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Broadcasters will temper how they refer to the UGA-Florida game

ATLANTA — With "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" now off limits, TV broadcasters are racking their brains for new ways to refer to Saturday's Georgia-Florida football showdown.

"How about 'The World's Largest Outdoor Cleaned, Scrubbed, All-America Picnic?'" suggested Chris Fowler, host of ESPN's popular Saturday morning "College GameDay" show.

Officials from CBS and ESPN said Monday they've instructed their announcers to not refer to the annual game in Jacksonville by its longtime, famous nickname. That follows a request by University of Georgia President Michael Adams and University of Florida President Bernie Machen, who want to do away with the game's reputation as a drunkfest for tailgaters.

At the urging of Adams and Machen, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive sent letters to CBS, ESPN and the league's other television partners, requesting they steer clear of alcohol references.

CBS, which will air the game, and ESPN didn't think twice about honoring the request. But some wonder if it will make any difference in how fans act.

"If my superiors don't want me to say it, that's fine," said Tim Brando, who hosts CBS' "College Football Today" studio show. "But as a broadcaster, I'm a little offended by the assertion that our use of the phrase has any kind of influence over how people behave at this game."

But many fans and Jacksonville business people think the nickname still fits. Cindy Ingram, general manager of Hooters at Jacksonville Landing, said Monday she does three times more business for Saturday's game than any other weekend. And the customers aren't there for the wings.

"I personally don't care — and don't know anyone who cares — what the TV announcers call the game," said Michelle Davis, a UGA fan from Jacksonville. "We go to the game to have fun and cheer on our Dawgs."

Georgia and Florida have put in place a number of measures in an attempt to get a handle on binge drinking at games on their campuses. A sense of urgency was created after the deaths of two Florida students after the Georgia-Florida games in 2004 and 2005.

Last year, Tommy Brown of Merritt Island, Fla., was beaten to death after he wandered off from his friends. In 2004, David Ferguson, a UF student, died after falling off a parking garage.

"I'm not on any crusade," Adams said recently. "I'm trying to preach realistic moderation, which happens to be what I believe personally. But I do not think the university can condone some of the behavior that has gone on."

Slive said no one is blaming TV for playing any role in the excessive drinking that goes on surrounding Georgia-Florida. Nor, he said, is anyone trying to "take the fun out of the game."

"We're just trying to raise the consciousness on this issue," he said. "This is just a small part of a much larger problem, which is the excessive use of alcohol on campus, not just at the game."

Officials from CBS said the "cocktail party" nickname has never been a big part of their coverage, anyway.

"We view the SEC as a partner," said Tony Petitti, executive vice president of CBS Sports. "There are certain things you go to the mat for but this isn't one of them."

Veteran broadcaster Verne Lundquist, who'll handle the play-by-play for CBS Saturday, said he'll honor the request.

"Having said that, if I thought not using the phrase 'World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party' would diminish the amount of public drunkenness, then I would be more than happy to refrain. But in my experience is that is not the case. I wish the omission of the phrase had more relevance. But I'm afraid it doesn't."

CBS, which has broadcast nine of the last 10 Georgia-Florida games, has been sensitive to this issue for a while. For the past few years there has been an unwritten understanding that the "cocktail party" phrase would be used no more than once during the broadcast and only once in the 30-minute pregame show.

With Georgia's football team struggling, ESPN will dispatch its "GameDay" crew to Columbia, site of another big SEC game Saturday involving Tennessee and South Carolina. But the program will spend a lot of time focusing on the Georgia-Florida game.

Fowler said, "I'd be a moron to ignore the concerns of a college president." But like Brando and Lundquist, he's not sure how much it will help.

Chuck Gerber, executive vice president of collegiate sports programming at ESPN, said he has spoken to Adams about the issue and will do his best to please the president. But if an ESPN broadcaster slips up and refers to the game by its nickname, he won't be punished.

Slive said he understands that during the course of an entire day of college football, the "cocktail party" reference might find its way onto TV.

"We don't expect the networks to be perfect and never make a reference to it," he said. "We understand how long the phrase has been around. All we ask is that it not be the theme of the game. ... We want the focus to be on the game, not what's going on around the game."

Television may not be able to call it "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," but David Garrison can. And the Atlanta promoter plans to make it pay off.

Garrison sensed there was a market being created by what he perceived to be efforts to dampen the enthusiasm for the game.

So he has put together a concert for Friday night at the Golden Isles Speedway in Waynesville, about 50 minutes north of Jacksonville. The headliner will be Hank Williams Jr.

The name of the event? "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." Garrison's company now owns the trademark for the name.

Garrison has already put up a Web site for the event: thewlcparty.com. He said he expects 10,000 people to attend.

"The red flag for me went up because of Dr. Adams and his remarks," Garrison said. "I just thought it was the right time to create an epicenter for the Georgia people at this game. Hank Jr. only does about 24 dates a year and this is one of them. We're excited about it."

Tony Barnhart writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.