Easy Way Out

I would like to get this in before all of the Vegas recaps because it really pisses me off. The AJC reported earlier this week that there have been talks of moving the Georgia-Florida game to the Georgia Dome once every 4 years (Link: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2009/03/20/georgia-florida-game-moving-to-atlanta-worlds-largest-outdoor-cocktail-party-mulls-moving-up-i-75/?cxntfid=blogs_uga_sports_blog). I know they are only pushing for one out of four but come on. PWD wrote a great piece on the situation and to quote him (I could not have said it any better myself) "this is the chicken shit way out."

Nobody was complaining back in the 70s or 80s when we were kicking their ass. Now we are on the receiving end of those ass whoopings and it is suddenly the city of Jacksonville's fault. I don't get it. The only pro and I stress ONLY pro to moving the game to the Dome is that it is a shorter trip for the football team. Having it at the Dome will not give Georgia a home field advantage just like I don't think playing the game in J'ville gives the Gators a home field advantage.

Face it, the tailgating sucks around the Dome, there will be about 10,000 less tickets to go around because the smaller capacity, and the weather will more than likely be nowhere near as good as it usually is in J'ville. Not to mention "World's Largest Indoor Cocktail Party" just doesn't have the same ring.

Having the game at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, on the banks of the St. John's, provides the perfect atmosphere for a rivalry game of this magnitude. People are not going to get to Atlanta on Tuesday to park their RV's. There is no Brother Beach (aka St. Simons) around Atlanta unless you want to go hang out at Lake Lanier. J.D. couldn't go to "the Rock" and that would be disappointing if he couldn't do his broadcasts "live poolside." That is the highlight of his year. I guess Buckhead would take the place of the Landing which I could handle but wouldn't want to regardless. There is certainly no reason to have fall break at Georgia seeing as how 90% of the student body is from Atlanta so there is no reason to get out early and leave town on Thursday. A J'ville game gives south Georgia fans who can't make it to Athens regularly something to look forward to. Basically, there is not one upside from a fan's perspective to having this game anywhere other than Jacksonville (I would consider a home and home series).

While I can't speak from a player's perspective (I'll ask Rod about this when I'm up in Athens for G-Day) I can't see any positives to playing the game in the Dome either. Hell wouldn't playing on that turf make Florida's speedy playmakers even faster. Call me crazy but I don't think that's such a good idea. Plus, for all the pomp and circumstance CMR gets about his damn road record, you would think we would want to play this game as far from Athens as possible. Of course, with this being a neutral game it doesn't factor into that impressive away game record.

I think bye weeks have a lot to do with it and Florida has certainly benefited from that more going back to the early 90s. The Dawgs have caught some bad breaks as well, especially recently in '05. Had Shockley played that game I think Georgia wins by 20+.

Here's the bottom line: It's not Jacksonville's fault we are 3 out of the last however many. The stadium didn't make Shock throw it Gus Scott in '02. It didn't make Bennett miss 3 field goals for the second time in that '03 season. Get over this "we need to change the series up by moving it to Georgia" shit. Man up (or Dawg up if you would prefer), go out their and beat those blue and orange bastards within an inch of their life. CMR (who proposed the game be alternated between J'ville and the Dome a few years back) is 2-6 against Florida and that is just UNACCEPTABLE especially considering Zook was there for 3 years. Even in the 3 years we went to the SEC Championship game we didn't beat the Gators. The SEC East runs through Jacksonville now and unless we start beating these guys with a little more regularity we won't even sniff another championship. "Rule #76 no excuses play like a champion"-Jeremy Grey from Wedding Crashers.


No easy way out Mark. CUM is your Ivan Drago. Now go train hard and knock his ass out for Bulldog Nation...