I Suppose You Work on a Laptop Computer: A Tribute to Lewis Grizzard

"Bubba 'N Earl Sittin' on the 50" is a new blog focusing on the daily news and follies that come out of the college football world, the SEC and the University of Georgia football program. It is a tribute to those topics as well as to the late Lewis Grizzard, famed humorist and avid Georgia football fan, who attended the University of Georgia at the same time as my mother did.

I grew up in an SEC family. Both sides. My mother, who grew up in Athens, graduated from Georgia and my father graduated from Auburn. Uncles, aunts and cousins pull for Georgia, Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee. But, anyone be damned who pulls for Florida. We don't have that; we have standards.

Like many of the contributors to this blog, I grew up in Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia. I attended many Georgia-Auburn games growing up, whether it be contested Between the Hedges or on the Plains. And I will admit that before attending UGA, I was on the dark side of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. But, thank God I saw the light before it was too late.

But, whether you're a Georgia fan, an Auburn fan, an Alabama fan or a Tennessee fan, you can appreciate the musings of Lewis Grizzard. Whether its "Shoot Low Boys - They're Riding Shetland Ponies," which contributor Streit will agree with when auctioning off pygmied goats in Cartersville, Georgia (more to come later), or "If I Ever Get Back to Georgia, I'm Gonna Nail My Feet to the Ground," Grizzard's autobiography, if you grew up in Georgia, you grew up on Grizzard.

"Bubba 'N Earl" takes it name from the most infamous Grizzard story regarding Georgia football and its "authentic" fans.

As most of you know, Grizzard is so beloved in Georgia that Atlanta's Creative Loafing, in its "Best of Atlanta" issues, created two seperate awards, "Best Columnist" and "Best Columnist Besides Lewis Grizzard."

The youngest executive sports editor ever at the Atlanta Journal at age 23, Grizzard's most relevant quote on life was, "Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes." At his peak, he was syndicated in 450 newspapers.

Unfortunately, his life was cut too short in 1994 from a congenital heart defect. Grizzard: "There are three little leaflets that control the flow of blood to the heart. I was born with only two of those leaflets. It was just after the Great War, so there may have been a shortage. Either that or my daddy didn't get a good toe-hold."

Grizzard didn't care at all for computers, preferring typewriters instead. People would say to him, I suppose you work on a laptop computer. He would say no, and that when he wrote, he liked to hear some noise.

Today, many Grizzard stories are swapped via computers, emails and blogs. I wonder what Lewis would think about blogs. "Bubba 'N Earl" will strive to represent Georgia football, the SEC and the college football world the way Grizzard would have appreciated it, from a Southern perspective.

Some of his ashes were sprinkled on the 50-yard-line of Sanford Stadium when he passed. And if Bubba and Earl are still sittin' on the 50 today, then Lewis is right there with them.