I’m not in Hoover. You’re not in Hoover. So, eat.
- Speaking of Hoover, CFN’s Pete Fiutak has some pretty amusing observations about his first day there. My favorite: “Because it’s 174 degrees outside with 139% humidity, and considering most media types get paid in buttons and some of those fans who actually did show up look like they’ve been wearing the same jersey for three straight weeks, every ten feet or so in this cramped, confided space there’s a waft of pure evil. This is one place where the term “smell you later” really does apply.“ Ew.
- Melvin Robinson, Georgia’s Assistant Athletic Director for Facility Operations, about the ongoing improvements at Sanford Stadium: “The fan experience is so big and when they see the improvements we’re doing at the stadium, they’re going to be blown away…” No offense, Mel, but we’ll believe when we see it… or don’t have to spend fifteen minutes in a concession line.
- Bruce Feldman points out that, for all the preseason hype about Auburn, the Tigers return fewer starters on offense than any team in the SEC.
- This looks pretty cool, if you ask me.
- “Everybody is the media. Everybody with a camera phone is the media…”
- Fiutak’s SEC team likely to disappoint? Tennessee.
- And here’s a detailed look at D-1 athletic spending, with an emphasis on bang (i.e., wins) for the buck.
Get The Picture 
Regarding the Auburn hype, it’s also odd to me how few people are mentioning the fact that they’ve lost four straight against BCS conference teams.
I think they’re gonna be solid, but if this Johnson QB of theirs is really THAT good it seems odd that he played so little while they were in the midst of a four game losing streak.
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I don’t get the UT love. I’ve looked at the Vols’ schedule and I see 6 wins. If they had to face a better team in last season’s bowl instead of the worst bowl team in the nation (Iowa) nobody would even be talking about them at all–except to hurl insults or laugh.
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Hard to take Fiutak’s analysis seriously any season but I think he has this one right for the East, UGA’s biggest threat in the East will be Mizzou, not TN. I think the Vols win 7, but 6 or 8 is possible. Certainly they will be a tough out in Knoxville because we have a 5 game streak against the Hillbilies but what worries me more is I think they will have a minimum of two losses when we arrive and they will be desperately seeking that first significant win of Sgt. Carter’s tenure in KnoxVegas.
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I hope the Vols do have 2 losses when we arrive. By then the bubble may have already burst for Sgt. Carter. If Georgia beats them (or should I say when Georgia beats them) there will be a cry from all the trailer parks across Tennessee to fire him mid-season.
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In the last three years we’ve beaten them by a total of 13 points if my math is correct. That’s about 4.3 points per game – I think they’re going to be a tough out – I am surprised at how little respect GA fans are give them, given the close calls. I can see a weird season this year. I think KY is going to be much improved as well.
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It is one thing to “respect them”, I think we all do. They are capable of beating us but I will be damned if I am going to bow to them and get swallowed up in analyses that put them near the top of the East or the SEC. They have yet to win a significant game under this coach and they had the worst OL in the conference last year and they are all coming back. I think they are going to be a little better than in 2014 but they really weren’t that good last year and the schedule is pretty tough.
I attribute the 2013 game to the injuries, it would have been a rout otherwise. I feel our pass defense allowed them to get back in the other games, we do need to do a better job of putting them away because they clearly need some decent conference wins and will be needing one this October. I see them beating Florida for a change but think Arkansas takes them down.
KY will be improved as well, and may upset someone but, like TN, I don’t see them at the top of the SEC East or the conference.
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KY will beat UT. That will be KYs signature win.
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I love that pick, not gonna bet it, but would love to see the Vols in full retreat again after all this tongue wagging their fans are doing.
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Bowling Green, Western Carolina, UK, North Texas, Vandy = 5. So you see only 1 win out of OU, UF, Ark, UGA, Bama, USC, Mizzou?
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Collegefootballnews.com/scout.com’s ’15 SEC predictions by schedule are a joke. You need go no further than UF, which is a train wreck (new coach, no O-line, no offense period) yet they win 8 games in the SEC?
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I thought the whole article was shallow, under researched and just goofy.
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My point exactly, SY. UT has to upset somebody to get to 6 wins and upset 2 somebodies to get to 7.
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They’ve been playing young across both lines and that maturity should be coming to fruition, they have skill players, and the coaching has now had time to set in… if you buy all of that, then it’s easy to see why they’re getting attention.
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What do you get the next season when you play a bad young player? You get a bad player who is a year older. I’ve been watching Kentucky do the “young player” thing my whole life. Nothing changes. I think UT is in serious danger of becoming UK, Jr. It has been so long since UT won a division title (2007) and the Vols only have 2 winning seasons during the period from then ’til now (both 7-6) that they risk becoming irrelevant in the minds of HS players. They wouldn’t have had a winning season last year if they had to play damn near any other bowl team in the nation other than Iowa. We need to really stomp them this season. That, plus losses to OU, Bama, FU, Arky, Missouri and South Carolina should spell the end for Sgt. Carter. If those losses aren’t enough, losing to UK should do it. The team will have quit on that asshole by then–if he’s even still there.
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The fans will make some of the waits a little bitter
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Yeah, I noticed that. Talk about your Freudian slip…
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Heard a great discussion last week on Sirius where Neuheisal explained why the odds on Auburn’s QB Johnson to win the Heisman was totally laughable. He went into detail how Johnson was not suited for Malzahn’s offense and how his immobility changed everything for their receivers’ routes and the OL blocking. Coach Rick acknowledged that Johnson was a superior passer to Marshall and Newton but stated that this was negated by the bad fit and adjustments required. Also questioned if Boom was going to be the difference maker many expected because of talent and being the DC with a hurry-up offense. Very interesting comments with lots of meat on the bone, followed by Childers’ empty comments about CFB….the guy really loves the sport and is enthusiastic but just cannot overcome his raising.
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Sort of like Brantley running the read option for the Gators.
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The emphasis on the difference in OL blocking schemes/techniques for a mobile QB offense versus a drop back QB was interesting. I had not thought about the route running and timing differences for receivers versus running to an open area like you do in sandlot ball.
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Or, ya know, how about adding that 9th conference game or more Notre Dame’s to the schedule? As somebody considering dropping season tickets after this fall and retreating to my basement, that would move the meter a bit more for me than anything else they’ve tried thus far.
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So you’re saying you don’t really enjoy the noon kickoff games against Nobody State? Or is it the $150 a ticket you have in those seats for those games? I’ve been saying for several years now that college football is getting close to the tipping point where the fans no longer see the value in attending the games.
I think the bozos who run college football really have no idea what people want in their game experience. I go to the game to watch the football game and I expect to feel like I’m at least a little bit appreciated and not treated like I’m a bother to the surly staff working in the stadium. I’d like to have a decent restroom that I can get in and out of in a fairly short amount of time and I’d like to be able to buy a drink without missing half of a quarter of football. Outside of that, I really don’t want anything else in my “stadium experience”. I don’t care about wi-fi, I don’t care about having access to good food, I have good food at my tailgate, I don’t want any kind of “show” on the jumbotron. Let me get in and out of the stadium fairly easily, treat me like a paying customer and give me a clean place and I’m happy.
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Agree – the stupid Jumbotron is a bug, not a feature. If I’m going to be forced to watch a live event on TV at the live event , I would as soon get my advertising overload for free.
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I totally agree CD. The TV timeouts are a necessary evil. But forcing people to watch ads who bought tickets to the live event it is a double whammy. Why hasn’t anyone picked up on this? Paying to go to the game should at the very least absolve you from watching commercials in the stadium. Either that or the tickets should be discounted because they generate revenue by pimping out their paying customers.
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Yep. I honestly don’t mind the other things they’ve tried to add over the years like more wi-fi, but it’s absurd to me to wait in line for 20 mins just to use the bathroom or buy a bottle of water or that it takes 30 mins to just get in the damn gate even when you get there 45 mins / 1 hour before kick-off. I can think of no other business that would treat its customers this way and have no clue why they aren’t coming back anymore. The post the Senator put up last year about the stark difference when going to G-Day on Saturday and the Masters on Sunday and how the customer is treated says it all.
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As long as we’re dreaming, it’d be nice to see real tailgating return to North Campus — only unlike in the mid- 00s, ample trash bins are provided and fines are levied on folks leaving a pile of garbage. Half-deserted North campus on gameday is not a special experience.
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Whoa whoa whoa. There’s no place for all this rational talk about how to improve the live game experience for fans up in here! We all know that McGarity and co. know they can satisfy us mouth breathers with Uga hiding behind french fries, improved wi-fi, and turning the volume up to 11! Who do we think we are demanding to be treated with the same courtesy that is afforded to the customers of the cable overlords?
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I’m relieved that the sky box is getting so much attention. I am sure it was miserable there. It will be interesting to see what happens to the prices of concessions with all the money spent.
I don’t know Fiutak, but he lost any credibility with me when he informed me that UGA was “ripped to shreds” by GT last year. Really?
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How would you describe giving up 399 rushing yards?
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I think Laskey just ripped off another 8 yard run up the middle.
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Didn’t that game go to OT?
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It did. But that doesn’t mean the defense didn’t get ripped. I think even Pruitt would agree with that assessment.
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I didn’t know he was talking about just the defense. I did quit reading right after that line, so my comprehension may lack. I’m good at that. 😉
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Considering how undersized the NATS’ front 7 was, the rushing / OL performance in the second half was pretty poor too.
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It was byfar the OL’s worst game of the season.
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Wow–a Point of Sale system that processes debit and credit card transactions and monitors inventory!? Holy hell–this was cutting edge technology about 20 years ago.
Will it help? Sure but they are so far behind the curve on this that they should really not be bragging about it.
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I volunteered with a local high school marching band to help work a concessions stand at Bobby-Dodd Stadium for the Rolling Stones concert and debit / credit POS is standard operating procedure at ALL of their concession stands. Blows my mind how cheap and out of touch it seems like B-M is with the outside world.
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I assume paying 3-5% per transaction was unthinkable considering the super thin margins they make on popcorn and pretzels. Clearly they are only looking out for us.
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Did you hear a lot of we decided that we would have a soda
my favorite flavor, cherry red?
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So what was wrong with having more boy scout troops sell drinks in the stands vs having to go to the concession area for a $5 bottle of water? And I guess the cheese from 1994 for the nachos will finally be removed…sighhhhh.
Coming soon…in game apps that help fans scream “Schottie should have run the double Y, Z slant on 3 that last play!!! It had a 68.945% chance of success! What an idiot!!!” Can’t wait.
Georgia shows up prominently on the first graph about revenue earned…surprisingly absent from the others. Must be Richt’s fault about the lack of spending or win for the buck.
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I guess I am in the minority I can not imagine wanting to stay home instead of going to the game. I get there early and watch the warm up. I love watching us come on the field. I time my bathroom runs and never go at Hal time. I eat before I come into the stadium and get my drinks from the vendors walking the stairs. My beef is they won’t me the cap so I bring mine in. Being the 12th man is exciting. Going to a game is like a concert traffic is going to be an issue. Traffic in Augusta is miserable during the Masters that is why most locals leave town. If you get there when they open the gates there is not much of a wait unless you are a student. I do want the bathrooms clean but also feel if we did a better job of picking up after ourselves it would be cleaner. I even enjoy coming to the cupcakes. I just wish the kickoff for those games was later.
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Half time and keep the cap.
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The bottle caps has got to be the dumbest f’n thing ever.
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We bring our own caps.
A later start time for the cupcake games is not a bad idea. These games should appeal to the kids and tailgaters. People can tune in after the other noon cupcake games turn into blowouts and before the 3:30 games begin. They should draw higher ratings.
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I feel pretty certain that the TV times for the cupcakes are set by TV.
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I enjoy going to the games too, but the experience is getting too much like NFL games. People who bought a ticket to the game should not be forced to watch commercials during the game. Let the band play, give out awards, bring out visiting celebrities, post the stats of the game to that point, have replays of big plays in the game or season to that point, do anything except show commercials. I don’t think there’s much we can do to improve the rest rooms, I’m not going to bring my own plunger to clear clogged toilets, I have to draw the line somewhere.
As to the traffic in Augusta; with the traffic management the past three or four years, it has been a breeze getting around. I live fairly close to the National and unless I try and go somewhere during the peak traffic times, I have no issues to speak of.
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Another Augusta guy. 🙂
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I laugh at this now when my mom calls me to complain about traffic that week. Having been born and raised in Augusta and now having lived in Atlanta the past eight years since I graduated, I know full well that the one week of Masters traffic can’t hold a handle to my daily commute.
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That is true. I went to junior high and high school in Augusta and moved back to Augusta when my kids were little and bad traffic in Augusta is nothing compared to Greenville where I live now. I miss Augusta and love to visit especially during the Masters but when I lived there I avoided all of the area around the tournament during Masters week. I have only Bern gone 10 years I can’t imagine they improved it that much. We got practice round tickets for the par 3 so I will check it out.
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Debby, it’s better. You have to leave early for the course, though. They make some of the roads one-way in for the morning and one-way out for the afternoon. Free parking for everybody is really great, too. The only downside is you have to walk a significant distance from the new parking lots to the gates. I think they should run shuttles but I’m still not complaining.
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They had done that that last time we got practice round tickets but I know the National has bought more of the houses on Berkmans Rd. I get to Athens early too and feel like they do a pretty good job of getting fans out of the stadium too. The Masters is a one of a kind experience. We love going there. It was more fun when I was in college and you could just show up for the practice rounds.
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