SPORTS
10 | Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | The Red & Black
Player’s explanations make matters worse Y
LOSS: Relief pitching blows lead
ou can just imagine the dirt showering over Mark Richt’s shoulders right
¢ From Page 1 freshman third baseman Todd Hankins reached first on a wellplaced leadoff bunt to spark the Bulldog rally. After left fielder Johnathan Taylor singled to left and right fielder Peter Verdin reached on another bunt, Levi Hyams’ bases-loaded single scored Hankins from third to give Georgia the 1-0 lead. With two outs, designated hitter Robert Shipman smacked a grounder that ricocheted off of Pope’s shin, scoring Taylor to put Georgia in front 2-0. After closing out the seventh inning unscathed, Georgia reliever Justin Earls ran into trouble in the eighth. With one out and two runners on, Plagman brought home outfielder Jeff Rowland on a sacrifice fly that made it a 2-1 ball game and brought an end to
WES BLANKENSHIP | The Red & Black
S Senior Justin Earls was tagged with two runs on four hits in Tuesday’s loss to Georgia Tech at Turner Field. Earls’ night. Earls was replaced by senior Jeff Walters, who struggled to get out of the jam, giving up four runs and four hits and two walks. Tech took a 3-2 lead on a triple to left center by Matt Skole before Chase Burnette’s twoout double stretched the lead to 4-2. Walters loaded the bases with two outs on two consecutive
walks and was unable to stop the bleeding before Tech’s Evan Martin made it 6-2 with a tworun double. Bulldog freshman Brett DeLoach made things interesting when he delivered a pinchhit, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth to make the score 6-4, but Georgia was unable to add to their tally in the ninth.
THE 3-MINUTE INTERVIEW:
DRAKE BERNSTEIN
Junior Drake Bernstein joined the Georgia men’s tennis team in the fall of 2007. The following spring, the Bulldogs brought home their secondstraight national championship. Now as an upperclassmen, Bernstein has taken on a new role with the Bulldogs. What’s one of your favorite memories with the tennis team? Winning it all in 2008 — it went by so fast ... You can’t beat winning in a NCAA championship. Hopefully, we can repeat that in a couple of weeks here. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
too good the next day. I go to bed anywhere between 8:30 and 10 most of the time. What would you never leave the house without? My phone. That’s something, especially Javi [Javier Garrapiz] will tell you, that I can’t go anywhere without. I have to check my phone every 30 seconds. Usually, there’s nobody talking to me, but every now and then, I like to feel like I have friends. If I’m not checking my own phone, I’m checking Will Oliver’s phone, because he’s got plenty of friends for me to talk to. Will you be hitting up Six Flags over the summer?
Maybe a basketball goal. When I was younger, that was something I could do every day and I’d use it after school. It kept me from playing video games all day. Instead, I could go out and play basketball.
I hate roller coasters. I hate heights. I can’t handle anything above four stories. I freak out. I got on one and I’ll never get on a roller coaster again. [It was] when I was 10 or 11 at Six Flags, and it just wasn’t a good experience. I’m really terrified of heights, so there’s no chance I’m ever skydiving.
Would you rather have a night in or a night out?
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Depends on what time of the year it is and it depends on who I’d be going with. A night in is always good. I go to bed pretty early, as a lot of people know, so I’d have to say a night in, so I don’t feel too bad the next day. I’m pretty weird — if I go to sleep much later than 10, I don’t feel
I can’t stand being late anywhere, even if it’s being like 30 seconds late to class. That will drive me up the wall. I hate being late myself and I can’t stand when other people are late, too.
BERNSTEIN
— Lisa Glaser
now. This time around, it was junior tight end Aron White who decided to pick up the shovel — or a pen — and pull his weight for the program by digging deeper into the hole that Georgia football program already finds itself in. In a letter written to The Red & Black published Tuesday, White responded to a previous column by claiming Bulldog fans need to put the incidents of arrested football players “into perspective.” He also said fans need to understand that if “any other student organizations were watched as closely as our student-athletes are then perhaps they would have more arrests and incidents too.” Come on, No. 81, are you really going to play that card? While Georgia fans should be proud to have such players as yourself who are making the most out of their college experience, other students are not going to feel sorry for a program who can not stay out of trouble — regardless of whether players are in a highly-scrutinized situation or not. See, Aron, you are missing the point. This was the part of an argument with your parents where it is better to just stay silent and accept the reprimands for previous actions. You know, the same part where the police explain that anything you say can and will be used against you — surely your ex-teammates can explain that drill. Instead, excuses were inconceivably made, warranting yet another response coming down on a team that has been an embarrassment to the University of Georgia and, surely, its head football coach. Whether the reasoning is fair or not, being part of a team means that well-behaved athletes such as yourself are going to receive portions of blame when multiple teammates fall from grace. Outside opinions will undoubtedly perceive the lawless actions of a few as a reflection of the entire program. This is why the voices of leaders, such as yourself, are so vital in a world of college athlet-
ZACH DILLARD
ics where there are so many potential pitfalls. So try voicing that strong opinion toward a troubled locker room — not to the media and fans. And yes, Zach Mettenberger is just a (redshirt) freshman, so perhaps he does deserve a pass for the one mistake he made in his Bulldog career. But Josh Parrish was just a redshirt freshman when he was arrested on April 11. Montez Robinson was just a rising sophomore during all three of his run-ins with the Athens-Clarke County Police. Trent Dittmer is just a senior. Two is company, three’s a crowd — and four warrants a few degrading columns from the media about the Georgia football program, one that seems to receive more ink in the Crime Notebook than in the Sports pages. The fact of the matter is that upon signing their letters of intent to Georgia, football players have bound themselves to different standards. As far as media attention and legal issues are concerned, these standards are higher. In other instances, though, far less is requested of studentathletes than their collegiate peers. Feel free to keep petitioning on how the football program should be looked upon no differently than “any other student organization” — then try to explain why football players’ average SAT scores were allowed to be 334 points lower than the average male student when your class was admitted back in 2007. So by all means, Mr. White, keep making insubstantial excuses as to why four Georgia players have been arrested in the past two months, and how the subsequent media attention is unjustified. Here’s your shovel back. Keep digging — you are bound to hit rock bottom eventually. — Zach Dillard is a sportswriter for The Red & Black
“Furlough on the Fairways” April 30th, Reading Day!!
FRIDAY APRIL 30TH is reading day, a furlough day at the University, and a great day to spend at the UGA Golf Course for the PGA tournament! When you visit an event sponsor below you will have a chance to earn a free ticket to use on any day during the tournament week April 26th - May 2nd
35 FREE Tickets
to the first 35 people that come in and order a full rack of ribs!
Featured Events: Student/Junior Clinic Monday - Open to the public! General Public Golf Club Demo Day Saturday! Yamaha ‘Putt for a Golf Car’ Sunday! Featured Concerts: Thurs: Songwriters in the Round Fri: The Splitz (Motown, Soul) Saturday: Sons of Sailors (Jimmy Buffet Tribute Act)
Two Days Only!
Tuesday April 27th & Wednesday April 28th Give us two minutes of your time for a presentation on our Hearts On Fire diamonds and we will give you the opportunity to putt your way to winning a ticket for Furlough on the Fairways. And a chance to win $100 toward the purchase of any Hearts On Fire merchandise!
Putt for Your Chance to Win!
...gives back! Supporting Athens’ Charities