SEC commissioner Greg Sankey
Sankey: More Kudos for Foley
Friday, October 14, 2016 | Football, Chris Harry
The SEC commissioner appreciates his Gators in the league "family."
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey showered more praise Friday on Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley for his role in the negotiations that moved the UF-LSU game, postponed last weekend due to the threat of Hurricane Matthew, to Baton Rouge next month.
Sankey talked to reporters in Columbia, S.C., where the University of South Carolina's Board of Trustees was meeting. One of his themes was the importance of fostering a family atmosphere in the league, something that was compromised, he said, by LSU athletic director Joe Alleva's so-called "line in the sand" refusal to reschedule the game – a UF home game – anywhere but at his Tiger Stadium.
"We are a conference that's done really, really well at handling things inside," Sankey said. "We talk about a family effect. I saw [Foley's] remark about being part of a family, and I view that as important."
In the end, the decision to reschedule the Florida-LSU game for Baton Rouge was going to inconvenience a lot of people, especially UF season-ticket holders.
Instead, UF will play LSU Nov. 19 at Baton Rouge, with LSU agreeing to come to Gainesville the next two years. That was the compromise the three sides eventually reached.
"It is difficult to come to conclusions when we're publicly stating lines in the sand. We can't do that," Sankey said. "I give great credit to Jeremy Foley, great credit for when we reached an impasse, stepping forward and I think in the best interests of the conference, showing a willingness to make an adjustment to this year's schedule, flips next year's game as well obviously, but it moved us forward.
"And I give credit to the University of Florida for stepping forward with that because we were coming to a place where we were going to have to take a very different approach, which I don't think would have been healthy."
Sankey talked to reporters in Columbia, S.C., where the University of South Carolina's Board of Trustees was meeting. One of his themes was the importance of fostering a family atmosphere in the league, something that was compromised, he said, by LSU athletic director Joe Alleva's so-called "line in the sand" refusal to reschedule the game – a UF home game – anywhere but at his Tiger Stadium.
"We are a conference that's done really, really well at handling things inside," Sankey said. "We talk about a family effect. I saw [Foley's] remark about being part of a family, and I view that as important."
In the end, the decision to reschedule the Florida-LSU game for Baton Rouge was going to inconvenience a lot of people, especially UF season-ticket holders.
Instead, UF will play LSU Nov. 19 at Baton Rouge, with LSU agreeing to come to Gainesville the next two years. That was the compromise the three sides eventually reached.
"It is difficult to come to conclusions when we're publicly stating lines in the sand. We can't do that," Sankey said. "I give great credit to Jeremy Foley, great credit for when we reached an impasse, stepping forward and I think in the best interests of the conference, showing a willingness to make an adjustment to this year's schedule, flips next year's game as well obviously, but it moved us forward.
"And I give credit to the University of Florida for stepping forward with that because we were coming to a place where we were going to have to take a very different approach, which I don't think would have been healthy."
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