Good times in Athens
We went over to Athens last night to help my son load up his belongings in a rental truck and say farewell as he hits the road today for a job in Washington, D.C.
Hard to believe, but after six years, two degrees, a bunch of academic honors, an overseas session at Oxford, two years as a teaching assistant, lots of Ultimate Frisbee tournaments, two dorms, two apartments, two houses, and a lot of beers and bands in downtown Athens, his time as a student at the University of Georgia is over.
From a Bulldog sports perspective, there’ve been a lot of highs, lows and memorable performances during that time. Another SEC East title in his freshman year and he got to go the SEC championship, though he ended up disappointed in both the result and the way we were outcheered by LSU’s fans that year. Some surprise upset wins from Dennis Felton’s first team saw young Bill and other students rushing the floor of the Steg in celebration (before that was outlawed). A lot of forgettable basketball games followed that year.
Other highs and lows from his time at UGA include the big-time beating David Greene and Co. gave Nick Saban’s Bengal Tigers in Athens in 2004; tailgating on North Campus with his friends and cousins; several trips to Jacksonville (only a couple of which he enjoyed); the ultimate low point of back-to-back losses to teams from the state of Tennessee in Athens during the 2006 season; joining his uncle in watching those amazing Gym Dogs; the exultation of the Blackout win over Auburn; and getting to see the Dogs play in Columbia, Knoxville, Tuscaloosa (including the thrilling OT win), Auburn, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Atlanta (both at Tech and at the Dome, where he saw another SEC championship, this time a winner, plus a bowl win).
Plus all the friendships he made. The lessons he learned. The time he got to spend with his grandparents in Athens.
Good times, indeed.
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74 comments Add your comment
RAMBLE ON!!!
July 2nd, 2009
10:52 am
Paul Johnson (mostly freshmen and sophomores) vs. St. Richt (2 of the NFL draft picks top 15 players) 1-0. IN YOUR HOUSE!!!!!
coachdawg 2000
July 2nd, 2009
10:55 am
I would say the low point of the last 6 years was losing to vandy homecoming of ‘06 and of course 45-42 as all of those wonderful north avenue genuises love to site.Losing to tech is comparable to losing a game of horse to the mouthy, pansie kid down the street. The high point was was definately the allbarn blackout.
dawgfanatic24-7
July 2nd, 2009
10:56 am
So what happens to Paul Johnson when he can’t beat the dawgs? LSU proved how great his triple option is..predictable.
Huh?
July 2nd, 2009
11:10 am
Sounds like your son was around for the 20 point beatdown of the paper Tigers in the SECCG too. I’d say that was the definite high point.
Losing to Tech is always a low point because it happens so rarely. I’d say its even worse than losing to Vandy. The fallout from losing to Vandy was much easier to deal with. They probably have about as many football fans as Tech, but they didn’t act like they owned us because of one narrow win. I’m sure they enjoyed it, but that one moment didn’t define their entire football program like it does for the Techies. Vandy has too much pride for that.
coachdawg 2000
July 2nd, 2009
11:10 am
Wasn’t the opening of the TV show good times filmed on the Tech campus?
The outside of the evans’ project looks like a tech dorm
Dink
July 2nd, 2009
11:12 am
The good old college days, drinking Guinness at Mean Mike’s was definitely a good time also!
Go Dawgs!
CLTDawg
July 2nd, 2009
11:26 am
Interesting that ramble on is the first post on the UGA blog. Kind of pathetic that this is what he waits for, new UGA blogs to post asinine techie comments. It was a fluke, not a pattern, now go away!
Otto
July 2nd, 2009
11:35 am
Great post by Huh? lol I’ll be cheering for Vandy against the Nerds.
Otto
July 2nd, 2009
11:36 am
Low point? Leaving Athens and all the hot college women to join the real world.
how2fish
July 2nd, 2009
11:38 am
Bill tell your son Congrats and best wishes on his new job! Ramble On…November is coming…enjoy the next couple of months..
Cuz
July 2nd, 2009
11:41 am
Bill get him some anti-depressants. Leaving Athens for anywhere else is traumatic.
Island Dawg
July 2nd, 2009
11:52 am
Coachdawg, THAT was great. Good work and Good Times. Is Florida the housemom?
What did your son major in...
July 2nd, 2009
12:03 pm
…at UGA that he can even afford his first job in DC? Good luck with that!!!!!
Oledawg
July 2nd, 2009
12:04 pm
If he had been a football or BB player, your son’s normal college student life would have a couple of arrests to go along with it. My college life was pretty much the same and I was and am now thankful that the high profile status of athletes was not on my neck when I talked to the third State patrolman inside my first year. Got my license suspended for 6 months for that 3rd speeding ticket. If I had had the athletic profile then it would have made the national news. That summer that the Athens Police asked my two friends and our dates to keep the noise down (3 complaints phoned in) while partying in a frat house on Lumpkin street. Just 6 people (one of my friends was “minding” the house for the summer) was sufficient to get 2 warnings. Ladies and guys dared my friend to run around the house outside while nude,which he did, and we promptly locked him outside for about one half hour. What would have happened if we had ended on the blotter that night and we were on the FB team? This was a highly unusual party for us, but not for all the student body. I’m sure many of you have tails(sic) from those days that go beyond this, but I really feel for the players when they party or debauch like the rest of the students and get nailed for high-profile-publish-it-to-the-nation typical behavior of college students that get pilloried in public.
DawginGermany
July 2nd, 2009
12:08 pm
Oh, how I miss Athens and my college days at UGA. Good luck to your son Bill!
GO DAWGS!!!!!
braveswin
July 2nd, 2009
12:08 pm
ramble(away)on!!! very pertinent post. Has everything to do with the topic and is humorous as well. Thank you for sharing, it is always appreciated. Now go suck a can of Raid
Hey, Oledawg...
July 2nd, 2009
12:11 pm
…Chip Towers no longer writes the UGA athletic beat so, hopefully, those kind of articles will be fewer and farther between, even if the shenannigans by the athletes are not! That guy just loved to throw the athletes under the proverbial bus!
Huh?
July 2nd, 2009
12:12 pm
It doesn’t sound like his son was an engineering major if that answers your question. This might come as quite a bit of a shock to you, but most people do not major in engineering in college. There are quite a few of us non-engineers among you. We all have jobs and are getting along fine. Okay, so maybe we’re second rate citizens because we did not major in engineering and take calculus in college. I’ll give you that if it makes feel better about yourself. I really don’t care. I’m just saying that we exist. You may want to get out a little more.
Tech fans=total joke.
coachdawg 2000
July 2nd, 2009
12:14 pm
Island dawg-
The mom was florida! coincidence? i thinK not?
coachdawg 2000
July 2nd, 2009
12:18 pm
Is it me or does coach pajamas face look like the nazi’s face when they opened the Ark of the covenant? Or maybe a wadded up towel.
RobBob
July 2nd, 2009
12:19 pm
Ramble On is out of vaseline so he has nothing better to do in is little bedroom at his parents house then to get all excited and be the first. L O S E R!
Oledawg
July 2nd, 2009
12:22 pm
Huh?- Vandy has something to be proud for ,unlke the 12th Ave trade school twits. Vandy knows how to win gratiously and they act as if they have been there before. I feel embarrassed for the true Tech fans, but these immature-can’t-wait-to-blog-on another-school’s-site frauds represent them poorly.
Gen Neyland
July 2nd, 2009
12:35 pm
To think Mama Cox actually paid you well enough to help your son through is the real story here…Congrats to him.
The Grinch
July 2nd, 2009
12:44 pm
To RAMBLE ON!!!
How’s that Roddy Jones man-crush thing working out for you? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oledawg
July 2nd, 2009
12:49 pm
Sometimes I long for those happy days, but with additions. Pot wasn’t the drug of choice. Booze was. I would have preferred more pot and less booze. It doesn’t harm your body as much as booze and would , in moderation, be preferred recreationally. No runs to SC or Atlanta. In my day, Clarke was a dry county and we worked to change it on the ballot by taking pictures of the empty whiskey bottles at the city dump. It should have been simpler to just smoke, but it was not as available in those days. But partying around pot will give an athlete a positive test whether they smoke or not. There goes the career in college and beyond. So the athlete has to change when headed to college and doesn’t have a chance to experience a wilder environment without lifelong repercussions as we could choose. That’s sad.
10-4 buddy
July 2nd, 2009
12:50 pm
i left athens last may, so i was there basicly the same time period as your son. those were some great years. My favorite season was when DJ Shockley had his one year behind center. He brought such energy to the team it was exciting to watch, plus a SEC championship did not hurt.
Saint Simons
July 2nd, 2009
12:55 pm
Rub Rub Rub it in your face!!!!!!! 45-42!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahah
JayRoot
July 2nd, 2009
12:55 pm
.
All those whoopins at the hands of the Yellow jackets. Yeah dem was sum good tymes! More to come this Thanksgiving!
.
Saint Simons
July 2nd, 2009
12:58 pm
Good times in Athens, last Nov. 45-42!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Huh?
July 2nd, 2009
1:25 pm
“All those whoopins at the hands of the Yellow jackets.”
What is the title of the world’s shortest book, Alex?
The Grinch
July 2nd, 2009
1:26 pm
To Saint Simons
Did you enjoy your 3 previous November visits to Athens as well? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
RobBob
July 2nd, 2009
1:30 pm
Yeah! We all know what Saint Simons is “Rub, Rub, rubbing”. Is the 45-42 a reference to how may fellas that he can’t remember “being” with down in mid town? 45 or 42 men? Either way, that is way more then I need to know about. Keep that stuff private Saint Simons, please!
Ramble ON says Faster Faster Saint Simons
July 2nd, 2009
1:43 pm
Me and Saint Simons like getting spanked. We loved 51 to 7. When the Dawgs can’t do it we spank each other.
2 Dawgs
July 2nd, 2009
1:45 pm
LSU showed us how to beat the tripple option. Good tackling and good assignment coverage. Coach Willie better get the guys coached up in the basics of football…
Sid
July 2nd, 2009
1:46 pm
Hey “Ramble On” down the road!!!
Sid
July 2nd, 2009
1:49 pm
I’m a rambling wreck from GT and a queer of an engineer ! I suspected it all along from you TurdNerds.
Saint Simons aka Deep Throat
July 2nd, 2009
1:50 pm
I love to tease the Dawgs cause I am a big teaser. I’ve been bent over so many times by the Dawgs it feels good to stand up a streach.
Bo Williams
July 2nd, 2009
1:52 pm
Funny, when I left Athens I learned that I had spent too much time thinking about football. My work colleagues from other places and schools represented a little more sophisticated atmosphere than I had been accustomed to. Not to mention that the coeds from UNC, Duke and UVa were not only pretty, but smart as hell. This turned out to be somewhat intimidating. My UGa girlfriend was fine, just as long as she kept her mouth shut.
2 Dawgs
July 2nd, 2009
1:54 pm
I remember 51 to 7. Wasn’t that a David Green team?
Spank Spank Spank!!!
Tech is for Losers
July 2nd, 2009
1:56 pm
Rub rub in your face 1-7 plus 51-7 Saint Sucks Simons !!!!!!!!!!!
Huh?
July 2nd, 2009
2:01 pm
“Funny, when I left Athens I learned that I had spent too much time thinking about football.”
Sounds like a personal problem to me Bo. I’m not sure why anyone else is supposed to care that you are slack, irresponsible, and not intelligent enough to excel at academics and enjoy football at the same time. Thousands upon thousands of UGA students accomplish this very feat every single year. That’s the beauty of UGA. Its the best of both worlds. Like I said to an earlier Techie clearly jealous of this blog topic, perhaps you should have gotten out more while in Athens? I’ve lived in Athens too and its not just football 24/7/365. Its really just fall Saturdays which accounts for what, about 6 days out of the year? The rest of the time there are plenty of other SOPHISTICATED things to do and SOPHISTICATED people to hang out with. Maybe they just didn’t like you because you were arrogant and thought you were better than everyone else. I don’t know. Dismissed.
Cuz
July 2nd, 2009
2:11 pm
Ditto’s Huh! No reason for me to repeat an excellent commentary.
Oledawg, you are a trip.
Dawgdays
July 2nd, 2009
2:39 pm
Having been a student at both the institute and the university, my name says it all!
Love the “… is it 45-42 guys I have been with…” for St. Simonize, LOL! Next time you wash my car, please don’t sniff my seat!
UGA: So easy, a caveman can do it
July 2nd, 2009
2:40 pm
Well, lets take a look at just a few of the
more “valuable” and “noteworthy” majors to choose from at UGA:
1. Art
2. Consumer Economics (aka Shopping 101)
3. Fashion Merchandising (aka Shopping 102)
4. Consumer Foods (aka Eating & Drinking 101)
5. Dance (goes with the Eating & Drinking 101 course)
6. Film Studies
7. Furnishings and Interiors
8. Housing
9. Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism
10. Recreation and Leisure Studies
11. Speech Communication
12. Sports Management (Jim Herrick School of Basketball)
13. Women’s Studies (including required courses in Lesbian & Gay studies)
See, this is how GA keeps their APR on the upside. By “creating” courses and majors so void of merit that “even a caveman can do it” they can keep athletes on the field and in “good academic standing.”
Hell, with standards this low, every GA athlete could graduate Magna Cum Laude. That’s “with Honors” for all you UGA fans.
This BS passes for “education.” What a F-ing joke !!
UGAGRAD02
July 2nd, 2009
2:51 pm
I would be happy to see all the tech fans that post on the UGA blogs names in the obituaries. Especially St. Simons. Please lord.
Charles
July 2nd, 2009
2:51 pm
Bo, there are no bigger losers than those that go to blogs/social media sites and attempt to pass themselves off as fans of a rival…in some lame attempt to perpetuate a false stereotype. Seriously, get a life you toolbag.
Reality Bites
July 2nd, 2009
3:03 pm
UGA: So easy, a caveman can do it forgot a couple of majors. I received my Bachelor’s in economics, earned a law degree and now I earn seven figures a year, even in this terrible economy. And I don’t chase ambulances!
Cuz
July 2nd, 2009
3:14 pm
Film studies easy. Just think of all those movies with subtitles you would have to watch to get a degree. Awful, just awful.
B
July 2nd, 2009
3:15 pm
Saint Simons is a 13 year old girl.
Tech is for Losers
July 2nd, 2009
3:18 pm
Paul Johnson eats his boogers and is a meat gazer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!