It was a beautiful Saturday in Athens. Perhaps about 5-10 degrees too warm, but I’ve gotten to an age where if I get cold, things start to hurt (more than usual). Since the loss of Podunk, there have only been 2 people who have accompanied me to a game each year. One is Brother Podunk (who will be back next week), the other is a former colleague, who happens to be a Dawg alum. We always have a good time together, and I’d go with her every week, but she has family obligations that preclude that. I picked her up at 9:30, and we made our way to the Classic City.
Having season tickets means sometimes you see the same people each game, but sometimes it doesn’t. The first two years, the seats to my left were usually occupied by sisters (and their husbands), and I quite enjoyed the camaraderie. Last year, a gentleman whose daughter was in grad school at UGA had two of the seats, and I enjoyed his company well, but this year, we seem to have different people around us each game.
That usually means little to no interaction with them, but yesterday was a fun exception. The seats to our left had an Auburn grad (who claimed to also have a Master’s from Georgia, but she was in orange and blue) and her husband, the 4 seats in front of us had 4 gentlemen who may have been 3 brothers with their father and the seats to our right had 2 Georgia fans. All of them were entertaining and fun to be around, and it was a glorious time. Watching our boys systematically dismantle the Tigers was fun, and the people who handle the Jumbotron kept us up to date on the Alabama-Vandy game.
However, it is our intention to celebrate Georgia Bulldog Football Wins whenever and wherever they occur. The ugliness or beauty of any particular win is irrelevant for the purposes of the Winning Smart Victory Post. It is therefore my deepest honor and privilege to bring to you this week’s edition of: The Winning Smart Victory Post.
Coach Kirby Smart coached his 115th game this week for the Red & Black. He currently boasts a 98-17 record and a 0.8522 winning percentage, having carded his ninety-eighth win overall in the fifth game of the 2024 season against the Auburn Plainsmen War Eagles Tigers.
At the identical juncture in their careers:
Vince Dooley’s 115th game as head coach resulted in a Georgia Bulldogs loss to the Clemson Tigers in the fourth game of the 1974 season, giving Coach Dooley a record of 78-33-5 and 0.7000 percentage.
Coach Mark Richt was 89-26 (0.7739) after a win over these same Auburn kitties in the tenth game of the 2009 season.
One hundred and fifteen games into his head coaching career Kirby Smart is ten games ahead of Coach Mark Richt and ahead of Coach Vince Dooley by 20 games. As of now, he is holding his own versus the two winningest coaches in Georgia Football History.
As always . . .
Go ‘Dawgs !!!!