There is no place like Athens, Georgia. America’s greatest college town. Center of the universe to the sons and daughters of the University of Georgia and our beloved Bulldogs. Every day I feel grateful to live in Athens. It’s where I’ve always wanted to be. Athens and St. Simons Island, the beautiful Golden Isles.
In fact, around 20 years ago, upon a sad occasion, I was inadvertently reminded of just how fortunate, as a lifelong Georgia lover, that I am to live in the headquarters of the Bulldog Nation.
It was a Saturday morning in the dead of summer on St. Simons Island, and unfortunately, it was check-out day. Time to go home. So I got on the elevator of the hotel with one of those silver carts containing my luggage of one bag, a half dozen golf shirts, and a sweet aqua linen button down. The look on my face said it all. My lower lip was most certainly protruding like a newly formed volcanic island, and I’m sure, to paraphrase our philosopher caller Carl from Dawson, Georgia on the famous Bulldog Brunch from The Hilltop Grille on a victorious Sunday morning, my visor was fitting a little tight that morning. A guy gets on the elevator with me, and goes, “ouch, looks like checkout day.” “Yeah, I’m bummed out, it’s always hard to leave here, I love it so much.” My fellow elevator passenger then asked where I lived?
“Athens,” I said with great pride in my response.
“Athens,” he responded with even greater fervor. “Oh my gosh, you are so lucky! I love the Dawgs. And I live in Town X [I’m not going to name it, because it’s a fine Georgia town, and by no means do I want any stones to be cast]. I mean I’m down here for two weeks every summer, I go to all the Dawgs games, but outside of that, every day, every week, I live in Town X.”
That gave me a much needed smile and comeuppance of first world gratitude for my fortuitous lot in life.
So when Emily, Albus, Hermie and I have to leave the Golden Isles —or if there’s been a basketball or baseball trip with the Bulldogs to one of my favorite stops or some place tropical or coastal— I always try to remind myself that I get to go home to that most special place, Athens, Georgia.
Well, when it comes to some of my frequent stops through the years, there is no question that one of my top destinations is Oxford, Mississippi —my second favorite college town.
Oxford has a charm and spirit. It’s filled with terrific restaurants, nightlife, shops and stores. The Square is awesome. The Grove is a tailgating cornucopia cut from the Moulin Rouge and Studio 54 —Southeastern Conference football style.
Ole Miss has been what I’d call a “friendly foe” in the SEC. There are a lot of crossover fans of both schools. A lot of friends from Athens who love Georgia but wanted to get away for college and went to Ole Miss. Rebel announcers are amongst some of my best friends in the business.
That includes the Voice of the Rebels David Kellum, Dean of SEC broadcasters, who called his first Ole Miss baseball game in 1978. One Thursday night in Athens, a bunch of us were together for dinner on the eve of a big SEC baseball series, and a kid in grad school at Georgia who had gone to Ole Miss, recognized DK’s voice and asked for his autograph. Baseball color man Brad Henderson, a Rebel great on the diamond, is beloved in Oxford. As is my old pal Richard Cross. Two of my other Rebel broadcast buddies, both had good stories from New Orleans.
Graham Doty, featured in this BI’s “A View From,” is the voice of Ole Miss Women’s Basketball. Well, several years ago, the Rebels went through a stretch of three women’s basketball coaches in about five months. Fired. Hired, uh oh, fired, never coached. Interim. And the interim had no shot at the job. So they’re in New Orleans for a tournament on New Year’s Eve. The coaching staff head to Bourbon Street. Graham, around 23, is suddenly the senior figure to the team on the trip. He arranged for the bus to take them to a movie, and when they got back, he simply said, “ladies I can’t make y’all do anything, but please just go back to your rooms and stay there the rest of the night.”
Gary Darby, who’s called a bunch of Rebel sports, and is on the Memphis Grizzlies broadcast, was in the Big Easy for a tournament at the Superdome some 20 years ago. Teams from Louisiana and Mississippi would square off over three days. Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss versus LSU, Tulane and the Ragin’ Cajuns. Games in the Dome at 11, 3 and 7. Well, Ole Miss won a thriller in the nightcap, and my man “Darb” and the crew went to properly celebrate, not playing again until the following night. Racing the sunrise as the victorious Rebel crew was meandering back through the hotel lobby, he got a call from Southern Miss, which was playing the 11 a.m. game. Their radio man had fallen ill with the flu, and they desperately needed an A-plus pinch hitter. Professionally trained, Darb delivered. “Maybe the best game I’ve ever had.”
Through the years, not to jinx anything for Saturday afternoon’s mammoth showdown —and the Rebels most definitely got the best of the Bulldogs the last time these two squared off at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in 2016— but Georgia has enjoyed good gridiron success against the Rebels.
And these fan bases know how to have fun.
It will be a show before, during and after the game. Here’s hoping that the Bulldog faithful make some wonderful memories following a victory in a really great place.