Perhaps liberated from chasing clicks by his move to The Athletic (for more on that, if you subscribe, you should read baseball beat writer David O’Brien’s remarkable introduction here), Jeff Schultz ($$) has a great line about where the Georgia program is at now:
Year 3 is about handling success. It’s the same situation Saban deals with, the only difference being Georgia’s problem has seldom been, “How do we handle success?”
Remember, peeps, just because it’s sad doesn’t mean it’s not true.
Get The Picture 
I am beginning to take a hard look at the Athletic. The journalism appears to be solid. Anybody have a subscription and what do you think?
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I do. Now that there’s an Atlanta section, it’s got everything I need. And no annoying ads or pop ups.
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What is your password?
I won’t tell anyone..
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I have one too. Followed Emerson over there. Very solid writing and no videos, god I hate videos. I definitely think it’s worth the money.
Provide quality, they will come.
His password is: zitgetit
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I signed up maybe a month ago and really like it. Seth did an OK job covering the Bulldogs while he was at the AJC, but his coverage at the Athletic is on another level.
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Absolutely worth the money, in my view.
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I never pay for websites, but I did for this one and I’ve been satisfied. I don’t read it that much, but when I do, it’s almost always good writing. Also, zero ads makes it very easy to read/scan.
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I bought in early. Worth every dime
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…’just because it’s sad doesn’t mean it’s not true…..’ The roots of soulful country music.
Merle Haggard singing about getting locked up for life but innocent of the crime.
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Check out Chris Knight’s “Framed”.
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Hope there’ll still be someone to churn out the quick stories…hopefully DOB will keep up his Tweets.
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Dang it, I’m going to end up subscribing to the Athletic aren’t I?
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I subscribed, first site I’ve ever paid to read. Only one I will pay for until the Senator puts up a paywall.
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You’re safe. 🙂
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Jeff Schultz joining The Athletic makes me much less likely to subscribe. I don’t care that he slags on Georgia and the Braves as a matter of reflex. That’s his schtick and I get that. My objection to him is that he’s lazy. Anyone can be snarky about the hometown team. Writing a Schultz column has to be the easiest thing in sports media.
Is he right about the fact that Georgia’s situation hasn’t been “how do we handle the success of getting to the national title game?” Absolutely. But the first half of the Mark Richt era absolutely was about “how do we handle success” and Georgia fell short a lot in that time. Georgia had success in the back half of his tenure as well. Indeed, the 2013 and 2014 seasons were coming off of a very successful season in 2012 that was more or less the same ending as 2017, just without the title game being called the actual title game. That wasn’t that long ago. So, another lazy statement by Schultz has teed me off again. I don’t know why I’d pay to let him make my eyes roll, or to read Seth Emerson complain about being a sportswriter.
That said, I might pay to read DOB’s stuff.
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FWIW, Schultz’ linked piece is very complimentary.
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You think it was purely schtick at the AJC, and now he has a different outlook/motivation at a pay site? Or, do you think he’s changed his stripes because he really can’t rationally poke much fun at Georgia right now?
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I can’t speak specifically for Shultz, but I think all the writers are now given freedom to generate more traditional “sports writing” like we used to see years ago. Stories are longer, more detailed, and dig into a subject. There are still the quick takes, mail bags and such, which is nice. But if you have time to sit down and read, you can find some good writing there. Newspapers (and especially newspaper websites) don’t have that luxury anymore.
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Fair.
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I’ve never gotten this attitude regarding Schultz or Bradley. You guys act like they’re Terence Moore for crying out loud.
Schultz breaks balls sometimes, but he usually just tells the truth about the Dawgs and Braves, even if it was filtered through Cox Media’s dumbed-down media machine.
I appreciate someone providing the harsh truths, like Mark Richt may be a good man, but he underachieved at UGA. Or that Todd Grantham may coach defense better than Soft Willie Martinez, but he’s an unhinged caveman.
If you think Jeff Schultz carries a bias against a team, or runs down the Dawgs and Braves, that says more about you than about him.
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Agreed. I’ve enjoyed his articles. Of course he’s going to say something that I disagree with every now and then. I just don’t carry the outrage that others do. I just put down the internet and walk away.
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I have to disagree. “Trembling Chihuahuas” seemed pretty biased to me, not a “harsh truth.” When someone makes a living trying to be clever at your expense, he’s as bad as or worse than Terence Moore. Fuck Schultz and the horse that rode him.
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Agreed glad I’ve saved my money.
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DOB has to be one of the best beat writers in MLB. I know it won’t happen but I’d love for him to turn his attention to UGA.
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Right, and I’m going to miss “beat writers” when they finally go away. Like everyone else, I enjoy the in-depth pieces, but what I want most is news. News is what beat writers have provided, as long as I can remember. The in-depth stuff gets way too sappy and opinionated sometimes.
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Well, I’ve read that now Jason Butt has left the beat for the Atlhetic. Can anyone confirm this?
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He’s gone there to cover the Falcons.
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In the SEC East, success used to be beating your instate rival, stealing a game from UF once every Halley’s comet, and achieving preseason top 5 rankings, and completing a 5 city summer media tour with fans and getting a poster. Thank God for Kirby & staff for putting those days in the rearview mirror and for making SEC Champ Games and CFP Invites the new norm. Consider the hatchet buried.
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I always thought Schultz’s friday football picks column with his take on some comedy was a decent read.
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Agreed…hope he’ll continue those columns in his new vehicle.
Meanwhile…as to The Atlantic…like the singer in the song “Centerfold”: “I guess I gotta buy it.”
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42 bucks for year 1, plus a free T-shirt…really not bad…I mean, a free T Shirt is worth a buck or two.
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I signed up this morning.
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Did you get a free trial? I clicked for the free trial but it looked like it wanted to peg me for the annual subscription right away. I have no problem paying, but I want to try before I buy.
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News papers have become dependent on “click bait” for their revenue stream. Sounds like The Athletic doesn’t need to generate revenue with sexy headlines or whatever.
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Everyone’s endorsement of The Athletic is making me think about it … the problem is I don’t want to give Jeff Schultz one dime of my money.
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I’ve been subscribed a while now, even before Seth came on. It’s getting better and better literally on almost a daily basis. They’ve added probably 15-20 local CFB writers just in the past couple of months, plus Bruce Feldman.
And it’s all encompassing – you sign up and you get access to all writers in all sports. I’ve actually enjoyed some of the NBA and MLB coverage, even tho I don’t follow either closely. And their soccer coverage is good too, tho I know there’s not a lot of soccer fans here.
Long story short, subscribe, you’ll like it.
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Jeff Schultz has the distinction of being the only person I can remember whom
mark Richt somewhat publicly called out which tells me a lot
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Either you’re confusing him with Chuck Oliver, or you’ve missed an example.
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It was the self-proclaimed king of CFB, Oliver.
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Clempsun is not recruiting at the same level we are (at least in #s). Sorry Pollack.
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