The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: Opinions

March miracle

With a losing record going in to the SEC tournament, we didn't foresee this

When we last left the Georgia men's basketball team, it was at the bottom of the SEC barrel, losing 11 of its last 13 games, and head coach Dennis Felton's job security was as uncertain as the Democratic presidential race.

Flash forward a week and a half. The Bulldogs are headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years, and we believe this spectacular turn of events should warrant at least another year for Felton.

The team was down to only nine scholarship players - including three true freshmen ­- because of injuries, departures and dismissals, and inclement weather and a venue change couldn't stop the Bulldogs from dispatching four teams that finished no lower than third in their divisions.

To win their first SEC tournament since 1983 - the year they made their only Final Four appearance - the Bulldogs needed talent, good coaching and a lot of luck, three things nobody except the team and its coaches believed they had.

We would like to congratulate the players, coach Felton, his staff and everyone involved in the men's basketball program for making it to The Dance, a task that has taken hard work and perseverance. The "us against the world" mentality that is so often used in sports has rarely been so poignant as it has been for the Bulldogs.

Though the two words "Fire Felton" have been synonymous with this team throughout the season, we now have a couple other combinations to replace them: "SEC Champions" and "Go Dogs."

- Phillip Kisubika for the editorial board

Watch your back

Plan to attend a program that could save your life in a threatening situation

As you return to your regular schedule today, we ask that you make an adjustment. Pencil into your agenda an essential event for Tuesday night.

Safe Campuses Now will host a free program to address safety issues. The forum is open to the Athens community and University students and will feature University and Athens-Clarke County Police.

With the recent murders of Auburn freshman Lauren Burk and UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson, it has become more evident that crime can happen anywhere to anyone.

During football season, a man in a white van was posing as a taxi cab driver and abducting women.

One woman, a University student, was raped. The other, a woman from South Carolina, escaped and called police.


Soon thereafter, two other women reported similar incidents to ACC Police, but police said they were unrelated.

This Safe Campuses Now program will focus on safety in parking lots, at ATMs, what to do in a carjacking situation, walking across campus at night and leaving from downtown alone, according to a news release.

The minor addition of this program or a self-defense workshop to your schedule later could have a great impact.

- Juanita Cousins for the editorial board

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