Image: AJC
Tim Tucker caught up with Gary Stokan of the Atlanta Sports Council for an update on the possibility of UGA playing a game at the Georgia Dome. He basically says what I suggested earlier....the idea of UGA giving up its 6th home game for a match-up at the Dome is NOT on the table for 2010 or any other year.
The options on the table are:
A. Push out or cancel '10 non-conference road game (ie: Colorado)
B. Play only 6 home games in '11 (ie: push out opener vs. Lville)
B. Play only 6 home games in '11 (ie: push out opener vs. Lville)
I've seen an uproar on this site about not wanting to move the Colorado trip in 2010. I don't get it. It won't be like the ASU trip last year. Arizona State has a 76,000 seat stadium that rarely sells out. UGA fans got their hands on a near unlimited supply of cheap tickets to the game, and 15,000-20,000 of us turned into a de facto bowl game complete with a side trip to Sedona, the Grand Canyon and/or Vegas. Plus, ASU was a pre-season Top 15 team.
Colorado won't be like that. Folsom Field only seats 53,000 people. Their tickets aren't as accessible, and the Denver area's strongest suit is the Winter. Not early October. Their program is also in rebuilding mode, and the female talent will most certainly not be comparable to the Sun Devils. It's extremely unlikely that we're going to face a Top 15 team. (Granted: ASU had started tumbling before we got there, but we were booking flights and hotels based on the assumption that they wouldn't lose to UNLV the week before)
I'm looking forward to the trip to Boulder. Hell, Dawgnoxious and I actually saw UGA play hoops in Boulder. But I don't see what the fuss is about or what the problem would be with pushing the game out a bit. Especially, if we could replace that game with a more logistically manageable, less expensive game in Atlanta versus a much bigger name team. What am I missing?
Also, Georgia's best seasons since 1964 (when Vince Dooley arrived) usually began with a game that caught the player's attention and forced them to work harder all off season.
2007 vs Oklahoma State (#2 final ranking)
2005 vs a hyped Boise State (SEC Champs)
2003 at Clemson (SEC East Champs)
2002 vs Clemson (SEC Champs)
1997 vs Ark State (10 wins. Top 10 Finish) -- EXCEPTION
1992 at South Carolina (10 wins. SEC East Co-Champs)
1983 vs UCLA (10 wins. Cotton Bowl Champs)
1982 vs Clemson (SEC Champs)
1981 vs Tennessee (SEC Champs)
1980 at Tennessee (SEC Champs)
1976 vs California (SEC Champs) -- See Update*
1971 vs Oregon State (11-1 team) -- EXCEPTION
1968 at Tennessee (SEC Champs)
1966 at Mississippi State (SEC Champs)
2005 vs a hyped Boise State (SEC Champs)
2003 at Clemson (SEC East Champs)
2002 vs Clemson (SEC Champs)
1997 vs Ark State (10 wins. Top 10 Finish) -- EXCEPTION
1992 at South Carolina (10 wins. SEC East Co-Champs)
1983 vs UCLA (10 wins. Cotton Bowl Champs)
1982 vs Clemson (SEC Champs)
1981 vs Tennessee (SEC Champs)
1980 at Tennessee (SEC Champs)
1976 vs California (SEC Champs) -- See Update*
1971 vs Oregon State (11-1 team) -- EXCEPTION
1968 at Tennessee (SEC Champs)
1966 at Mississippi State (SEC Champs)
Update: SpartanburgDawg sent me a note -- "Total speculation, but I’m guessing the 1976 Cal Bears had our undivided attention, as well, given that they were co-Pac 10 champs in 1975 and had won 8 of their past 9 games. A year later, they opened the season by whipping Tennessee’s ass in Knoxville." (touche)
That's
I don't want to screw the Buffs. I'm just saying....do what it takes to get us a quality opponent in Week 1. If that requires a game at the Dome. Fine. It doesn't ensure greatness to play those tough openers, but not playing big opponents immediately sure does seem to lead to lackluster seasons.
See Also:
-- UGA ponders the Dome - Blutarsky
PWD
26 comments:
But, would "screwing the Buffs" (there's an image) hurt our ability to schedule home-and-homes with other major programs?
Soooo that would mean our chances of success this year are looking pretty good, right?
As opposed to dropping the Colorado game altogether, it could be we offer to push it back a few years. UC might listen to that, as their program isn't where it wants to be right now...pushing the UGA game back a few seasons could benefit them even more than it does us in the overall scheme of things. Just a thought.
We gave our word. They came here AND brought that beautiful buffalo.
Boulder CO in the fall is absolutely gorgeous.
If we played the Florida game on campus instead of Jax we would have a lot more flexibility to do this kind of stuff without possibility of breaking contracts, scheduling New Coastal Arkansas, etc.
Kevin,
That doesn't mean we can't move it around and compensate them for their trouble of waiting a few years for us to grace them with our presence. (sarcasm)
Hell....I'd be in favor of canceling that series with Lville entirely and then playing Colorado in Boulder in '12 instead of Lville.
If Colorado would be agreeable to push it out, I would not have an issue. But I don't like to get into the habit of wanting out of OOC games. And yeah, Colorado is beautiful any time of the year.
I would rather see if Louisville could push out a couple of years, but again, no breaking the contract. Let other schools do that.
Totally off-topic, but I have to post it: I saw some old dude collecting a dead racoon at the Epps Bridge/Atlanta Hwy split this AM. It looked relatively fresh, but really? Should this be happening? Can someone begin to explain?
Has anyone heard rumor about Figgins, Justin Houston and Tony Wilson being suspended for the first game this fall? Just saw it on one of a CFB blog from a pretty reliable UGA source.
Paul-
As long as the contract is honored in a reasonable time line (which '12 most certainly is).
Drop UL in favor of what the Senator quotes from Stokan? Picking up the Dome game? Maybe vs. some top tier team (OU, UT, USC)? But then would we have to play a second 'neutral' site game (across the country) to honor that matchup??
Great post, Paul -- I hope Evans and Richt are seeing this info and realize that scheduling tough and winning big aren't at all incompatible.
I agree it might look like bad form to try to get out of the contract. But Anon 1:54 has a good point that playing Colorado a couple years later would be better for them anyway, so it might not be a breaking so much as a renegotiation.
If we could play a Texas-type team in Atlanta, and get Gary Stokan to pony up a hundred grand or so to pay Colorado for their trouble of moving us back a few years, I'd support that.
Here's the real question that hasn't really been discussed: Bama-Clemson in ATL is a perfect neutral site. Bama-Va Tech might skew a little toward the Tide but still neutral-ish. If Georgia plays a "nationally known" program in Atlanta (presumably from another region, there's nobody in the non-SEC south other than maybe the Hokies that would make this worth it for us), it won't really be a neutral site, and I'd be surprised if, say, Texas would agree to play here without a "return" trip to Dallas or Houston (ditto for Michigan at Detroit, etc.). We do this in basketball (see, Illinois in Chicago and Gwinnett) but I don't know how it would fly in football, given the difficulty of finding even one year where a neutral site game makes sense.
Kevin,
No. We don't have to play 2nd / return neutral site game. The ATL sports council pays the other team so much money that it makes it worth their while to come here for a 1 and done.
Last year the payout was $2.1 million each. That's almost what the Outback and Cotton Bowls pay each team.
And it's the biggest game on opening weekend if you do it right.
Haha, "hasn't really been discussed" except for the comment above mine. Good call, Kevin.
4:36 -- I don't know. I'm sure Texas, USC, etc., make far more than $2M for a home game (as do we). If they could pay some joker $900K for a buyout game, or do a home-and-home and make at least $4M in the home year, this game isn't a financial winner. The only benefits are in exposure, but is it worth playing a good team an hour from their campus and calling it "neutral" just for that?
NM,
You know there's a difference between profit and revenue right?
80k seats * $40 = $3.2 million
Plus concessions = $1+ million
So the home game ends up generating about $5 million or so.
MINUS the $900k for the opponent fee.
MINUS the cost of security, infrastructure and physical plant expenses.
$2 million from a neutral site ends up being a pretty competitive fee. Especially since the only expense is travel for the team.
I'm quite positive that the benefit of playing in Athens is MUCH greater than 2 Mill a game. Just think of all the money spent by fans. Screw the Dome, we can play there when we win the East.
So what would we do with that extra year? Just have another dome game and hope some big name team is willing to come out here again. I understand getting TX or OU and maaaaybe USC once if, like Paul says, it's really worth their while... but there is No Way you'll get the same team to do it twice. You'll have to schedule another top tier team. Unless, it's so worth their while, and they lay wood to us, and it helps with their recruiting... but then, if those are the cases, I doubt we'll be chomping at the bit to invite them back.
I wouldn't have a problem (although according to anon 4:36, we're not obligated) traveling to a nearby city of the 'host' team in TX or Cali (etc.) But then you're kind of admitting a "home and home" neutral site series. Which brings up the question, should Jax be considered a home game for UF... and i really don't have the energy or the time to get into that.
I think we should lead off with Florida every year.
The colorado game doesnt need to be moved. They should have a pretty good team next year. That will be a fun trip.
This "strength of schedule" stuff is so over-hyped.
Florida has won two national championships in the last three years. Can somebody please point to one non-conference game on their schedule those two years that was worth a damn? (Florida State doesn't count and Miami wasn't the normal Miami)
We play in the SEC, People. THAT is the real strength in our schedule. Anybody that wants to play Texas, Oklahoma, or USC is just begging for one more physically demanding game that we don't need. If we navigate our tough schedule as it is, we will get to play one of those teams, regardless.
Agree with the commenter above. SEC does worlds for us, much like the Pac-10 really hurts USC. Even beating up on Ohio St. and Norte Dame(yeah i know they're garbage lately) as OOC games didn't help them last year. But the SEC won't have that luxury forever. If the Big 12 keeps playing at the same rate they are, they'll be seen as a conference equally difficult to get through. And, if the Big 12 ever starts beefing up their OOC games to overcome the 'SEC is hardest competition' to better secure it's spot in MNC, then the SEC will be in a sort of arms race with them. I just don't think the SEC can hold onto that strength forever. And I'm thinking we only have about 6 more years with it
Make the Florida game home & home. That game cripples what we can do in terms of scheduling.
I thought our policy was to play neutral site games an hour from the other team's campus, not the other way around?
Once you include coastal carolina and new mexico state on your schedule, the strength of schedule is a sham.Play the games you said you would.Parkview in the dome in 2013 might work.UGA fans should be screaming for rebates for the 2011 home schedule.Hell tn.only plays a div.2 team once every 25 years or so.Btw mich. has said they want no part of a 2 game series with UGA.
Michigan wants no part of a home and home because Georgia wants more than the 4000 tickets they want to swap.
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