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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > October > 07
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Army out, Gardner-Webb in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And now for the Tuesday Countdown:
10: Congratulations, Georgia Tech fans. Your tax dollars went to Gardner-Webb.
9: Tech plays 1-AA Gardner-Webb this week. Why? Because Army - maybe just the grunts on KP duty - decided to increase the wimp factor on its schedule and bought its way out of this week’s scheduled home game against Tech. Army refunded Tech $125,000 for its contracted share of the gate. So the way I figure it, tax dollars went from us to Army to Tech and then to Gardner-Webb, which had to be paid to come here.
8: I hesitate to criticize anybody in the armed forces. But this is weak. Tech and Army had a home-and-home deal. Each would get $125,000 to play in the other team’s stadium. But before last year’s game at Bobby Dodd, Army athletic director Kevin Anderson approached Tech AD Dan Radakovich. “He came up to me and said, ‘We’re changing our scheduling philosophy,’” Radakovich recalled. “Then he hands me a letter saying they are pulling out of the game and there’s a check for $125,000 [as the forfeiture fee] in the envelope. I was a little stunned. I thought it was going to be a typical pre-game athletic director greeting.”
7: Understand something: Teams seldom pull out of these deals without warning, let alone give up a home game. Tech gets hurt in the process. It’s nearly impossible to negotiate a home-and-home deal with another 1-A school so late in the process because schedules are made far in advance. The next opening in a Jackets’ schedule wasn’t until 2012. To bring a 1-A school for one year is cost prohibitive ($600,000 to $800,000). So …
6: Tech was left with bringing in little G-W (at a cost of $300,000). The Jackets have already played 1-AA Jacksonville State. So this dents their credibility. But Radakovich declined to take a shot at Anderson, other then to say, “A lot of our people were disappointed because they were looking forward to going [to West Point].” Just wondering how military guys feel about their schedule being stuffed with set-ups.
5: And now for something completely different: With franchises struggling all over North America, the NHL decided to open the season in Prague and Stockholm. The yutz factor just went up again.
4: Once again, this time with feeling: It’s not sad and pathetic that people still support Michael Vick. It is sad and pathetic that people use that support as an excuse for race-baiting and Matt Ryan-bashing. I wrote a column on Ryan off the Green Bay game, never typed the words, “Michael Vick,” and yet reader responses mutated into another pro-Vick/anti-Vick grenade toss. Please. Everybody just take a breath.
3: Just guessing here, but if John McCain dumps Sarah Palin and adds Tina Fey as his running mate, he could probably get the swing votes.
2: The Thrashers open the season Friday night. I’m not sure how many tickets have been sold. But I know this: I went to Ticketmaster on the guise of wanting to buy 10 tickets. They were on the first level, Row T, on the faceoff circle.
1: Army plays host to Eastern Michigan Saturday. It’s homecoming.
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