Marking Father’s Day the Bulldog way
Fran Tarkenton was the hero of the 1959 win over Auburn. But my Dad did his part. ... (University of Georgia)
My first really indelible UGA football memory involves my Dad, which is not really surprising since he’s the one responsible for me growing up devoted to the red and black.
It was Nov. 14, 1959, and I was 7 years old. The Georgia Bulldogs were playing the Auburn Tigers at Sanford Stadium, and for some reason lost to the passage of time Dad wasn’t at the game. Instead, he was sitting in our living room on Hope Avenue in Athens listening anxiously to the voice of the Dogs, Ed Thilenius, describe the action. I remember he was nervously eating
oranges.
Time was running out for Wally Butts’ boys, who were trailing 13-7, when Georgia guard Pat Dye, the future Auburn coach and athletics director, recovered a fumble by the Tigers quarterback. The Dogs had one more chance, and it came down to fourth-and-goal from the Auburn 13 with 30 seconds left.
In a play that we later learned he diagrammed in the dirt in the huddle, quarterback Fran Tarkenton rolled out to the right and then threw a touchdown pass to end Bill Herron in the left corner of the end zone.
Georgia won the game and the SEC championship. And when it was over Dad realized he had demolished almost an entire bag of oranges. Fittingly, Georgia ended up in the Orange Bowl.
Ever after, we always teased Dad that he pulled the Dogs through that game by eating all those oranges.
So many of my UGA memories involve my father, as I’m sure is the case with many of you. Last year, I shared a couple of those memories, one of which I’m trotting out again in honor of Father’s Day.
My Dad still enjoys watching the Dogs and wearing the school colors. (Photo by Bill King)
It involves one of the greatest UGA victories ever, the Oct. 31,1942, battle between Butts’ Bulldogs, who had an 11-game winning streak going, and Alabama, who’d won eight in a row. It was one of those “neutral” site games at Grant Field in Atlanta and the Crimson Tide led 10-0 with 10 minutes remaining, but the Dogs, featuring Frankie Sinkwich and Charley Trippi, came from behind to win 21-10, with Sinkwich throwing two TD passes and Andy Dudish intercepting a fumble in midair and running it back for another.
Georgia went on to win the Rose Bowl and a consensus national championship. After he retired many years later, Butts picked that game against Alabama as the greatest comeback by one of his teams and his greatest single day in football.
And my father was on the Georgia sideline.
Dad, who shortly would be going into the Army to serve overseas in World War II, had traveled to Atlanta with a friend for the game, but there was just one problem: They didn’t have tickets. They hung around outside the stadium, though, and one of the UGA coaches took pity on them and gave them sideline passes. “We’ll call you high school prospects,” he said. So for one game, at least, my father was a UGA “recruit”!
At age 87, Dad doesn’t go to the games any more, but he still watches them on TV, wears one of his several Georgia caps every day and has a UGA football calendar on the wall of his bedroom.
He’s been a Georgia Bulldog all his life. And, thanks to him, so have I.
Happy Father’s Day, Pop!
Please feel free to share your Dogs-related memories of your father. …
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81 comments Add your comment
Oh Henry!
June 20th, 2010
9:29 am
-sorry- did not mean YOU had to turn out to be a mama’s boy.
Jaybird in Blakely
June 20th, 2010
9:59 am
Thank you, Mr. King for the article. From the various reactions on the blog, it’s pretty clear whether you are a Dawg, Jacket, Gator, etc. our Dads all had alot to to do with our love of football. Thank the good Lord we live in a country where we can share the love of team and family on Saturdays in the fall. I was blessed with 4 daughters who all bleed red and black. I think I might have had alittle something to with that, LOL. I hope when I am your dad’s age they remember our Saturdays pulling for the Dawgs as fondly as you remember yours. Oh, and thanks to my dad for all the time he spent with me growing up pulling for UGA.
And to I Don’t Care- Praying for you dude. You missed the whole point of a fine article. Now go call your Dad and thank him for making you a Tech fan. I think that’s the point of Mr. King’s article today.
dbc
June 20th, 2010
10:12 am
I grew up in Athens, 4th grade through college, and can say there’s no greater town on football Saturday’s. As a kid, I sold programs before all the games. Hundreds of them in fact. The most I ever sold was 700 before a Clemson game. My Dad was always there to run interference, pick up the money, count it and put it in stacks of $50. Then when I was sold out, we’d head for the game with hundreds of dollars jammed into a paper lunch bag. I’d enter the program house, exchange the money and get my pay. Then I got a free ticket into the game and I always met my Dad on the other side. In those days, we made a dime on a program that cost a buck. Pretty good money for a kid. But my fondest memory was meeting my Dad in the game. He always bought me a souvenir at the stand, a BBQ sandwich and a coke and we’d scream for the dogs until we were hoarse. Good times, every one of them. Happy Fathers Day all.
tarheeldawg
June 20th, 2010
10:27 am
My 94 year old dad has seen games all over the country and says there is no better place for the entire football experience than Athens…happy Fathers Day, Coach
AltamahaDawg
June 20th, 2010
11:23 am
I have plenty of memories of Georgia football that I attribute to my Dad. Not because the took me to games, but because he made it possible for me to do so. I have returned the favor by taking my kids to as many as possible.
Buckhead Bulldog
June 20th, 2010
12:25 pm
Hey Altamaha…One of my good times I had with my Dad when I was 7 or 8 at my great Uncle’s house near McRae where the Oconee and Ocmulgee come together to form your river. I had caught a bass and my first cat. My uncle grilled them on an open air pit along with a BBQ goat. Don’t know what it was that my uncle used for seasoning, but that was the best meal I have ever had, and I’m 45. I still remember that weekend vividly, and my Dad still agrees that was good meal!
BurningRedBleedingBlack
June 20th, 2010
1:05 pm
Bill, Great story!! Have to say this one hit home, All the games i watched with my dad growing up, the good, the bad, he really tought to me love UGA and also this state and what UGA stood for. I have to say he got what he wished for. I think i follow Georgia now more than he does, of course he is getting very old. But i still enjoy going back home on some saturday watching the games with him. like my dad always says, being a Georgia fan has times that feel incredible and sometime they break your heart, but they always make up for it!!!!! I’ve been to alot of different states and schools. I have to say, there no place like Georgia and theres no fans like the Bulldawg nation.
ABQ_DAWG
June 20th, 2010
1:16 pm
One of my first memories of football was with my dad. We were in our living room at the time and I must have been about 5 years old. It was the Dawgs against South Carolina and my dad did something, that as a 5 year old, was the strangest thing I had ever seen. He turned down the TV and brought a little radio over and set it on the fireplace and turned on Larry Munson. “Allright…get the picture” he said and described what I was seeing on the tube. I’ve been a die hard Bulldog fan my whole life and loved talk radio and oration my whole life. It all started on that Saturday in Snellville GA. I love you so much dad and I miss you everyday. Happy Fathers Day
Monroe's first Redcoat
June 20th, 2010
2:10 pm
Bill – I am furious! I Here I read yet another UGA story when I clicked onto the Junkyard Blawg expecting to find sources for parts for my ‘69 Torino GT……seriously, great read. My dad was a disabled vet and although he never accompanied me to games, he was just as proud when I became the first musician from my high school to play in the Redcoat Band. I have passed the love for all things Red & Black to my 9-year-old son, who is already a die-hard UGA fan.
Go Dogs!!! I Don’t Care and Dawghater – you are both cordially invited to BITE ME!!!!
UGAgrad71
June 20th, 2010
8:13 pm
I don’t care, put one fist down your throat and the other fist up your butt and see if they can touch. If they do, you have something to post on this blog. Otherwise, just shut up.
Dwayne
June 20th, 2010
10:21 pm
Hey Bill, your Dad is better looking than you are!!!!!
KimZ'sPackage
June 21st, 2010
9:27 am
Bill, CUZ, and 45ACP hope you had good Dad’s Days.
FromtheBARstool
June 21st, 2010
9:29 am
nice stories posted by the dawgs.
Old Dawg
June 21st, 2010
10:16 am
Bill. Truly wonderful piece on football and dads. I have so many similar stories it would fill up a book or two. I’m also truly sorry that “I don’t care” doesn’t understand that your blog is on UGA athletics and not a general subjects column. As you well know, many folks don’t understand the basics of journalism and blogging. Perhaps their daddy’s didn’t raise ‘em right!
Best to you and your father.
schmeckdawg
June 21st, 2010
11:04 am
Great story Bill. By the way, that was the day that I was born. My mom’s OB checked her out at Piedmont Hospital and when he found she was doing fine, he called in one of his partner’s and went on to Athens. Now that is a DAMN GOOD DAWG!
father too
June 21st, 2010
11:20 am
I think I got “I don’t care’s” point…to a degree…while he shouldn’t have posted on a Georgia blog; I tend to agree the UGA coverage is a bit much. Granted I have memories with my father watching football, but it was with the Falcons, too. I think his point is that the Dog fans go on too much over a team that hasn’t done anything in quite honestley 30 years. Give him a chance, Bill.
schmeckdawg
June 21st, 2010
11:33 am
I’m with Bill 150%. If you are on this blog, it is ALL DAWGS, ALL DAY, EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
schmeckdawg
June 21st, 2010
11:48 am
To the faux Bill King who posted on the 20th, that was a totally uncool low rent cheap shot and you should be ashamed of yourself; however, if you are going to post something like that, I doubt you have the where with all to know that you are a complete !%^@@$^%@$$@^& A-Hole!
Jimmy
June 21st, 2010
12:45 pm
Great blog, Bill. These blogs are the reason why college football is the greatest sport, and will remain so, despite most of the university presidents trying to ruin tradition via conference expansion!
My father was never much of a sports fan, and unfortunately I didnt even get into sports until I was a teenager. Like Altamaha said, I appreciate my father for giving me the upbringing to be able to take my sons to games, like I do today. The only game i’ve missed in the past five years was the “blackout” Auburn game, Ironically, because my daughter was born.
JCD, God bless you and your son. And i’m sure he’s STILL a good Marine.
scott
June 21st, 2010
1:59 pm
My favorite UGA memory with my father is the 97 UGA v. UF game. It was the first game I really remember watching that UGA won. My father and I were watching the game in our basement when a big storm hit and knocked our cable out. We were both terribly upsett when my ten year old brain remembered the tv that I had hooked up to my nintendo ran off antennae not cable. We watched the remainder of the game with me sprawled across my bed and my father sitting on the floor watching the only UGA game I have ever seen in black and white. When georiga won we both jumped up and ran all around the house yelling. That is my favorite UGA memory spent with my dad.
Alphare
June 21st, 2010
4:28 pm
Bill,
You are a total homer. Homer than Tony Barnhart. At least Tony tries to be fair to all teams including Tech whenever he can.
The last time I checked, you work for a newspaper in Atlanta where Tech calls home, not a far-away little place called Athens.
If the dawgs can beat the gators more often, you UGA fans may have more fond memories during father’s days, and making us georgians proud by the way.
Regardless, happy father’s day to you and your fathers.
Jimmy
June 21st, 2010
4:53 pm
Alphare,
Are you a moron, or a Tech fan?? I guess that question is kind of redundate though, isn’t it??
If you would notice the words by Bill’s name, it reads JUNKYARD blawg. Meaning this is a FAN blog written by a FAN of UGA.
If you want a Tech fan blog, click on the Tech section, then click on one of their fan blogs, if they have one that is.
And I thought Tech fans were suppose to be intelligent?? It never ceases to amaze me.
Alphare
June 21st, 2010
6:20 pm
Jimmy,
I don’t call you a moron but you are definitely narrow minded. Why cannot Bill have a title like “Marking Father’s Day the Football way”? That way, everybody can pitch in with a thought.
Instead, Bill the homer has a title “Marking Father’s Day the Bulldog way”. That’s insulting to all people calling Atlanta their home.
You are not a moron, but you are absolutely narrow minded. That’s what it is. So is Bill.
Now you are happy?!
college is forever
June 21st, 2010
7:04 pm
http://www.collegelunchboxes.com My first UGA was vs. GT and my Dad and I sat on the bridge over looking the stadium. It was a great first experience and I became a fan instantly, oh all those years ago. It is still not to late to get Dad a retro classic UGA tin lunchbox. Go Dawgs!!!
Are we clear now?
June 21st, 2010
7:46 pm
Alpahre- Seriously, dude?
This is blog named “JUNKYARD BLAWG”…get it? Junkyard Dawgs.
Did you read Bill’s bio up top and what this blog is about? From the top right hand corner:
http://blogs.ajc.com/junkyard-blawg/about/
“About UGA: The Junkyard Blawg
Lifelong Bulldog Bill King offers a fan’s perspective on UGA sports. Share your views!”
If you need further explanation, then I can’t help you.
See the link below? That is the link to the GT Blog by Doug Roberson.
http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-tech-sports/2010/06/18/a-look-at-georgia-techs-running-backs/?cxntfid=blogs_georgia_tech_sports
Jimmy
June 21st, 2010
9:01 pm
Alphare,
You sound like a damn liberal Obama lovin dem. Yes, let’s make Bill pander to everybody instead of his TARGET audience, the UGA faithful.
I swear to God this country is getting worse by the year w/ MORONS like you who just want everybody to be happy. Oh Bill insulted the fine city of Atlanta w/ his post since he didnt mention everybody!
And by the way genious, everybody CAN pitch in a thought. It’s a public blog. He, like many of us on this blog, grew up a GEORGIA fan so it’s mentioned for GEORGIA fans.
Unbelievable.
Alphare
June 21st, 2010
10:36 pm
Jimmy,
you just confirmed to me you are narrow-minded peanut-sized brainer, you have one at all.
Yea, UGA fans are conservative while Tech fans are liberal, and UGA fans are a majority in this state. Now do you know why this state are in a shamble? and the unemployment rate is among the worst in the nation? I am wondering if that has anything to do with UGA fans being narrow minded and “conservative”. Majority may have some influence, you know?
I tell you a little truth. Narrow minded people usually cannot come up with a solution to anything.
Ah, BTW, UGA graduates occupy most of government jobs in this state. Do you know if they are mostly liberal or “conservative”?
You make me laugh when you drop me a hint you are a “conservative”. Can you call yourself narrow-minded next time? That’ll be more descriptive of people like you.
KNOW-IT-ALL
June 22nd, 2010
12:24 am
I’m a lifelong Trojan and Dawg fan and I thank you for sharing those stories. I only wish I were like you. For the last 17 years I have only stories and it hurts like hell. Being an African American I was blessed to have a father at home until he passed in 93. I pray that your fathers next 87 years are as rewarding as the first 87. Its great that he is still creating lasting memories for you and your family to enjoy.
FromtheBARstool
June 22nd, 2010
8:27 am
How many of the UGA players know who their daddy is? Father’s Day is the most confusing day to a Dawg. Mom was a well a Bit.. and she did any dawg that got in the pen with her.
Bill King
June 22nd, 2010
7:45 pm
Alphare:
Congratulations. You’ve stumbled on the truth. I’m a UGA fan. Which is why this is called a fan blog.
Spike
June 23rd, 2010
11:08 am
Nice column, Bill. Hopefully, you and I can be as good a dad as your dad was for you.