Baby needs a new pair of shoes.
The indoor practice facility so many Georgia fans have fretted about apparently will soon be on its way.
Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity confirmed on Tuesday that he’ll ask the UGA Athletic Association board of directors to approve a multi-million dollar project during its regularly-scheduled fall meeting in September. If approved, construction would begin “as soon as possible.”
Wonder what changed his mind. Shame is out of the question. My money’s on he simply got tired of hearing Richt complain about it. Way to go, Coach.
Oh, I shouldn’t say shame is completely out of the question. I suspect we’re about to get an earful on that front.
In the past, McGarity has required that the UGA development office raise at least half the funds for a project through donations before it moves forward with construction. McGarity indicated those efforts are already underway.
“There will be a fundraising piece to this,” he said.
Get The Picture 
Well, I’ll be. Maybe this was the straw that broke the camel’s back: “Recruits in town last month for “Dawg Night,” UGA’s elite prospect camp, competed in a downpour and Georgia’s last two Pro Days have been conducted in near-freezing temperatures.”
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I was going to post something similar to WF Dawg. As far as I know, Vandy, UF and UGA are currently the only SEC programs without an IPF. I’ve heard that USCe’s indoor facility is smaller and has shorter fields. Anyone else know more about each teams IPFs, etc? Just curious …
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Good news. I just hope we do it right, and build a first-class facility.
~~~
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Vandy has a brand new one.
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I just hope the people who have been complaining about this and its effect on recruiting don’t have a problem writing a check to support the campaign.
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Why do we need to write a check? We have already written all the checks that paid for this amazing reserve fund.
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I’m going off the assumption it’s going to be like the baseball stadium improvements where the athletic board required 50% to come from fundraising. My point is that those who want the facility should be willing to support it with their funds for the campaign. It’s going to be additional beyond what people give to the Hartman Fund for scholarships.
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I appreciate the passion and your loyalty. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the 2.7 million over 5 years added to Mike Adams retirement. Where did that come from?
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Not the Athletic Association, I can assure you. One thing I count as a blessng is that the University funds are separate from the athletic budgets.
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That’s sort of the case. In the last fee years, the AA has transferred some of it’s “income” to the university for other uses (like the library expansion).
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They transferred 30 million in 2012
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I didn’t realize the number was that big …
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“the University funds are separate from the athletic budgets.”
…except of course for the AA’s multi-million dollar “investments” in the UGA Foundation.
Competing for engineering and medical research dollars and building up the university endowment is the objective here. Most of the new SEC revenue is shared, so winning on the field is not a priority at UGA.
Understand this and the AA’s frugal ways regarding the IPF, Foley Field, Stegeman Coliseum, and the decision not to participate in the SEC arms race makes sense.
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I’d wager a Jack & Coke if the fundraising side puts up even 25% of the funds for it, he’ll take credit and say it was his plan all along.
But that’s still better than no Indoor Practice Facility at all, or sitting on the money…or running things like they did in Knoxville. It’s sort of like the Falcons new stadium: it’s not great that some public funds are going towards it, but it’s a damned better deal than the competition.
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There won’t be any public funds meaning funds appropriated by the General Assembly to UGA. The athletic association can’t receive funds for facilities or programs from state funds. It’s a very different situation than the Falcons’ new stadium.
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That is not what will was saying. He was making a comparison, not saying GA taxpayers would fund the IPF.
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If it can’t be located close to practice fields this is a waste of time.
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Unless, of course, we build it next to the Clarke County Jail.
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They are about to get a big check from the SEC network and the playoff. What do they need our money for?
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The new engineering and med schools.
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Yep, SEC Network is the cash cow for this one
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Uhh, so what the hell is UGA supposed to do with this??
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Practice onside kicks, three-yard outs, and Oklahoma drills.
And hype videos.
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It will still be there the next time they need to record a Harlem Shake video.
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I think this has been in the plans since Michael Adams retired. He was never going to allow it under his watch and his successor probably asked Greg not to set things in motion for a few months so as not to rub it in his face when it got built.
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I would like to rub several things in the face of the former president whose name shall not pass my fingers, but none of them are an indoor practice facility.
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Scorpio, tell us what you really think, sir.
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Rumor is Adams wanted one but insisted it be named, “Adams Indoor Ego Storage and Football Facility”. Richt didn’t want it under those circumstances since it would be full of hot air and smell like crap.
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This made me smile this morning. Well done!
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…like Stegeman Coliseum before the Olympics.
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I read that they do not want to move Specs to afford the space however I think not having it within the FB complex would be a huge mistake. Having one off site of the FB facilities really diminishes the usefulness due to the logistic nightmares such as having to bus players/coaches/support staff and moving equipment back & forth.
For those of you in the know would it not be feasible to extend the baby IPF to a full size model by using the area right outside. It would take up one practice field but then use the Specs track area as the replacement outdoor field. I would think that they would not really have to do much maybe tear down the grand stands, leave the track for football running/training and use the grass area in the middle as a smaller field. Build a nicer track elsewhere on campus.
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The problem is that there really is no more space on campus. New construction dirt comes as the expense of older buildings. Legion pool still there? Move the track out by the soccer field.
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The track is pretty special in its own right — it adds a lighted public activity space for students/staff to use safely at night. Also, the AA spent $3 million in redoing the track in 2009. I would hazard to guess the track would cost ~$5 million to re-do somewhere else, which would obviously hike up the fundraising needs.
It’s been there since 1964 and was used during the Olympics — GA track is a competitive program in its own right
http://www.georgiadogs.com/facilities/spec-towns-track.html
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It’s in a prime location. Lot of things have changed at UGa to make room.
just sayin’
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/campus/over-the-dog-years-soule-hall-original-home-for-uga/article_66cbcd4a-9068-11e3-a99a-001a4bcf6878.html
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