Tony Barnhart
The Gulf Coast Athletic Club opened its September 9, 2024 meeting in the Clubhouse at Craft Farms Golf Resort at 7:00pm. President George Autrey welcomed the crowd of 70 attendees thanking all for being there. He stressed the importance of RSVP for the bi-weekly meetings. He noted the passing of longtime member Ron Sumpter. He also asked for prayers for another longtime member, Elizabeth Griffin.
We’ve got 39 in the Pick ‘Em Pool and so far, it appears that AutoPick is the best prognosticator. Rolltide1 and TBruce3657 are trailing the pack with EasyLikeThat leading the pack after 2 weeks.
New members and guests were introduced.
The GSHS Dolphin Report was handled by new Athletic Director, Jason Watts. Volleyball has started strong at 11-6. Cross Country is underway with a new team. Football has been rough, but things are looking up with a good defense, but a hurt Quarterback. GO, DOLPHINS!!
Dr. McCollough introduced our first set of Scholar/Athletes, 2 of the 8 who will be considered for two scholarships worth $2,500 - $5,000 depending on fundraising at our golf Tournament. We are in 20plus years for the awards and always the highlight of our year. Thanks also to Taylor Means who coordinates with GSHS.
Our Female Scholar Athlete is Bryanna Borders who participates in Track and Cross Country. She has a 4.6 GPA and was the Female Athlete of the Year in 2022-23. She set the school record in the 800 meters. A member of the National Honor Society, she is going to Montevallo and study Education.
Our Male Scholar/Athlete is Basketball player Charles “Trey” Rutter. With a 4.3 and 33 on the ACT, he has completed all Honors Courses and, as a dual enrollee at the University of Alabama, he can graduate in 2 years. He wanted to major in Economics and Medicine and has been a volunteer to Honduras.
Our annual Golf Tournament is set for October 18th at Craft Farms, registration form on the website and also sponsorship opportunities can be claimed there as well. We moved up from chilly November. Our annual dues pay for meeting meals and speakers, but the golf tournament raises funds for our two annual Scholar Athlete Scholarships and Gulf Shores High School and other student related funding requests. We recently gave GSHS Athletics money for purchase of new video equipment.
Team Reports and the Crying Towel were handled with usual tongue-in-cheek by seasoned veteran Kevin Corcoran since Notre Dame fan Dec McClelland was missing in action. After a variety of team boasting, whining, and praying, Kevin noted that Auburn and Iowa both dodged a bullet this week and awarded the coveted Crying Towel to none other than Notre Dame, the team of our missing Dec McClelland, who lost to Northern Illinois 16-14. “Playoff hopes dashed in Week 2”.
President George introduced Mr. College Football, Tony Barnhart, legendary Sports Reporter and author with ESPN, CBS, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, recipient of many awards over the years, and a past Speaker at GCAC in 2018, where he accurately picked the Championship Game contestants, Clemson and Alabama. He picked Alabama, but Clemson finished an undefeated season that night.
Tony said this year will be the most interesting season ever. NIL now means we can pay players, tongue in cheek, “it’s legal”. The Playoffs will completely change college Football as we know it. His diagram of what the playoffs will look like was fascinating, as with 4 top seeds, all Power 4 Champions, all getting first round byes. The second group of highest ranked teams will play at home, with 9-12 traveling to 5-8 to play. He said that, in mid-November, there should still be 25-30 teams still possibly in the playoffs. Selections 5-12 will be picked by Committee and he likes Memphis as the wildcard selection.
The First Round will be on campus 12/20-21/24, the Quarterfinals 12/31-1/1 in the Peach, Rose, Fiesta, and Sugar Bowls. The Semis will be 1/9/25 in the Orange and 1/11 in the Cotton Bowls. Finals will be 1/20/25 in Atlanta. He says it’s Georgia 37, Ohio State 34. He finished his remarks with “Do you know what conference you’re in?’.
The 50-50 prize was awarded to “Governor” Pat Brown.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:16pm.
Our next program on September 23, 2024 and our Speaker will be Brad Bradford.
Submitted by Bill Tunnell, GCAC Secretary
