Tommy Ford
President David Lee welcomed all to the November 6, 2017 meeting of the Gulf Coast Athletic Club. He noted only 4 Power 5 teams were still undefeated. David welcomed our Guest Speaker, Tommy Ford, and said he had written many books, like our resident UA hero, Dr. Gaylon McCullough.
Guests were introduced around the room. President Lee stated the Office Football Pool is going great guns and our current leader is Dot Sumter with Fred Dickinson, Jim Richards, and Bill Tunnell tied for second. Still several weeks to go.
Linda Martin reported on what looks to be a fun night with our first annual Trivia Night fundraiser. 17 of the 20 six-player teams have been signed up for the December 4th event at Craft Farms. Checks should be made to the GCAC Foundation.
Coach Blake reported that the 2017 season finished last week with a win over Robertsdale! Several players who hadn’t played much over the year got to play. Other sports have started, Basketball, Cross Country (4 state qualifiers already), Wrestling, and Bowling are in full gear. Go Dolphins!
Team Reports were handled by Andrew Hart. Kevin Corcoran did another awesome job with the Crying Towel. It went to Tom Grabowski and his beloved Penn State team, celebrated for the two losses in “Two weeks to forget.”
Former Gadsden Mayor Steve Means introduced our Speaker, Tommy Ford, who grew up in Gadsden and graduated from High School in 1974. Ford is the Associate Athletic Director for the University of Alabama and works with the Foundation and Red Elephant Clubs. At UA, he was the Sports Editor for the Crimson White during Coach Bryant’s coaching years. He is the current Director of Tide Pride and is a prolific author, with ten books about the Crimson Tide.
Ford talked about his 36 years at the University and the numerous changes over that time. He noted it’s been under 9 Head Football Coaches and another 9 Athletic Directors! The Development/Alumni Office was started in 1982 with 16,022 students enrolled in school. Currently, there are 38, 563 enrolled, a 90% increase after University President Robert Witt was hired. They hatched a plan to enlarge Bryant-Denny Stadium, and built 38 Sky Boxes which sold for $500,000 each.
Coach Nick Saban came in 2008 and has gone 128-19. This has created a waiting list for tickets that numbers more than 30,000 Tide supporters, some will never see their request filled. Tide Pride was created as a fundraising system and last year brought in $32 million and $475 million in 30 years. Truly a remarkable report and career by a remarkable man.
The $165 in the 50-50 drawing was awarded to Dot Sumter.
President Lee adjourned the meeting at 8:25pm.
