Georgia's Unreal Turnaround

I just wanted to write in and say what a cool story the University of Georgia making the NCAA Tourney is cause they won their SEC Tourney. Georgia went 13-16 during the season including 4-12 In the SEC. At one point they lost eleven games in a row. Ok big deal right? Well it sticks out to me cause about a week ago I read this really good piece on them on ESPN that detailed how their coach was a virtual goner after the year because they simply weren't winning enough games, and how they built this 30 million dollar practice facility, all this stuff. Well, there is a lot of background stuff here. Seems the coach took over that weasel Jim Harrick, who got himself fired for the 2nd time from a college for creating a huge scandal of paying players money, arranging easy exams, etc. This was after he lied about expense reports at UCLA that got him fired, and how he left URI in the dust after being involved in a sex scandal with his secretary, among other things (how they got Lamar Odom deserves its own column). So they brought this guy Dennis Felton in as coach. He cleaned up the program, and actually implemented a new academic standard program for his players, making numerous tutoring and study hall sessions mandatory, as well as advisement sessions. In fact it was so stringent fellow coaches whispered in the SEC it would doom Felton cause it was too strict. Yet Georgia ran a good clean program, and actually made 19-14 last year and made the NIT. With four starters returning things looked really good. Yet, there two best players didn't make the cut to these new standards this year, so Felton booted them off the team. Two more went down with season ending injuries, and one more quit cause he felt he wasn't getting enough playing time. This left Georgia with 9 available players for the SEC Tourney. They then not only go out and win this thing, but yesterday had to play 2 games in one day and won them both, with the 1st game going into a grueling OT clash with Kentucky. Now they are going to the Tourney, and Felton's job is saved. Good for him, it shows doing the right thing in life sometimes gets rewarded. I don't know how far Georgia can go in the Tourney, but I am certainly rooting for them, how can you not? By the way, also root for Coppin State, the 1st 20 loss team to ever make the tournament, and at one point was 2-19!!!!!!!! Unreal..........

CCook