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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 29
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Gearing up for Gameday!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As the countdown to a new season of football ticks down, the excitement is building in the Bulldog Nation, especially in Athens. Some folks are kind of anxious about opening against a dangerous team like the Cowpokes of Oklahoma State, but I have to say I’d rather have a worthy opponent to kick off the season with rather than a warm-up game against some patsy school with a directional name.
It certainly will be more exciting and will provide an early reality check as to just what kind of team this mix of green linemen and experienced skill players will be.
This year, instead of just the usual first-game pep rally, the UGA Alumni Association has organized a full day of activities under the First Friday umbrella, starting with a Bulldog Breakfast featuring Coach Mark Richt along with former Dawgs David Jacobs and Matt Stinchcomb (for Alumni Association members only, registration required).
From 2 to 3:30 p.m., athletic director Damon Evans will headline a beads, T-shirts and football giveaway at the Tate Plaza outside the UGA Bookstore. (Giveaways also will be held at the Student Learning Center and the various residence halls.) During that same time, they’ll be judging the residence hall decorating contest. Radio stations Bulldog 103.7 and Magic 102.1 will be doing live broadcasts.
UGA legends Dan Magill and Loran Smith will be signing books at the UGA Bookstore from 5 to 7 p.m., and there’ll be a tent sale with 20 percent off UGA merchandise.
And then from 7 to 8 the First Friday Pep Rally, featuring Hairy Dawg, the cheerleaders and the Pep Band, will be held at the Tate Plaza instead of at the Steg as in past years. A gift package for the Georgia-Florida game will be given away that includes game tickets, round-trip air tickets and hotel accomodations on Jekyll Island.
As for Gameday itself, they’ve shrunk the non-alcohol family-friendly tailgating zones down to one small area on North Campus due to lack of demand, and they’ve done their usual tweaking to the East Campus post-game traffic plan that probably will result in minimal improvement. It’ll still take forever to get out of there. Parking and traffic overwhelmingly are the top complaints of UGA fans about the Gameday experience, and that’s not likely to change any time soon.
One tradition that will suffer a bit this season is the Dawg Walk, which is supposed to take place as usual in the Tate Center parking lot below the bridge, but since construction is ongoing there on a new parking deck, there’ll be a limited amount of space for fans. And, of course, only the folks up against the rail on the bridge can really see anything from that vantage point.
Even after the deck is built, I can’t see that being a very good place for the Dawg Walk from now on, so let’s hope the Athletic Association gives some thought to relocating it in the future. A Dawg Walk through at least part of North Campus would be cool, but wouldn’t give the team easy access to the locker rooms so isn’t very likely. A better option would be to stage the Dawg Walk on the East Campus Road side and let the team enter through the new plaza on that side of the stadium.
Once we’re all inside, they’ll be selling a special “collectors series” of Larry Munson drink cups this year, though if the Aramark stands handle those with the same general confusion and disorganization as they did the Uga cups last year (and pretty much everything to do with the sorry state of concessions at Sanford Stadium), getting the complete set will be a lot more time-consuming than it should be.
Once the pre-game music starts, I guess we’ll be subjected yet again to Phil Collins’ dreary “In the Air Tonight” (the popularity of that song with football programs baffles me). It’d be great for them to pick some more Dawg-related songs to play. How about The Beatles’ “Hey Bulldog”? Rufus Thomas’ “Walkin’ the Dog”? Jackie Wilson’s “Doggin’ Around”? The Atlanta Rhythm Section’s “Dog Days”? Just so they don’t ever use Coldplay’s “Yellow” (love the band, hate the color!).
For me, though, the best part of the day leading up to kickoff is when that lone trumpeter plays the opening notes of “Glory, Glory to Old Georgia” from the upper level of the stands.
That’s a thrill every time.
Go Dawgs!
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