Why the hell is he getting suspended for four games? Clay Travis had a great comment on this via Twitter:
On A.J., if he'd stolen ten jerseys, he probably misses a game. Sell one he owns, four games. Felonies count less than making money in NCAA.What Clay didn't mention is...you beat up an cop in Knoxville and it's zero games on the suspension.
I also agree with Orson Swindle in that it's a very random punishment. I think the punishment will be reduced by a game or two, but who knows. This is as arbitrary a punishment as I've seen in a while by the NCAA.
By the way...I know Dean Legge is taking a ton of crap for his "AJ will play on Saturday announcement." I also know that in that profession you need to be right 100% of the time. But it's not like other media sources covering the Dawgs haven't been wrong about this exact sort of thing. It happens. You whiff, admit you were wrong, apologize and move on.
What a weird couple of months. I think we beat SC and Mississippi State with or without AJ Green. Arkansas on the other hand...that's going to be tricky.
PWD
16 comments:
There's only one thing left to do:
Whip Carolina's ass.
Chuck Oliver said Green would only have to miss to last week's game. He said that he got that info from sources from inside the athletic department.
I've never seen so much disinformation about something in my life.
It just goes to show nothing is to be believed except the official announcement.
If it really was 'sold' to an agent for $1000, it seems like it was an agent giving him money, and the jersey was away around that. I think we might be lucky it's only four games. Dez Bryant missed the season (yeah I know, apples and oranges, and AJ must've told the truth). I just think it is arbitrary, and his veracity (and paying it back) might have kept this from being worse than it could've been. It skirts really close to an agent just giving him money. That seems like a lot to pay for a game-worn jersey. A little too generous imo.
Here's hoping the suspension is reduced.
I don't why anyone in their right mind would pay $1,000 for an Idependence Bowl jersey, even if Jesus wore it.
The punishment seems a bit out of line, but exactly what was AJ thinking? Didn't we get busted for selling Bowl rings a few years ago? It's tough for the team and fans, but I don't have much sympathy for AJ. If Georgia loses to Arkansas or South Carolina by less than a touchdown, this is going to tarnish AJ's legacy more than the dropped pass against Florida did Terrence Edwards'.
Green sold his jersey for $1,000 -- a price far above what some joe on the street could have sold it for -- and in direct violation of an NCAA rule that was written basically _for_ Georgia after the incident where Georgia players were found to have sold their SEC Championship rings.
The minimum, standard punishment (as written in the bylaws) is 4 games, and can be lowered for extreme mitigating circumstances.
In this case, there really are none: Green broke a rule he had to have known (or, at the very least, should have known) existed and the "buyer" was actually an agent.
Four games sounds about right, really. Given that there are agents involved, this had the potential to turn career ending.
Anon 1, I think you something like this in mind
http://www.entertonement.com/clips/kwpqthlxqm--Win-the-whole-thingTom-Berenger-Major-League-Corbin-Bernsen-Taylor-
You guys don't know much about sports memorabilia.
$1,000 for a game worn jersey by a current college star and potential NFL star? That's a baragain.
Too bad for AJ being that he's from SC. Can't imagine having to sit this game out if I were playing for Georgia and hailing from Summerville in what is likely to be the last year you suit up in college for the Dawgs.
Missing the SC game in and of itself is enough punishment to torture an athlete especially considering that losing these vital stats might (if the suspension holds for 4 games) affect his draft status.
But the NCAA guidelines are very specific and clear to this type of infraction due to ring-gate -- we (UGA) in essence were the stimulus for creating this rule. He really should've known better.
Boehm
You are wrong there, AJ will be the 1st WR taken even if he never plays another down for UGA.
Why are the names of the 'agents'never revealed? Not w/AJ, or the Bama and NC players.
Anon 8:09
The names are not revealed because those guys would be dead by sundown.
Personally, I think AJ's 'punishment' should be that he can't turn pro for another year...
What I don't understand is that yes AJ received $1000.00 for a jersey, and he paid the money back. He was forthcoming and honest. 4 game suspension. Meanwhile Bama has a player that accepted over $2000.00 from an agent in random things and oh 2 game suspension. I'm not saying he doesn't need suspended, but it'd be nice if there was a it of consistency in the NCAA. I'm hoping it's lowered by a game or two but who knows.
Two things that irritate me about this situation.
1 - the lack of transparency from the NCAA regarding penalties. Depending on their whim, the NCAA can select the severity of the penalty, with no oversight from what I can tell. If a kid were to steal a car, we know he's going to get a penalty between x and y.
2 - At what point do these things stop being 'memorabilia' and start becoming personal property? Had AJ hypothetically sold his Xbox, would he be in trouble? Is it solely because he sold it to an 'agent'?
The NCAA doesn’t give a rat’s a$$ about a player’s contrition. Cooperation is another matter. The UNC boards are saying that when the whole mess dies down, the truth will be that when Phil Fulmer, I mean, Marcel Dareus was rumored to have been at the party, Bama jumped the gun and worked a deal with the NCAA. That’s why the NCAA issued such a sappy “this kid was the most honest, blah, blah” quote. That’s why he only got 2 games. And that’s why Green’s appeal will NOT result in less games. Dareus is a snitch.
If the NCAA reduces it to a 3 game suspension, he would be able to play against Arkansas...correct?
No, if the suspension is reduced to 3 games, he'll miss the first 3 games of the year: UL-L, South Carolina, and Arkansas. He'd be eligible for Miss State
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