UGA blog finds new home
Morning all. As I’ve said a couple of times this week, we’re converting this blog over to a WordPress platform and it will be a permanent move the first of next week.
Those of you who are regulars probably know that I’m not what you’d call techno-wizard when it comes to these things. But from what I understand the technology offered in this new format should make the blogging and commenting experience better for all. Of course, I’ll be learning as we go along, too. But I’m hoping to provide more pictures and video and things like that which should bring the blog more to life.
Of course, this blog is nothing without all you guys so I want to heartily invite (read: beg) you to come over to the new site by CLICKING HERE ON THE NEW ADDRESS and save it in your browsers. As of Monday, Feb. 23rd, this will be the permanent home of the UGA blog you so love or, in the case of some of you, love to loathe. If you’d prefer to copy and paste or just memorize, the new address is: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/.
See at the new place!
AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 12
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Dooley-Adams controversy reignites
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve been covering this honoring-Vince Dooley business the last couple of days. Hope you’ve had a chance to read those stories and found them informative and maybe even interesting.
What’s interesting to me is, whenever the subject of Dooley and President Michael Adams is broached, it brings out the most passionate responses one could ever imagine. That’s certainly been the case again this week.
To bring you up to date, Adams and Damon Evans brought to the athletic board and the UGA cabinet a proposal to name the area of South Campus that houses all the athletic facilities “the Vince Dooley Athletic Complex.” At the southwest corner, where Pinecrest Drive intersects with South Lumpkin Street, they will construct a big garden, the centerpiece of which will be a giant bronze statue of Coach Dooley on the shoulders of Jeff Harper and Tim Morrison. Anyway, the Board of Regents still has to approve it but that will happen tomorrow (Wednesday).
In the meantime, my assignment was to call around today and see how people close to Dooley felt about the gesture. In the course of doing that I was reminded of what a hot-button issue this thing is. Every once in a while you think the fervor over Adams’ treatment of Dooley a few years back has died down and then something like this comes around and you find out it hasn’t. It’s kind of like a volcano where the magma just goes dormant for a while before heating back up and resurfacing later.
Well, the lava is flowing again folks. I wasn’t able to get all the commentary in my story for tomorrow’s paper so I thought I’d share some of it here.
In general, there are few schools of thought from the folks in the Dooley camp: (1) It’s about time; (2) it’s a backhanded slap of Dooley by Adams, putting his statue a mile or so away from the stadium and; (3) until Dooley’s name is somewhere on that stadium no gesture is good enough.
I heard some real zingers from some people, many of which weren’t able to make my story. Here’s some of the better ones:
Bob Hope, the public relations executive who organized a march on the Board of Regents in Dooley’s honor in 2004, thinks it was a petty move by Adams. “If there ever is a Heisman Trophy for pettiness, Michael Adams will win it and there won’t be a second place.”
Hope went on to say he thinks Adams’ gesture has “reopened Pandora’s box” and will ignite again the movement put Dooley’s name on the stadium.
Said Buck Belue, quarterback of the 1980 national championship team: “I read where Adams doesn’t like using hyphens. Maybe he’s wanting to save it for Sanford-Adams Stadium.”
Jeff Harper, a former offensive lineman whose likeness is part of the Dooley statue, can’t understand why Gov. Sonny Perdue, a UGA alum and former player, and others in state government won’t champion Dooley’s cause. “I don’t know why the Regents haven’t stepped up for Coach Dooley. What about the governor? I’ll tell you this, I’m giving no money to the University of Georgia until Michael Adams is gone. All Coach Dooley asked for was one more year and he wouldn’t give it to him. Fire Adams and I’ll resume my support.”
Not every Dooley supporter was quite as venomous. Tim Morrison is also depicted on the statue carrying his coach on his shoulder after the Bulldogs’ regular season-ending win over Georgia Tech in 1980. “I thought it was a great idea,” he said of the garden plaza featuring the statue. “I thought it should have been on North Campus but at least it will be prominently displayed. I still think they should name the stadium after him. I don’t know if politics are involved or what but for Coach Dooley to have been treated the way he has been is unjust.”
Frank Ros, now an executive with Coca-Cola, was captain of that 1980. He was eloquent. “For what Vince Dooley has done for the University of Georgia, anything and everything they do that recognizes is appreciated and well-deserved. Hopefully they’ll still name the stadium for him because he put Georgia football on the national map. At the same time, he probably made a bigger contribution as athletic director so it’s fitting that they’d name the whole complex after him.”
Ros said he’s doubtful Dooley’s name will ever be placed on the stadium as long as Adams is UGA’s president. “He’s made that clear on a number of occasions,” Ros said. “He’s made the statement before that ‘the stadium already has a name.’ But I think you have to be respectful of a person’s accomplishments regardless of your politics.”
Now obviously former Dooley players are going to be pretty biased on an issue such as this. That’s all just leftover stuff from Tuesday’s interviews.
But we’re interested in hearing all sides this story. Let me know where you stand on it. And that includes those of you that may side with Dr. Adams on it. I’m particularly interested in hearing from you.
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