Drafting 5 Georgia football players for a pick-up basketball game

The UGA Wire staff has released a list of the Georgia football players we would take for a starting 5 in a pick-up basketball game.

The UGA Wire staff got creative amongst this brutal sports drought and put together a starting five of Georgia football players that we would take part in a game of pick-up basketball.

We also asked a number of football players via Twitter who they’d take as their starting five as well, and will be releasing those to see how the lineups match up.

The Dawgs have some serious hoopers on the football team and this couldn’t be a better time to showcase their skills.

Here are our picks:

Pick No. 1: Point Guard, Jamie Newman (6-4, quarterback)

We chose Newman with the first overall pick as our point guard. Newman’s strong arm and accuracy on the field will translate to his shooting and passing ability on the court. Newman’s size and ability to see the court and facilitate is why we chose him first at point guard.

Pick No. 2: Shooting Guard, Richard LeCounte (5-11, safety)

We went with LeCounte at the shooting guard position because he has athleticism, vision and grit on defense. Playing defensive back helps LeCounte to see the whole court and facilitate the offense while also helping him play scrappy defense. He’s a slasher, meaning he uses his athleticism to get to the rim and finish with contact.

Here’s a bit of preview of what LeCounte would be doing on our squad.

Pick No. 3: Small Forward, George Pickens (6-3, wide receiver)

Pickens’ freak athletic ability gets him the third pick as a small forward.  If you’ve ever spent any time at the Ramsey Student Center, you’ve most likely seen George Pickens putting in work on the basketball courts. Pickens’ speed, agility and catch ability would make him a scoring and rebounding machine for our squad.

(Skip to 0:43 for Pickens’ dunk)

All that is left is R.E.M. Steeple – Celebrating the beginning of Athens’ legendary band

Has it been forty years? Has four decades passed since the legendary indie-rock super group, R.E.M., one of the most consequential bands of the time, and perhaps the world’s greatest alternative rock band, performed for the first time as a group in …

Has it been forty years? Has four decades passed since the legendary indie-rock super group, R.E.M., one of the most consequential bands of the time, and perhaps the world’s greatest alternative rock band, performed for the first time as a group in Athens, Georgia?

The four University of Georgia students who formed R.E.M. captured the spirit of Athens in the early 1980s and took college radio by storm. Over a 31-year run as multi-platinum-selling artists, R.E.M. became international superstars by creating a niche never witnessed before…..oblique lyrics, intellectualism, a quirkiness, all encompassing, soulful music….a new musical language that captured the imagination of a generation and spawned a musical revolution.

Five months before the glorious debut of Georgia freshman running back Herschel Walker and the Bulldogs march to the national championship, R.E.M. began its musical and creative ascent and would help define the Classic City as a world-recognized music and cultural mecca.  From that first performance in the old St. Mary’s Church on April 5, 1980 to selling some 90 million albums worldwide, bassist and vocalist Mike Mills, front-man Michael Stipe, guitarist-mandolinist Peter Buck and original drummer Bill Berry were a pioneer of the genre and always were true to their early, college underground musical roots.

The boys, who called it a day on September 21, 2011, transcended underground and mainstream music but forever held on to that rock-rebelliousness. At the time, Michael Stipe told the Daily Beast, “If anything, in disbanding, R.E.M. managed to do something that’s never been done before in the history of pop music. We did so as friends, with no external forces causing that to happen and without lawyers having to square off. It was just that the time had come.”

Let’s go back to the beginning, to October 1979, because it’s here in the Classic City, that four students became known to the world as R.E.M. Stipe was an art student, where he befriended Buck, an Emory transfer working as a clerk at Wuxtry Records downtown. At a local party, they met UGA students Mills and Berry, Macon natives.

Berry and Mills had played together in a high school band called Shadowfax and were living in Reed Hall, enjoying college life and experiencing the burgeoning music scene around Athens. Stipe and Berry moved into converted apartments at St. Mary’s Church, a place only college kids could appreciate. One of the oldest structures in Athens, the church had been turned into a space where the city’s local artists hung out, practiced and lived.

The boys rehearsed at St. Mary’s in anticipation of their first show at the birthday party of friend Kathleen O’Brien. On Saturday afternoon, they stopped by WUOG, the campus radio station, for a pre-show interview. Some reports said the group appeared as Twisted Kites, but the band later confirmed that they hadn’t yet decided on what to call themselves. The band opened with The Troggs’ “I Can’t Help Myself” and followed with the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen.”

No one had any idea what the significance of that event on Saturday night in St. Mary’s would be. They weren’t even called R.E.M. but that night would be the beginning of 31 years of musical magic.

By the time R.E.M. played their second show on April 19th at the 11:11 Koffee Klub in Athens, they had picked a name (out of the dictionary): “R.E.M.” A reported 150 fans attended the show and true to their alternative form, the police shut the show down at 2:30am. The band was building momentum in May with Athens’ shows at Tyrone’s O.C., Memorial Hall, the 40 Watt Club and the Mad Hatter.

During a May show, R.E.M. opened for The Brains. The Georgia student newspaper, the Red & Black proclaimed, “R.E.M. blew away The Brains.” Mills and Berry moved into St. Mary’s in June and the boys were playing several dates a month.  In July, they had their first gigs out of Georgia, when they played two shows in Carrboro, NC followed by a show in Raleigh.

Shows primarily in Athens continued throughout the fall and in December, the band opened for the Police in Atlanta’s Fox Theater before 4,000 people. In early 1981, the band released Radio Free Europe. The single received critical acclaim, and its success on college radio earned the band a record deal with I.R.S. Records. The band was well on their way to becoming a world-renown icon.

Meanwhile, St. Mary’s slowly began to disappear. History in the South is woven into the fabric of our lives and in Athens, history is as thick as a sultry August morning. Originally designed as a place of worship in 1849 for a local manufacturing company, the church was later decommissioned after the plant closed. The Red Cross revamped the space into residences, setting the stage for an important moment in music history. Within a decade, R.E.M. were international superstars, but the site of their first show was set for demolition.

The building was demolished in 1990 but the steeple was saved. Condos soon rose where St. Mary’s once stood but the steeple began to badly deteriorate.

“The steeple is the iconic symbol of Athens music, I think — what’s left from where we were,” Marc Tissenbaum, a project manager who sought to restore the site, told Flagpole. “When I first got here in 1986, everyone knew that was the R.E.M. steeple. … It’s a landmark. It’s a beacon. It’s a lot of things.”

The condo association gave the steeple to the nearby Nuci’s Space, a nonprofit organization that provides an array of services to assist in the emotional, physical and professional well-being of musicians. A crowdfunding campaign raised $150,000 to cover the restoration of the steeple and provide some needed support for Nuçi’s Space. R.E.M. and Athens alumni like the B-52’s, Drive-By Truckers and Neutral Milk Hotel donated guitars and autographed items for backers.

Today the “R.E.M. Steeple” is known to be a pilgrimage site of sorts for R.E.M. fans or music fans in general. It is a landmark in rock history and one of the most important sites in alternative music. Forty years ago, four college boys who simply wanted to be in a band and create some inspiring music, reached heights no one could ever imagined and inspired a generation.

SEC extends suspension of in-person athletic activities

The SEC announced that it has extended its suspension of all in-person athletic activities through at least May 31st due to coronavirus.

On Friday, the SEC announced that it has extended its suspension of all in-person athletic activities through at least May 31st.

Originally, the league had suspended all activities through April 15th.

Here is the statement that the conference issued on Friday:

The Southeastern Conference today announced that all in-person athletics activities, including team and individual practices, meetings and other organized gatherings, whether voluntary or required, as well as camps and coaches clinics, will be suspended through at least May 31, based on public health advisories related to continuing developments associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The SEC had previously announced that in-person athletics activities were suspended through April 15.

In addition, virtual film review that does not include physical activity is permissible. Effective April 6, activity of this nature will be expanded to four (4) hours per week consistent with an NCAA rule waiver and NCAA legislation, an increase from the previously permissible maximum of two (2) hours per week. Any such activity must be scheduled in accordance with the institution’s established Time Management Policy and must not interfere with required class time for online instruction.

SEC member institutions will continue to provide their student-athletes with care and support to meet needs in areas including academics, medical care, mental health and wellness, nutrition and housing as needed.

Kirby Smart talks coronavirus, Georgia football with Paul Finebaum

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart discussed the coronavirus with ESPN’s Paul Finebaum and how it will affect Georgia football in 2020.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum had Georgia head coach Kirby Smart on his show this Thursday to discuss the coronavirus and how it’s affecting Georgia football.

“It’s unique. If you’re not ready to embrace a challenge or getting comfortable with being uncomfortable; we always use that statement around our place, this is the ultimate get comfortable being uncomfortable.” said Smart on the overall experience thus far. “When coaches have to go onto virtual networks like Zoom it’s not always good for guys that aren’t as young as these players. I’ve found that most of our guys are much more compatible with dealing with computers than some of the older guys are. So it’s been an experience, we do staff meetings by Zoom, I know NFL teams we’ve talked are doing the same thing and we’re able to do Zoom meetings with our players.”

Smart expressed his concerns with not having his new quarterback Jamie Newman getting any spring practice reps.  Newman, the Wake Forest transfer was rated as the #3 returning college QB, having 16-1 starting Heisman Trophy odds.

Along with a new QB, the Dawgs will also be showcasing a new offensive coordinator, Todd Monken this season.

“I think if everybody didn’t have it (spring practices), it probably wouldn’t bother me as bad.” Smart told Finebaum.  “It certainly, you know, we’ve got a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback coming in, whoever it’s going to be, and to not get those practices, boy, that’s tough.” But not very many people got a lot of it. On average I think we got three to four practices, or some of the SEC teams got in before they shut everything down. In the grand scheme of things that’s not a lot. I certainly think some young players, some mid-year guys that maybe came in thinking they were going to get a leg up on people, that may not be as big of a leg at all because they weren’t able to have those practices. If you were fortunate enough to have spring practice early, like some programs do, I certainly think that helps. To get 10 more practices in is huge.”

If issues pertaining to the coronavirus start to settle down, and the college football season is good to go, it is going to be an outright race for schools to get their players mentally and physically ready for the 2020 season.

On the matter of recruiting, Smart said:

“I think it definitely depends on when we get back and when kids are able to come to campus. Because you know as of right now we’re working off a May 31 date that anybody can come on a campus. Well, if that date keeps getting pushed back, it’s getting closer and closer to that early signing date. There’s a lot of debate and speculation out there. Should that early signing date apply? The problem with that is if you push that, you’re now pushing back on the next class.”

Finebaum asked Smart when he thinks team activities need to return in order for the season to realistically happen.

“I don’t think anybody should be really thinking about that right now as much as if we could put all our energy into washing our hands and the social distancing, we would do a lot better for ourselves than speculating on some of those things. We just don’t know the answer to so many things right now. The best thing we can do is batten down the hatches so we can have a season.”

Coach Smart’s concerns right now are not when things will return to normal, but more so trying to help contain the virus and do his part in preventing the rapid spread.  This is the best thing we can all do right now if we really want a college football season this year.

Smart finished with some lighthearted comments about his family’s quarantine routine and how he’s using this time to spend quality time with his wife and kids.

“I can tell you this. I’ve figured this out. I’m not getting up at 6:30 again and going down with my wife to the Peloton to ride a bike. That only happened once and that won’t happen again. I made that mistake thinking that I could go down there and compete. I learned real quick that at 44, I’m not near as competitive as I used to be in the workout rooms. I’ve got to find other ways to get my exercise done, but I’ve enjoyed the time around the kids. So many people say it happens so fast that you blink and their gone. We’re actually getting to be present in their lives more than we ever have. I may never get this time again. So just trying to make the most of that.”

Watch: Georgia S&C coordinator Scott Sinclair’s creative quarantine workouts

Scott Sinclair acknowledges that the responsible move is to stay at home and get creative with your regular workout routine.

Whether or not your gym is closed due to public health concerns, Scott Sinclair acknowledges that the responsible move is to stay at home and get creative with your regular workout routine. This week, Georgia football’s director of strength and conditioning took to twitter to demonstrate.

Don’t have dumbbells at home? No problem. Use a jug of water or laundry detergent. Get those shoulder presses in.

Need to do four sets of ten step-ups or calf raises? Grab a sturdy, flat seated wooden chair.

My personal favorite: an exercise he calls “how much can you carry at the grocery store?” Sinclair proceeds to pick up a jug of water and bag of oranges and recommends at least 100 squats.

Others include using a four-fold ladder as a squat rack:

In another, he simply loads his wheelbarrow with items from his garage, runs uphill, goes down hill, rinses, repeats:

This is what made me keep up with these videos in the first place. If you haven’t seen it already, the soup can shoulder raise:

And perhaps the most elaborate post, he outlines a game involving a deck of playing cards, workouts assigned to each card, and an imaginary jump rope:

Sinclair implores us to attack the day even when we’re stuck at home. Based upon the work he’s doing at home, the days he attacks have to be waving white flags by now.

Georgia athletic coaches give students motivation to finish year out strong

Georgia athletic coaches give students a word of motivation in order to finish the school year on a strong note.

During this crazy time in all our lives, Kirby Smart, Tom Crean and a number of athletic coaches at the University of Georgia gave students a motivational message to finish out the year strong.

All college classes across the country have moved to online for the remainder of the semester, which can pose as a struggle to many. The coaches emphasized the importance of keeping in touch with professors and making sure to remember virtual advising appointments.

This is a tough time for all members of UGA, whether you’re a student, coach or professor and we all need to come together and help each other.

Courtney Kupets-Carter, Georgia’s head gymnastics coach said it best: “One thing that hasn’t changed is you’re a Georgia Bulldog, no matter where you are.”

“Stay safe, attack the day, and HUNKER DOWN…Go Dawgs.” – Kirby Smart.

Watch:

 

Watch: YouTube channel redesigned UGA football helmet – and it came out epic

a YouTube channel gave Georgia’s football helmet a complete redesign, and it looks incredible. Watch the video here.

Green Gridiron, a YouTube channel that redesigns college and pro football team helmets, just dropped a new UGA helmet concept on Saturday that’s fresher than a ripe tomato.

(Video below)

The new design features a black face mask, tinted visor and some throwback coach Richt bones on the back.

The channel has the helmet for purchase, roughly estimated to go for $400-450 after all the bells and whistles are attached.

This would be an awesome alternate addition to Georgia’s uniforms.  I can tell you right now, I sure wouldn’t want to lineup against a Dawg in this helmet.

WATCH:

 

UGA AD Greg McGarity ‘planning as if a football season is going to happen’

UGA athletic director Greg McGarity says the school is ‘planning as if a football season is going to happen’ for Georgia football

Colleges across the country are starting to feel the significant financial burden on sports that comes with the coronavirus.

Prior to the cancellation of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the NCAA was set to disperse $600 million to Division I schools. Now it will only be sending out $225 million, a 62% cut.

Now we all know that we will be without a college basketball postseason, as well as all other major professional sports for a while, but the question still remains; will we have football in 2020?

“Depending on football, obviously, that’s the big unknown now,” University of Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in an interview with Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald.

“We’re planning as if a football season is going to happen. If that doesn’t happen, that’s a whole another environment.”

All universities spring football games have been cancelled but we are still a ways away from the regular season. McGarity’s statement is a good sign for Bulldog and all football fans, but schools are still starting to prepare for the worst.

Georgia sold $33.4 million in ticket sales for the 2019 season, and that’s just revenue from fans who go to the games. They also have a number of other major sources of football revenue that will be lost if football is not a reality for 2020.

“We’re hoping and praying that doesn’t happen,” McGarity said. “We also have to be realistic if football was not part of that what does that mean with our reserves, how much of the reserve can we utilize to make us somewhat whole. That’s why we have a reserve, thank goodness. We’re probably in better shape than a lot of institutions because of our financial stability.”

ESPN’s college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit is among those who have a more skeptical outlook on the upcoming 2020 CFB and NFL seasons.

“I’ll be shocked if we have NFL football this fall, if we have college football. I’ll be so surprised if that happens,” said Herbstreit on ESPN Radio.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on this matter, but Herbstreit brought up the point that vaccinations are estimated to take roughly a year or more to become available.

“Just because from what everything I understand, people that I listen to, you’re 12 to 18 months away from a vaccine,” he added. “I don’t know how you let these guys go into locker rooms and let stadiums be filled up and how you can play ball. I just don’t know how you can do it with the optics of it.”

McGarity also mentioned that the athletic department will only be spending on essential operations and virus related issues until the pandemic is over.  Georgia should be able to handle an economic dip like this and is preparing for the absolute worst, but hoping for the best.

There are still 162 days until Georgia is scheduled to kickoff the 2020 football season against Virginia.  We will keep you up to date with the latest coronavirus news and the impact it will have on the 2020 football season.

Former Georgia swimmer helping fight coronavirus in NYC hospital

Lauren English, a former swim captain at the University of Georgia, is fighting COVID-19 on the frontline in New York City.

Lauren English, a former swim team captain at the University of Georgia now in Hackensack, NJ, is treating patients and helping to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

English studied speech pathology and audiology during her time as a student athlete in the Classic City. She graduated in the class on 2012 and now works as a neurology nurse at the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

“Right now, that (COVID-19) is what we’re dealing with,” said English in an interview with the Athens Banner-Herald. “This is what we have in our country. We have this crisis. I don’t think any health care worker is not faced with working with these patients. We’re in it. Even though I’m in neurology, that’s what I’m focused on right now. You don’t have a specialty at this point. Your goal is to help with this pandemic and to help society.”

Many people who contract the coronavirus show little to no symptoms, but complications can be had for others.  The virus can lead to much more serious things such as pneumonia, which can very often be fatal.

Read full story by Marc Weiszer here.

English is one of many employees in the medical field putting her own health on the line in order to help those in need in this chaotic time in our world’s history.  Her main job is to make sure patients who tested positive for the virus are able to breathe properly.

English emphasized the importance of stopping the spread of the virus in addition treating it.

“That is our armor,” said English, talking about her mask and a protective medical clothing. “We can’t be good workers unless we keep ourselves safe because then we’ll be sick.”

“It’s hard for people who haven’t seen these types of patients to know what they’re socially distancing for,” she said. “It’s beyond important because we don’t know how much longer this thing is going to go on. My brothers and sisters in healthcare are working tirelessly to make sure that the people who did get the virus are back on their feet as much as possible. If you don’t social distance, these things are just going to get worse. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

New York City has the most cases in the United States, with the confirmed number rising to 20,011 on Thursday, as well as 280 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

English had an incredible swimming career during her time at Georgia.  She helped the Dawgs capture 3 SEC championships and was runner-up twice in the NCAA championships.

It is amazing to see a former Bulldog fighting this disease on the frontline and making a difference in the world.

Herschel Walker tells us how to stay fit during coronavirus quarantine

Georgia football legend Herschel Walker tells us all how to stay healthy with this home workout routine during your coronavirus quarantine.

When you think of Herschel Walker, the words “fit,” “beast” or “ripped” may come to mind.

Herschel, now 58, is still all those things that he was 30-40 years ago during his days at Georgia, in the USFL or the NFL.

But he was not always that way. Actually, as a child, Herschel was overweight and the victim of bullying. That is until one day he decided enough is enough.

“I grew up overweight,” Herschel told Daniel Williams of NFL.com. “I used to have a speech impediment. I was picked on. And I realized that if you dedicate yourself to anything, you can do it.”

Eventually, Herschel sought out to lose that extra weight and replace it with muscle. Every day after school in Wrightsville, Herschel would head out to the train track that ran behind his house and raced the trains that passed by. When he was finished and would go home, he would turn on the television like any other kid would. But his workout was not complete. Each commercial break posed as an opportunity to get in extra push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and squats.

To this day, Herschel still does 1,500 push-ups and 3,000 sit-ups each day.

Herschel wants you to remain fit during coronavirus lockdown:

For a lot of us, our workout routines have been thrown off greatly thanks to the coronavirus quarantine happening around the world.

All that hard work you’ve put in to get healthy and fit can be undone if exposed to weeks on end of a sedentary lifestyle.

Herschel does not want to see that happen to you. On Tuesday, the greatest college football player of all-time took to Twitter to share some easy home-workout tips with you.

He also strongly suggests that you read up on the CDC guidelines on how to stay healthy, safe and mentally stable at a time like this.

“People always talk to me about my workout, and I always say that my workout came from reading books,” Walker told Fox Business in 2018. “Particularly, reading about a Marine who did all these push-ups and sit-ups and really dedicated himself. And that’s what I try to encourage kids to do.”

The Athletic Build did a profile on Herschel and touched on his workout routine, noting that he has never been a fan of weight-lifting. What you saw dominate the football field in the early 80s was a product of years of body weight exercises.

From TheAthleticBuild:

If you think Herschel Walker is some kind of weight room warrior you would be wrong, Herschel has never been into weightlifting, all of his exercises are body weight exercises. He started doing sit-ups and push-ups as a kid, as many as 5000 a day and still to this day he does 750-1500 pushups every day as well as 3000 sit ups. He also mixes in 1,500 pull-ups, 1000 dips, and 1000 squats every day. For cardio, he will run up to 8 miles and do sprints as well. He also does a regimen of martial arts and MMA after he has completed this workout every morning.

Herschel’s diet is also a bit on the unorthodox. He does not eat breakfast or lunch. The only meal he eats is dinner which consists of soup, salad, and bread. He does not eat red meat but will have chicken on occasion.