We recently debuted a new segment here at Dawg Sports called "Kyle Gets Contrary," and, without being overly contentious, I have to say that there is more than adequate grist for future postings in this series, starting with this one.
It is possible, however unlikely, that the Bulldogs will play a game in the Georgia Dome next year against the U.C.L.A. team that was jilted by Auburn on its first attempt to line up a neutral site date in Atlanta. For this to happen, Colorado would have to let Georgia out of its scheduled 2010 trip to Boulder.
While I am, in principle, in favor of playing the Bruins, I am against this move, for two main reasons:
1. I don’t want the 2010 Colorado game to be moved or cancelled. I’m proud of the way Damon Evans has restored Georgia’s tradition of national scheduling. I’m proud of the game the ‘Dawgs played at Arizona State and I’m looking forward to the games they’ll be playing at Oklahoma State, at Colorado, at Oregon, and at Louisville (well, O.K., maybe not so much at Louisville anymore, but still . . .) in the near future. I don’t want to tinker with that. It smacks of a return to the days when we would only play non-conference teams between the hedges. It also feels too much like what Tulane did to us in 2002. We scheduled the game; we should play the game.
2. We have nothing to gain from playing a regular-season game at the Georgia Dome. We already play one neutral site game every year. Scheduling another one makes no sense. That is trebly true of arranging a game in Atlanta. We reap recruiting benefits from going to Jacksonville to face Florida. We don’t need any more of a toehold in Atlanta than we already have and any benefit to be derived from teeing it up in the Dome may be gotten from S.E.C. championship games and Chick-fil-A Bowl appearances. Finally, I’m no math whiz, but it doesn’t seem to make much sense to give up having our fans get all but around 10,000 tickets in our 92,746-seat facility in exchange for having our fans get 50 per cent of the tickets in a 71,250-seat facility. Besides, who wants to go to downtown Atlanta for a regular-season college football game? Let the Tech fans do that.
You may put me resolutely in the "no" column on this one. I’d be more than happy to see the Bulldogs and the Bruins play once in the Rose Bowl and once in Sanford Stadium, but I see no point to meeting them in Atlanta for any purpose other than picking them up at the airport as a show of Southern hospitality before hosting them between the hedges.
Go ‘Dawgs!