Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 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.
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 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.
Options
AJC can't stop chasing the ambulance...
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Morally?
Not letting families, friends, victims, and supporters grieve in peace without them trying to point out everything that they think was wrong leading up to and following the accident.
What?
I'm not saying the paper "is wrong" for writing their stories.
It is my opinion they have been overly aggressive in their pursuit of clicks and subscribers. To the point of being poor taste during such a tragic event.
I think the reporting is fine. It's a legitimate concern and something worthy of reporting. Why is the police department so close with the football program/AD's office that a staff member is on-site at the crash right after it happens? That's so fast football staff are likely getting priority over family members, and it definitely raises the possibility of or the appearance that athletes are getting favorable treatment from the police. I don't like it at other schools, and I don't like it at mine either.
you mean the government right? This reads like something out of 1984
weve always been at war with Eurasia.
I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist this thread…
I'm not gonna go troll anyone like usual (except pg that was too good to pass up) because of the sensitive nature of everything, but this type of adversarial reporting against powerful institutions is incredibly important. This is not the type of service the University gives to all students or even all athletes for that matter. Having a high level staffer this quick on the scene before families probably even knew what was going on is highly suspect and is indicative of a cozy relationship between the football program and the police. It also gives the appearance that any investigation might be tainted in an attempt to cover up any information that might be damaging to the program. I'm not saying that's what happened but it's a possibility that will always linger because of this type of relationship existing between police and football/basketball programs. We can't rush to defend everything that happens within the program just because they are our favorite team.
When people are faced with a crisis like this, they reach out for help. Wouldn't the most obvious possibility be that one or both of the two survivors reached out to team channels for help? Assuming the first calls were the police and the team emergency response POC, wouldn't that be exactly what they were trained to do in an emergency? It's two employees and two football players. Most organizations have contingency plans for all kinds of disasters these days. In other disaster situations, the reporters attack organizations for slow/no responses. UGA reacted fast and that was absolutely appropriate. Maybe the reporter should have praised UGA's quick response. Instead, they appear to be questioning the integrity of UGA and the APD because they responded quickly and effectively.
Could it be possible that Athens PD called Gantt so he could liaison between them, the program, and the families.
I read somewhere a couple of years ago that Gantt also lives in East Athens so it wouldn't take long for him to get to the scene.
Be serious for a moment, what was that guy gonna do to help the situation that emergency responders couldn’t do? I don’t think the AJC or any news outlet would criticize UGA for not having emergency response personnel at a car crash.
No idea but this bit of info makes him look like a fixer that is in close with the police
Think about it, and not from a Monday morning QB perspective, Yale. I don't want to rehash the details, but it was akin to being in combat and watching friends die very graphically. It's incredibly traumatic. Wouldn't you think the survivors reached out for help everywhere they could? I would be surprised if two employees and two players didn't reach out to the team POC for emergencies after the emergency response calls. But, we don't know the details, so why question the integrity of the team and APD before you have the facts?
Why is he calling the police chief to tell him he's on the way to the site of the crash, and that he needs the officers at the scene to know he's coming? Why does the police chief wake up at 3:15 AM and do exactly what a football staffer is telling him to do? If he's just going to the site to comfort players he doesn't have to alert the police. Incredible that you're gonna talk down to me when you haven't given a single bit of critical thought to any of this.
I wasn't "talking down" to you. I was suggesting logical possibilities for why they notified the UGA POCs early on in the crisis. Say whatever you want.
No one is questioning why players might call staffers or coaches in the program. Its the fact he's calling the police chief to let him know he's on the way to the site and that he needs to alert the responding officers to his presence. Why is that necessary if he's just going there to help the players? That absolutely reeks and calls the details of the crash into question. It's not proof on its own but that is always gonna linger because he decided to insert himself into the situation in that way. Make new standards and procedures, be more transparent, and then move on to winning football games. I love UGA football, but I'm not gonna sit here and excuse this sort of behavior
Wow, oof. Not a good look. I’m not sure what’s more damning, the part where he didn’t get Riley out of a marijuana charge or the part where he didn’t bond out a recruit.
Seriously, I can admit that it seems like there could be some coziness between Gantt and the APD. But I don’t think I would give Riley Ridley throwing everything he can to avoid being arrested for a drug charge as evidence for such coziness. Also, this whole situation wasn’t a drug charge, it wasn’t battery, it wasn’t a DUI- it was a fatal accident and Gantt was called, what was he supposed to do? Say “sorry, there’s nothing I can do. I’m no help”? Or was he supposed to do everything in his power to try to straighten out the mess he was thrown in to? maybe calling the chief was the start of him sort things out.
If you want to see this as a negative relationship between Gantt and the police, you will. If you want to see it as a man doing this job, you will. The truth is almost assuredly in the middle.
Lewis Grizzard wrote for the AJC and when someone asked him, "Why can't they be more truthful and accurate?"
Grizzard's response was, "It don't cost but a quarter. We can be more truthful and accurate and charge you $7.95."
The 25 cents was back in the 80s for reference.
Taste has never been high on the AJC's list, and that's coming from a lifelong Atlantan.
WSB for that matter too. They always go for the sensational story...I know every station does it, but WSB TV and Radio have been the worst. Maybe that's why their ratings are consistently higher...
The mental gymnastics here are insane. The only person who should be dedicated to interacting with law enforcement on employees/players' behalf is a lawyer. Again, why is he calling the police chief at 3:15 am so the responding officers are aware that he will be on-site? What on earth could a football staffer be doing to help law enforcement with a fatal crash?