GA News: OnlineAthens - Playing the UGA-Florida name game from ‘Cocktail Party’ to ‘River City

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From OnlineAthens.com
October 25th, 2016 10:13 AM

It may be frowned upon in some circles to call the annual Georgia-Florida game by the name it was long known by but Verne Lundquist doesn’t feel the need to toe the line.
“Verne, what’s that game called?” analyst Gary Danielson asked during an in-game promo during the CBS SEC broadcast over the weekend for this Saturday’s game.
Lundquist, retiring from calling football after this season, referred somewhat off script that it used to be called: “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”
Danielson replied: “Last year, what can they do to you?”
“What are they going to do fire me?” Lundquist said.
Some on Twitter on Monday wanted to fire whoever thought calling the annual game in Jacksonville the “River City Showdown." That's how it is referred to in T-shirts being sold on the schools’ online stores and other places on the Internet.
That’s not an official name for the game, according to Alan Thomas, Georgia’s associate athletic director for external affiars.
He points out that “licensees have used a number of references in the past around the game on product (including this one).” Georgia and Florida “have not designated any kind of naming to the game in any manner other than allowing licensees to create product bearing the marks in association with their other (artwork).”
The City of Jacksonville’s website for the game doesn’t make mention of the “River City Showdown.” The Alabama-Florida game in 2007 used the name for its matchup in Jacksonville, which has more shoreline than any other city in the U.S., according to its tourism website.
The schools announced in March they had agreed to a five-year extension for the game with the city after this year’s meeting after signing a term sheet. But a formal contract extension has not come up for approval before the Jacksonville City Council, according to WOKV.com, which reports it is before the schools’ attorneys.
Then Georgia president Michael Adams along with Florida and the SEC in 2006 pushed for the “Cocktail Party” name to be put to a halt, particularly on CBS, in an effort to curb binge drinking by college students. The term came about in 1958 by a Florida Times-Union sports writer and still resonates.
An email sent to Onlineathens.com this week by Johnsonville ahead of the game offered a recipe for tailgating for the “Barking Bloody Mary.” It featured smoked beef brats and was “created so fans could display their team spirit,” with a drink that also included sweet tea vodka, okra juice and hot sauce.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart mentioned on his radio show that the ‘Cocktail’ term was outlawed and he avoided mentioning it when a reporter raised the subject Monday.
“Are you trying to lead me in to saying the word?,” Smart said. “Call it Georgia-Florida game.”



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