First, the facts, straight from Seth Emerson:
Georgia tailback Washaun Ealey was arrested early on Friday morning on charges of hit and run and driving on a suspended license.
Ealey, 21, was arrested by the UGA Police, who said alcohol was not involved. The player was still at the Clarke County jail as of 9 a.m. on Friday. . . .
At 3:19 a.m., a vehicle made contact with a parked vehicle in the East parking deck at UGA. That was witnessed by parking service employees, who confronted the driver. The driver parked the car and left the scene.
Officers arrived and tracked the car to an Athens residence. They first talked to his roommate, who informed them it had been his roommate, Ealey, driving the car.
The police spoke to Ealey, and determined that he had been driving on a suspended license. He was subsequently arrested.
Now, the analysis, straight from me:
If you're inclined to look on the bright side, there are, of course, these facts upon which to hang your hat: the police say alcohol was not involved, and Ealey didn't have anyone's panties in his lap.
I, of course, am not inclined to look on the bright side, and going on three straight years of crap like this is why.
I mean, Nehemiah going snowboarding in St. Moritz, how does a sober 21-year-old who's maybe one of the five or ten most identifiable students on campus not know to stick around and face the music after he knows he was seen by witnesses nudging a car in a way that probably would have been no big deal if he'd simply stayed put? The legally problematic part of this wasn't the hit, it was the run; I can understand how a tailback might think the hit was the bad part of the equation, but this was bad judgment in the wake of something rather minor.
Beyond that, he was driving on a suspended license? Somewhere, tankertoad is totally surprised. When Greg McGarity begins his new job next Wednesday, his first act needs to be to appoint Suzanne Yoculan the license and registration czar of University of Georgia athletics. If he does that, I'll personally start a letter-writing campaign to convince Michael Adams to kick in one of McGarity's contract bonuses (boni?) on Thursday morning.
Finally, for crying out loud, can I please just get to the office on a Friday morning and finish my cup of coffee before being whacked across the face with more bad news out of Athens?
To recap, AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
Go 'Dawgs!