Arrested development? It’s the Gators’ turn this year
The talking point — actually the giggling point — of the college football summer is that Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators have been charged with a total of 24 felonies and misdemeanors in the four-plus years of his stewardship. (The Orlando Sentinel provides the handy linked rundown.) And now you’re expecting me to laugh and slap my thigh and advise the Urban Crier, with whom we’ve had some fun over the months, to save his alligator tears for the judge. But I won’t.
Because I have some sympathy for the man.
Last summer Mark Richt met the press on Georgia’s media day, and 16 of the first 20 questions concerned not football — the Bulldogs had been voted preseason No. 1 for the first time in school history — but lawlessness. Eight of Richt’s players had been arrested in 2008. “Embarrassing,” Richt called it. Also “sad.” Also “a distraction.”
When Richt’s massively gifted team finished 116th in penalties among 119 Bowl Subdivision teams, the leap was made — undisciplined off the field, undisciplined on it. (In November Richt would deny any correlation, saying it was “coincidental.”) And rival fans made hay of Georgia’s discomfort, laughing and calling Richt, a man of deep convictions, a bald-faced hypocrite.
But now Georgia backers get to chuckle over Florida’s misdeeds and the public airing thereof. And we in the media have done our usual tut-tutting. (Here’s a column from Andrea Adelson of the Sentinel. Although Dennis Dodd of CBSsports.com defended the Gators, sort of.) But the cold truth is that, just as last year’s Georgia is this year’s Florida, this year’s Florida could well be next year’s … anybody.
No school holds the patent on decency. No school is impervious to the choices made by 85 or so young men who are lionized on campus and around town in a way that would make rock stars blush. No school does it completely “right” because no group of 85 can bat 1.000 when it comes to individual behavior.
Yes, it looks awful when such arrests take the form of clusters, but that didn’t mean Richt aided and abetted criminal behavior last summer or that Meyer does so now. (Urban Meyer, as we know, is named after a Pope.) Sometimes a coach’s shape-up message needs to be toughened, but messages go only so far. And if you’re going to be ranked No. 1 in the land, you won’t get there by signing guys away from the seminary.
As Dodd writes, a coach can get pushed out when the embarrassment becomes too great. But Dodd also notes Oklahoma was coming off a pedestrian-by-its-standards 9-3 season when Barry Switzer was deemed more trouble than he was worth. Meyer just won his second BCS title in three seasons. His program could be hit by 24 more charges and he’d be OK so long as the L’s don’t number more than one.
We who follow college football suffer a disconnect. We want to cheer on Saturdays without much caring what happens the other six days of the week. We hire our coaches to win. If they happen to mold character in the process, so much the better, but that’s not why they make their millions. They’re paid to win on Saturdays.
When it’s someone else’s players getting in trouble, we take it as a sign of the enemy’s inherent immorality. But at the highest level of college football, there are no saints. (Even the haloed Tim Tebow was penalized for taunting in the BCS title game.) What happened at Georgia and what’s happening at Florida can happen anywhere. So don’t laugh too hard at Urban Meyer. Your coach could be next.
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112 comments Add your comment
Gatorzone
June 19th, 2009
10:06 am
Charleston Southern was a last minute substitute when USF pulled out last year. Look it up
BruffDawg
June 19th, 2009
10:10 am
Anyone who has ever lived in these college towns like Athens and Gainsville know that these things are only the tip of the iceberg. Players get off all the time because they are part of the culture of winning, and winning brings in $. Like it or not this is what happens in these college towns with local grads giving sports stars free passes. The sad thing is when these athletes do something so wrong that they actually get into trouble. And also sportsfans, we may let our boys get drunk and vandalize some property (show me an athens alum who didnt) but at least they got enough sense to restrain from ASSAULTING THEIR ARRESTING OFFICERS. Classy program? Look at florida’s golden boy tebow geting a taunting penalty on the games grandest stage. You reap what you sow, trust me. I’m a dawg fan.
Georgia News - 6/19/09 | MrSEC.com
June 19th, 2009
10:14 am
[...] at Urban Meyer, Florida or their 24 arrests in the last four years. That’s because he remembers how that shoe was on Georgia’s foot last year.“Last summer Mark Richt met the press on Georgia’s media day, and 16 of the [...]
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
10:14 am
If you gonna get locked up you might as well go one & whoop some police ass in the process I suppose.
Don’t tase me bro!
archangeladidas
June 19th, 2009
10:16 am
Florida GATORS 2008 National Champions! Florida GATORS 49 uga 10! 10! 10! 10! 10! 10! 10! Hey garbagedawgs……….timeout,timeout! Go GATORS!!!
archangeladidas
June 19th, 2009
10:17 am
Oh yeah by the way, please stop bragging about Ole Miss beating UF. uga didn’t do it! GATORS 49 garbagedawgs 10! 10! 10!
BigMike
June 19th, 2009
10:18 am
I’m a true Hater of the Gators, The reality of most athletes, is that they,ve never been told no to most things, people shower them with praise, due to there atheletic abilitties. “True Grown people must start acacepting some responsibilities that lead these kids in that direction.” I’m a former player myself, and I know for a fact the roads that get paved with platinum. Put any kid on that road and he/she will think there is know wrong they can do, but reality and money has never been a great mix when men/women are involved, Gators, Bulldogs, Volunteers , Tigers, it doesn’t matter, kids are going to do wrong. You(meaning the non-athlete) may say it’s nonsense, but how many of you “grown men who follow these kids from high school to where they go to school(praying that it’s your team to the pro’s). Police Officer’s stop trying to make a name for yourself, and sometimes a good stiff warning, or taking him straight to a coach would straighen the situation out.
Denver Dog
June 19th, 2009
10:22 am
give it up gator fans. It justt is what it is. don’t defend your schedule, your crime, your penalties. It doesn’t matter. It all happens and when people start realizing that then this kind of hot air will stop. They are all cross sections. FSU gets big trouble for Academic fraud, Tech does not. The results of NCAA might not be fair, but the actions of the schools are the same. It is just society and if any of you think that their teams are choir boys and girls, and not average young adults, which means late teens, then smoke some more wacky backy and enjoy your lava lamps.
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
10:22 am
archangeladidas – you need to be medicated, heavily.
SEC
June 19th, 2009
10:23 am
Tampa Gator….crib notes next time if you expect anyone to read your response.
Maddog
June 19th, 2009
10:29 am
People in glass houses…..
I’m not about to throw UF under the bus because it happens everywhere. I seem to remember most of the UGA offenses last year had to do with underage. There was a day when 18 was the legal drinking age. If that were still the case then most of UGA’s problems last year would have never happened.
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
10:30 am
BruffDawg – Kind of like that elderly lady the Atlanta P.D. shot & killed a couple of years ago?
If that’s protection, then I don’t want it.
Gator Growl
June 19th, 2009
10:34 am
Tampa Gator really put it all in perspective. And although I think Mr Bradleys article here is fair and speaks candidly, we do live in a society where the sensational sells and in this economy thats vital for these newspapers struggling to exist. In our market down here, the Orlando Sentinel has become notorious for this, sometimes to the point where I wonder if their parent company isn’t the National Enquirer. But let’s face it, 100% Senior class graduation rates and rising GPAs stories just don’t cut it in the circulation dept.
loyalgator
June 19th, 2009
10:35 am
Corrine good to hear from you, gradulations on the new wig
dbc
June 19th, 2009
10:36 am
Great post TampaGator. I totally agree. I’m also of the mindset that Richt’s endzone dance against the Gators backfired against him in more ways than one. I believe it did set the wrong tone for the following year, and I believe the refs felt he showed them up and decided to call everything and make him pay. I wish coaches would go back to teaching their players to act like they’ve been there before and just toss the ref the ball after they score (ala Tebow.) It seems sportsmanship between players (and fans as well) has gone out the window. There’s nothing wrong with tackling a guy as hard as you can and then helping him up. And as for all of us, there’s nothing wrong with being passionate about your team and having some fun with each other — but when the insults start to fly, enough is enough. I come on here to talk a little football, but lately, any subject ends up devolving into an immature rant by a few childish, insecure dopes. Sorry to preach…
Otto
June 19th, 2009
10:42 am
Bruffdawg you obviously have lived in your quiet middle to upper income surburban home for far to long. WTF?? points out one of many times where LEO have gone over the edge. My mother speaks of time when LEOs greated you with a smile and helped change flats, and gave warnings to people who acted with respect. Those days are long gone in many areas especially college towns and if you are under the agoe of 30.
BruffDawg
June 19th, 2009
10:48 am
Im actually quite poor and used to hate cops until my house got robbed and then i needed them. Now i donate what little i have left to police charities every year.
He Hate Gator
June 19th, 2009
10:54 am
Good comments TampaGator, would agree even if I don’t like them Gators…
BruffDawg
June 19th, 2009
10:55 am
Tebow also got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting in the NC game.
secondguesser
June 19th, 2009
10:56 am
Even though I am a die hard gator I’ve had the displeasure of being more familiar with the Athens and Uga police depts. Now I know thatcollege kids are going to be kids but as far as I’m concerned the dawgs are at one hell of a disadvantage. If there was ever a law force more inclined to make the revenue off of the college kids I haven’t seen it. To serve and protect? More like to select and service!
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
10:56 am
BruffDawg – Come live in Floyd County.
95% of the officers are 23 year old punks that walk around with their chest poked out begging for someone to get out of line so they can somehow justify acts of police brutality.
Don’t get me wrong, I know some damn good police officers but I also know some damn bad ones.
Otto
June 19th, 2009
10:57 am
You must live with a better police force as others have pointed out it varies by area. My friends truck was stolen. He received a call weeks that the truck was being impounded after the thieves had dropped it off somewhere. Turns out the county’s finest never even filed his report. I have respect my city’s PD and they have had a great attitude. However I can not say they about past places I have lived all in NW Metro Atlanta.
The Dawg
June 19th, 2009
10:58 am
Tampa Gator, a very good post regardless of how you wrote it. If you can read, you can understand it, so the English majors need to calm down.
Athens, Gainesville, Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee, Knoxville, etc. are all “small” college towns. The puritanical Tech folks live in a dream world because the Metro area has umpteen police departments, and the AJC does not have time to check all the arrest records every day to see how many Tech students were arrested. Therefore, they have to concentrate on the really big stuff like part of the student population that wants to overthrow the U.S. government and all Americans.
Please keep in mind the importance of understanding and reason. Think about it, and realize while one school is pointed out, another slinks away in anonymity, with skirts clean and head held high even though falsley so. After all, which is more important to write about, the drinking or speeding of a college student or the overthrow of a goverment?
BruffDawg
June 19th, 2009
11:06 am
Very mature. Lets talk more football.
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
11:08 am
The Dawg – “Therefore, they have to concentrate on the really big stuff like part of the student population that wants to overthrow the U.S. government and all Americans.”
Are you speaking of the Tech student body?
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
11:09 am
How is speaking my mind immature?
Sanford Drive
June 19th, 2009
11:11 am
$10 says archangeladidas is a actually a Tech fan
BruffDawg
June 19th, 2009
11:11 am
Anyone got predictions for the OKST game? I’m thinking 35-17 DAWGS!!!
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
11:15 am
At least 35-17. They can’t simulate what our defense is going to do to them.
I know, I know… Our defense was absolutley atrocious for the most part last year.
But I’ve got a feeling they’ll be much improved when they turn the Dawgs loose in Stillwater, OK….
BG
June 19th, 2009
11:19 am
I can’t wait to see what meyer does to his starting cornerback that got arrested and tased. I bet meyer will make him go to class for 3 days straight. HAHAHAHA
Tide Rising
June 19th, 2009
11:22 am
Tampa gator,
Well said. A lot of thought and perspective put into that one.
m, Only an idiot like yourself would deride Tampa gators fine post. Shouldn’t you be getting back to your game of dungeons and dragons?
TampaGator
June 19th, 2009
11:24 am
I didn’t realize my post was so long. Sorry. I just had something to say. Also, I didn’t realize I was supposed to follow English 101 when posting a blog. I will try to do better in the future. By the way, a ciminal is someone who has been “convicted” of a felony crime and has spent time in a jail or prison. I don’t that defines any of the Georgia or Florida players in the last 4 years, although some (Hornsby and Rickerson at Florida) should have gone to jail for their offenses. Instead, Hornsby goes to Ole Miss…and the Nutt pen.
Tide Rising
June 19th, 2009
11:25 am
Bruff dawg,
I would say a little closer. 31-24 dogs over Ok St.
TampaGator
June 19th, 2009
11:36 am
To all the “Nutt cases” out there, I believe the two best teams in American and the end of last year were Florida and Mississippi. Too bad Florida and Mississippi were not in a rematch in the NC game. Both were better than anyone in Texas or Oklahoma…and it would have been a lot better game to watch. I also believe the Gators would have inflicted their revenge in the game.
Mark Bradley
June 19th, 2009
11:46 am
To answer WTF’s question from a while ago: No, I’m not watching the Open. Just finished writing something about Paul Hewitt.
In fact, if you’re inclined to take a look … here ’s where you’ll find it. And I’d be obliged if you gave it a click.
TampaGator
June 19th, 2009
11:58 am
SEC fan…your information on Ambles is highly inaccurate. Too bad you feel the need to attack a kid’s character without justification. What has the kid done to you other than turn down an offer from the school you pull for?
Cuz
June 19th, 2009
12:04 pm
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Both Coach Meyer and Coach Richt are addressing the problems. I hate it when these kids use bad judgement that cost them their careers and education. I guarantee the coaches do also.
TampaGator fine post, but watch out for the blog grammar police. You may get a two game suspension.
L-Dawg
June 19th, 2009
12:31 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF???
June 19th, 2009
12:38 pm
Damn…
That was bad, slightly funny, but bad.
I think they should open a chapter for Tech also.
Helluva Engineer, m or RAMBLEON!!!! Should be the area president.
Nachos
June 19th, 2009
12:49 pm
tim tebow set the georgia theatre on fire
Gatorzone
June 19th, 2009
12:53 pm
I just spent a week in Chattanooga and North Ga. All you Jort comments have zero room to talk. I saw more mouth breathing jean short wearing hicks in one week than I saw in a year in Tampa. And believe me, the tour guides at the various locations asked where people were from and the ones in reference were frum JawJa!!!
Cuz
June 19th, 2009
12:53 pm
No if Tebow was there he would have called down rain from heaven to quench the flames. Just like Superman, he can’t be everywhere at one time.
Gatorzone
June 19th, 2009
12:58 pm
Cuz, there would have been no need for Tebow to call down rain. He would have just waved a hand across and extinguised the flames on the spot!
Cuz
June 19th, 2009
12:58 pm
Zone here in the East we pronounce it Geor-ja. I think that is the only pronunciation we get right. Martinez is pronounced Mart-nez.
Think I will put on my jorts and cut the grass, otherwise would not be caught dead in them. Camo shorts are much cooler in my redneck world.
crack for lindsey
June 19th, 2009
1:00 pm
Jon Demps’ sandwich throwing didn’t keep UF from winning the MNC last year, so I doubt Jenkins’ dropped charges of presenting an easy target will affect the Gators much this season. By the way, have y’all received your 2008 Preseason National Championship rings yet?
I hope you’re looking forward to the Gator Bowl as much as we are. Maybe, after another crushing defeat as Florida rolls to another MNC, Mark Bradley will stop calling Coach Meyer Urban Crier, and change it to Urban Winner. He wins a lot more than he cries, but y’all already know that.
WE OWN YOU AND YOU KNOW IT!
POAD The CHOADE
June 19th, 2009
1:00 pm
I wish Tebow would do the world a favor and set Nachos on fire.
Leghound
June 19th, 2009
1:01 pm
I don’t follow football but most of these comments seem based on extensive knowledge.
Seems to me if this guys name is legally Urban anything he does can be excused
if somebody slaps his mama for that name.
Gatorzone
June 19th, 2009
1:22 pm
Touche.
I need to Get out of here, its Friday and daylight is burnin!
Till next week,
GO GATORS!!!!
Steve
June 19th, 2009
1:24 pm
Gotta love the leghumpers. Let’s see the Gators have two MNC within the last three years and Georgia has how many? How many SEC championships this decade? By the way, you thought you got a beat down last year, wait until October. You will be able to hear that leghumper yelping all the way back to Athens.
Nuggs
June 19th, 2009
1:24 pm
Simple math tells you that in the same time UF has had 24 arrest that UGA has had 30. No stones should be thrown by either side in the matter however MOST of the offenses for each team were petty ones that involved underage drinking or traffic offenses…hardly the FBI’s most wanted.
Meyer has very adequately disciplined his players to fit each offense. I would like for anyone to show one case in which he didn’t?