Come To Jesus Meetings
On July 12, I participated in the Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer Golf Tournament at The Georgia Club. This great event is supported by Coach Mark Richt and the team members themselves. What was unusual about this day was the golf being delayed by monsoon rains and the emphasis Coach Richt placed on all the players attending a mandatory 7:00 PM meeting that night. Based on this, most players did not finish their round of golf.
Said mandatory meeting was in response to the July 10th DUI arrest of Dontavious Jackson with Tavares King and Branden Smith in tow. This was supposed to be one for the ages, maybe a defining moment in the career of CMR. Or maybe not. Here it is, a little over six weeks since the meeting and one week away from the opening game and Waushaun Ealey shows us where his head is.
Let’s just say the sun doesn’t shine there and the smell rarely changes.
I am shocked and dismayed that this “situation” occurred at all much less at 5:22 AM. Staying out late is one thing, an allnight-er on a SUSPENDED LICENSE is inexcusable. Coach Richt seemed to be drawing a line in the sand on July 12th. That line was crossed this morning to the tune of, hey coach, screw you!
(REVISED)…UNBELIEVABLE!
For one thing,you have put Coach Richt in a bad, bad position. Two, for caring so little for your team. Third for not caring more about your own career. If Coach Richt plays this soft, he could lose all credibility with his team. If he plays it too hard, he might lose arguably his best running back. I know how I would vote.
UPDATE!
I rest my case.
I trust the Coach to know all the particulars and believe he will impose the proper sentence on Ealey. One that is right for Ealey and the team. I don’t believe that this poor decision should destroy his life. Most of us at his age made poor decisions where we ignored the warnings of adults about what could happen because we just knew it wouldn’t.
08/30/2010 at 11:48 AM
CMR must send a devastatingly painful message here. The players are already talking about how it was not that bad, or just dumb decision making. They’ll welcome him back. The problem here is that the program is getting a rep for being all touchy-feely on character issues, and not hard enough on tough-love. Why do you suppose we have so many penalties? There is no fear of the holy lightning bolt coming from Butts-Mehre when necessary. All this indignant angry talk from CMR is not convincing me, either. I’m as true a dawg as they come, but I’m mighty sick of this crap every year. It’s embarrassing, and it is NOT changing. CMR must release his thug butt from the team, and send the only type of message these “young people” understand. Respect the law, the school and the team, above everything else.
08/27/2010 at 9:33 PM
Marc Weiszer just confirmed for me that he’s hearing the same thing Oliver is claiming-that Ealey was warned by Coaches to not drive.
Holy crap, Oliver was right. My apologies.
Expecting more than a 2 game suspension for Ealey at this point. Hope & pray Caleb can carry the full load of the carries.
Just damn.
08/27/2010 at 2:07 PM
I’ve seen adults in a similar situation. Many times it is single moms. They get a speeding ticket. They don’t have $200 or $300 to pay the fine. They know that without money you go to jail. If they go to jail they lose their job. They ignore it, but it won’t go away… I don’t know that this is the case with Ealey. But if it is, it is not unusual. Has to be a terrible, pressure filled position to be in. We all know the answer is- Don’t speed. Unfortunately life doesn’t always work that way.
08/27/2010 at 1:36 PM
Ah. Just saw Oliver’s twitter feed. Not saying Oliver is wrong here but lets remember something about this Used Car Salesman of Sports Talk Radio: Just 2 days ago he swore by “multiple sources” that 2 of Flarduh’s biggest 5-star recruits left the team. Yet just an hour later we see that the story was bull & the players were at practice lol. Oliver has a less than stellar record on reporting facts, so i’m skeptical at best.
Regardless, Washaun willfully broke the law by driving, leaving the scene of an accident, & ignoring prior charges resulting in a bench warrant. Respect for the law & authority is clearly an issue. If he did ignore Richt’s mandate then a 2 game suspension will be too good for him.
Crap on a cracker.
08/27/2010 at 1:30 PM
I clicked on the Oliver link & didn’t see proof of a claim that Richt knew that Ealey’s license was suspended. Is that a bad link?
08/27/2010 at 1:22 PM
I know how I’d vote too. If what Chuck Oliver said is true, then I think CMR has to vote the same way.
08/27/2010 at 1:20 PM