Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior WriterAug 22, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
- ACC reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
- Graduate of the College of Florida.
In the lead-up to Saturday’s kickoff between Florida Inform and Georgia Tech, both colleges spent 17 months making spreadsheets, filling out documents and triple-checking customs guidelines to be particular that they packed your entire requirements for their transatlantic day out.
Uniforms? Check.
Cleats? Check.
Ranch dressing? Umm, test?
The Ramblin’ Atomize? Sadly, support in Atlanta.
Renegade, Osceola and their flaming spear? If best probably that pesky quarantine relate had been solved.
Even with out their most iconic pregame traditions traveling with them to Dublin, Florida Inform and Georgia Tech will headline Week 0 with every little thing they have to play football thanks to an exhaustive within the support of-the-scenes effort that Georgia Tech director of football operations Josh Thompson describes as “not for the faint of heart.”
In all, the colleges blended to elevate 238 crates weighing extra than 40,000 kilos — packed and shipped on cargo planes final week — full of every little thing from game day tools to sport medication requirements, protein powder, snacks reminiscent of Goldfish and sure, condiments that are not on hand in Dublin.
“There is no room for error right here,” acknowledged Jason Baisden, Florida Inform assistant athletic director for tools operations. “When we’re there, we’re there. We can not come support or can not call and direct, ‘Hey, elevate this with you.'”
Each colleges began to prepare for this game in March 2023, rapidly after it used to be announced. Florida Inform director of football operations Bruce Warwick had been segment of a number of in another country video games in his outdated stops within the NFL, so he already had a respectable recommendation about what transferring a entire team extra than 4,000 miles away would entail.
Past packing up your entire mandatory tools, passports would ought to peaceful be secured, a pair of in-person space visits to the team resort would have to be made (together with meals tastings) and conversation with officials in Ireland would ought to peaceful be valid. Nothing — care for assuming that an American biscuit and an Irish biscuit were the same — would possibly per chance per chance well well presumably be left to probability.
“I had to study to keep in touch their language,” Baisden acknowledged. “Enjoy, or not it’s not a uniform to them, or not it’s miles a equipment. It’s miles the English language, nonetheless we wanted to be particular that nothing used to be lost with the interpretation of what we’re doing.” Baisden and Thompson made calls to folks they knew at Notre Dame and Navy, two colleges that had beforehand played in Ireland. Baisden asked for their carnet, a doc that facilitates non everlasting international imports and exports. In fact, the carnet lists each merchandise that is brought into a foreign nation line by line, with valid numbers.
Favor to elevate snacks for the team? No enviornment. However each snack, from applesauce to crackers, ought to peaceful be listed. The identical goes for rolls of tape, gloves, protein powders. You care for to deserve to elevate it? You would possibly per chance well well deserve to list it.
At Florida Inform, Baisden grew to alter into the point person between departments. In January, he asked the sport nutrition, sport medication, inventive video, weight practicing, radio broadcast and sports information groups to originate identifying what they fully had to elevate with them.
He described the blueprint as preparing for “an in another country bowl day out.” However the factor with which every little thing wanted to be itemized goes far previous any bowl day out preparation, the place colleges can correct load up their tools trucks and be on their come. For right this moment time out, Baisden labeled each crate with what it used to be for — resort, note, game.
International shuttle is why the Ramblin’ Atomize and Renegade and Osceola were left at house. Irish officials had inquired about their availability, and both colleges had serious discussions about discovering a come to make it.
Renegade, the legendary horse ridden by Osceola before each Florida Inform house game to plant a flaming spear at midfield, would have had to quarantine on the come support to Tallahassee as required by international guidelines. In consequence, the horse would were unavailable for the house opener against Boston College on Sept. 2. Plus, that is technically a Georgia Tech house game.
A gold and white 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe known because the “Ramblin’ Atomize” has led the Yellow Jackets onto the enviornment for each house game since 1961. The Atomize would deserve to shuttle on a ship to get to Ireland. The shuttle time house would have supposed it, too, would were unavailable for the house opener against Georgia Inform on Aug.