Bubba’s in black

Imagine you’re from Tennessee.  It’s likely you had issues with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee in support of Black Lives Matter.

That was then.  This is now.

#Tennessee HC Jeremy Pruitt announced the #Vols are in discussions to wear black jerseys against #Kentucky this season and the jerseys would then be auctioned off to raise money for Black Lives Matter pic.twitter.com/WB8jG9gy9g

— JDF Sports (@JDFSports) June 18, 2020

Man, I hope Lulu and Junior don’t get whiplash from the sudden change in direction.

Advertisement

Go, and Gator Bait no more

Didn’t see this coming…

The University of Florida will no longer play its “Gator Bait” cheer at football games or other sporting events because of the “horrific historic racist imagery associated with the phrase,” UF president Kent Fuchs announced Thursday.

“While I know of no evidence of racism associated with our ‘Gator Bait’ cheer at UF sporting events, there is horrific historic racist imagery associated with the phrase,” Fuchs wrote in a letter to the UF community about some of the steps the university is taking amidst national conversations about race following George Floyd’s death.

“Accordingly University Athletics and the Gator Band will discontinue the use of the cheer.”

The phrase’s racial history includes instances of black people being referred to as alligator bait, according to Ferris State University’s Jim Crow Museum. The museum’s website shows several examples of art and articles referencing or showing black children —sometimes referred to by derogatory terms — as a way to lure alligators in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Yeah… that’s a little awkward.

Now, if only somebody could find something equally embarrassing in the Gator Chomp’s history, we’d really be on the way to making the world a better place.

Goodbye, Belk Bowl. Hello…

👋 @DukesMayonnaise pic.twitter.com/AfA4KJVfBz

— Duke's Mayo Bowl (@belkbowl) June 18, 2020

I really don’t want to think about what’s it’s gonna look like at game’s end when they dump the contents of the Gatorade bucket on the winning coach.

“I was a dumbass. I put the shirt on, not knowing enough about the shirt.”

This is the way to admit a screw up.

"I was a dumbass. I put the shirt on, not knowing enough about the shirt."

Mike Gundy reflects on everything that happened after a picture of him wearing an OAN t-shirt surfaced online. pic.twitter.com/4A9hsiBIdG

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) June 18, 2020

And if I were one of his players, I’d appreciate him for making the effort.

Will the schedule be the difference in the SEC East in 2020?

Athlon, to one’s surprise, is picking Florida to top Georgia and win the division.  (“Picking between Florida and Georgia for the top spot in the East Division was the toughest prediction of the preseason for Athlon Sports.”)

So, it’s tough and here’s what sounds like the deciding edge:

The East is likely to come down to the annual showdown in Jacksonville, but Florida has an easier crossover (LSU) than Georgia, and road trips to Tennessee and Ole Miss are manageable.

Color me confused.  If the Cocktail Party is make or break, then why do the other issues matter?  I don’t get the easier crossover reference there — is that supposed to mean LSU at Gainesville is easier than Auburn at Athens? — but I’m not sure it matters.  Look at it this way:  if the Dawgs lose to Alabama while Florida holds serve against Ole Miss (that’s the easier crossover), and have no other conference losses on the slate come Jacksonville time, then a fourth win in a row against the Gators leaves Georgia in the divisional driver’s seat, just as it would if both somehow came in undefeated, or each with one loss.

If the annual showdown in Jacksonville is determinative, then the other games are just commentary.  I suppose “likely” is a hedge, but if the folks at Athlon see the Dawgs losing two conference games besides Florida, they ought to come out and pick the winners.

Rubes has the NCAA’s back.

Senator Marco Rubio is ready to step in and do something for the kids.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said he is planning to introduce a bill Thursday that would require the NCAA to make rule changes regarding college athletes’ ability to make money from their name, image and likeness and give the association protection from legal challenges to the new regulations.

The first thing you should know about this is that his bill, if enacted, would require the NCAA to make those changes no later than June 30, 2021, which happens to be the day before his home state’s NIL legislation takes effect.

The second thing you should know is that the NCAA should be happy to comply with Rubio’s wishes.

Under the bill, the NCAA would have the latitude to make rules “as are deemed necessary” to:

►“preserve the amateur status of student athletes.”

►“ensure appropriate recruitment of prospective student athletes”

►“prevent illegitimate activity with respect to any third party seeking to recruit of retain student athletes … including any third party” that has “a prior or existing association, either formally or informally” with a school or that has “a prior or existing financial involvement with respect to” college sports.

The latter provision, Rubio said, is intended to prevent “boosters from using this as a way to recruit or retain students.” It is not intended to prevent athletes from making deals with companies that have, or have had, contracts with schools, and Rubio is hoping NCAA will craft policies benefiting athletes.

To shield the NCAA and schools from lawsuits, the bill says “no cause of action shall lie or be maintained in any court” against them for adopting rules under the measure. Because the bill is directing the the NCAA and schools to make these changes, Rubio believes it makes sense to provide them with this legal safe harbor. The association has faced numerous antitrust suits, and a new one related to NIL was filed earlier this week.

The bill also expressly includes a provision aimed at preempting states from having laws permitting or prohibiting an athlete to receive compensation from a university or a third party “as a result of such athlete’s performance or participation in” college sports.

So, the schools get those pesky state laws overridden and receive an antitrust exemption, all that in exchange for a hope the NCAA will craft policies benefiting athletes.  Not a bad deal.

The third thing you should know?

Rubio is part of a bipartisan Senate working group on the issue that was formed in December, and also involved Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Cory Booker, D-N.J., and David Perdue, R-Ga., but he said he is acting individually in introducing this bill.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a unanimity of thought on this right now,” Rubio said. “It’s not easy to come up with (a national standard on name, image and likeness), obviously. I think it’s going to continue to evolve. But we thought it’s important to have a starting point for it now before the Florida law went into effect.”

If he’s introducing his bill on his own, who’s this “we” he’s referring to there?

Placekicker U

Now here’s a helluva stat ($$).

But at no position may Georgia be more dominant than placekicker: Georgia has had more placekickers drafted (seven) than any other college since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The SEC kicking record books are replete with Georgia names. There is only one true placekicker in the College Football Hall of Fame, and he’s a Dawg: Kevin Butler.

You should read the whole story, which starts with Allan Leavitt and leaves off with Jared Zirkel.  It’s an amazing run of continued excellence (even surviving Jon Fabris’ “challenges”).  The other cool thing is how the elders, like Butler, have been there for the newer guys.

Hopefully, the run continues.

The preseason calendar is set.

And here’s what it looks like:

That gives Georgia exactly one month to get its shit together in practices before the season opener.  Think it’ll be enough, especially for the offense?

“And I think Kyle Trask is vastly underrated…”

Underrated?  Maybe that’s because until now, he’s never begun a season in his career as the starter.

Social Distance: @colecubelic on why this is Florida's year in the SEC East, his early national champion pick, the SEC's best offensive lines, his career and much more with @bmarcello.

Watch the full video here! https://t.co/Z606kv3MzL pic.twitter.com/JxcqiWIoB2

— 247Sports (@247Sports) June 17, 2020

For a guy who sat behind Felipe Franks for two seasons and in 2019 finished a respectable fifteenth in the country in passer rating, “vastly” seems a bit of a stretch, but what do I know?

PC alert!

I can sense a disturbance in the Force (at least the knee-jerk part) about this:

The Georgia Redcoat Band’s traditional postgame concert after Bulldogs football games will have a new ending this fall.

Acting director Brett Bawcum said he notified music school officials that they are “ending performances of ‘Tara’s Theme,’ effective immediately, and replacing it as our signature with ‘Georgia on My Mind.'”

“To be clear, the issue with the tradition is not the motivation of those who have embraced it, but rather the possibilities it may limit in those who haven’t.”  Well said.

Those of you who aren’t happy about this, you’d best brace yourself, because there’s more to come.

Also on Wednesday, the University System of Georgia announced that it had formed an advisory group to review the names of buildings and colleges on all of its campuses.

On June 2, the school newspaper, The Red & Black, cited the Grady School of Journalism, named for outspoken white supremacist Henry Grady, as one example that should be discussed.

“This action today is a step toward addressing how communities understand the history and context involving our campuses,” USG chancellor Steve Wrigley said. “While the review may be one part of a much broader discussion, I believe it is essential to advance how we serve students and all Georgians.”

Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart issued a statement in favor of the study.

“As both a UGA alum and the head football coach, I fully support the USG Board of Regents and chancellor’s decision,” Smart said. “This is an important first step in the right direction to help us evaluate our history and work to bring us closer together.”

The head football coach speaks…