Dogs play a home game in Atlanta?
Georgia fans put up with the fact that our “home” game with Florida every other year takes place in Jacksonville, but how would you feel if the Dogs gave up another game in Athens, say, in 2010, to play a nationally televised high-profile nonconference game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta?
It’s a possibility, according to coach Mark Richt. The Athens Banner-Herald reports that when Richt spoke to the Augusta Bulldog Club Monday night an audience member asked what he could do about Alabama’s Nick Saban scheduling games in Atlanta, seen as a recruiting plus. “We’re working a deal that could possibly happen,” Richt said. “Maybe even the year after this.” He added, however, that a lot would have to happen for the deal to fall into place and “it’s really more of a pipedream than anything anybody should get excited about.”
Richt said somebody currently on Georgia’s schedule (which hasn’t been officially announced) would have to agree to come off in order for the deal to happen, and he’s not optimistic. But he did tease that “we think we have one team that everybody would be excited about.”
I’m of a mixed mind on this. On the surface, Georgia playing a Southern Cal or UCLA or Oklahoma in Atlanta for a national prime-time audience would seem like a golden opportunity to gain great exposure for the program, and a win in a game like that gives your team a boost with all those voters in the polls, as was the case after Alabama destroyed Clemson last season in Atlanta. Plus, as has been proved when the Dogs have played bowl games or SEC Championship games there, UGA fans can make the dome rock when they want to.
But the devil’s in the details, and for fans it might prove to be a raw deal. For one thing, the Georgia Dome doesn’t seat as many as Sanford Stadium (as has been pointed out when moving the Florida game there in alternate years has been discussed). And despite Falcons fans giving it their best shot, the area of downtown around the dome is not exactly prime tailgating territory. It would have to be a pretty great matchup to make me happy with giving up a Saturday in Athens.
So what do you think? A great idea or not worth the effort?
BULLDOG BITES: Richt also revealed Monday night that the NCAA nixed him attending Georgia signee Chris Burnette’s graduation ceremony since the player will just be a speaker, not the valedictorian. After all the posturing the NCAA did about this issue, that’s a typically hypocritical result. … C.J. Byrd has signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, UGA says, making him the fifth Dog to sign as an undrafted free agent. With the six Dogs who were drafted, that makes 11 members of the 2008 team going to the pros. … All three games of this weekend’s Diamond Dogs home series against Florida are sold out, UGA says. But tickets are still available for the return game against Jacksonville State Wednesday night and the final regular season home series against Vandy, May 8-10. … I caught Matthew Stafford on Letterman Monday night, and while his delivery of the Top 10 thoughts that went through his mind on draft day wasn’t the smoothest performance by an athlete delivering one of Dave’s Top 10s, he didn’t embarrass himself. Best lines: “Holy crap, I think I just pulled a hamstring” and “Why does Jessica Simpson keep calling me?” You can watch it here.
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136 comments Add your comment
john
April 28th, 2009
12:34 pm
UGA doesn’t need the dome for a nationally televised home game when Sanford Stadium is right up the road. How stupid.
What I’d like to see is UGA’s home game against FLA be played at the dome.
Rob
April 28th, 2009
12:41 pm
Sid, while I agree with your opinion on keeping the game in Jacksonville, take a quick look at the area around the GA Dome before trashing Jax… or west of it, or south of it. Make sure to bring a piece.
Jacksonville is a border city and as neutral as we’re going to get, 20 miles from GA. Atlanta is 250 miles from FL. How is that comparable? Do you people realize how far that is for UF fans in South FL? I know, let’s have the game in Brunswick or Valdosta. It’s not UF’s or Jacksonville’s fault that Atlanta is the only city in Georgia worthy of hosting such an event. But 250 miles behind enemy lines and in a smaller indoor stadium in a horrible area for tailgaiting? Are you serious? Besides, I don’t recall UGA fans complaining about playing in Jax before the 90’s. I wonder why…
Just a thought...
April 28th, 2009
12:42 pm
“If USC can play games in Auburn and Arkansas they can take the bus ride to Athens.”
Fair enough. I’m just saying it might be a little easier to schedule them and teams like them if we agreed to play in Atlanta. Just looking at it from their standpoint, we wouldn’t have to make an hour and half drive after touching down at the airport when we played at their place. Why should they?
I think if UGA is going to play some of these big time OOC games that everyone wants its going to take a little thinking outside of the box. We don’t have to play a home game at the Dome every single year, but if gets us a matchup with a USC or an Oklahoma or a Texas its worth its weight in gold.
Reebok
April 28th, 2009
12:43 pm
Tech fan here, so I don’t have a dog in this fight (sorry), but I don’t see any advantage for UGA to play a game in the dome vs. Sanford. Sanford has a great college gameday feel, and the Dome is terrible for tailgating. Plus, many of Georgia’s high-profile games are already national broadcasts.
Huh?
April 28th, 2009
12:43 pm
Rob, I’d bet a large sum of money that there are more UF fans in Atlanta than there are in south Florida.
UGADawg83
April 28th, 2009
12:46 pm
Clay you hit the nail on the head. Leave everything alone but the Tech game and when it is Tech’s homegame lets play it in the Dome.
Name (required)
April 28th, 2009
12:56 pm
Dogs can’t play on carpet. They’ll drag their butts across it and ruin it for everyone else.
Rob
April 28th, 2009
12:59 pm
There’s a lot more than I thought before I moved here but I would take you up on that bet. Either way you’re missing my point. Jax is in the middle for everyone. There’s also a lot of UGA fans in south GA and Jax.
Again, didn’t the UGA people used to love the game being in Jax? Why the change in sentiment over the last 15 years?
Denver Dog
April 28th, 2009
1:01 pm
Hey Tech guys, which one of your #1 draft choices were on Letterman?
I say move our home year at Jax to Atlanta. When that fair is in town in Jax, the taligating surroundings are not that good. I don’t want to see us move any games away from Athens. Have you ever been to Tuscaloosa? You would rather move a game to Atlanta then too!. I hear that Tech is considering moving one of it’s non-conffernence power games like Gardner Webb or Wofford to the Ga Dome. It seats twice as many as Grant Field, and it will be closer to Spartanburg, or Boiling Springs so they can get those big fan followings to come over for the game.
We don’t need to take anything out of Sanford Stadium.
Terry Langston
April 28th, 2009
1:04 pm
I am sick of the “neutral” site of Jax. The game has turned into a three day drunk for many of the most disgraceful GA and Fl fans. I feel very little empathy for the South Ga fans. Move the game to Atlanta every other year or to a home campus game. The tourist industry should not dictate where our games should be played. Maybe we can get this game to be something other than a excuse to act like a bunch of fools.
Terry
April 28th, 2009
1:04 pm
Enter your comments here
jaxdawg
April 28th, 2009
1:05 pm
If they move a game to the dome once a year, it should be the WLOCP. I love the game being in Jax, but to rotate it annually from Jax to Atlanta would be a pretty good idea. I think a lot of Gaytor fans like the idea as well…I’m friends with a lot of those homo’s. Georgia doesn’t need any more exposure than what they already have…they play on Nat’l television pretty much every week. Their spring game was televised by ESPN for crying out loud. How much more exposure do they need?? We don’t need recruits from the west coast, there are plenty of good players right here in our own back yard.
SoCal Dawg
April 28th, 2009
1:06 pm
Pleeeeease play USC! I live in LA and I’m tired of hearing about how USC would beat down the dawgs. But what benefit is there for us to play in the dome on turf? If we want the nation to see UGA in all its glory then let them see a game in one of the best venues in the country… between the hedges. If UGA wants to play in the dome then they need to win the SEC East.
uuugh.
April 28th, 2009
1:07 pm
If anything a prominant game such as USC, Ohio State, or Penn State should ONLY be played at Sanford Stadium (or their stadium). Let their fans come and see the spectacle that is game day in Athens. I still remember the very first game I went to my freshman year…it was incredible! I get chill bumps even writing about it! Maybe every fan has similar experiences. I’d like to see a game at USC or at Penn State (not THE Ohio State though…those people are about as bad as Florida fans). Maybe their traditions are as worth experiencing as ours are.
NOT the Dome though. The Dome is awful…wait until Blank makes te city build a new stadium in a better part of town. Then consider it.
HH
April 28th, 2009
1:10 pm
They ought to stay off television until they get their “coaching” problems solved, otherwise they will probably be embarassed again; GA fans know the team needs another embarrasment like a hog needs side-pockets. Somethings even money ain’t worth.
murfdawg
April 28th, 2009
1:11 pm
Terry Langston,
I resent your comment about the WLOCP being a three day drunk. That is only for the neophytes that go. I am a professional and I start noon Thursday and don’t stop until midnight Sunday. How many days is that? I can’t remember.
Saint Simons
April 28th, 2009
1:12 pm
uga loves playing cupcake teams! They would play Troy in the dome!
Saint Simons
April 28th, 2009
1:14 pm
45-42!!!!!!! hahahahahahahaahahahaha
SoCal Dawg
April 28th, 2009
1:18 pm
Rob google maps directions has it 362 mi from UGA to alltel stadium and 75 miles from alltel stadium to UF. Yeah that’s in the middle.
Georgia News - 4/28/09 | MrSEC.com
April 28th, 2009
1:19 pm
[...] a trend.Sounds like Alabama’s annual trips to the Georgia Dome have led Richt to try to land the Bulldogs a date in Atlanta, too.Cornerback Asher Allen ignored NFL Draft projections, left school early, and hit the [...]
Pago Flyer
April 28th, 2009
1:24 pm
Indoor football….what a bunch of whimps! Get serious…..
DScott
April 28th, 2009
1:24 pm
Hey Denver Dog
You better hope your #1 draft choice gets to throw to Calvin Johnson more than he is on his back with the Lions weak offensive line. I guess you forgot Johnson was a high draft choice because the only thing that matters is the current year. Oh wait, Tech beat GA without any #1 picks this year – that’s right I almost forgot. Get over your arrogance please.
Sanford Drive
April 28th, 2009
1:25 pm
The ACC is all cupcake teams.
Otto
April 28th, 2009
1:33 pm
Az St. and Okie State cup cakes? They’re power houses compared to Gardner Webb.
UGA has nothing to gain by playing in the Dome, UF Penn St or otherwise. Bama needed the exposure. UGA will have national TV coverage in the OOC games mentioned above.
godawg
April 28th, 2009
1:35 pm
The biggest and best venue in the State of Georgia is in Athens. TV does and will continue to nationally broadcast games from there. There is absolutely no GOOD reason to move a home game to Atlanta. End of subject. Please post new topic…
GW
April 28th, 2009
1:37 pm
I don’t get this infatuation with the Georgia Dome. If Alabama sees it as some type of recruiting or publicity tool then so be it. Why give up 18,000 seats for a home game? The Dome is a great venue but moving a home game 65 miles to a smaller stadium just does not make sense. At least Alabama gets to come to a city in another state. Move the Tech game there in odd numbered years and give them 50,000 seats and UGA the rest if you want to play in the Dome.
Gooddawg
April 28th, 2009
1:44 pm
There’s no way playing a game in the Dome is preferable to Sanford Stadium. The parking is terrible and the tailgating not great. Question is: “Why would you do it when you have one of the best stadiums in the country in Athens?”. Not to mention that you would have to tell 20,000 fans “sorry” no tickets.
Gooddawg
April 28th, 2009
1:49 pm
After pounding GA Tech into the dirt for years the puppies let the bees win one so they would keeping coming back. Get ready for another 6 or 7 years of being pounded.
TT44
April 28th, 2009
1:53 pm
I think the the tech / GEORGIA game should be played in the dome. and UGA vs F home and home series! Let Jacksonville recruit some other teams for that venue!!!!!! Come on CMR push for that to happen!
Kendawg
April 28th, 2009
1:53 pm
As a season ticket holder, I do not like the idea of having a home game in the Dome. If the other team is a big name, it will be televised from Athens anyway. At least you can tailgate in Athens, and the experience of attending a game “between the hedges” can’t be duplicated in Atlanta.
Testing
April 28th, 2009
1:56 pm
Enter your comments here
FloridaDawg
April 28th, 2009
1:59 pm
The NCAA just made another decision that supports why most fans don’t like them. They had a chance to do something good and missed.
UGA doesn’t need the Dome, the Dome needs UGA….Sanford Stadium is a much better place to watch a game.
What's the overall GA/FLA record? :)
April 28th, 2009
2:08 pm
The Dawgs should only play at the dome for 1 game and 1 game only… SEC championship!!
braveshater
April 28th, 2009
2:09 pm
Mark Richt is the softest football coach ive ever seen, he should coaching a pee-wee league.
Hotrod
April 28th, 2009
2:17 pm
Sounds good to me. Where else can you get a chicken sandwich,fry and large drink served with a horrible attitude for $17.00.
Captain
April 28th, 2009
2:26 pm
Why schedule a special game in the Dome for Georgia and take a game away from Sanford Stadium??? We season ticket holders don’t want that, we want to tailgate, enjoy our day in Athens on the most beautiful campus in the nation and see a game in what is without question the most picturesque stadium in all of college sports.
There is a potential game in the Dome every odd numbered year, it’s the one against Georgia Tech. That’s seems to be an absolute “MADE FOR THE GEORGIA DOME GAME”. The two state schools, the Dome is a State building, it’s a natural. Tech’s little stadium seats 50,000 fans, the Dome 72,000 which equates to an additional 22,000 fans who can see the game in person and both schools benefit.
Why don’t the folks at the Atlanta Sports Council wake up and get the Georgia-Georgia Tech game scheduled for Atlanta in the Dome? What are they waiting for?????? Atlanta Sports Council get off your butts and bring the instate rivalry to the Dome,move it to the opening game of the season on odd numbered years.
Right On Time
April 28th, 2009
2:36 pm
Rob:
1. The distance that should be used to designate a game site as neutral is between the campus locations, not the state boundries.
2. The gators favorite son, SOS, called the UGA vs. fla game a home game.
3. I agree with you that Jax is much better suited for a gameday experience than is Atlanta. However, it is lots of fun for the SECCG and Alabama and clemson fans seemed to enjoy it.
4. I am, as stated above, a proponent of home and home for scheduling reasons.
5. Most UGA fans do not think moving the game would impact the results. I am fully aware that Tebow and co. would have beaten the Dawgs this year if the game were played on the moon.
For years we have heard that we can’t schedule any big time home and home opponent because of the “neutral” game in Jax. So, following that logic, if that game is changed to home and home, the roadblock is removed and we can see some BIG time OOC games. I am a UGA and college football fan. As such I want to see “big time” teams in Athens the rule not the exception.
The move would not be caused by fear, better chance of winning, sour grapes, exposure or recruiting. It would be to provide good passionate entertainment which is what sport is. That is why we spend thousands of dollars every year…to be entertained.
Doug
April 28th, 2009
2:50 pm
This is an awful idea. There is not enough room for all the students in Sanford stadium now, so you move a game to a smaller venue, 70 miles from campus. Now you make all these students drive to another game.
Otto
April 28th, 2009
2:50 pm
For years we have heard that we can’t schedule any big time home and home opponent because of the “neutral” game in Jax.
They’re doing it anyway. Look at the teams scheduled. Okie St, Az State, Oregon, L’ville, Clemson. They may not be USC, Oklahoma, and Ohio St. but that is a solid OOC game. CMR has a great road record. If anything maybe we should just move the game to the swamp.
Gatordawg
April 28th, 2009
2:58 pm
Where was the whining before SOS came to Gainesville? You enjoyed traveling to Jax to rub sand in our faces; no more especially after your lame celebration.
Beachdawg
April 28th, 2009
3:05 pm
Why NOT fly into Athens…Was anyone @ the Tenn. game last year and saw that oversized UT jet flying into Athens in the 4th quarter??? Came right over Sanford Stadium. If UT can find a way, surely UGA and other teams oughta be able. Lengthen the runway or whatever, but bring UGA up to the Natl level that they deserve….don’t bus to Atl…
ProfOnTheRun
April 28th, 2009
3:11 pm
Clay, it was more like 25,000 midway through the 4th quarter last november.
Georgie fans are known far and wide for leaving early when you’re getting your terds handed to them. 45-42 woof,woof.
wartdog
April 28th, 2009
3:14 pm
Sanford Staduim on Fall Saturdays is a TRADITION! If a team doesnt want to come play between the hedges in front of 93,000 fans, then the hell with them! We will come play ib your yard if you come and play in ours! As far as Jax… I love that trip! Don’t change it! Just start winning it!
Right On Time
April 28th, 2009
3:16 pm
Otto:
Good point in that there are OOC home and homes being schedule…now. It took CMR and Evans to finally get it done. However, Oregon and Louisville???? Either could come to Athens and leave with a “w”, but they are not “big time” teams. I hate tech, tenn, auburn and I don’t care for arkansas. However, they have played Notre Dame, Miami and USC. For the amount of $$$ that is pumped into the AthDept we should not be “thrilled” to see a “BIG time” opponent like OKState. They are a fine team but it is time to take the next step. 20,000+ fans (I among them) traveled to Arizona because we are starving to see UGA play someone big OOC during the season. Can you imagine the type of frenzy a game with any of the following teams would creat? Just take your pick:
1. USC
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Notre Dame
5. Miami
6. FSU
7. Oklahoma
8. Texas
9. Penn State (The Dawgs in Happy Vally during a “whiteout”)
10. Nebraska
There is no “wow” factor in playing Missouri, Rutgers, NC State, Iowa, Baylor, Washington State, Colorado, etc., etc., etc…..
austindog
April 28th, 2009
3:20 pm
The whining before SOS came to Gainesville came from the UF camp.
austindog
April 28th, 2009
3:22 pm
Prof, are you implying Georgia fans left early in a 45-42 game? You weren’t there.
Right On Time
April 28th, 2009
3:23 pm
Prof…
and techies are famous for dressing up like empty seats…
Covington Dog
April 28th, 2009
3:28 pm
The Florida game in the Dome is a good idea because it is as close to Athens as we will be able to get that game, but a game already scheduled for Sanford being moved to Atlanta? NO.
Otto
April 28th, 2009
3:37 pm
Oregon is very solid and often competes for the best of the PAC9. Oregon is a better team than UCLA who Auburn was flamed for passing on. Like them or not, they do get national coverage. Oklahoma State is a program on the rise. Louiseville was contending for Big East titles before Petrino jumped ship which is when the game was booked.
If UGA can win the SEC with one loss or less and beat UF, chances are they get to the title game. IMO the games you have listed have more of a down side than a up side. UGA is often a team that warms up as the season goes on. IMO every team should open with a UAB or Central Michigan. UGA should follow that game with some very solid OOC competition.
I don’t want to see any SEC team play USC outside of a BCS bowl. USC does not need to brag out beating another SEC school on a off year. I did want UGA play USC back in ‘07 BCS title or not. It would have been a major mistake for a ‘08 regular season game.
mcdaviddawg
April 28th, 2009
3:44 pm
The last two bowl games in Atlanta shows what a bad place the Georgia Dome is for college football. Tailgating is very unattractive which is a major part of the whole experience and I’m not very happy with the stadium. Please no games in Atlanta (Florida or any other) if we need to move the Florida game bring it home to Athens. I would not be happy to take away one of the good home games and leave us with the pracice games with a Western Kentucky or East Southwest Missouri. And, yes, I represent over 50 years of game attendance and 8 season tickets.