Georgia Bulldogs' Greg McGarity Shrewdly Outmaneuvers Boise State Broncos with Chick-fil-A Gambit
by T Kyle King on Jan 6, 2011 9:30 PM EST
in Georgia Bulldogs Football Scheduling
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PrintI don’t want to overstate the case or anything, but Greg McGarity may be the shrewdest son of a gun in the known universe.
Last year, during all the conference expansion excitement, I wrote what was intended to be a humorous piece on the possibility that the Georgia Bulldogs would become the newest member of the Pac-10. In defense of that position, I wrote:
Perhaps Evans’s smoothest move in orchestrating the Red and Black’s transcontinental shift, though, was his backroom deal to haveAtlanta-Pacifa-based fast-food giant Chick-fil-A introduce its popular spicy chicken sandwich in California first.
"If they want to keep the pipeline of tasty chicken sandwiches open," insisted the source, who by that point clearly had demonstrated that he was nothing more than a crackpot conspiracy theorist, "those Californians will vote to let the Bulldogs into their league."
Naturally, I was just kidding when I suggested that a University of Georgia athletic director would use the Peach State’s status as the home of Chick-fil-A to create a Western dependency on the tasty chicken sandwiches in order to blackmail the colleges in that region into giving in to his demands, but I may have underestimated our athletic association’s new chieftain. Consider:
On November 19, it was announced that the Bulldogs would open the 2011 season in the Georgia Dome against the Boise St. Broncos. Chick-fil-A was an integral part of orchestrating the deal.
Guess which fast food giant opened a restaurant in the Boise State University Student Union two weeks earlier? (Hat tip: OBNUG.)
Coincidence? I think not!
Well played, Mr. McGarity, well played.
So here’s the deal, you bunch of SOBs (that’s solid orange Broncos, of course): unless you want us to cut off your supply of the Chick-fil-A sandwiches to which you have become addicted in Boise in the last two months, you’ll take a dive on Labor Day weekend . . . and I don’t just mean lose by a couple in a nailbiter. I mean I want you to throw an interception on the first play from scrimmage, give up a record-breaking game to the Georgia quarterback, and suffer a humiliating beatdown by a five-touchdown margin.
Don’t take it so hard, Broncos. It ain’t like it hasn’t happened before.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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The BSU Chick-Fil-A
Having been to the CFA in Boise, I can say that any southerner would be absolutely embarrassed by it. The food is no where close to as good as we get down here, and the menu is much, much smaller.
The Boise-ians, however, have loved it and there are huge lines consistently. So I guess the plan is working.
Yeah, but...
I bet the waffle-fries are to absolutely die for.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on Jan 6, 2011 9:40 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Somebody shot that man!
Soccer will never, ever, EVER gain on other sports until they clean up the diving theatrics.
In fact, the sport is more likely to lose prominence globally over the next half-century, mostly to basketball.
"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard
by GwinnettGamecock on Jan 7, 2011 12:05 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, 'cause that kind of thing never happens in basketball.
The diving incredibly handicaps the game’s popularity among “traditional” U.S. fans. In a large part of the world, though (notably Latin America and pretty much all of southern Europe), it’s considered an integral part of the game.
Different cultures play their version of the game differently… sort of like how in the south, we play football with speed and finesse, while in the midwest they play football with big, slow kids from a farm in Iowa.
we play football with speed and finesse?
Perhaps if you’re referring to drugs and shampoo… just hacking.
I would, however, like to see a big kid with speed at noseguard. Where do they grow them at?
The Pillar of Pessimism, the Narrator of Negativity, and the Dictator of Doubt is here to rain on your Utopian Parade.
Iowa you say?
yea, that was a lil easy – but i rule
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
I know that the diving is part of the Latin soccer culture
It is also a hindrance to the sport’s growth. I think it is notable that few of the east Asian or African nations that have emerged in the last three or four cycles are generally known for diving. It doesn’t sell most places.
FIFA is too Euro-centric for it to happen yet, but if they ever implemented reviews and punishment for simulation, it would greatly increase the emphasis on skill and lead to a more attractive and marketable game.
I’m completely aware that marketability is not an issue in Europe and Latin America, but soccer is a second tier sport in some potentially huge markets. If the powers that be feel that NBA camps and tours are winning Chinese hearts more than Man U exhibitions, they may finally clean it up.
"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard
by GwinnettGamecock on Jan 8, 2011 12:39 AM EST up reply actions
Gain on other sports?
In almost every country but the US it’s the biggest sport…. there’s no “gaining” to be done.
I hate to be "That Guy", but Edgar/Maynard II wasn’t close to the best fight I’ve ever seen…
"When Kawajiri is on his game, finding a way to beat him is about as hard as finding a pubic hair at a Justin Beiber concert." – The Voice
"Unfortunately, it won’t shut anyone up, but if (the Falcons) get a Lombardi, I’m going to spend all of 2011 not giving a rat’s ass what anyone says." – Dave Choate
Russia, Scandinavia, India, Pakistan, Japan, China, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand would beg to differ
I like soccer much more than the average American sports fan, but the people who act like it’s a sport that only Americans do not get are just flat wrong.
If you add the US to the list above, you have six of the nine most populous nations on the planet, accounting for over 3 billion people. Over half the world’s population live in a nation where soccer is not the most popular sport.
Longterm (three to five generations), basketball is a real threat to soccer’s preeminence in some parts of Europe. It has already edged ahead of soccer in a couple of small nations.
"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard
by GwinnettGamecock on Jan 8, 2011 12:30 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I think you're overstating the threat, for a couple of reasons.
1) FIFA is making so much money right now that they just don’t care about whether or not the game is profitable in “new areas” of the world. As long as they have a solid foothold in Asia (which they certainly do), the money doesn’t matter to them. Besides, they have bigger problems relating to corruption at the highest levels than whether or not the sport is popular enough.
2) Soccer will never become the most popular sport in India and Pakistan (Cricket), New Zealand (Rugby), and Australia (Rugby and Aussie Rules). I have no idea what’s most popular in China, but soccer is easily one of the “top 3” sports in Russia, along with ice hockey and basketball. And since basketball teams are so much smaller than soccer teams, that means that more people necessarily would be playing soccer on a professional or semi-professional level.
A majority of the world’s population might live in a country where soccer is not the most popular sport, but it’s still the most popular sport by a long plurality over whatever the next-most-popular sport is. They play American football in the U.S., cricket in India, and kill the guy with the ball rugby in Australia… but large portions of the population in all 3 areas play soccer, and a relatively small number of other populations worldwide play those countries’ most popular sport.
Basketball is also popular, but I don’t think it’s a threat to the worldwide hegemony of soccer.
by vineyarddawg on Jan 8, 2011 12:40 PM EST up reply actions
And, actually, it's even more complicated than that.
Australia has a particularly complicated sports landscape. They play Aussie Rules, which is their most popular sport, and they are also particularly talented worldwide in Rugby Union, Rugby League, and Cricket.
South Africa has a huge Rugby Union and Cricket presence as well, but has only recently been starting to emerge as a world player in soccer. From a cultural standpoint, however, soccer has a long, rich history, especially among the country’s black population. Its lack of institutional support during the apartheid era is probably one of the main reasons South Africa is not one of the best teams in Africa today.
Basketball is a “johnny-come-lately” sport in almost all of these countries around the world. It has low barriers to entry, and you only need one or two really good players to field a competitive team. That will make it popular among some, but the history and cultural underpinnings that run through the length and breadth of soccer (and other sports) in most of these countries will keep it from becoming the “most popular sport” in any country.
by vineyarddawg on Jan 8, 2011 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
Perhaps, but basketball is the first international team sport
with comparable barriers to entry as soccer. Though it is impractical to create a hoop for an impromptu street game, putting up a neighborhood or backyard net (manufactured or homemade) is fairly simple, especially in developed nations. Soccer is much more likely to lose market share than gain, though that is largely a function of having already reached market saturation throughout Europe.
Football is too expensive to get going in many parts of the world, even in places that have a sporting culture to make it a good fit.
Germany is one potential exception. Given the martial nature of football, it is no coincidence that the German franchises were far and away the most successful and popular in NFL Europe. By the time the NFL finally pulled the plug, half the league had relocated to Germany.
FWIW, there is a German semi-pro team named the Gamecocks. I was severely disappointed that they were out of season when I was in Bonn.
Basketball currently has the edge over soccer for team sports primacy in China. When a Chinese soccer star the equivalent of Yao comes along, that may change. Individual sports are more popular in China than the US, which is a litte odd when you think of each nation’s cultural perspective on individualism vs. collectivism.
"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard
by GwinnettGamecock on Jan 8, 2011 1:43 PM EST up reply actions
Also, I think the strong American influence on basketball
has largely prevented FIBA from succombing to the corruption prevalent throughout most international sports organizations. As the NBA and US becomes less and less influential in the sport, it will be interesting to see if that remains true. If it does, that is yet another advantage for basketball.
I think basketball is a much greater threat to soccer’s international market than soccer is to American sports within the US. Again, I am thinking 50-75 years down the road.
If you had told the average American sports fan in 1911 that one hundred years hence, baseball would be the #3 team sport, and that horse racing and boxing would be afterthoughts, he would have looked at you like you were crazy.
"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard
by GwinnettGamecock on Jan 8, 2011 1:53 PM EST up reply actions
But if you told him a sports fan in 1911 that folkstyle wrestling would be the gateway to a lucrative career (as it currently is in mixed martial arts), he would have said you were stating the obvious. At one point, when professional wrestling was legitimate, it was the most popular sport in America. Now, there is a renaissance of the American wrestling tradition because of the revenue streams currently available.
Sports are cyclical, and always will be. When people start dying on the playing field in the NFL, people will stop letting their children watch it, and it’s popularity will wane, though it won’t disappear. That’s just one hypothetical example.
The sports that will always be around, even if their popularity fluctuates, are those that require the least to play: your feet (running), your fists (fighting), or just a ball (soccer).
I hate to be "That Guy", but Edgar/Maynard II wasn’t close to the best fight I’ve ever seen…
"When Kawajiri is on his game, finding a way to beat him is about as hard as finding a pubic hair at a Justin Beiber concert." – The Voice
"Unfortunately, it won’t shut anyone up, but if (the Falcons) get a Lombardi, I’m going to spend all of 2011 not giving a rat’s ass what anyone says." – Dave Choate
It will be interesting to see how the landscape unfolds.
As long as they’re still playing the World Cup and UEFA Champions’ League when I’m old and gray, I’ll be happy.
Boise State / GA game
Can’t wait till Boise comes down to Atl and whooops up on the dogs, gonna be great to show u southerners that the SEC aint all that.
What I really can’t wait for is the day the dogs come out west and play us away from home….if you bulldongs ever get some balls it might happen.
I've sent you a formal warning, FloridaBronco, but . . .
. . . please be advised that we try to keep the conversation at a high level around here. We welcome the civil participation of opposing fans, but your insulting tone and your obnoxious language are not appreciated.
In case you’re interested, I suggest you search this site’s archives for postings regarding Boise State. I think you’ll find I’ve been very respectful and deferential toward the Broncos; if you don’t believe me, ask the proprietors of OBNUG. As everyone else but you appears to have understood, the above posting was intended in jest.
As for why Georgia has never traveled out west to play in Bronco Stadium, there’s a simple explanation: it’s too small.
Go 'Dawgs!
sorry, you said something?
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
FloridaBronco beware...
You’ve been warned.:)
BTW, I look forward to your smack talk AFTER the game…if there is any. Looking at your last vist to the peach state, I would keep it low key and cool. Thumped like a gnat would be a good description of the last meeting. See ya in September;)
by UGARegimechange on Jan 7, 2011 10:23 PM EST up reply actions
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