This article is a brief rebuttal to Kevin Brown's article on the Georgia-Florida incident in Jacksonville.I felt compelled to address two issues raised by the piece—the questioning of Mark Richt's character, and the actual nature of the Georgia celebration.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I'm a UGA alum. While I'm generally a straight shooter, I suppose I write this article with at least a little unintentional bias.
First, about Richt himself—I've had the pleasure of meeting Mark Richt on a few occasions. Each time, I've been impressed by his professionalism and intellect.
Richt is a devout Christian family man who has been involved in numerous philanthropic efforts. He has four children, two of whom were adopted from the Ukraine.
He is one of the most upstanding individuals I've ever encountered.
That said, I do disagree with the actions taken by his players after Georgia's first score against Florida.
As I understand it, Richt had instructed his team to get a celebration flag—nothing more concrete that. The players came up with the idea of storming the end zone on their own.
I admire Richt's effort to shake things up, and I don't disagree with his ultimatum. Something had to be done to get the UF monkey off the Bulldogs' backs—and the coach was obviously trying to accomplish that by firing up his players.
What's unfortunate is that the players didn't devise a less offensive plan. Still, I don't believe that storming the field was was as unsportsmanlike as many writers have posited.
Specifically, Kevin Brown suggests that the incident was "the most classless act in college football history." This assertion is a bit of an exaggeration.
The Clemson-South Carolina fight, the fight down in "The O.B.," and Woody Hayes' punch are just a few counterexamples that come to mind.
As for Richt's conduct on the field—he did clap and pat his players on the back, but what was he supposed to do? Had he yanked his players off the field and scolded them following his own ultimatum, what kind of message would he have sent?
It's worth noting that Richt went on to right the wrong with a written apology the following week.
As I see it, Richt's error was in giving his players too much discretion. The celebration should have been more scripted.
In Richt's defense, he's new to using gimmicks. He has been stoic and reserved his entire career.
But something had to be done—and the gimmick worked (at least until next year).
On another note, the success against Florida may have inspired this past week's black jerseys against Auburn. Players had been asking for the blackout for years—and Richt finally agreed.
It will be interesting to see what comes next.
In closing, I urge that we not be so quick to "condemn" someone for making a mistake. I'm sure this sort of incident will never happen again under Richt's watch. Richt is one of the good guys—and I'm not just drinking the Kool-Aid.
1 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
still passing in the 4th quarter when you're up by 5 td's? if that's southern hospitality then i'm ashamed... if you're trying to get bcs points for next season, that's not the right way to do it... you don't kick a dead horse...
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