Georgia to Shrink Family Friendly Zone at Brooks Mall

I just got a press release from UGA's Gameday Gameplan team. They are shrinking the Family Friendly Zone on South Campus.

Source: Official Release
(Not a joke)

ATHENS, Ga., Sept. 20, 2006— Fans will have a chance to run, jump, catch and throw with top UGA athletes before the next home football game. Prior to Saturday’s game with Colorado, student-athletes from four other UGA teams will be at the family-friendly areas to interact with fans and sign autographs.

One family-friendly area is located in the North Campus quadrangle between Old College and Broad St. There fans will be able to meet athletes from the UGA track and field and cross country teams. The teams will be there from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., signing autographs and mingling with fans. In addition, 10 members of the UGA cheerleading squad will be there from 9:45 to 10:15 a.m. to rally fans. Kick off against Colorado is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

The South Campus family-friendly area is located on the front portion of D.W. Brooks Mall in front of the Miller Plant Sciences Building. This location has been condensed to allow for more traditional tailgates along the greenspace, according to George Stafford, associate vice president of auxiliary and administrative services.

“We are reducing the size of the area at the D.W. Brooks Mall,” Stafford said. “Based on the attendance we have had the first two games, we felt that it was in the best interest of our fans to condense the area. The linear nature of the Brooks Mall lends itself to a variety of uses, and we feel like traditional and family-friendly tailgating in this area can certainly be accommodated.”

At the South Campus location, the defending SEC Eastern Division Champion Georgia Bulldog softball team will be joined by the nationally ranked men’s and women’s swimming/diving teams from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 2. Ten members of the UGA cheerleading squad will be joined by 20 members of the pep band from 9:45 to 10:15.
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Note: It's good to see that UGA is being somewhat reasonable in evolving what was a terrible idea. It's progress. We still don't need as much of North Campus reserved for all of this non-sense, and it's still not about booze. It's about litter.

That said, I'm pleased that some progress is being made in balancing the situation.

For those that aren't familiar with Brooks Mall, it is basically broken into two parts. The front part = no booze. The back part is roughly the same size. It will be a bit harder to lug tailgating equipment back there, but it's progress.

Ideally, they would flip the two areas. But something is better than nothing. More progress is still needed.

pwd

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