It just dawned on me that this is the first time a coach has made our Blotter page! 

Congrats for breaking the seal, Andy Kennedy.

Kennedy, it turns out, will coach tonight against Louisville… after being arrested this morning for allegedly assaulting a cab driver.  A pre-trial hearing has been set for January 16th. 

No word yet on how court dates might impact Kennedy’s ability to coach his team in the future.

Athletic director Pete Boon called the arrest of Kennedy and assistant Bill Armstrong an “unfortunate situation,” but he stands behind his guys.

“After a full discussion with Andy Kennedy and his staff, who were with him, I have the utmost confidence that once all the facts are known, Coach Kennedy will be cleared of all charges.”

Not surprisingly, the incident ties back to a bar and, supposedly, Arab-bashing slurs hurled at a Middle Eastern cab driver by members of the Ole Miss coaching staff… including Kennedy.

Yesterday morning, Tennessee starting safety Demetrice Morley was stopped by police for speeding.  A background check turned up a warrant for his arrest stemming from a felony robbery charge issued in Miami in 2007.

Well, Morley was released last night after it was found that the warrant was issued by mistake.  Morley had completed 75 hours of community service that were required of him, but the Miami-Dade court hadn’t credited for them.

The warrant was issued when the safety failed to show for a September 4th hearing, but no one seems to know what that hearing was about.

You can read the full, complicated story here.

Early yesterday morning, sophomore Georgia center Kevin Perez was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Apparently, he had violated “Stop” and “Yield” signs, which probably caught the cops’ attention just a little bit.

Perez has played in three games this season, but will be suspended against Georgia Tech tomorrow and for the Bulldogs’ bowl game.

He is the 11th Georgia football player to be arrested since January.

Former Arkansas kick Shay Haddock was arrested, booked and charged Sunday morning for public intoxication and minor possession of alcohol.

Haddock quit the Razorbacks team last Tuesday, but that fact was not shared with the media until after Haddock’s arrest yesterday.  He lost his starting spot as UA’s kicker on November 1st.

Cornerback Jacques Rickerson was given the boot from the Florida football team yesterday after being arrested on a charge of domestic battery by strangulation.

Nice.

At least Urban Meyer acted swiftly.  “Jacques Rickerson is no longer part of our team — that is not what our program is about.”

You can read the details of what happened right here… suffice to say, the dismissal of a player who’d taken part in every game this year was well warranted.

Vol cornerback Brent Vinson was suspended from last Saturday’s 27-6 loss to South Carolina.  Why?  Well, the day before Vinson had been issued five… yes, five… citations by Knoxville police.

Let’s see, we’ve got misdemeanor possession of marijuana, an open container violation, speeding, driving without a license and driving without insurance.

But don’t expect him to miss any more playing time.  “He served his little punishment there,” Phillip Fulmer said.  “He’ll be back for us.”

Vinson, it should be noted, was also suspended prior to the season-opener due to academic issues.  Namely, going to class.

Hmmm.

Perhaps this type of “discipline” is why the players love Fulmer so much they’re willing to fight for him… and yet they have very little discipline on the field of play.  I’m just sayin’.

Remember Ron Wilson, the Gator player who got in trouble a year ago for firing an AK-47 into the air after an argument?

Well, Wilson is in trouble again.  We told you last week that he was not currently on the team and was dealing with “personal issues.”  Turns out his personal issues are once-again police-related.

Wilson was charged with one count assault and one count of battery back on October 16th.  He punched one man in the face, according to police reports, in an agrument over a female… and then he hit a female who tried to step in between Wilson and the first victim… and then he attempted to strike a third person.

Will Urban Meyer ever finally dismiss Wilson from his team?  If not, it doesn’t say much for discipline under Meyer.

Usually we don’t cover every arrest of every former SEC football player (because there aren’t enough hours in the day).

But this story is a little different.

Danny Ware, former Georgia running back and current New York Giant, was arrested for being a “pedestrian under the influence” last month, when he was back in town for the UGa-Alabama game.

Old news, right?  Well, we’ve just gotten a look at the mugshot from that arrest and it has to be a point of embarrassment for the University.

Check out the Georgia stickers on Ware’s face.  Think that photo won’t “somehow” find it’s way into the hands of potential recruits’ parents? 

It’s called negative recruiting.  It happens.  And having one of your former players arrested while wearing school-logo stickers on his face is probably just the kind of weapon that rival recruiters are looking for… especially if your school has had a string of arrests involving CURRENT players (as Georgia has).

The in-season Blotter page post is a rarity, but Georgia doubled down this weekend.

Defensive tackle Brandon Wood was arrested early Sunday morning on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.  Georgia policy requires a one-game suspension (LSU) for Wood, and Mark Richt was non-committal on whether or not he would let Wood play in against Florida on November 1st.

Wood is not a starter, but he is a part of the Bulldogs’ D-line rotation, playing in all seven games for Georgia.

In a separate incident, offensive tackle Vince Vance, out for the year with a knee injury he suffered against Tennessee, was arrested for no having a valid driver’s license (and presumably driving) on Saturday night.

That makes an even 10 Georgia football players that have been arrested since January.

“It’s always disappointing to hear that kind of news,” Richt said.

Kentucky starting strong safety Ashton Cobb was arrested last Friday for leaving threatening text and voice mail messages for his ex-girlfriend.

Cobb was not in uniform for UK on Saturday night and Rich Brooks said only that he is suspended from the university.

Cobb’s ex-girlfriend said that he called her about 19 times (about 19?) and sent about 15 text messages.  In one voice mail message he cursed and said he would rape and kill her.

He also sent a text message with the line “Why so serious?” referencing the murderous Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

I’m guessing Freakshow won’t be suiting up for the Cats anytime soon. 

Our blotter page has been pretty quiet since the beginning of the season, but back-up Ole Miss safety Fon Ingram managed to work his way inside.

Ingram has been suspended one week “for breaking team rules and will not play against Vanderbilt.”  He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and careless driving early Sunday morning.

Learn from it and move on, kid.

We haven’t had any blotter stories in a while (amazing what happens when these guys get back to the business of football), but a little bit of follow-up business crossed the desk today.

Arkansas wideout Marques Wade has been fined $225 and ordered to pay $310 in court and county costs to settle misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated.

Wade, who Bobby Petrino suspended for the first two games of the season, admitted to coppers that he’d been enjoying the noble weed prior to his arrest.

Former linebacker Freddie Fairchild will be spending about 120 days in jail for allegedly attacking his girlfriend and keeping her against her will.  Nice.

(Sidenote — apparently “pokey” is the correct slang term for jail, not “pokie.”  You’ve learned something here at MrSEC today.  So, like Urban Meyer, I’m an educator and a teacher.)

One of the most influential members of South Carolina’s board of trustees says that he believes the university’s police have targeted Gamecock athletes.

“I feel they overstepped in some areas,” said Eddie Floyd.  “After talking to some of the people, this is how I feel.  And I always say what I feel, good or bad.

“My feeling is that (targeting athletes) has happened.  I’m sure tha administration may have a different opinion.  But certainly that’s what I think.”

Okay, this is one person’s opinion.  No facts have been given to support Floyd’s assessment. 

And it should be pointed out that Floyd helped to pay for the USC football office complex that now bears his name.

At the same time, there have been a number of arrests involving Carolina athletes that wound up resulting in dropped charges.  Is that because campus cops went too far on the front-end… or because the players got the benefit of the doubt on the back-end?

Another long-time trustee has his own feelings on the matter.

“I don’t think anyone has targeted (athletes) whatsoever,” said Mike Mungo, who been on Carolina’s board for 36 years.

“I think the allegations are totally baseless, and I think I’m as well-informed as anyone at the university.”

“Eddie can say what he wants to say, but I don’t believe that it’s a fact.”

My thoughts?  I find it hard to believe that a university police force would intentionally target athletes who bring a great deal of attention and a great deal of money into the university.

Why would they? 

Could there be a crummy cop out there with a bad attitude?  Oh, sure.  But for Floyd’s claims to be true, this would have to involve numerous officers acting with some sort of directive from campus higher-ups.

And that just doesn’t hold much water.

Fans, however, will WANT to believe Floyd’s allegations… and therefore, they WILL believe the allegations.

I guess you can pencil in Mike Hartline as the Wildcats’ starting quarterback now.

Rich Brooks announced today that Curtis Pulley has been dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules.

Pulley has dealt with marijuana and traffic charges over the past two months.

“There’s a little bit more to it than I was aware of at the time,” said Brooks, refusing to go into further details.

He did rule out the possibility of Pulley, a junior, returning in the future.

“His best option at this point is a I-AA school.”

After eight punch-drunk hours behind this keyboard, I was kind of hoping we’d avoid major news for the rest of the day and I could get on with running a tv business. 

Oh, well.

And what a shock that it’s a Georgia off-field issue that’s pulled me back in.

Darius Dewberry, a junior linebacker, admitted to Mark Richt that he was the person seen on surveillance cameras damaging a parking lot control arm and breaking four plant containers… at a HOSPITAL.

Dewberry was among the drunken, out of control, punch-throwing Georgia players involved in a Friday night / Saturday morning bar brawl that led to two being admitted to the hospital… the hospital that Dewberry went nutso on.

Nice.

He’ll miss the first two games of the season.

It was announced Friday that redshirt freshman running back Jermaine Doster would be suspended for the year by Vandy football coach Bobby Johnson.

Doster was arrested two weeks ago on three misdemeanor charges in the Ybor City area of his hometown of Tampa, Florida… the same area where his brother Kwame Doster, also a Vandy football player at the time, was murdered in 2004.

“He’s got to be a great citizen when he comes back, and while he’s gone - from now on.  I think he’ll do a good job,” said Johnson.

Florida offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey has been cited for possession of an open container of Natural Light in his vehicle back on July 20th.

I’m guessing taste is why he switched to Natural Light.

Kids will be kids.

Every team has issues.

In my view, dealing with these problems is a bigger concern than preventing these problems (because it’s hard to keep an eye on 85 young men around the clock).

All that said, the ongoing off-field troubles occurring in Athens have become a big embarrassment for the Georgia football program.

Over the weekend, two football players were suspended indefinitely after one player was arrested and two others wound up in the hospital.

Jeff Henson, a junior long snapper, was arrested for public intoxication and urinating in public. 

(No word on whether Henson told police, “I could get Uromysitisis poisoning and die.  Do you think I enjoy living like this?  The shame, the humiliation?  You know I have been issued a public urination pass by the city because of my condition.”)

Henson missed the Sugar Bowl against Hawaii for a DUI he received last November.  He has now been suspended indefinitely by Mark Richt.

Meanwhile, junior safety Donavon Baldwin was suspended indefinitely for his role in an unrelated bar fight.  He wound up in the hospital after taking a beer battle to the noggin.

Baldwin was already going to miss the season-opener due to a DUI arrest in January.

Freshman lineback Marcus Dowtin also wound up at the hospital due to injuries from the same barroom brawl.

Michael Lemon, recently kicked off Georgia’s team for his own transgressions, was arrested at the hospital for underage possession of alcohol.  He had accompanied his former teammates from the The Library, the Athens bar where the fight broke out.

Three other football players were interviewed as witnesses to the fight and one of them (Caleb King) was said to be “agitated and uncooperative” with police.

There’s no way around this one, Georgia fans.

Just as Miami, Florida State and Tennessee have had strings of bad behavior that brought national attention to their teams, Georgia is now on a roll of their own.

And the Bulldogs are starting to look more like Public Enemy #1 than the #1 team in the country.

Arkansas defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell paid a $150 fine after being charged with “possession of an instrument of crime” (not a saxophone, I’m guessing.)

Mitchell was pulled over in June because allegedly his license plate wasn’t properly displayed.

Cops then found a small amount of what they believed to be marijuana and a handgun in the car.

No word on what punishment, if any, Bobby Petrino will hand down for this.

Mitchell is penciled in as a starter on the D-line, but he missed all of Spring practice while rehabbing a knee injury.

Since Jeff Lebo took over in Auburn five years ago, the Tigers have seen 15 scholarship players transfer or receive their dismissals.

Number 15 is the man who led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding during the 2006-2007 season, Josh Dollard.

Dollard was booted for a “violation of Auburn University Athletic policy.”

His career has been suspension and injury plagued.

Lebo:  “Auburn has supplied Josh will all the resources for him to be successful.  Josh understood his requirements and responsibilities to be an Auburn student-athlete, and he has fallen short in fulfilling what was clearly communicated to him.”

You would think that pleading guilty to something might get you kicked OUT of school, but in the case of three MSU football players, this might be the beginning of an eventual reinstatement to the team.

Anthony Johnson, Jamon Hughes and Rodney Prince were involved in a March 27 on-campus “gunfire incident” that resulted in the arrest (and dismissal) of Quinton Wesley and All-SEC offensive lineman Mike Brown.

Sylvester Croom said that Johnson, Hughes and Prince had an “indirect” role in the incident.  The three withdrew from school soon after.

Now, the three have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of obstructing an arrest.  They are not eligible to play in 2008, but this might open the door for them to return in 2009.

Said Croom, “We are thankful that the university has given these three young men the opportunity to finish their education at Mississippi State.  For them, this is a second chance.  I hope that all of our palyers have learned a valuable lesson from this situation and understand there are consequences of making bad decisions and choices.”

Normally, I would hope, a speeding charge wouldn’t warrant major coverage from a newspaper. 

But in this case, it’s a follow-up to the July 22nd story that UK quarterback Curtis Pulley was arrested and charged with speeding, driving on a revoked license and having expired or no plates or registration papers.

Pulley pleaded guilty to the speeding charge on Wednesday.  The revoked license charge was dismissed.  The plates/registration charge was set for disposition on August 22nds.

Pulley was also cited for marijuana possession in June.

Georgia offensive lineman Clint Boling has had the DUI charge brought against him in May reduced to a charge of reckless driving.

Mark Richt was unavailable for comment, but this could un-do the two-game suspension Richt handed down to Boling earlier this month (over the DUI charge).

Mississippi State did a pretty good job of keeping this story out of the papers, but The Starkville Daily News reports that basketball player Phil Turner was arrested last week for disorderly conduct.

Police were called to an apartment complex over reports of “a disturbance with weapons.”  No weapons were found, but a very angry Turner was.

The police asked Turner to show them his hands.  He would not.  So a second officer told Turner to show his hands.  Again Turner refused… and he resisted “officer attempts to calm him.”

He was restrained, handcuffed and put down on the ground.  When the officers told Turner to remain seated, he tried to get up and was finally arrested.

Turner started 11 games for the Bulldogs last year and played in 30.

Tired of talking about Arkansas’ off-field issues?

Ready for the season to start?

Too bad.  There’s more blotter fodder coming out of Fayetteville this morning.

First, defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell has been cited (not arrested) by police who found a small caliber gun, drug paraphernalia and a what was believed to be a small amount of marijuana in his car.

Wisely, Mitchell called Bobby Petrino ASAP.

“Ernest came to me immediately to tell me.  At this point, we’re going to let the process take its course.”

With six arrests in the last few months, the process has apparently already taken its course with receiver Marques Wade and linebacker Freddy Burton.

Both will be suspended for the first two games of the year for their recent DWI arrests.

“That’s something we can’t have and certainly don’t want to have.  It’s an unfortunate incident that happened for both of them, but they’re going to be suspended for the first two games.”

Is there nothing better to do in Fayetteville than get yourself into trouble?

Don’t answer that.

Back in February, Carolina wideout Dion LeCorn was arrested for simple possession of marijuana when police found a small amount of ganja in the ashtray of the young man’s car.

Now, thanks to a motion to suppress evidence, the charge has been dropped.

The arrest will be expunged from LeCorn’s record.

And for those of you wondering how Dion Lecorn became Dion LeCorn with a capital C, Joe Person of The State has the explanation in his blog.

I know, I know… “you posted that story yesterday.”

Nope.  That was Arkansas receiver Marques Wade getting busted for a DWI, saying that he’d only been smoking weed, and then blowing past the legal limit on a breathalyzer.

THIS story is a follow-up to back-up linebacker Freddy Burton’s DWI arrest back on June 29th. 

Burton pleaded guilty to the charge yesterday.

And for the record, another back-up linebacker, Wendel Davis, is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday to face a felony charge of first-degree criminal mischief.

Think Bobby Petrino’s ready for football season to start?

Marques Wade was arrested early Sunday on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and careless driving.

Wade was pulled over after one officer saw him speeding through a parking lot, and another officer was almost struck by him as he slip to a halt at a stop sign.

“(Wade) had the odor of intoxicants coming from his person.  His eyes were bloodshot,” according to the police report.  “(Wade) stated when asked how much he had to drink that he had not been drinking, but had smoked some marijuana earlier in the day.”

But whoops, Wade blew a .110 on a breathalyzer, which is above the .08 legal limit in Arkansas.

This is just the latest in a string of incidents involving Razorback football players this Summer.

(Sidenote — “The Odor Of Intoxicants” would be a great band name.)

At this point, I’d put good money on Mike Hartline being the Wildcats starting quarterback in their season opener.

Mainly because most of UK’s other quarterbacks can’t stay out of trouble.

Hartline’s main competition for the job comes from Curtis Pulley.  But Pulley has had two scrapes with the law in the last two months.

On June 12th, he was cited for possession of marijuana.  Then, last Tuesday, Pulley was arrested for driving on a suspended license and having expired plates and registration.

Now comes word that Will Fidler, a sophomore, was charged with disorderly conduct early Saturday morning for his alleged involvement in a fight outside a Lexington restaurant.

Regardless of the discipline handed down by Brooks, I would assume that this gives Hartline the QB job… especially since coaches have been bragging about the leadership he’s been showing this Summer.

What do you know?  Vandy makes The Blotter page.

Vanderbilt freshman running back Jermaine Doster is facing three misdemeanor charges after an incident in a Tampa nightclub over the weekend.

Doster was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and obstructing an officer without violence (a charge I’d never heard of).

He was escorted out of The Honey-Pot Bar by Tampa police, but refused to go to his car when directed to do so.  A crowd gathered as he made a seen.  And he was arrested.

Doster’s older brother Kwame, who also played football for the Commodores, was killed in the same area of Tampa, Ybor City, in December 2004.

According to the top cops in Athens, Georgia, despite the recent off-field headlines, Georgia’s athletes really don’t get in any more trouble than the regular student body.

And that’s been my point for years.  If you’ve got violent crimes being committed (like Michael Lemon beating a fellow student senseless), then THAT deserves a great deal of attention (and he was dismissed from the team).

But when it comes to alcohol or pot-related offenses, it may not be right, but those kinds of things are going on all over college campuses.  Athletes and non-athletes alike.

“From my perspective, Mark Richt does a very good job with discipline and so does Dennis Felton,” said Jimmy Williamson, UGA police chief.  “They have very structured programs and they talk to their players regularly about the consequences of their actions.  They’ve been great whenever I’ve had to call to them about a situation.

“The bottom line is 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds don’t always make the best decisions.  The only difference in an athlete and a regular student is a regular student doesn’t get his name in the paper when he messes up.”

Bingo.  Why does it seem that today’s players have turned into a bunch of Hell’s Angels?  Because we now have 24-hour media plus fan-driven information provided on messageboards and blogs.

You hear about it.  So it seems worse. 

Crime statistics, which Chip Towers of the AJC provides, show that regular students and student-athletes at UGA get into trouble at about the same clip.

Towers, on his blog, then explains his thoughts on the amount of coverage devoted to the crimes of athletes.  And he feels like 90% of the media guys I’ve worked with… he’d rather be covering games than covering off-field troubles.

Sophomore defensive end Michael Lemon has been dismissed from the Georgia football team.  Lemon was charged on July 3rd with misdemeanor battery and felony aggravated battery for beating a fellow UGA student at an off-campus cookout.

“He’s been dismissed as a result of some poor decisions and conduct that is not in line with standards we have in place at Georgia,” said Mark Richt.

“I have had discussions with Michael and he understands the decision.  He expressed a desire to find a path back to the team at some point but that’s a decision that will depend on several factors and will come at a later date.”

In other words, he’s dismissed, but he might be back if keeps his nose clean.

Last week we posted a column from The Athens Banner-Herald dealing with the impact of Lemon’s troubles upon his little brother… coming as it does on the heels of the murder of their mother.

UGA helped to raise more than $70,000 on Lemon’s behalf after his mother’s death.

Overall, Lemon was the seventh Georgia football player arrested in 2008.  The charges were dropped against one, but Lemon and the other five are still facing charges.

He was listed as a third-string defensive end at the end of Spring practice.

Tennessee punter Britton Colquitt has pleaded guilty to a first-offense DUI charge in Knoxville today.

As a result, he will be on probation for 11 months and 29 days… and will serve 24 hours in jail.  He’s credited with already serving 14 hours on the day of his arrest… and will serve the remaining 10 starting on Friday morning.

Colquitt lost his scholarship and was suspended for the first five games of the 2008 season after his arrest.  It was his fifth-alcohol related incident for the senior since he arrived at Tennessee in 2003.

UPDATE — Colquitt has now spoken publicly about his guilty plea.

“God’s teaching me a big lesson, what to prioritize in my life, and I’ve learned a lot from this.  I wouldn’t go back and change it if I could.  It’s made me somebody I need to be in the future.”

Jon Soloman of The Birmingham News gets down and dirty to start the new week… taking on the new Summer tradition of college football players being arrested.

Some or you won’t like what the man writes, but I find it hard to argue against his main points:

1)  Fans consistently say they’re sick of off-field woes.

2)  Schools and conferences won’t really get tough on behavior issues until fans make it clear they’ll put their money where their mouth is and stop attending games or watching them on tv until arrests are curtailed.

3)  Fans will NEVER stop attending games and watching on tv, regardless of thuggish behavior by their favorite team.

4)  Therefore, don’t expect any big changes in the near future.

Mark Richt and the University of Georgia have handed down suspensions to a pair of football players, while another is cleared of a possible charge against him.

First, Michael Lemon, arrest for assaulting another UGA student at a cookout, has been suspended indefinitely pending an investigation.  Lemon is a redshirt sophomore defensive end.

Next, starting offensive guard Clint Boling, arrested for a DUI in the Spring, has been suspended for the Bulldogs’ first two games of the year. 

Last, in a bit of good news for Georgia, concealed weapon charges against defense end Jeremy Lomax have been dropped.

Check in Monday for the latest on the “DOG CRIME LOG!”

A day after an arrest warrant was issued for Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon, the player has been arrested, booked and released after posting a $2,500 bond.

Earlier this week, it was reported that three Georgia football players had been arrested in two separate incidents.

Then it was revealed that defensive end Michael Lemon hadn’t been arrested, he was only a suspect in the beatdown of a college student at an apartment complex barbecue.

Well, now an arrest warrant has been issued for Lemon on charges of felony aggravated battery.

Lemon allegedly punched DeMarius Jackson a number of times on Saturday night, causing a blowout fracture of his left eye socket. 

According to Jackson, his beating at the hands of the 6′4, 274-pound lineman has left his eye swollen, his face numb and he occasionally spits up blood.

Nice.

Some of the writers at wholehogsports.com yesterday suggested that Bobby Petrino’s statement regarding the traffic incident involving Wendel Davis might have revealed a connection between the linebacker and the motorist who enraged him.

They were right.

There are four different versions of this story for you to peruse.

As a reminder, Davis has been charged with felony criminal mischief for beating up on the car of Onyebuchi Odunukwe, who bumped Davis’ motor scooter at a traffic light.

Odunukwe has been charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor terroristic threatening.

What caused all this?

A woman.  A woman who showed up at Davis’ residence and started “coming on to him,” according to the police report.  Davis admitted kissing the girl.  That was on June 28.

Since then Odunukwe (the 5′11, 220 boyfriend of the girl) and Davis (6′1, 220) have had a couple of small fights… which led to this week’s traffic incident.

According to Davis, Odunukwe had also sent him threatening text messages leading up to the scooter-bumping incident.

This is the third incident involving an Arkansas linebacker in recent weeks (Freddie Fairchild was dismissed from the team for a previous arrest and Freddy Burton was arrested for a DWI).

Bobby Petrino:  “We’ve had some things going on that we’re not proud of and we’re certainly going to work to have those not happen again.  One of the incidents was real unfortunate and the other one’s really uncalled for.”

Wendel Davis, a junior linebacker for Arkansas, was involved in a minor traffic accident on Tuesday afternoon.

Davis was bringing his motor scooter to a stop at a traffic light when a 2005 Nissan Altima bumped him from behind.

(The driver of the car was named Onyebychi Chukwunonso Odunukwe, which in itself should be good for a chuckle… or a Chukwunonso as the case may be.)

Davis, unhappy with being bumped, got off his scooter, walked toward the car and began pounding it with his fist.

He cracked the windshield and dented the door of the car… in addtion to damaging his own hand.  Davis was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Shaken by Davis’ antics, Odunukwe tried to back his car away from Davis, but only succeeded in bumping the Ford Explorer stopped behind him.

Charges are being considered: criminal mischief for Davis and following too closely for the dude with the really long name.

Davis the third Arkansas linebacker to get in trouble this off-season.

Jimmy Johns is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on August 12th  (following his felony cocaine charges last week).

Poor Johns.  As the great Motley Crue once crooned (or “cruened”):

He’ll tell you he’s the king of these barrio streets
Moving up to Shangri-La
Came by his wealth as a matter of luck, says he never bork no law

Two-time loser running out of juice
Time to move out quick
Heard a rumor going ’round that Jimmy’s going down, this time it’s gonna stick

He’s the one they call Dr. Feelgood
He’s the one that makes ya feel alright

(That’s best enjoyed if you read it in Steve Allen’s voice.)

The 22 year-old woman whose accusations led to the arrest of two Georgia football players has spoken publicly with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Trina Bailey was returning home to her dorm with a friend at about 1:30am Friday.  They encountered Trinton Sturdivant and Justin Anderson (as well as a third, unidentified male) in a breezeway of the dorm complex.

“These three gentlemen came out of a door and it appeared they’d been drinking.  One of them asked what my name was and I told them.  He asked me if I was pregnant and asked me to turn around and I did.  All three of them then came up around me and two of them started touching my stomach in a way that was very uncomfortable, a kind of sexual manner.  I turned and walked away and they started following me and making sexual comments.”

Bailey says she is six months pregnant.

According to the players attorney, the story is a lie.  “The only thing can tell you is I’ve talked with both boys and they absolutely deny they did anything of an offensive nature.  They’re completely shocked that this allegation has been made.”

Now, onto the other Georgia player listed as a suspect in a battery case…

UGA student Demarius Jackson claims that defensive lineman Michael Lemon punched him at least five times a barbecue… fracturing his left eye socket.

Lemon, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not been arrested yet.

Here’s the write-up from The Athens Banner-Herald, complete with copies of both incident reports.

More details are coming out regarding the spree of arrests in Athens over the past few days.

First, defensive lineman Michael Lemon is a SUSPECT and has not been arrested in a battery incident from Saturday night. Lemon allegedly punched another Georgia student at an apartment complex barbecue.

It was originally reported that Lemon had been arrested.

Second, more information has indeed come out regarding the arrests of offensive linemen Justin Anderson and Trinton Sturdivant.

According to The Athens Banner-Herald, the two were arrested Monday night on charges of simple battery after a female allegedly said she was touched without her consent.

In separate affidavits, it is alleged that Anderson and Sturdivant each “did intentionally make physical contact of an insulting nature with (the alleged victim), who he does not know, when he approached her and touched her stomach.”

So there’s the latest, as of 2pm Tuesday afternoon.

Wow.  The trifecta.  Even by today’s standards that’s a lot of arrests.

Three Georgia football players arrested since Saturday night.  If the Dawgs can carry that drive over to the field this Fall they’ll be national champeens for sure.

Offensive linemen Justin Anderson and Trinton Studivant were arrested Monday night and charged with simple battery.  Details, I’m sure, will emerge shortly.

Defensive lineman Michael Lemon was arrested on Saturday night and also charged with battery for allegedly punching another Georgia student at an apartment complex barbecue. 

“Tastes great!”  “Less filling!”  Punch, punch, punch.

These arrests, if they result in suspensions, could leave Georgia very thin on the offensive line in the season opener.

That’s now six of Mark Richt’s boys that have been arrested since January.

Look out, Alabama, somebody’s gaining on you.

Here’s another story for The Blotter page today:

Nineteen year-old Arkansas linebacker Freddy Burton was arrested Saturday night for driving while intoxicated.

Burton ended Spring drills running as second team at outside linebacker.

Burton is the fourth Razorback to be arrested since Bobby Petrino took over on December 11th.

Another linebacker, Freddie Fairchild, was kicked off the team on June 11th following his arrest in March on charges of attacking his girlfriend.

Anybody out there think that Dennis Felton is the unluckiest guy in the SEC?

Whether it’s injuries or top-scorers getting arrested, this guy can’t seem to put a good basketball team on the floor (and don’t get me started on last year’s squad, that team had a good week-long run, but it wasn’t a good team).

I’m not sure if Felton is a good coach or not.  He may not be.  But he can’t seem to ever get a full team on the floor.

And now that he’s booted last year’s second-leading scorer, Billy Humphrey, from his team, he’ll head into 2008-2009 filling holes yet again.

For his part, Humphrey knew immediately that last week’s DUI, his third arrest since November, would be the final straw for his Georgia tenure.

He reportedly told the arresting officer, “Please, please, please.  I am begging you not to do this.  You will ruin my career.“

The details of Georgia guard Billy Humphrey’s latest arrest (for DUI) have emerged.  You can read all about it right here.

Also, Dennis Felton has made a statement which is the usual, “we’re in the process of gathering facts,” type statement that all coaches seem to make.

Here’s the latest on the case of former Tide footballer Jimmy Johns:

1)  Johns has moved back to Mississippi to be with his family, according to his attorneys.  Here’s is a portion of their statement:

“As would be expected, and contrary to comments made by those claiming to be close to him, Jimmy Johns is distraught over his arrest.  Furthermore, he regrets that his arrest has shed a negatvie light on the University and its athletic program.  Jimmy is deeply saddened that his arrest has hurt his family and the University of Alabama family, both of whom have been positive influences in his life.”

Yesterday, we told you that a man claiming to be Johns’ “caretaker” in Alabama said that Johns had “made a mistake, like all young people do.”

He went on to add, “He’s in real good spirits.  He knows he messed up.  He’s not sad at all.  He wasn’t crying or anything like that.” 

Apparently we weren’t the only ones who thought those were pretty stupid statements to make.  So rather than the “hey, everybody does it, I’m okay” approach, Johns’ attorneys have wisely taken the “I’m so sorry for what I’ve done” approach.

And that approach is a few hundred times more effective in the court of public opinion.

But I wonder, and this is purely blog-type speculation here, what kind of people might a coke-dealer be associating with in his life? 

And how would those people (the ones supplying him with the coke to deal, for example) feel about him getting busted by the cops?

Might they be concerned that he might rat them out in order to save his own bacon?

And therefore, wouldn’t it be smarter for the word to get out that Johns isn’t crying himself to sleep?  That he’s not worried?  That he’s no punkin other words?  That he’s not a snitch?

Hmmm.

2)  Kevin Scarbinsky of The Birmingham News believes folks might be coming down a tad too hard on previous Bama coach Mike Shula for his recruitment of Johns.

Dave Rader, an offensive coordinator under Shula, was shocked and saddened to get the news of Johns’ arrest.

“His background check was good.  The town of Brookhaven loved him.  People we knew who knew him all said, ‘You’re going to love having Jimmy Johns on your team.”

Another interesting tidbit thrown out by Scarbinsky:  there were five Alabama players arrested during Shula’s four-year tenure at Alabama… the Tide has had 10 players arrested in the last year under Nick Saban.

The Summer has started.  Players are under less supervision.  And our Blotter page is starting fill up.

Georgia senior guard Billy Humphrey was arrested early Tuesday morning for drunk driving.  It’s Humphrey’s second alcohol-related arrest since February… which could trigger a 15-game suspension through the Georgia Athletic Association’s alcohol rules.

In February, Humphrey was held out of three games following a “minor in possession of alcohol” charge.  Last November he was arrested (and suspended for a game) due to an on-campus weapons charge.

Busy kid.

Humphrey was Georgia’s second-leading scorer last year… meaning this could be a huge blow to Dennis Felton during the early part of the Bulldogs’ 2008-2009 season.

Three columnists take a turn on the Jimmy Johns train today, here’s what they had to say:

Bill Bryant of The Huntsville Times is the first to point out a major angle to keep an eye on… if Johns was selling cocaine outside the football complex, isn’t it a little far-fetched to believe that NONE of his teammates knew about his Summer job? 

And if they did know, was anyone else involved?

Ray Melick of The Birmingham News got in touch with former Auburn coach Terry Bowden who had a player taken down for trafficking and distributing cocaine.

“You have to stick with him because he’s one of your players.  If you don’t have anything that tells you the stories you’re hearing are true, you’re worse off as a coach not to back your player, because if you don’t, you risk losing your whole team.”

Bowden goes on to defend his thinking by quoting his father (which might explain a few things about Bobby Bowden’s history of off-field problems at Florida State): “as my dad always says, if strict discipline won ballgames, Army and Navy would be playing for the national championship every year.”

Nice.

And Gareth Clary of The Mobile Press-Register looks back at how the career of a once prized recruit came unraveled.