Consider the flood gates officially opened.
Daily Archives: March 19, 2019
Name that caption, one of these is unlike the others edition
Go right ahead, folks.
Filed under Name That Caption
Kirby’s presser
Something old.
Something new.
(Somebody’s been reading some Bill Connelly, it appears.)
Something borrowed (from PAWWWLLL!!!).
(Of course, he doesn’t say whether he has a relationship issue with anyone else in Tuscaloosa, so I guess we’ll await further news from Finebaum.)
Something blue.
I didn’t think it was possible, but Mr. Impose Your Will has managed to make Mike Bobo and Mike Leach spin simultaneously in their graves. Rhetorically speaking, that is.
Filed under Georgia Football
Anything we can do to help.
Kirby’s rolling out the red carpet for a good cause.
Oregon may be on a two-week hiatus from spring practice but Mario Cristobal and his coaching staff are on the road working in SEC country.
Cristobal brought the entire Oregon coaching staff to Tuscaloosa to attend Alabama’s practice and meet with the Crimson Tide coaching staff on Monday and then headed to Athens, Ga. to meet with Georgia’s coaching staff and attend the Bulldogs’ first spring practice, according to a source with knowledge of the staff’s trip.
Coaching staffs routinely visit other teams throughout the country during the offseason but what’s of particular note for Oregon’s staff is its visits are to the two biggest rivals of Auburn, its season-opening opponent.
Probably just a coincidence, Gus.
Filed under Alabama, Auburn's Cast of Thousands, Georgia Football
Send in the lawyers
This is interesting on the surface, but I’m not certain where it leads.
A former NCAA investigator launched an advocacy group for college athletes Monday. The College Athlete Advocacy Initiative plans to offer legal advice to athletes, as well as pursue campaigns to help them share in the billions of dollars generated by college sports, according to the group’s founder, attorney Tim Nevius. Initial funding was provided by Urban Justice Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy group in New York.
… “The calls I’ve gotten in the last year convinced me this was needed,” he said, citing players in major conferences who are verbally abused by coaches, coerced into giving up their scholarships and prevented from transferring. “And every athlete I talk to says, ‘What can I do about this?’”
The new entity will assist players in all of those areas, Nevius said, with a network of legal volunteers. It will also work to abolish the letter-of-intent, which ties players to a program even if their recruiting coach changes schools…
You can’t shame the NCAA and we know it’s not going to sit back helplessly in the face of threatened litigation “to help them share in the billions of dollars generated by college sports”. Although I will be curious to see where a campaign against the NLI goes; waking up a generation of Roquan Smiths could be interesting to watch.
The other issue of interest will be how heavy-handed the NCAA’s response to the CAAI is, if the latter starts to gain traction. If high schoolers and their families use the new group to bargain at signing time, does the NCAA go so far as to declare recruits ineligible if they retain the organization’s services? Color me skeptical but interested for the time being.
***************************************************************************
UPDATE: This kind of ups the ante.
According to the organization’s press release, assistance will be provided to families and athletes for issues related to “financial aid cancellations, transfer penalties, harmful recruiting practices, health and safety concerns and abuse and mistreatment.”
The organization plans to develop “a strategic advocacy campaign, including athlete-led demonstrations, to raise awareness of critical issues.”
“Demonstrations can be anything from wearing particular socks or wrist bands to taking a knee to raising a fist all the way to boycotting a game,” said Tim Nevius, CAAI founder and executive director. [Emphasis added.]
Filed under The NCAA
The talent, she burns.
247Sports pre-spring depth chart projections:
We’re four classes in to the Kirby Smart recruiting era, and I continue to be stunned every time I look at the depth that’s been amassed up and down the offensive line. Rowe writes, “Georgia fans had better enjoy Thomas while they can”, but, whereas five years ago that would have given me a real sense of panic over what Georgia might plug in to replace a top ten in the draft-type talent, now it does nothing but give me confidence that Pittman will find a way to plug and play. Amazing.
Defensively, more of the same. Georgia has to replace an all-American talent, just like it did the season before, but there is a ton of depth at every position waiting to emerge — just look at names like Divaad Wilson at the top of the chart at the STAR position. My biggest concern right now might be injuries on the defensive line. Marshall’s limited and Smart’s obviously worried about Jordan Davis staying in shape to be a significant contributor.
What are your takeaways?
Filed under Georgia Football
“And it’s just ridiculous and absurd.”
NCAA, when you’ve lost Dickie V…
It’s time for the NCAA to pay student-athletes.
Take a look at Zion. Why shouldn’t he play and get paid? It’s a cesspool—guys hustling kids, hustling dollars. Let me tell you this: We can solve that in a heartbeat. A kid like Zion, let him be allowed to get those dollars. He can make appearances, he can endorse a product. We got a tournament going on, and everyone’s making millions. Let those kids be able to benefit! It eliminates all that dirty stuff that goes on behind the scenes, and it’s there. Let’s face it. You’ve got coaches getting fired for taking bribes, or to make believe and lie on an application that the kid’s an athlete. It’s a cesspool!
All that’s left is for Tony Barnhart to come out in favor of paying players, I guess.
Filed under The NCAA
Get The Picture 