Terrence Moore Contradictory Column Update

So about a month ago Terrence Moore wrote a column about the “decision makers” needing to do something about Georgia’s debilitating Knucklehead Problem. I did a post about it and everything. In it he wrote the following:

If you’re a decision-maker with Georgia’s football program, and if you wish to give your talented Bulldogs their best shot at winning a national championship this season, you just can’t spend the offseason having two, three, or four of your players arrested.

Well, he’s just written another column about the dreadful rise of Knuckleheaditis in Athens. In it he wrote this:

…somebody around here must get better at keeping the knuckleheads away.

No, not university officials, ranging from president Michael Adams to athletics director Damon Evans. And, no, not Mark Richt, who actually is tougher than you think. With penalties for his knuckleheads that often go beyond university guidelines, Richt has done about as much as a coach can do in these situations.

Huh, so did someone tell Terrence Moore that the decision makers don’t really have all that much control over players off-field actions? Did he read my post and have his eyes opened? Is he becoming more rational and blaming the individual players themselves?

It’s up to the peers of those Georgia’s knuckleheads.

Oh, now it’s the fault of the players who didn’t fuck up. Let’s find out how.

Where are those peers? They’ve been either non-existent or invisible during this lengthy stretch of off-season ugliness for the Bulldogs.

Trust me, they exist. And they probably seem “invisible” to the media because – and I’m just throwing this out there - they haven’t had any off-field problems that tend to make headlines during the off-season.

In other words, those peers have yet to surface as team leaders who would shove a chinstrap down the throat of a knucklehead wannabe, and that has to change in a hurry.

My parody of “A Few Good Men” starring Helen Hunt as Mark Richt and Scott Wolf (who kind of looks like Tom Cruise, isn’t batshit insane as far as I know, and is affordable on our budget) as Defense Attorney Barry Dunlap.

Dunlap: Bobo ordered the code red, didn’t he?  Because that’s what you told Bobo to do. And when it went bad you cut these guys loose. You had Garner sign a phony transfer release. You doctored the practice footage. I’ll ask for the forth time. You ordered…
Richt: You want answers?
Dunlap: I think I’m entitled to them.
Richt: (still calmly) You want answers?
Dunlap: I want the truth!
Richt: (prozac calmly) You can’t handle the truth. Son, we live in a nation with knuckleheads. And those knuckleheads have to be governed with a firm hand. Who’s gonna do it? You? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Dewberry and curse the Georgia Bulldogs. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: That Dewberry’s death, while tragic, probably won football games. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, wins football games. You don’t want the truth, because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me reigning in these knuckleheads. You need me reigning in these knuckleheads. We use words like honor, loyalty, weakside bandit…we use these words as the backbone to a life spent winning games and educating young men.  You use ‘em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who derives vicarious pride from the very wins I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide them. I’d prefer you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you put on a helmet and take the field.  Either way, I don’t give a gosh darn what you think you’re entitled to.
Dunlap: Did you order the code red?
Richt: (nearly nodding off in the chair) I did the job I was hired to do.
Dunlap: Did you order the code red?
Richt: (half asleep mumble) Your darn right I did.

That totally wasn’t worth it. But let’s get a player quote that undercuts that last paragraph:

“We do have a lot of experience and a lot of guys who have led in the past. Plus, [quarterback Matthew] Stafford has started to become more vocal, and [wide receiver] Mohamed Massaquoi is vocal,” said Asher Allen, Georgia’s star cornerback, with rising leadership skills as a junior. “But the big thing is, we have a lot of example leaders. Sometimes, those are the best ones, because you can say do this and do that, but if you’re not doing those things, then it’s like, ‘Well, OK,’ to the younger guys.”

So there are both vocal and examplary leaders. They exist, like I said, and they’re probably visible to the players that have been fucking up. Though they could all constantly be doing that you-can’t-see-me hand motion thing, so it’s debatable.

In case you’re wondering, none of Georgia’s “example” leaders or otherwise was among the knuckleheads arrested for everything from rubbing the belly of a pregnant woman to numerous alcohol-related things.

I actually was not wondering that, because, by definition, if they were among the people arrested they would not be leading by example.

Just this week, Richt announced that he had suspended a sixth player. This time, it was junior linebacker Darius Dewberry, guilty of destroying a parking-lot control arm at a local hospital along with smashing four pots containing plants. Dewberry isn’t among the Bulldogs’ leaders, either.

No shit. Really? They aren’t turning to backup linebackers for leadership?

That’s great.

I’m not sure I’d call it great, but if you want to go with that, cool.

This isn’t: When a local or national newscast mentions another arrest of a UGA football player, it doesn’t specify the pedigree of the knucklehead.

Well, no, but – and I don’t mean to be beligerant here – what the fuck does this have to do with anything?

He goes on to quote Brannan Southerland about the importance of leadership, then closes with:

It sounds good. So why hasn’t it been happening, or is it happening?

Why would you think it’s not happening? You’ve talked to two players who discussed it, said it was important, and implied or stated that it is actually happening. Do you not even bother to read the quotes that you type into your columns? Or does your editor just insert them later to flesh out your column? Either way, someone needs to do something about the knuckleheads writing for the AJC.

For verification, keep checking the various police blotters.

Or you can check out the quotes in this article.