1. 1/1/22 – There could be novels written, or really there is not that much to say. Simply put, that night in Indianapolis, when Georgia beat Alabama 33-18 to capture the 2021 National Championship is one of the most magical and important in the lives of many in the Bulldog Nation. Up there at the top of the list with marriages, the birth of children and some of the most sacred happenings for the longtime Georgia faithful. Kevin Butler, the Road Dawg Adam Gillespie, and I were on the air until around 3:30 a.m. We could have easily gone to lunchtime. At least. There was virtually no talk of the plays, players and strategy of the game. For every one of our postgame callers, this was a chance to talk about how special that night was to them, who they shared it with and who they wish they could have shared it with – but knew they were smiling down from above.

2. 71-82 – Bear Bryant led Alabama to one of the greatest decades in college football history in the 1970s. The Crimson Tide became the first team to ever win 100 games in a decade. From 1971-1979, Alabama won eight conference championships (1971-1975, 1977-1979). The Tide’s run was interrupted only by Georgia in 1976 – an unforgettable 21-0 Bulldogs victory over Bama Between the Hedges was one of the standout moments from that title winning campaign. Vince Dooley’s Bulldogs, with Herschel Walker storming onto the scene, then stepped to the forefront with a dynastic run from 1980-1982. Georgia won the 1980 national championship, three straight SEC titles, and went to the Sugar Bowl ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 1. Also, in 1981, along with Georgia’s perfect 6-0 SEC record, Alabama also went 6-0 in league play, sharing the conference crown with the Bulldogs. So over a 12-year stretch, Georgia and Alabama were the only teams to win the SEC crown. It should be noted that Kentucky had a dominant team in 1977 (10-1, 6-0 SEC), beating Georgia 33-0 in Athens with Prince Charles of England on hand, but the Wildcats were on probation and ineligible for the league title.

3. The Emperor and The King – Emperor Nick Saban is college football’s most successful coach of the 21st century. Coach King Kirby Smart, a one-time Saban understudy and a part of four national championships in Tuscaloosa, is college football’s top coach of the decade, and on a Bryant/Saban/Knute Rockne career trajectory. From 2008 (Saban’s second year) through 2023, Alabama finished in the top ten every year and won six national titles. In 13 of those 16 seasons, Alabama had a zero or one in the regular season loss column. Smart, now in his 10th season at the helm of his beloved alma mater, has led Georgia to the program’s longest and most sustained run of greatness. Since 2017 (Smart’s second season), Georgia has won two national championships with those crowns in 2021 and 2022 making the Bulldogs the only school to go back-to-back in the playoff era. Smart has led the Bulldogs to eight straight top ten seasons and major bowl berths. No other school and coach had ever played in six SEC Championship Games over a seven year period. Call and raise. Smart’s Dogs have played in seven of the last eight title tilts. Unprecedented. From 2017-2023, Georgia’s regular season records were: 11-1, 11-1, 11-1, 7-2 (Covid year), 12-0, 12-0, and 12-0.

4. Pulpwood – The first Georgia-Alabama game I remember (I was four in 1976, and five when Bama beat the Bulldogs the following season) came in 1984. Georgia went to Birmingham and won 24-14 at Legion Field, with Andre “Pulpwood” Smith scoring on two long touchdown runs off a fullback dive. I remember that night, at the mall where I was going to buy a new Georgia shirt, my mom and I saw our very good friends, Bill and Jean Cheshire, die hard Dawgs. They were so excited, being fans all through Bear Bryant’s dynasty. Beating Alabama was a huge deal. It was a good early lesson for me in historical perspective. A tad spoiled, I was 8, 9, 10 and 11 from 1980-1983, it was all I knew and what I expected.

5. The Bear Blew a Kiss – In Georgia’s 26-23 overtime victory in Tuscaloosa in 2007, I had the honor of refreshing the immortal Bulldog legend Jack Davis’s Coca Cola. I sat with another close friend, Georgia’s first ever four time All-American, Allen “Ace” Miller. The Bulldogs led for most of the game and were in front 20-10 in the fourth quarter. Of course, Alabama came back to tie it. Our outstanding kicker Brandon Coutu was lining up for the game-winner at the end of regulation. What had been a still night for all of the second quarter … well Allen and I happened to look up during the “freeze the kicker” timeout, and there was a candy wrapper doing a dance with a suddenly kicked up heavy gust of wind. It was like the feather in Forrest Gump. Ace and I looked at each other and shook our heads, we both said something along the lines of, “bad words, Bear Bryant has blown the stadium a kiss.” Sure enough, the kick was no good, just inches wide of the left upright. Georgia won in overtime, so no worries, but the drama was extended. After the game, a lot of Dreamland (and maybe some brown water) was consumed by our crew. I remember weighing in before we left on Friday. Upon return, I made the mistake of doing it again. I put on 10 pounds that weekend. Worth every bite.