You know, it’s starting to feel like Mike Griffith is having a hold my beer contest with himself. Every time I think he can’t possibly write something more shrill about the Cocktail Party, he goes and proves me wrong.
The city of Jacksonville is mounting a campaign against Smart’s wishes and hoping to turn some Georgia fans against the head coach’s push to level the playing field with the Alabamas, Texas A&Ms and Tennessees of the world.
I don’t think I want to live in a world where Kirby Smart has to level the playing field with Tennessee. Curse you, River City!
I’m tempted to start labeling my posts about Griffith’s Cocktail Party fixation “Your Daily Griffith”, but Florida fans might take offense to that.
Get The Picture 
Fuck those motherfuckers.
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And fuck that stupid motherfucker Mike Griffith.
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Move the game back to Macon, Ga….#FTMF
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Microdot Friday, DIW?
I’m down with that.
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RR, you are a marvel of consistency.
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Honestly, if we can bring recruits to the game, is it THAT big a deal to play in Jacksonville? I get the “hone game experience,” and far be it from me to say Kirby is wrong about recruiting, but the atmosphere in Jacksonville seems like a pretty unique selling point. Kirby is unquestionably a good salesman, and it seems like a lot better story the last 5 years. The craziness of playing that game every year seems like something nobody else (save Florida, I guess) can offer. Never mind the history, which to 17 year old kids is probably what happened the last 5 years. It’s as good a run for us now as it’s ever been. Athens is great on game days, but it’s great on all the game days. We have plenty of big games. Kids get plenty of chances to see how great Athens is, game day or not.
Plus, let’s face it, there’s the extra money. It’s not just nickels and dimes. I’m not going full on “the Georgia Way,” but minimal recruiting disadvantage p look ue lots more cash? Seems like a no brainer.
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That makes sense, 81Dog. I can’t help but think that now that Kirby can have recruits there he’s using this to level more money from J’ville. I could be wrong. I’ve questioned his stubbornness before.
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Until I hear a 5-star player that we really wanted says I chose somewhere else because I couldn’t attend the Cocktail Party at UGA’s expense, all of this is garbage.
I understand Kirby’s perspective. I really do. I just think he’s flat wrong about it. Winning 1 game in Indianapolis, Indiana in January doesn’t make him the arbiter of everything Georgia football.
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If playing the game in Athens is as important as you, Kirby, say it is, put your money where your mouth is.
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I enjoy your perspective on Dawgs football. Help me understand more. What would you say are your top 3 reasons for Jax?
Most I hear from say
1-Tradition
2-Uniqueness
3-S GA alumni, great trip
What I don’t hear is the benefits of an extra huge game in Athens every other year.
1-150,000 people in Athens every other year, families, alumni (bring more people on campus, potential for larger donations by bringing more alumni on campus), players increased exposure to Athens, a free 3 hour commercial for UGA, Sanford and Athens. Better relations with local businesses that could contribute more to the University
2-Improve a home schedule that frankly sucks now
3-One less travel for the team out of Athens every other year
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Atticus, those are my 3 plus I believe the uniqueness and tradition are recruiting advantages that only the RRS shares.
I get the economic impact to Athens, but as a native South Georgian, I understand the value of that weekend to the Golden Isles.
The home schedule sucks not because Florida doesn’t come to Athens but because all of our rivals who do frankly have sucked recently. I hope an appropriately designed schedule going forward remedies that.
The travel for the team is zero impact given the fact they fly direct from Ben Epps to Jacksonville.
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Atticus, please read my response in the context that I qualify for Florida tickets but have decided not to attend – I haven’t been in 22 years since my in-laws moved out of Jacksonville.
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Also, I appreciate your perspective.
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Good stuff, thanks
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Reasonable people can differ on this, but for me, the 3 things you listed are all factors. Plus, let’s face it, it’s a considerable amount of extra money. And the atmosphere is unique. My first trip was 1976. Just the lower bowl then, split into quarters. No matter what happened, half the crowd was on fire. They were killing us at the half, and then, as if by magic, we killed them in the second half.
I get your points about the extra home game, local merchants, etc. UT if that mattered so much, we wouldnt be playing in Kickoff Classics (which I have enjoyed, tbh). It matters more, I think, that we have been playing at an elite level, not as much where we play.
When we started playing down there, Jax was a bigger venue than Athens or Gainesville. As both expanded, Jax has upped the payout. This game is a bigger deal to them than the Gator Bowl, I am assured by relatives who live there. There is a strong Bulldog contingent in the business community, and even the ones who aren’t can all count. 🙂
All other things equal, and they aren’t, I’d rather play in that madhouse yearly than have to go to Slabtown. It’s Starkville with palm trees to me.
Far as the home schedule, 2 paycheck tomato cans yearly isn’t great. I wish maybe we could work in more P5 home and aways, which we have done a little and have more coming. OU, UCLA, Clemson, Ohio St, FSU, etc. Sadly, I expect that all gets blown up by expanding the conference, which I hate. But it’s all about the money now, and the money in Jax is more than I think UGA is willing to leave on the table. And I’m ok with it, because the 50/50 crowds are electric. It was in Charlotte. Some road games turn into 50/50 games for us 😉.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but to me it’s not worth ditching Jax so we can bring OU and TX in. It’s not worth losing the AU game, either. But they’re making the call based on dollars, not sense. People have been loyal in lean years, but once they trash all the things and traditions that make us loyal, I wonder if people will start seeing it as a transaction and less as a bond. Playing on your emotions while hovering up your money is a Disney tradition, but they don’t care about us. I wonder if the suits at UGA, in their haste to cash in, cares about us very much, either.
Everyone who’d rather go home and home with the Handbags is not a bad person, by any means. There are arguments to make, but so far they don’t move me. YMMV. GATA!
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WLOCP and Red River Rivalry are the two remaining premier neutral site games (tell A$M and Arkansas to get back to me when they’ve played in Dallas a few more generations). Willingly giving that up for some nebulous “recruiting advantage” would be the height of stupidity, especially when Kirby is already recruiting at the highest level. His results undermine his “recruiting disadvantage” complaint. I’d argue it’s just as much a benefit for players to come here and play in one of the last two remaining neutral site rivalries.
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Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Well said, Russ.
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Here’s a small point though. Just asking. If Athens and Sanford Stadium and the new facilities are such a draw for players and families then why wouldn’t I want them there as much as humanly possible instead of Jax?
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Let CKS stand on his soap box, he’s earned it, break FU with loss, after loss, after loss, I wouldn’t care where or what neutral site UGA football kicks that hogtown ass…
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They have 364 other days to visit the chocolate waterfall and massaging recliners.
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See my questions above to ee. I do want to know more and consider your perspective. I don’t really care either way. I love the WLOCP tradition, no doubt. But I also can’t stand Jax or that stadium and I also can’t stand how our home schedule sucks lately.
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AS IF we give a shit about those motherfuckers.
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Somebody please tell Msr. Griffith that aTm has an annual neutral site game with a conference rival, just like we do.
That guy is a fuckhead.
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That game, to be fair, wasn’t a conference game when the series started.
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True. But in the context that this asshat’s column, that doesn’t matter.
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I learned something new. I didn’t realize Arky and the AgCult were playing annually in Arlington before 2012.
Still, I don’t hear Arkansas coaches complaining about playing in Dallas. Just as I don’t hear Oklahoma coaches (even that whiny weasel Boy Wonder Riley) whine about playing in Texas every year.
One of these is not like the other … in this case, the outlier is Kirby who is dead wrong about this. We can forget about northeast Florida for recruiting if we ever leave Jacksonville.
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Texas Stadium > Jax.
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That’s true. The only reason that game is played in Arlington is that an Arkansas alumnus owns the building and the team that plays in it on Sundays.
The college football environment in Jacksonville is still better.
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And Texas and Oklahoma play in the equivalent of the old Gator Bowl, so TIAA > Cotton Bowl/Texas State Fair.
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TIAA is a soulless Dome. Jax>Cotton Bowl>TIAA
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That’s fair.
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That game is still on my bucket list of CFB games.
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Kirby Smart is 66-15 in 6 years. 58-10 in 5 years. 34-5 in 3 years. He’s won the SEC East 4 of the 6 years, 1 SEC Championship, Played in 2 National Championships, won 1 National Championship, played in th Liberty, Peach, 2 Sugars, a Orange and a Rose Bowl.
When the SEC welcomes in Texas and Oklahoma, the monies dispersed to each team will move to around $100MM. I don’t think a couple of million more out of Jax is really moving the needle that much.
So while I understand the argument to keep the game in Jacksonville; if the coach who has completely changed Georgia’s fortunes wants the game to to to a home and home – then I think you have to support that.
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No, I don’t … not when I disagree with his perspective. When Richt brought it up early in his career when he had everything Kirby has but a national championship, I rolled my eyes. I was as big of a Richtophile as there was even to the end.
The game should stay in Jacksonville.
You don’t think we’ll be castigated for leaving Jacksonville between our legs?
You want to know the only way the game should leave Jacksonville by Kirby’s request? Kirby pays for the reduction in revenue out of his own compensation package.
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*with our tail between our legs – this topic gets me fired up every time
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No, you don’t. The game in Jacksonville is a unique experience. My nephew who lives in CO and does not follow college football even knows about it. Kirby needs to focus on the unique aspect of the game and sell it to recruits. It is always a big deal to watch. We can support Kirby and know he is wrong about this.
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The facts you presented argue the fact that he doesn’t need to move the game away from Jax to be successful. Will moving the game make his resume any more impressive?
And furthermore, has any recruit decided to go to another school because he couldn’t see us play FU in Athens?
Recruiting now and moving forward is about money, and much less about Gameday atmosphere and facilities.
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If Kirby ever gets his way on this, I will expect us to win the SEC or the national championship every year after. Anything less would be a failure. He has made the point that he believes this game currently puts Georgia at a disadvantage. No benefit of the doubt for getting to the SECCG and losing. No benefit of the doubt for winning a playoff game or 2 in the expanded playoff.
I will become a “championship or bust” kind of guy.
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College football’s unique quality is tradition. It’s the passion of the Iron Bowl, the hatred of Ohio State- Michigan, the spectacle of Oklahoma-Texas, the pageantry of Army-Navy, and, yes, the wildness of Georgia-Florida in Jacksonville. We currently have 18 commits for 2023and my guess by the middle of October, we’ll probably have 5 more. This trend should continue well into the future. Why would we give up the tradition and fun of the Jacksonville game for the recruiting of one or two recruits? If the game in Jacksonville dies, there goes one more big tradition. I love games in Athens and wish we had more. But I have loved going to Jacksonville for over 40 years and I pray that never ends.
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Another lost tradition will be one more step to me moving my Saturdays in the fall to the golf course.
For any of you season ticket holders who would be angry about this, we should all commit to leaving our tickets unused for the first home game against Florida if Kirby ever gets his way on this.
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For those who want to talk about the immateriality of the revenue reduction by moving the game to campus, do you really believe the AA wouldn’t make the change revenue neutral? Donation minimums (less likely) and ticket prices (more likely) will go up by some amount across the board. The season ticket holders will be the ones that make it up.
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IMHO, we’re recruiting pretty good as is……..
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With the new recruiting news for Jax & the Cocktail Party, I don’t see the game moving anywhere anytime soon.
Also, I would bet that the coaches & recruits contact expands down there for the home team as well.
As well they should imo
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Until the rules change, there is no contact. I don’t know if the Red River Shootout allows for coach to recruit contact, but if they do, I imagine the SEC rule will change quickly.
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Damn. Looking at this comment thread, I can’t believe there’s a complete lack of angst over Georgia having fallen behind Tennessee in recruiting. What’s wrong with y’all?
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Ha! Well played, Senator.
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I may have read it differently. It didn’t seem to me that he was saying that Georgia had fallen behind TN. He said “level the playing field” which speaks to TN’s lack of a neutral site game vs their biggest rival.
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Bluto, Naw it’s more like one of those “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.” scenarios…that and we all know at best TN will end up with the 5th best class in the SEC or possibly this thread is wrought with lots of stoners who practice wake and bake Fridays, friggin hippies
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Fuckn narc.
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Love it…bad boys bad boys…sort of reminds me we need a Friday singalong
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🎵Trouble ahead
A lady in Red
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A guy claiming to be a Georgia fan called into Finebaum yesterday afternoon. His basic message about the game being in Jax is that the city sucks and the only fans who want to keep it there are over 60 years old and driving RVs which are no longer allowed on/near campus in Athens. He purported that it’s a tradition that needs to modernize by moving out of the cesspool that is Jacksonville, Florida. Finebaum chimed in agreeing with the guy saying that the hotels suck, the city is empty of people and restaurants, and that his shoes get dirty in the parking lot they broadcast from (Boo fuckin’ Hoo, Penis-head).
Sounds to me like said fan hasn’t been to many cocktail parties. He made it seem as though only wealthy people who have the means to stay on Amelia Island for 4 days want to keep it there. Obviously he hasn’t been to south Georgia and seen how fanatical they are about Them Dawgs. Especially in the Golden Isles. That show is like the Facebook opinion board of (insert negative type of person of choice here).
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IMHO, it’s both a win-win and a no-win situation. There are really no “good arguments” one way or the other, so I’m not going to reiterate what’s already been said. The tradition and spectacle of the game in Jacksonville is inarguable. At the same time, who wouldn’t love to see us stomp Florida’s ass in the Swamp?? Either way, Go Dawgs …!!
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Who really wants to stop in Hogtown other than to get gas and Zaxby’s on the way to somewhere in Florida a hell of a lot better?
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I passed on Zaxby’s in Hogtown, and went Chick Fil A in Ocala. I don’t want to even piss in Hogtown.
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The only reason I mention it is that sometimes you have to stop when you have to stop. 😉
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We owe them payback anyway, so yes I’d fn love to see it! But, I’ll take see their 1/2 of the stadium empty until that day comes…
Honestly, I’d be OK having the game on campus 1 every 4 years too. That way the players, if they stick around, can do both…J-vile & on campus
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Anytime one is away from the coast in Florida, one is simply in a hotter, trashier version of South Georgia.
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That’s harsh but true, SB. South Georgia folks are much nicer.
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I’m a pro jacksonville guy, but what i wish would happen is for … ahhhhem Seth Emerson to do a deep historical dive on why we started the Jacksonville deal when the [damn near] whole premise Dr. Sanford was so driven to build his dream stadium in the wooded culvert over a creek was to bring the biggest games and alumni back to campus. It doesn’t make sense particularly with the 1933 timing so near the 1929 stadium opening.
Of course the real driving thought was not to have to play Tech in Atlanta every year, but i’d like to know why this one was different. If i’m not mistaken, the gators came to 2yr old Sanford Stadium in 1931. What changed to push that to a neutral site that every year when such a game was untenable when it came to Tech ?
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