Radio host apologizes for question to Richt
Sports radio talk show host Chuck Oliver said Monday he was guilty of “horrible timing” in asking UGA Coach Mark Richt a question about losing big games after Saturday night’s SEC Championship Game.
Oliver, part of the “Chuck and Chernoff Show” on 680 the Fan, said he used “awful, terrible, wretched, horrid judgment” in posing such a question after Georgia’s emotional 32-28 loss to Alabama, a game many are calling the greatest SEC championship game ever.
In the exchange at a post-game press conference, Oliver asked Richt: “There are some people, whether its fans, media or whomever else, that may want to make further conclusions about you or your quarterback specifically in big games. Would you have any response to those people?”
Richt: “I don’t know what you’re saying. Why don’t you just say it straight up what you’re trying to say.”
Oliver: “There will be people who say that you and Aaron Murray specifically come up short on the biggest stage against the biggest opponents. Do you have any response to that?”
Richt bluntly asked if it was Oliver who was saying that, and Oliver responded that’s what he hears on the radio every day. Richt then says, “That’s for you to worry about then — if that’s what you say then I’ll answer the question; if you think other people are saying that, I’m not worried about that.”
After leaving the press conference, Richt returned briefly and said, “If anybody thinks our guys didn’t play their tail off, and Aaron Murray didn’t play his tail off, they’re crazy. That’s unbelievable that anybody would even bring that up.”
Oliver said his first reaction after the exchange was, “I really wish I could undo the last 90 seconds of my life.”
Was Oliver out of line in asking the question when he did or did Richt overreact to a legitimate question?
View the Oliver-Richt confrontation.
Listen to Oliver’s explanation.
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587 comments Add your comment
hit a single
December 4th, 2012
8:42 pm
Anybody that thinks Oliver was not out of line for asking the question has no common sense at all. Of course that is what is ruining this country, no common sense.
kral
December 4th, 2012
8:46 pm
gosh too..I BET you blog it then set back laugh and enjoy it..you sir questioning someone intergrity is a laugh…you ain’t a thuga..your an idiota…you really represent..the fine qualities of a jerk..be proud laugh..oh whose really the fool..you cannot answer that truthfully..what I WOULD EXPECT FROM YOU…you sure waited along time to respond to me..I know you had to think..eat dinner..i left..could not wait a hour on your witty repose your sick dudess
keep digging
December 4th, 2012
8:48 pm
in todays world, nobody is as cool handed as Mark Richt.
Beast from the East
December 4th, 2012
8:57 pm
Fair question. Lousy timing.
kral
December 4th, 2012
8:57 pm
Boy that last blog cut deep filturd..gosh you have been using that for about two years..I know you have cue cards. do.you cut and paste..you really do not understand how big a joke you are..it ’s okay ..pull from the bottom of your cue card deck..now I stop sit back and laugh at you..actually at times I feel sorry for you, but then you blog something and I just think..what a shame
aaa
December 4th, 2012
9:03 pm
He apologized because otherwise there go the interviews in the future. The media can’t knock the Braves, Falcons or UGA and expect to get access/interviews from that point on.
keep digging
December 4th, 2012
9:15 pm
The national media refuses to cover the best team in the NFL,
11-1 Atlanta Falcons RULE !
Put in Timeout by Ken Sugiura,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned once by Bill King & Chip Towers but only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
December 4th, 2012
9:17 pm
got to LOVE the MUTTS…………..it is ALWAYS the refs fault…………………………………….Dirty Dawg
December 4th, 2012
8:38 pm
Lay off Fox…these kids are still young for the most part, but the real issue tonight is that Tech shot lights out in the first half and the G-damned officials haven’t given Georgia a single call…
===========================================
HAHAHAHA UGA’s football team was full of OLD guys and LOST to BAMA and now The UGA Bball team is young and lost. But the ONE CONSTANT is it is the referees fault.
Mutts never change.
Iggystooge
December 4th, 2012
9:25 pm
Hey Georgia fans, no one “exercises demons” with a loss. You blew it in a big game again. There are no consolations.
15 Minutes from 'Dem Hedges
December 4th, 2012
9:26 pm
Or how ’bout this???…let’s pay CMR a GOZILLION dollars to buy him out and hire……………………….Bobby (there’s a hot intern on my motorcycle) Petrino…..(so he can escape in the middle of the night when Nick Saban and the Ole Ball Coach whip his behind a few times)…I’d rather go to war with CMR than any of these bloviators….the stadium should be renamed Mark Richt Field @ Sanford (who was that???) Stadium…SIC ‘EM DAWGS!!!!!!! WOOF, WOOF, WOOF !!!!!!….
War Eagle
December 4th, 2012
9:30 pm
He’s an Auburn guy. What do you expect?
Douglas
December 4th, 2012
9:34 pm
If the post-game press conference is not the right time to ask a question like this then there is never a good time.
its a position taken by many, it was discussed multiple times during the week leading up to the game, and its one that was certainly going to be asked the following week. Easy answer on Richt’s part would have been to say “Did you see today’s game!?”. Richt instead refused to answer the question.
Reporters ask hypothetical questions like this all the time and more and more often coaches are getting indignant about them. What is really annoying is how often the coaches throw a fit over them and refuse to answer them rather than shoving it right back in their face. I’m fine if you don’t even answer the question but instead of throwing a fit actually show some emotion that doesn’t make you seem like a baby (for example instead of leaving and then coming back, say what you had to say in the first place).
Big Gator
December 4th, 2012
9:52 pm
Wow, its a bad thing to ask a coach who for over 10 years failed to make it the NAT game, this is why this program will be another 20 before it goes to a title game, scared to put Mark R. on the hot seat and demand better.
I have said it before sports writers , journalist in Georgia are scared of Mark R. UGA fans, in the state of Florida he would have been fired years ago, keep being nice to Mark R. while other schools collect titles.
RobinVa
December 4th, 2012
9:53 pm
There are some people, whether its fans, media or whomever else, that may want to make further conclusions about you or your quarterback specifically in big games. Would you have any response to those people?”
If you actually can identify and understand the question contained therein then you must realize that it is a remarkably stupid one. The clown just wanted to provoke the coach.
Big Gator
December 4th, 2012
10:00 pm
Can you believe these low standards UGA fans?, Mark R. have not giving these clowns anything since he has been coach but 2 SEC championships and these people are acting like he has won several NAT.
The reporters in Florida would have Choir boy Richt crying at press conferences, and demanding to know why with all the talent over the last 10 plus years why he has failed to deliver? instead the nuts in Georgia lash at the reporter, talking about low expectation, wow.
CAT (Citizens Against Tools)
December 4th, 2012
10:06 pm
This guy is a self promoting tool and shouldn’t have a forum to spew his venom.
Gaytor Man
December 4th, 2012
10:13 pm
One big gaytor chomp for Chuck
jim
December 4th, 2012
10:17 pm
Talking sports heads tend to kiss the butt of coaches when you win ….and kick the butt when you are losers.
Tide washed away the stain of Georgia
December 4th, 2012
10:26 pm
I agree that this was not the right time for that question. Oliver should have cradled CMR in his arms and whispered sweet nothings in his ear. It’s not like CMR is a head coach at a major college football program or anything. We have to be careful not to hurt his widdle feewings because the UGA fan base says so.
dilly
December 4th, 2012
10:31 pm
Don’t think it was inappropriate to ask at all. They had just lost because of bad timing and possibly bad coaching at the moment. People have been asking that question. CMR should have handled the question with more class. Instead he acted like a big bad loser. He should have told Chuck that he was and others were entitled to their own opinion and that his team played well. Chuck apologized and that should be the end of the incident.
texasdawg
December 4th, 2012
10:35 pm
Great question. Bad timing. Coach Richt is a paid at the expense of Georgia taxpayers. Oliver hosts a show with many of the same as listeners. It’s a MOST LEGITIMATE question since with the loss, millions of dollars, advantages in recruiting, merchandising..etc., went out the window. Richt should have been the bigger man and offered an answer. “I can’t think right now about that Mr. Oliver. My heart is breaking for those boys across the hall. I’ll get back to you” would have been suffice.
GT Mike
December 4th, 2012
10:47 pm
Too many modern journalists are in it for the gotcha moment. They don’t celebrate the positive or respect the effort. And since they NEVER competed at a high level, they know nothing of the sacrifices or the accomplishment demonstrated by others….and I a GT guy who enjoys watching UGA football and appreciates what Mark Richt is doing with the program.
oDog
December 4th, 2012
10:48 pm
bad question at the time. ga played about as well as they could–alabama has more and better talent due to all the oversigning and cheating in recruiting and admissions. most of their players probably don’t even show up for class. different rules at alabama for the “tide.”
John
December 4th, 2012
10:51 pm
The players did play hard. It was lousy coaching that lost the game. Then to cover his screw up, Richt tries to shift it to an attack on the players. UGA will never play for NC with Richt as coach. Too bad he cannot simply admit he screwed up by overidding Murray who wanted to spike the ball. Other than a couple of plays, this was one had better pla calling. However to improve, you must think through what you did right and wrong. Bear Bryant always said the boys won, we tied, and I lost. Then he fixed what was wrong. Richt makes the wrong decisions over and over.
Chuck who?
December 4th, 2012
11:02 pm
Up Chuck
or Bama Chuck?
He is both to me!
War Eagle
December 4th, 2012
11:05 pm
Know Chuck is Bama Chuck…
2nd Moral Victory in Atlanta in 4 days
December 4th, 2012
11:31 pm
Congrats to the Dawgs 2nd Moral Victory in Atlanta in 4 days tonight.
Chuck Oliver’s question was only the most obvious question of the press conference.
Look at the Dawgs record over the last decade.
Pathetic
steelerDawg
December 5th, 2012
1:02 am
who the f cares about chuck oliver?
Richt says, "I got your answer right here..."
December 5th, 2012
1:10 am
I LOVE IT!!! All the Dawg Fans once again forgiving CMR and moving on…Just as CLUELESS as Richt & Bobo!
Let me spell it out for all of you STILL somehow having trouble understanding WHY the Dawgs LOST this game — Yes, it was a LOSS! It wasn’t a “moral victory”…The Tide gets the spoils & the Dawgs get kicked to the curb. That’s what happens when you can’t win the BIG GAME!
The players played their best game of the year — no doubt….But the UGA coaching staff was WRETCHED. Ask Todd Grantham about his game plan for stopping the GaSou or GT or ALA running games — CLUELESS! Ask him about making adjustments during the game to stop an effective running game — Just as clueless! He’s a LOSER, and a highly-paid loser. You’ll be more convinced once you lose the D talent you’re going to lose this year.
Easiest SEC schedule in history…Loaded with talented players….ALA arguably not playing their best game (McCarron was horrible)…..So HERE’S why the Dawgs lost:
You didn’t spike the ball like Murray KNEW you always do in a situation of 1st & goal, no timeouts and clock running with 15 sec left in the game. The fact that so many of you have “rationalized” the failure to spike the ball as OK shows just how hypnotized you are by Richt/Bobo….This is the same Mark Richt who gave the post-game “reason” for not spiking the ball as “SPIKING THE BALL TAKES TIME.”
HaHaHaHaHaHa….You can’t make this stuff up!
How can you expect to WIN a game in that situation when your clueless HC doesn’t even understand the REASON you spike the ball is to SAVE TIME on the clock…Truly unbelievable!!
While we don’t know what would have happened if the ball was spiked, we DO know what happened when Murray was overruled by Richt/Bobo and the ball was not spiked — The Dawgs LOST. Period.
The specific events set into motion by not spiking the ball led directly to the clock running out and the game being lost. Believe anything else caused this loss and you’re fooling yourselves…
Chuck Oliver only asked the question so many of you ask on these blogs after losing to LSU last year or losing to Mich State last year or losing to Spurrier or after losing any other big game….And Mark Richt had his little hissy fit because he KNOWS he screwed up and lost the game, but he will NEVER accept responsibility for it and learn from it.
Saban screwed up at the end of the first half, but HE OWNED IT. Richt truly believes it just wasn’t meant for the Dawgs to that game! In fact, he even said after the game: “Just one of those games.”
Get used to it Dawg fans, if you aren’t already. Your HC made a tactical error that cost you the game and he can’t even admit that the loss was directly CAUSED by his & Bobo’s error. Nope, never will happen cause it was “just one of those games.” Just like all the other big games Richt/Bobo never win…..
Oliver should CONTINUE to ask the question until Richt confronts his demons and actually tries to come up with an answer….At least a better answer than “It takes time to spike the ball” and “Just one of those games.”
sargent carter
December 5th, 2012
2:54 am
chuck oliver, who nobody had ever heard of before or hereafter, got his 15 minutes of fame, ty yiey ippy ippy A
Boom
December 5th, 2012
3:03 am
Richt and Murray are 1-7 vs Top15 teams since 2010. The question about coming up short in big games was a difficult pill to swallow due to the timing but was most certainly fair.
LakeDawg
December 5th, 2012
5:29 am
Oliver was trying to make his bones and earn a rep as a guy who isn’t afraid to ask the tough question……and it burned him….GOOD. I hate that kind of crap reporting/sports talk. How about just talking sports and quit pretending you’re some kind EXPERT. Kincaid is the same.
Bruce
December 5th, 2012
6:15 am
Why apologize if you felt like you did the right thing?
Cloudodust
December 5th, 2012
6:32 am
Maybe the question should have been asked of CMR pre-game or a bit further back in time? I’ve read the same question/statement on these boards asked by Georgia fans over the past few seasons. In the business of leadership, the tough ones to answer for are always the most bitter pill no matter if they’re asked in the heat of the moment or 10 weeks after the fact. I’m on board that the question needed to be addressed with CMR but was the wrong time to do so. At least CMR got the memo from the collective disgruntled Dawg fan.
Tom Sebring
December 5th, 2012
6:36 am
Chuck is a hack-
He has risen from a nerdy stats guy to a local sports name with an obnoxious voice and know it all
mentality
I ‘m not even a “Dawg Fan” but respect the great program they have
There is a reason why people are Listening to 790 the Zone and new FM 92.9 the Game
Now that “The Herd” has moved to 790 the Zone Most people are tuning this clown out
680 will slip into a cooking show or talk radio soon
Reality
December 5th, 2012
6:48 am
Oliver is a fat windbag who spends his time spewing meaningless crap over the airways. If he weren’t given a mic he’d be selling shower curtain rings. He is already a meaningless footnote.
Move on.
Dangerous
December 5th, 2012
7:04 am
How much is CMR paid……a hell of a lot, so answer the damn question!!!!!! Oh and Oliver…..own the question if high and mighty wants you to.
Bias in media
December 5th, 2012
7:04 am
Oliver is a total hypocrite. He apologized to protect ratings. He would not have done so for any other coach. The one time he asks a legitimate question of a mediocre coach masquerading as a saint, he backs down. Shows them both up for their true character
Double Zero Eight
December 5th, 2012
7:21 am
I have been a Georgia fan for decades. As much as I
hate to admit it, Alabama was just a little bit better. They
had more depth. I hope we put more emphasis on 5 star
offensive and defensive linemen, instead of 5 star running
backs during the recruiting period this year.
This Georgia team did not give up. They left it all on the field.
Murray showed some toughness. He took a vicious late
hit and shrugged it off.
If Georgia plays Nebraska with the same intensity that they
played Alabama, the Cornhuskers don’t stand a chance.
Still waters run deep
December 5th, 2012
7:33 am
Oliver was simply saying what everyone already knows: Richt can’t win the big games. Neither can Murray. And Right will never win the big games with the low class illiterates that he recruits.
Marietta resident
December 5th, 2012
7:39 am
GREAT question….too bad it was so poorly timed. That being said, face it, UGA played out of their league that game.
Milos
December 5th, 2012
7:46 am
Nebraska 45, Georgia 13
A
December 5th, 2012
7:58 am
Oliver is an idiot but the question was fine. No one questions the effort. It’s the execution and things like not spiking the ball.
Oliver compared the arkansas coaching job to the wisconsin coach and not where wisconsin ranks in the big 10. How much sense does that make??? How about apples to apples. Many coaches at bad or mid level schools rise and then get taken away to better jobs. Now had chuckie done a valid comp and said wisconsin ranks about the 5th best job in the big 10, then his statement holds no water. He always does this. King my a s s .
A
December 5th, 2012
8:02 am
It’s too bad the sports media isn’t censored like the mainstream media is when it comes to politics. Else the only questions would have been
1. Great game coach, what will you do for vacation?
2. You played great hanging with alabama. What did you have for dinner?
3. great game coach. Did you do your christmas shopping yet?
4. Tough loss coach but you are back. Do you agree!
5. How are your daughters doing coach?
6. That was a great game coach. tough luck on the end. So, are those commericials fun to do for ford?
SCDawg
December 5th, 2012
8:26 am
Who IS Chuck Oliver?….never heard of him until this episode
Turtle Man
December 5th, 2012
8:35 am
I don’t think it was out of line at all. It’s a question that needs to asked and answered. Chuck should have asked the question in 1st person instead of hiding behind “what other people are saying”. This is what’s wrong with the Atlanta media. They’re all afraid to ask the tough questions and then find themselves apologizing in fear of retaliation. Give me a break. We’re not all here to make friends for a circle jerk.
Big Gator
December 5th, 2012
8:38 am
Gee, reporters in Georgia can not ask the God of football why he can not deliver after 10 plus seasons, yet after listening to these low standards fans, now you know why this man will stay at UGA and never deliver a NAT.
Please stay and UGA, Mark no one outside of Athens will have you, the reporters in Florida would have you crying all day, making you explain why after over 10 years of talent you still have not got it done.
GT
December 5th, 2012
8:40 am
Richt is at the eye of the hypocrisy called college football. He on the surface looks the part we want our role models to look, but Saban, Spurrier and Miles have our hearts because they don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk of winning football games and championships. We keep trying to put Richt in that box with the winners, simply because he wears his religion on his sleeve, when really he doesn’t belong with the elite of the elite. What is more surprising is Richt’s teams really don’t exhibit the work epic or disciple a “Christian influenced” team would indicate us seeing. They do one thing well at Georgia and that is control the press, most of the local press are Georgia grads. Penn State had the same problem; I pray for this state they don’t have the same results.
legionaire
December 5th, 2012
8:49 am
Fair question possibly bad timing. The numbers are what they are. McGarity’s honeymoon is over and he will earn that salary now.
Stan
December 5th, 2012
9:00 am
Fire Chuck…terrible judgement and just shows why he’s stuck on local radio and why he’s calling Division III games on CSS and Arena football…Move to a new town, I am sure Auburn AL would love to have you back….