Article - how Atlanta became the CFB capital

Yukonwreck said:
I am not suggesting that, but the facts would suggest it. Dodd, born in rural Virginia in 1908 to parents who were likely born in the 1880's, probably held strong beliefs on social issues that were quite different than yours or mine. When he said the state universities could sign players that Tech couldn't, it is not a stretch to decode that as referring to African American players. He never said he was unwilling to recruit them, but the academic bar was and is very high. How did he compete in recruiting in the 1950's, but not in the 1960's? What changed? It isn't rocket surgery. My conclusion has always been that his decision was not racist, just pragmatic. But part of that is because I want it to be that way.
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Fair enough and very well argued.
 
Yukonwreck said:
I am not suggesting that, but the facts would suggest it. Dodd, born in rural Virginia in 1908 to parents who were likely born in the 1880's, probably held strong beliefs on social issues that were quite different than yours or mine. When he said the state universities could sign players that Tech couldn't, it is not a stretch to decode that as referring to African American players. He never said he was unwilling to recruit them, but the academic bar was and is very high. How did he compete in recruiting in the 1950's, but not in the 1960's? What changed? It isn't rocket surgery. My conclusion has always been that his decision was not racist, just pragmatic. But part of that is because I want it to be that way.
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I suppose we have more advantages in that regard today since the gap is smaller than it was and we have degrees available for those who couldn't handle an engineering course load. Really we have so many different way we shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to recruiting and marketing, I don't see the difficulty of academics as the major turnoff. We have simply not been doing the best we can. Which is why I don't buy the Tech football can't be salvaged bs.
 
ClydeBrick said:
There it is, the "defeatist attitude" in Dodd's own words.

A general comment, not directed at sbj: I will never understand why some Tech fans will act like all we have to do is recruit better/coach better/Dodd better and GT will return to consistent winning ways, especially when Bobby Dodd himself thought it wasn't going to be possible.
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Akinji07 said:
I suppose we have more advantages in that regard today since the gap is smaller than it was and we have degrees available for those who couldn't handle an engineering course load. Really we have so many different way we shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to recruiting and marketing, I don't see the difficulty of academics as the major turnoff. We have simply not been doing the best we can. Which is why I don't buy the Tech football can't be salvaged bs.
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You mean the GBG's or whatever the hell that crap was didn't help?
 
Akinji07 said:
I suppose we have more advantages in that regard today since the gap is smaller than it was and we have degrees available for those who couldn't handle an engineering course load. Really we have so many different way we shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to recruiting and marketing, I don't see the difficulty of academics as the major turnoff. We have simply not been doing the best we can. Which is why I don't buy the Tech football can't be salvaged bs.
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I have been saying the same things for a while.
 
Akinji07 said:
Another piece of civil war history from your resident Turk, did you know residents of Roswell burned down their own buildings that had food and transport supplies before the union army got there?
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There were true patriots once upon a time in Sandy Springs.
 
Akinji07 said:
Savannah didn't get burned down because the city leaders met Sherman outside of Savannah and paid him off. Anyone who knows Savannah history knows that.
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I thought that was Constantinople.

Sherman just made them change the name of the city.
 
Yukonwreck said:
I am not suggesting that, but the facts would suggest it. Dodd, born in rural Virginia in 1908 to parents who were likely born in the 1880's, probably held strong beliefs on social issues that were quite different than yours or mine. When he said the state universities could sign players that Tech couldn't, it is not a stretch to decode that as referring to African American players. He never said he was unwilling to recruit them, but the academic bar was and is very high. How did he compete in recruiting in the 1950's, but not in the 1960's? What changed? It isn't rocket surgery. My conclusion has always been that his decision was not racist, just pragmatic. But part of that is because I want it to be that way.
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What other SEC schools were recruiting black players in the 60’s? My guess is none to very few. It was Alabama that Dodd always referred to when discussing crooked recruiting, and they certainly weren’t bringing in black players.

I think the big shift was the change in attitude about the military. A huge part of our advantage early on was the Navy barracks and program in Atlanta. Tech and the Academies dropped at about the same time, and I don’t think it was a coincidence.
 
WracerX said:
What other SEC schools were recruiting black players in the 60’s? My guess is none to very few. It was Alabama that Dodd always referred to when discussing crooked recruiting, and they certainly weren’t bringing in black players.

I think the big shift was the change in attitude about the military. A huge part of our advantage early on was the Navy barracks and program in Atlanta. Tech and the Academies dropped at about the same time, and I don’t think it was a coincidence.
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https://www.theatlantic.com/enterta...ege-football-didnt-happen-in-one-game/281557/

The 1970 college football game between the University of Alabama and the University of Southern California may not truly be “the most important game in college football history.” But when the superb documentary Against the Tidesuggests that it is, it’s hard not to want to agree.
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smokey_wasp said:
Even Savannah was more important throughout much of history. Sherman burned Atlanta for good measure, but Savannah was the prize and Lincoln's Christmas gift.
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The loss of Atlanta was a critical point in the war. It ensured that Lincoln would win the election of 1864. If Atlanta had not fallen before the election, George McClellan might have been elected and negotiated an end to the war. Savannah was obviously the most important city until the advent of the railroads.
 
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