
NCAA President Mark Emmert testified last March he doesn’t think signing the form is a requirement for an athlete to participate in an NCAA-sanctioned event.
“I don’t know of an incident where that’s been an issue,” Emmert said. “I believe it’s the case that there is not a formal requirement, but I’m not completely sure of that.”
David Berst, an NCAA Division I vice president, testified the form is voluntary and that he has never been told some schools tell athletes they’re ineligible for a scholarship if they don’t sign.
“I’d be pleased to ensure that it’s clearly understood that you have a choice,” Berst said. “I frankly can’t imagine that any student-athlete would not want to be helping and be the one who might be depicted as promoting the next game. But if they don’t want to be, no, I’m fine with that. It makes sense to me.”
An Ithaca College survey of 213 Division I compliance officers found that 20 percent have witnessed athletes who did not want to sign part or all of the Student-Athlete Statement. When the survey asked if the document giving the NCAA promotional rights is necessary for an athlete’s eligibility, 80 percent of compliance officers said it is not.
“Many said that it really doesn’t have anything to do with eligibility apart from the fact that (compliance officers say) in order to be eligible athletes must sign that form,” then-Ithaca College sport management professor Ellen Staurowsky told The Birmingham News in 2011. “That’s a very interesting way of explaining things.”
Now there’s your understatement of the day.
What I love most about the O’Bannon lawsuit are the admissions the plaintiffs are drawing out in discovery. The NCAA’s position on commercial control and amateurism is so illogical it leads to statements like this:
Then came another hypothetical: What if Kentucky spontaneously issues $100,000 each to its starting five basketball players who won the 2012 NCAA title and now play in the NBA given that their names and images will be used on commercial products in the future? Berst said it’s “not inconceivable” that scenario could be permitted if there was no promise of sharing that money and no current athletes’ eligibility is impacted.
“I think Kentucky can end up paying whatever student-athletes are due for use of their likenesses when they’re no longer student-athletes by virtue of whatever those business kinds of arrangements are that are understood and reasonable by all of the lawyers,” Berst said.
That noise you heard was university presidents across the country crapping their pants.
By the way, John Infante, who should know, says that all this voluntary talk is hogwash.
… The promotional rights section of the Student-Athlete Statement is Section IV. This is from the instructions on the first page:
If you are an incoming freshman, you must complete and sign Parts I, II, III, IV, V and VII to participate in intercollegiate competition. If you are an incoming transfer student or a continuing student, you must complete and sign Parts I, II, III, IV, V and VI to participate in intercollegiate competition.
There appears to be little wiggle room for a student-athlete to opt out.
Essentially, Emmert is making this up as he goes along, to avoid the consequences of a policy his organization enforces. Gee, why does that sound familiar?
Filed under It's Just Bidness, The NCAA
Just because I’m fasting today doesn’t mean you guys have to.
Al Groh contends you can’t judge a defense – his defense, anyway – in the context of one horrendous collapse. No, grasshopper, you’ve to step back, take a deep breath and appreciate the ebb and flow of an entire season. Or something like that.
“Those answers only come through a review of the full body of work,” Groh said. “A full body of work is a full 12-game season, so that answer is yet to come.”
Serenity now.
Al can be mellow because he knows the secret to defense: “All of these plays, no matter what your scheme is, obviously the play never ends until the player is tackled…” Well, except when a player scores untouched on a 25-yard run in overtime to win the game.
Filed under Georgia Tech Football
How else to explain this quote?
“Any time you can make a team one-dimensional, the momentum shifts to you that much more,” Bulldogs cornerback Sanders Commings said. “We always play Tennessee in the middle of the season, and we always seem to be in midseason form. We’re always clicking, and hopefully we’ll shut them down again.”
“Clicking”? As we like to say in these parts, I do not think that word means what you think it means.
I know you’ll be shocked, shocked to discover this.
https://twitter.com/RAYGLIER/status/250922852461723648
I guess Rogers Redding will just have to go back to the drawing board. Scary thought, no?
Filed under The Body Is A Temple, The NCAA
Get The Picture 