AJ Green "Stay or Leave" Update

It appears that "sources"have reported AJ will forego his senior year at UGA and enter the NFL Draft. HOWEVER, AJ has tweeted that he has not made a decision and that the reports are false. While we have all been duped by tweets before, I am really holding out that there is some truth to AJ twitter proclamation. Whether or not AJ will leave for the draft or stay a Dawg for one more year is still to be determined, but I officially think he will be playing in Sanford next year-and I hope I am right.

Caleb King and Two other Dawgs out for the Liberty Bowl

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and John I hope you got that Beiber album you wanted. Some Dawgs did not have a great Christmas; it appears that Caleb King has trouble keeping appointments. He can't make it to court dates, he can't make it to "hold on to the ball" meetings, and his latest snafu involves missing academic meetings. King missed his fifth academic-related meeting, and as a result has violated UGA Athletic Association policy. Two other players, Cornerback Derek Owens and o-tackle A.J. Harmon, will also miss the trip to Memphis due to academic reasons. The loss of the latter two players likely won't affect the Dawgs too much, but King's absence could potentially hurt the Dawgs, if not for solely depth-chart reasons. I think Caleb King's latest screw up could help the Dawgs in one way though. If Isiah Crowell is sitting at home reading the newspaper, or this blog, then he may be thinking to himself, "I can step right in there and do work, cause King ain't do nah nuthin'." This also will make it easier for the UGA coaches to tell Crowell that, yeah you can be the man next year. Who knows if King's absence from the Liberty Bowl will hurt or help the Dawgs more, but I am guessing it helps more.

More on "Tat-gate" and a UGA slant



Probably only worth a small dragon tat.



It is semi-official, Stewart Mandel probably has damngooddawg.blogspot.com on his favorites list. Stewy wrote a pretty good article on "Tat-Gate" that references some of the things I touched on an earlier post. Recent releases from Ohio State mention that the school will appeal the 5 game suspension handed down by the NCAA, and that isn't abnormal. As Stewy pointed out in his article, the Athletic Department pretty much threw the compliance office under the bus by claiming that the players "didn't know they couldn't do that." Here is a little legal information for the vast readership, ignorance of the law is not a defense-that means "I didn't know I couldn't do that" doesn't hold a lot of water.
  Anyways, what I will be looking at in the future will be whether the time between the handing down of the sanctions and the actual enforcement will heal the wounds and result in a reduction of the suspensions. If the suspensions are reduced, such an action would be a travesty and directly in conflict with precedent set in the AJ case. Remember, AJ came was fairly straight forward with the investigators and still had to serve out the full 4-game suspension; these Buckeyes committed the violations even before AJ sold his jersey-so there should be no reduction whatsoever. Now this likely won't be an issue when the sanctions take effect because the most "talented" of the offenders will probably declare for the NFL draft and avoid any suspension whatsoever.

The Buckeyes might be in a little trouble (UPDATED)

It seems as though the NCAA compliance officers have dug in up in Columbus, Ohio to investigate alleged violations spawning from Ohio State football players deep desire to get tatted up. I will tow the company line on this one an say that these are mere allegations, and the players may be completely inconvenient, blah, blah, blah. But seeing as how this is the Big Ten and we are dealing with Legends (or are they Leaders?) at Ohio State, mt SEC bias inclines me to assume that these players probably screwed up. If this investigation leads to the suspension of any number of Buckeye players it certainly won't help the squad overcome its typically anemic performance against SEC teams in BCS bowls. Information is still coming out with what I will term "Tat-gate" (be on the look out for other media outlets coping my phrasing) but I think this situation is more likely to result in a suspension a la AJ Green, rather than freedom a la Cam Newton. Giving up NCAA merchandise for services (akin to memorabilia for money) is a no-no and could be an Uh-Oh for the O.
UPDATE...
Well the NCAA has dropped the hammer...I guess. Five Buckeyes, Dan Herron, Mike Adams, Terrelle Pryor, DeVeir Posey, and Solomon Thomas, have been suspended for the first five games of next season, not the Sugar Bowl. I am very curious as to why the players aren't suspended for the Sugar Bowl especially when these violations occurred last year, and not just recently. What is particularly striking about the suspension taking effect next season, and not for the upcoming Sugar Bowl, is that several of these players including overrated talent Terrelle Pryor can declare for the NFL Draft after this season and effectively escape any punishment for their actions. It isn't like there is no existing precedent that says players don't get suspended for bowl games, take a look at what has transpired in Iowa. Granted, those suspensions where handed down by the team, not the NCAA; but, I would be surprised if Jim Tressel did the right thing and suspended these players for the Sugar Bowl. I can't help but think there is some sketchy dealings going on here with television ratings, BCS interests, etc. deeply involved. Also, there must have been pretty damning cut-and-dry evidence against the above players for the sanctions to come so quickly after the story broke.

Airing of Grievances

Since this is the Festivus time of the year, I want to commence the Airing of Grievances with some NFL related news that has been bothering me for a long time. My main grievance is directed at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Have y'all heard the joke about the NFL Rookie who was arrested for sexual assault and was punished by not being able to start a game? Yeah, it isn't a joke, it really happened/is happening. Perrish Cox, formerly of OK State fame-and who was suspended for last season's game against the dogs, is the NFL rookie, and sexual assault is the alleged crime. The punishment handed down (by the Broncos, not Goodell) was a non-start in a game, not a no-play, a no-start! Mr. Cox was not only accused of this crime, he was also arrested and charged for the crime. If y'all are wondering why this bothers me, the answer is because it is another instance of Goodell's inconsistent enforcement of his own precedent. Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for 4 games (originally 6) for exercising bad judgment in conflict with the personal conduct code of the NFL. Big Ben was not charged with a crime, nor was he arrested for any crime. However, he did use poor judgment and probably deserved some form of suspension. BUT so do some of these other players who have not only been exercising poor judgment, but have been arrested for such decisions. The following is a list of some players who have likely broken the NFL personal conduct code in some way shape or form lately, and the punishments handed down for the violations. I have heard that DUIs and the like are not listed under the personal conduct code, but rather the substance abuse code-I am still listing some such cases because the players were actually arrested for committing crimes.

• Perrish Cox - arrested for alleged Felony Sexual Assault - no NFL imposed suspension
• DJ Williams - arrested for alleged DUI (second DUI arrest in 5 years) - no NFL imposed suspension
• Vince Young - cited for misdemeanor assault (caught on tape) - no NFL suspension, (probably because his play alone is worthy of benching)
• Shaun Rogers - possession of firearm at Airport - no NFL suspension (but fined-ohhhhh)
• Tony McDaniel - charged with domestic battery - suspended for 1 game
• Jermaine Phillips - arrested for felony domestic assault - suspended for 1 game (but reason not listed!?)
• And of Course the gunslinger himself Brett Favre - general bad judgment with cell phone - NFL currently tip toeing around the issue.
• Ben Roethlisberger - accused of sexual assault (not arrested or charged) - suspended for 4 games

This is just a nice little sample of some of the infractions committed by NFLers in the year 2010, and the subsequent suspension or lack thereof. This website has a pretty complete list of bad deeds over the past year. Hope y'all enjoyed the Tuesday morning Airing of Grievances.

Quick Hits

Just some quick hits to start the week.

• According to the Bulldogs Blog A.J. Green has started talking "Murray-for Heisman" in 2011. I'd like to think it is possible though, as the other post points out, it Murray will have to put up big numbers while also leading the Dawgs to a winning record.
• Green's comments were also interesting with regards to the "leave or stay" implications one could read from them. I think myself or one of my cohorts will have a "Leave or Stay 2011" posting in the next couple of days. Speculations will run rampant.
• Seth Emerson, who writes for the Macon Telegraph and is the author of the Bulldogs Blog, had a nice little write up about Coach Bobo and how he was the punching bag for criticism for poor play calling, etc. I think this is a tired story, we all called for his head (I still wouldn't mind a change), but the offense put up good numbers, etc. The best thing about this article is the new quotes from some of the players, who stand behind Coach Bobo. One of the players that has defended Bobo is TE Orson Charles, and he claims that the offense will be opened up next season. That would be nice considering that it took about four games to get the ball into Charles hands on a regular basis!
• FB Shaun Chapas decided to have surgery on his ankle, so he will be out for the Liberty Bowl. Bruce Figgins looks to fill in at the position. Figgins is jumping at any chance to contribute and fullback may be his best option. Between Orson Charles, Aaron White, and hopefully Jay Rome, Figgins doesn't seem to fit into the TE picture next year (barring injury of course).

The recruiting race heats up

As the temperatures plunge here in Georgia, the recruiting race is heating up. The contact period is well under way for this time of year, and coaches are making the usual family room visits. UGA has several top prospects in its sights, three of which are top priorities for the Dawgs.

• Priority numero uno is Isaiah Crowell, a highly sought after Running Back out of Carver H.S.. Alabama, Georgia, and now Auburn, are high on Corwell's list, but no solid announcement has been made yet, and likely won't be made until signing day. Crowell seems to have all the necessary skills, he can break tackles, run like the wind, and catch balls out of the backfield. He is a must get for Georgia.
• Next up on the necessity list is JUCO star John Jenkins. Here are Jenkins qualifications and the exact reason the UGA Defense needs him: 6'4, 340 lbs.. He is a OK State commitment, but I am feeling good about UGA's ability to sway him over a la "you can be a star in a 3-4 defense, in the SEC-see Terrance Cody."
• The third priority is Jay Rome, and he is a priority based primarily on his athletic ability and pedigree, not so much as a positional need. Rome plays Tight End, and right now seems to be a lock for UGA. Rome and Charles would be a nice TE tandem to aide Murray's dismantling of opposing Ds.

Chip Towers over at our little sister publication has more recruiting info for ya if you so desire.