Bulldogs, Wildcats agree via Twitter
— -- Mississippi State's Scott Stricklin and Kansas State's John Currie may have achieved a Twitter first Friday: The two athletic directors agreed to a home-and-home football series on the social media network.
Stricklin and Currie scheduled two games between the Wildcats and Bulldogs via Twitter, with the teams set to play in Manhattan, Kansas, in 2018 and in Starkville, Mississippi, in '19.
"It takes a pretty savvy partner," Stricklin said. "John's a pretty sharp guy. It was kind of a fun way to do it. There's a younger generation of guys out there that communicate through these mediums."
The Twitter exchange began Friday when Currie, participating in a Chillin For Charity video, was challenged by Stricklin to contribute to the charity. All proceeds for the charity go to the Kay Yow Foundation, which raises money for breast cancer research and is named in honor of the former NC State women's basketball coach.
At the end of the video, Currie, who also challenged athletic directors Whit Babcock of Virginia Tech, Oliver Luck of West Virginia and Warde Manuel of UConn to contribute, said: "We think that Mississippi State ought to come here at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and play a little football sometime."
Currie tweeted the video link to Stricklin's attention. Stricklin said he and Currie had some preliminary discussions in the past about a possible series. So when Currie called out Stricklin on the video, Stricklin wanted to take advantage.
"I didn't want to waste the opportunity," Stricklin said.
Stricklin quickly responded to Currie on Twitter, suggesting the schools play in 2016 and '17.
Currie tweeted in response:
@stricklinMSU @HailStateFB Already got some stuff working then - how about '18 MHK, '19 Starkvegas? #KState #Family
- John Currie (@John_Currie) July 11, 2014
Stricklin then responded:
So, @HailStateFB vs @KState_Football: '18 in Manhattan; '19 in Starkville. Pleasure doing business with you, @John_Currie. #HailState
- Scott Stricklin (@stricklinMSU) July 11, 2014
And Currie ended the back and forth with one last tweet for Stricklin:
@HailStateFB @KState_Football 'Cats and 'Dawgs tweeting together! Let's get the paperwork done! Have a great weekend @stricklinMSU
- John Currie (@John_Currie) July 11, 2014
The schools do not have a signed contract yet for the series, but Stricklin said he doesn't anticipate it will be a problem.
As far as scheduling any future series with other schools, Stricklin said jokingly, "It's not a requirement" for the other athletic director to respond on Twitter, but it doesn't hurt.
"Mississippi State and Kansas State are two of the leading research universities in the country," Stricklin said. "Even though we're land-grant universities, we're both tech-savvy. You have to be able to run with the advance crowd."
And be able to limit your responses to 140 characters.
