I suppose I’m not surprised that a member of the Matthews family has taken umbrage at the comments made by Sterling Bailey’s father. And I guess I’m not too surprised that she chose to take her anger public.
Here’s what she’s right about: some people take this shit too seriously. The rest of her cri de coeur? Not so much. The circumstances surrounding Matthews’ departure may have been the final straw that broke Mr. Bailey’s camel’s back, but it’s clear that he was talking about more than just Tray Matthews when he vented. And as for the hypotheticals she poses about how Bailey would have handled a similar situation involving his son, what she misses there is that unlike Tray, Sterling learned from his mistake and cleaned up his act.
Tray is a talented kid, and that’s why he’s blessed with a second chance at Auburn. Good for him. And good for him, as well, that he has a family structure that gives him support. (Too bad it wasn’t supportive enough to steer him down the right road after Checkgate, though.)
Now please shut up and leave the rest of us alone, okay? Because nobody really cares about who’s hurting now.
Get The Picture 
He’s a good kid. It was all just miscommunication leading to a misunderstanding. That should cover it
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There should be a rule that if you are dismissed from one SEC team you can’t transfer to another. Let them go to the ACC/Big Ten/Big 12 etc. Until there are some consequences for their actions like not being able to play in the best conference in college football there will continue to be bad decisions made.
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If you really have a problem with it then blame Richt.
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One more time: this wasn’t a transfer. Matthews was dismissed from the program. He can go any place that will take him.
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I’m not saying he should have, but couldn’t Richt have played his cards differently and put him in a situation where he could only go to a school he approved of? I doubt he would have done it, based on his own stated philosophy of letting kids go where they want, but he technically could have. Therefore, if someone has a problem with Matthews going to auburn, Richt is as much to blame as the “system.”
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How? “Tray, if you screw up one more time, I’ll let you transfer to any school outside the conference?” Yeah, that could work.
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You’ve posted in your blog before about kids losing their scholarship but not being allowed to transfer because the coach didn’t like their preferred destination school. Randy Edsall maybe? I’m not sure.
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I’m not arguing about whether Richt has a laissez faire attitude about player transfers that other coaches don’t share. I’m pointing out that Matthews’ situation has nothing to do with that. He was kicked out of the Georgia program. That makes him a free agent. And that would be the same if it happened at any other school in the country.
Why should a coach get to control what a kid does after he’s dismissed? (Which wasn’t the case with Edsall, by the way.)
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I never said coaches should be allowed to control where a player goes. And for the record, by “play his cards differently” I meant yanking his scholly and suspending him indefinitely. Then, if I’m not mistaken, Matthews can’t be a part of team functions (and is de facto dismissed, just not technically), doesn’t have a scholarship, and can’t transfer unless Richt approves, right?
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I’m unaware that you can pull a player’s scholly/NLI and still make him stay. How do you force him to pay tuition?
If you’ve got examples of that, I’m all ears.
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Isn’t this exactly what was going on with Edsall? The kid didn’t have a scholarship but he wouldn’t let him transfer to his preferred school, right?
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No. Edsall was dealing with kids on scholarship who wanted to transfer to Vanderbilt. He wouldn’t release them.
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Fair enough. One final question: is Matthews going to be immediately eligible to play this season or does he have to redshirt?
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Actually that’s apparently the loophole that let’s him walk to Auburn. We gave him the boot, so he can head there like normal. If we took his scholarship but said “hey, we’ll let you try to earn your way back into our good graces as a walk-on”, then he’d be forced to sit out two years at Auburn and pay his own way during one of them.
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I still think it is a good compromise that he can’t play in the SEC but can play college football anywhere else that will have him.
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So you think a program can dismiss a player, cut all ties and still dictate his next choice of school? Explain to me how that works.
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Yes I do. My point is there needs to be some sense of equality between all SEC programs(I admit I don’t have all the answers how to implement it) that if a player is deemed to have crossed a line at one school that one of their chief rival schools in their conference shouldn’t be able to welcome him the next week as if nothing happened. What message does that send to all the players especially the ones that handle themselves well? It’s not like they are being kicked out of college football altogether.
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Great. Now the Green Lantern Theory is now part of football, too.
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why blame Richt?
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The first thing that strikes me is that while Ms Cox-Thomas-Matthews-Stop-With-The-Hyphenated-Names says that Tray was going to be a Vet,then why was he kicked out of an education class ? Those classes are Not a good path to Vet school,of course, neither is Auburn. Let’s just hope Tray does for Auburn what he did for UGA…..keep us in the Game even when it’s over.
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For what it’s worth, Auburn has a great vet school just like we do. And I took a lot of classes that had nothing to do with my major. He could have been knocking out an elective class credit.
What’s your beef with hyphenated last names?
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i like people to make up their minds and save me the time and space trying to figure out what their names are. Mostly it is a personal problem ,uniformly the worst Judges I’ve practiced before hyphenate their names and than un-hyphenate them and than re hyphenate them to a different one . Pick a name and stick with it.
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I am thankful for parents like Mr. Bailey, and others who place the blame squarely where it belongs…on the athlete who couldn’t live up to his adult responsibilities and let his teammates down. I also don’t blame the Matthews family for standing by their son/nephew and trying to support him. What I do think Ms Hyphen needs to get straight, Trigga didn’t choose Auburn, he settled for it because he couldn’t cut it at UGA. I hope he grows up and achieves some of his goals in life but I suggest he comes to peace with the education system because I haven’t seen anything that makes me feel he is going to make a living playing football.
There is nothing wrong with that, most athletes never make a living at playing sports but she may want to pass along some of Mr. Bailey’s wisdom to young Tray and have him realize he was treated like a man in Athens and didn’t man up; the shortfall is on his shoulders. And I don’t know any UGA fan that feels we lost a talent that we cannot replace so don’t feel the comments made are because we fear Auburn with, or without, her nephew. His lasting legacy will be for one of the most bone-headed plays in UGA history. I don’t think Auburn, or any other SEC team, should have been a fallback option for him, but that has very little to do with trigga.
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It can’t be described any better than that.
~~~
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Amen. And enough with this “second chance” bs. He was given a second, third, fourth, fifth chance to turn his act around. The lack of respect, arrogance and embarrassment he distributed to his team mates, coaches, the university….while having zero remorse…..Trigga needs a boot up his swag ass. He and his mouthy aunt should just STFU, hang their head down and accept what comes.
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So Tray wants to be a vet, huh? Given a choice, I’d think I’d rather have him treating my sick dog than defending against a late-game pass as a Dawg. Wait, on second thought, how attentive might he have been in the distemper class?
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He didn’t know it was against the law to double dip cashing a check. He is just a kid, he made a simple mistake, isn’t that what J. Winston and Jimbo Fisher said?
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I agree with you that Matthews acted very immature, but you’re reaching pretty far with that comparison for more reasons than one
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I’m assuming (read: hoping) your first sentence is tongue-in-cheek. He knew exactly what he was doing but had either convinced himself or was convinced by others that he wouldn’t get caught.
I can relate because I did a lot of dumb things at Georgia. Even worse, I had some absolutely horrendous ideas/thoughts about how to beat the system and/or law. Got busted for some actions and go away with others, but I only ruled the intramural fields.
In general, kids in that age range lack foresight and the ability to vet an idea to the fullest extent possible. I’m sure he was giddy over the idea and downright jubilant upon getting away with it the first time. The “what happens if I get caught and am I ok with that?” thought process clearly didn’t happen.
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Ms. Thomas-Cox violated the first rule of persuasive writing. Her essay was too damn long.
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Also meandering and at times, breathless. It was three paragraphs’ worth of content crammed into a rambling diatribe.
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“I am tired of people like Mr. Bailey who use my nephew and mistakes of other athletes as a way to make themselves relevant!” Sounds like the Pot calling the kettle black.
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he wasn’t, he stating a fact !! Its your interpretation, of what he said . Your on the defensive, the opportunity your nephew got was because he is great athlete, now we all make mistakes and evidently he didn’t learn from it. excuse me learn from THEM!! Wait for it- Go Dawgs!!!!!
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the butt hurt is strong on both sides.
Matthews couldnt hack it. Oh well send him on his way and wish him good luck.
Wish that there was an experienced guy behind him.
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Well said – we needed him on the field because of the lack of depth behind him, but it was the right thing to do to send him out of Athens. I do think the right thing to do would have been to transfer outside the SEC or go the JUCO before returning to the SEC. Marshall, Mett, and $Cam left the league to rehabilitate their images before returning to play in the conference. Matthews should have done the same thing …
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I get what you’re saying – the lack of depth is real. But I think it should be pointed out that we didn’t need Matthews on the field the way he was. THAT guy, we don’t want, or need on the field, at all.
Now had he done a 180 and become a different young man, that might’ve been another story, and may yet be at Auburn. But whether at Auburn or his next stop, he’s not gonna be a player at a high level without the 180, or something close to it.
~~~
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Yep, absolutely – I clearly didn’t want Trigga Tray back on the field. I wanted a Matthews that was in condition, ready to play, and a good team member.
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Well said, sir.
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+28
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Exactly.
~~~
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The good news for Tray is that he already has one game under his belt playing for Auburn
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LOL. I wanted you to know I’ve been telling people for 10 years or more, since I first saw it on Dawgvent, that IMO you have the best handle in the Dawgosphere. Herschel Talker. I wish I’d thought of it.
~~~
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Did I read that right? The Matthews are moving to Auburn, Alabama?
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I think so.
~~~
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They’re taking their talents to Clemson Without a Lake too? That’s big-time All-In
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I would have been fine with most of the essay until she threw in that last dig with the “War Damn Eagle” bullshite. She can rot for all I care now.
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I didn’t care about this story until she responded. Now, it just annoys me.
It’s great that she feels she needs to defend her nephew and his parents… but the whole thing reeks of a hanger-on. Because trigga is semi-relevant, that makes her semi-relevant by extension. And, as a semi-relevant person, she wants the world to know how upset she is that people are disappointed in her nephew. Just because he stole from the university he so proudly played for, and he transferred to said university’s biggest rival… you know, the one where his botched play provided the necessary means for an SEC championship & BCS title appearance… fan(atic)s have no right to be angry with him. Even when that player was given multiple chances that he didn’t live up to, and then he puts out in the public domain that he is sooooo thankful that he has the second chance to play for said rival.
That’s fine, but he had to know that the ire would be most hot if he landed at Auburn. It would have been slightly less if he went to Louisville, and it would have been practically non-existent if he went to Butler CC or Alabama State. So, to an extent, he brought this (whatever “this” is) on himself by landing at the one place that chaps UGA fans’ collective asses the most.
A lesser person would ask for an investigation of his academic standing because he clearly cannot count if he believes this is his second chance. Fortunately, I don’t really care (about trigga, his future at Auburn, or his hangers-on).
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She’a an enabler and misses the point of Mr. Bailey’s venting; its all about personal responsibility and manning up, which Trigga Trey never did; Mr. Bailey related about his son’s problem and how it was handled. Trey never has admitted his immaturity. She doesn’t hold him accountable and probably never will.
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When she rambled on about him not ever doing anything that deserved anyone’s negative comments, does that mean she agreed with his tweet about “I was leaving anyway” and all the racial crap he spewed on twitter, or just that she didn’t read it? Hmmmmm
I do hope he has learned and will do well going forward, but not sure that comments like his Aunt’s aren’t just enabling. And the fact that he was allowed to go on Spring break with checkgate known to his parents; there is no way my kid would have been at the beach after that. Sounds like Richt had to impose consequences because no one else had.
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Correct me if I am wrong, Nick Marshall & Tray Matthews dismissed for stealing? and so for this they can go to awlbarn, is that a requirement, you have to be a criminal? Alburn is the new Miami, just look back as to when Shitznick took over. All the players that have left or have been dismissed was their choice, because life is about the choices you make… “GO DAWGS”
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“They would rather listen to Al and Jesse tell them they are victims than listen to Cosby and learn to accept accountability for their lives”.
Ms. Hyphenated-last-name and millions more fit this perfectly.
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“The victim mindset dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them.”
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Why can’t Ms. Hyphenated-last-name and millions more be white like us?
http://gawker.com/video-of-violent-rioting-surfers-shows-white-culture-o-954939719
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look, dont get me wrong. Some of my best friends are white. I work with a white guy.
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Sometimes he probably wakes up with the blues
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We have white trash here too, lot’s in fact. But your example does nothing to invalidate my point. Weak attempt at diversion, standard liberal operating procedure.
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I’m shocked, shocked to find out that white trash are on here…Release the Kraken!
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I don’t know DIF. People do the darndest things sometimes.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/richardhjames/huge-sword-fight-breaks-out-between-sikh-groups-at-indian-te
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How come the thugs are never around when you need them for a knife fight?
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Wondered if you would catch that. How could I doubt you? 😉
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I owe the entirety of my Indian thug knowledge primarily to you and secondarily to Macallenlover from the educational thug/thug-love symposium here several years ago right around the time Rodney invented thug-love, which I believe had something to do with Isaiah’s pistol and/or Thanksgiving lunch at Rodney’s place. Until then, I had no knowledge. Of course, the downside is that it triggers me to repeatedly post weak-sauce Stranglehold covers
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You probably need a refresher course though, as I recall it was difficult to get that message to sink in.
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So she busts out with a wde. I see the apple doesn’t fall far from the family tree.
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So the father of a player who says some words to a beat writer is irrelevant. But the aunt of a player who writes many more (infinitely less coherent) words about said irrelevancy is relevant? Gotcha. War Damn Eagle, indeed.
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Nailed it.
The Matthews polled the extended family to determine who was best suited to produce a retort. What we got was an unsuccinct reply highlighted by a lot of references to “Mr. Bailey”, ineffective capitalization to MASK THE LACK OF PERSUASION, and a refusal to address the idea of personal accountability by attacking the character of others. Brilliant.
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This was crap twice warmed over. That a (formerly) reputable newspaper would present what is essentially tabloid “he said/she said” gossip, shows just how pathetic and desperate for hits the media has become… Quite an indictment…
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Auburn Sucks.
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N.C. State put transfer restrictions on this guy.
http://recruiting.blog.ajc.com/2014/06/18/georgia-qb-to-transfer/
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He is transferring. Tray was dismissed from the team. You can’t kick someone out of your program and then dictate their decisions. If tray had decided to leave on his own (As he claims) Richt could have put restrictions on it, but that is not the case.
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