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8 I Thursday, June 8, 2006 | The Red & Black
SPORTS
RICHT
ELLERBE
INMAN
SMITH
SIMS
Richt uses tough love to punish
Several Dogs
to miss games
By ALEX BYINGTON
abyington@randb.com
Last offseason, head foot
ball coach Mark Richt sus
pended six Georgia Bulldogs
for an extended amount of
time, even dropping former
linebacker Derrick White
from the program altogether
due to repeated disciplinary
problems.
Since then, Richt has
taken much criticism for the
off-field behavior of his col
lege-age athletes.
“I don’t like it when any
body misbehaves,” Richt
said. “But to think you’re
going to have 135 guys and
no one is ever going to make
a mistake is just not realistic.
So what are you going to
do?”
That’s a question he has
thought long and hard about
already this offseason, as he
has suspended four current
Bulldogs for at least two
games next season.
With many players return
ing to Athens to train on their
own and attend summer
classes, Richt most likely will
continue to keep team disci
pline on his mind.
“For me, it’s more impor
tant to make sure that these
guys learn a lesson from the
mistakes they make,” Richt
said, “and the thing you got
to do when it comes to disci
pline is you got to have an
element of punishment, an
element of education and an
element of love.”
Sophomore linebacker
Dannell Ellerbe will be sus
pended for the first three
games of the 2006 season as a
result of his May 25 convic
tion of underage possession
of alcohol while driving, reck
less driving and unlawful use
of a driver’s license. The
charges stemmed from an
early morning incident on
Jan. 4 in which Ellerbe stole
fellow teammate Marquis
Elmore’s 1988 Chevy Caprice
and then crashed it off the
River Road loop.
The felony charge of theft
by taking of a motor vehicle
was dismissed because
Elmore did not want to follow
through with it.
Ellerbe pleaded guilty to
reduced charges and will
serve 48 hours in jail begin
ning on June 29 as well as two
years probation.
“Dannell made a serious
mistake that is not taken
lightly,” said Richt. “He will
pay a significant price, and
I’m confident he has learned
an important lesson.” Richt
said Ellerbe also will be sub
ject to internal discipline.
Senior offensive tackle
Daniel Inman, expected to be
the starting left tackle, and
redshirt freshman offensive
lineman Ian Smith both were
suspended for the first two
games of the 2006.
Inman’s suspension is the
result of an unspecified viola
tion of team rules, according
to Richt.
Smith’s suspension stems
from a Feb. 18 incident in
which he was found in a rest
room in Amici’s, “passed out
on the toilet with his shorts
and underwear around his
ankles,” according to the
police report.
Smith was charged with
public intoxication and will
have to serve 12 months pro
bation as well as attend alco
hol counseling.
“The thing they hate to
lose the most is their playing
time,” Richt said. “So if I
want to change their
behavior, I got to punish
that guy, and then I got to
educate him as to why it was
wrong.”
Sophomore safety
Antonio Sims is suspended
for the entire 2006 season
due to two alcohol-related
violations of the University’s
code of conduct, with the
most recent being a Nov. 20
arrest for driving under the
influence and underage pos
session.
The suspension passed
down by the University’s
judiciary committee was
only for the spring semester,
but due to the missed class
es, Sims would be academi
cally ineligible and thus
unavailable to play at all dur
ing the Fall.
— Contributing:
The Athens Banner-Herald
Dogs fail to win
back-to-back titles
Kirk named
Player of Year
By MARSHALL DUNCAN
mduncan@randb.com
This past weekend,
Georgia men’s golf team
ended its season in the same
place it began in September
— Sunriver, Ore.
The Bulldogs were
attempting to be the first
team since the 1984 and 1985
Houston teams to win back-
to-back titles.
But that feat was
not to be, as Georgia
ended up placing
sixth overall with a 4-
over par for the tour
nament, 13 shots
behind national
champion Oklahoma
State.
“Not winning this
year definitely makes
us appreciate last
year’s championship more,”
junior and SEC player of the
year Chris Kirk said. “We
were stronger this year and
won more tournaments, but
not getting the champi
onship leaves a bitter taste
in your mouth.”
The sixth-place finish,
although disappointing to
the team, was quite a come
back after the Bulldogs
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began the weekend in 20th
place, shooting 5-over in the
first round.
The team entered the
tournament as the No. 1
team in the country after
racking up six tournament
victories as well as their 26th
SEC championship.
Head coach Chris Haack
credits the team’s success
with the character of its
players.
“This is a hard working
group,” Haack said. “They
are the kind of guys that are
dedicated and know how to
play at the next level.”
Kirk placed sec
ond overall in the
individual standings,
finishing 8-under par
for the tournament,
just four strokes
behind Oklahoma
State’s Jonathan
Moore.
“He’s had the best
season of anyone I’ve
coached,” Haack said
of Kirk. “He broke
and tied a lot of records. He
played good from beginning
to end.”
Kirk has been named to
the Ping All-America First
Team by the Golf Coaches
Association of America,
where he looks to improve
on his game for next season.
Kirk currently is competing
in the U.S. Open sectional
qualifier at Settindown
Creek in Roswell along with
fellow teammate freshman
Brian Harman, the SEC
Freshman of the Year.
“Not winning this
year definitely makes
us appreciate last
year’s championship
more.
“I’ll have more experience
(next season). I hope to win
more tournaments, get
more individual wins, and
try to lead the team to the
national title,” said Kirk.
With Kirk and Harman
coming back, Georgia has a
talented and battle-tested
group returning for another
title run next season.
But playing their final
round of golf in a Georgia
polo were seniors and team
co-captains Kevin Kisner
and Richard Scott.
Georgia women’s team
also placed sixth in the
NCAA women’s champi
onship tournament. It is the
team’s seventh top-10 finish
in the past nine years. The
team tied for sixth with
Washington and Florida,
coming up short to the top-
ranked Duke team for the
championship.
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