Pay Per Tailgate

Well it hasn't gotten to this quite yet at UGA... but the way that people are talking you figure it will come someday.

PWD and The Good Senator have posts up regarding this so I'm going to chime in on this real quick.

1) I'm a poor recent post grad that's over worked and under paid-- I likely will not be in the market for one of these spots and I'm damn glad too. To be honest I tailgate with a large group of Alumni like myself, and we have awesome spots over near the Music building. Hopefully these won't be staked out for purchase anytime soon and I hope it stays that way. Its been mentioned in those two posts that the mystique about going to college games is the overall atmosphere and it really is the true draw of SEC football.
I have friends from Northern states that just have no idea what it's like---you can't compare it and you never will. Souring specific areas with some deep pocket donors pushes out the little guys, and it's not good for the over all product. It may be good for the bottom line but seriously we pay out the yin yang for football season why take the one true great thing about our season?

2) It just isn't right. The idea of tailgating is that sense of satisfaction that you got a great spot, or the sense of disappointment that you didn't this time and will try harder next go round. It's like hunting for a Christmas tree or finding the right pumpkin or sneaking into a sweet parking spot downtown. When you find your tailgate spot and you get their early it makes the day that much better. Something I've seen and detested from seeing the donors and people in the suites is the complete lack of care for the tailgate tradition.
Seriously how would you feel if you had been tailgating on North Campus for years and suddenly had to take a back seat for some big donor or corporate sponsor. The worst thing would be to go back and see your old spot sporting some sucky kind of corporate display abortion. Or the party isn't as bumpin' as you had it when you rocked that spot. And -gasp- maybe it's empty for the entire day and this old fart rolls up with his Hummer, imported beer and bifocals-- an hour before kickoff and then has the nerve to try and high five you as his trophy wife bends over to get the caviar.
F&%$ That.

And that's the bottom line...
-RDD

Discipline follow-up

PWD has a post up over at GSB regarding the recent legal troubles with the football team. Since I just touched on this last night I figured I'd thrown in my comments::

I couldn't agree more.

Basically it boils down to this..
1) If you hit guys (especially nobody average students) you deserve to get kicked off the team or suspended for a lengthy amount of time.
2) If you hit women you deserve a swift kick in the balls .
3) If you do drugs you've got bigger problems. (I'm looking at you Jimmy Johns

4) If you get a DUI or other alcohol related arrest more than once you've got bigger problems. (I'm looking at you Billy Humphrey)

Most other stuff gets too much press for it's own good.

I whole heartedly agree with his comments regarding "thugish" behavior. It's bad for our media image (see Miami of the 90's), and it attracts the wrong kind of recruits. If it becomes a trend can certainly foreshadow a downturn for a program.

And for the most part I've seen comments from players and coaches about what the majority of the team is doing during this off season and it sounds as if Stafford is stepping up, AJ Green is the real deal, Asher Allen is ready to step into the lime light on defense and all the pieces are settling in.



Suspense Builds...

-RDD

Feast or Famine:: The Off Season --ManYoo

Much like the off season of UGA, the off season for the English Premiership and particularly Manchester United is just as much a crap shoot as college kids running around knocking the shit out of people, drinking ungodly amounts of alcohol and keepin' it real.



So during the summer, there's absolutely nothing going on in the way of the sport we love (typically) and the only thing that keeps us going is news of our star players. Throwing a wrench in the gears for Man Yoo is they have the pleasure of having the English Press to entertain us with rumors, dealings and often incriminating photos to keep us through the downturn.

This season's Drama Du Jour centers around someone even my UGA fans might recognize-- Christiano Ronaldo



His protracted saga spans several months. At various points hes sounded like a giant douche bag by declaring his dream move would be to play for Real Madrid. WTF??!

Real Madrid:: Where good players go to sell shirts and that's all. Real Madrid is the Soccer Equivalent of the Yankees and Notre Dame combined. Minus all the titles. But deffinately including their TV contracts. Over the past several seasons they've done decent enough winning the league, but have failed to really produce the way a team with that kind of star power should (see: salary cap).

The one major appeal would be the weather, so I can't fault him there.

But overall, Manchester United has built the next great team, and have made Ronaldo the centerpiece. He started as a petulant child, and he's swiftly become a legend. If he were to stay he would cement his status and possibly surpass the likes of Cantona, Charlton and Best. If he goes he loses all he's worked for at Manchester United and runs the risk of being a flop in a dying league, for a dying club.


Ronaldo is to Manchester United what Knowshon Moreno is to UGA. He's had an excellent, truly breakout season that has him at the top of the world and touted as the best player on the planet. And for all their hard work Manchester United have been put in the terrible position of being either forced to bench their best player just to prove a point, or be backed into a corner and forced to sell him.

There simply is no other comparison in major American sports. Because in America we trade players, we don't outright buy them like the Soccer world. It's a ridiculous system one that is proving broken and needs repairing badly.

If Manchester sell their prized asset it will set a stake in the ground that all gloves are off when it comes to courting contracted players publicly. Real Madrid historically makes their shopping list known and they often get what they want. Madrid came in for Beckham, Zidane, Robinho, Ronaldo and they always seem to get their man.

I for one could care less if Ronaldo stays or goes. It would be bad for the game if he does go, but if Madrid really want to fork over 100 million euros for him then fine...take him.. we'll go out and buy two other quality players and be rid of his circus act.

I'm tired of his selfish play, his lack of leadership or true gamesmanship.

Recently the European Championships took place with Ronaldo's team fairing decently well enough to get to the quarterfinals. Portugal played their heart out but couldn't beat Germany, (an eventual finalist). Ronaldo bitched and moaned the whole game screaming at the ref anytime anyone sneezed on him and flopping around like a fish. He threw himself forward with reckless abandon trying to do it all, but he couldn't. He didn't play total team football. It was a sad day for Ronaldo and as well for Man Yoo, as they saw the stock of their super-stud fall drastically.

Here's the bottom line:: Real Madrid suck for publicly courting a player, and deserve a swift kick in the balls. Ronaldo needs to be slapped around a little-- The Premiership is the most powerful league in the world, and truly provides the best football out there. It's entertaining and all the biggest stars are now finding homes in England. If I were a top class player I would want to play for the best team...and Manchester United is that team. (Bias yes, but we defended the league and are Champions of Europe)

Feast or Famine:: The Off Season --UGA

It's like a crap shoot during the summer months for me.

For UGA: It's wondering if that last February signing will get drafted high enough in the MLB Draft to re-nig on his scholly or if that last academic hurdle can get met then theres the dreaded:: Off Season Arrest....

Which brings me to Mr. Lemon and several other cohorts as of late.

Michael Lemon is a 6'4" 230lb+ D-Lineman for one of the fiercest lines in College Football. Mr. Lemon was recently arrested for "Assault". Which in and of itself is pretty basic sounding until you dig deeper into this situation. The "Assault"description sounds like a bad episode of "When Grizzly Bears Attack". The ABH has the quote:

"...Jackson was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion and "blowout fracture," a serious injury to the bone around the eye that might require surgery, Jackson said late Wednesday afternoon, soon after an Athens-Clarke County Magistrate Court judge signed warrants for Lemon's arrest..." (emphasis added)

The article also mentions he was hit "at least five times".

Damn.-- This kid got FUBAR'ed! And from the sound of it Lemon straight up cold-cocked this undersized and outmassed kid.

Anyway, no matter the reason..you have to keep your cool in the off season otherwise you end up like Mr. Lemon...a candidate for dismissal from the team and withdrawl of your scholarship.

So on the brightside if he does end up getting booted..another scholarship opens for someone else to take advantage of. I wish Lemon all the best, and I hope they let him stay; but it isn't looking so hot.

Regardless, I hope he gets his act together and goes on to do great things, but file this under WTF??!!

-RDD