Donald De La Haye’s response to being declared ineligible is pure gold.
Like I said, 24-carat.
Daily Archives: August 3, 2017
He’ll make a great coach one day.
This is as good a summary of Georgia’s offensive philosophy as you could ask for:
“You’ll see a hard-nosed, physical team. Including the offensive line from the receivers to the running backs,” Michel said. “Georgia is going to do what Georgia is always going to do: Run the football. And other people have to stop the run.”
Michel paused.
“ Also,” he said, “We’re going to throw the football too.”
Hell, maybe they should let Sony call plays.
Filed under Georgia Football
Remember, it’s not what’s on the back of the jersey that matters.
Behold, the next big thing in collegiate money raising.
Temple University has a new spin on fundraising that is something right out of NASCAR: A $50,000 donation will allow donors to sponsor one of nine Owls football player numbers this season.
The program, called “The 9,” is “considered to be the highest honor an Owl can earn,” according to a news release issued this week by the school. The other “exclusive benefits” include travel on the team plane to one away game, a custom jersey and “interaction with your assigned student-athlete throughout the year.”
I mean, there’s a quick half million. (For those of you wondering how to put a price tag on a player’s likeness, it seems you now have your answer. From a school!) How awesome is that? Well, if you’re a player, maybe not so much.
Granted, the player who wears the sponsored number is barred under the NCAA’s amateurism rules from receiving any of the $50,000 directly, although the school points out the tax-deductible donations will benefit academic and career resources, nutrition programs for student-athletes and facility upgrades, among other things.
“What exactly is the individual student athlete getting for the extra time he must interact with this donor and the “sponsorship” of the jersey he’s wearing? The answer is nothing, beyond the exact same athletic scholarship that is also rewarded to athletes who generate no money for Temple and are not asked to deal with individual sponsors,” said Edward Kian, Oklahoma State professor. “This is all seemingly permissible under NCAA rules and is sound business strategy, but it is clear that Temple is exploiting these numbers and specifically the student athletes assigned to wear them.”
Lighten up, Frances. It’s all part of the educational process, amirite? Just something else those kids signed up for, even if they didn’t know they signed up for it. Hey, if a student-athlete refused to interact with his number’s sponsor, would that be considered a violation of team rules?
The hypocrisy is so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
Filed under It's Just Bidness
“In our defensive scheme we’re trying to put them in the right spot from the beginning.”
It’s just a brief snippet about where they’re deploying the true freshmen defensive backs, but it’s still interesting to hear Kirby Smart’s philosophy on the subject.
As for Georgia’s seven freshman defensive backs, head coach Kirby Smart hopes to have them locked in one particular position as they learn the defense…
… The object, Smart said, is to build a foundation behind the experienced defensive backs who figure to see the most playing time in 2017.
“The older guys do the mixing and matching and get those freshmen in a spot to provide depth or compete for a starting job,” Smart said.
As someone still scarred by the memory of watching Georgia’s 2013 secondary — hell, Georgia’s 2013 entire defense — trying to figure out where to line up, I’m down with locking in one particular position as they learn the defense.
Filed under Georgia Football, Strategery And Mechanics
The NCAA’s always gonna NCAA.
I’d say words fail me about this story, except you know there’s something coming ’round the next bend that’ll be even stupider.
Filed under The NCAA
Better coaching?
Evidently there’s an app for that.
I asked Smart after practice Tuesday what steps he’d taken in the offseason to foster his own improvement.
“I talked to a lot of head coaches,” Smart said. “I always do that. I don’t like getting specific about who because that’s not really fair to them. But we ordered some things, a couple of things we bought through the athletic department that we think will help us in two-minute situations and situations that occur throughout the year in the NFL and in college football. As a coach you’re always trying to grow. You want to see how guys managed or mismanaged situations, so when that situation comes up for you, you’re more prepared to manage it.” [Emphasis added.]
I guess that’s cheaper than hiring another analyst.
Filed under Georgia Football
Control freaky-deaky
The University of Texas — read that as head coach Tom Herman — has just decreed that beat writers who cover the Longhorns may not post on social media during post-practice interviews.
“Our hope is that you would take time to review your post and re-listen to the questions and answers in an effort to increase accuracy and insure the necessary context in each of your social media reports.
“We hope this will not only allow everyone more time to craft those commentaries/reports, but also allow necessary time to absorb full context,” the statement continued. “It also will be beneficial in providing full attention for follow-up questions or the next line of questioning during the actual interviews. Thank you in advance for adhering to this new policy.”
It’s good to see that Herman’s already got things going so swimmingly for his program that he’s now got time to teach the media how to do their jobs, too.
Meanwhile, in Athens, Greg McGarity silently wonders if Herman may have been Georgia material after all.
We’re gonna need a bigger nickname.
Holy crap. Former UK quarterback Jared Lorenzen now weighs more than 500 pounds.
Filed under The Body Is A Temple
“You buy a keg for $75 and sell it for $1,400.”
My favorite part of the booze industry’s rapid takeover of college sports marketing is the statement of the obvious — “It’s the inevitability of the profitability, which is extraordinary” — coupled with the traditional “don’t let alcohol near the innocent young” sanctimony, with the SEC naturally leading the way:
With the rise in beer marketing has come a level of inconsistency and, sometimes, hypocrisy as schools and conferences try to figure out how much to regulate it. Where there’s a restriction on beer sales or marketing at a college facility, there’s often a contradiction nearby.
The SEC has been adamant about not selling any alcoholic beverages at its athletic venues, but the conference does allow it in club seats and suites, at least one of which is sponsored by a spirits brand — Woodford Reserve Club at Kentucky’s Kroger Field. Other schools, such as LSU and Missouri, have experimented with selling beer within beer gardens just outside the stadium, which enables them to rake in the revenue while staying within the bounds of the conference rules.
That’s your SEC today, peeps: no beer sales in the stands, but bourbon-infused naming in the club seats. Still, those sweet, sweet liquor dollars really do seem inevitable, even in the Bible Belt. I’m looking forward to hearing the spin Greg Sankey puts out on the day the conference officially renounces its current rule. I wonder how long it will take Georgia to change its policy after that occurs.
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