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- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
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- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
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Why is Trey Hill not listed as a projected returning scholarship player for 2021?
Leaving a legacy shouldn't involve UGA losing to a team like Cincinnati. EVER. Guess the opt outs don't care about that. I don't care if this practice is one that everyone does, if it was me, YOU PLAY UNTIL THE END! Period. Shameful, selfish and character revealing as far as I'm concerned. All in the pursuit of money. That's what makes the world go around. My guess is Kirby feels the same way, but he can't say it.
This is why UGA will never win the National Championship. Players like Chubb and Michel tried to set an example, but no one paid attention.
If we still do not win easily come 2nd half there is a culture/coaching problem. Cincinnati only has 4 4* players over the last 4 recruiting classes. No excuse. Next man up. I don't like the trend and do believe we need to provide better draft analysis, but our roster is DEEP!
I would love to see this analysis! I think it would be beneficial for the players as they make this decision as well. Hopefully they provide this internally.
Man, I hate seeing all those guys not playing. But, best of luck to all of them!
GO DAWGS!
Bunch of selfish fans. If the Bowl games aren't a playoff game then they mean nothing. Its an exhibition. They are making smart bussiness decisions and all yall are hating.
The bowl game is NOT an exhibition. It is a game. The Senior Bowl is an exhibition so anyone saying the won't play the bowl but will do the Senior has very little standing on the "injury" excuse.
We knew we were not winning the SEC before the season ended. Knowing that, why did these players not opt-out at that time? Calling someone selfish for being unhappy that the players ditched the team we love is silly. We expected a full season and that includes the bowl. I'm not calling for them to lose their scholarship or to be told to hit the road but I have every right to be disappointed in these players hosing their teammates who counted on them.
I'll never understand this mentality about the bowl games. They count on the team's record, so they have meaning to the extent that the sport itself does - just like every other game that counts. It's that simple. I (and I imagine still many others) would argue that the upper tier bowls - where a team has made it through the season and is now deliberately being matched up against another highly ranked opponent in a prestigious venue - are particularly meaningful; that's what it's all been building toward, that's the pay-off. Maybe not a championship, no, but still a significant moment and achievement.
And as I've said previously, non-championship-track bowl games have been around forever; they didn't just pop into existence with the playoff. I don't know how people have gotten it in their head that suddenly these upper tier bowl games matter less than they did 5 or 10 years ago. I find it bizarre.
So when you commit to play for The University of Georgia and sign your name to that scholarship CONTRACT it really means nothing.....The promises made to team mates, team, coaches, fans, school is nothing but ingenious BS ? Well young man, in my book you have also given up the lifelong distinction of "**** GOOD DAWG". I wish you well and pray you will one day grow a pair and learn to man up when faced with an obligation that doesn't seem convenient or self serving!
Young pups, time to man up. The only good thing coming from these "opt outs" is talented, younger players will get a chance to display why they were recruited..GoDAWGS!
I understand some of the reasons for opting out, but for some of these players it just seems like a cop out. I think the cancellation of the Vandy game started the ball rolling for players just to be done with the season. But, if 14 players opted out last year, and we still beat a pretty good Baylor team, then there is no reason to think the rest of the team isn't more than capable of beating Cincy. Players should honor their scholarships, but if you think about it many of these players leave after 3 years anyway to go pro or they enter the transfer portal at some point, so they never honor a 4-year scholarship anywho. The thought of a player "paying back" part of their scholarship is kind of silly in reality. It's just the way college football is today.
My suggestion is to figure out how to start playing for a National Championship every season and then this conversation hardly ever comes up.
So what if some upper-classmen ditch the program? Now the hungry pups get an early spring game in the winter and a chance to prove why they were recruited by UGA, and fans get a chance to preview most of next year's starting lineup.
GO DAWGS!
Yeah, that last point is a fair one. But I think there is a bigger concern of which the opt-outs are symptomatic: continuity, or rather, the lack thereof resulting from the number of players leaving early or hitting the portal (as you also referenced). We seem to have a lot of them, and I worry that it's hampering the program's progress toward becoming a playoff fixture - which, as you say, would likely resolve the opt-out issue.
This topic is becoming a carousel. Are colleges developing for the student, Natty or NFL or all the aforementioned? Point: If a natty, then you strive for the honoring of the 4-year scholarship and some remote semblance of school loyalty...even team loyalty...to develop the best player and student out there to enter the working world. The reason the NCAA chose the leave early doctrine is to get players who are the elite of the sport into the NFL where the money is. It creates a hurry-up player development program. The high profile schools also get major TV contracts and all kinds of monetary incentives from other avenues. Recruits often develop a false sense of achievement at the high school level. They market themselves to gain high player skill ratings. Colleges now recruit down to 15 and 16 years of age! So, many young talents are infused with this compulsive desire to make it in the brutal world of the NFL. They and their coaches begin the arduous recruiting process of preparing them to play for the best college to gain them their only goal...entering the NFL draft in as high a round as possible. All attend classes within the university system because they have to...but the colleges have it set up to favor the athlete...that is where the income is. UGA has one of the best college football programs in the NCAA. Football is their major sports revenue stream. I don't mean to go to school on the trend of college football, you folks are far more informed than I...I have read your comments. It is the trending away from the basic premise of college...as the means to a formal education...sports should be ancillary, not the goal. Making it the goal has created a monster....as many elite programs have become nothing more than NFL player mills and sports prep schools. But life is as it is. So I remain a loyal DAWG fan. Whom do I root for in a post UGA life?...those elite footballers who happened to make it in the NFL..what happened to those who didn't? My last extended rant. :)
"LeCounte . . . crashing an unregistered dirt bike on Macon Highway" - the kid crashed into a car that had turned left into his lane on Macon Highway, and then was struck again when the vehicle he hit pushed him into oncoming traffic.
But yeah, including "unregistered" seems a relevant and defensible qualifier.
@87dawg , I have to disagree with you about the players who opt out to prepare for the Senior Bowl. This game is by invitation only and this is a job interview for those seniors who want to play at the next level. If you get hurt in the bowl game prior to this one, you've limited your opportunity to be evlauated by scouts. Your only other opportunity is the Pro Day held by the school. Not all seniors are invited to the NFL Combine; only those who have a projected status of 1st - 3rd round picks. So yes, I don't blame them for opting out to prepare for their future.
As for the other fans "dogging" our players, don't blame them but blame the greed of of the NCAA. When the NCAA switched to a 4 game playoff system, it pretty much made all of the other bowl games irrelevant. Most kids want to play for a championship. When that's no longer an option, everything else seems useless. Also, why don't we hold coaches accountable when they sign a contract at one school only to leave for more money and "opportunity" as its called. Many leave their teams before the bowl game to be with the new school so why are we so critical with the players when they decide to move on. Has anyone talk to the other players on the team to see how they feel. I guarantee 90% support the players opting out to prepare for a better future. The players will also tell you that it gives guys who don't get to play as much an opportunity to show what they can do on the field.
UGA recruits elite players just about as well as anyone in the country along with Bama, Clem and OSU. Like the Baylor game showed us last year, the 4 & 5* players on the bench got their opprtunity to step up and that's what they did. Remember Zeus, Pickens, Ojulari and others. They all had breakout performances. They same will happen this year Dawg Fans. The 2020 football gods dealt us a bad hand this season with all of the injuries and uncertainty of who would play; but those who could play, did just that... Let's stop being selfish and once look at the game as the players do as they prepare for the rest of their lives.
Go Dawgs!!!!
Where is White's name in all of this ?