Time to check the Junkyard Mail, and the first question is a fun one to ponder. …
Hey Bill, I saw Bulldogs broadcaster Jeff Dantzler had a recent tweet where he posed this question: If you could pick any school for the Georgia Bulldogs to beat for the program’s next national title, who is the victim?
Jeff said that for him it would be “Penn State. With a slice of Pitt along the way.”
The most popular response was Ohio State, with quite a few folks also wanting to play Bama again in the natty. Michigan and FSU also were mentioned, and a couple of folks even wished the Dawgs could play Georgia Tech for the national championship!
Others mentioned USC (the California one, not the Gamecocks), and that would be my pick, as I think that would draw a major national audience. What would be your choice?
— Sandy Crawford
I like your reasoning for wanting the Dawgs to play the Trojans and I laughed when I saw the answers about Tech — fans of fantasy, I suppose.
My own preference would be more in line with the majority of the responses that Jeff’s tweet drew: I’d like to see Georgia meet and beat Ohio State in the College Football Playoff national championship game set for Jan. 20, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The 42-41 Peach Bowl playoff win over the Buckeyes on Dec. 31, 2022, was a classic. And, in the preseason at least, Georgia and OSU appear to be most prognosticators’ choices as No. 1 and No. 2, generally in that order though a few of them put the Big 10 school, which picked up some key talent from the transfer portal, in the top spot.
I think it would be a great game. Plus, I’d just enjoy seeing Ryan Day, one of my least favorite coaches in college football, lose again. I will note that, for a similar reason, if Jim Harbaugh were still at defending champ Michigan, I might have opted for the Wolverines as my dream opponent.
I am looking to adopt an English Bulldog from the Bulldog Club of Utah Rescue after moving here last August and I started looking for spiked collars and possibly a Uga replica jersey.
During my research, I found an article you wrote about uniform changes over the years. Of interest, I noticed you like the old block G baseball cap worn when they were in the College World Series in the past.
Anyway, my question for you is, do you have any idea why Uga still has the block G on his jersey instead of the power G worn on the helmets since 1964?
— Phillip Brown
Yes, as I noted last year, when the Blawg looked at alternate Dawgs uniforms through the years, I’m particularly fond of the red cap with black bill and black block G that was worn by Steve Webber’s Diamond Dawgs during the 1990 College World Series championship season.
I figured the Ugas still wearing the old block G was just a preference of the Seiler family, which owns the line of white English bulldogs that serve as the mascots, but to make sure I put your question to UGA legend Loran Smith, who reported back that Charles Seiler, son of the mascots’ original owner, Sonny Seiler, said that the block G was in use when Uga I was named mascot and “the family naturally used it. Since they started with the block G, they thought it would be nice to maintain the tradition.”
According to georgiadogs.com, Sonny Seiler recalled that the first Uga mascot’s original red jerseys were made by Seiler’s wife Cecelia, to whom the bulldog had been given by a friend. Recalled Sonny: “It was necessary to take up children’s T-shirts to fit the dog in the right places. There is no telling how many of these jerseys he wore out. During the early games in Athens, especially the hot ones before he had a doghouse, the large green hedges that surround Sanford Stadium afforded welcomed shade in the heat of battle. Unfortunately, the hedges constantly tore these jerseys and new ones had to be made.”
I also checked with Claude Felton, the longtime head of sports information at UGA, who recently retired, and he concurred with Loran about why the bulldog mascots wear the block G, noting that “having started with the Seiler family in 1956 in the Wally Butts era, the live mascots, as you know, pre-date the current ‘power G’ (on the football helmets) which began with Coach [Vince] Dooley’s tenure in the mid-’60s.”
He also pointed out that Sonny Seiler “always wore a cap with the block G until his passing last year.”
Claude added that the original block G used by Georgia was “a little taller than wide … Over the years, the block G on the dogs’ jersey would be flattened down, making them a little less tall.”
I have brought this issue up several times regarding the Athletic Department and the lack of decent handicap accommodations for fans who need them. It is unacceptable that the majority of handicapped seating is in the end zone under the main video board. With all the trumpeting over stadium renovations, this has yet to be addressed. It is an insult to loyal fans like my father who can longer go in person to games due to lack of accommodations.
— Michael Scharff
I remember when you brought up this issue a couple of years ago, Michael. At the time, I tried to get some response out of the UGA Athletic Association, but they remained silent on the subject.
So, I tried again this past week, and the result was the same. I do know that they included some ADA-compliant changes in last year’s renovation of the Southside concourse, but this appears to be a subject they don’t want to address, at least in a fan forum.
If I ever get any response from them on the subject, I’ll let you know.
Now, let’s hear from some fans who were reacting to last month’s Blawg about the current game day experience in Athens. …
I have huge concerns about the game day experience, but I think it is because I am just getting old. We have great seats and love the people we sit around but cannot get to bathrooms and … traffic after games that end at night makes it tough for me to go. Television is a better and better option.
I am really upset that the Clemson kickoff is at noon. Horrible decision. A key draw of a neutral-site game is the atmosphere and tailgating, and [the noon kickoff] is a killer. We have hotel rooms for Friday and Saturday right beside the stadium but probably will not go now.
Love the band. Also wish it were featured more. Miss the Poss’ barbecue sandwiches from the ‘60s. Agree that closing the bridge [on Sanford Drive] was a horrible decision. Really hurt the pregame atmosphere around the stadium. But I’m a dinosaur and nobody cares what I think. Go Dawgs!
— Darrell Huckaby
Yeah, the noon start for Georgia-Clemson kind of downplays that game and, like you said, pretty much negates tailgating for the season starter in Atlanta.
I miss Poss’ sandwiches, too, as well as their canned products that we used to buy at Bell’s in Athens! As for the closing of the bridge, here’s more on that. …
I didn’t know the Sanford bridge was closed for traffic until my family and I left G-Day a little early (please don’t tell Kirby, lol). We tried to go take a picture underneath the scoreboard but there were barriers and security preventing anyone from crossing the bridge. Eventually, they let us in after about 10 minutes. But who came up with that idea and WHY? It was hard enough trying to watch the Dawg Walk. Geesh!
— 757Dawg
Making the bridge a ticketed area and closing it to game day pedestrian traffic has proved extremely unpopular with fans, but the origins and reasons for that decision have not been made public.
When defending the closing of the bridge before the game — during the time the Dawg Walk takes place — Matt Brachowski, UGA associate athletic director for internal operations, said last season that it was “just a matter of crowd control and security of the stadium.”
But no one has explained why the athletic association decided to close the bridge, a major pedestrian thoroughfare, in the first place.
The last game I attended, I and my group were stopped by a police officer on a bike because, God forbid, we were walking around downtown Athens taking in the pregame sights and drinking a beer. He threatened us with arrest if we didn’t immediately throw the $7 beers, just purchased, into the nearest trashcan. “Enjoy the game!”
— Joseph B. Strickland
Well, Athens isn’t Savannah. Athens-Clarke County’s open container laws allow drinking on property owned by the University System of Georgia (i.e., the UGA campus) and during certain special events.
But you cannot carry open containers of alcoholic beverages on city streets — including streets that cut through campus. In other words, while you can wander Myers Quad with a beer in hand, you can’t carry that beer down Lumpkin Street.
My question is about the second stage of renovations in the stadium. Weren’t they planning on expanding the narrow concourses that go out over the street on the [railroad] track side of the stadium during the second stage? I didn’t notice anything like that taking place during G-Day.
— David McLane
There was no mention of expanding the concourse on the track side when the renovations began, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen at some point in the future.
In the first phase of the current stadium renovation, unveiled last season, the Southside concourse was widened considerably, among other work.
The main thing they’re doing in this latest phase of the renovation, which should be completed before the 2024 season begins, is building a new press box in the southwest corner, so they can turn the old press box into a 50 Yard Line Club offering premium seating in the 200 level of the stadium.
That’s it for this week, but I’ll dip into more of the recent Junkyard Mail next week, and there’s still time for you to send any concerns, observations or questions about anything to do with UGA athletics that you’d like me to address. You can post in the comments below or email me at junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
