August 16, 2022 · 6:30 AM

Should we stay or should we go?

Yesterday, I had a request for a Cocktail Party reader poll.  So, here goes nothing…

Feel free to add your insight in the comments.

108 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football

108 responses to “Should we stay or should we go?”

  1. classiccitysteve
    August 16, 2022 at 6:34 AM

    Voted to keep it in Jax. Gators are completely obnoxious in Jacksonville. Do we really want to spend a weekend with them in Athens? Also Gainesville sucks.

    Liked by 9 people

  2. Holiday Inn Bagman
    August 16, 2022 at 6:52 AM

    Went with Jax but the only thing that gave me pause was wondering what the record is for most points scored by an opponent on Florida Field.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. KornDawg
    August 16, 2022 at 6:56 AM

    In the words of the illustrious Bulldawg Bill- Don’t fuck with my Jacksonville trip!!!!

    Liked by 7 people

  4. dawg100
    August 16, 2022 at 7:02 AM

    I see both sides. I’m 51%-49% on alternating days. Truthfully, I’m fine with it moving. But ultimately, keep it in Jacksonville.

    Like

  5. RangerRuss
    August 16, 2022 at 7:08 AM

    I voted to stay in J’ville also. I’m not going to cuss Kirby if it goes home and home. I’ll shake my damn head and chalk it up to changing times and normal abandoning of traditions. I reckon every generation sees the same thing. Besides, speaking of a moot point, the Dawgs may not even be playing the Gators every year in the near future. There are many more changes to scheduling forthcoming and I guarantgotdamtee very few fans will be happy with them all.
    Anyhow, I won’t be attending a Georgia game in that shithole on the St John’s or Hogtown.
    Fuck those motherfuckers.

    Liked by 7 people

    • Bulldawg Bill
      August 16, 2022 at 8:30 AM

      Ranger, were you a punter in HS, by chance???

      Liked by 1 person

      • RangerRuss
        August 16, 2022 at 10:04 AM

        I was until I pulled my right hamstring and Corch Plummer (that’s really how he pronounced coach) found someone else.
        I had been at an academic meet and suited up just in time to be sent in to punt. Without stretching. That hamstring still gives me hell.

        Oh, and fuck you BB.
        😉

        Liked by 2 people

    • akascuba
      August 16, 2022 at 9:45 AM

      FTMF just to be clear 😇

      Liked by 1 person

    • otto1980
      August 16, 2022 at 10:06 AM

      I’d cuss Smart over the move. I’m in the Bulldawg Bill and EE camp. He’s moved Auburn from the date it is supposed and moved UT which also ruined a fall trip. Now he wants to end the WLOCP for a home and home UGA-UF annual series. I’ve been to the WLOCP and UF traveling to Athens. Smart can piss up a rope if he wants to put an end to playing in Jax.

      Like

      • eethomaswfnc
        August 16, 2022 at 11:20 AM

        I’m not blaming Kirby for the Auburn and Tennessee changes. We didn’t object for whatever reason to the changes.

        The end of the Cocktail Party will be a stain on Kirby’s legacy regardless of how many championships he wins.

        Like

  6. chopdawg
    August 16, 2022 at 7:09 AM

    Some things are just more important that recruiting.

    Liked by 8 people

      • Down Island Way
        August 16, 2022 at 7:33 AM

        You’d have a better chance of winning a foot race on the beach vs kirby, than debating more “important things than crootin’ “vs CKS…just sayin’

        Liked by 2 people

        • eethomaswfnc
          August 16, 2022 at 7:53 AM

          Kirby doesn’t get the recruiting allure of this game. Why do we not hear the same complaining from Oklahoma or Arkansas about playing a rival in Dallas? He wants his 92,000 recruiting props. My seats won’t be filled for the first time.

          Like

          • fisheriesdawg
            August 16, 2022 at 8:22 AM

            Well, the benefit that Kirby will reap from this game has already been sowed. The branding impact from games like the WLOCP and the RRS comes into play over decades, not seasons, and we’re seeing the benefits of those games in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s right now. He’s looking at the short-term impact on kids that are currently in high school. The prestige of the two programs from that game is already baked in. It’ll take 20-30 years after cancelling the WLOCP to really see the impact on UGA. If we keep competing for natties, it won’t matter much. If we go through a 90s-type drought, though, that’s the kind of game that keeps a program relevant on the national stage in a way they wouldn’t with normal home games. To wit, how many of us have watched much of Texas much outside of that game in Dallas over the past decade, and how many of us would have watched them if the OU game were in Austin/Norman? How many of you watch Army/Navy relative to how many watch Army/Air Force or Navy/Air Force?

            Liked by 7 people

            • miltondawg
              August 16, 2022 at 9:30 AM

              I’m for keeping the game in Jax even though I no longer go. Whether it is fondness of the memories of all those weekends with friends (even without fond memories of the games themselves), tradition, or the uniqueness of the games, I’m not exactly sure. But in fairness to Kirby as the head coach, the ONLY thing that matters is the kids that are currently in high school. The specialness of the WLOCP built, as you correctly point out, over decades and decades has far less impact on Kirby’s trajectory and longevity as a head coach in Athens than the young men do in high school during any particular recruiting cycle.

              Liked by 1 person

              • eethomaswfnc
                August 16, 2022 at 11:26 AM

                I still don’t get the recruiting angle. Maybe I’m dumb, but if this were affecting recruiting, we would have heard this long ago.

                No one on the Georgia side ever brought up moving the game until we started losing in the 90s. If we’re to blame for the end of the Cocktail Party, we deserve all of the derision from the outside for leaving Jacksonville with our tails between our legs.

                Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, Ryan Day, Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly, etc. will laugh at us (and Kirby) for being so stupid as to end the tradition.

                Like

          • Corch Irvin Meyers, Former Jags Corch (2021)
            August 16, 2022 at 9:15 AM

            Arkansas is ending the series with Texas 8&4 in Dallas and will
            not renew. They want the game back on campuses. So… bad example.

            Like

            • eethomaswfnc
              August 16, 2022 at 9:18 AM

              Arkansas was a bad example because they don’t have 90 years of history playing at a neutral site. When OU starts talking about playing Texas in Norman rather than Dallas, I’ll start listening to the recruiting argument.

              Liked by 3 people

            • Russ
              August 16, 2022 at 9:50 AM

              A$M vs Arky has always been a bad example, since they haven’t been playing there for the past 80+ years. Not what I’d call a tradition by any measure.

              Like

    • Bulldawg Bill
      August 16, 2022 at 4:30 PM

      Here!! Here!!

      Like

  7. Odontodawg
    August 16, 2022 at 7:17 AM

    I’ll go with tradition. Call me old fashioned in my mid 40s.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Skeptic Dawg
    August 16, 2022 at 7:24 AM

    I voted for home and home. Playing in Jax completely screws up our home schedule and puts the Dawgs in a bind when attempting to schedule home and away games vs P5 teams. I also think that I have heard someone saw something about recruiting recently.

    Like

    • eethomaswfnc
      August 16, 2022 at 7:45 AM

      No, it doesn’t. The fact that all of our conference rivals and Fech suck right now has more to do with our home schedule than Jacksonville. The agreement to go to Auburn in consecutive years screwed it up (thanks, Greg). We’re still scheduling home/home and neutral site games with high profile OOC opponents.

      Liked by 2 people

      • miltondawg
        August 16, 2022 at 9:46 AM

        Home and homes with high profile OOC opponents I am for. For me personally at least, the neutral site games have lost a lot of their appeal. While the CFA Kickoff Classic was awesome when it was new in the mid/late 2000s because it was the only one happening after the one in the Meadowlands had ended a few years before after being held for something like two decades (don’t remember the year the CFA version started exactly), then there were a few of them and the matchups are hit-and-miss as to whether they are nationally compelling for CFA fans in general. Compelling nationally: Notre Dame at Ohio State 2022. Not nearly as compelling nationally: Georgia vs. Oregon 2022. Hell, there isn’t even a Cowboys/Advocare/Allstate Kickoff game scheduled at Jerry-World in 2022 (and who can blame them after the much awaited Stanford/Kansas State game of 2021).

        Like

        • eethomaswfnc
          August 16, 2022 at 9:52 AM

          Playing Clemson on campus is really great (Charlotte was fun last year and will be in Atlanta as well). The ND game (other than the AA completely mishandling the student ticket allocation) was incredible. We’re playing Oregon in Atlanta only because we must have said we won’t do a home/home arrangement.

          Like

    • Russ
      August 16, 2022 at 9:53 AM

      You mistyped “Playing in Atlanta and Charlotte completely screws up our home schedule”. How many would be complaining about our home schedule this season if Oregon travelled another 60 miles to Athens for the game?

      Liked by 2 people

      • eethomaswfnc
        August 16, 2022 at 9:58 AM

        I’m not a huge fan of the neutral site games, but the Clemson game in Charlotte was awesome. The fact that we agreed to 2 on campus and 2 neutral is worth having that game on the schedule 4 times over the decade. Clemson is a bigger rival to me than Tennessee, South Carolina or Alabama.

        Like

      • miltondawg
        August 16, 2022 at 10:23 AM

        No one would complain about our home schedule if Oregon was playing under the lights in Athens. And there would be a tremendous amount of excitement if that meant a trip to Eugene to play in Autzen Stadium next year or the year after.

        Like

  9. munsonlarryfkajim
    August 16, 2022 at 7:30 AM

    Let me ask y’all a question. How do you define The Georgia Way? Maybe it’s in the Lexicon, I’m too lazy to go check

    I define it as purposefully handicapping yourself based on some perceived moral high ground or the pursuit of the almighty dollar

    I view Jacksonville the same way. We are purposefully and intentionally handicapping ourselves to make more money. Many of you cite tradition and say it’s not about the money. What does the Senator always say about when people say it’s not about the money?

    Kind of ironic don’t you think that all of you clinging to “tradition” of Jacksonville are simply supporting the last remnants of The Georgia Way, which you mock so openly?

    If Kirby wants home and home so we aren’t intentionally handicapping ourselves, I’m with him. I voted to switch to home and home

    Liked by 2 people

    • Senator Blutarsky
      August 16, 2022 at 7:48 AM

      We are purposefully and intentionally handicapping ourselves to make more money.

      No question about the money part, but I keep waiting for somebody to provide me with specific examples of how the program is “purposefully and intentionally handicapping” itself. Smart has recruited as well as anyone outside of Tuscaloosa can (and is basically running even there) and I’m pretty sure Georgia just won a natty. If that’s handicapped, sign me up for more.

      Liked by 9 people

    • Odontodawg
      August 16, 2022 at 8:09 AM

      Yes, there has been a “Georgia Way” for many years. But while Jax is more lucrative for our school, I do not believe it falls under that categorization. It’s simply a longstanding tradition for an annual contest with our most hated rival. Nothing more, nothing less. I hope it continues as the unique showdown that it is both regionally and nationally. If we move to home and home, I won’t cry about it. But we will have lost something special.

      Liked by 2 people

  10. eethomaswfnc
    August 16, 2022 at 7:41 AM

    I probably don’t have to tell people how I voted or why I voted, but I voted for Jacksonville. It’s the right thing to do. In a sport that is throwing every tradition out the window as soon as it can, the Cocktail Party is what college football is all about. I love Athens and I love going to games at Sanford, but I will be sad that we’re going to throw 90 years of tradition out because Kirby wants a weekend every other year for recruiting. I have generally agreed with everything Kirby has done (sans a couple of really boneheaded sideline decisions) since he has been here, but I vehemently disagree with him on this, and the way he has gone about it has disappointed me to no end.

    I’ll end with this. If he gets his way on this, he is saying that a home and home Florida game is the only thing that keeps us from winning a championship every year … that will be the standard I’ll hold him to … championship or bust, baby.

    Liked by 8 people

    • RangerRuss
      August 16, 2022 at 8:16 AM

      I see where you’re coming from, EE. Can’t say I disagree. What separates me from Kirby and the few people similar to him is how he’s completely driven. Kirby is looking for every conceivable edge to improve his chance of winning football games. He’s deemed recruiting as all-important and identified the J’ville game as an impediment to ‘crootn’. This won’t be the first sacred cow Kirby has slaughtered in his quest to reach perfection. Simply the most painful to some.
      He is one obstinate sumbitch. But he’s our obstinate sumbitch.

      Liked by 8 people

      • eethomaswfnc
        August 16, 2022 at 8:29 AM

        It also will be obstinate of me to call him a failure every year he doesn’t win the SEC or a national championship after he does this.

        Driven people make mistakes because the people around them don’t or won’t tell them to stop. You know that from your military experience. He needs someone (Morehead, Brooks or a big donor) from outside to tell him he’s getting ready to alienate a lot of people who have been big supporters.

        Liked by 3 people

        • RangerRuss
          August 16, 2022 at 8:41 AM

          I won’t argue either of those points. My question yesterday was who will be the one to tell him. They run the risk of being a speed bump for an Abrams tank.
          Most folks aren’t willing to risk their position in life to make a point. I know J’ville ain’t the hill I’d be willing to die on.

          Like

          • eethomaswfnc
            August 16, 2022 at 8:51 AM

            This is exactly why if this train is going to be stopped before it goes over the cliff, it’s going to be the big donors who tell Josh Brooks my pledge to Commit to the G is contingent on the game staying in Jacksonville. Morehead and Brooks aren’t going to stick their necks out. The members of the athletic board enjoy their perks too much to voice an opinion.

            Once again, another thing that will happen to college sports that will prompt me to spend my time working on my golf game or in my yard on fall Saturdays.

            Liked by 3 people

          • rugbydawg79
            August 16, 2022 at 10:10 AM

            Guys I would not want to play poker with Kirby. I still believe this whole thing is to get max money from Jax. He will be successful.

            Liked by 1 person

            • otto1980
              August 16, 2022 at 10:26 AM

              I don’t believe so. I think he believe what he is saying and further he has admitted he doesn’t know what the perspective is from the fan who travels as he listened on the radio or watched on TV as his family was coaching High School bal. He is alienating a valuable segment of the fanbase for his recruiting machine.

              Like

  11. Dawgfan1995
    August 16, 2022 at 7:47 AM

    I voted for Jacksonville because I was at that 1995 game as a law student. Having those cheeseball Florida fans infecting downtown Athens’ bars with their jorts and FSTDs (the special Florida diseases, y’know) was a sight that caused me to leave for home early that night and not enjoy the Braves winning the World Series that same night.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. moe pritchett
    August 16, 2022 at 7:52 AM

    I’ve been mute on this subject til now.
    Rotate Jax – Atl. Keep the 50/50 split stadium. Let the designated home team host recruits as if they were on campus.

    Like

    • eethomaswfnc
      August 16, 2022 at 7:57 AM

      Atlanta seats fewer than Jacksonville. No one is going to be happy about that. It still doesn’t solve the problem that Kirby wants to solve … he wants to be able to host official visits including paying travel costs for this game. Playing it in Atlanta causes more problems for fans.

      Like

      • fisheriesdawg
        August 16, 2022 at 8:15 AM

        I’m wondering if the thought is that they would host recruits in Athens that weekend? The players stay in Gwinnett on Friday night for home games in Athens as it is, so I’m wondering if his thought on Atlanta is that there’s very little difference other than the hour and a half it takes to get the team back to Athens after the game?

        Florida could do the same with Jax/Gainesville every other year as it’s about the same distance.

        It’s not ideal, but it’s a lot better than completely blowing up the uniqueness of that game while maybe giving Kirby (no idea what Napier wants) about 90% of his wishes.

        Like

        • eethomaswfnc
          August 16, 2022 at 8:22 AM

          If all you care about is hosting recruits, I guess that’s fine, but there are about 9,000(?) people who won’t be able to attend the game in Atlanta that can in Jacksonville if you keep the 50/50 split. Also, you cannot make the game an official visit weekend, which is what this whole thing is about. The team no longer stays in Gwinnett on home game weekends. I believe they move into the Georgia Center, so the coaches can recruit on Friday night. For games in Atlanta, the team goes all the way downtown now. It doesn’t do what Kirby wants.

          Like

          • fisheriesdawg
            August 16, 2022 at 8:23 AM

            I’m fairly certain they don’t stay in the Georgia Center. Those rooms are WAY too valuable.

            Like

            • eethomaswfnc
              August 16, 2022 at 8:45 AM

              It isn’t a hour and a half on a game day in peak traffic to get from Athens to downtown Atlanta. The coaches would not be able to recruit the way they want to with the game in Atlanta. They still can’t have contact with recruits on game day if the game isn’t on campus. If the shit hit the fan on the roads between Athens and Atlanta, the recruits may arrive at the end of the 1st quarter.

              For Kirby to get what he wants, there’s only 1 way to do it – our home game gets played in Athens regardless of what the Handbags want to do.

              Like

            • classiccitysteve
              August 16, 2022 at 10:33 AM

              They stay in the Georgia Center. Source: we tailgate across the street and watch them load the buses on Sanford drive.

              Liked by 1 person

      • moe pritchett
        August 16, 2022 at 2:38 PM

        Oh. It’s not a matter of “this or nothing” with me. That was just a compromise thought. Everyone seems to be flipping out over the whole thing. When we were getting our ass beat every year by SOS, that was what I actually wanted. But I n the grand scheme, I’m fine with whatever is decided.

        Like

  13. NotMyCrossToBear
    August 16, 2022 at 8:04 AM

    I voted Jax. Gainesville sux and I don’t want to spend any more time there than it takes to pass it on I-75 heading somewhere else. On the flip side, Gator fans don’t deserve the privilege of spending any time in Athens. The neutral site is what makes the game special. If it’s not in Jax it’s not the WLOCP.

    Liked by 6 people

    • eethomaswfnc
      August 16, 2022 at 8:08 AM

      That’s exactly right. If it isn’t in Jacksonville, don’t call it the Cocktail Party or a border war. We can officially change the name to the War for the Oar or some dumb name like that.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. dawgxian
    August 16, 2022 at 8:07 AM

    Georgia’s a big state (biggest this side of the Ms). Let the fans in S Ga have a game near them. Location is about the only reason to keep playing Tech- it’s easier for those of us NW and SW of Atl to get to than Athens

    Liked by 1 person

  15. charlottedawg
    August 16, 2022 at 8:11 AM

    Winner gets to host the next year and we host for 20 straight until the gators complain it’s completely unfair and a self perpetuating cycle for why their program has dropped off into permanent irrelevance a la Tennessee and Nebraska.

    A man can dream can’t he?

    Like

  16. ugafidelis
    August 16, 2022 at 8:13 AM

    I think a 2 in Jax/home and away rotation might be pretty cool. It would keep the tradition alive, but also give the players at least one chance to play at “their house,” or at the house of a hated rival. Of course that’s all fun and games untill they go to thumping us in Athens and subsequently fill the Classic City like the locusts that plagued the land of the Pharos.

    Like

  17. David D
    August 16, 2022 at 8:34 AM

    Thanks for the poll, Senator. After much thought and a bit of temptation – especially regarding the rotation between Jax and the campuses – I think Georgia-Florida in Jacksonville is just too “old school cool” to change it now. FTMF.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Odontodawg
    August 16, 2022 at 8:40 AM

    If I’m a high school recruit with Sundays on my mind, I would love to see these two teams showcased on national TV. I want to be in that game for all to see. Official visits can come another time.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. biggusrickus
    August 16, 2022 at 8:45 AM

    I want them to leave it in Jacksonville because I like the tradition of it. I won’t be upset when they move it to home and home, though. There have already been too many changes to more important traditions for me to worry all that much about the location of the Georgia-Florida game.

    Liked by 2 people

  21. Corch Irvin Meyers, Former Jags Corch (2021)
    August 16, 2022 at 9:13 AM

    Y’all know how I feel. Getting this game to home and home isn’t just about recruiting. It’s about rebalancing the home slate of games for season ticket holders, of which I am one. It’s about giving Athens a home game every other season to help Athens businesses, which even the cynical among us know isn’t only about hotels gouging people. It’s about helping the bottom line of businesses we all love, which it very much would. It’s not like our AA is sharing any of that extra money Jacksonville pays them. It just goes into the “Rainy Day Fund” anyway. I don’t care about Jacksonville, Amelia Island, St. Simons Island, Tybee Island, or any of the others. I don’t. I care about Athens, and this is better for Athens.

    Every tradition has its season in the sun. Time for this one to end.

    Like

    • beaconcorde
      August 16, 2022 at 9:17 AM

      From those of us in South Georgia, I suppose we don’t care much for you Corch

      Liked by 3 people

    • eethomaswfnc
      August 16, 2022 at 9:35 AM

      Corch, South Georgia Dawg fans spend 8 hours round trip to come to Athens 6 or 7 times a year, spend their money and get gouged on hotels in Athens. What’s wrong with someone from Waycross, Valdosta, Savannah, Brunswick or Albany being able to get up on Saturday morning and driving to Jacksonville and being home at a reasonable time once a year?

      Liked by 2 people

    • jburden11
      August 16, 2022 at 4:28 PM

      You don’t care about SSI, Amelia, Tybee etc… and I don’t care enough about Athens businesses to throw away 90 years of tradition. I don’t live there, and most of the places that I became attached to as a student have turned over. They already get 6-7 home games every year, plus graduations, Twilight, and winter/spring sports crowds. But we’re supposed to care that Athens businesses will get one more home game every other year?

      This one is the most insane argument to me.

      Like

  22. beaconcorde
    August 16, 2022 at 9:14 AM

    Seems like a tough argument for Kirby to make “that he needs that one extra recruiting weekend to be able to compete for national championships “
    We seemed to do just fine without it last year;)

    Like

  23. dudemankind
    August 16, 2022 at 9:22 AM

    I voted to stay in Jacksonville because traditions should matter. Otherwise, I think JAX is a shithole. The stadium is near some questionable neighborhoods, and unless you pay through the nose, you end up tailgaiting under interstate overpasses or god knows only knows where – but hey, I know some of you guys enjoy your time honored tradition of getting wasted at the beach…so there’s that.

    Like

  24. godawgs1701
    August 16, 2022 at 9:30 AM

    It’s Jacksonville or it’s home-and-home. There is zero benefit to Georgia fans or the program to play the game in Atlanta. It’s a terrible tailgate environment, it’s an indoor bland stadium, and you don’t get to talk to recruits which is allegedly Kirby’s big problem with the game in Jacksonville (but for some reason we’re great with playing games in the Benz where it’s still true). I vote for Jacksonville and my second vote is to never face the Gators in the Stankonia Dome.

    Like

  25. Russ
    August 16, 2022 at 9:46 AM

    The World’s Largest Cocktail Party is the hill my CFB Fandom will die on.

    Liked by 4 people

  26. setzer613
    August 16, 2022 at 9:48 AM

    Move it to Atlanta. Let the “neutral” site continue. Give the revenue to the state of Georgia and city of Atlanta.

    Do it for 30 years, call it tradition, let their fans travel, their players spend time off their schedule, their coaches be off their routine, and get home later for less turn around time.

    Like

    • eethomaswfnc
      August 16, 2022 at 9:55 AM

      Mercedes-Benz Stadium is smaller in capacity than EverBank Field. It isn’t going to happen, period. Jacksonville overbuilt the stadium for the Jaguars because of the Cocktail Party.

      Like

    • otto1980
      August 16, 2022 at 10:01 AM

      Moving the game to the Megatron’s Butthole in Atlanta would be advantage Florida. Florida would give tickets to recruits to the stadium with energy and history and UGA would give out tickets to a soulless dome.

      Like

  27. ugajeff
    August 16, 2022 at 9:50 AM

    I’m one of the few that voted rotating between home/home and Jax. It’s splitting the baby, but it answers Kirby’s recruiting complaint most years, while still preserving “some” of the Jacksonville tradition. Also, in years it’s home/home, schedule your neutral site appearances then so you’re not losing two recruiting opportunities. Makes way too much sense to me to ever happen, though….sigh

    Liked by 1 person

  28. ElectroM (@ElectroM66)
    August 16, 2022 at 9:55 AM

    When they stop scheduling all those neutral site games in Charlotte and Atlanta, maybe then talk about moving the Jacksonville game. Also after the conference realignment we will know what the new schedules will be, then maybe we will talk about moving the Jacksonville game. I called it the Jacksonville game because if we move it there will be no more WLOCP, that will be gone.

    Liked by 2 people

  29. archiecreek
    August 16, 2022 at 10:13 AM

    Voted to stay in Jacksonville.
    It’s unique, it’s exciting for players and fans, it’s a tradition,
    and…..
    it does not affect recruiting.

    Liked by 2 people

  30. FlyingPeakDawg
    August 16, 2022 at 10:29 AM

    Could be wrong…usually am, just ask anyone…but I’m listening to everything Kirby is saying, not just the JAX issue. He…and I would say Saban as well…are telling the CFB overlords that although recruiting is key to winning, the lack of standards and control on recruiting activity is killing the game, if not the coaches. Kirby has declared war on winning recruiting the way it is, but he also talks about the need to reign it in. The Jax argument is one example, IMHO, of Kirby daring the powers that be to either fix the recruiting rules or lay waste to the entire landscape. If you fix recruiting rules, you don’t need a debate about the WLOCP. Snippets of pressers don’t really allow Kirby to elaborate but sure would like for him to get a 5 minute segment on College Gameday before Oregon and fully state his views if he’s willing to.

    Like

    • eethomaswfnc
      August 16, 2022 at 10:43 AM

      He stated his view at SEC media days when asked by Tebow. I thought that was playing bad cop to Florida’s good cop in negotiations with Jacksonville at the time. Now I’m not so sure.

      Frankly, he doesn’t appear to care about the fan experience. He believes if you win, we will come. He has probably never been in Jacksonville as a fan only. He has no perspective on it.

      Liked by 1 person

      • otto1980
        August 16, 2022 at 11:02 AM

        The fans that have backed the program al these years went 40 between national titles. I am beyond over joyed with the win.

        However, I enjoy the tradition. I enjoy going to Nashville in the fall to beat Vandy. I enjoy going to the beach in October for the WLOCP. I enjoy a break from leftover turkey to kick the nerds up and down the field. I enjoyed the beginning of winter playing Auburn. I don’t want to go to hot south Alabama early in the year and I haven’t been to South Carolina for the same reason.

        The parallels with NASCAR are scary. They started throwing phantom yellows to create fake excitement, They started dumping tracks which had been on the calendar for age for new one. Each move reduced my interest, I started missing races, and with Dale Sr passing, I would watch Daytona and that was it. Football has changed which isn’t Kirby’s fault but it is a strike.

        Smart is changing the schedule, pushing to remove an important part of the tradition.

        He will see an increase in money and then it will fade, Winning only goes so far and in real irony winning gets old. I kept Bama playoff tickets in the Dome against Washington as they weren’t getting the money needed to sell. If I they weren’t going for a profit, I would use them which is what happened. When the excitement for this era fades, the life long fans which loved the tradition will be gone. I’ll cuss Smart for loosing the WLOCP to history.

        Liked by 1 person

  31. uga97
    August 16, 2022 at 11:04 AM

    Would be onteresting to know the break down votes by % of home season ticket holders, heat map & proximity of residence, graduates of UGA, married/family/kids vs single/none, etc..

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  32. TripleB
    August 16, 2022 at 11:09 AM

    I voted to rotate with Jacksonville, Athens, and Jortville. I would hope that satisfies Smart. If not, I think I could live without Jacksonville. However, I totally understand those who really enjoy the tradition of Jacksonville and who have invested in places in that area of the world in no small part because of that annual event.
    I haven’t gotten that into Jacksonville, partly because we have a losing record in the years I’ve made it down there (I temporarily quit going about midway through Spurrier/Meyer years). Also, as much as the coast is nice, Jacksonville sucks and I REALLY DON’T LIKE being around that many Florida fans.
    Bottom line, I really don’t give a shit as long as Kirby Smart doesn’t get too pissed off with the resolution.

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  33. Don in Mar-a-Lago
    August 16, 2022 at 11:15 AM

    I love the smell of papermills in the morning

    Liked by 2 people

  34. ApalachDawg aux Bruxelles
    August 16, 2022 at 7:05 PM

    why have those new smyrna beach trash ever again in the classic city….Gainesville is a shithole.
    keep it in Jax.

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