I’ll be honest; I don’t make it a habit of writing complimentary articles about the Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs. How can I? They’ve caused me a decade of utter frustration as nearly every November ends with Georgia Tech losing to Georgia.
In this case, though I have to defend some of the actions of head coach Mark Richt. The NCAA infractions committee is quickly becoming as unpopular as the BCS and this time they’ve sited Richt for secondary violations. What did he do, pay players, must be academics, improper dealing with an agent? No, No and no, he gave $25,000 of his own money to coaches and staff that he felt were inadequately compensated. Oh my horror!
Here’s the full report from ESPN.com. Now did Georgia lose scholarships or receive a probation penalty? Thankfully no, but the fact the NCAA has actually spent time investigating and ruling on such a non-issue is another example of priorities being in the wrong place for the NCAA.
I understand that by the strictest letter of the law a violation was committed, but seriously why is this even coming up? It’s the equivalent of getting a speeding ticket for driving 1 MPH over the speed limit while on the way to feed the poor at the soup kitchen. Richt should be commended for his generosity and even the hint of a violation is just plain ridiculous.
Really should it surprise anyone though? This comes from a body that took away an ACC title from Georgia Tech over “allegedly” $300, and with no discernible rhyme or reason to rulings and violations. Calling what Richt did a violation is laughable. I commend Richt for his actions.
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