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SavannahDawg
Posts: 7 ✭ Freshman
Mike...my issue with your reporting is that its never original. You simply cut and paste. I get that this is a fan site and not the AJC/Knoxnews/Al.com but come on man. It's getting to be unreadable. At least Bill King has sources, even if I fall asleep halfway through every rant. Why not pick up the phone, or drop by Butts Mehre and talk to your well placed contacts about how the new JAX deal went down, or how current players feel about finishing their careers without playing Florida in Athens? You can't do that because you don't have any, because you're not deeply invested in the Georgia culture, and unfortunately it shows.
As for the meat of the "article" you arbitarily picked 2025. From that year until 2031 UCLA, Texas, Clemson and Florida State and Oklahoma will all have played in Athens. I am sure there will be some better games announced along the way before then. Why not dig deeper and find out who we're talking to? I've heard Michigan, have you? In the history of Georgia football there will never have been a better stretch of home games. There has been a shift in scheduling philosophy.
I'm certainly no Hartman donor, and I get the complaints about the San Jose States showing up at Dooley field, but the worm has turned and the schedule has been upgraded radically. It seems to me that the years 2020-2024 are the last of the years where the hometown games will be underwhelming. And even that is offset by Oregon and Clemson in Atlanta. Hit Stubhub and quit griping.
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Billy2131
Posts: 192 ✭✭✭ Junior
This is the reason I stopped getting season tickets...spending 2,500k a year on the Hartman fund to watch scrimmage games typically and maybe one or two good games for my hard earned money....Nope!!! The schedule has and will continue to be avg at best for home games at UGA until we move the UGA/UF game to home and home and college football gets rid of playing lower level programs that typical come and collect a nice check!!!
A high def flat screen(s) are very inexpensive and I can drink my favorite cocktails while watching...something I cannot do In Dooley Field in Sanford Stadium!
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Dawg4lyf
Posts: 29 ✭✭✭ Junior
I can't say much...the only tickets I can afford on the secondary market are games like Murray St and the occasional Vanderbilt or Kentucky on homecoming...I would love to see an annual game against the likes of Oklahoma, Ohio St, Clemson, Utah or a group of 5 like Boise St - it just means I would be priced out of it and sitting at home watching it on TV...but I can deal with that if it means more quality opponents. I also understand the reason for playing a Georgia St (not Idaho St)...they get a big payday and a somewhat national audience in a big boy stadium with a local power while we get a "lesser" opponent that young guys get live reps against and certain game plans can be tested but I think the schedule should be a 1 local FCS team or 1 group of 5 and 3 OOC Power 5...that is a schedule I can understand. But the only way for anything to happen if for everyone to agree and that is not coming in the near future.
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RedPantsDawg
Posts: 224 ✭✭✭ Junior
I'm waiting to hear they are raising the Hartman Fund donations to get season tickets. The 2021 schedule looks horrendous for the Hartman Fund donors. I'm pretty sure I can buy tickets to the games I want to go see on the secondary market and come out ahead when you factor in the Hartman donation and cost of season tickets.
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FredBear
Posts: 232 ✭✭✭ Junior
Unfortunately yes. Now that the offense has been exposed as an outdated inept mess the recruiting is going to start dropping off. As bad as they look stacked with 4 and 5 star talent, just imagine what it is going to be like when it's 3 star guys. People will be clamoring for Richt to come back before long
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ftworthdawg
Posts: 815 ✭✭✭✭ Senior
Mike - Don't go interjecting logic and reason into this issue. We'd rather spend a weekend boozing it up in FL than anything else.
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rtparkeriv
Posts: 135 ✭✭✭ Junior
As long as others keep scheduling cupcakes, Georgia has no choice. But, I do have choices. I give every year and buy season tickets, but don’t qualify for the big road games. I can take that money and buy whatever games I want on the secondary market, home or away.
College football attendance is declining and until everybody comes together and strengthen their schedules, it will get worse. Georgia is spending millions on facilities, yet fans endure horrible restroom and concession facilities and overcrowding on concourses.
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UGA66
Posts: 4,415 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
When you haplessly lose to a team like SC, it kind of goes beyond scheduling if you simply lose to a team or teams designated to help your ratings. Clemson may have one of the weakest schedules but where do they stand nationally? Top 4. Generally, top 2. Florida, Auburn, A&M look like pretty substantial foes right now. Let's call SC a fluke....lol. Outside the conference, any Power 5 is good. Not so much though the host of a lot of these dinglberry schools that have players and call it football. Then again, how would UGA stack up in the SEC West...huh?
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DallasDawg
Posts: 1,410 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
I disagree @AskBillyB . Clemson routinely has one of the weakest schedules anywhere -- because their conference is weak, yet they're in the playoff hunt every year. Same goes for Alabama. They may get one big neutral-site game every other year or so, but their home non-conference schedule is always filled with nothing but 2nd-tier teams. Our real problem, quiet as it's kept, is that Ga. Tech is not competitive and hasn't been for a while. The biggest difference between us and our SEC brethren, Florida and South Carolina, schedule-wise, is that their annual traditional ACC opponents, Florida State and Clemson, respectively, are usually in the hunt for a National Championship, thus making those schools otherwise bland home schedules look somewhat exciting, at least every other year. Of course, Florida State has been down now for the past couple of years, but that's a recent trend. If Georgia Tech was playing at the level of those other two ACC schools, there wouldn't be nearly as much griping about UGA's home schedule. Even the writer of this piece says that UGA "won’t see another high-profile, non-conference Power 5 team in Athens again until 2026, when UCLA plays the return game," completely ruling out the possibility that Georgia Tech might become decent in the next 2-3 years. It seems like a long-shot but then again, so did Clemson when Dabo first took over. Things change. Sometimes rapidly. Just look at the Dawgs this season!
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AskBillyB
Posts: 25 ✭✭ Sophomore
The schedule problem is NOT Jacksonville (though I agree UF should be home-home). What's hurting is schools like East Tennessee, Louisiana Monroe, San Jose State, UAB, Charleston Southern, Sanford, Kent State, Tennessee Tech, UMass and Charlotte. If UGA wants to improve its chances of making the CFP, they should eliminate these games and replace them with Power5 schools (on which the selection committee historically has shown it places a greater value).
Not necessarily a steady diet of elite schools which could result in a LOSS, mind you. Instead, target mid- and lower-tier P5 schools which the Ohio States and Clemsons and Oklahomas of the college football world get fat on each year. Wouldn't it be great to have Indiana or Maryland or Duke or Oregon State on the schedule? Dawgs get credit for beating a P5 school and the chance of LOSING to programs of this ilk would be only slightly greater than UAB or Sanford or UMass.
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ScoreCheck
Posts: 988 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
I have been a season ticket holder for nearly 40 years. I'm so sick and tired of the cup-cake games in Athens. McGarity and Company lost a golden opportunity to award the fans with a quality opponent (UF) in Athens every other year. Going forward I'm seriously considering staying at home to watch all of the UGA Football games. Sure I would miss the excitement of watching the games in Athens. But I would not miss us playing the Sister's of the Poor, 6 hours of driving (round trip), the over priced crappy stadium food and the God Awful restrooms.
Hey McGarity I'm sure you are proud of the extra bucks made my keeping the UGA / FLA game in Jacksonville. But for the rest of the fans not so much.
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bobby
Posts: 150 ✭✭✭ Junior
And just another reason I'm lessening my donations going forward. I've been donating, and often well over the required amount since I graduated in the late 90's. With the addition of the Magill Society, a portion of the fan base has jumped over me in points making it even more difficult to get the marquee away games, SEC Championship tickets, and most importantly...seat improvements at Sanford. With the extra money i would typically spend on donation, I'll be spending that money on away tickets via the secondary market (Bama-2020). Just doesn't seem worth it to pay all that extra in donations to get two cupcakes, a couple "good" SEC games, and Tech every other year. Seeing Florida come to Athens every other year is what was needed, but its not about us...the fans...its about getting all the "extra" money you can get. That extra won't be coming from me. Go Dawgs.
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kirkhilles
Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
Yep, it is what it is. No school would be foolish enough to add difficulty to their schedule as it isn't rewarded in rankings. Just look at Clemson. Imagine if they played a tougher school instead of UNC and lost the game. Let's look at their opponents this year and their current Win/Loss records:
- GA Tech: 2-5
- Texas A&M: 4-3
- Syracuse: 3-4
- UNC: 3-4
- Florida State: 3-4
- Louisville: 4-3
- Boston College: 4-3 (Lost to: Kansas, Wake Forest, Louisville)
- Wofford: 4-2 (Hasn't played against a real team like: Gardner-Webb, UT Chattanooga, VMI)
- NC State: 4-3 (Lost to: West Virginia, FSU, Boston College)
- #25 Wake Forest: 6-1 (Ooh, a REAL team: won against weak ACC opponents)
- South Carolina 3-4
We're halfway through the season and most of these teams have had 3+ losses already against Basketball schools. Clemson is GUARANTEED to be in the playoffs unless they botch a cupcake game... and that's even with a 1 point win against UNC. If you aren't going to be penalized for a weak strength of schedule, then why bother? Clemson should be scrambling to ensure that they add in the toughest opponents available to compensate for a conference that is Basketball focused.
Change needs to happen from the top and the NCAA is quite happy with the way things are.
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Mickey_Hand
Posts: 871 ✭✭✭✭ Senior
As usual, the fans are left **** hind ****. All the money UGA has spent since ’15 has been for the team’s benefit or to impress recruits – not one bit of improvement in fan experience, unless you want to count q slightly larger scoreboard. We can’t have a decent Home schedule or even a decent restroom. 🤬🤬
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ShoottheHooch
Posts: 1,620 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
Name another SEC school that regularly schedules top out of conference home-and-home games. Since Kirby has arrived, UGA has scheduled the home-and-homes mentioned in the story but the rest of the SEC has not followed suit. Bama loves scheduling early neutral field games in HS talent laden states to promote their brand for recruiting purposes but treats their home cupcake schedule as if it's sacred. Find another reason to bash UGA football.
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87dawg
Posts: 596 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
Why do we even play in Atlanta? Sanford Stadium has 20,000 more seats AND it is our home stadium. Not to mention the most beautiful venue in all of college sports. I hate "neutral site" games. I hate traveling to the other guy's stadium but we still go to that hell-hole crate on north avenue.
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Classof98
Posts: 256 ✭✭✭ Junior
Marquee non-conference games are overrated.
If we lost at Notre Dame in 2017, there is no playoff. No trip to Pasadena. No national championship game.
Just schedule cupcakes out of conference.
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Dawg365
Posts: 1,109 ✭✭✭✭ Senior
The folks that make these schedules should be ashamed. I'm sorry but if these schools have to rely on playing UGA to keep their athletics funded for the year, they probably shouldn't field a team. I am for completely removing ALL (out of conference) home cupcake games.
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ATD
Posts: 268 ✭✭✭ Junior
You make a good point Mike. Outside of SEC games at Dooley Field/Sanford Stadium, the non-conference games are awful. Fans deserve better for the costs involved of attending live games and supporting the Dawgs.
