I have been to many big events with huge crowds but what I witnessed Sunday during the final of the SEC Tournament was bizarre. I was one of 1,500 invited guests at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus that witnessed Georgia’s most improbable run to a SEC Championship. It was more of a State High School Tournament atmosphere complete with the old school buzzer in the arena. All that was missing was the Booster Club selling bad hot dogs and microwave pizzas at the concession stand.
The 2008 SEC Tournament was just plain weird. First, what are the odds of a F2 Tornado ripping through downtown Atlanta and damaging the Georgia Dome while the game is still going on!!! I’m glad I left the building a hour and a half before all hell broke loose. That the Georgia Bulldogs had to play and also win 2 games on Saturday with the Dogs first game vs Kentucky going overtime, then win the SEC title on Sunday on sheer guts and lastly, cutting the nets in the building of it’s bitter in-state rival, Georgia Tech.
Looking back on the series of events this weekend at the SEC Tournament, it’s easy to be tougue and cheek over this but in all seriousness, the Southeastern Conference had a herculean task ahead of them. Executive Associate Commissioner Mark Womack and his entire staff made the best of an extreme situation and pulled it off. Think about all the logistics that had to be worked out. Finding a venue, getting cooperation from the athletic directors of the remaining schools playing and the television partners to re-schedule the games and what to do with the fans who travelled with their teams, these were all challenges for the SEC. I asked Womack Sunday how much sleep he’s gotten and Mark just smiled and said "Not very much."
Next year, the ACC Tournament takes place at the Georgia Dome and yes, they do have a plan in case all hell breaks loose again in downtown Atlanta. But if I reveal it, they would have to kill me.
That’s it, I’m spent.
--John Wilkerson
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