Out of Bounds

List is Growing of Colleges Where Mettenberger WON’T be Playing Football

Of course UGA was the first. Coach Mark Richt felt he had no choice. The trust had been broken, Zach Mettenberger had to go. Now the question is, where will Mett continue, rather begin, his football career?

Looks like Valdosta State may be out of the question. It’s not that Mettenberger wouldn’t consider the Blazers or the Blazers wouldn’t consider Mettenberger. But the 18 year old may not have the option to continue his education there. He’s been banished from the town of Valdosta for a year.

Banished?  Banishment is still a punishment? From the entire town? Considering he was arrested by the REMERTON Police Department in REMERTON, Ga, makes the punishment seem even a little more strange.

But alas, it’s part of a plea bargain. The charges of  underage possession, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of having a fake ID were dismissed due to the deal after the more serious sexual battery charges surfaced. Mett will serve 12 months of probation and pay a $2000 fine, and of course, stay the hell away from Valdosta!

Oh, and he’s not allowed to contact either directly or indirectly the victim. Who, by the way, Mettenberger apologized to in a statement after his sentencing. He must either get a mulligan on that one, or apologies don’t count as contact.

He is also not allowed during the term of his probation to visit ANY establishment that serves alcohol. Party’s over for you Mett; no more bars, significantly less choices of resturants, and, worst of all, no more Chuck E. Cheese!

Zach Mettenberger was  a few weeks away from potentially being named the starting quarterback at a major university, and couldn’t contain his ego and feelings of being above the law.  I do hope the fine, the 80 hours of community service, and the banishment (still sounds weird) teach him that he’s not, and keeps him from becoming one of those guys who consistently get their name in the news for these types of situations (*cough* Roethlisberger *cough*).

Mettenberger Gone

I’ve said ever since it was announced that Zach Mettenberger would be suspended the first game of the season for his arrest on spring break. Looks like I’m right, although not how I predicted. Coach Mark Richt dismissed Mett from the team earlier today.

Apparently, there is more to the story from Remerton, Ga., the town Mettenberger was arrested in last month. He was cited for underage drinking, and possession of two fake id’s.

Something happened that night that brought the attention to Mettenberger, although that something hasn’t been made public yet.

Georgia’s quarterback race now consists of only Logan Gray and Aaron Murray. Incoming Freshman Hutson Mason will have his chance to impress coaches in August.

Richt has now dismissed two players this offseason. Defensive End Montez Robinson was let  go just a couple of weeks ago.

Brace yourself Bulldog fans. This offseason is starting to feel a lot like the one before the 2008 season.

Decision Time for Thompkins

The time is finally here when Georgia basketball fans will be able to let out a collective sigh of relief…or groan of disappointment.

Trey Thompkins is close to making his announcement on whether he’s decided to hang around Athens for another year, or bolt early  for the NBA draft. Thompkins is reportedly making his announcement Friday. I don’t expect anything flashy, just a “here’s what I’ve decided”.  Will his decision be a wise one?

I have no doubt that whatever he decides, he will be successful. There are a few factors I do hope he’s considering though throughout this process. No doubt he’s an NBA talent, but no doubt, there are several others with more NBA talent.

I’m no draft expert, but at this point, I would have Thompkins going somewhere in 2nd round, which is quite an accomplishment. If he decides to stay in college for another year, I could see him moving into the 1st, possibly as high as a lottery pick, which will mean millions more on his contract.

I think there are just too many players as talented, or moreso, in this years draft. With other early defections such as DeMarcus Cousins from Kentucky and Derrick Favors from Georgia Tech are sure to be more coveted than Thompkins. More underclassmen who will rate around or above Thompkins include Wesley Johnson from Syracuse, Al-Farouq Aminu from Wake Forest, and Patrick Patterson from Kentucky. That’s FIVE players at the same position that could go ahead of Thompkins in the draft. There are probably more.

On top of that, he must also consider the other players in the draft that are just too good to pass up if available. John Wall and Evan Turner would almost assuredly be picked before Trey Thompkins if he were to decide to jump ship early.

It’s a story similar to former UGA safety Rashad Jones – lots of talent, but not the most talented. Jones opted out of his senior year of football for the NFL draft. He will be drafted in a couple of weeks, but not as high as he could have been if he stayed in school another year. And that’s simply because of more talented players leaving college early.

Thomkins is in the same situation. He’ll do himself a huge favor by staying for his Junior year at Georgia.

He’ll be doing the Dawgs a favor as well.

Who Will Be Your QB? – UGA Edition

It’s another year, another debate amongst fans as to who should be the starting qb at UGA. Logan Gray has the most experience, albeit limited. Zach Mettenberger has the best measurables, although his skills aren’t polished. Aaron Murray delivers the leadership and moxy desired in a Southeastern Conference signal caller, but is nowhere near the prototypical size.

Before Saturday, everyone had their favorite. After Saturday’s annual G-day game, fans vehemently defend their choice.

Each QB had their moments of greatness. Each delivered a head scratcher or two. Most Dawg fans have been on either the Mett or Murray bandwagon, with Gray being an afterthought. After watching all three play, I would say one of those two would be a safe wagon to hitch a ride on.

Mettenberger came away from G-day as the star of the show. He connected on two touchdown passes against the Bulldog defense. He looked poised in the pocket, calmly making razor sharp accurate throws amid the surrounding chaos.                                     

Unfortunately for Mett, he may have reserved himself a spot on the bench (or standing room next to the coach with a clipboard) before he even had a chance. When Louisiana-Lafayette rolls into Athens in September, Mettenberger will have watch the game from the sidelines due to a discipline issue. It is hard to imagine Coach Mark Richt giving a Freshman his first action of the season on the road in Columbia, therefore, who know if, or when, Zach Mettenberger will have a chance to display his talent when the game actually counts.

So this leaves the battle between Murray and Gray. I don’t think there’s much question that Murray leads in the talent category. But Gray is talented in his own right, plus he’s the only one with game experience. Coach Richt values that experience – see Joe T. III. But, I think Richt will make the right call between these two signal callers and announce Aaron Murray will be the starter come opening day.

From that point on, unless Murray forgets how to throw a football, he will be the Dawgs’ quarterback until he graduates in 2013.

Results of Our 1st Annual “Out of Bounds Bracket Challenge”

The pollen has arrived in full force and it means two things in the sports world: it’s Masters Week and another episode of “March Madness” is in the books. And with the end of the tournament, so too comes the end of our 1st annual “Out of Bounds Bracket Challenge”.

The first installment of our tournament challenge was quite successful, as 25 participants chose to take a shot at stumping the experts of “Out of Bounds”. Many came, some competently competed and all were defeated in the end by “The Referee” Dave Ward…and rather soundly at that.

“The Referee” was the only entrant to correctly pick eventual tournament champion Duke, hence his final lead with 127 points. Not only did he pick the champion, but he also picked the surprising Butler Bulldogs to face the Blue Devils in the final and had the only bracket to get two Final Four teams correct.

By correctly picking the match-up and outcome of the final, “The Referee” placed in the 99th percentile in all of Yahoo’s brackets…good for 3225th place out of the nearly 3 million total brackets submitted to the site.

We at ”OoB” like to think the other participants were fortunate to have competed against such “bracket excellence” and hope they remind themselves of this fact daily until next year’s contest.

We could go on and on about how profoundly overmatched the non-expert participants were from the moment they decided to enter our contest, but I will instead digress and dispense with the superlatives for our other, mostly worthy, competitors who took a futile chance at glory against the “Out of Bounds” crew. Read more…

What to Look for in the Final Four (Part 5)

In the first four installments of my Final Four breakdown, I talked about the other three teams who are vying to bring home the championship to their respective schools. I’ll now move on the the last remaining squad, who also is the last of the number one seeds, the team everybody in America love to hate, the Duke Blue Devils.

Mike Krzyzewski has his team back into the Final Four for the first time since 2004, a period that must seem like an eternity for Duke players and fans alike.

Led by sharpshooters Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith, the Dukies may be the only team left that can top 80 points in a game. Add that to the best front court rotation of any of the remaining teams and you can see why the Blue Devils are, in my estimation, the most complete team in the Final Four.

And it may just be the front court that separates them from the rest of the Final Four teams. Read more…

What to Look for in the Final Four (Part 3)

“Five players on the floor functioning as one single unit: team, team, team – no one more important that the other.” – Coach Norman Dale in Hoosiers 

I talked about the Michigan State Spartans in Part 2 of my Final Four breakdown, now I’ll move on to their opponent on Saturday, the “Little Hoosiers” of Butler University.

Child-coach Brad Stevens has the Butler in the Final Four for the first time in school history after impressive victories over Syracuse and Kansas State in the regionals. The 33-year-old Stevens has kept his team in the tournament with excellent in-game management and a tenacious defensive strategy. The Bulldogs defense has forced opponents into massive amounts of turnovers and the offense has also shot well from behind the arc to win games during the tourney. 

Relying on a smothering half-court defense, the Bulldogs have controlled the tempo, defensively, of every game they’ve played up to now. They knew they needed a Herculean-like defensive effort from their back court to stop K-State stars Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente…and that’s just what they got from guards Willie Veasley and Ronald Nored. Veasley and Nored spent the whole game last Saturday stuck to their charges like obsessed ex-boyfriends. Pullen and Clemente where constantly incessantly hounded by these Dawgs, both unable to get into any kind offensive rhythm during the Butler victory. Read more…

Don’t muff it!

Even the best coaches are prone to making bad mistakes from time to time. Pete Carroll’s 4th and one with Reggie Bush on the sideline against Texas in 2005 jumps out as one of those “what was he thinking” moments. Georgia coach Mark Richt is not immune to these types of  mistakes either.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Richt has been questioned about quite a few things during his tenure at UGA. Directional kickoffs, loyalty to older players ,and being more of a friend than a boss to assistant coaches are a few flaws fans have pointed out over the years. But coach Richt could be on the verge of making one of the most colossial gaffes of his career – naming A.J. Green the starting punt returner.

Green has been working out in spring practice fielding punts, along with several other players. With only one returning player with return experience (Logan Grey, who’s battling for the starting quarterback job), the race is wide open.

There is almost no argument against Green being the most dynamic player for the Bulldogs in the last 27 years. Coincidentally, proponents of the move will point to the early 80′s and Herschel Walker as proof that it’s not a bad idea. While that may be agreeable to some extent, you have to remember the person you’re referring to. Herschel Walker was the biggest, strongest, and fastest player on the field everytime he walked into a stadium. He didn’t absorb a lot of the punishment today’s players do, basically, because he was the big kid on the block who dished it out.

Make no mistake, A.J. Green is a phenom, but nowhere in the same stratosphere physically as Walker.

Is it worth risking the health of your best player to gain 14 or 15 yards on a punt return? He averages more per reception. What if he returned three punts for td’s during the season? Well, he could catch that many in one game. Really the only logical excuse to have A.J. Green returning punts this season would be if it were guaranteed he would take every returnable punt to the house.

A. J. Green as the primary punt returner for 2010 season would be nothing short of a head scratcher.

But don’t be surprised if it happens, these are the same coaches who had their backup QB fielding punts for the past two years.