The Countdown 2011: 92 Days to Go

Who was Steadman Sanford?

All Georgia fans know that Sanford Stadium is the home of the Georgia Bulldogs and has been since 1929. But you know who the man is that the stadium was named for? Steadman Vincent Sanford is one of the best known educators in Georgia history. He was born in Covington in 1871 and completed his Bachelor’s degree in English from Mercer University in 1890. For the next 13 years, he would become a predominant educator in Marietta, serving as the principal of Marietta High School and as the superintendent of Marietta Public Schools. In 1903, he came to the University where he would teach English and journalism.

In 1921, Sanford founded the Grady School of Journalism, serving as the department head until 1926. He then became President of the Franklin College and the dean of students. And in 1932, he was eventually named President of the University of Georgia. During this time, he was also very active in the develop of the university’s athletics department. He became faculty chairman of athletics in 1907 and held that position until he became President. He was the founding president of the Southern Conference in 1921. His most memorable contribution was to move athletic completion from Herty Field to the valley between North and South Campus. He helped lead the fundraising effort which lead to the completion of the new football stadium, which was named in his honor.

In 1935, he was promoted to the position of chancellor of the University System of Georgia. He remained active in education over the next decade, securing support from President Franklin Roosevelt for building programs as part of the New Deal. Sanford passed away in 1945 and is buried in Marietta, Georgia.

South Carolina Learns to Count, Places UGA at #6

Every year, someone ranks college football stadiums in terms of the size, the loudness, the atmosphere, or the impact on the game. Newspapers and blogs love to rank The Swamp and Tiger Stadium at the top for the volume, and Vaught-Hemingway and The Rose Bowl for the atmosphere, and the Horseshoe and Big House for sheer size.

In preparation for the SUC vs. Auburn game this weekend, Ron Morris, from http://www.thestate.com/, has compiled his top 12 most intimidating SEC stadiums based on his experience and opinion from attending games at each stadium. While he freely admits his ranking are subjective, I'm not sure I agree with his placement of Sanford Stadium at number 6 on the list, but I do think that UGA has slipped in its intensity for home games.

#1 stadium in the SEC for intimidation

From the post (click here) Mr. Morris writes of Sanford Stadium, "Georgia football has become too much of a social event in Athens. The world’s loudest and most obnoxious video board system also works against Georgia. It is a sure sign that Georgia has resorted to having to create noise instead of getting spontaneous crowd reaction."

So Dawg fans, what do you think? Has the expectation of winning reduced the intensity of the crowds? Have the short comings this year turned passion and volume from the fans on 4th and 1 situations into anger and dejected silence? Do people care too much about tailgating and not enough about their impact on the game-time atmosphere? Has UGA gone from being known for having the most obnoxious fans to the most obnoxious scoreboard?

Has Sanford lost its mojo?

The Countdown 2009: 15 Days to Go

15

Ranking for Sanford Stadium on the list of largest stadiums in the world. With a capacity of 92,746, it is the fifth largest on-campus stadium.

A Day in Athens 4 Weeks Before The Season Begins

As any of you who have been following our countdown know, we are just 29 days away from the start of the 2009 season. Georgia opens the season on the road in Stillwater, so our first game at Sanford is 5 weeks away. I was off work yesterday and decided to take a trip up to Athens. With the students not yet back from summer, campus was mostly dead and the stadium was rather empty. Below are some pictures I took walking around yesterday:

This is the new addition to the Tate Student Center

The view of the stadium standing at the new Tate. The old Tate can be seen as well (the red roof)

The Vince Dooley plaque that was placed inside the stadium last year.

A view of the stadium standing on the bridge

This pressure washer was the only person I actually saw inside the stadium

Another view of the field from the bridge. It was very strange seeing the grass without any lines on it and all of the Red seatbacks out of the stadium.

I also took some time to check out the vast amount of construction taking place on campus. Did you know there is now a parking deck at the intramural fields? The new band practice field also looks really nice. My last stop was to check out the new fraternity houses being built on River Road next to Kappa Sig. From the outside, I was very impressed. Here are the pictures below, though I have no clue which house belongs to which fraternity.

Over the next few weeks, we will begin our preseason analysis of the upcoming season beginning with the Bubba N' Earl preseason top 25.

Sanford Stadium Turns 80

Our home field, Sanford Stadium, turns 80 this fall. Here is a look at the history of our home field, known simply to many as "Between the Hedges".

"Building a stadium bigger than Tech"

In 1927, Georgia's football team was enjoying an undefeated season heading into its final game of the season again Georgia Tech. At the time Georgia did not have a football field that was able to accommodate a large number of spectators. For this reason, the annual match up between the two teams was almost always played at Georgia Tech's Grant Field in Atlanta. Georgia would lose to Tech, 12-0, and lost its perfect season. Allegations were brought that Georgia Tech had watered the field the entire night before the game, rendering Georgia's faster running game inept. This proved to be the final straw for Steadman Sanford. Sanford began a campaign asking Georgia alumni and friends to support the "building a stadium bigger than Tech" and he successfully raised $150,000. Construction soon began on the new stadium on area of campus above Tanyard Creek with a target opening for the 1929 season.

"All the while the sun was bearing down, and the Yale players, in their dark blue woolen jerseys and long blue socks, began looking for the water boy." - John Stegeman and Robert Willingham, Touchdown

On October 12, 1929, The University of Georgia officially dedicated Sanford Field as it welcomed Yale to Athens. The new stadium, with a final cost of $360,000, was completely sold out for the game that day. Nearly 30,000 fans had bought tickets in advance and another 3,000 standing room tickets were sold that morning to see the heavily favored team from Yale take on Georgia. Yale came in on the heels of an 89-0 beating of Vermont but would not be greeted kindly by the Dawgs that day. "Catfish" Smith would provide all the scoring Georgia would need as it blanked Yale, 15-0.

Between the Hedges

The man responsible for planting infant hedges around the field prior to the first game against Yale was Athletic Department Business Manager Charlie Martin. Martin had visited the Rose Bowl and had liked the rose bushes that circled the field. Because of the weather in Athens, privet hedges were used instead and remain a fixture in Sanford Stadium to this day.

Lights, an Upper Deck, and a National Championship

In 1940, lights were added to Sanford Stadium to allow games to go into the night and provide better visibility and 6,000 additional seats were added to South stands. In 1967, the field level lights were removed and architecture firm Heery and Heery was hired to add a second deck. The expansion cost nearly $3 million and expanded the seating capacity to nearly 59,000.

1980 would see the first undefeated National Championship season as Georgia won it all. The next year, the east end zone was enclosed, ending the days when students would watch games from the railroad tracks. Ten years later, the west end zone would also be closed, increasing capacity to 85,434.

Moving the Hedges for Soccer

In the summer of 1996, Atlanta played host to the world as the Olympics came to Georgia. Sanford Stadium was used as the venue for Olympic soccer. Due to the size of the field, the hedges were removed during the games and replanted before the start of the 1996 football season.

2000's Expansions and the Future

In 2003, the stadium once again underwent expansion as a second upper deck (the 600 level) was added. The following year, 27 additional sky suites were added, bringing the capacity of Sandford Stadium to its current level of 92,746.

A view of the new upper deck during the "Blackout" in 2007.

There is talk of potentially expanding the second upper deck around the East end zone. Below is an artist's rendering. If this expansion is completed it will bring the capacity of Sanford Stadium to more than 100,000.

For all its expansions and updates, Sanford Stadium remains a classic stadium filled with history. Here's to many more years of memories between the hedges!