More on “celebration-gate”: Richt says Georgia’s win is what spiced up rivalry

Bulldogs Coach Mark Richt

Courtesy of ESPN.com:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Can’t Nov. 1 just go ahead and get here?

That’s the date Florida and Georgia resume their annual rivalry, and judging by some of the back-and-forth rhetoric the last two days at the SEC media days, it ought to be more entertaining than ever.

Georgia’s celebration and dance party in Florida’s end zone after the first touchdown last season continues to resonate. Florida coach Urban Meyer said it was “uncalled for” and that the Gators would “handle it” accordingly.

And while Georgia coach Mark Richt said Thursday that it was wrong and that he wouldn’t do it again, even though he insists he never intended for his entire team to leave the bench, he said the thing that intensifies the rivalry the most is the fact that the Bulldogs won the game.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt it’s intensified the rivalry,” Richt said. “But what intensified the rivalry is that we won, OK? I mean, that’s reality. But, you know, people want to talk about streaks in that game. The way I see it, we won last year. We won two out of the last four. And if you want to start going back in history, you might as well go back to the beginning of history of the series and see where Georgia is there.”

The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 47-37-2, but the Gators have won 15 of the last 18 games. And more importantly, Richt has won just two of the seven games he’s coached against Florida.

“You know, I don’t know why everybody wants to go just 15 games back,” Richt said. “I mean, if you want to go back, go back to the beginning. If you want to talk about recent history, let’s talk about last year, the last few games.”

Richt said he did call Meyer the day after last season’s game to apologize for the way the celebration got out of hand.

“I said, ‘I was a coach desperate to try to get some enthusiasm, and I was willing to take a 15-yard penalty,’ ” said Richt, who felt his team had been listless for much of the season up until that point. “Now, in hindsight, I asked the team to do an unsportsmanlike conduct, excessive celebration. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have done it. I won’t do anything like that again. It could have easily turned into a big, stupid brawl and everything else.”

Judge refuses to reduce sentence in killing after football game

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A judge has refused to shorten the sentence of a Jacksonville man convicted in a fatal beating after the 2005 Georgia-Florida football game.

Jeremy Alan Lane, 24, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of aggravated battery.

He had been charged with second-degree murder in the death of University of Florida student Thomas Brown, 23, of Merritt Island, after an alcohol-fueled, post-game altercation.

An appeals court in May ordered Circuit Judge Jack Schemer to re-sentence Lane because of an error calculating his initial sentence. Schemer could have reduced Lane’s sentence by up to 8 1/2 years.

“I cannot sit here and blame alcohol or anybody else for my actions,” Lane told the judge at the re-sentencing Tuesday. “I made a terrible mistake.”

Schemer ignored Lane’s family’s pleas to shorten his sentence.

Instead, he agreed with Brown’s family, who said the 12-year sentence should stand.

“He beat my son literally to death, spit in his face, and left him … gurgling his own blood,” said Brown’s mother, Kathryn Norwood Brown, “as he ran away laughing with his friends.”

In May, the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld Lane’s conviction, but said Schemer shouldn’t have counted Brown’s death on Lane’s sentencing score sheet because the jury didn’t convict him of murder.

Lane was charged with second-degree murder, but his attorney argued he was guilty only of simple battery.

The jury reached a compromise verdict of aggravated battery. Lane was one of three men convicted in the fatal beating. Mark Tyler Foss, 21, is serving four years for felony battery.

Alex Samuel Canzano, 24, is out of jail after being sentenced to 342 days’ time served for misdemeanor battery.

At their trials, witnesses said Lane and Foss beat Brown, while Canzano stood by to keep Brown from running away.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 072408

Two UGA linemen facing in-house discipline

Georgia offensive linemen Justin Anderson and Trinton Sturdivant will face ‘in-house’ discipline and will not be subjected to suspension for their roles in an incident that led to their arrests on simple battery charges last month.

That was the word from Bulldogs coach Mark Richt, who met with a small group of reporters before his main session in the Grand Ballroom of the Wynfrey Hotel at SEC Football Media Days.

“I’m handling their situation in-house,” Richt said. “Unless something else comes up, it’s not going to be a playing time situation.”

Anderson and Sturdivant were arrested on June 30 after a pregnant woman accused them of inappropriately touching her belly the previous Friday night at East Campus Village dormitory. The victim claimed she did not know the two players before encountering them in a breezeway late that night.

Sturdivant started every game at left tackle as a true freshman last season and Anderson, a redshirt freshman, is considered potential starter at guard.

Three Georgia players are currently suspended for the first and/or second games this season due to run-ins with the law: Sophomore guard Clint Boling, junior safety Donovan Baldwin and sophomore fullback Fred Munzenmaier. Sophomore defensive end Michael Lemon was dismissed from the team after being charged with felony aggravated battery.

Courtesy of AJC.com

Richt on “Celebration-Gate”: In hindsight, end zone celebration was wrong

IS THIS STORY NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY? ESPN.COM IS NOW REFERRING TO IT AS “CELEBRATION-GATE”! Any time a story gets the word “gate” added to it, it becomes an everlasting scandal. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mark Richt and support him all the way. But with that said, I don’t know if I agree with him giving in to Urban Meyer by admitting he was wrong an apologizing.

From ESPN.com:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Georgia coach Mark Richt just finished addressing the media, and among the highlights, he apologized for the way the Bulldogs’ celebration after the first touchdown against Florida last season went down.

He said he was “in shock” when he saw his whole team out there and added, “In hindsight, I shouldn’t have done it and won’t do anything like that again.” Richt said he called Florida coach Urban Meyer that Sunday to apologize.

I’ll have more on celebration-gate later on, so check back. The bottom line is that Richt got results. The Bulldogs’ season changed on that touchdown and ensuing dance party in the Gators’ end zone … even if it was unsportsmanlike.