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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August
August 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!
Should Richt be backtracking?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coach Richt just issued a statement backing down somewhat from his frustrated comments last week about UGA’s lack of an indoor practice facility. He says he wasn’t forced to issue the clarifying statement and I’ll take him at his word on that. But I actually found his frankness last week refreshing. This is something Georgia football has needed for a long time. Didn’t they promise Jim Donnan an indoor facility back when they were trying to keep him from leaving for North Carolina? And yet nearly a decade later we still don’t have one.
What do you think, should Richt be apologizing for venting, or should he start learning how to throw his weight around a bit more?
Here’s the statement:
Richt Issues Statement on Indoor Practice Facility Comments Courtesy: UGA Sports Communications Release: 08/26/2007
Statement from UGA football Coach Mark Richt Aug. 26, 2007
I would like to make a public statement following up on my recent comments pertaining to our facilities at UGA.
First I am very proud to be at the University of Georgia. I have poured a lot of my life and energy into this program and I’m thankful every day for where God has placed me. I’m also thankful for the leadership of our University, Athletic Association, and Athletic Board.
Friday’s comments regarding the lack of an indoor practice facility were a knee-jerk reaction to a series of events that happened throughout the day ending with the cancellation of practice due to a storm in the area.
When I actually read my comments late in the day on Saturday I was very disappointed in what I said and the way I said it. It appeared to be someone who was ungrateful for what he had and that is certainly not the case. For that, I want to apologize to President (Michael) Adams, (athletic director) Damon Evans, and the Bulldog Nation.
I am very blessed at UGA and Damon and I have a great working relationship. In fact, we have been working together in planning a project that will provide a major facility improvement.
I want to end by saying that this statement is heartfelt and I was not asked to make it by anyone other than my own conscience.
Bland Dogcast isn’t the way to go
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It wasn’t unexpected that UGA would recruit a former Dawgs player to bolster its radio broadcast crew in the wake of play-by-play legend Larry Munson giving up road work. But unfortunately Damon Evans and Co. have gone with one of the blandest choices possible in picking former Georgia QB Eric Zeier.
This is no knock on Zeier as a player. He was a fantastic quarterback who achieved a lot considering he played on generally mediocre teams that weren’t well coached. With someone like Mark Richt guiding him, Zeier probably would have won a Heisman.
But as a broadcaster? Strictly three yards and a cloud of dust. I listened to the season Zeier did a few years back with “The Fifth Quarter Show” on WNGC, and I don’t think he said a single memorable thing. It was all generic coachspeak.
His replacement on the post-game call-in show, the always quotable Kevin Butler, was a vast improvement, and as I’ve said here before, he would have been my choice to add to the regular broadcast team.
Yeah, Zeier is the safe choice in that he won’t say anything controversial. And he’ll be knowledgeable about what’s happening on the field. But radio coverage needs more than that. Besides that distinctive voice, the main thing the Georgia broadcasts will be losing in not having Munson is COLOR. And based on his “Fifth Quarter” work, I can’t see Zeier adding much in that department.
Come next season, let the Butler do it.
Which road will the Dawgs take?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The pre-season polls and pundits have mostly placed Georgia in the lower half of the Top 20 and (gag) in third place in the SEC East, which on paper at least probably looks to the folks who cover college football like a reasonable estimation of the Dawgs’ potential, given a green, thin offensive line and eight new starters on defense.
Fans? Well, we’re not quite so logical in how we approach these things. We tend to go with a mix of gut instinct and wishful thinking when predicting how our team is going to do before they’ve taken the field for the first game.
So … am I ready to go out on that limb again? Reluctantly, yeah. As I said last year, I don’t really like making season-record predictions in the pre-season because I never want to pick against the Dawgs (even when they’re the overwhelming underdog) and yet I’m not one of those supporters who blindly expect an undefeated season every year.
Last year, I picked Georgia to go 9-3 in the regular season. They ended up matching that number of wins, but only with an exciting come-from-behind bowl victory over this year’s media darling, Virginia Tech. Like everyone else, I didn’t foresee a midseason collapse that would find our defense incapable of stopping Vandy and Kentucky from marching down the field when the game was on the line. I still shudder at that mental image burned into my brain.
This year? I think it’s highly unlikely we’ll see another midseason dive, but like the majority of the fans I’ve talked to this summer, I don’t think we’re quite there yet. Most UGA supporters I know are expecting the Dawgs to be SLIGHTLY better than last year, like maybe one more win in the regular season. In other words, 9-3 before the bowl.
The reasoning generally is that with as much inexperience as we have, we’ll be extremely lucky to win both of our first two games. The ol’ ball coach (aka the Prince of Darkness) is gunning for us, as usual. Of course, last year folks looked at the South Carolina game with trepidation, and they ended up not even scoring!
Alabama worries a lot of fans, simply because they think that Bama has always had the talent but just didn’t have the right coach. The Tide faithful, at least, fervently believe Nick Saban is the right coach.
The Tennessee game worries some fans, too, despite Mark Richt’s success to date in Knoxville. Then there’s the annual frustration in Jacksonville (though some of us think this might be the year that the Gators are most vulnerable). And there’s the tendency for the visiting team to win in the series with Auburn, which returns to Athens this year.
However, even with our best player, Reggie Ball, gone, I don’t hear too many folks worrying about the Trade School.
The general sentiment appears to be that this will still be a rebuilding year, and NEXT year is when the Dawgs should be a national championship contender.
As for me, I’m of two minds about how things will go this season. On the one hand, I think 9-3 sounds reasonable.
On the other hand …
If the Dawgs somehow can manage to come out of those first five games undefeated, taking care of the Cowboys, Gamecocks and Red Elephants, then all bets are off. A Georgia team that takes an unblemished record to Knoxville just might make the kind of statement we’d all love to see. And if UGA is 6-0 this season, I have a sneaking suspicion that the Dawgs will wind up taking the SEC East.
Call it my alternate prediction.
Two roads. Can’t wait to find out which one the Dawgs take.
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