Today, in I don’t think that word means what you think it means

This is al.com’s idea of Greg Sankey “addressing” speculation on conference expansion:

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey declined to deny whether the conference has privately explored expanding in an attempt to be the first league with 16 teams.

“I’ll let others discuss expansion publicly,” Sankey said, adding that he thought he answered the question “directly.”

I doubt even Sankey believes that.

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Shit, AD, that’s all you had to say.

You know, if Greg McGarity had just said from the beginning that he needed a reserve fund to protect the department against his own lack of competency in hiring and firing coaches instead of making up some nonsensical excuse about having to pay student-athletes down the road, I might have been more understanding.

At least I would have applauded him for being realistic.

The Georgia Way: a definitional bleg

You know, I’ve mentioned before that the Lexicon badly needs an entry for The Georgia Way, but I’ve really struggled to come up with a succinct description.

A couple of recent things have come up that may have helped me sharpen my thoughts on the subject.  First, this tweet sent my way a few days ago:

@MummePoll Why do I find my self this off season slowly turning on Kirby? McGarity's poor PR and Kirby's paranoid decisions, the offseason is not fun.

— Karl McGrady (@hoodawg) April 19, 2017

Then, comes the news this morning that McGarity has seen fit to can the gymnastics coach he hired five years ago, right after she dismissed three players from the team, naturally.  I’m sure the program is just around the corner from greatness.

Anyway, a phrase popped into my head in response to both of those items, and the more I chew on it, the more it grows on me:  arrogance in the service of mediocrity.  I mean, arrogance is tolerable, if you’ve got something rightfully to be arrogant about, and, well, as a Georgia fan, I’ve certainly been familiar with my fair share of mediocrity.

It’s the combination of the two, along with the money fixation, that makes the Georgia Way special for me.  Am I off base with that, does it resonate with you, too, or is it just a decent start?

Second chance, with an asterisk

Greg Sankey puts a “not so fast, my friend” on the possibility of D’antne Demery to another SEC program.

“At the time of a National Letter of Intent is signed an SEC financial aid agreement is signed as well and in there is a recruiting prohibition. So the other schools in the league are prohibited in the league are prohibited from recruiting individuals who signed that agreement and that’s in place right now, for each signee.”

Whether that would apply if the individual in question spent a couple of years playing JUCO ball and then sought admission to an SEC school is a question for another day, but the way Sankey phrased that makes me think if Demery kept his nose clean, so to speak, he’d be able to work his way back.

“When I heard about it, it had a chilling effect on me.”

A school suing its own boosters for something to which it turned a blind eye in the past?  Yeah, I can see how that could be awkward.

“Almost all of our clients are acutely aware that they don’t want to end up a greeter outside a Las Vegas casino.”

Here’s a really good piece on the financial decisions kids who are fortunate enough to sign pro contracts face.  Many listen to good advice, but many don’t.

It’s something that schools ought to spend more time on with their student-athletes than they do.

“Now you can agree or disagree with that policy, but that’s the policy.”

When it comes to the SEC’s policy on selling alcohol in the general seating area, Greg Sankey’s not sayin’, he’s just sayin’.  If you know what I mean…

Just playin’ those mind games, together.

William Ham doesn’t think much of Kirby Smart’s motivational tactics.

Asked if he’d still be at Georgia if Blankenship had not beaten out for the starting kicking job, Ham said, “that’s a great question.” But clearly he doesn’t miss all the mind games.

“After Missouri, I didn’t really get a chance from the coaches at all,” said Ham, who fiished his career 3-for-7 on field goals and 10-of-10 on PATs. “Even when I got into practice Ole Miss week, I kicked with the 1s all week. To be honest with you, Rodrigo nor I knew who was going to start against Ole Miss on field goals. Rodrigo thought I was going to start field goals until five minutes before the first kickoff. The coaches weren’t being transparent with us. We didn’t have a clue who was going to start. They just put Rod in.”

Ham didn’t attempt a placement kick again the rest of the season. He did handle some kickoffs the final two games of the season.

“Things happen,” Ham said. “The past is the past. So, honestly, just the combination of Rod’s good performance and the coaches not giving me another live chance, there just was no reason to go anymore. I had other opportunities, so I pursued that.”

Sour grapes?  Maybe.  Ham does acknowledge that Rodrigo played well after being given the lead role by Smart.  But for a coach who prides himself on being honest, an accusation of a lack of transparency isn’t a good look.  I wonder if Smart will have a response for that (internally, that is — I’d be surprised if he discussed this in public).

The NCAA’s crack research staff

If you remember the chain of events that led to A.J. Green’s suspension a few years ago, this should resonate.

According to former Mason employees, once the school was able to establish amateurism, the NCAA moved on to an issue with Mayimba’s age. His official documents, including his birth certificate and passport, indicated he was 18 years old and therefore eligible to play at George Mason. However, Hewitt and Mayimba said the player signed up for an online dating site when Mayimba was 16. To be accepted for the service, Mayimba stated he was 18 at the time, which the NCAA accepted as proof Mayimba was actually 20 when he intended to enroll at George Mason.

“Literally the smoking gun, if you will, was the dating website,” Hewitt said. “Therence had logged into that and said he was 18 years old when he was actually 16 years old. All his official documentation was verified by all the necessary agencies, yet the NCAA rejects it.”

TMZ and dating websites.  Yep, these guys leave no stone unturned.

Today, in STFU

You’d think that hiring a strength coach who oversaw a process that led to three players going to the hospital, got suspended for a month as a result and caused the school to restrict his control over his own S&C program would be enough to make a head coach sensitive enough to avoid discussing the subject, but that’s not how Willie Taggert rolls.

He maintains that media accounts at the time mischaracterized the nature of the workouts and believes neither he nor Oderinde acted improperly.

“We know we didn’t do anything to try to hurt our kids. We’d done [the same program] everywhere we’ve been and never had a problem,” Taggart said. “I think our guys just overworked themselves and didn’t hydrate. … They were trying to impress the new coaches.”

Player shaming.  It’s what you do when you’re a dumbass head coach ineptly trying to cover his own ass.  See if those kids are willing to run through a wall for you in the future, Coach.