It’s cold. Get fueled up at the buffet line.
- Interesting comparison of the records of Georgia’s last three coaches’ last five years against its biggest rivals here.
- Oops.
- You will be shocked, shocked to learn that many NCAA student-athletes have no academic business being in college.
- Seth Emerson takes a shot at Georgia’s pre-spring defensive depth chart.
- The ‘Bama fan who jumped, hit and kicked her way into becoming a viral sensation is unrepentant.
- It’s panic time all over again, as for the third straight postseason, college football’s announced bowl attendance produced its lowest average in more than 30 years.
- Charlie Pierce’s write-up of the BCS title game is well worth your time to read.
- Nice smack down of Big Game Bob over at Sports and Grits.
- Jimbo Fisher isn’t sold on the benefits of playoff expansion.
- More on the increase in scoring: “That’s what fans want. That’s what ADs want. That’s what’s going to happen. And the rules are such they’re not going to slow it down so you might as well get used to it and you better find a way to play with it.”
Get The Picture 
“Frank Beamer Starter Kit”?
Man, that’s cold.
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Richt’s record against Florida and Donnan’s record against Tech really stand out in those periods. To be fair though, I think you should probably include South Carolina if you’re going to include Tennessee, or just exclude both of them. The overall analysis is still overwhelmingly in Richt’s favor, but he has struggled more with SC the last 5 years than either of his predecessors did.
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The obvious question re: USCe is when did Spurrier arrive?
Also, not that it matters in my assessment of Richt’s time at Georgia, the Tennessee Ray and Jim Donnan squared off against is hardly the same Tennessee Mark Richt has faced.
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i’d like to think Mark Richt had a hand in facilitating that dumpster fire in Knoxville.
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Exactly. Richt started out againstthe same UT that Ray and Donnan faced. He helped push it over the edge.
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That’s kind of my point. Tennessee was very good then and is bad now. SC was very bad then and is good now. It just seems disingenuous to include one but not the other when neither of them is really a ‘rival’. We only care about them when they’re good enough to beat us.
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No snark here – but they’re rivals in my handbook. Ut first then sakerlina.
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Someone in that thread posted the winning percentages of the four teams during that same time. Those four won at a 69% rate in the Goff years, 72% rate in the Donnan years, and 59% rate during Richt’s last five years. Granted Richt’s record against those four contribute to the lower winning percentage but it is interesting to note those teams collectively aren’t winning like they did in either of the two previous time frames.
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Are folks mad at Richt for his record but because like us, he has reconciled himself to the institutional issues that we know exist? Do we expect him to fight for the program more than does?
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But do those percentages factor out the wins and losses against Georgia since that skews the numbers towards the other three coaches who aided their win percentage while CMR hurt it. Doesn’t matter because the haters will use whatever data it takes to make their point.
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“U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania introduced legislation in the House last year that calls for a complete overhaul of the NCAA. ”
Just can’t leave it alone can they….
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I saw the CNN story last night and of course CNN did it’s best to smear student athletes.
You can check the detailed write up of UGA here.
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/01/us/college-scores/index.html
So 7.5% of the very selective group of football and basketball players are reading literate below a college level. While that sounds bad, consider that 21% of ALL adults in the US can’t read at a 5th grade level.
Combine the absence of context with an author promoting a book called “The New Plantation”. Guess what that book is about, how predominantly white institutions(PWI’s) create a burden for black student athletes that inhibit their academic success.
This quote is especially nice.
“Students I mentor, many of them are doing well academically, but again it’s under this whole umbrella of maintaining eligibility and I think image construction.” -Hawkins
So sure these students are going to class and earning good grades, but that isnt the point, let’s focus on the ones who arent and hold them up as the examples.
Please tell me more about how providing a scholarship and countless resources is a burden.
Fuck CNN.
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While I do agree with your comment about CNN, Bensel-Myers was at Tennessee, left in the middle of a shit-storm that wound up with Bensel-Myers being sent to academic Siberia and UT getting some sort of probation, I seem to remember…not that it matters.
There are those in Knoxvegas who say Bensel-Myers cast the first stone at Phil Fulmer who got a bloody nose with some folks from the exchange…even Tennessee takes its academic REPUTATION fairly seriously.
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They take their their wine consumption seriously too. 😉
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Yeah, fuck CNN. They have the audacity to air NCAA dirty laundry and remind us that the concept of the legitimate student-athelete in big-time sports programs is a myth in many cases. Just because you resent having to hold your nose, doesn’t mean that reports or investigations aren’t valid–regardless of any ulterior motives of some of the commentators.
From 2004-2012, “she found that 60% read between fourth- and eighth-grade levels. Between 8% and 10% read below a third-grade level.” I’m sorry, but that’s pathetic. And that’s at UNC, a place where we’re repeatedly told how brilliant these kids are, by the likes of Dick Vitale and other propagandists.
You want to talk about context? You note that “21% of ALL adults in the US can’t read at a 5th grade level.” OK, but how many of these people are college graduates? Very few, I’d bet. And the ones that are are most likely former “student”-athletes.
And you appear to totally miss the point re the Hawkins’ quotes. It’s that class attendance, passing grades are fairly meaningless (beyond an eligibility standpoint) for too many of these athletes. Not simply because these areas of study aren’t useful or practical to their lives after sports (although an argument could probably be made there), but because these grades are basically NOT legitimate. Seriously, do you really think that a functionally illiterate person can repeatedly and continually get good or even passing grades in legitimate college-level courses (or a degree in a legitimate major) at a legitimate University? If so, you must not think much of our higher education system or you’ve simply shut your eyes and bought into the hoax.
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I choose to think that the young men and women who have been given an opportunity, work hard, earn passing grades, and make the most of the hand they were dealt deserve the benefit of the doubt. I would rather spend my time being proud of the vast majority of SAs that pass through the University and better themselves today and provide a better foundation for the generations that come after them, instead of running down the handful of SAs that have been let down time and time again by the system and adults who should have cared about their interest.
I certainly would never run down a student athlete so I maybe sell more copies of my book or gain clicks on a website.
I wont even start down the road of the inherent bias of using standardized tests as your literacy benchmark that are created for and by PWIs.Or that the person who did the study lacks academic integrity. Or that she only represented 1 school, or that the only other study said that 10% of revenue sport athletes were below a 4th grade level, which is of course still below the national average.
Our student athletes deserve better to be run down by adults looking to exploit their shortcomings for their own personal gain.
If you want to underestimate someone because of their background or the ball they play with, be my guest, but it says a lot more about you than it does about them.
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I think we’ve had this exchange before. Interesting that most of the folks at my tailgate are educators. I’m the odd ball. As a group they are very caring and passionate about those in their charge and very frustrated. You too are very passionate. That bodes well for all those needing the help. Per the “and make the most of the hand they were dealt deserve the benefit of the doubt”… I’m not so sure some of these wounds aren’t self inflicted.
“Ogbu’s contention is that Blacks’ profound distrust of the establishment and their conviction that they will not get a fair shake predisposes them not to give their full effort to schoolwork. Their defeatist attitudes start to emerge in the later primary years and are highly apparent by high school. Among the contributing factors are inappropriate role models — sports and entertainment figures and various types of outlaws — and a lack of parental involvement in the children’s schooling. He describes a black expectation of a “beer mug” approach to teaching The teacher pours knowledge into the passive student. In this model the parents’ job is to get the child to school, and the blame is on the teachers if he doesn’t learn. He says also that parents are more attuned to whether teachers “care” than whether they are effective teachers.”
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You may choose to believe that unicorns will shit out crystal trophies for UGA to display in the B-M building, but they doesn’t mean that it is going to happen. You can “proudly” stick your head in the sand regarding institutional practices re certain student-athletes and repeat to yourself “it’s only a handful, it’s only a handful…” and tell yourself that this means that you truly care. It doesn’t make it so.
You seem to be stuck on the idea that this examination is all about running down student-athletes. This is ironic, of course, because every true student-athlete I know/have known (among other things, I am an educator), and I suspect most student-athletes, would welcome wholesale changes that would legitimize college athletics to the extent that their hard work and academic efforts were recognized as valid and authentic, rather than the product of system who valued eligibility and athletic prowess above all else. THOSE are the student-athletes that deserve better.
To examine and criticize the systems by which big-time sports institutions purport to educate certain student athletes in big-time sports (arguably, in order to keep players eligible) isn’t running down all student athletes, whether or not you choose to believe it.
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You are right. It is the golfers and tennis players who are the true victims here. If only the world would recognize it. so sad really.
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Your own preconceived notions are telling re the harmful perceptions of the current system. You make a distinction that I did not. Believe it or not, a number of football players and basketball players are capable of graduating with legitimate degrees. Just not all of them and certainly not the functionally illiterate ones that have already been allowed to pass through the primary, then secondary education system by teachers and administrators with supposedly good intentions. Or perhaps you don’t just don’t believe that this happens either? When is the last time you’ve been in a high school classroom? I get that you have an opinion based on what you choose to believe. It’s just that what you choose to believe is simply based on what you want to believe. Oh, and that you don’t like CNN.
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Nice…a “you aren’t in the arena” argument…congrats.
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Thanks, but you’re wrong again….More like an “it’s very obvious you haven’t a clue” observation.
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The position of defensive coordinator is going to turn into a revolving door with the way everything tilts to offense now.
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or really good ones will get paid really well.
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More point is not what this fans wants, and I have turned the NFL game off because of it.
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On one hand, there is a faction of Dawg fans that praise Richt for winning 30 games the past 3 years in addition to two SECE titles. On the other hand is the faction that see the glaring problems with the team, primarily defense and special teams and wonder why these have not improved. Fix these shortcomings and you’ll see UGA climb to an even higher echelon. If they don’t improve, it’s very plausible that Richt will not cotinue to be our HC.
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/* rolling eyes so hard right now */
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ok, so. Because you have all the answers?
If you don’t believe that an 8-win season filled with the same mistakes won’t create a harsh environment for Richt then you are naive.
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Mostly because you dismiss 30 wins and 2 SECE titles as just something that happened. Like anyone could do it, except for the very minor fact that the list of people to EVER do it is incredible short.
CMR’s average is nearly 10 wins and an SEC Championship trip every 3 years. You do know that, right?
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DP, yes I am aware of Richt’s record and averages and all that. Still, and since 2005 we have had as much talent as anyone in the country not named Bama and have not won an SEC title. Close, yes. Title, no. If you can’t win one with Stafford/Moreno and Murray/Gurley, then when do you? The answer is when you fix the defense and ST problems. Can/Will Richt do that?
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How long, oh Lord, must Richt be punished for 2009 – 2010? Those seasons were dumpster fires. Squandered talent. Stupid losses. Lived it, saw it, got it.
It’s the same Mark Richt that can’t see and fix problems with the program now who, in fact, saw and fixed the problems after those 2 seasons. After the horrendous start in 2011, UGA went on one hell of a run. That run would have continued this season if not for the injuries (and suspensions). You can point to stats, plays, decisions, whatever in each loss this year, but the reality of this season is that the incredible number of injuries to our best damn players had a domino effect throughout the year. I won’t go so far as to say CMR did a great job this season despite the injuries (though some would make that argument), but I’m damn comfortable saying we just about earned the record we got given all the missed games by our star athletes.
Either look at his career record, or let’s look at the trend. Using the “last 5 years” as a measuring stick just to put his two worst seasons into the stats is a disingenuous argument. We are clearly trending-up, the SEC has only gotten tougher, and this year was really a downer for what could have been.
Next year’s schedule doesn’t look too bad, IF the Defense is improved. Looking at the depth chart, I’m not all that full of optimism. And the OL….oh, the OL. So we keep our focus on priorities…win the SECE. Then win the SECCG. Do those and you probably get into the playoffs. If, on the other hand, this team loses 4 conference games but is relatively injury free, then it’s time to question the direction of the program. Assuming now those losses are happening is completely negating the job Richt & Co. have done since 2011 and just leaping to a conclusion that we’re primed for 2009 – 2010 again. I don’t see that…I don’t get that negativism. YMMV and have a good day.
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We only beat one legitimate SEC east team during our two sec east titles, and that was 2012 Florida, who played generous host and turned the ball over 6 (!!) times.
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Alabama turned it over 5 times against Big Game Bob. Shit happens.
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Wouldn’t you say that in the same way that Florida “played generous host” to us in 2012 we played generous host to USC in 2011?
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Well, yeah. But seriously, since when do SEC east titles become such a point of pride? I remember several posters here giving SC crap about this exact same thing
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You trolling us with this?
SC gets crap for the opposite – double digit winning seasons, wins over Georgia with nothing else (i.e., SECCG, BCS bowls) to show for it.
As for SEC East titles, correct me if I’m wrong, but you can’t play in the conference title game without one, right?
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Remember the SEC East Championship rings? http://www.wltx.com/sports/article/134727/4/USC-Gets-Its-SEC-East-Championship-Rings-
Are you telling me that if I looked back in the archives there wouldn’t be a blog post by you, along with an entire thread of us giving them crap for it?
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Just for a little perspective here.
“USC won the East title last season, a first since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992.”
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Is this so hard for you to grasp? SC doesn’t get shit for winning the East. SC gets shit for being SC.
Hint: have you seen anyone here mock Mizzou for this season?
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More perspective for you young Padawan ( at least I didn’t call you “Sugar Tits”). Bluto caught you with your hand in the “Troll House Cookie Jar” and smacked it for you.;-)… shit happens.
If I hurt anyone’s feelings I apologize. My new years resolution was to be a kinder and gentler AHD. How am I doing?
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I meant we’re clinging to our SEC East championship as if it’s the greatest thing ever, which we specifically gave SC crap for, on this very blog, when they did the same and had rings made.
There’s no trolling here, folks.
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And sugar tits wasn’t THAT bad. I mean he calls himself sugar daddy. Don’t sugar daddies love sugar tits?
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You mean Georgia created 6 turnovers? We’ve got to get at least SOME credit for those.
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I wouldn’t dismiss 30 wins and 2 east titles, but the overall record was 30-11 for the period being cherrypicked. Close to 4 losses per year and a winning percentage under 74%, and this came after the disastrous 2 years of 14-12 records in 09 & 10. So saying there’s room for improvement seems appropriate.
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“The other reason was Mason, a tough, smart runner who was Auburn’s bailout player all night. (And, it should be noted, the Downtown Athletic Club’s fancy andiron be damned, the best offensive player on the field.) ”
Huzzah, Charlie…wonderful piece…”Fate’s Prom Date” indeed.
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I am not surprised about the student athletes. Glad that Bluto includes these kind of articles in his buffet. We have a close family friend that we visited with over the holidays that shared some of his research progress. He is administering a grant that focuses on addressing reading shortfall in post HS students. After three years he was not encouraged with the results. His conclusion was that post HS was very late. The remediation needed to happen by middle school and had to have a strong commitment from home after school.
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By middle school the kids that are behind know they are behind and are incredibly likely to never recover.
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I am not an educator but some of my best friends are. 😉 I think that was his whole point. 11 year old in the 6th grade was about as long as you can wait to try and get them to a 9th grade reading level before they leave the system. The last big immigration push to the US has made that even harder for the school systems. The last two middle schools we built in ACC are 95% Hispanic. That can become ” a stairway too steep to climb.”
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AHD I try to tell people about what is going on demographically in the elementary and middle schools in my county and they flat out do not believe it!
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15-5 the last five years against our biggest rivals and there are turds who want to fire him. Amazing.
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This is but one stat, and a good reason for keeping him. However, we won the SEC last when? Of the past 5 seasons we’ve finished ranked how many times, twice? How many ppg has our defense allowed over the past 3 seasons? Is the defense trending up or down? Have ST’s improved or regressed over the past 5 years?
Ask yourself, has Georgia Football underachieved or overachieved? Have we rached our potential given our resources?
There is a very logical argument for looking beyond Mark Richt, like it or not. 2014 is his make or break year, period.
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2014 is his make or break year, period.
Based on what? If Georgia has another 10-win regular season and plays in the SECCG – which it’s done in two of the last five years – you think that’s “make or break”?
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If UGA wins ten and another SECE champ next year with a new QB and all of the other stuff, he deserves a raise and an extension.
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Hmmm. With our schedule and returning players, we SHOULD win 10 games. As we stand right now, I suspect we will be a favorite in every one of our games, with the possible exception of Carolina in Columbia.
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Senator, I agree 100% with JAX. By retaining Gratham, Richt has publicly hitched his wagon to the success or failure of the 2014 defense. If the defense performs poorly again next season, both should be handed pink slips. There will be no excuse for either coach at that point.
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So you’re saying that even if Georgia wins ten games in the regular season and goes to Atlanta, if the defense plays poorly, Richt should be canned?
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Not at all. If the Dawgs win the East I assume the defense would be improved. For that I will credit Richt for sticking with Grantham and Grantham for making the improvements. Conversely, another subpar season with poor defense equates to both being canned.
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The Dawgs won the East in 2011 and 2012 with what many have assured me were subpar defenses, so I’m not sure I buy your assumption.
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Skeptic, I think you are right but only if there is a failure to win games and the team ends up with a won-loss record like Florida or UT this season.
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I think that outcome is what would be the “make” part.
If they lose 4 or 5 games, look lost on defense throughout the season making the same mistakes over and over, have a nonexistant plan for kickoffs or punt returns, and have problems on the OL, many of these having been issues for several years now, then yes, that becomes the “break” part of the saying and you’d hope that some pressure would be applied by our Athletic Dept.
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I don’t see McGarity making any sort of move after 2014 unless the season collapses into a 2010 kind of mess. 2014 is not Ray Goff’s 1995. We did not lose a game in 2013 that was even close to the Homecoming 1994 embarrassing debacle against Vanderbilt.
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If the defense doesn’t improve in 2014 and we see a disappointing win total because of it I completely expect the defensive staff to be gone. However, unless the offense completely implodes too I just don’t see there being enough gusto to get rid of Richt at that point.
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If the team has a losing season on top of the 2010 losing season that would be 2 losing seasons in 5 years and very Fulmer-like. Remember, the year before Fulmer got fired UT won the SEC East. There will be similar howling from the UGA fanbase if the Dawgs have a losing season in 2014.
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Wonder what bowl attendance will be like in the 4 (soon to be 8) game playoff era, which will at least double the “don’t GAS about the Megacorp.com bowl ’cause my team was screwed by the MNC selection process” syndrome? Or do I even need to ask?
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It will be lousy but the WWL and the bowls only care about eyeballs now.
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Senator I know you don’t really focus on recruiting but can you summarize our current numbers? How many do we have on scholarship and how many can we add? Or can you point me to the info? I’ll hang up and listen.
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Don’t take this as gospel, because nobody outside the coaching staff knows the real numbers, but I keep hearing the size of the 2014 class will fall in the range of 19-22 signees. Georgia currently has 16 verbal commitments, for what that’s worth.
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What does that mean about unused scholarships Senator? 3-6? Or is there more space than 25 because of attrition?
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Never mind, Senator. I wrote this before I saw Mudcat’s post below.
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S&G needs to check their math. Bammer, Auburn and Georgia lost bowls so 7-2 isn’t correct.
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Your right post season games are all bowl games but I’m thinking S&G probably considered the National Championship as something more than a BCS bowl game.
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He posted that before the title game was played.
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BDI wrote:…
“A lot of question marks have surrounded the message board about how many spots were left available for the 2014 class. After the transfers of QB Christian Lemay and S Shaquille Fluker, here is a roster breakdown AS OF TODAY for the 2014 season including the commits UGA already has in this class. (including 2014 verbal commits)
PLAYERS ON SCHOLARSHIP ON OFFENSE: 40
PLAYERS ON SCHOLARSHIP ON DEFENSE: 41
PLAYERS ON SCHOLARSHIP ON SPECIAL TEAMS: 3
ADDING ALL 3 CATEGORIES TOGETHER, YOU HAVE 84 PLAYERS ON SCHOLARSHIP “AS OF TODAY” ENTERING THE 2014 SEASON.
From here until signing day there is a possibility that there will be some attrition to this team, but as it stands today, there is only 1 more open spot in this 2014 class. Do I think they will take more than 1 more??? YES I do and I also believe there will be a few more choose not to come back for their senior year and a couple possibly opt to transfer. Numbers are really tight, so that is the reason you see a low number of commitments in the class of 2014.”
Go here for name by name breakdown on “O” & “D”…
http://bulldawgillustrated.com/2014/01/07/uga-recruiting-roster-breakdown-plus-number-spots-available-2014-class/
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outstanding..that is great…imagine that…having 85+ on scholarship during the spring and summer…I believe you just have to get to 85 by August, right?
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Excellent thanks for that!
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Nothing like going to a bowl game with your mom and getting smashed. It’s always fun, because there’s no telling what she will do.
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What a legacy to leave your children. That video will follow them forever. Her kids need the apology more than Nick Saban does. Justifying her behavior by blaming some one else is what is wrong with this society.
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Best quote from “Justified” last night?
Boyd Crowder: ” I had to kill three delivery men, I got no dope, and my ear’s been damn near shot off! Pack a bag…we’re going to Detroit!
Yikes! Mr. Crowder is having a “Georgia Season Series”. And so are the people that cross him. Wonder what his body count will be by the end of this season?
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Does Boyd coach defense? 🙂
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Safety depth makes me shiver all the way from my head to my toes. It’s ugly. Real. Real ugly.
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Interesting in the Scoring story, the average plays per game haven’t changed in the last 40 years. That would seem to dispel the theory that pace has driven the increased scoring. By all measures in the story, offenses are becoming more efficient. The abolishment of offensive holding has surely contributed to the jump over the last 10 years.
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