This is an article that appeared in the Advocate today. I think this is a testament to both the type of players Coach Saban is recruiting and the leadership he and his upperclassmen are providing. :lsug: :lsup: :tigerhead :lsup: :lsug: Dubois: Saban should be able to rest easy at Media Days By CARL DUBOIS [email protected] Advocate sportswriter Southeastern Conference Football Media Days shouldn't burden LSU's Nick Saban with many tough questions. Other coaches won't be as lucky when three days of interviews begin today. Consider the offseason. Reigning SEC champion Georgia suspended nine players who sold their championship rings. They won't miss any games because the NCAA said its rules on such matters are unclear. Georgia fined offensive coordinator Neil Callaway a month's pay after his guilty plea on a DUI. Coach Mark Richt suspended four players for one-to-three games for breaking undisclosed rules. He suspended five for two games each after their misdemeanor drug arrests. Georgia President Michael Adams and Vince Dooley, the school's athletic director and former coach, are at odds. Arkansas lost two scholarships when the NCAA put its athletics program on three years' probation in April after finding a booster overpaid athletes who worked for him. Six Razorbacks were arrested in the offseason, giving the team 11 player arrests in 19 months. Florida suspended two linemen who broke team rules. Another player faced a sworn complaint of petty theft when police found him riding a stolen bicycle. The State Attorney's Office decided not to press charges, leaving Baker to face possible internal discipline. In April, two Florida players were arrested on felony aggravated battery charges after they allegedly kicked and punched a man outside a nightclub, knocking him unconscious. One pleaded no contest and could face suspension. The other pleaded innocent. His case is up for review Aug. 18. A Florida player pleaded no contest to an unrelated battery charge and could face suspension. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer lost two scholarships in January when the NCAA accepted self-imposed sanctions for recruiting infractions. He dismissed one player who failed a substance test for the third time in a year. Fulmer could face questioning in a lawsuit filed by two former Alabama coaches in the wake of the NCAA's investigation of Alabama's recruitment of Albert Means of Memphis. The coaches claim the NCAA, Alabama officials and several co-conspirators -- including Tennessee boosters -- smeared their reputations and cost them their jobs. Five Ole Miss players placed $1,463 worth of telephone calls with a stolen access code, the university reported to the NCAA. Two of the three players still on the team will sit out some games. The university and the NCAA are also gathering information on allegations of rules violations involving a 2002 recruit. Auburn's Tommy Tuberville received a contract extension and pay raise after last season and underwent surgeries for chronic neck and back pain. The biggest task he faced in the spring was trying to inject perspective into expectations and high preseason rankings for Auburn. Then early this month he suspended a player after his arrest on charges of speeding and DUI -- then subsequent charges of possession of marijuana and carrying a gun without a permit. South Carolina's Lou Holtz dismissed a player in the spring for violating team rules and suspended another after he was charged with simple assault in an incident involving a female student. Mississippi State's Jackie Sherrill is on the hot seat as the NCAA probes charges of violations, most of them related to recruiting. Then there's Alabama. 'Nuff said. If you don't know that story, might we suggest an extensive Google search of these keywords: Dennis Franchione. Coaching search. Mike Price. Stripper. Hotel. Fired. Lawsuit. Coaching search. Mike Shula. Roll Tide. In contrast, LSU players and coaches have been men behaving well during the offseason. No arrests. No credit-card scandals. No dates with Destiny. Saban gave a deposition last week in a lawsuit filed by two former members of the faculty, a case connected with the NCAA's investigation of wrongdoing in academic-athletics relationships, but it dates to 2001. So far, 2003 has revealed no off-the-field incidents or problems. Whether he's recruiting players with better character or is putting the fear of God -- or Saban -- into them, or is just good at damage control and spin, Saban has a program that has sailed through the first seven months of the year with no embarrassing headlines. No news is good news. In February, LSU signed a recruiting class rated the best in the country. The NCAA, after evaluating Saban's method of staggering two-a-day practices in August to keep his players in the best possible health, adopted that method as its mandated policy for its member schools beginning this preseason. There's nothing reporters can ask that might raise Saban's blood pressure as he takes his turn at SEC Media Days on Thursday morning. Well, there's always the old standby about a quarterback controversy ...
UGA did nothing wrong with the ring situation yet it always seems to come up when talking about bad things. What a joke.
With all due respect, Southlink, UGA did nothing illegal. But.....I think selling the rings is wrong. My opinion.
Of course it's wrong. It's stupid. But that article kind of reminds me of a few others that state that case as if the kids did something wrong from an illegal standpoint. The DUI wasn't even that but a "moving violation" with a blood level of that of just a few beers.
The ring-selling was not illegal. Pathetic, low, and desperate, yes. Illegal? No. Back on point, it's so refreshing to see Coach Saban running the program well and our young men being good representatives of the program. Really a relief when you think back to the days of Gerry DiNardo and the Larry Foster/Cecil Collins fiascos. This is how it SHOULD be done. I am so happy to say that, win or lose, I am proud of the guys on our football team. They are setting the right example on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. GEAUX TIGERS!!!
