Larry Brown Sports

For those of you who missed me a few weeks back, I was busy buzzing around Bermuda on a scooter endangering the life of my fiancee.  While I say that sarcastically, those things really are dangerous — especially in a country with different traffic rules.  Having ridden one before, I completely understand how a player like Georgia’s Derrick Lott could suffer an injury while using one.

Lott is said to have suffered a lower leg injury that required surgery after he crashed his scooter into a fixed object, as UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson shared with the Atlanta-Journal Constituion on Wednesday.  We have featured our fair share of weird injuries on LBS including this one, this one, and this one, but I must admit Lott’s is a bit more understandable.

That being said, injuries like this show us why professional athletes’ contracts have become much more detailed in recent years with regard to motorcycles.  Scooters have been a problem for Georgia for quite some time now, with baseball player Chance Veazey having been paralyzed from the waist down in a 2009 accident.

Should athletes not ride scooters because of the risk?  I guess you could say they should never leave their house if you want to argue that, but it certainly doesn’t help.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt got all righteous during a meeting of “Bulldog faithful” in South Carolina last week. First, Richt drew attention for calling out the practice of over-signing, which is an unethical yet commonly-used practice employed by Nick Saban most notably. The he took an idealistic stand against the world of college football according to the Ledger-Enquirer, saying “There’s been a bit too much of the winning at all costs in college football and I hope the tide turns in the other direction.”

I love Richt’s righteous approach and wish more programs followed the rules and put winning behind ethics, but I know that’s unrealistic. However, I wouldn’t complain about someone preaching about morals if the remarks hadn’t come from someone who is ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTORS TO THE PROBLEM.

Georgia is notorious for its football team having run-ins with the law. From 2008-2010, the program had 25 arrests, all documented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The charges ranged from DUI to battery to hit and run to theft, so they vary in severity, but there is little doubt Georgia fostered a team of criminals. Think about it, they didn’t take come EDSBS’ coveted Fulmer Cup for nothing; a lot of hard work went into winning that title. We even noted a few of the arrests back in 2008, pointing out that the arrests indicated Georgia was in mid-season form.

And honestly, if you want to talk about winning at all costs, who can forget the honorable gesture of a Georgia assistant giving an opposing kicker the choke sign before he attempted a field goal against them. But maybe we should forgive the coaches and players. After all, they may be taking their lead from this man.

Preach on, Brother Richt, and don’t let a little thing like facts get in the way of your ideals.

Head butt to College Football Talk for the story

Isaiah Crowell is one of the top rated running backs in the country and one of the most-coveted high school players (he was ranked as the top RB on ESPN and Rivals’ lists). On Signing Day Wednesday, he announced he was choosing Georgia over Alabama. The Carver High product combines with several other in-state recruits to form what coach Mark Richt terms a “dream team” of local players.

Richt’s squad has been struggling lately, going 8-5 in 2009 and 6-7 this past year which was Richt’s first losing season. He had a well-publicized plan to recruit in state and keep local players at home — hence the “dream team” concept. Crowell helped make Richt’s dream come true by finally accepting the scholarship offer that was extended to him when he was a freshman.

So what’s the story behind the bulldog puppy you ask?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found out that “Crowell’s friend and backup running back Cequanti Ford brought out his bulldog puppy for him to hold.” Keeping in stride with the antics many high schoolers devise on Signing Day, “the two had hatched the plan Tuesday to add flair to the ever-growing pomp of signing-day announcements. Ford had to smuggle in the puppy — named Uga, naturally — to keep the decision a secret.”

I ripped into a Rutgers signee for his self-centered jerk move during his announcement and I’m no fan of the egotistical display put on by many of these teenagers. Breaking out the puppy however didn’t hurt another school, and let’s face it, it was kind of cute. Now all that remains is seeing if Crowell can live up to his high school billing. Let’s just say if he comes close to matching Knowshon Moreno’s production he’ll be in fine shape.

There’s nothing quite like a coach acting like a child and getting bagged on camera.  My guess is Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham won’t be giving the choke signal to an opponent anymore after Saturday’s overtime loss to Florida for two reasons: he now looks like a complete clown, and he was trying to intimidate a 21-year-old college kid who showed how he cared by banging home the game-winning field goal.  Check out the video of Todd Grantham giving Chas Henry the choke gesture, courtesy of Deadspin:

There has been quite a bit of backlash over this already, and I think rightfully so.  Don’t get me wrong — it’s not the end of the world and Grantham doesn’t deserve to be fired.  It’s just one of those things that’s just plain stupid.  Players do stuff like this all the time.  It’s part of the game and you certainly wouldn’t want your child hearing and seeing everything that goes on down in the trenches during a game.  However, doing something like that just makes a coach look idiotic and immature.  Not to mention, Grantham set himself up for a college kid to publicly embarrass him , and that’s just what Henry did.

Video Credit: YouTube user O7shanksta13

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops brought up the point this off-season that teams don’t have much to gain by scheduling difficult nonconference games. Rather, he pointed out that they have much more to lose because the BCS emphasizes record more than strength of schedule, so there’s little upside for a team like them whose Big 12 schedule is already difficult. Georgia’s new athletic director must have the same belief, because he recently agreed with Oregon to mutually cancel a planned home and home series for 2015.

Though the move was termed as a “mutual agreement,” comments from Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity (pictured) indicate it was Georgia who initiated the cancellation. He said about the Bulldogs’ game at Colorado this weekend “We think we’re going a long way this week, try Eugene, Ore., that’s even further. It’s not a lot of fun when you see the itinerary when you get back into Athens at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning like will be the situation this Sunday.”

In addition to not wanting to travel to Eugene, McGarity is in favor of the schedule model that features seven home games and only one tough nonconference game per year. With a game against rival Georgia Tech each year, that doesn’t leave much room for other difficult opponents.

To me, this is typical of the SEC. They have a tough conference schedule so their schools usually aren’t eager to challenge themselves with difficult nonconference schedules or games on the road. This move is also reflective of Georgia’s status as a program. They recently beat Arizona State in a home and home but split with Oklahoma State, losing in Stillwater last year. No longer confident in their abilities and looking to rebuild, they’re trying to set up an easier schedule for themselves.

After we posted on Thursday about Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans being arrested on charges of a DUI, new details about the story were released, as is always the case.  Sports by Brooks — who has been all over this thing since it broke — released two follow-up stories about the incident on Friday.  The first informed us that Evans had a 28-year-old female passenger with him at the time of his arrest, who he later said was a friend of his named Courtney Fuhrmann (pictures of her below).

Evans is married with two children, but I decided to let that slide for the time being and see if it gained anymore steam.  Boy, did it ever.  Brooks’ second follow-up provides some extremely embarrassing details that will probably result in Evans losing his wife on top of his job. Here are the best snip-its from the report, as told by Christian Boone of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The passenger in Evans’ 2009 BMW, 28-year-old Courtney Fuhrmann, was being “very loud and obnoxious and was obviously intoxicated,” Cabe wrote. Fuhrmann, who Evans called “just a friend” at a press conference Thursday afternoon, was also arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. He told the trooper “there was nothing there” between him and the Buckhead woman, “because he had a wife and family.”

The trooper, who noted that Evans had a pair of red panties in between his legs, asked the athletic director “what her panties were doing in his side of the seat. He stated, ‘She took them off and I held them because I was just trying to get her home.’ “

Read The Rest of the Story…

Allow me to start by once again reiterating that there’s nothing humorous about driving a vehicle while under the influence.  It’s actually kind of sad how obvious it is that these sports figures feel untouchable, resulting in them driving around in the condition we see Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans in to the right.  However, his mugshot could be one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.  Judging by his face, it was probably a good idea on his part to refuse the breathalyzer. We’ll have to wait for the traffic stop video to throw Evans into the competitive mix with the likes of Tony La Russa and Tom Lewand, but if his mugshot is any indication of his BAC he could give them a run for their money.

Sports by Brooks has come across a comical twist to this particular DUI arrest.  You know how when you go to a game there’s always some sort of player or coach on the video monitor as the messenger for a public service announcement to drink responsibility, not drive, behave, yada yada yada?  That guy for Georgia Bulldogs football happens to be none other than Damon Evans.  Check out the video of Damon Evans DUI prevention public service announcement:

Quality, quality stuff and a great find as usual from Brooks.

Source:
Video: Georgia Athletic Director Drunk Driving PSA [SPORTS by BROOKS]