Mark Richt to reporter after Georgia collapse: ‘You a Tennessee man?’
Getting on the media’s bad side after a big loss isn’t a great idea.
Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia’s Mark Right had plenty of reason to be upset after his Bulldogs blew a 21-point lead and lost at Tennessee on Saturday. The seemingly innocuous question about Georgia’s bad run of injury luck against the Vols in recent years that closed his press conference on Saturday did not seem to merit his snippy response, though.
A reporter, who Richt didn’t know, asked: “Coach the injuries against running backs against this team have been well-documented over the past few years. Do you feel almost snakebitten at this point with so many?”
Richt looked at the reporter and said he hadn’t really thought about it. Then he added:
“Are you a Tennessee man? You look like you’re smirking over there, having a good time tonight.”
“No sir,” answered the reporter, an Associated Press writer based in Tennessee.
“OK, I was just curious,” Richt said, then got up to leave, telling the media to have a good night.
The question itself isn't a great one — Georgia lost receiver Justin Scott-Wesley to a torn ACL against Tennessee in 2013, and lost Nick Chubb on the first play from scrimmage on Saturday — and even Richt's best response might have involved some dismissiveness.
But he could certainly have taken a tack other than impugning the objectivity and/or character of a reporter he didn’t know, right?
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