AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > March > 15 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USJust another jolt in Dogs’ crazy season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Most figured it was going to take some cataclysmic event for Georgia to make it through the SEC basketball tournament this weekend.
You just assumed it would be something relatively pedestrian, like Kentucky and Tennessee losing.
Instead, the Georgia Dome almost blew over.
What next?
“I was in the coach’s locker room,” coach Dennis Felton said. “It was just myself and my assistant, Mike Jones. The only thing I heard was the sound of sand falling down between the walls. I just looked at him and chuckled and said, ‘Those are the rats.’ “
Injuries. Suspensions. Tornado.
Georgia will make it through this basketball season one day, hopefully intact. Needing a miracle, it got bad weather. At 9:40 p.m., when the Bulldogs were still in the locker room waiting for their quarterfinal game against Kentucky, play during the overtime game between Mississippi State and Alabama stopped.
Bands stopped.
Fans got quiet.
The only noise: It sounded like an airplane was landing on the roof of the Georgia Dome. Rafters swayed. Pieces of insulation floated from the ceiling down to the floor. A tarp covering one wall tore off the wall. A bolt fell into the stands. A washer fell to press row. Fans in the temporary bleachers began to scatter. Players and cheerleaders cleared the floor.
And you thought just Georgia’s season was a mess. You should’ve seen it outside.
I’ve spent too many nights at this intersection of sports and the bizarre. I sat in Candlestick Park in San Francisco the night the World Series was interrupted by an earthquake. I sat ringside in an outdoor stadium in Las Vegas when a paraglider crashed the Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe heavyweight championship.
The night worked out OK for Holyfield. He was a heavy underdog, but regained the title.
Maybe divine intervention will help Georgia. The Dogs have already suffered through a season of the bizarre, so it can’t possibly hurt.
Hey, what’s one more thing?
“Yeah,” said Felton, smiling.
Their game was postponed. Time, site and weather conditions were pending.
Outside the Dome late Friday, chunks of insulation, steel and broken glass covered the ground. There was debris and turned-over trashcans everywhere. Lightposts in the plaza between the Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center were bent over. A concrete parking sign along Northside Drive was pulled out of the ground.
As play in the Mississippi State-Alabama game finally resumed one hour and four minutes later — with 2:11 left in overtime — loud claps of thunder could still be heard inside. With every sound, several fans in the temporary bleachers turned and looked up at the ceiling, as if worrying that something was going to fall.
Things were no less settled on the court. Just before play was suspended, Mississippi State guard Ben Hansbrough turned to Alabama’s Mykal Riley and remarked on the noise.
“He mentioned to me after they shot a free throw, and we were coming down the court, he was like, ‘Sounds like a tornado,’ ” Riley said. “I was agreeing with him, and then all of a sudden everything started moving and everybody started running.”
I know SEC officials are constantly fighting this battle for attention with the ACC during tournament time. But is this the best they could come up with?
Mississippi State’s Charles Rhodes, with a flare for the understatement, said: “It’s got to be one of the worst environments I’ve ever been in as a player. You know, to see stuff falling from the roof, it really scared me. Last time I’ve been in something like that was when there was a bat in the gym [in Starkville]. So this really tops that one.”
We’ll take his word for it.
Georgia athletics director Damon Evans had been looking for a bolt to strike the team and the fan base. This likely isn’t what he had in mind.
Kentucky fans seemed to outnumber Georgia fans 5-to-1, which would be depressing enough for the Bulldogs even if the game wasn’t held in Atlanta. But that speaks to the fan apathy currently surrounding the program. It’s the residual of a team losing 11 of its final 13 regular-season games and going 4-12 in the conference.
The Dogs managed a mini-jolt at about 12:30 a.m. Friday, when Dave Bliss’ short left-handed bank shot in the final seconds gave them a 97-95 overtime win over Mississippi.
Of course, the next jolt came at 9:40 p.m. But the Bulldogs have needed some divine intervention. At this point, they would assume anything to be a good sign.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment | Categories: Jeff Schultz
Comments
By Realist
March 15, 2008 2:17 AM | Link to this
It’s bad when Mother Nature is a team’s best hope against a season ending loss.
By randy
March 15, 2008 2:18 AM | Link to this
winner has to play again in same day, unfair for either team! dogs tip off at 12 noon at georgia tech, what a s** hole!
By Gordon
March 15, 2008 7:10 AM | Link to this
How sad for the seniors at UGA. They will walk off the court for the last time in front of only their families and the media at Georgia Tech - no other fans. I’m a Tech fan, and even I feel bad for them.
By lisa
March 15, 2008 7:33 AM | Link to this
Don’t feel too bad for the UGA players. They don’t play in front of fans at their own arena so why should it bother them playing at GT?
By weatherboy
March 15, 2008 7:40 AM | Link to this
If Kentucky wins the noon game, just cancel the rest of the tournament. It will mean nothing, as all four remaining schools are a lock to get into the NCAA’s. How ridiculous playing the SEC’s at an empty Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
By ghgh
March 15, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this
UGA game on TV?
By Jon
March 15, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
Everyone owes a HUGE thank you to the Alabama shooter who hit a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime. There would have been another 300-400 people walking to the Dome, but instead, many gathered to watch the end of the Miss State-Alabama game, as we said “we now have time for another beer.” Could have been much worse.
By Gene
March 15, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
This is clearly a warning to Michael Adams that even the Allmighty is tired of him and the incessant whining of Georgia fans.
By Trey
March 15, 2008 9:34 AM | Link to this
Not allowing fans to watch the games—and not making allowances for somewhere to at least show the video feed—is a poor decision. Refunds aside, thousands of fans paid thousands of dollars to come to Atlanta and now get to sit around trying to find a sports bar that actually receives Raycom Sports.
The lack of thought for the fans by the SEC is frustrating, but it has to be more frustrating for teams like Tennessee and Kentucky, who brought legions of fans to support them and now get none of the support from those fans.
Congrats UGA — your path to the SEC championship just got a little easier.
By Jimmy
March 15, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this
Divine intervention had nothing to do w/ this. It was Jeff Schultz who brought the bad luck!!!!!!
By Roofis Leakin'
March 15, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this
Does anybody know if there was damage to phillips arena? If not why was that not a logical replacement for the dome? I’m sure that area is a mess, but it’s better than GT.
By Joe
March 15, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Yep Trey, I cannot believe the SEC did not have a plan in place for a TORNADO HITTING THE GEORGIA DOME.
Guess what? If this had happened the night of the SEC Football Championship, we would be in an even worse situation, but as a UK fan, you probably cannot understand that.
The fact of the matter is that this is a one-of-a-kind freak incident for which you cannot create a contingency plan.
Does it suck that the tourney is turning out this way? Of course, but I think we should all look at the big picture and be thankful that there were not thousands of people killed.
By weatherboy
March 15, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
Philips has a concert tonight; that too was cancelled.
By joe
March 15, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this
JEFF,
Can you do another story on the pathetic display that is Raycom Sports? I want you to find out why the SEC is tied to these guys and when they can find another network to work with for future SEC bball season. Their picture is the worst I’ve ever seen. The graphics they use are from the 70’s and to have the games shuffled from local channel 69 to (direct tv) 630, to 633, to 664. You never know where to find the games. All the other tournaments on espn, cbs, fox, and yes even the ACC broadcast by the other arm of Raycom all had great hi def broadcasts. But not us…also, you cannot even listen to the SEC tournament here in Atlanta on the radio as no local stations carry the games. Pathetic…Put on your Heraldo glasses and find out why!!!
By Cuz
March 15, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
What a great win over Kentucky. Go Dawgs. Felton gets another game, he ought to get at least another year. Kentucky sure made the enevitable tedious.
Great win team!
By Dawg Fan
March 15, 2008 3:04 PM | Link to this
Couldn’t agree more. Undermanned they are battling. Back in 5 hours for another game.
Media idiots pregame all about how it gave UGA the advantage with Ky being shorthanded (give me a break). Do these people do any research before they get on national TV?
Now I guess it gives us an advantage over Miss St since we are already warmed up.
Play hard. You’ve made us proud with this tournament showing. Yata gets another game and Bliss is playing his heart out.
Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!!
By Jack
March 15, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
How ‘bout em!!!!!!!! Lets do it again tonight, dawgs! Great game against the Cats. We’ve got more heart than any team in the country. Say what you will about Felton, but he’s got these guys playing together better than a lot of teams out there. We can win this thing!
By Edgar
March 15, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this
I know everyone has heard the old saying, “The stars had to be perfectly aligned for this to happen.”, well in this case the tornados had to be “perfectly aligned” in this case. As the old T-Shirt that Erk Russell had on for the 1980 Sugar Bowl/National Championship game said…… “ONE MORE TIME” Go Dawgs!!!!!!!
By Edgar
March 15, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
Joe, You’re right about the carrier Raycom. Somebody needs to find out why those of us that pay good money for Hi-Tech media coverage have to endure the type of coverage that high school games get. I see why the SEC falls behind the ACC in fan base. Either the SEC updates their media contracts or they will continue to lose fans every year. I know they make more money with Raycom but the bottom line will come letting ESPN take these games. Just ask the football coaches.
By Ron Roberts
March 15, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this
The Felton haters need to be watching these games… the future of UGA Basketball is BRIGHT in this man’s hands.
He has a strong recruiting class coming in and squeezes as much passion and effort from what he gets on the floor, too.
I sincerely doubt Georgia can win two games in one day, let alone three-in-two, but this effort amid the most curious of circumstances has given this Dawg fan hope for a brighter roundball future in Athens.
Let him stay.
I’d like to also echo the sentiments with regards to RayCom. Horrible package; third-rate, at-best.
Sadly, the big boys (Fox Sports, ESPN, ESPN2) are paying attention to other conferences, while the home to the standing NCAA champions is relegated to after-thought status on a miserable patchwork network called “Raycom.”
It’s pitiful…and I’m not even judging them on today’s package. It wasn’t good before the storm, either. I’ll commend their employees for throwing together today’s broadcasts on such short notice (moving from venut to venue and setting up in the wee hours of the morning), but it doesn’t hide the fact that the S.E.C. should have a better TV package for this than Raycom.
By buzzfan
March 15, 2008 6:36 PM | Link to this
Congrats to the Bulldogs. I’m a lifelong Tech fan, but I like to see a Georgia team do well. Good luck tomorrow.