What better way to get football fans pumped up for the upcoming season than to host a dinner where the guest of honor is head ball coach Steven Spurrier? On July 23, Spurrier visited the Chattanoogan Hotel for a night with committee members and guests of the Greater Chattanooga Sports and Events Committee (GCSEC) in the first of what is to be an annual dinner for the non-profit. The dinner will be used as a perk for existing sports committee members as well as a potential fundraising opportunity for GCSEC.
Spurrier is well known by football fans for winning the NCAA National Championship as coach of the Florida Gators, winning seven SEC Titles as a coach, nine SEC Coach of the Year awards, and the 1966 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback for Florida. Spurrier also played in the NFL for the 49ers and Buccaneers from 1967 to 1976, and has coached in the ACC, SEC, USFL and NFL. It was a sassy and quick witted crowd that matched wits with an equally armed Spurrier that night on topics ranging from the status of quarterback R.C. (he’s made some lifestyle changes, said Spurrier) to Spurrier’s opinions on paying college football and basketball players.
Spurrier’s speech began with a recap of his experience with football starting with his time in high school in Johnson City, Tenn., when his team couldn’t seem to beat those Chattanooga Central “Purple Pounders.” Spurrier also relayed stories about his encounters with Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears, learning to sing “Rocky Top” in the locker room when his team beat the “mighty Vols,” and guidelines on how to be a coach. On that last note, Spurrier said a good coach should try to make all players feel important, do a whole lot of coaching and teaching before they criticize, not let their players loaf, be able to suspend the star player if he disrupts the team, and not use profanity. Indeed, Spurrier is one of the few coaches who holds to the no profanity standard.
Spurrier said he chose to go with his current coaching position for South Carolina because there is an opportunity to be good and win things for the first time in ways that have never been done before. He then spoke on his irritation that college football and basketball players are not paid for their efforts enough to be able to take a date out to dinner, but they are bringing in huge revenues for their states and universities. During the question and answer session, Spurrier was asked when was the first time he ever threw his visor. He responded that the first and “only” time was against Furman, and since then he has tried to quit because it gets grass stains on his visor. If he does throw his visor, Spurrier admits, he tries to pick it up quickly so that television cameras don’t see.
Sports Committee President Scott Smith said before the dinner, “An annual dinner is something I have wanted to do for a while. When I thought about who should be the speaker for the inaugural event, I knew it had to be someone dynamic, and who better than Steve Spurrier? In this part of the country, I guess some people love Coach Spurrier, but most love to hate him. Regardless, you know he is always entertaining. I think it will be an amazing evening.”
The GCSEC began formation in May 1990 when several local individuals discussed the idea of helping Atlanta get the 1996 Summer Olympics and preparing Chattanooga should that occur. This led to the groundwork that laid the foundation for the GCSEC and their mission to pursue sporting events that will bring visitors (participant and/or spectators) and visitor dollars to Chattanooga. The GCSEC found that Chattanooga had the potential to compete for sporting events. From a report made by Hill Carrow, it was determined that although Chattanooga did not have all the necessary facilities to compete for every available event, it did have plenty of advantages over the competition. These advantages included being a mid-sized city that would welcome amateur events, lower costs for staging events, and sizable interest and quality facilities for certain events.
The fact that hotel/motel rates would be less for the athletes and their families was also noted as a major advantage, along with the southern hospitality appeal that Chattanooga would have over other cities. The report summarized that the city should go after events it could hold, and endeavor to build venues as time went on where the city was lacking, according to GCSEC president Smith.
Looking at the organization today during the year of their first annual dinner with Spurrier as their guest, it is clear that the GCSEC has come a long way. Since 1992, The Sports Committee has evolved as an organization, as a board, and as a significant part of the community. The budget has grown and the economic impact from sporting events held in Chattanooga has increased threefold from $7.2 million in 1993 to $23 million in 2010.
Aside from the economic benefit the events provide, GCSEC has brought national media attention to our community by hosting Olympic training camps, the World Cup of Freestyle Wrestling, SEC Women’s Bas-ketball Tournaments, professional bowling, Southern Con-ference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships First and Second Rounds and Regional, and the NCAA Division I National Championship Football Game.
The Sports Committee has also been a leader in the National Association of Sports Commissions since becoming a charter member and founding organization in 1990.
The GCSEC estimates that $23,003,750 new dollars were brought into the Chattanooga area through sporting events in 2010. This is the fourth time since the Sports Committee’s inception that the $23 million mark has been surpassed. Sports Committee Board Chairman Rick Thompson said, “[Last year] was a tremendous follow-up to our record year in 2009. With the recent announcements of upcoming events such as the NSA Softball World Series, AAU Girls Basketball, and USSSA Black American Worlds, the future looks just as bright as the last couple of years for Chattanooga.”