Aug. 4, 2011
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of Georgia Tech Athletics
FROM: Dan Radakovich, Georgia Tech Director of Athletics
Hello from Georgia Tech Athletics. I trust you are all enjoying an eventful summer and are trying to stay cool on these sweltering August days. There is a lot of excitement around our place as football practice officially got underway yesterday. Our players and coaches were excited to try out the new John and Mary Brock Football Facility for the first time as the team worked both indoors and out during its initial sessions. The climate controlled space in the indoor facility made the conditions in the 100-degree heat just a bit more tolerable.
Fan Day is Saturday
We are looking forward to an excellent turnout this Saturday from 3-6 p.m. for our annual Fan Day at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Once again, we’ll have a lot of activities in and around the stadium, and gates to the field will open at 4 p.m. for access to the players, coaches and staff of our 2011 football team. This is always an enjoyable event, so I hope you’ll plan to come out and meet your 2011 Yellow Jackets.
Football Tickets
Football season tickets will be shipped via Federal Express beginning Monday (August 8th). No signature is required for the receipt of tickets. Our football season tickets are still moving, with several hundred purchased in the last few weeks. I urge you to get on board and bring your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. We have a fantastic seven-game home schedule that includes, Georgia, Clemson, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Maryland and Kansas, in addition to our home opener vs. Western Carolina on Thursday September 1st.
To date we have sold approximately 23,000 season tickets and of course great seats are still available in most sections of Bobby Dodd Stadium. Contact our box office at 1-888-TECH-TIX or go on line to purchase at www.ramblinwreck.com/tickets. One compelling reason to purchase a season ticket is to guarantee you’ll get a seat to the big rivalry game with Georgia. By the way, those season ticket holders who requested to purchase additional UGA tickets by the June 30 deadline are now assured that they will receive their full request and your credit card will be charged appropriately in the next 7-10 days. Those who requested to purchase after June 30 will be informed in early September. The allotment of additional UGA tickets for that group will be determined by the final season ticket sales number, which won’t be established until after the opening game on September 1. Again this year we are attempting to insure that all available UGA tickets not contractually committed are distributed to Georgia Tech season ticket holders.
Football Parking
Additionally, anyone who ordered parking by the end of July should receive those parking passes via email this week. If not, be sure to check your inboxes for those passes, from GTFootball@lanierparking.com, and let our game operations department (cwatts@athletics.gatech.edu) know if you have not received them.
Basketball Season Ticket Deadline is August 19
We have had a good response to our season basketball ticket opportunity with well over 1,000 renewed to date. We are offering a 10-game season ticket for games to be played at Philips Arena. This includes our eight ACC opponents and non-conference games vs. Alabama and vs. Northwestern in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Don’t forget that the deadline for renewal is August 19. Shortly after that date, we will begin the process assigning seating in Philips on a point priority basis. It is imperative that you make the deadline in order to claim the best possible seating option at your point level.
Kickoff Luncheon Set for August 26
Also, don’t forget to pick up your tickets to our annual Kickoff Luncheon, which has quickly become a highlight of the yearly calendar. This year’s event is set for Friday, August 26th at the Cobb Galleria. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. with the sit-down lunch and an always-entertaining program set to begin shortly before noon. Click here for information on purchasing individual seats or tables of 10.
Congratulations to our Summer Graduates
Eighteen former student-athletes are degree candidates to participate in the Summer 2011 Commencement Ceremony for Georgia Tech students earning their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. I know you will join me in sending along congratulations to these young people for achieving the goal of attaining a prestigious Georgia Tech degree. The list of summer graduates who are former student-athletes is listed below:
Summer 2011 Degree Candidates
Eric Billingslea, football, management
R.B. Clyburn, football, management
Russell Donovan, student manager, economics and international affairs
Bryce Dykes, football, industrial engineering
Mohamed Himedan, men’s track and cross country, electrical engineering
Tyler Hudson, football, international affairs
Sullivan Lynch, men’s swimming and diving, biology
Jordan McCullers, volleyball, management
Mark Mendrek-Laske, men’s track and cross country, industrial engineering
Maurice Miller, men’s basketball, management
Stephanie Morris, softball, science, technology and culture
Chioma Nnamaka, women’s basketball, international affairs
Jason Perry, baseball, management
Garrett Robberson, men’s swimming and diving, chemical & biomolecular engineering
Whit Robbins, baseball, management
Sarah Schoeff, women’s swimming and diving, science, technology and culture
Michael St. Denis, football, psychology
Lance Storrs, men’s basketball, management
Alexander Williams, men’s swimming, doctoral mechanical engineering
A Word About the NCAA and our Appeal
I want to use a moment of this initial post-summer Good Word to bring you up to speed on the recent developments regarding our NCAA issue. I’m sure you have read about the recent sanctions handed down to us by the Committee on Infractions. While we were issued harsh penalties, I want you to know that we had, and continue to have, a very different view than the NCAA on many aspects of this case. We have decided to appeal at least a portion of the sanctions we were given, specifically the vacation of the 2009 ACC Football championship. The coaches and young men who competed in Tampa in December of 2009 deserve nothing less. Georgia Tech is a place of honor and integrity, and that message must not be lost amidst the current news.
However, in the short term we will move forward. Over the nearly 20 months that this case was under review, we took that opportunity to strengthen all areas of our compliance department, and we will strive to be a model athletic program in the area of rules compliance. The sanctions as they now stand have no effect on our sports programs going forward in terms of our ability to compete at the highest level. This ruling by the NCAA will not dampen our resolve to continue to be a successful program in every way. We are all looking forward to a great 2011-12 school year.
The Skinny on Football Game Times
This time every year we get a lot of feedback from fans about the selection of football game times. For a number of years, college football fans have become accustomed to the variety of different start times and the short window in which games times are selected and communicated to us. Some of you may be more recent fans of college football and may not be aware of how the entire conference / television relationship works and how it effects when Georgia Tech and the rest of college football arrives at the times and dates on which we play.
This week, Sting Daily reporter Matt Winkeljohn wrote an article detailing the process so that fans might gain a better understanding. This knowledge might not make game-time issues easier to tolerate, but at least it will arm you with the facts as they exist. Here is the link to Matt’s interesting account.
Keep Up With Jacket Football
For those of you who can’t get enough information on Georgia Tech football, we offer you several options:
PreseasonCentral 2011 Information Guide Tech Football in the News Subscribe to Sting Daily
Volleyball Gets Started Monday
The Yellow Jackets will begin practice on Monday as they get ready for the 2011 season under third-year head coach Tonya Johnson. Tech returns all but two starters from a year ago and welcomes four freshmen to the roster. The 2011 opener will be August 26 against Kansas State at 7 p.m. in O’Keefe Gym as part of the Georgia Tech Courtyard Marriott Classic. The following day, the Yellow Jackets will face Tennessee Tech at 12:30 p.m. and Louisville at 7 p.m.
