The process started off well, suffered a glitch in the middle, but, hopefully we’ll soon be able to say all’s well that ends well.
“I want to thank the University, coaches, teammates, and the Bulldog Nation for their patience and support,” Gurley said. “I take full responsibility for the mistakes I made, and I can’t thank the University, my coaches, and teammates enough for supporting me throughout this process. I’m looking forward to getting back on the field with my teammates.”
So are we.
Get The Picture 
Pissed you did it son, but glad to have you back. Don’t do that crap again, and please run for 2oo yards against FU. Thank you. That is all.
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And if Chubb also gets 200, what a day it could be. If their offense turns it over like they did against Missouri, their defense could be very worn down by the end of the day.
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If you or his teammates want to give him shit, that’s your prerogative, but I’m OK with him doing it again, getting caught again, and getting suspended again. In fact, I would be proud of him. It’s an immoral rule, and no one should obey it. Principle is more important than a stupid football game.
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I think I’d prefer it if somebody quietly slipped him a few hundred bucks and said, “let’s keep it to ourselves, bro’.” 😉
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I agree that it’s frustrating that the amount of money being discussed is in the range that I would personally slip to him.
But that’s not the point. The point is expediting the collapse of an unjust system, and invisible disobedience does absolutely nothing towards that end.
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So I assume you are not buying tickets and turning off the TV out of principle, right?
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Well, let’s not get crazy.
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I’m not even cautiously optimistic. It’s done. He’s back.
UGA has kept the NCAA informed every step of the way. To paraphrase one of my favorite movies, McGarity doesn’t take a dump without a plan. They wouldn’t apply unless they knew it’d be successful.
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I had to post Fred Dalton Thompson…
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YES SIR.
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My #1, with a bullett…
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The irony here is the fact that the memorabilia dealer who snitched on him, Bryan Allen, is a huge Gator fan. There might be a bit of extra motivation based on that alone; if nothing else, the timing certainly is interesting.
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Great news. I agree with Silver Britches — it’s a done deal. Hopefully the fanbase now can stop eating its own. Now let’s kick Gator Ass.
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The statements that UGA was “cooperating with his legal counsel as they review the matter” and “Todd has confirmed his desire to seek reinstatement” reinforce, for me, that Gurley and his lawyers were the cause of the delay. I am glad they are all on board and I hope it goes well.
Also, no mention of the content of the request (2 games, 4 games?), which I suppose we will learn soon enough.
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You will recall Senator that I said there was a deal last week and that an announcement would be made Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Damn, I hate being right all the time. It’s a real burden but I’ll continue to bear it faithfully.
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You weren’t alone…
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Well done, sir.
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You obviously are a total stud, and most be the envy of all your family and friends. Given your intellect and how right you always are, you surely have life by the proverbial horns. I’m talking a self-employed muti-millionaire, ripped muscles and 5% body fat, gorgeous wife, investment success that would make hedge fund guys blush, and the like. Oh, and level 9 skier and instrument rated pilot thrown in for good measure, in relation to your hobbies and active pursuits.
What little free time you have left, you devote to UGA football, though certainly not much as you’d never give much time/energy to something you have no control over.
We’re certainly thankful to have you.
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Durn, 3rd, the Mayor take your lunch money?
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Absolutely not. Besides, as wealthy as he is, he doesn’t need my paltry sum.
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IDK but seems a bit over the top. Mayor was enjoying his forecast is all.
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It was a joke, 3rd. Lighten up. I don’t ski nor do I fly. I am a scratch golfer, instead. Other than that, you got the other stuff right in your post, particularly the gorgeous wife part. 🙂
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Need to lose a little weight, though.
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You or the missus?
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Me. If I ever even implied that about the missus, well, you know…..
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I’m not scratch, Mayor, but I did card a 77 last week at East Lake. And my caddie, Marques, will back me up on that.
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That’s great. East Lake is a tough course.
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I once played East Lake in the late 80’s, when it was still the Old Course. The greens were a variety of bent I had never seen, long thick blades that interloped, but made a smooth putting surface and the ball rolled good.
First hole I was 12 ft. below the pin, with an easy uphill putt for birdie. First putt went around the hole on the high side and ended up 20 ft. to the right and 6 ft. below the pin. 4-putted for a 7, and was lucky to make the last one.
Never been so shocked by greens, before or since.
But yeah, 77 is a heckuva good score there, Sniffer.
~~~
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At least we have your modesty to lean on. Careful, that sword is sharp…
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Kudos and cocktails in your direction, sir.
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Mayor, you might consider doing what the old Roman generals did when leading a victor’s parade. An attendant would ride behind them in the chariot whispering “you are still a mortal”
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Ask 3rd to attend. But don’t allow him to carry anything sharp. 😉
…jk
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There was a line in “Pretty Woman” where the store clerk looks at Richard Gere and says, “You’re a handsome man, a powerful man, a man to be reckoned with.” Well Mayor, if the shoe fits . . . 🙂
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I have been critical of the handling of the situation because I thought the first communication didn’t come out quickly enough and administrators left everything out there for speculation.
I have to give McGarity credit for the back end of this. He quietly went about his business with President Morehead and got this taken care of. Hopefully, the NCAA won’t drag its feet on this to make a point.
I also have to give a big shout-out to TG3II for being a man through this whole thing, not playing the victim, and showing through his words and actions what a leader on this team he is. It’s now time to go hunt some Gators in Jacksonville.
After the reinstatement happens, I hope some people in the UGA power structure will come out and call for athletes to have the ability to trade on their names and likenesses as part of Power 5 autonomy and reform.
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Good post, ee. I also was very critical of McGarity and the B-M power structure at the beginning of all this but boy was I wrong. God Bless Greg McGarity!!
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I hope the AA does a post-mortem on this whole situation and figures out what went well (handling with the NCAA and helping Todd with representation) and what didn’t (public relations, period). They probably need to update whatever plan the AA has for situations like this in the future.
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I see that Texas has struck first with saying their athletes will be paid ten grand a year if all goes well with Power Five autonomy?
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The question there is whether the $10K per year is going to all of their athletes or just the revenue sports. That’s close to $2M for scholarship athletes. It still doesn’t deal with the underlying problem – cash under the table for whatever reason to athletes in the revenue sports.
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You have no idea if there were ever any glitches. Everyone has been giving their half cocked opinion for two weeks.
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I have the school’s statement in which the fan base was essentially told to buzz off. And the NCAA’s statement less than an hour later telling me more about the status of the investigation than Georgia ever did.
IMO, that was a glitch. YMMV, of course.
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I understand, and I’m not trying to be argumentative about it. I know it’s the age we live in, seems like everything has so much visibility. To me, though, people have come out with such strong positions with so little knowledge. It’s the worst feature of the internet and social media, or one of them, if you ask me. What if UGA did everything right? If you want to be like FSU or Auburn then that’s an impossible conclusion. However, if the university wants to meet a certain standard, whether you agree with the standard or not, it’s possible that from an administrative standpoint they did everything right in order to meet that standard and get their best player back as quickly as possible. I honestly don’t know whether that’s the case or not.
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I understand your frustration, and that of the fan base as a whole. But some of that is due to the lousy way the school handled the PR, no?
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The lack of info was maddening, for sure. I just don’t know whether it served a purpose or not. I’m not meaning to blindly defend, just to acknowledge how much I don’t know. Others may know more. Either way, I know every UGA fan can agree on being glad it’s nearly over.
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Not releasing information can serve a purpose. But good PR can handle that. If McGarity had released a statement saying, “We can’t talk about it, but we’re on the mother,” that would have been better than the statement about comment being unnecessary.
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In the beginning Greg McGarity was the ubiquitous nerdy kid in IT support.
Much better today.
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No question about it. The early PR was very poorly handled, with the inevitable response from the fan base.
~~~
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“Everyone has been giving their half cocked opinion for two weeks”
On the internet? Surely you jest.
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Everything’s supposed to be fine b/c we won the 2 games, right? Boy, I sure hope that it doesn’t come back to bite us some day that we ignored the issue of our athletic department being afraid of the NCAA just b/c we beat a mediocre Missouri team and a bad Arkansas team.
But whatever…where’s that kool-aid? McGarity is my hero b/c he stands up for things!
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I am shocked that he’s coming back for the Florida game. Not that you will need him, just that it’s our kind of luck.
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Timing is everything in this life.
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Of course, Timmy, DJ Shockley got hurt the week before the WLOCP in ’05. We feel your pain about timing of bad stuff happening around Jax.
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Timmy, you’ll get little sympathy here. We lost our start QB in the middle of an undefeated season in ’05 right before the UF game, only to lose to a Florida team that we were better than, but not without our starting QB.
The Gators got Timmy knocked out in Lexington one Saturday night, but the luck of the draw was an off-week for Tebow to recover. What if you had been playing LSU the next Saturday? UF has had the luck of the draw enough the last 25 years. Enjoy watching #3 for the last time in Jax. He’ll be sure to put on a show for you like the first two times.
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Let’s not forget that we lost Damian Gary and Fred Gibson before the 2002 Cocktail Party. That was a huge loss in a game where Greene obviously needed them.
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Deep, deep in an underground bunker under the Swamp, there is a vault that tells the tale of college football pre-dating the year of our Lord 1990. In that tomb you will find tome’s of gator football…No Reallly!…and how it used to be. The OBC has the key.
Karma’s a bitch, Timmy!
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Todd, you can show how sorry you were and release your inner Wrath of Khan on the gators for about 250+ on All Saints Day.
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And now we wait for them to kick us in the nuts again…LOL!
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Silently, Nick Chubb has a sad….
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Not after 68 carries in 2 games.
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If we win a championship, I don’t think Nick will be sad about the ring on his finger. I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot of him in Jacksonville.
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And beyond.
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You have time to get ready for another shock, Timmy. The way you will have to pipe in sunshine will give you a prelim for your old age as a gator fan.
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Very happy he’ll be back, although I don’t believe he owes anyone an apology for profiting off his own talent and name.
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With apologies to Silver Britches, I’ll believe it when the NCAA and UGA make their final “he’s cleared and can play in the next game” announcements. And maybe not until he mano y manos his first unfortunate Gator defender.
Anyway, assuming we are quickly to be back to thinking about the next game, Gator fans aren’t wrong about what the Harris kid brings to the table. If Muschamp makes liberal use of him, that could be a problem. And the Gator D is nothing to sleep on…. Oh, screw it, my inner Munson ain’t even gonna try. If we have both Todd and Nick in the arsenal, Florida’s f–ked.
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What am I missing here? Everyone (including people outside the fanbase) seems to assume that he’ll be reinstated almost immediately, certainly before the Florida game. But everything I’m reading just says that we’re seeking reinstatement. Why should I not think that the NCAA is going to find some new way to screw us?
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Because the Mayor said so. 😉
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My concern as well. Relying on the NCAA for anything has seldom worked out well for us.
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Because any more bad PR would put them in final jeopardy?
http://splitsider.com/2011/04/the-complete-history-of-snls-celebrity-jeopardy/
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I guess I don’t understand a lot of the vitriol the last 2 weeks. I was frustrated, but not THAT much. More like impatient. Todd broke a rule. I always thought it was probably clear early on that he admitted to it. It’s a dumb rule and maybe immoral, but it’s still a rule. At my high school, you couldn’t wear shorts except on Fridays, no matter if it was 98 degrees on Wednesday. It was an asinine rule. There’s nothing honorable about 15 yr-olds not wearing shorts. But, that was the rule. If you didn’t follow the stupid rule, you were punished. That made you a rule-breaker at school. You could work through student-government to get the rule changed or just wear shorts every day and say ‘the heck with it.’ One of those might work. One of those won’t.
The frustration we feel is that we see other players getting away with what we PERCEIVE as similar or worse infractions and the NCAA turning a blind eye or being powerless. But we don’t know if Winston, Newton and Manziel are apples and apples comparisons. We’d just like to believe they are. We don’t lie, cheat or skirt eligibility issues at UGA. If you want us to do that, you’ll be happier cheering for another school. We faced this head-on from day one. We did NOT handle the PR well, but it could have been worse. It was clear we were careful to share what we could. Unfortunately, in today’s media-driven culture, there’s a lot of space to fill in the blanks. Just yesterday sports-talk yahoos in Atlanta were saying they were hearing it was 4 games (and it still could be!), but the truth is they actually knew little more than you or I did.
I have had a lot of insider friends through the years. One of my closest contacts (who definitely knew the details) told me back in the day that there was more to the AJ deal than most of the public ever realized. That’s the truth of all of it. We know nothing.
I don’t know what McGarity could have done outside of issuing a statement daily saying we’re continuing to work on it, but may the NCAA told him not to and if we’ll just sit him and not make a big deal they’ll stamp him as eligible after Arkansas and this will all go away. We just don’t know. And I’ve been in leadership long enough to know that you can’t tell everyone everything. It’s not right by Todd or the University. I just think that it has been awfully presumptuous of many of us to assume that McGarity doesn’t care about Todd and only cares about money or whatever. McGarity wants a championship more than us. He lives his life in the B-M. Sure, we are the school that went through Kemp and Harrick, but we do things different now, and for that I’m glad. Todd’s not a bad kid, but it looks like he broke a rule. A dumb rule, but still a rule. We acted accordingly because that’s what we do. Richt is getting a lot of good pub because of this. We handled it with class AND showed up to play without Todd. Maybe the worm turns on our luck. We’ve wrung a lot of hands at people the last couple weeks that we really don’t know enough about to do the wringing. Let’s hope Todd is back and get back to cheering on this spectacular coach we have and finish this thing out.
We’d be some kind of story holding up that funny looking trophy on Jan. 12. And with #3 back, our defense turning a corner, and Hutson coming into form…there ain’t nobody we can’t beat.
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Well stated sUGAr, as usual. That has been my position all through this, maybe not an A+ but a very high grade seems to be due. You also brought up a point that is bothering me, unless I missed the announcement, I am not sure if we are looking at a 2 game suspension, or 4. Certainly hope it is two but all I read was that Todd plans to return when he is eligible. I do believe the NCAA will accept what UGA recommends and be ecstatic to have this off the daily radar where they have been pummeled universally.
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Let’s get even with those jort wearing booger eaters for that game in 92(?) when Zeir threw that TD pass in the rain, and the lucky ass Gators got the refs to say they had called time out.
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’93 – never been so wet in my life. The flood killed my starter where my car had to be towed to my parking spot. An absolutely miserable day in my life as a Dawg fan.
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Please don’t get our hopes up just to dash them. Fingers crossed.
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I’m with you. Fat lady ain’t sung yet.
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So, assuming the NCAA reinstates Gurley in a timely manner, who starts at running back against Florida?
I say Chubb has earned the start. Gurley was out due to him breaking a stupid rule, but it was by his hand. Chubb has certainly shown he deserves to start. I say give Chubb the first series, then hammer the Gators with Gurley the next series, then mix as Bobo sees fit.
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Put ’em both in–2 back set.
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Gonna say something similar. Run the Wild Dawg
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If Sony Michel is back too I say we line up in the wishbone on the first play
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Wishbone with Quayvon at FB and Chubb and Gurley at HB – playaction deep pass to Conley
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Shame we used that run/option pass from Gurley before the Florida game. If he is back for FU, they would be sitting dead-red on TG on the first play. Boom! goes the dynamite and dancing in the stands would commence on the UGA half of the stadium as the other side would begin filing out very early.
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Everybody likes playing football in the SEC. None more than Todd Gurley. Wishing him and the Dawgs the opportunity to do that on the banks of the St. John river. Other than Sanford Stadium, this is the best place to come back to the game.
Let’s just play some football.
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One of your better posts, Will.
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Now…when is FSU going to suspend their autographer? And if they don’t?
If the NCAA clears Gurley, thus acknowledging that the suspension was legitimate..then the die is cast to either punish FSU for not following suit or have the NCAA exposed as inconsistent and biased in it’s application of rules enforcement. I hope Jimbo is having night sweats. If there’s ANY fairness or integrity, FSU will be held responsible for a cover-up. Big punsihment should rain down on them including forfietures.
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Jimbo is all in, and the F$U administration is right there with him. The problem is someone isn’t going to come forward with evidence because of how it backfired on the creep involved with TG3II. We have to face the fact that Famous Jameis is going to play. Hopefully, Floyd and Jenkins get a chance to knock him down a few notches in a CFP game in the near future.
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