… it’s time to take it out on the media.
Freshman defensive back Deangelo Gibbs sustained an apparent injury in practice on Thursday.
It was witnessed by reporters during one of Georgia’s two open media periods.
So several wrote about what appeared to be an upper body injury.
Coach Kirby Smart was none-too-pleased afterwards when he was asked about the injury.
“Well, considering I haven’t had a lot of time to talk to the trainers, but it’s nice to know that you guys have found it in your hearts to report it,” Smart said. “So his mom has to find out from you guys rather than from us, which upsets me a little bit to be honest with you. I don’t think it’s really fair.”
Georgia does not have a policy that injuries seen while the practice is open to the media are not supposed to be reported. It does have a policy about no social media or message board posts from practice and no phone calls allowed.
Smart indicated he plans to implement a rule regarding injury reports.
“We’ll make some changes for you guys and try to handle that a little better from now on,” Smart said.
Gulp. Sounds ominous. What’s the Sanford Stadium equivalent of Seat 37F?
Get The Picture 
South stands men’s room / press box?
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Seat 37F is any seat outside of club and SkyBox areas. None of us matter except to write a check each year for the privilege of sitting with the rest of the serfs. But be sure to get said checks in though, right Greg?
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Isn’t it the reporters job to ASK about the injury? Sheesh.
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Yes, and to me that is the point. See, Macallanlover’s post below. The press sees ‘what appears to be an upper body injury” and immediately rush to tweet about it without finding out any other information. I heard that it was a relatively minor hand injury, but who knows? Not that many people seem to be interested in the actual facts; it’s much more fun to to be irritated with Kirby’s testiness. 😉
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The press witnessed; you “heard”, which I presume means second-hand info at best. Somehow that makes a first-hand account from people who do it for a living less credible?
And if you believe Kirby’s upset because the injury occurred in a different place than what was reported, I’ve still got that oceanfront property in Hahira on the market, if you’re interested. 😉
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The press do not make medical interpretations for a living. Or at least they are not supposed to. I take Kirby at his word that he was upset not about the location (that was me) but because the mom found out from press reports instead of medical personnel – and having watched the presser Kirby was only responding to a question asked by the press; it wasn’t as if it was on his agenda at the outset. I guess it’s horrible that he expresses his opinion like that. And finally, at 225 feet above mean sea level, Hahira probably isn’t too many years away from being beachfront property. Invest now while it’s still cheap! 🙂
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Since when do you have to be a doctor to tell if someone’s hurt? As a dad, that’s a call I had to make with my kids all the time.
I don’t really care about Kirby expressing his opinion — it’s a free country — but I am amused at the heavy hint he drops at the end of that quote.
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Evidently Kirby didn’t hear what you heard.
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Man, Kirby needs to win big. He’s got the attitude down, now he just needs a lot of wins to go with it.
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If he doesn’t win enough, you can bet the media personnel he has pissed off will be sure to highlight his short-comings.
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+1
I see absolutely no benefit to pissing off the media. None. It makes no sense to be this arrogant especially if you don’t have the wins to go with it.
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He aint just “not got the wins” he lost to vandy and tech at home last year.
Fish Fry out coached him in his own place.
Derek Mason out coached him.
Butch, please out coached him.
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37F to a Georgia beat reporter would be to stand in line for concessions and to use the restrooms with the 92k rather than the press box amenities. Can we get Kirby to put Bradley, Schultz, and Barnhart permanently on that list?
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YES!! Ban them!!!
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Add Chip Towers too.
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Yea, and make them put up with the parking nightmare like the rest of us rubes.
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As always, we sincerely appreciate these helpful suggestions from our fans. Rest assured, we are already in front of this.
We are announcing that beginning with the 2017 season, we will debut the the Furman Bisher Atlanta Media Pavilion. For our esteemed Atlanta media colleagues, we have re-purposed two rows in Section 144 between our 1986 Magnavox scoreboard speakers, our Big Ass Fans®, and our guest opponent’s band.
We have meticulously selected this very strategic location, offering views of both sidelines and our construction crane to encourage publicity for donations to our new West End Zone project. We have also committed to providing access to the same high-quality temporary restroom, concession stand, cellular coverage, and Wi-Fi enjoyed by our fans.
Finally, we are announcing the conversion of half of the Larry Munson press-box to the Larry Munson Sky Suite and Cigar Bar. We will open our corporate tenant bidding process in early May.
#COMMITTOTHEG
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I have no issue with the reporters passing along injury news but feel they should also indicate they have no confirmed info about severity until they speak to team trainers/coaches. What I do feel crosses the line is getting an email this morning with a headline that UGA had a player leave the team only to find out, after clicking to see who, that it was a walk-on who was unable to threaten even last year’s place kickers for playing time on the field…including Ham. I appreciate he chose UGA to walk-on, and his efforts but an email alert to say he was leaving? Talk about “too much information” on steroids!
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I see Kirby’s point here…
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I actually do too. As usual, though, it’s about his tone and delivery
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Did the kid die? Is he paralyzed?
Because those are the only situations where the pearl-clutching over dear sweet momma having to hear about it in a practice report instead of in an anxious phone call from a concerned coach is even close to justified. Kirby is angry about something he can’t control and he’s trying to manipulate the heart strings of the fans to gain control over it. Give me a break. The ONLY way this would make any sense is if we were getting ready to play a game and he was concerned about injury info getting to the opposition. We’re not. The Black team saw it happen. They know the Red team might be down a DB.
Kirby’s act with the media and fans is already getting old for me. I’m a former reporter so I’m more sensitive to it than some, but I have to imagine that it’s wearing on a lot of other people too. I want to love him unconditionally because not only is he our coach, but he’s also a Georgia man. But sheesh. He makes it tough. Better win, Kirby. You can’t get away with the Saban impression for too long if you’re going to make me walk out of Sanford Stsdlum as a loser to Vanderbilt.
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I think it was more getting a general point across than him being truly upset about this particular incident. Sorry if this offends you as a former reporter, but the media in general these days is pretty much shit. Most will post whatever they think will garner the most clicks with no proof/research or a single thought of who might be hurt by it. I have absolutely no problem with Kirby’s attitude towards the clowns at the AJC. I would probably do the same.
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A reporter was invited to watch a portion of practice. The reporter saw something of interest and reported.
Coach goes clown, bro.
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+1
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About like watching 5 minutes of a movie and then publishing a summary of the whole thing. Responsible thing to do would have been to ask about it in the press conference to get more details before reporting…. but what do clowns know about responsibility bro? So what this time it was minor. Don’t even pretend like if a player went down with a serious spinal or neck injury (Lord forbid) that every writer at the AJC would be racing to get it posted, with no regard to the family of said player and how they got the news. Coach has and made a valid point, bro.
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Do yourself a favor and don’t believe everything your favorite politician tells you about the media. He or she is trying to keep you from reading what they report.
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Add favorite media talking head to that list as well.
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Most politicians are more worthless than members of the media. Thanks, but I’m a big enough boy now to form my own opinions about the media and politics, without considering what I’m fed by “one way or another” completely biased networks trying to push their own agendas on the masses. Do yourself a favor and try it out sometime
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LOL
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My thoughts exactly! Enjoy your weekend. Go Dawgs!
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I agree with you. Furthermore, Kirby should be pissed off at himself for not reacting right away to call Momma if it was that big of an issue. And for not having a rule in place about confirming injuries before reporting them. Kirby’s a jerk a lot of the time, it seems, which I guess is part of the deal if you’re a football coach.
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Oh, I dunno, the national champion up on Lake Hartwell doesn’t seem to feel the need to be a jerk when he talks to the press.
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Let me go on record right now as saying that when the change was made in 2015 to can CMR and hire someone new, I stated that UGA needed to hire a coach with HC experience who had a successful resume. The national champion coach up on Lake Hartwell was one of those that I had in mind. Instead we get Mark Richt 2.0, a career assistant with no HC experience, who makes in-game blunders that lose games. That is exactly how we lost to UT and Vandy in 2016. You will never convince me that Dabbo only wins 7 regular season games with the talent on the UGA roster last year.
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Solid points. To be fair, though, Dabo had never even been a coordinator when he was hired to be head coach at Clemson.
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True. But he has a lot of HC experience now. Let’s all hope that the Kirby hire turns out as well for Georgia as the Dabo hire has at Clemmons.
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I was going to post this (except for the part about being a former reporter), but since you did…
Kirby better win big, because it’s tough to tolerate assholes who don’t.
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Apparently the Dawgs won’t tolerate a saint if he doesn’t win big, either.
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He did last 15 years…
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I guess nothing lasts forever anymore.
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That’s a really dumb comment. Do you think if the previous guy hadn’t won 2 SEC championships, played for another, had multiple top 5 final rankings, owned our rivals (except 1), and took his team to 3 Sugar Bowls in his first 7 years he would have been here beyond 2006?
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See Donnan, Jim.
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Ding ding ding!
Kirby is a dickhead to the media. I’m very tired of it. Better fucking win soon.
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I applaud Kirby, and Saban, for sharing their thoughts and feelings honestly. It seems that politically correct, thin skinned reporters and others cry out like little girls whenever a frank discussion or comment with a hint of conflict is uttered.
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This…buncha snowflakes…
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I appreciate his honesty, too. That does not mean of have to like his arrogance.
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Yep, seems people have forgotten there’s a difference.
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“It seems that politically correct, thin skinned reporters and others cry out like little girls…”
But a coach whining about reporters is more masculine and ‘thick’ skinned. Got it.
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+1
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So far, Kirby’s following the path of every other Sabanite flameout coach.
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Kirby just needs to tell these damn reporters to stay off his lawn. Mostly he is just pissed that he has to have time for this sh*t.
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Kirby is thin skinned. Injury into is something that reporters cover. It wasn’t a debilitating injury so it is not like they told Mama anything scary. Devon Gales’ family saw his injury on television as did Rambo’s do they time delay games so the coach can stop and call Mama?
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I kind of shrug my shoulders at this. But I do think it is funny that it’s a win-win for Kirby. He gets to act indignant toward the press – which he evidently enjoys – and he gets to endear himself to the mothers of players/recruits.
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Not to mention that part of the fan base that hates the media.
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I don’t dislike the media, but sometimes a reporter asks for it. If you think there is some connection between dislike of one for an action(s) and the entire press corps, you would associate wrongly.
I liked Don Lemon for the longest, but when I saw him trying to emulate racial leaders on camera, it turned me off. I could see why some people I disagreed with at the time would have an issue with him and the media, but I kind of miss him since he has been taken out of the limelight. These things are transient, Senator, but you know that anyway.
I don’t disagree that part of the fan base is antimedia, but individual cases of dislike for differing reasons shouldn’t be categorized generally. I think that this instance is one of particular interest to us such that many of us side with Smart, but what he says to all while threatening the media shouldn’t be confining of his opinion of an individual(s) (even though he threatens and may be a poser on this issue). Either way, haven’t you noticed that unfavorable opinion of the media is becoming passe’ when led by the Dumbo running this country?
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You mean that there are still people who DON’T hate the media?
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I don’t see it as a win-win for Kirby. He is developing a bad relationship with the press, and they are starting to be a bit more negative about him. If he doesn’t have a good season, they will throw gasoline on the fire next offseason.
If you win like Saban you can be a dick to the media, but if you are working through somethings and need a bit more time you better have them in your pocket.
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This attitude works when you win.
Without the winning, it wears thin on everyone
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So ‘reporters’ attending these very brief practice visits aren’t allowed to actually ‘report’ what they see. When did Bagdad Bob become our head coach?
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What ever did happen to Bagdad Bob? While I hope we killed him, if he did survive the spider hole searches, he could certainly fir in well with Putin and Assad these days.
For the other comments in this thread, if anyone is not anti-media these past few years, they have missed a gazillion opportunities and never will be. They have made politicians look honorable.
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Let us remind you that reporters have a legal right to file a FOIA request on player injuries.
The Georgia Way will honor these requests and will respond within the guidelines of HIPAA and the 90-day timeframe mandated by the State of Georgia.
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FOIA, or the GA equivalent since FOIA is a federal law, only applies to documents. In addition, student medical records are normally protected from release under two federal laws, HIPAA and FERPA. I believe that athletes are required to sign a waiver which includes FERPA and HIPAA; another way that athletes are not like regular students.
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Thank you Nashville for the additional cover and your #COMMITMENTTOTHEG. 😉
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For 15 years everyone complains about having Mr. Niceguy as a coach. Now everyone complains that Kirby is too mean. Which is it fellas? Or is it more just looking for anything to complain about until said coach starts winning championships?
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I don’t think people are complaining “Kirby is too mean.” People are saying, “Win first and act like a jackass to the media as much as you want later.”
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“The media” is a broad bunch and we can’t paint them all with the same brush..I just wish they’d do their job. By that I mean this..It’s not what the media (misnomer anyway..esp. in politics) reports that bothers me, it’s what they don’t report. Remember finding out about the NCAA investigation and conviction of the GT football program? We found out the day it was completed. Great reporting there..I doubt UGA would have gotten the same consideration. There are a few good journalists..very few.
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