A Tommy Gaines Story

I have a great deal of respect for Grantland; in fact, I believe they do some of the best long form writing in sports. The name of this post isn't a slight towards Jordan Ritter Conn or the editors of Grantland. It is a nod to the difficulty to nail down history when it is the history of someone who's story is hard to grasp.

When I was a student at UGA, we had a decent basketball team. We were a few years removed from the Final Four appearance and regularly made NCAA or NIT appearances. Hugh Durham was among the game's characters and loved hamming it up for the students and press. UGA basketball was relevant.

I'd heard stories about a phenom from Bainbridge who was a game changer. His shooting and scoring abilities were compared to Michael Jordan's, legit to score from anywhere on the floor. I'd heard UGA was a lock to get him. This was not far fetched homerism in the late 80's.

Then he didn't qualify. Or he did, but decided not to come to Athens. Or he did qualify and come to Athens, took one look at all the people, then turned around and drove straight back to Bainbridge. Or he came, hung out at McWhorter and partied for a week, but never signed in or went to class, so he was kicked off the team.

I heard all of those stories about Tommy Gaines. Go read "The Sad Saga of Tommy Gaines" and remember we are all dealing with demons. Also, remember being a 19 year old star might not be as awesome as we think it is before you decide to tweet at, disparage, boo, post on message boards about, or call a student athlete's cell phone.

TD

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Jasper is up

Nice piece on Jasper Sanks in the AJC. Glad to see he is doing well as an explosives engineer in the oil industry. I have to assume he is past the things that got him booted from UGA.

There is also a documentary about his life coming out:

Sanks’ rise and fall as a football player — and the triumphant reconstruction project he executed to become an upstanding citizen — is the subject of an upcoming documentary.

The working title is a pretty good one: “Inches Away.”

Don't expect Dawgnoxious to go see it. It is still too soon for him.
TD

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Saban has time for Ty Flournoy-Smith

Ty Flournoy-Smith is headed to Alabama. Just to refresh, he's been rung up for reporting his text book stolen then trying to resell them, then he and JHC decided that smoking pot in a dorm room would turn out fine.

It didn't.

Can't wait for ESPN's story on his comeback where he 'left Georgia.' Nothing like ignoring facts for a good story and all that.
TD

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Garrison Smith: DGD

If you don't follow Garrison on Twitter, you are missing out on a genuine human being and a funny dude. I've long thought he'd make a great football coach.

Apparently, he does, too:

As for himself, Smith is planning to give the NFL a full go. Depending on the draft projections you call up, he’s generally listed as a late-rounder or possible free agent.
But Smith’s not spending much time sweating it. In fact, he said whatever he ends up doing it will only be temporary until he fills his true calling.
“When my NFL career is over, I’ll be the permanent D-line coach at UGA,” Smith said. “Go ahead and plant that seed. I’m a Dawg for life!”

The other part of the article has to do with Smith's thoughts on the players who will need to step up on the line. Good read.

TD

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Free Form Friday

Couple of things that caught my eye this morning:

• Patrick Garbin's 'where is he now' piece on Sylvester Boler is an interesting read. I never saw Boler play, but my dad's barometer for great linebackers was always Bolo. My dad was convinced Boler would have been better than Jack Lambert had he stuck in football. Just a great story, to boot.
• Hartman Fund Donation deadline is coming quickly. Feburary 15th if you are wondering.
• Well, yeah....

Bacon is money
— Waffle House (@WaffleHouse) January 24, 2014

• Now I'm just dreaming, right?
• Bernie is done with recruiting. Stay tuned. He promises to get in our kitchen tomorrow.

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Former Dawg DB Chris Sanders to play at Baylor

Good for him.

As you remember, Sanders was one of three booted out of UGA in 2011.

At least NBC Sports had the decency to link the article explaining the dismissal of Sanders and Marshall. That part of the Marshall narrative has been misplaced by ESPN and Auburn fans.
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Robert Baker, subject of UGA's bite, goes to prison

Apparently guns, drugs, and money aren't the best combination.

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Battle Hymn: Father Tom Vaughn

Love this.

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Former UGA Soccer standout Amy Berbary is Indiana's soccer coach

I missed this in February when it happened, but noticed it last night on twitter. Berbary was named the head coach at Indiana. She's spent the last few years in Auburn, helping the Tigers get to the NCAAs for the past five seasons. She was the head coach at Gainesville high school and an assistant at Oconee County before that.

Congrats to a Damn Good Dawg.
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Thanks for the Memories

Where does the time go? We would be remiss if we let Coach Michael Adams' retirement go unnoticed.  We had some good times together. Like this, and this, and this and this and this and this. Best wishes for a robust retirement.

The bow tie can also retire from holding his foreskin down.
Now, our eyes turn to the future. Thirteen months ago, a search committee was named to replace Il Duce. Executive search firm R. William Funk and Associates, Dallas, Texas was brought on to help identify candidates.  Given the nearly seven billion people on planet earth, it was truly a daunting task.  Improbably, out of all the people in all the world, the best only qualified candidate was just across the quad, toiling in obscurity.  So, congratulations to the new No. 2 Mr. Jere Morehead on first day as president of UGA.

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Felton passed over for Chattanooga job

Dennis Felton was one of three finalists for the Chattanooga job. The job goes to VCU assistant coach Will Wade instead. Wade will become one of the youngest coaches in college hoops. Wade is a Nashville native and a Clemson grad who has been at VCU for the past four years with Shaka Smart.

As an aside, you know Smart is doing something right when other schools are poaching his assistants to be a head coach.

I hope he is very successful this year....

TD

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Interesting Trivia About Walsh and Butler

@secprguy Butler/Walsh from UGA the first kicker/punter in the modern era together as rookies to both start in yr one from the same school
— joe moore10 ✌ (@joemoore10) September 12, 2012

Now you know. Insert your own Minnesota girls are...friendlier...joke here.
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More on Georgia's Scholarship Attrition

One thing that struck me as I was writing the piece on retention is that I didn't quite get at the relationship between the nubmers and how good a coach must be at retention if he consistently signs fewer players than his competitor coaches.  To put it another way, a correlary issue to the significantly fewer players being signed is the need to work harder to retain those you did sign to stay close to a full roster.

This will become very relevant for the SEC in three years when we cycle completely though five years with a max of 25/year. We saw that several schools have been above 125 in the current five year cycle with two classes in under the new cap.

Once you take out Orson Charles (NFL Draft) and Xavier Avery (signed with the Orioles out of high school), Georgia's attrition looks like this:

Academic Non-Qualifier (7)
1. John Atkins - academic non-qualifier (didn't make necessary score on ACT); plans on enrolling at Hargrave Military Academy, then transferring to UGA in January
2. Leonard Floyd - acadmic non-qualifier; plans on enrolling at Hargrave, then transferring to Georgia in January

3. Jalen Fields - failed to qualify at UGA, signed w/ Louisiana-Lafayette
4. Toby Jackson - failed to qualify at UGA, attended Navarro College, now at UCF
5. Chris Mayes - failed to qualify at UGA, attending Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
6. Lonnie Outlaw - failed to qualify at UGA, attending Georgia Military College
7. Kent Turene - failed to qualify at UGA, attending Fork Union Military Academy; allegedly playing at Marshall in 2012, but not listed on their roster

Dismissed for Misconduct/Released from Scholarship due to Player Conduct Issues (9)
1. Demetre Baker - dismissed from team following a DUI arrest, transferred to South Alabama
2. Isaiah Crowell - dismissed from UGA on 29 June 12 following felony arrest, enrolled at Alabama State
3. Nick Marshall - dismissed from UGA on 3 Feb 12 for a violation of team rules (stealing from a team mate); enrolled at Garden City CC
4. Zach Mettenberger - dismissed from UGA following underage consumption & sexual battery charges; transferred to Butler CC; presumptive starter for LSU in 2012
5. Montez Robinson - dismissed from UGA following his third arrest in 6 months, trying to catch on in NFL
6. Sanford Seay - dismissed from UGA on 3 Feb 12 for a violation of team rules (stealing from a team mate)
7. Marcus Dowtin - Released from scholarship after arrest, transferred to North Alabama; currently undrafted free agent with New York Jets
8. Washaun Ealey - Released from scholarship after many, many chances, enrolled at Jacksonville State
9. Chris Sanders - dismissed from UGA on 3 Feb 12 for a violation of team rules; enrolled at Georgia Military College

Medical Issues (3)
1. Jeremy Longo - medically disqualified
2. Jonathan Owens - medically disqualified
3. Bryce Ros - medical exemption (degenerative right big toe joint)

Desired More Playing Time/Didn't like coaches' decisions (8)
1. Brent Benedict - transferred to Va Tech for personal reasons
2. Carlton Thomas - decided to transfer on 20 Mar 12 to make more of an impact on the field; appears to be enrolled in fall 2012 at UGA
3. Jakar Hamilton - transferred to South Carolina St
4. Dontavius Jackson - transferred from UGA to UAB following DUI (thought about putting him in the player misconduct list, since the reason for his transfer was a six game suspension for the DUI; Since he could have stayed on the team, I count him as wanting more playing time)
5. Jordan Love - transferred to Towson
6. Derek Owens - transferred to Alabama State
7. Makiri Pugh - transferred to Colorado
8. Nick Williams - transferred to North Alabama

Academic Dismissal (4)
1. Caleb King - declared academically ineligible on 8 Jul 11
2. A.J. Harmon - transferred to Alabama St (he confirmed it was his academics)
3. Quintavious Harrow - left the team due to academics (rumored)
4. Derrick Lott – transferred to UTC

Not sure what to glean from these numbers. I really just wanted a clearer sense of the numbers and why the players left. No wonder Coach Richt is focused more on character now more than ever. There are some that no amount of character checks would have caught (Mettenberger, Marshall, Sanders). Furthermore, I don't expect Coach Richt to suddenly start lying to guys about their playing chances, although it isn't hard to say that if you are competent and an offensive line man, there is playing time available. The academic dismissal list was shorter than I would have thought, but I feel comfortable that there are probably a couple that are in the 'more playing time' and other lists that were facing similar issues.

TD

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Carlton Thomas to Graduate from UGA in December

I saw a few snippets that Carlton might be giving up football and coming back to finish his degree. Apparently, that is the case, as there is a Carlton James Thomas enrolled for fall semester at UGA. He reportedly will be a December graduate.

While I hate to see his football career over, if this is true it is a very feel good story for a guy that is a Damn Good Dawg. Despite all of the joking we made about him at GSB, he was consistently one of our favorites due to his lack of fear about blocking linebackers or defensive backs who were often times twice his size. If other running backs showed his intestinal fortitude or knowledge of the playbook in blocking, I'd never have level three meltdowns over 'blocking schemes' again.

TD

ED NOTE: Marc Weiszer at the Athens Banner Herald had the Thomas thing a couple of weeks ago and I completely missed it. I updated the post to link to his article and to reflect the certainty over Carlton's situation. 

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Catching Up with AJ Harmon

While doing research for a post I am working on, I happened across this piece on AJ Harmon in which he discusses he departure from UGA. It was long rumored he was about to fail out, which he acknowledged in the article linked above.

It was a compelling read to me because he also acknowledged he didn't work hard enough and was selfish during his time in Athens.

I want to thank everyone who kept me in his or her prayers throughout my journey. I would like to apologize to the Dawg Nation for not giving them 100% effort during my first few years at Georgia, to the people I hurt when I was going through adversity when I was out of school, and to anyone who was trying to help me. I apologize from the bottom of my heart.

I always liked the intensity Harmon brought to games and thought his move to the offensive line was a bit impetuous, but I have to give him major props for recognizing his role in why he didn't pan out at Georgia. With the issues we had at line in 2011 and the lack of depth in 2012, there is no doubt he would be a major player in the offensive line rotation right now.

Here's hoping he still gets his chance to play on Sundays.

TD

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Nice Richard Tardits Piece

(Image: Georgiadogs.com)

Loran Smith catches up with one of my favorite former Dawgs. He had 29 sacks in his career at Georgia. Not bad for a kid from France that had never seen a down of football until he moved to Athens. That is what natural athletic talent will get you.

Having gone to school with him, I can say unequivocally that the use of a French accent is a far better way to meet girls than being a football player. He was quite a talent at that, as well. He single handedly changed many, many Georgians' perceptions about French folks.

All around, just a fun guy to be around.

TD

-Loran's visit with Le Sack last year (ABH)

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Jake Scott Enshrined in College Football Hall of Fame

About damn time.....

TD

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What a Great Day

An absolute blast in Athens.



PWD

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Leonard Pope to the Rescue

I can't help but mention....it's a deep ass home pool that Leonard Pope can't touch the bottom and reach above the water line.

PWD

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Boston Globe Slaps Michael Adams

Bob Ryan of ESPN's The Sports Reporters and the Boston Globe comments on Michael Adams' candidacy for president of the NCAA, and he throws Adams a beating. It's a must read for Georgia alumni. (Ht - TheDawgfather on dawgrun.com)

Paul Westerdawg
Georgia Sports Blog

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