ATLANTA — The College Football Hall of Fame won’t open for another 15 months in Atlanta, but organizers gave a sneak peek of the building Wednesday.

#Steve Hatcher, president of the National Football Foundation, and John Stephenson, the president and CEO of the College Football Hall of Fame, answered questions and gave a virtual tour of the building at the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

#“It is, first and foremost, a stage for the National Football Foundation to celebrate the Hall of Fame and the history,” Stephenson said. “Second, it’s a usable asset for the city. It will continue to grow this area of Atlanta with this addition. But it’s also a celebration of the game. If you look at the exhibitory, we are really connecting the people that visit the building with their passion for college football.”

#The College Football Hall of Fame is expected to open in August 2014. It will be located on Marietta Street in downtown Atlanta across the street from Centennial Olympic Park and next to the Omni Hotel. It’s being built on what used to be the green parking lot at the Georgia World Congress Center.

#The College Football Hall of Fame will be a nice addition to other nearby attractions, including the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which will open next May.

#”We needed a spectacular Hall of Fame,” Hatcher said. “I think what you’ll see, being in Atlanta, Ga., is just about a perfect combination of a sustainable, exciting, awesome Hall of Fame for football.”

#The Hall of Fame will feature a store front on Marietta Street and upon entering the building guests will be greeted by a helmet wall of every college program with a football team.

#Fans of a particular school can customize their visit by selecting their team and learning more about them during the tour.

#“What we’ve got in here is a really cool experience,” Stephenson said. “With the technology with we have today, we can really customize the visitor experience.”

#There’s a 150-seat, 3-D theater along with an exhibit with artifacts and interactive attractions and kids activities.

#A 45-yard-long field sits in the middle of the building as a commons area that will have punt, pass and kick games and can be used as a main event space for banquets and dinners.

#The pinnacle of the experience is the hall of fame itself on the top floor.

#“The Hall of Fame is clearly the nicest room in the building,” Stephenson said.

#The Hall of Fame will be open seven days a week, 364 days a year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $17.50 and the average length of a visit is expected to be 1 1/2 hours

#An estimated 500,000 visitors are expected to visit the hall of fame annually. By comparison, the Georgia Aquarium has two million visitors, the World of Coca-Cola has one million and the CNN tour has 350,000.

#“It’s a place where you’re going to come and have a good time if you’re sort of a marginal football fan,” Stephenson said. “If you’re a huge college football fan and aficionado, you’re going to come in here and get all you want from a historical perspective.”

#The opening of the Hall of Fame will coincide with the Chick-fil-A kickoff game August 30, 2014, which will feature Ole Miss vs. Boise State and Alabama vs. West Virginia at the nearby Georgia Dome. Atlanta will also be a host for a semifinal game in the new college football playoff during the 2016 season.

#“It’s a big year for us here in Atlanta,” Stephenson said. “It’s by design that we picked that as our target opening.”

#The College Football Hall of Fame was established in 1951. Its home has been in South Bend, Ind., just two miles from the University of Notre Dame campus, since 1995. The Hall of Fame drew about 80,000 visitors a year and in 2009 it was announced it would be moving to Atlanta.

#“The No. 1 thing in the Hall of Fame is sustainability,” Hatcher said. “You can build in a lot of great places, but if people don’t come to it, it’s a big empty building. (Atlanta is) an area that cares about it, meaning the southeast part of the country. That was a combination that can’t go away.”

#There are more than 900 players and 200 coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame. A strict criteria of being a First-Team All-American for players and a coach with 10 years experience and a 60 percent winning percentage make it one of the most precious halls of fame.

#“We needed a place that really said it is special,” Hatcher said.

See Photo here:
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/may/23/sneak-peak-given-new-college-football-hall-fame-at/?sports

I've been to Magic Mountain a couple of times. I enjoyed it. But I like Universal the best. Most of there rides are insde and just when you think you have turned the corner and is near to getting on the ride you have another 45 minutes of waiting to go.....

Ahhhh these days a real freak will have sex with you at anytime. It won't matter what time of the month, day or place and they could care less about you. I know because I am a .........

Dude/Dudess if you share that list there will be people on this board waiting to tear Fote Balley State a new a--. No one is going to be 100% perfect for the job. Why open up a can of worms? What's done is done. Keep that shyt to yourself or privately send a message.....

Know that the Scarlet and White will Reign Supreme on that faithful day in the Cleveland Browns Stadium. I'm just saying.

If Tuskegee doesn't make it someone will be pissed to the MAX........They will want Slater's head..........

Is that WSSU's team in the photo? Look like they have about 20 something white kids and about 5 blacks on the team. Is your head coach white or black? Guess we might as well use them like they use us. Are there not enough talented black kids in your area or is anybody looking?.........

247 showed up and more to follow. That's very impressive! One of them had better not be a good starting Quarterback.......

By CHASE GOODBREAD

The Associated Press

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. —


The University of Alabama's January trip to Miami resulted in a second consecutive BCS national championship and another layer to the Crimson Tide's football tradition. On those things, a price can't be placed.

But for the trip itself, the price tag was very real.

Through an open records request, The Tuscaloosa News obtained the school's expense report, which it filed with the NCAA, detailing total costs of $3.4 million.

The largest expense covered meals and lodging for the team, school officials, the Million Dollar Band and cheerleaders. The full travel party was 881 people, with the band and cheerleader party representing 457 of those on a five-day stay. The team travel party was 340 over seven days, while 84 school officials traveled four days.

The team's accommodations were made at one of the nation's most prestigious hotels, the Miami South Beach Fontainebleau, which was featured in the James Bond film "Goldfinger."

Transportation costs were $598,465, with the team travel party accounting for about three quarters of that.

UA reported 2,003 absorbed game tickets valued at $751,380, which were withheld for internal distribution. UA absorbed nearly the same number of tickets (2,044) a year earlier for the 2012 BCS National Championship Game against LSU.

According to Forbes magazine, Alabama earned a $23.6 million payout for the BCS title game against Notre Dame, which will be split among Southeastern Conference schools. Alabama's share of the conference's total bowl payout won't be known until the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., this month.

UA's expense report also included its responses to an NCAA bowl survey, in which UA suggested more bench passes be allocated to participating teams, given the increase in football staff personnel. Alabama also noted on the survey that the team hotel's transition from hosting Orange Bowl teams Florida State and Northern Illinois to BCS title foes UA and Notre Dame presented "many challenges," and suggested different team hotels in the future.

UA responded "satisfied" or "very satisfied" to nearly every survey question about its bowl experience in Miami. Questions ranged from the team's accommodations and entertainment schedule to ticket allotments and on-site practice facilities.

___

Information from: The Tuscaloosa News, http://www.tuscaloosanews.com

Copyright The Associated Press
http://www.ajc.com/news/ap/travel/alabamas-championship-came-with-price-tag/nXjgM/

Caldwell "Pops" Jones (born August 4, 1950) is a retired American professional basketball player.

Jones was drafted from Albany State University (Georgia) by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA Draft. He played 3 seasons in the American Basketball Association and 14 seasons in the NBA, most extensively with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jones led the ABA in blocked shots in the 1973-74 season, and played in the 1975 ABA All-Star Game. He shares (with Julius Keye) the ABA's all-time record for blocked shots in a game with 12.[1]

His brothers, Charles Jones, Wil Jones and Major Jones, all played at Albany State and in the NBA.



The most prominent of four brothers who played in the NBA, Caldwell Jones was best known as the least flamboyant member of the high-powered Philadelphia 76ers teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Playing alongside Julius Erving and company, Jones didn’t need to score much with Philadelphia, so he concentrated on rebounding, shotblocking, and defense. A lanky yet strong 6-foot-11 pivotman, his hustle, board work, and defense kept him in professional basketball for 17 years.

Playing in his final season at age 39, he was the fifth-oldest NBA player ever to have suited up at the time. He finished with 10,068 points (in the NBA and the American Basketball Association), but it had taken him 1,227 games to rack them up. No other player who scored 10,000 points had ever needed more than 1,200 games to do so.

“Everybody likes to look at the glorified part of the game, like scoring points,” Jones told USA Today in 1990. “But there is a lot more to the game. I look at myself like an offensive lineman. Someone has to open the holes for the 1,000-yard rushers.” “What do I think of Caldwell Jones? When he retires, I think they should have a farewell tour for him,” Larry Brown, Jones’s coach with the San Antonio Spurs, told USA Today.

Jones grew up in McGehee, Arkansas, a member of a very tall family. The 6-foot-3 Caldwell Jones, Sr., and his wife, 5-foot-11 Cecelia, had eight children. Their shortest child was Clovis, the only daughter, who measured in at 6-foot-3. Four of the Jones boys played in the NBA: Wilbert (6-foot-8, one season each with the Indiana Pacers and the Buffalo Braves, plus seven seasons with three ABA teams), Caldwell (five NBA and three ABA teams), Major (6-foot-9, five seasons with the Houston Rockets, one with the Detroit Pistons), and Charles (6-foot-9, 15 seasons total with Philadelphia, the Chicago Bulls, the Washington Bullets, Detroit and the Houston Rockets). Two other brothers played minor league basketball.

In the 37 NBA seasons accumulated by the four Jones brothers, only once did a Jones post a scoring average in double figures—Wilbert did it in 1976–77 with the Pacers, tallying 13.0 points per game. (However, between them the brothers had several double-figure scoring seasons in the ABA.)

Oliver Jones was the first of the Jones brothers to play basketball at Albany State in Georgia (and later became head coach for 28 years at the school).[2] Five other brothers, including Caldwell, followed. For 18 straight seasons, a Jones occupied the center position for the Albany hoopsters.

Given these similarities, it was difficult to keep up with the Joneses. But it was Caldwell who most distinguished himself. He began in 1973–74 with the ABA’s San Diego Conquistadors, coached by Wilt Chamberlain. During three ABA seasons (including short stints with the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis), Jones averaged 15.8 points, hitting a career high of 19.5 points per game in 1974–75. “I was a gunner,” he later told the Dallas Morning News. “Every time I caught the ball I shot it.”

With the ABA-NBA merger prior to the 1976–77 season, Jones landed with Philadelphia. His days as a gunner were over. “We had so much talent on those 76er teams that [Coach Gene Shue] said all he wanted his centers to do was play defense and rebound. I had no argument with that,” Jones later told the Portland Oregonian. “We were winning and that’s the name of the game. And it’s kept me around for 16 years.”

In Jones’s first season with Philadelphia, the team was particularly explosive. Erving (21.6 ppg), George McGinnis (21.4), Doug Collins (18.3), and Lloyd B. Free (later World B. Free) (16.3) propelled the squad to a 50-32 regular-season record and an NBA Finals meeting with the Portland Trail Blazers. Jumping out to a two-game lead, the Sixers appeared to be headed for the title, but the Trail Blazers rallied for an astounding four-games-to-two Finals win. For the season, Jones averaged 6.0 points and 8.1 rebounds and finished sixth on the team in minutes played. He also ranked fifth in the league in blocked shots with 200.

Philadelphia won the Atlantic Division again in 1977–78 but lost to Washington in the Eastern Conference Finals. Jones averaged 5.4 points (ninth on the team) and 7.0 rebounds (third). That season marked the emergence of Darryl Dawkins, with whom Jones shared minutes in the pivot during the following seasons.

In 1978–79 the 76ers slipped a bit, finishing second in the Atlantic Division to Washington and losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals. Jones averaged 9.3 points (his highest average at Philadelphia) and 9.6 rebounds and was ninth in the league in blocks with 157.

The 76ers reached the NBA Finals in 1980. Erving scored 26.9 points per game on the season, and Jones was a defensive force, pulling down 11.9 rebounds per game, fourth in the league, and blocking 162 shots, seventh in the league. Although Philadelphia finished behind the Boston Celtics in the regular season, the Sixers tore through the playoffs before coming up short against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.

Caldwell Jones and teammate Bobby Jones (no relation) were NBA All-Defensive First Team selections for the next two seasons, and the Sixers made another trip to the NBA Finals and battled the Lakers in 1982. Philadelphia again fell in six games. After the season, the 76ers sent Caldwell Jones to Houston in a deal that brought Moses Malone to Philadelphia. The Sixers won the championship the following season.

Jones played two seasons in Houston (joining his brother Major on the Rockets squad), one in Chicago, four in Portland, and one in San Antonio. Primarily he was a reserve, called upon to spell the starting center, grab some rebounds, and play some defense. “I’m like a spare tire on the Cadillac,” he told USA Today in the twilight of his career. “I’m just sitting around in the trunk, waiting to get put on the car if one of the fancy tires blows out. I’m not flashy, but I’m there when they need me.”

Go Rams!!! I think Valdosta girls won the national championship last year. They are ranked # 3 this year.

["White said Thursday that he isn’t sure how long the search for an offensive coordinator will take, but he has already started the process of looking for Joyner’s replacement.“We are definitely looking for a good teacher, a good recruiter and a guy who is already well-established and has himself together,” White said.]

He should consider a good recruiter(who can recruit from anywhere) and coach(who Can coach) period. Shouldn't matter where he comes from.

"White said Thursday that he isn’t sure how long the search for an offensive coordinator will take, but he has already started the process of looking for Joyner’s replacement.

“We are definitely looking for a good teacher, a good recruiter and a guy who is already well-established and has himself together,” White said.

ALBANY — Almost the moment news broke that Albany State offensive coordinator Uyl Joyner was leaving the Rams to accept a similar position at Dougherty High, ASU coach Mike White was inundated with interest.

#“As soon as that article was in the paper, I started getting tons of interest,” White said, referring to The Herald’s article on Friday announcing Joyner’s departure. “But we haven’t narrowed anything down yet.”

#Dozens of résumés are in the hands of White, but he said it could be weeks before Joyner’s successor is named.

#“There really isn’t a leading candidate right now,” he said. “There really isn’t a certain way to do this. You just have to look at what you have and what is out there.”

#Sources told The Herald that former ASU offensive coordinator Steve Smith was a possible candidate, but White said on Tuesday that Smith, who left the Rams two years ago to accept a job at Division I Tennessee State, isn’t currently in the picture.

#“I don’t think that’s on the table,” White said. “I talk to him all the time. I definitely had a good relationship with him when he was here and valued his opinion. I wouldn’t say that he’s a candidate right now.”

#White did reveal that he won’t be promoting from within his own coaching staff.

#“We are looking outside,” he said. “I will definitely bring somebody in.”

#Joyner was also the quarterbacks coach at ASU, leaving White with more than just the offensive coordinator spot to fill.

#The eventual hire, like Joyner, will wear multiple hats.

#“We are going to have to do a 2-for-1 or a 3-for-1. He might have to coach more than QBs,” White said. “When you are shopping with Wal-Mart money there’s not a whole lot of things you can do.”

#Joyner, a graduate of both ASU and Dougherty, was the QB coach for the last four years and the offensive coordinator the last two years but decided to move to the high school ranks to join his brother on the Trojans’ coaching staff.

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/may/07/resumes-flooding-asu-oc-position/

Where's our Quarterback? He should be # 1 in the conference..... ..............

May 6th, 2013
10:23 AM ET
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Clarence Thomas: 'The elites' had to approve a black president

Posted by
CNN Political Unit
(CNN) – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the high court's only African American jurist, opened up recently about his thoughts on race and the White House.

Asked if he ever expected to see an African American president in his lifetime, the conservative justice said he always knew "it would have to be a black president who was approved by the elites and the media, because anybody that they didn't agree with, they would take apart."

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"And that will happen with virtually - you pick your person, any black person who says something that is not the prescribed things that they expect from a black person will be picked apart," he said in an April interview at Duquesne Law School in Pittsburgh, which aired on C-SPAN.

"You can pick anybody, don't pick me, pick anyone who has decided not to go along with it; there's a price to pay," he continued. "So, I always assumed it would be somebody the media had to agree with."

Thomas didn't mention President Obama specifically in his comments. Asked if he had met the 44th president, Thomas said the two have only met in passing.

"I don't do a lot of Washington and I'm not into politics, so I mean there's not that many occasion," he said, adding that they once shook hands at an inauguration to be polite. "But I've had no in-depth conversation."

Thomas is known for staying largely silent on the bench and has rarely commented on cases during his time in the high court.

"One thing I've demonstrated often in 16 years is you can do this job without asking a single question," he recalled in a speech five years ago.

– CNN's Ashley Killough and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/06/clarence-thomas-the-elites-had-to-approve-a-black-president/?hpt=hp_t2

Oh so because of the Stadium, Atlanta is not a World/World Class City for blacks? If Atlanta isn't...What city is may I ask and why? What World/World Class city Stadium is making money for blacks? I thought the Stadium was for making money for whomever invest in it and entertainment purposes for anyone who wishes to attend. Blacks can attend just like whites or any other color. It's up to blacks to make themselves richer.  Then they can move into a white neighborhood where there is no Stadium and wouldn't have to worry about it at all.