I’m heading up to Athens shortly for the basketball game, but there’s still time to set out the buffet.
- John Chavis is suing LSU and Texas A&M over his contract buyout.
- Mark Richt ponders life after Mike Bobo.
- Something to keep an eye on? A mom has filed the first-ever lawsuit filed against a youth football league for CTE.
- College athletics, the NCAA and “cheating pays”.
- ESPN ranks the easiest paths to the playoffs. Georgia checks in at number eight.
- Was Chris Conley a surprise at the NFL Combine? Tape don’t lie.
- And Andy Staples explains why Conley could turn out to have a better pro career than college career.
- Has the CFP empowered BYU?
Get The Picture 
Stunning that Chavis is suing his current employer. I don’t see that being a long term relationship!
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Sometimes parties are brought into a lawsuit as friendly parties who are indispensable. That appears to be the case here with A&M. I recall that when the announcement was made that Chavis was leaving LSU for A&M the statement was also made that A&M, as part of its offer to Chavis, had agreed to pay whatever buy-out there was for Chavis. So, this lawsuit is really between LSU and A&M, IMHO. Now on to substance–I haven’t seen the contract between LSU and Chavis (there probably is some sort of automatic re-up in the contract if nothing is done by either side by the end of the contract term on December 31, 2014) but if the facts stated in the linked article are correct, IMHO Chavis should have given 30 days notice that he wasn’t returning to LSU in November or December, 2014 rather than in January, 2015. A technicality perhaps but lots of cases are decided on technicalities. LSU is acting really butt-hurt about Chavis leaving. I predict the case will settle with A&M paying LSU something, the most likely number being $200,000. LSU may end up the real loser in the long run because it may affect the Tigers’ ability to get coaches to come to Baton Rouge in the future. Who wants to work someplace where they act like such assholes when you leave to take another job? And in the coaching profession moving to another job is a regular occurrence.
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Shorter Andy Staples … I blame Bobo 🙂
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Isn’t 4.35 considered great speed? Conley was not a deep threat. He couldn’t stretch defenses. No one did on our team once MM and JSW went out.
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Yeah definitely great speed. Connelley had some great games and catches where he did stretch the field a bit this season. But, he always seemed hampered by an injury. This year was the shoulder most of the season. I would imagine that would slow you down a bit. perhaps he’s finally healthy and showing what he’s capable of. Or perhaps he’s 22 and hitting his stride. Whatever it is, I hope he has a long career in the NFL, keeps his body in good shape and then goes on to represent the Dawgs in another arena. A DGD no doubt.
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It had to be the injuries. He sure looked fast when he housed that 87 yard tunnel screen against Nebaska in the 2013 Capital One Bowl. Check out 2:21:45 here:
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Thanks for the link about the mothers lawsuit against Pop Warmer football. Tragic story about a 25 year old with CTE, and sadly not uncommon. the study of the brain is amazing. It is possible that this is the beginning of the end for youth football, and potentially football all together.
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i agree. Concussions will either kill or significantly change football. If I had a kid interested in playing football, I wouldn’t let him.
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If coaches at the lower levels taught fundamentals the right way with the right equipment, this wouldn’t be a problem. If you teach heads up, concussions don’t happen with an elevated frequency.
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The thing is, it’s not just concussions. It’s just the repeated bumps/hits that are part of good play that appear to be the problem. I think the game can be made safer, but I’m not sure you can eliminate the risk. As more and more of these cases are publicized, I think football will begin to wither from the youth game on up.
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I agree with that. It’s too bad if that happens.
Every sport has risks associated with it. If we start ending sports because of litigation risk from ambulance chasing lawyers (the good Senator excluded), the world will not be a better place. Sports are just like art in that it’s not necessary, but it is for a culture. It’s part of the fabric of who we are as humans.
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There is a risk of injury in any sport. Football,soccer,hockey, diving?
My youngest played club soccer but we pulled him when he started with the headaches. He became the starting kicker for the football team. Still holds some records at his HS. My oldest injured his knee (sprained it) before state wrestling meet. I held him out. Coaches were all about the “knee brace” thing. He didn’t wrestle in spite of their assurances and I got plenty of cold shoulder afterwards. He is 25 now and that knee gives him a little bit of trouble. He does the ice and heat treatment and seems to do fine with it. I’ve had two knee surgeries from my youth sporting days. Aging with bad wheels is no fun.
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I just finished “League of Denial” about the “NFL concussion crisis”. It’s a very readable book, and I’m not saying its the the standard reference for this problem, but the evidence the author presents is pretty damning to football. According to some neurosurgeons who study CTE, in particular Dr. Ann McKee who is a huge Green Bay Packers fan and one of the leading CTE researchers, it doesn’t take repeated concussions to cause this illness. Repetitive mild traumas, such as head slaps, can also cause CTE. I can envision a world where fewer and fewer parents let their kids play football.
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Bad knees and joints aren’t the same as dementia.
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Of course they’re not. But they are signs of injury that are observable and indicative of how much punishment one is exposing their bodies to while playing a sport. It’s all hooked together.
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Finally got around to answering you princess.
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Oh. Mikey, I apologize; I forgot you were there. You may go now.
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Good to know I have the permission of the self appointed blog po po. Rage on you angry little girl.
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Yall get a room.
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I agree. Football will change and I doubt my son will get a chance at it. My wife still talks about our son playing. I’m leaning heavily toward not playing, punter, or place kicker.
I still say remove the helmets and the concussions will greatly decrease.
I’ve learned as I’ve aged that I prefer individual sports over team sports – tennis, golf, swimming, running, etc. They are surely the sports I’ve taken into adulthood.
I didn’t realize it so much at the time, but I preferred those sports as a kid too.
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For many of us, golf is an acquired taste.
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Good point. We’ve pretty much abandoned it. I grew up playing but today’s 4-5 hour round is untenable.
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Yeah, loved golf but 4 hours is too much wait. Still play racquetball if I can find a court that hasn’t been converted to crossfit or body pump of some such…
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My oldest son went out for football in the 6th grade, told me he didn’t see why you should get your head knocked off to play and quit. I neither pushed him nor encouraged him until he had made up his mind. I congratulated him on a gppd decision for himself. He played good varsity HS Bball (center)in Ca and began playing golf with dad and his pals. The fact that he outdrove me (300 to my 280) never bothered me, the overgrown little snit!
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While it is tragic that her son committed suicide, that’s a stupid fucking lawsuit.
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Maybe it will be the end of football, but I suspect that football is to big an industry to just give up and fold. I will bet that rule changes will address the repeated blows to the head occurrences. The sport may be as different in 2090 from 2015 as the difference in the sport from 1920 to 2015. If we could bring fans from 100 years ago back from the dead and put them in a crowd at a modern game they would say taking the flying wedge out of the game ruins it for them. (I know, the flying wedge was banned more than 100 years ago.) in 2090 you probably may not see smash mouth helmet to helmet offensive styles, but there will be a sport where one team of 11 tries to carry a football across a goal line and another team of 11 tries to stop them by tackling the ball carrier to the ground.
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My grandson plays great flag football. I have encouraged him to keep it that way. Maybe that’s what we will have in the future and they can look back and laugh at this anachronistic pastime that we love so much.
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Senator, don’t let the Hoop Dawgs go to sleep today. We need to be sharp going into the tourney.
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Anyone who doesn’t have ohio as the easiest path to the playoffs lost credibility with me. Forget that Texas has no championship game to get past, put them in the Big Whatever in ohio’s place and they qualify. And an ACC team should always be on that list, perhaps two.
OT—Senator as you travel to Athens in the future, allow some time to check out Champy’s Fried Chicken which is set to open soon on Baxter Street (and could be open now.) Experienced them in Chattanooga and would put their fried chicken against anyone’s I have ever tasted. Two huge chicken breasts, moist throughout with at thick crust. Add mashed potatoes and gravy, with green beans to those beast breasts and you will be satisfied for a while. Very special treat for southern tastes.
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I live near Chattanooga and can second the recommendation for Champy’s. For an appetizer, consider their excellent tomales.
I was happy to see them expand in the correct direction – to Athens, GA rather than up I-75 to Knoxville.
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Agree on the tamales. Was surprised to see they have also added a location in Athens, TN (just up I-75). The young couple who are opening this franchise expansion into Dawg Territory lived in Chattanooga and became aware of the potential it would have in Athens, Ga. Pretty smart move, a chance to live in Athens and take a product there that is sure to be welcomed. Hope they manage it well, don’t see how it can miss. The original is in Daphne, AL, not far from where I am hiding out from the nasty winter weather.
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I had it the other night, very solid, except for the sides. Slaw and baked beans were bad.
Unfortunately too it is in a horribly cursed location on Baxter St. I hope it does well.
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Honestly, been there dozens of times and never had either of those sides. I started with the MP and gravy + green beans and never saw anything else that tempted me. I am sure all can be improved on….except the chicken. My mama and grandmother were good/excellent south Georgia, old time, country cooks but they never had chicken this good. They had a great crust too but never had it this moist. Not familiar with which location they have but I will bet they change the trend. Glad to have Champy’s as an option in Athens.
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Never forget the fried chicken at the Shrimp Boat on Baxter.
Or the sign that said
Luscious Breasts and Tasty Thighs… Where would I be without my ???
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My law school roommate and I used to refer to that joint as “The Chicken Boat”.
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I was surprised and disappointed when Conley didn’t get a Senior Bowl invite. Those guys pride themselves on not missing out, but it looks like they may have whiffed on him.
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I’ll bet NFL people know full well what Conley did without relying solely on stats like the media and bloggers do. UGA is unlikely to ever have a receiver with 100 catches/1000 yds./15 TDs in a season. It could change with a different WR coach but the ball has always been spread around, even among the tailbacks.
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WTF! I had no idea Conley was that fast. I just saw that the average 40 times for WR’s at the combine 2008-2012 was 4.55. Why didn’t we use him downfield more? DGD by the way.
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FIFY.
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Yea, I remember that play. I just wish I would have seen more of the same. It seems with our crushing running game that play would be there all day. Sweet pass by Mason.
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That gives new meaning to the term “vertical threat.”
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“Why didn’t we use him downfield more?”
Pick your reason: ‘to keep him fresh’, or ‘balance’, or ‘the D wasn’t dictating that’…
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Or “Todd Gurley”, or “Nick Chubb”
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That too 😉
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Or, our QB’s best skills did not include a bombs away, stretch the field skill.
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I think youth football is done. The wife is a Pediatrician and is seeing more and more patients whose parents will not let them play football. As this is studied more, it will become clear how dangerous it really is. As stated in the link it looks like damage can be caused by repeated blows not severe enough to cause a concussion. As for as youth coaches teaching proper technique, these are volunteers who often have no idea what that is. Properly designed repeatable studies will give a definitive answer to the questions and I am afraid will end youth football.
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Watch out for Georgia preferred walk-on Freshman QB Sam Vaughn. Everybody who reads this blog regularly should go online and watch his senior highlight tape. He reminds me of Aaron Murray–only taller (6’4) and faster. According to 247 he is rated #2 QB coming out of HS in Florida and runs a 4.48 forty. It sure looked like it on tape, too.
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Hmmmm. He had two offers, one from the Colgate Raiders and the other from Florida A&M Rattlers. Seems like slim pickins for the #2 rated qb coming out of Florida.
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Sounds like a great kid. Great article on him here: http://www.espnwestpalm.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=10091
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That’s some serious accomplishment. I admire him wanting to come to Georgia and contribute.
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I probably shouldn’t say this, as I am a UGA fan and alum, but the chance to go to Colgate on a full ride and probably be starting at QB there for 4 years is something nobody should pass up. I like Colgate as much as Harvard and Yale scholastically and Colgate wins the Patriot League in football damn near every year. They also play Harvard and Yale. If the kid has designs on playing pro football I can understand coming to Georgia as a walk-on. But if he really is a 4.0 student with a 1680 SAT and if he has plans for law school or graduate business school and a possible career on Wall Street, well…….if he was my kid he’d be going to Colgate. I have a buddy who had a full ride to Dartmouth (back when the Ivys still gave scholarships) and went to Auburn instead because he wanted to play pro football. Things didn’t work out for him at Auburn but he landed on his feet. Still he can’t seem to shake the “what if” about that. I know because he and I have talked about it. Too bad 18 year old kids sometimes have to make decisions that effect their whole lives.
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P.S. AHD, you might want to watch the video of the kid before shooting off your mouth.
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Goodness sakes get your panies unstuck. Seems like slim pickins for the #2 rated qb coming out of Florida. Still seems like slim pickins.
Here is a list of the highest ranked pro style HS qb’s in 2014 according to 247.
http://247sports.com/Season/2014-Football/RecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool&Position=PRO
#6 Sean White
University School (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
#7Jacob Park
Stratford (Goose Creek, SC)
#17Michael O’Connor
IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
#22 Peyton Bender
Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
#33 John Wolford
Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville, FL)
#44 Nico Pierre
Coral Reef (Miami, FL)
#61 Wade Freebeck
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
…OK I guess you get my point. You’re boy ain’t the number two rated qb coming outta Florida 2014. He may wear number #2. And just who is shooting off their mouths?
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“…who is shooting off their mouths?” You, as usual. The site I saw said that #2 business, which I may have misinterpreted because his jersey number was #2. It also said the kid ran a 4.48 forty, which I now don’t believe either because another site, Rivals, has the kid running 5.02. That said, and recruiting sites’ BS aside, the kid is a good player who hopefully will help the Dawgs.
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Mayor, not knocking the guy, but are you sure that #2 that you saw wasn’t referring to his jersey number? I’m reasonably certain that he wasn’t rated as the second best QB in FL.
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Please note that the above is not a snark. The kid wore #2 in high school, I’m wondering if that’s what you saw. According to this list from 247 sports, he wasn’t even in their top 250 recruits in FL, a list that included 17 other QB’s.
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http://247sports.com/Season/2015-Football/RecruitRankings?State=FL
(Forgot the link above)
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http://www.hudl.com/athlete/596569/sam-vaughn Take a look. Be sure to watch the highlight reel.
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He throws a little Bernie Kosar style sidearm pass. And he does it pretty well especially when he has to put some touch on the ball.
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Sure did and thanks, Mayor.
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