Talking with the AD

Talking with the AD, part 2 –

Now that school has started how you do see athletics at the school?

I think it’s real positive.  I heard a lot of the kids saying the other day we are going to win in football, we are going to win in softball, and we are going to win in basketball.   That’s what you want to hear.  The better softball does, the better football does, the better cross country does it will have an effect throughout the year. 

How does football look this year?

I really like their work ethic.  This senior group has been with us for four years.  They know what we expect from them, they seem to really like each other, they have a good work ethic and they seem to like playing with each other as far as being a team.  I can’t ask for better attitudes out of that senior group. 

Softball?

I got the opportunity to watch the play the other day [their 11-1 win over Johnson of Gainesville].  They are a young team, they have a group of kid that like playing together, that makes it exciting and fun, and they will be really good in a couple of years.  

Cross County, how do you replace Justin Whitman?

Somebody like Justin only comes around once in a while.  But we have a couple of young kids that should do pretty good in a couple of years.  The coach [Jim Norton]told me the other day they if they get bigger and stronger then they’ll do well.

How are the finances?

Hurting.  From all our sports, that’s 13 sports, we took in $51,000 in gate receipts.  Officials cost us between $15,000 to $20,000; football alone was $5000 to $6000.  Then the cost of just doing athletics, the stuff you have to have just to do an athletic event [OC spent nearly $2000 last year on field paint] was another $10,000.  So when it’s all said and done you have about $20,000 to split between 13 sports. And I’ll just tell you, football is the most expensive sport you can play.  When you pay $200 for a helmet and $200 for shoulder pads, and that’s just two of the items that go on a football player.  It’s just expensive.

So football makes money, basketball breaks even and all other sports loose money.

Track and field makes money.  Not a lot, but they are always above.  See, there are no officials we have to pay.  We charge five dollars to get in and there are no expenses, so they make money every time.  Baseball breaks even; they have a little bit of a gate but they have officials they have to pay.  Softball is the same way.  Soccer usually loses money because it’s a sport that’s played in the worse weather of the year.  The big money comes from football and basketball.  Basketball can generate money if they are good.  But the last couple of years basketball and football hasn’t been that good to draw the crowds.  So the pressure is on football and basketball.

There were times when I first got to Greene County where football wasn’t very good but basketball was packing the house, so they would carry the other sports.  Then, when football got to be pretty good it just so happened that basketball was down a little bit so football carried the other sports.  What you really want is for both of them to be good so they can carry athletics. 

You know, there is nothing better to do in this county than to come watch these kids.  Whether it’s a football game, or a baseball game, softball or soccer, there’s nothing better to do than to come out and watch these kids compete.  We don’t do a great job of packing the stadium on a Friday night.  The softball game the other day [OV vs. Johnson of Gainesville] didn’t have many people there and there should have been.  We have to get Oglethorpe County to come out and support these kids.  I hope we can support that this year by starting off winning. 

Check back later on in the week for the final part of Talking with the AD.