Wonder how many games UGA will suspend him?

[JonInMiddleGA]

UGA athletic director arrested on DUI charge || OnlineAthens.com (http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/070110/bre_664005840.shtml#mdw-comments)

University of Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans was arrested on a drunken driving charge Wednesday night in Atlanta, on the eve of a new five-year contract with a begins today.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper stopped Evans’ 2009 BMW shortly before midnight at Roswell Road and Chastain Drive, near Chastain Park.

“The trooper made a traffic stop, apparently observing the manner of driving, on a 2009 BMW,” said Gordy Wright, director of public information for the State Patrol. “During the course of the traffic stop, he detected the odor of alcohol and administered a field sobriety (tests). After administering field sobriety, the trooper determined (Evans) was less safe to be operating a motor vehicle and placed him under arrest for DUI.”

Evans was taken to the City of Atlanta Pre-trial Detention Center on charges of DUI and failure to maintain lane. Evans refused to take a breath test at the jail, Wright said.

Evans was released early this morning, according to the Associated Press.

The University of Georgia Athletic Association would not comment on Evans’ arrest this morning.

“There’s been no confirmation of (the arrest) yet,” said Leland Barrow, a spokesman for the Athletic Association.

But university officials are in contact with UGA president Michael Adams, who is on vacation, and the university plans to issue a statement later today, said spokesman Chuck Toney.

A passenger in Evans’ car also was taken to jail, but Wright could not immediately provide further details.

“There was a passenger who was also to taken there but the identity of that person and what transpired there, that’s one of the things we’re waiting to talk to the trooper about,” Wright said.

As UGA athletic director, Evans makes $550,000 a year under a new five-year contract that takes effect today. The UGA athletic association’s board of directors approved the contract in February, giving Evans a $90,000 per year raise.

Evans was one of the youngest athletic directors in the country when he took over the leadership of UGA’s athletic association in 2004, after Adams refused to renew longtime athletic director Vince Dooley's contract.

[JonInMiddleGA]

A picture is worth a thousand words

http://images.morris.com/images/athens/mdControlled/cms/2010/07/01/664014624.jpg

[JonInMiddleGA]

Maybe he should have listened to this guy
<object width="500" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3BEW6PHMXWk&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1?border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3BEW6PHMXWk&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1?border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object>

[GrantDawg]

Enjoy.


I hate this, but I can't see how he keeps his job. He has been a good AD, but that is not a position you can get away with things like this.

[GrantDawg]

Oh, the other person in the car that was arrested for disorderly conduct? A 26 year old girl. I think her name was Careera Endera.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh, the other person in the car that was arrested for disorderly conduct? A 26 year old girl. I think her name was Careera Endera.

Yeah, I think there's some serious questions about judgment here.

Would you risk your marriage & your career over this?
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/00627/evans_0701_627386l.jpg

[DaddyTorgo]

on another note - how do i become an athletic director and get paid a cool half-mil a year?

[JonInMiddleGA]

on another note - how do i become an athletic director and get paid a cool half-mil a year?

He's also due to get (http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2010/02/03/damon-evans-gets-new-five-year-contract-big-raise/) $20k raise each year over the life of the deal, bringing him to $630k for the final year. If he makes it that far he also gets a $250k bonus at the end of the contract.

Not sure what else may have changed since the figures I saw for 2009 but the $550k at least puts him in the upper portion of the SEC for AD salaries, still badly behind Florida which was over $900k/yr but equal to LSU's.

[DaddyTorgo]

He's also due to get (http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2010/02/03/damon-evans-gets-new-five-year-contract-big-raise/) $20k raise each year over the life of the deal, bringing him to $630k for the final year. If he makes it that far he also gets a $250k bonus at the end of the contract.

Not sure what else may have changed since the figures I saw for 2009 but the $550k at least puts him in the upper portion of the SEC for AD salaries, still badly behind Florida which was over $900k/yr but equal to LSU's.

Sweet gig. I'll take it.

[cuervo72]

on another note - how do i become an athletic director and get paid a cool half-mil a year?

Heh, no kidding. Local radio folks (Czaban and Pollin) were talking about this last week when Debbie Yow moved from Maryland to NC State as AD. The question was what are the requirements for AD, exactly? Czaban maintained that a lot of these folks are glorified gym teachers, and aren't necessarily all that bright (looking at Yow's past for example, she dropped out of one college, later got an English degree, then became a coach and eventually an AD). Said he went to college with some current ones and wasn't all that impressed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Meanwhile, there's definitely some question remaining about whether this afternoon's Tigeresque apology press conference will be enough to save Evans' job.

Between the vacationing university President's written statement that he would "reserve further action pending a full review by staff and legal counsel." and Evans' "I hope to" answer to a question about whether he would keep his job, the uncertainty is definitely there.

Of all the people at UGA to get themselves jammed up, this one might be the stickiest of the possibilities (with the exception perhaps of CMR). Remember, Evans' was the handpicked choice of (my across the street neighbor) President Michael Adams, the chosen one for whom Vince Dooley was exiled. That's a decision that Adams' has never been forgiven for, one that has kept his every move under constant scrutiny & considerable criticism (his approval of a statue to honor Dooley was slammed heavily because many felt it was placed in a too low-profile area, he truly can't win for losing).

If he doesn't fire Evans', Adams' own tenure will be subject to even more criticism. While he has indicated in the past that he's getting close to moving on, my sense of things is that he'd like to stick around a bit longer yet but if Evans' stays and so much as jaywalks then they could very well find themselves both out of work.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And as local sportstalk in Athens pointed out, there's still the surveillance camera video to come out, outlets have already filed the paperwork to get that as well.

Report: Damon Evans tried to use AD job to get out of DUI || OnlineAthens.com (http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/070210/bre_664521510.shtml)
... Evans was swerving, smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot, watery eyes, the arresting officer wrote in the report. He had a pair of red panties between his legs, the trooper noted, and later said that the woman took them off and he was holding them.

He fumbled through his wallet looking for his license, and told the trooper he’d had two vodka martinis at the Beluga Martini Bar earlier that night.

Because he smelled of alcohol, the trooper asked Evans to step out of the car and perform some sobriety tests.

During the tests Evans repeatedly told the officer that he didn’t have to arrest him because he was the UGA athletic director.

“I am not trying to bribe you, but I am the athletic director of the University of Georgia,” he said, according to the trooper.

When the officer handcuffed him, Evans began to cry, the trooper reported.

Shortly before the trooper left Evans at the Atlanta Pre-trial Detention Center, Evans asked him to reconsider, the trooper reported.

“I told him I don’t issue warnings for DUI,” the trooper said in his report.

After arriving at the jail, Fuhrmann told the trooper that Evans’ arrest did not matter because he was the athletic director.

“I promise you one thing, he will get off,” Fuhrmann told the trooper, according to his report. “Just to let you know, it will be erased because he is the Athletic Director of UGA and he has that power.”

When asked, she told the trooper that she and Evans had been seeing each other “only a week or so.”

[Ben E Lou]

Incident report: Evans tried to bargain his way out of DUI arrest *| ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/gsp-strong-odor-of-563333.html)

http://www.redandblack.com/media/2010/07/070310evans_report.pdf

At least the panties were red, and he's black.

[JonInMiddleGA]

At least the panties were red, and he's black.

Doh, I didn't even think of that, I had been stuck on "maybe the panties were red and black".

[JonInMiddleGA]

When you're drawing the attention of a two-time Pulitzer winning cartoonist, it probably ain't good for your job prospects

http://blogs.ajc.com/mike-luckovich/files/2010/07/mike070420101.jpg

[GrantDawg]

At least the panties were red, and he's black.


There is just no way he can stay at this point. I'm disappointed he didn't man up and quit. He's put Adams in a rough situation, to be sure. I wonder how much they'll have to pay him to go? I imagine that his contract had a conduct clause which will limit the damage. Plus, since this happened hours before the new contract took affect, will the out clause be based on the original contract?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Plus, since this happened hours before the new contract took affect, will the out clause be based on the original contract?

I'm sure that's one of the things the legal team will be advising the University about, but my layman's guess is no, since there wasn't time to delay the contract taking effect.

[GrantDawg]

Well, no shock. Gladly they didn't drag it out any longer.

Report: Evans out as Georgia's AD *| ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/sports/report-evans-out-as-563982.html)

[Poli]

And Aloha means goodbye.

[flounder]

At least Vince Dooley's going to have a happy 4th.

[Poli]

True.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Evans officially gone, $100k longevity bonus due from his old contract + 3 months salary from the new deal as severance pay, total buyout = about $237,500.

Evans’ settlement: 3 months salary plus previously earned $100,000 bonus | UGA sports blog (http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2010/07/05/athletic-board-meeting-about-to-begin/)

[stevew]

Unreal how you could piss away a 500k+ job because you don't want to call a cab. He deserves what's coming to him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Unreal how you could piss away a 500k+ job because you don't want to call a cab. He deserves what's coming to him.

Eh, calling a cab isn't particularly realistic in that situation, at least not to get to his own home. He was a good 60-70 miles from Athens at the time (something that kind of gets lost to anyone not from the area).

Of course, we're all pretty sure he wasn't planning to go to his own home any time soon so maybe that's the context you meant.

[Ben E Lou]

Doh, I didn't even think of that, I had been stuck on "maybe the panties were red and black".Sheesh. For a racist, you sure missed the low-hanging fruit on that one. :p

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sheesh. For a racist, you sure missed the low-hanging fruit on that one. :p

My sheet is at the dry cleaners, I'm a little off my game without it ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Adams appoints interim UGA AD || OnlineAthens.com (http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/070610/bre_666018042.shtml)

Among those on the selection committee is Carla Williams, the name most frequently mentioned as the new AD if the choice came from inside the department. Seeing her on there makes me wonder if this group will do much more than approve the hiring of Florida Ass't AD Greg McGarrity, a UGA alumni and the most frequently mentioned name since it became obvious that Evans was on his way out.

[OldGiants]

Yeah, I think there's some serious questions about judgment here.

Would you risk your marriage & your career over this?
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/00627/evans_0701_627386l.jpg

First thing I thought of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGQ-ISsDm8M


I miss Mel Brooks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Report: McGarity to be named new UGA AD || OnlineAthens.com (http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/081210/bre_694070329.shtml)

Greg McGarity of the University of Florida will be named athletics director at the University of Georgia, perhaps as early as Friday, at least two news outlets are reporting.

McGarity, the executive senior associate athletics director at Florida, reportedly will be introduced at UGA’s new athletic director Friday in Athens, a columnist for the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun reported.

WSB-TV (Channel 2) in Atlanta also is reporting that UGA will name the Athens native as its new AD.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt said he spoke to interim athletic director Frank Crumley about the AD search on Thursday and that Crumley told him an announcement would be made soon.

Asked if Crumley told him that it would be McGarity, Richt replied, “he didn’t say it was him and he didn’t say it wasn’t him.”

At Florida, McGarity is responsible for event operations, video services, communications and he helps supervise the football and men's basketball programs. ... McGarity received his undergraduate degree from UGA in 1976. Vince Dooley named him assistant athletic director for facilities and event management in 1988 and he stayed at UGA until leaving for Florida in 1992 as one of the first hires by Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Yeah, I think there's some serious questions about judgment here.

Would you risk your marriage & your career over this?
http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/dynamic/00627/evans_0701_627386l.jpg

The simple answer is "no."

But if you had a certain fetish, a pair of glasses and an active imagination...

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/8162/45572991.jpg

It would explain the RED panties!