Over the past few weeks, the college football world in the Deep South has been abuzz about the hiring of new Georgia State coach Bill Curry.
Since State decided to push forward with erecting a football program — amidst protests of concerned faculty — the Panthers have made a splash in hiring recognizable names in which the adoring public can identify with.
Curry will work along side former NFL coach Dan Reeves in starting the fifth Division I football program in the state, playing their first game in 2010. Excitement has been so recognizable that even ESPN.com ran on poll on its college football page asking fans whether the Panthers will have a winning season in its initial five years.
State feels that Curry, 65, and Reeves, 64, will have no problem recruiting and relating to the new age of college football prospect. The ones that weigh facilities and chances of making it to professional football much heavier than winning.
State also feels playing in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome is the perfect fit to draw large crowds against notable non-conference competition.
Unfortunately, the odds are against what Panthers fans call, “the real GSU” (if you want to get technical, Grambling State was founded before either of Georgia’s GSU’s, so I think they get the nod by default. Sorry Governors State).
Georgia State’s successes will no doubt be measured against its neighbors to the south in Statesboro. The Eagles, however, are the anomaly. Brand new football programs are not supposed to win a National Championship in their fourth season, then do it again the next year and once more three years later.
The Georgia Dome may indeed see large crowds at the outset, but once Colonial cohorts Towson and William & Mary get off the planes at Hartsfield-Jackson, don’t expect 50,000.
The Georgia State student isn’t exactly the prototypical sports fan either — if I can make a rash generalization. One trip through The Village and a survey of co-eds points to a latte in Midtown over a barbecue in the bowels of the Dome parking lot before a midday match with Maine.
Certainly, the Panthers have their work cut out for them. They may very well indeed be the next miracle football story to take the state by storm in the last 30 years. Realistically, they’ll be lucky to have a record as mediocre as mine.
Running out of excuses: 16-22.
Tennis, yes, rather, quite
For those of you who enjoy the ol’ whistle of the wacket, Wimbledon starts this morning.
All the speculation will surround Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard — Are you not entertained! — won his first ever tourney on grass last week and experts believe it could be the push he needs to win in England.
But with the Fourth of July fast approaching, I think it’s time for some real fireworks. I’m going with James Blake to shock the tennis world and win at Wimbledon.
Since State decided to push forward with erecting a football program — amidst protests of concerned faculty — the Panthers have made a splash in hiring recognizable names in which the adoring public can identify with.
Curry will work along side former NFL coach Dan Reeves in starting the fifth Division I football program in the state, playing their first game in 2010. Excitement has been so recognizable that even ESPN.com ran on poll on its college football page asking fans whether the Panthers will have a winning season in its initial five years.
State feels that Curry, 65, and Reeves, 64, will have no problem recruiting and relating to the new age of college football prospect. The ones that weigh facilities and chances of making it to professional football much heavier than winning.
State also feels playing in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome is the perfect fit to draw large crowds against notable non-conference competition.
Unfortunately, the odds are against what Panthers fans call, “the real GSU” (if you want to get technical, Grambling State was founded before either of Georgia’s GSU’s, so I think they get the nod by default. Sorry Governors State).
Georgia State’s successes will no doubt be measured against its neighbors to the south in Statesboro. The Eagles, however, are the anomaly. Brand new football programs are not supposed to win a National Championship in their fourth season, then do it again the next year and once more three years later.
The Georgia Dome may indeed see large crowds at the outset, but once Colonial cohorts Towson and William & Mary get off the planes at Hartsfield-Jackson, don’t expect 50,000.
The Georgia State student isn’t exactly the prototypical sports fan either — if I can make a rash generalization. One trip through The Village and a survey of co-eds points to a latte in Midtown over a barbecue in the bowels of the Dome parking lot before a midday match with Maine.
Certainly, the Panthers have their work cut out for them. They may very well indeed be the next miracle football story to take the state by storm in the last 30 years. Realistically, they’ll be lucky to have a record as mediocre as mine.
Running out of excuses: 16-22.
Tennis, yes, rather, quite
For those of you who enjoy the ol’ whistle of the wacket, Wimbledon starts this morning.
All the speculation will surround Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard — Are you not entertained! — won his first ever tourney on grass last week and experts believe it could be the push he needs to win in England.
But with the Fourth of July fast approaching, I think it’s time for some real fireworks. I’m going with James Blake to shock the tennis world and win at Wimbledon.
