Another day, another buffet line to negotiate.
- So, Spurrier advises Richt ‘Do not under any circumstance take the Georgia job’. In 1991. I’d love to know the context of that quote.
- Is there bias in the preseason rankings?
- Glad you like those jerseys, Arkansas State.
- Josh Kendall takes a look at South Carolina’s linebacker play against Georgia. It isn’t pretty.
- If you’re the Georgia equipment trainer and Todd Gurley wants something, don’t argue.
- Salty Gamecock tears are quite tasty, you know.
- Craig James, doting father or schmuck? You decide.
- Chip Towers thinks the special teams’ problem with dropped snaps stems from Nathan Theus snapping with more velocity than Ty Frix did.
- Bill Snyder is one classy dude.
- So is Mark Richt.
Get The Picture 
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but after watching the taped interview Spurrier did after the game, I kinda gained some respect for him. CMR said it correctly…the guy’s a straight shooter. He’s just SO competitive that it makes him an easy target for disgust…esp when he’s beating Georgia…but, still…the guy tells it like it is. He’s a great coach and one of the most intriguing personalities in college football, and if we’re honest we will admit that he’s made SC more than relevant. Still, I enjoy him a lot more when he’s been humbled by the Dawgs.
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agree to an extent. I’ve grown to appreciate his competitive nature and love for college “ball”.
But some of his stuff is chicken-shit (no pun intended). When players screw up, he distances himself from them like they are beneath his contempt.
With his tinny voice & cracker jack boasting, he is vintage small town East Tennessee hick.
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What make him easy to dislike are the snarky wisecracks, the running up the score (in the past. anyway), and the whining when he doesn’t get his way. Other than that he’s nothing like Coach Paul Johnson at all, and I for one love them both.
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When he brought up Vince Dooley in the context of a pulverizing running game, I remember thinking, “We should admit it: He’s a part of our story.” How many other opposing coaches would have made that reference? Does Urban Meyer even know who Dooley is? As a gator QB, a Tech assistant, and HC of the gators and gamecocks, that’s 50 years of loyal opposition. He probably knows as much about Georgia football as any of us. If you wrote a book about Georgia football and devoted individual chapters to key players or rivalries, it’d be appropriate to devote one to Spurrier.
I get a strong sense that he genuinely likes Richt and has a lot of respect for him. He had plenty of opportunities to gig us after last year’s debacle, but all I heard him express was genuine surprise at the outcome and admiration for how we bounced back over the season.
I am curious about the context of the quote. I’m guessing he just didn’t want to see a talented guy like Richt wind up at Georgia. Maybe it was because he was warning a guy he liked away from the trainwreck he saw evolving in the early ’90s, or maybe he knew Richt wasn’t someone he wanted to have to see across the sideline every year in Jacksonville, especially given that Bobby Bowden was still very effective at the helm of the gators’ other big rival.
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“He’s a part of our story.” Well said & agreed.
He’s a P.O.S. a lot of the times and he’s had it our for UGA ever since the ’66 season, but he’s an incredible coach who truly loves the game.
In terms of the quote, I’m thinking maybe a little bit of both.
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Craig James is a dad who happens to be a schmuck and it appears most folks are aware of both.
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In the end though, Leach really should not have put Baby Adam in the shed. Not an appropriate way to do things. I heard once of an instructor who got miffed at a student’s cell phone going off in class, so the instructor grabbed it out of their hand and threw against a wall, smashing it to bits. 20-year-olds have their special brand of arrogance, but you can’t be a 20-year-old back to them and expect it will be work.
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You are right about the shed…if James was a distraction Leach should have shown him the door…daddy or not.
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I can answer the Craig James question without looking at anymore evidence. When they make this movie, Adam James should be played by some sawed-off runt like Scott Caan, Craig James played by Ben Stiller and the Pirate played by Russell Crowe.
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Or… and bear with me here… Russell Brand. Huh? Huh?
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Explain to me how UGA ranked 5th, plays Clemson ranked 11th, they win, they go to 5 and UGA to 12, then we play Carolina #6 UGA #12, UGA wins and only moves to #9 ?? I’ll say there’s “BIAS”. Ever since CMR protested the officiating in the LSU game several years ago, Georgia has been getting the stinky end of the stick at every turn. I’m just say’in “GO DAWGS” GATA
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I agree there may be bias against UGA when it comes to ranking, but not in this case. The difference here is that there are undefeated teams above us so it makes it that much more difficult for us, or any team, to move too high into the top 10. And it is quite clear that UGA is considered the best 1-loss team at the moment. In the end, a couple of spots in the polls don’t matter. It’ll sort itself out if the Dawgs run the table.
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I agree, fatman, I am one of the greatest complainers about bias. But I can see how Georgia, with a loss, is not ranked higher…yet. But as teams ahead of Georgia lose they will fall back (but some..the favorites of the bias-bunch won’t fall far)…and when the strength of schedule thing kicks in, Georgia..if they keep winnining…will be sittin’ pretty!
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Very much like a batting average in the second game vs. this first game, it doesn’t move as much on a good day.
The most important math for us is win the SECC and beat Tech.
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All that matters to the idiots who vote in that crap is that a team is undefeated.
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To do it right there shouldn’t even be a poll until after the 6th game.
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Let me say this from someone in the know……Spurrier can bash Georgia all he wants, BUT……
when the UGA job was open in late 1988, he put in a call to the search committee with interest in interviewing for the job. We told him we were not interested.
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What a fantastic decision that was. If that’s accurate, it’s no wonder he made a point to whip Ray Goof every chance he got. If someone hired Goff over me, I would make it my personal mission to beat their asses every chance I got, too.
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Maybe that ‘fantastic decision’ in 1988 (which led to the Lost Decade of 1990-2001) was the context for his 1991 remark to Richt
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It is interesting that he would make that comment. I think it probably has something to do with knowing back then how far behind the times the program had slipped and that Knapp was president. Who knows. I’d love for Spurrier to be asked about that–I’m guessing he’d take the opportunity to bury Goff.
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How could he ever pass on that opportunity? Poor Ray
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If that is true then someone from the Georgia side of things was an idiot. By then Spurrier had already proven his head coaching skill in the USFL and at Duke. Vince? Was that you?
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I’m not sure that’s something to be proud of.
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My suspection is that Spurrier’s comment to Richt was an indictment of how bad Dooley and Goff had let the program slip in the late 80s and early 90s. I know when Donnan took the job in 96, he could believe how behind the times our weight room, training table, etc. were.
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You’re absolutely right about what Donnan thought when he took over. And that was a guy who came from a 1-AA program (at the time, Marshall was still 1-AA).
And those who want to give Dooley a pass need to remember that he was the Athletic Director. He was just as responsible as Ray.
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Craig James sits on his throne as King Douche of the Doucheoisie. I understand the “concerned father” bit, but that’s shrouded by his over-indulgence in who he thinks he is and what place in the college football world he believes he
holdsheld.Should Leach have put him in the shed? No, that was probably not wise. But, it’s not like he abused Baby James the Younger physically. He wasn’t placed in a dungeon. He was in an equipment shed. He was allowed to have his cellphone, he was allowed to go to the restroom, and it was just for the couple of hours. He never said he didn’t believe BJtY did not have a concussion. He said if he was going to be a jerk-off about it, and not follow the protocols of the team – including, you know, showing up to practice – then he could sit in the shed where his sensitivity to light would not be a problem. It was an asshole move by one asshole toward another. Nobody should have been fired over it. Nobody should have been sued over it. BJtY should have picked up his things and gone somewhere else, and everyone would have come out smelling a hell of a lot better afterwards.
No parent wants to think their kid is the asshole, but sometimes they are, and sometimes they get what they deserve. Personally, I think Craig James is getting a little bit of what he has deserved for a very long time. #5dh
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I’ll admit that I enjoy the ol’ Ball Sack interviews and jabs on occasion, but how obsessed can a person be? He told Richt (a no-name assistant in 1991) not to take the Georgia job under any circumstance? WTF? His obsession with Georgia borders on pathological.
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If so, that’s high octane pathology. Steve does not hit on all cylinders unless he has an enemy
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Go Dawgs!
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SOmeone explain how Gurley is a II instead of a Jr. I thought if you’re named after your father you’re a junior, but if you’re named after someone like your uncle or your granfather (non-direct) then you’re a II. Anybody got a geneaology lesson for me?
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