FTRS Open Thread: Is Bobby Dodd Stadium Next To Be Re-Named?
by Winfield Featherston on Oct 20, 2010 1:00 PM EDT
in Georgia Tech Basketball
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PrintI am honestly emotionally upset that Georgia Tech has allowed themselves to stoop to such a level to allow for a Tech alum to selfishly buy the rights to name the basketball coliseum after himself. William Alexander was the successor of John Heisman, the predecessor of Bobby Dodd and now years later his family has figuratively been shown the door. Money talks, tradition dies. But hey, at least the family was asked if they wanted to purchase the naming rights. That's fair right? Right?
I was sitting on an airplane to Indiana when the question struck me:
Does this action by the GTAA allow for how much room to re-name Bobby Dodd Stadium and Grant Field?
What do you think?
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Sucks a little
Its a big asset to not utilize if the millions are there…but stinks of disloyality. Like when they stripped the name off the management school because the donors stocks devalued… Naming rights use to be a honor, now they are assets… Thank you baby boom generation for another lost family value.
M-Train Engineer, with significant experience in non-language related skills....
by A hellava Financial Engineer on Oct 20, 2010 1:14 PM EDT reply actions
CoM analogy not so good
The donor to CoM failed to fulfill his pledge, not that his stocks devalued. (Although that might be why he failed to come through.) The naming rights were conditioned on a gift of a certain magnitude. When he backed out, Wayne had no choice but to remove his name from the college. Otherwise, anybody could show up, promise a huge donation to get a name attached, and then back out.
The Institute has a policy that says that building names are not permanent, and in fact the new name for AMC could become the old name 30 years down the road if major renovations are undertaken. However, there is a requirement that renaming not occur except if a major gift is given to undertake significant renovations. For instance, Skiles Building could not be renamed just because somebody gave a big donation to Tech. However, if they gave a big donation that led to the disaster that is Skiles being gutted and significantly improved, they could have their name attached.
by NoDak_jacket on Oct 20, 2010 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions
CoM analogy not so bad
He committed 25mil to the school of business. And like a greedy SOB (sarcasm) he only gave 15-18…but it was stock donations…so he actually didnt give them any less then he promised they just where not worth what they were when he promised them. On top of that he was a famous alumni, probably one of the best Tech business alumni we have…so I felt at the time when this happened that it was a weak move on the part of the business department. Spend all that money on branding for dupree, and then retrack the name and replace it with…drumroll….nothing….I thought the classy move was to accept what he could give and keep the name, little love and let live action. Buck the trend. I guess I don’t expect it but it would have been the classy move.
M-Train Engineer, with significant experience in non-language related skills....
by A hellava Financial Engineer on Oct 20, 2010 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Skiles
Skiles is a disaster, we all agree on that. Pass the collection plate and lets just get the thing tore down…or Tech style – behind a top secret invisibility cloak…
M-Train Engineer, with significant experience in non-language related skills....
by A hellava Financial Engineer on Oct 20, 2010 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Complicated...
Let me start by pointing out that “Grant Field” is named after a NON-alumnus donor. Hugh Inman Grant was just the son of an Atlanta big wig that donated money for the stadium. Not a coach, player or student. Dodd’s name wasn’t added until much later.
That said, while a little plaza outside the new complex may not do William Alexander’s legacy justice, it is hard to turn down benefactor naming rights. It’s such an incentive for those who want to be known as supporters and philanthropists. Their name is tied to the Institute for ages.
I’ve always wondered why the names Heisman and Alexander were not on the football stadium. We could hyphenate. “Heisman – Alexander – Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field” Or we could do statues like everyone else…
Heisman has a statue
It used to be on display for everyone to see (and interact with), but when they renovated the stadium, they took his statue inside…sometimes it’s like Tech has more important things to think about than tradition and honor (like money).
I thought the Grants donated the land?
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John HeismanFromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Oct 20, 2010 2:03 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
According to Wikipedia's sources
John W. Grant donated $15,000 to build the first permanent seating for the field, which was acquired shortly after we hired Heisman. The field was then named after Grant’s deceased infant son, Hugh Inman Grant, and we’ve been playing there ever since. Apparently, this is longer than anyone else has been playing in the same spot in all D-IA football.
I, too, originally thought that the Grants donated the land, but the Technique article suggests otherwise. I have one of those gigantic GT Football coffee table books which recounts the story, so I’ll consult with it when I get home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Dodd_Stadium
http://web.archive.org/web/20070929140556/http://www.nique.net/issues/1999-10-15/campus+life/6
http://web.archive.org/web/20071016201916/http://gtalumni.org/Publications/timeline/1910s.html
good work thanks
searching on my phone is quite a chore sometimes
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John HeismanFromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Oct 20, 2010 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Oldest on-campus field in D-1A
Have to get all the qualifiers there. Some Ivy League schools have older stadiums, and at least one (but I can’t think of it at the moment) that plays off-campus has an older one.
Despite how great Bobby Dodd was, I was disappointed when they renamed Grant Field. I do not consider “Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field” an addition to the name; it’s a change. “Grant Field” is gone to all but pedants and old timers. You never hear it on TV.
I was fine with Third Street being renamed Bobby Dodd Way, since no name was taken away.
But I didn’t like Cain Street being named International Boulevard, and I don’t even know who Mr. Cain was. I just don’t like renaming things that already carry someone’s name.
same
feeling. See my post below.
by Atlanta's original team on Oct 21, 2010 7:14 AM EDT up reply actions
Noise
The real issue that I haven’t really heard mentioned yet is how the new ‘open air concourse’ feel will lend to making AMC as noisy as it always has been. I worry that a more open design will cause it to not be as loud as it is currently. Anyone else think this is possible?
noise what noise?
We have to win to generate noise. ZING
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John HeismanFromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Oct 20, 2010 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions
One and Dumb
What do you mean? I love watching the NBA developmental squad at GT. I mean they don’t win but look at all those medicre first rounders! YEAH BABY!
M-Train Engineer, with significant experience in non-language related skills....
by A hellava Financial Engineer on Oct 20, 2010 3:26 PM EDT reply actions
Feelings and symbols combine nostalgically
I hate losing the name Alexander but I cannot come up with a rational reason why. To be honest, at the time I was not really sure I liked changing Grant Field to Bobby Dodd stadium. The fact that they retained both names made it a little easier to take but more of a mouth full to say. My take on it is this. Live long enough and everything that you thought was sacred will eventually be erased in favor of the new. It hurts because it reminds us of our mortality as well as erasing our ties to the past. It is only after the fact that we tend to want to explain why keeping this name or that supports some important symbolic value.
On the other hand I have often fantasized about moving to Europe where history seems to last for a thousand years and nobody gets tired of it.
by Atlanta's original team on Oct 20, 2010 3:33 PM EDT reply actions
it sucks
We’re not a proper SEC (football) school OR ACC (basketball) school. If we had deep traditions in the latter, there’d be a fight to keep the name, or at least some better compromise. I doubt many would raise a ruckus if BDS@HFG were renamed, either.
Disagree strongly, I do
If BDS@HGF were on the renaming blocks, there would be a HUGE uproar. The only reason there isn’t an uproar over this is that 1) The basketball team sucks and no one really cares at the moment, and 2) There probably aren’t that many people who realize that Alexander refers to Coach Alexander.
At least they’re not renaming the court.
I've always said...
… that someday I want to be rich enough to get a building at Tech named after me.
yea
I would do anything to have Georgia techs basketball stadium named after myself.
They can name it what they want
it is still the TIT.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Oct 20, 2010 7:09 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
What do you mean?
We don’t have any tits here.
by LilBroey700 on Oct 20, 2010 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions
This
I’m a non-alum and I’ve always known it as the TIT. At least from the pics, it doesn’t look like they are changing that aspect of it.
"Everybody talks about SEC speed. The 27 fastest guys at the (NFL) combine, how many of them were from the SEC? Three. But if you say it enough, everybody will believe it."
-CPJ
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
I decided to rectify the situation
I have offically renamed my cubicle at work the Alexander Memorial Cubicle….People call it the Thundercube.
M-Train Engineer, with significant experience in non-language related skills....
by A hellava Financial Engineer on Oct 21, 2010 10:39 AM EDT reply actions
O'really?
Well, I just signed a huge contract with your company and they have agreed to rename your cubicle to the Jesse Gregg Area of Work @ the Alexander Memorial Cubicle.
"Everybody talks about SEC speed. The 27 fastest guys at the (NFL) combine, how many of them were from the SEC? Three. But if you say it enough, everybody will believe it."
-CPJ
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
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