From OnlineAthens.com
April 16th, 2016 07:50 PM
Keep dreaming Kirby. It appears UGA is now awake.
Georgia’s new football coach Kirby Smart envisioned a packed-full Sanford Stadium for the spring game. The fans and the UGA athletic administration helped bring it to life on Saturday.
It was outlandish, really, to call for 93,000 people to show up for a scrimmage.
Think of all the outs on the table, all the reasons, excuses and explanations to instead watch on television or find out what happened later.
- It’s a spring game — rather, a scrimmage. Or, a practice.
- You had to show up hours early to sit close to the field or, for you seasoned vets, to claim a seat in the shade.
- Late arrivals would willingly have to scale heights, reach and remain (for at least the first half) in the 600 section.
- Even later arrivals would be forced to stand in the aisles and the stairwells.
If you didn’t show up, no big deal. Completely understandable.
But for the 93,000 people that did, you believe in the dream.
“I appreciate that, more than (the fans) know,” Smart said. “Our kids appreciate that.”
Kirby came from Alabama, learned how to win working for Nick Saban. That’s certainly where he discovered and mastered how to use his imagination to set goals to steer the program to accomplish ultimately what everybody wants.
Kirby wants to fill up Sanford for G-Day? OK. Now that order has to be carried out.
The UGA athletic administration, led by athletic director Greg McGarity — who has had a few unimpressive PR moments in the transition from Mark Richt to Smart — fulfilled Kirby’s request.
Parking, concessions, safety, entertainment, everything was handled.
Atlanta rapper Ludacris played a 13-minute show that was relevant enough for recruits, current players and most of the fan base to round out and bolster the event.
“Ludacris was amazing,” former linebacker Amarlo Herrera, now with the Indianapolis Colts, said. “They packed this thing out.”
That means there was planning. There was execution.
That means Kirby should keep dreaming. What else could he imagine for his program? An SEC championship. A national title. Dream. Plan. Execute.
In the past, UGA has gotten in it’s own way. The Bulldogs have been good, not great. Others around the SEC, namely Alabama and Florida, got theirs.
Measures were taken last offseason, in the form of investment of money and resources, to raise expectations and to meet that higher standard.
The move from Richt to Kirby was another step in that progression.
Still, for Georgia to reach the highest level, it needed Kirby to dream big. And the administration had to wake up.
G-Day shows that Kirby has vision and that Georgia can accommodate his dreams.
“It speaks volumes for where Georgia is headed and what Georgia can do,” Smart said. “Because I’ve always said, why not us?”
Hundreds of former players came back to watch Saturday. It's important that group buys in and believes. As former long snapper Ty Frix put it from his seat among the 93k, G-Day was “the most unexpected, exciting thing I have seen in a long, long time.”
Hundreds of potential future players were there, too. That’s who Kirby needs to convince the most.
“You’ll see,” Smart said. “(Recruits) were there and they all were fired up. They couldn’t believe it. They were ecstatic. There was a lot of good players here.”
Some of the changes, you can’t disagree were for the best. The indoor practice facility currently in the making, increased support staff and new direction in strength and conditioning were a must.
The merit and moral pros and cons of other new ideas can be debated — there’s plenty of people on both sides of the new policy to restrict transfers and the state legislature changing the open records law for athletic departments in the state.
But what is undeniable is that, so far, Kirby gets what Kirby wants. And if you’re a Georgia fan, maybe one of those 93,000 in Sanford on Saturday, that’s what you want. That's what you need.
“I’m just happy to be part of us, being home, that means a lot to me,” Smart said.
This is Kirby’s Dream Land.
...READ MORE HERE...
April 16th, 2016 07:50 PM
Keep dreaming Kirby. It appears UGA is now awake.
Georgia’s new football coach Kirby Smart envisioned a packed-full Sanford Stadium for the spring game. The fans and the UGA athletic administration helped bring it to life on Saturday.
It was outlandish, really, to call for 93,000 people to show up for a scrimmage.
Think of all the outs on the table, all the reasons, excuses and explanations to instead watch on television or find out what happened later.
- It’s a spring game — rather, a scrimmage. Or, a practice.
- You had to show up hours early to sit close to the field or, for you seasoned vets, to claim a seat in the shade.
- Late arrivals would willingly have to scale heights, reach and remain (for at least the first half) in the 600 section.
- Even later arrivals would be forced to stand in the aisles and the stairwells.
If you didn’t show up, no big deal. Completely understandable.
But for the 93,000 people that did, you believe in the dream.
“I appreciate that, more than (the fans) know,” Smart said. “Our kids appreciate that.”
Kirby came from Alabama, learned how to win working for Nick Saban. That’s certainly where he discovered and mastered how to use his imagination to set goals to steer the program to accomplish ultimately what everybody wants.
Kirby wants to fill up Sanford for G-Day? OK. Now that order has to be carried out.
The UGA athletic administration, led by athletic director Greg McGarity — who has had a few unimpressive PR moments in the transition from Mark Richt to Smart — fulfilled Kirby’s request.
Parking, concessions, safety, entertainment, everything was handled.
Atlanta rapper Ludacris played a 13-minute show that was relevant enough for recruits, current players and most of the fan base to round out and bolster the event.
“Ludacris was amazing,” former linebacker Amarlo Herrera, now with the Indianapolis Colts, said. “They packed this thing out.”
That means there was planning. There was execution.
That means Kirby should keep dreaming. What else could he imagine for his program? An SEC championship. A national title. Dream. Plan. Execute.
In the past, UGA has gotten in it’s own way. The Bulldogs have been good, not great. Others around the SEC, namely Alabama and Florida, got theirs.
Measures were taken last offseason, in the form of investment of money and resources, to raise expectations and to meet that higher standard.
The move from Richt to Kirby was another step in that progression.
Still, for Georgia to reach the highest level, it needed Kirby to dream big. And the administration had to wake up.
G-Day shows that Kirby has vision and that Georgia can accommodate his dreams.
“It speaks volumes for where Georgia is headed and what Georgia can do,” Smart said. “Because I’ve always said, why not us?”
Hundreds of former players came back to watch Saturday. It's important that group buys in and believes. As former long snapper Ty Frix put it from his seat among the 93k, G-Day was “the most unexpected, exciting thing I have seen in a long, long time.”
Hundreds of potential future players were there, too. That’s who Kirby needs to convince the most.
“You’ll see,” Smart said. “(Recruits) were there and they all were fired up. They couldn’t believe it. They were ecstatic. There was a lot of good players here.”
Some of the changes, you can’t disagree were for the best. The indoor practice facility currently in the making, increased support staff and new direction in strength and conditioning were a must.
The merit and moral pros and cons of other new ideas can be debated — there’s plenty of people on both sides of the new policy to restrict transfers and the state legislature changing the open records law for athletic departments in the state.
But what is undeniable is that, so far, Kirby gets what Kirby wants. And if you’re a Georgia fan, maybe one of those 93,000 in Sanford on Saturday, that’s what you want. That's what you need.
“I’m just happy to be part of us, being home, that means a lot to me,” Smart said.
This is Kirby’s Dream Land.
...READ MORE HERE...
