MATTHEW BROWN: Read how our hero struggles to get out of a trap game

Published 6:00 am Saturday, September 14, 2024

Have to admit it; they got me over there at Georgia College & State University.

Here I get a release about Bobcat cross country, and I’m wondering how in the world did they run two races in one day. Yes, I know about the auto racers who will go straight from the Indianapolis 500 to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for more laps on Memorial Day weekend. But running at Council Farms and then in Spartanburg, South Carolina (or vice versa)?

Ah, turns out it was more like baseball’s spring training. Split squads going to two locations. It’s possible with 13 on the men’s team and 17 on the ladies’ side.

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Now, onto a little football.

So I see that Trevor Etinenne made his debut in the Georgia Bulldog backfield against Tennessee Tech after having to miss the more high-profile Clemson game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. This is because of punishment handed out by Kirby Smart for offseason indiscretions (won’t go into details here).

This, plus another action taken by Smart before the season started, cleared up something a little bit about the ever-changing state of collegiate sports. Despite what players are able to get these days for their efforts, they still have to answer to that head coach.

The other action I refer to is the dismissal of receiver Rara Thomas. He was arrested on cruelty to children and battery charges in August. This was his second arrest since transferring over from Mississippi State last year, but the 2023 charges were dropped.

The reason I am bringing this up is I have a strong feeling both Thomas and Etinenne have these famous Name, Image, Likeness deals. How much we’re talking about, I don’t know. These deals must be separate matters for the athletes from the college, and I wonder how much of those deals are predicated on actually playing your sport.

There’s no word if Thomas hooked on with another school for this season or what his departure meant for any NIL arrangement.

Could you imagine, though, somebody hurling this statement at a coach like Smart? “Hey, wait now, I’m shelling out six figures of money for that guy to play football for that school. He is playing no matter what.”

Let’s hope this only occurs in a fictional setting, like the latest adventure for super sports agent Myron Bolitar authored by novelist Harlan Coben. Reality has too much craziness as it is.

Those Bolitar stories are some good reading, by the way, some mixing sports with murder mystery.

Without Thomas, Georgia is still the odds-on favorite to stand tall for a third time in four seasons as national champions. The Southeastern Conference schedule begins this weekend, and everything appears to be fine weather-wise in Lexington, Kentucky, for a Wildcat whipping.

I had mentioned in a previous piece about Georgia’s Big 3 road trips, but what the season is going to boil down to is a Big 4. Half of the conference schedule, be concerned. The other half, well, I suppose people still love to use the term ‘trap game.’

The Big 4 are those road trips to Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss, while the home game of the season features the Tennessee Vols. Will these four be able to put up their average numbers against the lean, mean machines that make up the Bulldog defense? The Crimson Tide and the Longhorns may themselves be tough to score on, but the other two? Prepare for viewing U.S. Open final-style action from the sideline.

What would a 4-4 SEC record do to one’s College Football Playoff chances? Georgia is either going to run the table and play in the SEC championship game, do the 50/50 split or finish somewhere in-between and maybe be in that conference final.

Nope, not sending Hope over to Auburn, the Gators or the Stark Dogs. Just please, fellas, try to avoid the ‘struggle win.’

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What else are we looking forward to this weekend? Crossing our fingers that the Los Angeles Dodgers don’t come to Truist Park with brooms and shovels, sweeping the series and burying the Atlanta Braves’ playoff chances.

Is it too soon to start thinking about the roster going forward? Anyone still under contract who’s more liability than asset? Anyone really need a new deal? Anyone who’s time is up, not just in Atlanta but in the game altogether?

BTW: funny how Marcell Ozuna is playing September, 2024, like it’s April, 2023. All that Triple Crown talk …

But then the Mets do battle Philadelphia this weekend, too … so maybe there’s still be a chance to start the postseason with the Milwaukee Brewers, much like 2021?

(If at all possible, give pet adoption a try through the Animal Rescue Foundation in Milledgeville. Donations of any kind are also in great need. ARF is a little red building at 711 S. Wilkinson St., and more information is available at animalrescuefoundation.org.)