Picking up the Pieces
December 16, 2005 09:56 AM | General
December 16, 2005
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| Hoolahan |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sugar Bowl Executive Director Paul Hoolahan has faced formidable challenges before. He first proved his mettle on the gridiron as an all-ACC offensive lineman at North Carolina blocking for consensus All-American running back Don McCauley. He later worked his way up the athletic hierarchy, first at North Carolina, and then at Vanderbilt.
After six years as athletic director at Vanderbilt, Hoolahan left in frustration over cuts to the athletic department budget, the school’s inability to win football games, and growing fan discord over basketball coach Eddie Fogler’s decision to take the South Carolina job for more money.
Hoolahan eventually found a home with the Sugar Bowl in 1996 and quietly steered the event through a period of transition when the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was created. Those in the bowl business have a great deal of respect for what Hoolahan, 54, has done with the Sugar Bowl.
“People may think of him as a behind-the-scenes type of guy,” Orange Bowl executive director Keith Tribble told the New Orleans Times-Picayune last year, “but his influence is very, very strong.”
Hoolahan biggest professional challenge came three months ago when Hurricane Katrina literally wiped out the city of New Orleans. Like many of those living in the city, Hoolahan’s primary residence was uninhabitable due to massive water damage, and his vacation home in Mississippi was completely destroyed.
As for the 2006 Sugar Bowl, well, it was facing fourth and long at its own goal line. The game has been played in New Orleans every year since 1935 and has become one of college football’s most popular traditions. But with the New Orleans Superdome damaged and unsafe, Sugar Bowl officials had to call an audible -- quickly.
Shortly after the storm, there was popular support to try and keep the game in Louisiana and play at LSU’s Tiger Stadium in nearby Baton Rouge. But that proved impossible with limited hotel space and regional cleanup efforts being centered there.
“We looked at ways of to do this game in Louisiana,” said Mark Romig, president of Nokia Sugar Bowl. “Our hearts wanted to do this game in Louisiana as much as possible. But we knew that with the demands on hotel rooms for the next several months -- that task would be most difficult.”
Other southern cities were also considered, including Jacksonville, San Antonio and Houston. But the Sugar Bowl settled on Atlanta because its infrastructure was best suited to manage a game of this magnitude.
“When we discussed this matter with the BCS Commissioners, we talked about the opportunity of moving the game outside,” said Hoolahan. “The Commissioners said we definitely want it in the footprint of the Southeastern Conference. And so we thought what other place to go than the place that hosted the Southeastern Conference Championship -- the Georgia Dome.”
In late October, Hoolahan’s staff of eight collected what remained from their New Orleans offices and relocated to the Omni Hotel at the CNN Center in Atlanta to begin the laborious process of reassembling their game. Greg Blackwell, Sugar Bowl director of communications, drove a truck-load worth of salvaged files and computers to Atlanta, plugged in the phones, and opened shop.
“We had our work cut out for us,” said Hoolahan. “We had 90 days to get this thing in order. I kind of describe it as pre-Katrina we had the puzzle put all together and post-Kagtrina that puzzle went on the floor and we had to put it together in a new city.”
In the meantime, customers who bought tickets for the game in New Orleans had to be issued refunds, a volunteer staff of about 120 had to be re-recruited, corporate sponsorships had to be sold and hospitality events had to be planned in a foreign city.
Today, Hoolahan is confident that the Sugar Bowl will once again be the first-rate event participating teams and fans have come to expect and enjoy.
“It was a formidable challenge but we got our arms around it and we were committed to making sure that this Sugar Bowl will be as good as the ones we’ve put on,” he said. “Hopefully at the end of the day both coaches and teams will say unanimously that this is every bit as good as the ones they’ve experienced in New Orleans.”
Atlanta has also welcomed the game with open arms.
“We are a whatever-it-takes state, what-ever-it-takes city and that’s what you can expect from all of us here in the Dome,” said Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue when Atlanta was revealed as the Sugar Bowl’s destination back on Oct. 7. “You’ve humbled us by entrusting us with one of your most valuable assets from New Orleans and Louisiana. The state of Georgia, the city of Atlanta, the Georgia Dome and all of the fans of the SEC will not let you down.”
With the city already putting on the Chick-fil-A-Peach Bowl, Hoolahan wanted to make sure the Sugar Bowl didn’t step on any toes.
“We got into town and we had our own issues and we felt like we needed to settle those,” he admitted. “It’s just a situation where we’re coming into the town and we realize that we’re a guest and we didn’t want to offend anybody. We just wanted to quietly go about our business.”
Fortunately, ticket sales for the Sugar Bowl have gone well locally in Atlanta and through both schools.
“The demand for tickets is very, very high both from West Virginia’s standpoint and from Georgia,” said Hoolahan. “We’re at a situation where we’re not trying to sell tickets -- we’re trying to manage tickets.”
Sugar Bowl officials fully expect to return to New Orleans next year. The annual economic impact of the game means about $175 to $200 million to the city. Perhaps the biggest impact, however, will be psychological.
The New Orleans Superdome suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina.
Shreveport Times photo
“We’re going to do everything we can do to be a part of the recovery of New Orleans,” said Romig. “You will help us write a love letter back to our city. We will take every effort that we can to focus our attention and our efforts to bring funds to the organizations that are helping bring back our great city of New Orleans.”
As remarkable as it’s been for the Sugar Bowl overcoming the hardships of the last three months, having the game back in New Orleans next year will undoubtedly be its biggest accomplishment of all.
