Atlanta media WILL NOT ruin my week; And a mysteriously missing Israel Troupe

This is how I've felt since Saturday around 7:30pm

Between school and wedding planning, I haven't even had the opportunity to write a good, fun-filled article about the Dawgs whooping up on the alligators. But it seems now that that would just be inappropriate, according to many. 

And by many, I mean the Atlanta media, who from my car ride to school Monday morning, were already attempting to discredit the UGA victory because we won "ugly". And now they are so disgruntled at the fact that they were unable to break the story of our 3 tailbacks being suspended, that they have reduced themselves to conspiracy theorists.

We are all aware of the circumstances by now. Rumors buzzed Dawg Nation last Friday about a possible suspension of somebody. Isaiah Crowell and others play on Saturday in the most important game of the last few seasons. Weekly press conference occurs Tuesday with Richt being mum on tailback's statuses. Twenty minutes after press conference, press release issued regarding Crowell, Thomas, and Malcolm's suspensions for New Mexico State game this Saturday.

So obviously since nobody was suspended for the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, it is a proven fact that UGA and Mark Richt hid something isn't it?!.... Or was nobody suspended??

Israel Troupe was mysteriously absent in Jax

Does anybody find it strange that Israel Troupe didn't even make the trip to Jacksonville? On Friday, October 28th, when the rest of the team was arriving at their hotel in St. Augustine, Troupe tweeted out "I'm in Buckhead at my boy's house". The news wasn't issued from UGA until nearly kickoff Saturday that Troupe was "hurt" and didn't make the trip. While I have no reason not to believe this, the overall trend this season  is for the Dawgs to stay extremely mum on any and all disciplinary actions, unlike in recent years. It was only a few weeks ago when  we had several UGA players tweeting about their runs in the rain at 5:30am. And that, for once, wasn't the top story on the AJC.com sports page. I have heard from more than one source that the reason we never saw Ray Drew hit the field until the Coastal Carolina game was for disciplinary reasons, unbeknownst to any and all media. And who on earth heard a thing before (or after for that matter) Isaiah Crowell did not see the field at Vanderbilt until the first play of the 2nd quarter?? Why should the Israel Troupe situation be any different? Telling the media he is "hurt" is a way to avoid a plethora of unwanted questions on a day when your team needs to be focused the most.

I have read and heard more than a few times that drug tests in the NCAA are administered and sent to a lab, with results coming back 4-5 days later. Apparently the tests administered to our tailbacks took place the Thursday before Jacksonville, with results returning yesterday (Tuesday). Whether Mark Richt knew about it before or after the press conference is his business. He was in absolutely NO WAY obligated to bring it up during, and the media around the Atlanta area is just sorely pissed off that their viewer/readerships found out from other sources before theirs. Hence the witch hunt of phantom information which could lead to bigger bumps in Athens, giving the media the opportunity they so merely missed.

This should be an extremely joyful week in the Atlanta and Athens areas for Dawg fans. We just beat the alligators, who have been the biggest thorn in our tails since the USFL taking Herschel early. It doesn't matter how down they were, or how ugly our win was... we beat them!!! And I do not know a single Dawg fan who isn't giddy about that. This week is our homecoming game, which will take place on a sunny afternoon during one of the most beautiful fall seasons I can remember as a lifetime Georgian. We shouldn't have to stress a thing  about or during the game itself. We should be chins to the sky after the final seconds tick off the Sanford Stadium scoreboard, as we head home to be Razorback (not Petrino) fans for a night, as a win against South Carolina puts us in sole possession of first place in the East. We should be able to enjoy flipping back and forth with that game, to get a preview of the challenging task ahead with Bama and LSU going at it.

But the Atlanta media refuses to let that happen for us. Instead they want blood. They cannot stand the fact that we as a fanbase have been giddy since Saturday around 7:30pm. Most of them are from the north, and don't understand the southern religion of college football beyond the angry callers whom they love to antagonize.

Going to be a TOUGH week at practice, Isaiah

So until I hear directly from Greg McGarity or Mark Richt that some shady antics took place, I have ABSOLUTELY zero reason to believe anything other than what they have already said, which is that the drug tests were administered Thursday, and results back on Tuesday.

Isaiah, Carlton, Ken...... I hope you puke your guts out during practice this week. You deserve it. You are all boneheads. You all need to learn from this, and understand what your coach means when he says "it will make you better men". And when you prove this week and next that you are indeed worthy and capable of doing things the "Georgia Way", I will be in Sanford Stadium along with 92,745 of my best friends screaming "GO DAWGS!!!!!"

Fans, enjoy the week!!! WE DESERVE IT!!!