Tim Tucker talks to Atlanta Sports Council president Gary Stokan about Georgia playing a high profile OOC game in the Georgia Dome in the near future. Here’s the key part:
“We’d like to think there’s an opportunity [with Georgia] for 2010 or ‘11 or ‘12 or ‘13,” Stokan said. “We’d like to have Georgia when it makes sense for Georgia. We don’t know when that’ll be, but we hope it’s one of those [years]. Georgia is a national brand, and we’d like to match [the Bulldogs] up with another national brand.”
No, Georgia absolutely would not sacrifice one of six Sanford Stadium games in any year in order to play in the Georgia Dome – and won’t be asked to do so.
“First off, Damon [Evans, Georgia’s AD] and Arthur [Johnson, associate AD] and Mark [Richt] wouldn’t be interested in playing less than six home games,” Stokan said. ”We understand that. We know that.”
Yes, Georgia might choose a game in the Dome over a more distant road trip.
A plausible scenario, Stokan said, is that Georgia might play in the Dome in lieu of a non-conference road game some year. Last year, for example, Georgia played at Arizona State; this year, they will play at Oklahoma State. Those games fit on the Bulldogs’ schedule without cutting into six Sanford Stadium games each year.
So, no sacrifice of a home game, no challenge to Nick Saban and a chance to see a quality national opponent close to home. What’s not to like? Get ‘er done, guys.
Get The Picture 
I was all for a tough OOC schedule a few years ago, but I’m starting to think Damon should go back to scheduling patsies. I don’t think the risk is worth the reward.
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Ridiculous. The risk is totally worth it. If we play Texas or Oklahoma or some other team that’s elite (and damn I hate thinking of Texas in such regard) then our guys get to play a team that consistently plays at a high level.
Play enough high level games, and I wonder if we’ll have to stop sweating through gimmes.
There’s no reason that the Dawgs shouldn’t be playing the best of the best year after year, and the opportunity to play them close to home is golden.
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Playing UF, UT, Aub and Tech every year and adding LSU and Bama every few years should have the same result. Are all of these teams on the level of OU and Texas? No, but they are big games nonetheless. I’m not convinced that isn’t enough. When I look at how the Dawgs responded last year after going to play ASU I just wonder if it was really worth it. How might the Bama game gone if UGA had come off of a home game against some directional school? And in the End if you go undefeated or one loss against an SEC schedule and Tech does it really matter whom your other OOC games were against? Ask UF and LSU.
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Can we stop referring to TECH in the same regard as UF, Bama, or any SEC team for that matter. TECH is not a tough part of our schedule. And it is not a game the players, nor the fans get up for. If you disagree with the degredation of the rivalry then I suppose you did not attend the Tech game last year. There was absolutely no tail gating. North campus looked like a tuesday morning (actually maybe less foot traffic). Nobody cares about TECH.
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Prov,
When we started the season with Clemson (’02-’03), Boise (’05…trendy upset pick) and Ok State (’07), we had our best seasons under Richt. When we started the season against Div I-AA teams or massive underdogs (’01, ’04, ’06 and ’08), we started flat and never recovered.
There’s something to be said for starting with a bang. It focuses the team all off season.
PWD
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I’ve never been one to let facts get in the way of a good argument 🙂 And you may be right, but I think there are only so many “BIG” games a team can “get up for” in a given season and I think the Dawgs have enough on the regular schedule without going out and adding more.
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If you want to be considered a Nat’l Champ team, you’re going to have to beat the UTs, OUs and USCs at some point in the season. Why not see where we stand mid-season. If we can’t beat em then, we don’t deserve to represent the SEC at the end of the year
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I’d rather take my chances with those guys at the end of the year.
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Yeah, you probably also like salads and gun control.
joking-
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Ouch, that’s a low blow. Aren’t there some gentlemen’s rules for commenting on a blog?
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