This is why we can’t have nice things.

Damn it.

Georgia senior receiver Justin Scott-Wesley had to leave Monday’s practice after hurting his right knee. The severity of the injury was not immediately apparent.

Scott-Wesley fell to the ground while in the middle of a route during drills. He got up in pain and walked over to the fence, where he was met by a trainer. Scott-Wesley walked off the field on his own power, accompanied by the trainer.

Any knee injury, minor or major, will be a worry for Scott-Wesley, who tore his ACL in October of 2013, and had arthroscopic knee surgery in early July. He returned in time for the start of preseason practice on Aug. 4, and in fact had been practicing without limitations.

It never ends, does it?

Hope he’s back sooner rather than later.

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UPDATE:  Captured in the act on video, it’s even more depressing.

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But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the 10-win seasons, what has Mark Richt ever done for us?

Over at Team Speed Kills, David Wunderlich looks at Georgia’s chances to win the SEC East, pronounces them decent, and then wonders where the excitement is.

… With Richt having a great history of developing quarterbacks, UGA has a great chance at living up to its billing as East favorite and a top ten team.

So are you excited yet? Probably not, because this is how it goes with Georgia every year. Talent? Check. Program stability? Check. Expectations? Check. Ring?

His answer is perfect.

At some point this becomes a higher class Glen Mason Zone, which refers to how Minnesota got bored of Mason winning just a bit above the program’s historical average and going to annual bowls while not breaking through to something higher. Every other team in the East would probably trade their 2011-14 results for Georgia’s, and UGA is now generally expected to have the best season of any division team in 2015. But because this is how most post-Martinez era teams have been, UGA just doesn’t stand out too much.

And he’s not the only one who feels that way.  Here’s what Messrs. Feldman and Mandel have to say about picking Georgia to win the East (and maybe bigger things):

But most of all, Georgia is one of those teams that always makes us a little nervous to embrace. The Dawgs, after all, have averaged nearly 10 wins per year under Richt but have never played for a national title. Is this, his 15th Georgia team, really the one that will put it all together?

Eh, who knows.  Do you pick the door that says Law of Averages, or the one posted Exception that Proves the Rule?  As I’ve said before, it would simply be nice to change the conversation.

Disunion

The National Labor Relations Board announced that it will not uphold the lower office ruling that Northwestern players are employees of their school, which obviously means they can’t unionize.

The grounds it chose to stake that position are interesting.

Just as the nature of league sports and the NCAA’s oversight renders individual team bargaining problematic, the way that FBS football itself is structured and the nature of the colleges and universities involved strongly suggest that asserting jurisdiction in this case would not  promote stability in labor relations. Despite the similarities between FBS football and professional sports leagues, FBS is also a markedly different type of enterprise. In particular, of the roughly 125 colleges and universities that participate in FBS football, all but 17 are state-run institutions. As a result, the Board cannot assert jurisdiction over the vast majority of FBS teams because they are not operated by “employers” within the meaning of Section 2(2) of the Act.

In other words, the unique nature of college football saved itself here.  And so there is an indirect warning from the Board in the event the sport presents itself with a more unified structure in the future.

Further, we are declining jurisdiction only in this case involving the football players at Northwestern University; we therefore do not address what the Board’s approach might be to a petition for all FBS scholarship football players (or at least those at private colleges and universities).

There is no doubt that this is a big win for the NCAA and schools in the short term.  But in the longer term, there are some fascinating tradeoffs they may face, particularly if Kessler prevails in his litigation.  That’s a subject we’ll perhaps visit at another time, though.  In the meantime, we’ll have to wait and see if Stacey Osburn has any comment.

The toughest preseason post to write…

… may be the one ranking SEC quarterbacks.

Though on the plus side, things are so hazy right now that, once you get past Mississippi State, you can defend almost any order to them.

Georgia always gets his best game.

You may be surprised to hear this, but according to Stephen Garcia, it’s not Georgia that gets Spurrier the most pumped.  It’s his alma mater.

You guys obviously knew going into this game you could give USC something it’s never had before. Did this affect y’all’s preparation levels at all?

SG: “Not really. Coach Spurrier would ALWAYS be more pumped up the Florida than any other game. He won’t ever tell you but we as a team knew that. We just worked on the gameplan and stuck to it.”

Damn.  I’m a little offended by that, to tell you the truth.  Where’s the hate?

A couple of random regular season anticipatory thoughts

This is what reading Steele yesterday will bring ‘ya:

• Looking at Georgia’s schedule, from where I sit, the most formidable quarterback the Dawgs are likely to face this season is… Georgia Tech’s Justin Thomas.  That’s both a little different and a little scary.
• And while we’re on the topic of schedules, I know Tennessee is the trendy pick and Georgia the safe one to win the SEC East, but if things come down to scheduling – which is a nice way of saying Georgia spits the bit once more – how can you not choose Missouri to win the division again?  Really, if the Tigers upset the Dawgs on October 17, it’s hard to believe they won’t get to pack for Atlanta for the third straight year.

Your thoughts?

Concern troll expresses concern.

Russ Mitchell, who’s always been an enormous fan of the Georgia program, decides to ask the musical question, “How Much Will UGA Miss … Mason??“.  (Using two question marks is a nice touch, methinks.)

He doesn’t really have an answer, fans, but he wants you to know you’re in his thoughts.

Lace ‘em tight, my ass.

I cried because I had a quarterback controversy. Then I met a program who had no quarterbacks.

Greyson Lambert’s former program is in a very different place than his current one, that’s for sure.

No pressure, Matt Johns.

Good lookin’ Dawg

From Saturday’s Picture Day, meet Que, the grandson of Uga IX and the likely candidate to become Georgia’s next mascot.

The jersey looks a little baggy in places, but that’s something I’m sure will fill out once he gets in the weight room and works with a staff nutritionist.

“After 30 or 40 years, we expect you to name a building after yourself.”

If you’re intrigued by the concept of what a D-1 football program that paid more than lip service to academics would look like, here you go.