Pregame tussle

TIDE-HSV

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The reputation of Miami as Thug U probably has its genesis in their shameless running up of the score on Notre Dame, 58-7, on November 30, 1985 (played at the same time as the infamous Van Tiffin Iron Bowl). Ara Parseghian, the former Notre Dame coach who Tied One for the Gipper in 1966, whined and complained about the carnage. It was in Coach Gerry Faust's last game. Now the reason JJ and Miami ran up the score had to do with the politics of the rankings. Unbeaten Penn State was number one but somehow once beaten Oklahoma was #2 - ahead of once beaten Miami, who was actually down at number four. Miami had a legitimate complaint because OU's only loss was to......Miami. In Norman, 27-14. There were two polls back then (AP and UPI) and Miami rose to #2 in one of them, creating an outcry of anger in Iowa, where the Hawkeyes were a couple of plays from beating Ohio State as well.

I think that had that blown over at that point maybe it never gets as bad as it did.

Unfortunately, JJ felt the need to shoot his mouth off and spent much of the month running up to the 1986 Sugar Bowl with Tennessee saying that if he got the chance he was going to run up the score on the Volunteers to impress the pollsters.

Tennessee 35 Miami 7


That would put a dose of humility in most normal people but neither JJ nor Thug U meets the definition of normal.

1986 saw the infamous battle fatigues at the Fiesta Bowl with Penn State. Johnson basically apologized under pressure but even wrote in his later book (1993) that he didn't agree with it.

I've never had an ounce of respect for Jimmy Johnson as a coach because he never showed any to the game. (He seems to be a lot better now). In 1987, his team was involved in a brawl with South Carolina in the fourth quarter and also took some cheap shots at Heisman winner Tim Brown, who called them 'classless.'

And instead of taking this into account, JJ let players get into the microphone and boast about their greatness and say - in essence - 'well, the only reason they don't want to play us is because we always beat them.' And when folks pointed out that Johnson didn't teach his players any responsibility, he would retaliate by asking rhetorically, 'how does leading someone around by the hand teach them responsibility' - but he'd never really do anything to anyone that might show that he actually did have a line to not be crossed.

And finally, of course, he played the race card just like that fictional work "30 for 30: The U" did. JJ was more clever about it than the film was but the charge was still the same. Thug was 'code' for racism, for hating black kids who were having fun blah blah blah. The media even tried to turn it around by saying that Larry Bird was 'one of the big trash talkers of all-time.' Apparently, the intellectually challenged journalists were too stupid to realize there's a BIG difference between psych warfare DURING an athletic competition on the field that nobody hears in the stands and standing at a microphone and questioning the manhood of Alabama's defensive backs as Lamar Thomas did in 1992. Bird never did that and neither did any of Alabama's black players who talked trash during the game (as even Derrick Lassic has admitted). And even after getting his own manhood ripped away by George Teague, all Thomas could say after the game to the media was, "They showed they were just average" (I have this on VHS tape - seriously).

And that thuggery and mentality carried over to the Erickson regime. They only got away with it because they were winning. Once the losses began to pile up.....once Miami began to play schedules more challenging than anything Boise State can concoct........nobody would put up with it anymore.

Now I've said a lot but now we get to the problem at UGA. And UGA has a hypocrisy problem that goes way back far beyond the Mark Richt era. It may go back further but it most certainly goes back at least to the 1980s and Vince Dooley's greatest teams.

What is not often remembered, however, is that UGA had an Auburn-esque record of punishment from the NCAA. The reason nobody remembers this is because the sanctions against UGA were so slap in the wrist that most of us would die laughing. While Dooley was coach they got hit three times, the third (1982) having to do with their recruiting of Herschel Walker, who was allegedly sold to the highest bidder. (It has been stated more than once that the reason Walker bolted to the USFL for those millions is because he was going to be found ineligible to play in 1983 anyway).

That's all bad enough, but then you have to look at what happened in 1984 at Florida. In September, allegations broke against Charley Pell and his staff, with Pell resigning. Florida picked up the pieces and amazingly put together a record good enough to win the SEC title, their first ever. Florida knew a bomb was going to explode on the allegations, so they opted to not go to the Sugar Bowl in 1984 but would still be recognized as SEC champions. Since this was the first it was VERY important to them.

The SEC voted, 6-4, to strip Florida (the four teams in favor of Florida keeping the title were Alabama, Florida, MSU, and Auburn).

The ringleader in the entire 'let's show those cheaters?' Why Vince Dooley himself!!! This was in June of 1985. In February of 1986, Georgia got creamed by a former English professor named Jan Kemp, who refused to give athletes favorable grades to maintain their eligibility. Oh btw, these were football players in the fall of 1981, when UGA was defending a national championship and SEC title - so much for 'Florida cheats and we don't.'

Incidentally, Dooley was the AD at the time and the President of UGA for some 20 years, Fred Davison, resigned over the whole Kemp lawsuit.

UGA has a long history of trying to pose as good guys while trying to stack the deck. And Mark Richt learned the same tactics to defend thuggery from Papa Bowden at FSU. Quite frankly, it's a match made in college football Hell.


The issues of these constant pregame tussles and classless behavior stem from character issues deeper than the surface. Why does UGA have this problem? Obviously because players think they can get away with it or that it is somehow sanctioned or okay. I'm not talking about the stray loose cannon who commits a crime away from school - ALL teams have that problem. But TJ Yeldon made a gesture in the 2013 ATM game and never did it again. Why? Because that stuff isn't tolerated here.


I'll leave you with one final thought after this meandering. Miami was not the only team in the 1980s with problems in the tunnel. Notre Dame under Lou Holtz had a similar problem. I realize we've all plowed into Holtz for getting every place he ever coached put on probation. In 1989, Notre Dame got into a tunnel altercation with USC. I think that was the fourth under Holtz's watch. He publicly announced that if it ever happened again, he would resign. It stopped the nonsense.

I don't care for Notre Dame or Holtz - but at least he had a line. The time for Richt to establish a line was long ago, and he is not in any meaningful control of the school. He may well be a nice guy (but then again the public image of Mike Shula was at odds with reality, too), but he's still ultimately responsible for the actions of his team.

He is, after all, the adult leading a bunch of young 'first time away from home' adults into life.
Thomas' exact words were "I still say they're not all that great." The odd thing is that, earlier in the interview, he'd admitted that the strip was "the most humiliating moment of my life." Go figure...
 

RammerJammer14

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I never played high-level sports in college or anything, but all the years I played sports I never really got the whole trash talking thing. I mean some guy in my face telling me he is gonna beat me on a play or that my mom goes to college or something just made me smile a little and get on with the game. It must be more of a personal psych-up. I always thought those guys were just goofy.


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ccc2259

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Others have said it many times, but in my mind there simply is no doubt that Richt does NOT have control over this team. My reasoning is that no clear-thinking individual could ever link "Winning the Right Way" with the classless pregame taunting their team does. Suits me just fine if it continues for 10 more years.
 

bama579

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Hope it is OK to link a previous post on this subject . . . post #33

http://www.tidefans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254570&page=3&

"Be grateful, Crimson brethren and sistren, that the sort of behavior we mock is happening to the Dawgs. Then silently hope it continues. Why? Because it will attract more of that sort of players to UGa, making it easier for us to recruit the likes of Drake, Sims, etc., from the state of Georgia."
 
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bamabelle1991

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I don't think Mark Richt is a bad person, in fact, I think he is the exact opposite. That said, his willful ignorance of things like this make it look like he allows it. Most of you know, back from when we were interviewing OC's before we hired Nuss, I talked about being friends with Brian Schottenheimer. I know him well enough to know that this kind of stuff isn't ok with him. I just think that with Richt, it is easier to ignore certain things than to upset the apple cart. Yeah, that is obviously not working, but he just isn't going to do anything about it. I guess that means his willful ignorance equals approval. Pretty sad. Has Richt said anything in the media about this whole incident?

My son was at the game with the Schotty family. Had sideline passes and everything. He missed this whole incident and ended up hanging out down by where our running backs were warming up. He got some great pics and videos. And, before you ask, he likes Bama and UGA. :(. I have a daughter at Auburn and a son who can't decide if he is going to be loyal to mom and her team or dad and his. LOL. The struggle is real!

Proud of how our team responded to this nonsense. You do your "barking" on the field and you don't have to use intimidation.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Thomas' exact words were "I still say they're not all that great." The odd thing is that, earlier in the interview, he'd admitted that the strip was "the most humiliating moment of my life." Go figure...
I'm thinking you and I may have seen two different edits of the same interview. I posted it today. Thomas comes on at 1'38"


"Their defensive backs weren't that good and they showed tonight that they're - they're average, they just...the front four put so much pressure on Gino, he couldn't see the whole field."

(Wouldn't this make Miami's offensive line........less than advertised?

:)

 

TIDE-HSV

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I'm thinking you and I may have seen two different edits of the same interview. I posted it today. Thomas comes on at 1'38"


"Their defensive backs weren't that good and they showed tonight that they're - they're average, they just...the front four put so much pressure on Gino, he couldn't see the whole field."

(Wouldn't this make Miami's offensive line........less than advertised?

:)

It was a later interview. He was even interviewed about it in the NFL When I think about it, the two remarks were delivered in different interviews. I think the ones I saw, the "humiliating" remark came earlier...
 

B1GTide

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It was a later interview. He was even interviewed about it in the NFL When I think about it, the two remarks were delivered in different interviews. I think the ones I saw, the "humiliating" remark came earlier...
Can't read his mind, but I suspect that he feels humiliated because he still doesn't respect the man who took the ball away from him. If there was respect, he would know that he just got beat by a great player.
 

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