If you were wondering what some of the references were in yesterday’s comment threads about “The First Word”, it seems that Georgia’s master of PR has decided it would be to his advantage to speak directly with the fan base rather than let the pesky media dictate the narrative.
Thus was born “The First Word”.
“You will begin to see more frequent news coming your way via emails under the tag line “The First Word”. Our intent is to bring the major news to you first, instead of reading about it via the media outlets. There are times when we can’t predict what issues are brought to light in the various forms of media, and out commitment is to respond accordingly when clarification is necessary…” [Emphasis added.]
In other words, it takes less effort to spin than to figure out a course of action to address what actually might be troubling the fan base — excepting the big donors, of course.
Given McGarity’s track record, I have no doubt this will be as an unqualified a success as his hiring record has proven to be. Surely, if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that “remain calm, all is well” never fails to satisfy.
Get The Picture 
Bluto is beginning to get into McGarity’s head.
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True.
If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought The First Word was another McParody pulled from the GTP comments section.
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Read the email last night. Why is it called the “First Word?” Pretty sure Tech’s would be/is the “Good Word”.
And shouldn’t it be the “Last Word” since it’s a reaction to media stuff.
On a side note, Kendall Williams is a stud. She went 4 for 4 on pentathlon national titles in her Georgia career. Why not put her pic at the top instead of ADGM??
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Great points.
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I really don’t care what he wants to tell us. I wish he would just listen for once.
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C’mon. Greg always takes Mr. Leeburn’s calls.
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FAKE NEWS has spread to UGA athletics. No longer can trust the #failingAJC, #smallcirculationABH. Bad!
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Wonder if McGoofy is tweeting from a golden throne like the Donald.
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And I might note, he reminded us that ticket orders were due on the 31st! What a gem!
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Some new blood can be getting seats, this could be a good thing. Hopefully they aren’t hung up on meet and greats with the coach, and are more interested in the product on the field.
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Why is one exclusive of the other?
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They don’t seem to be reading comments, talking to fans, and watching the team play.
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Sorry, I don’t follow. Who is “they” and why are you hopeful?
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They are a new generation of fans. Your blog last night reflects how many current or recent long term ticket holders will settle to grumble about mediocrity if their coach comes out and shakes their hand.
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I think this is largely a construct of your own making. I don’t know of anyone who is willing to accept glad handing as a substitute for winning. I know of plenty who don’t understand why it’s necessary for one to be sacrificed for the sake of the other.
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I think you’re dead wrong and the results speak for it. No they won’t directly say it because they don’t believe it. I also think the results in the SEC west further reinforce it.
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What results?
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“[L]ong-term ticket holders will settle to grumble about mediocrity if their coach comes out and shakes their hand.”
If that were true, Ray Goff would have retired as the head coach at the University of Georgia.
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Ray Goff Mediocre? Your standards are rather low.
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Change it to Jim Donnan then. My point is that Goff was good at the glad-handing part of his job. It didn’t make a damn bit of difference when it was apparent he didn’t get the job on the field done.
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Donnan was abrasive, and opened up to “who let the dogs out” to a fanbase that likes the band to play hymns.
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If Donnan hadn’t committed the unpardonable cardinal sin of losing to tech three times in a row, he would probably still be our coach if he wanted to. He averaged 8 wins a season in 11 game seasons and won every bowl game he played, that is more than good enough for the rank and file Georgia fan.
Georgia athletics; where “good enough is good enough”.
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JC might be correct.
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Not sure I agree … He sealed his fate when he made the “I’ve waited 55 years to coach a team like this” comment and then QC proceeded to throw 5 picks in Columbia.
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You guys are all dead wrong about why Donnan got the ax. It wasn’t losing to Tech or being a curmudgeon or Quincy Carter throwing INTs–or Quincy snorting up the sidelines. It was very simple: His boss, Mike Adams, gave him an order to fire his son (who was QB coach) and Donnan refused. What do you think would happen to you if you refused a direct order from your boss?
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Four exclamation points in his first two sentences.
I am already fired up!!!!
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I thought I might have pangs of regret giving up my donation and tickets after years of supporting. Holy hell though – every single thing this incompetent organization has done since the firing of Richt just keeps convincing me they don’t need my money to be this damned stupid and ignorant.
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Amen brother!
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The First Word…
We’re in the process of working through the logistics of shipping everyone their “2016 Reserve Fund Champions” t-shirts. You should have yours before the Florida game cutoff scores are announced in September/October (most likely October but, as always, there is nothing we can do about it).
Yours truly,
Greg
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And afterwards we will send you the bill for it. Time deaf and clueless two words that describe McGarity perfectly.
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Tone deaf not time deaf
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I give 2.5k per year and have 30k+ lifetime points. And I don’t get these emails. WTF.
I’m stop 1/3rd of givers. Who IS getting this stuff?
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I’m in the top 275 givers with 125k cumulative points and I didn’t receive the First Word email either. However, I may’ve opted out of their emails, so that could be why. Doesn’t matter because I don’t bother reading anything from McGoofy anyway.
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It’s not me. I give $600/yr with 7500 lifetime points. Next year I might be able to order Florida tix!
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I opted out of all emails, and actually got an email last week notifying me that I had opted out and may want to opt in for some new and exciting opportunities for communications! Needless to say, I resisted the urge to “opt in” and thus missed out on “The First (False) Word”….
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Login on the tix website and check your preferences. I’m between you and chitown and I did get the email.
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I will have to go back and look to see what they are called (if I haven’t deleted the latest one) but I am getting some emails from McGoofy and I have about half of your lifetime points…..
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The internal workings of B.M. make me think of the movie Burn Before Reading.
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And no, I didn’t mean Burn After Reading.
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It should be updated to “speaking directly to a select group of the fan base” as many will not receive the first word
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I am pleased BM is concerned about the phone bills at BM. Email is cheaper. Bigly.
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Did Sally Yates get an email?
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I do think the Steg is going to look nice…
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Love the long list of accomplishments of our track, swimming and other club sports finishing among the top 10 here and there. That’s excellence you can count on. But 10 win football seasons were bad…
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He should just use his dormant twitter account like 45.
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Maybe I’m an optimist but I originally took the email as a good sign that maybe BM was beginning to see the need of a little more contact with fans. But, then there was cutting back of preseason public events except the ones that were set up for invited donors. I never attended any of the appearances by coaches at Bulldog Club meetings but I felt included because I knew I could have. For me, the appeal of college sports has been the ability to become emotionally attached to the team. I love the University of Georgia for the education I received and the career that my education made possible. I follow the Dogs because they are part of my University. I’ll watch the Falcons if it’s convenient but they’re not really my team nor is Atlanta my town. Every time a pro franchise relocates I feel even less inclined to follow pro sports. Are we headed toward that in college sports? Obviously, college teams don’t move but BM has done lots of other things lately to distance themselves from the typical fan. They will probably regret that when it’s too late.
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I view it as a positive step in the right direction, there is positive intent with it. Hopefully more actions to come.
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I wonder when the missteps of the athletic department start to impact the fund raising of the university.
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My feeling is; if Kirby doesn’t win the East this season, there will be some pretty profound repercussions in donations and ticket sales. McGarity’s hires have been pretty universally bad and there really isn’t a successful major sport for Georgia fans to hold on to and keep their passion stoked. Richt drained a good bit of the passion for the football program with a decade of painful, disappointing losses and seasons that fell far short of expectations. Fox has become the Richt of basketball, he has winning seasons but can’t win games against decent opponents or games he needs to win to get into the tournament. Baseball has been a disaster for 10 years with a typically Georgia showing in their last appearance in the College World Series finals. Gymnastics was a high point for a while but, again, McGarity’s hires have dropped that program to a very pedestrian level. Women’s basketball was always relevant nationally but Landers was allowed to hang around about 10 years too long and the program dropped to mediocrity. Maybe the new coach can turn it around but, right now, it’s nothing to get worked up over. The country club sports are doing pretty well but it’s hard to get huge numbers of fans to pony up big money because of golf, tennis, swimming and equestrian.
Some may disagree with me but I think Georgia athletics are at a crossroads. I’ll keep pulling for them because Georgia is my school and the Dawgs are my team but I really think we might be close to the tipping point for the athletic program as a whole.
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Shorter version: We need a new AD who has the ability to run a successful Athletics Department that WINS at all sports. McGarity clearly is not that guy. Hire a top-flight AD and let him run sports at UGA. That’s how it is done successfully.
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“There are times when we can’t predict what issues are brought to light,” is another reactive action by McG. Good managers are proactive. Dude is a total waste of an office chair.
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Shouldn’t he be more worried about hiring a new basketball coach than writing an AD blog?
Yes. Yes he should.
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