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<blockquote data-quote="Techster" data-source="post: 385734" data-attributes="member: 360"><p>I think you're being idealistic about the motives behind "competition". If "competition" is all that matters, college wrestling, which is the purist form of competition would easily outpace college football. But it doesn't. Competition IS entertainment, and entertainment is content. Sports content is why ESPN, Fox, CBS, etc. pay BILLIONS of dollars for the rights to broadcast sports. Entertainment is also why that trash Kardashian show gets tens of millions of dollars...because it's content that entertains (unfortunately, there are people who get entertained by that). If competition in itself is why people watch sports, then why don't regular season games match the ratings of the Super Bowl? Because the Super Bowl is a spectacle that mixes sports with pop culture that has non sports fans tuning in to watch commercials and the half time show. For 4 hours, it's the premiere form of entertainment when it's on, and it's a cultural moment that can be shared at the office the next day. There are more articles written about the commercials and half time show after the Super Bowl than there are articles about the actual game itself.</p><p></p><p>Winning is important...it's very important, but it's not the only thing that matters. GT didn't miss a bowl game for almost 2 decades, and we've won 9 games twice, 11 games twice, and eight games once in a period of a decade. GT has been consistently winning more than the Falcons, Hawks, and Braves during that time period. Why does GT still struggle to bring in fans? Because Atlanta has so many other options to entertain the metro area, and that goes outside of sports as well. By your definition of competition, why isn't GT uniting the city of Atlanta like the Falcons, or Braves, or Hawks, or the new soccer team when they're winning? Because it's much more complicated than just "competition".</p><p></p><p>Let's look at it from this angle: CPJ, George O'Leary, and Bobby Ross were all successful winning at GT. Winning at GT is difficult. Similar to the saying "If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere". If you can win at GT, chances are VERY good you're going to win pretty much anywhere else. Bobby Ross proved that when he moved on to San Diego, O'Leary proved that at UCF (and he would have at ND if not for the whole resume flap). CPJ has had more sustained success at GT than both of those coaches. Yet there's no one knocking down the doors to get CPJ to coach them. There's no one knocking down the doors to get Navy's coach, or Army's coach to coach them. Heck, BYU only wanted Navy's coach if he was willing to change his offense, and that killed the deal. It's been widely agreed that the flex option is a system that will have schools winning faster than normal, but why is it more schools don't adopt the flex option system? It's because the winning isn't the only thing that matters. Recruiting matters. How you win matters. If there are other systems that are less difficult to recruit to, and is more palatable to fans, and that system can win just as much....why choose a system with the baggage that comes with the flex option?</p><p></p><p>Your line of reasoning that winning is paramount, and everything else should be secondary excludes one very important fact: Choice. Fans have a choice. Recruits have a choice. Decision makers have a choice. Despite our winning, sidewalk fans are choosing other forms of entertainment besides GT, recruits are choosing to play in other winning systems besides GT's, and decision makers often choose other schools besides GT (ever wonder why GT gets all those noon games?). As GT fans, I think it's myopic for us to say "Well, as long as GT wins, we shouldn't factor in anything else." Here's the other thing. What happens when the winning stops? 2 losing seasons in the last 3 years is the worst stretch of football since the early 90's...since the name who shouldn't be spoken.</p><p></p><p>The idealism of "winning is the only thing that matters" is commendable, but in the sports world (which is really the business world now) it gets you in trouble. Idealism cost GT 3 decades of wandering the sports desert because Bobby Dodd cut GT's nose to spite its face. In some ways, we are still paying for that decision. The irony is, the reason for Dodd leaving (scholarship limits) was later instituted by SEC members a few years later. Bobby Dodd was a winner...but winning didn't help too much after that decision, did it? Instead of working within the SEC to get changes passed, Bobby Dodd and his idealism took his ball home and hurt GT in the process.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Techster, post: 385734, member: 360"] I think you're being idealistic about the motives behind "competition". If "competition" is all that matters, college wrestling, which is the purist form of competition would easily outpace college football. But it doesn't. Competition IS entertainment, and entertainment is content. Sports content is why ESPN, Fox, CBS, etc. pay BILLIONS of dollars for the rights to broadcast sports. Entertainment is also why that trash Kardashian show gets tens of millions of dollars...because it's content that entertains (unfortunately, there are people who get entertained by that). If competition in itself is why people watch sports, then why don't regular season games match the ratings of the Super Bowl? Because the Super Bowl is a spectacle that mixes sports with pop culture that has non sports fans tuning in to watch commercials and the half time show. For 4 hours, it's the premiere form of entertainment when it's on, and it's a cultural moment that can be shared at the office the next day. There are more articles written about the commercials and half time show after the Super Bowl than there are articles about the actual game itself. Winning is important...it's very important, but it's not the only thing that matters. GT didn't miss a bowl game for almost 2 decades, and we've won 9 games twice, 11 games twice, and eight games once in a period of a decade. GT has been consistently winning more than the Falcons, Hawks, and Braves during that time period. Why does GT still struggle to bring in fans? Because Atlanta has so many other options to entertain the metro area, and that goes outside of sports as well. By your definition of competition, why isn't GT uniting the city of Atlanta like the Falcons, or Braves, or Hawks, or the new soccer team when they're winning? Because it's much more complicated than just "competition". Let's look at it from this angle: CPJ, George O'Leary, and Bobby Ross were all successful winning at GT. Winning at GT is difficult. Similar to the saying "If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere". If you can win at GT, chances are VERY good you're going to win pretty much anywhere else. Bobby Ross proved that when he moved on to San Diego, O'Leary proved that at UCF (and he would have at ND if not for the whole resume flap). CPJ has had more sustained success at GT than both of those coaches. Yet there's no one knocking down the doors to get CPJ to coach them. There's no one knocking down the doors to get Navy's coach, or Army's coach to coach them. Heck, BYU only wanted Navy's coach if he was willing to change his offense, and that killed the deal. It's been widely agreed that the flex option is a system that will have schools winning faster than normal, but why is it more schools don't adopt the flex option system? It's because the winning isn't the only thing that matters. Recruiting matters. How you win matters. If there are other systems that are less difficult to recruit to, and is more palatable to fans, and that system can win just as much....why choose a system with the baggage that comes with the flex option? Your line of reasoning that winning is paramount, and everything else should be secondary excludes one very important fact: Choice. Fans have a choice. Recruits have a choice. Decision makers have a choice. Despite our winning, sidewalk fans are choosing other forms of entertainment besides GT, recruits are choosing to play in other winning systems besides GT's, and decision makers often choose other schools besides GT (ever wonder why GT gets all those noon games?). As GT fans, I think it's myopic for us to say "Well, as long as GT wins, we shouldn't factor in anything else." Here's the other thing. What happens when the winning stops? 2 losing seasons in the last 3 years is the worst stretch of football since the early 90's...since the name who shouldn't be spoken. The idealism of "winning is the only thing that matters" is commendable, but in the sports world (which is really the business world now) it gets you in trouble. Idealism cost GT 3 decades of wandering the sports desert because Bobby Dodd cut GT's nose to spite its face. In some ways, we are still paying for that decision. The irony is, the reason for Dodd leaving (scholarship limits) was later instituted by SEC members a few years later. Bobby Dodd was a winner...but winning didn't help too much after that decision, did it? Instead of working within the SEC to get changes passed, Bobby Dodd and his idealism took his ball home and hurt GT in the process. [/QUOTE]
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