May 31, 2013 · 8:30 AM

“But there’s a cost associated with that.”

It’s a darn shame there’s not a national championship in thriftiness, because Georgia could retire the trophy.

27 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, It's Just Bidness

27 responses to ““But there’s a cost associated with that.””

  1. Go Dawgs!
    May 31, 2013 at 8:34 AM

    There’s a middle ground between running things like Maryland and running things like Georgia. It’d be fun to be in that middle ground.

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  2. TennesseeDawg
    May 31, 2013 at 8:38 AM

    McGarity likes getting drunk at SEC meetings and whipping out his big surplus and showing it to everybody

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  3. RP
    May 31, 2013 at 8:45 AM

    It seems clear from that article that McGarity et al need to be looking into how to invest that massive surplus into initiatives that would improve revenue. How the hell does Arkansas produce more revenue than UGA?

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  4. Bulldog Joe
    May 31, 2013 at 9:14 AM

    On-field success generates positive PR and benefits all areas of the university.

    Everyone has figured that out, but us.

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  5. Mayor of Dawgtown
    May 31, 2013 at 9:34 AM

    Query: Where the hell does all the money go if they don’t sink it into athletics?

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  6. Keese
    May 31, 2013 at 9:59 AM

    In a lot of aspects… they should appreciate Mark Richt for that surplus

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  7. Krautdawg
    May 31, 2013 at 10:27 AM

    “Long, long, long before I arrived on the scene, there has been tremendous budget adherence here.” So for years football has been a guaranteed multimillion line item on the university’s P&L sheet. After the General Assembly started cutting university funding in 2003/4, it’s become more important.

    That’s fine. What I think bothers people here is that we don’t think increasing football spending will affect that. We see it as an investment: put more money in, attract better athletes, generate more hype, win more games, make more money, etc. McGarity sees only the costs. That means he doesn’t think there’ll be a return on increased football spending. Or thinks that it’s more likely we turn into Tennessee than Alabama. This is funny, because *McGarity* would be the man overseeing any increased outlays.

    If we really want to pinch pennies, why not drastically reduce all the lab fees from those random drug tests? ….

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  8. Ellis
    May 31, 2013 at 11:07 AM

    The reserves are too large as a percentage of the overall budget. More of that needs to be put to productive uses that generates a positive return. Invest more in upgraded facilities and coaching to produce more winning programs and the revenue will also increase.

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  9. stoopnagle
    May 31, 2013 at 11:38 AM

    Maybe he’s just saving up for potential increases in labor costs?

    And here, we’ve hit upon why UGA won’t get the hottest name out there for HC in baseball. We’ll get the 4th or 5th guy on the list. Just like last time. Let’s hope it works out as well as it did before.

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  10. cube
    May 31, 2013 at 12:55 PM

    Ho hum. Another year of sitting on a load of cash stuffed under the cushions of the sofa.

    I’m sure letting old facilities get even older with no investment in them won’t make the already apparent problems even worse.

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  11. Governor Milledge
    May 31, 2013 at 3:58 PM

    Foley Field is by far the most underwhelming facility we have on campus. Go check out the Chickens’ stadium in Columbia (or look here: http://www.gamecocksonline.com/facilities/carolina-stadium.html).

    Our baseball stadium should at least resemble a Double A field, if not a Triple A field; I think you’d find that there are Single A stadiums which are built better.

    I think the Stegman renovations added a lot of life/spark to the building, as did the basketball extension added on; however, the trend in these stadium is toward luxury boxes. Athens doesn’t have the corporate/legal presence like an Alabama or Missouri does, being a small town, but if our basketball program ever turns a corner, that will be something needed to be addressed (See SC’s; even though they have a tough time filling it up, you can’t say it is because of their building: http://www.gamecocksonline.com/facilities/colonial-life-arena.html)

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    • cube
      May 31, 2013 at 4:48 PM

      I like your points about the stadiums but if Athens is a small town, then aren’t Tuscaloosa and Columbia (MO)?

      Athens – city population 115k, metro 192k
      Tuscaloosa – city 93k, metro 233k
      Columbia, MO – city 110k, metro 175k

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      • Governor Milledge
        May 31, 2013 at 6:58 PM

        Athens may be slightly larger in size, but the economics/business ratio would not support the type of events Columbia’s Colonial Life Arena hosts… Look at their event lineup, it is much more comparable to what the Gwinnett Arena, or even Phillips, hosts than anything Athens could aspire to.

        We all know how economically behind Athens in the state as well as nationally; there simply is not a large enough base of large businesses and white collar professionals in the city to support numerous luxury boxes at a stadium. For example, Mizzou’s basketball stadium seats 15k and has 35 luxury boxes, but is in a city where over half of its residents have a bachelor’s, and over a quarter have a Masters degree.

        Maybe the influx of Caterpillar and associated suppliers changes the local Athens dynamics, but I dunno… I may have to write up an article on basketball and baseball facilities in the near future

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        • cube
          May 31, 2013 at 7:05 PM

          Point taken and I agree. I was mainly just referring to labeling Athens a small town…but I was wrong b/c there’s more to the big town/small town labels than just population, as you pointed out. Businesses/economics make a big difference.

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    • cube
      May 31, 2013 at 5:31 PM

      Also, I agree that the Stegosaurus concourse renovations have helped but inside it’s still an old looking facility. That doesn’t help recruiting at all.

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      • cube
        May 31, 2013 at 5:32 PM

        And by recruiting, I mean players AND coaches.

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        • Anon
          May 31, 2013 at 9:19 PM

          Players and coaches spend way more time in the practice facilities and locker rooms than the Steg itself. And those facilities are as nice as any in the league.

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          • cube
            May 31, 2013 at 10:53 PM

            Understood but ignoring the importance of the arena is looking at the situation with blinders on. The arena definitely gives an impression of the commitment to the program.

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  12. Bulldog Joe
    May 31, 2013 at 4:36 PM

    Today’s revenue distribution announcement from the SEC exposes UGA’s statement to be the pure BS that it is. Total revenue distributed to the SEC schools crossed the $300M mark for the first time. It was $219.9M just two years ago.

    If they don’t care about winning on the field, why should we?

    http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEWS/tabid/473/Article/245512/2012-13-sec-revenue-distribution.aspx

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