Lexington Revisited: 2008 Georgia-Kentucky Road Trip

When BFR and I went to the Kentucky game last year, we had what might be one of the best road trips imaginable.

If you've never read the story, I've posted the best part of it below.

You can also see the original post here. It is longer, but I recommend you read my entire blathering to get the full experience.

Luckily, the friends we made on this trip are coming to Athens for the game and BFR and I will have the opportunity to re-pay the hospitality.

Lexington: A Road Trip For The Ages

Disclaimer: Read this story of our trip from Lexington, because you know going to Auburn, or anywhere else for that matter, won’t be this good. This story, my friends, is why you go on road trips.

POST GAME

After the game, we searched for the one group of Dawgs we knew, but never found them. We did run into all the players as they were coming out of the locker room. BFR and I were able to speak to AJ Green real quick, and also say hi to everyone's favorite person, Willie Martinez.

On our way back to the car, we stopped at a tailgate of a group of Kentucky fans. We had seen this tailgate initially walking to the stadium. This setup was astounding.

These fans had a trailer that, on the inside, was essentially a bar. The upgrades included flooring, nice cabinetry, seats, a huge area for food, a giant flat screen TV, and a smaller flat screen TV. A large opening on the side of the trailer with a counter provided a perfect seating area to enjoy the spread of food and drinks while watching other games on the two TVs.

Outside of the trailer were tables and chairs in blue and white, and the entire setup was surrounded by a white picket fence and a Kentucky flag flying over it all.

This awesome tailgate was right on a nice corner lot just a small parking lot’s distance from the stadium. Essentially, it was the best location imaginable.

We introduced ourselves to this group and met Elmo, JR, Chrissy, Joe, Michelle, and a whole host of kind people whose names I can’t remember.

We were talking with everyone for a good while, and they invited us to stay and watch the LSU/Bama game with them.

In the midst of all this, Joker Phillips walks up to Elmo and some other people at the tailgate. Joker wasn’t walking by at chance and they stopped him. No, Joker was walking by and purposefully stopped.

BFR and I were just blown away. Not only is this a great tailgate, but Kentucky’s [future] head coach is here talking with everyone (he didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, which is understandable).

As we watched the game and drank with these great people, we began to learn a lot about Kentucky.

Kentucky fans would rather be terrible at football and be in the SEC than be great at football in another conference.

AWESOME.

Kentucky fans despise Louisville. Their description of Louisville fans reminded me of Florida fans, which automatically makes me hate Louisville.

AWESOME.

They criticized Big East football games as being worse than watching a duck fart or listening to Oprah. Louisville vs. UCONN is not a real football game.

DOUBLE AWESOME.

They also loved Munson, and their favorite quote was Munson speaking about Lorenzen: “Godzilla is on the loose!”

AMAZINGLY AWESOME.

At about the time LSU/Bama went into overtime, they were ready to leave and we were planning on heading towards Atlanta. However, our new Kentucky friends insisted we join them at a steakhouse called Malone’s (It also conveniently has a sports bar). How could we turn this down?

BFR and I arrived at the steakhouse and joined the group in the bar. JR, who played for Kentucky in the “Couch era” told us he was inviting a friend of his named Anthony White, who also had played for Kentucky.

SEC fans may well remember Anthony White, who also played for UK during the “Couch era.” Anthony let us Georgia fans know that he considers Herschel Walker to be the best running back in SEC (and college football) history…but he considers himself the second best (embellishment on our part, makes the story better and Anthony would definitely go with it!). He is the only back in SEC history with 1500 receiving yards and 1500 rushing yards in the same season, thus he has enjoyed the nickname “Mr. 1500” as much as he was enjoying his Courvoisier Saturday night.

The eight of us sat down for a great meal and several more hours of talking about football, basketball, baseball and life in general. The conversation focused on sports and held the attention of the entire table and most of the rest of the restaurant. Anthony dropped one-liners on us like bombs:

-“One time playing Georgia, I was giving Kirby Smart the business! No offense, but you had a white DB trying to tackle me?!?”

-That Tennessee quarterback is horrible. Every time he drops back, it looks like he is playing dodgeball with the defense!

-Joker Phillips should put me in, I’ll win a national championship right now.

After treating us to a wonderful meal (that we tried to pay for), we bid farewell to this great group of people as they headed home.

We, on the other hand, didn’t head home. We joined Anthony at a party afterwards with a bunch of ex-football players from Kentucky and some of the UK Athletic Assoc staff.

Even decked out in red and black, everyone was great to us, particularly Anthony for bringing us along and introducing us to everyone there.

After a few hours, we knew that we had at least a three hour drive ahead of us, so BFR and I decided to call it quits and we headed back to Knoxville.

All in all, this was the best experience we could have imagined, far exceeding our simple expectations for our trip. I have a new found appreciation for Lexington, the University of Kentucky, and their fans.

I hope BFR and I get to return the favor soon to the great people we met, as well as other fans in the future.

Let this also provide a lesson to everyone: If you don’t feel like going on that road trip, DO IT ANYWAYS! After this trip, there are no longer any acceptable excuses for not making the road trip.

Go Dawgs!

80's Music Videos Of The Week - Hall & Oates, Salt N Pepa, Metallica

We've fallen behind and haven't done a video for several weeks. To make up for it, we're giving you three videos this week. If having to choose from the three, I'd have to pick Hall & Oates as the winner for the week.


Hall & Oates' "Maneater"


Salt N Pepa's "Push It"


Metallica's "One"

R.I.P. Uga VII

During his short time on the Geoergia sideline, Uga VII compiled a record of 16-7. Georgia will play this weekend without a live mascot. It will be strange to not see a white bulldog lead the Dawgs onto the field.

We'll miss ya Seven.

Randall Cobb Gives Me Nightmares - The Kentucky Preview

It is going to be another quick preview this week. Last year, Georgia went to Kentucky and despite stellar days from Matt Stafford, Knowshon Moreno, and MoMass (despite his two fumbles), the Dawgs nearly blew the game. The Dawgs defense was unable to find an answer for receiver turned QB Randall Cobb and the combination of a kick off return for a touchdown (imagine that!) and fumbles on back to back series gave the Cats a chance to win. Let's hope the Dawgs carry the momentum of last week and put Kentucky away early.

Kentucky has felt the injury bug like no other team in the SEC this year. A number of starters on defense have missed time, leading to horrible numbers for the Wildcat rush defense. Their biggest injury right now is to quarterback Mike Hartline. Without Hartline, Rich Brooks looks to freshman Morgan Newton and Randall Cobb (again) to drive the offense. If Georgia can pressure Morgan and prevent Cobb from making big plays from the Wildcat, they should be able to shut Kentucky down.

For Georgia, this game is a chance to clinch second place in the SEC east. Ask most Georgia fans at the beginning of this season if they would be happy with a second place finish in the SEC east this year and I think most would have been happy with that. I think the seniors (Cox, Geno, Jeff Owens, Mike Moore) have big days and the Dawgs win easy.

Georgia 38, Kentucky 20

GO DAWGS!!!

BNE Pick 'EM Week 12

While I am still taking a break from posts this week, I did want to remind everyone that your picks are due today. I will be back on Monday with a full re-cap of this weekend's actions.

My Favorite Kentucky Player

As part of last year's graduating class, Kentucky lost a true legend of Wildcat football: Dicky Lyons Jr! (for any of you who have every been to the Super Dome in New Orleans, imagine the PA guy with the strong accent saying the name). Lyons, a wide receiver from Louisiana, was always a joy to watch on the field and it was a shame that he missed the last half of his senior senior due to injury. Lyons was the leading receiver in the SEC before the injury and he was known to make amazing plays like this:



Being from Louisiana, I guess Lyons had a certain built up anger towards LSU. He sure showed it on this block on Craig Steltz:


Lyons signed with the Falcons during training camp this year. He was promptly cut just 24 hours later. He didn't even last as long in the NFL as my other favorite Wildcat, Jared Lorenzen. Come to think of it, I can't really think of any other Kentucky players in the NFL.

Good luck this weekend Cats, the Dawgs are ready!

GO DAWGS!!!

When we last met...

Matthew Stafford found AJ Green in the back corner of the end zone to give Georgia the lead and Demarcus Dobbs came up with an interception of a Randall Cobb pass to seal the victory as Georgia defeated Kentucky, 42-38. Here are the video highlights (language warning in the music on this video):

Dear Moronic Douchebag Sitting 3 Rows Behind Me

Dear Master Douchebag,

Take off your Uga VI polo shirt and UGA hat. You don't deserve to wear that when you boo every player you don't like during the first half, and then proceed to boo our entire team as they run into the locker room at halftime.

I wanted to jump up there and grab you by your lame ass goatee and slam your face into your seat. I would have also been content to kick you down 35 rows of stairs.

I didn't, though, because you were the only one that was booing. You were a lone moron in a sea of sanity, and it was better to not acknowledge your actions as even somewhat legitimate. The fact that your friends didn't even join in shows the pathetic nature under which you carry yourself.

I wondered where you were during the second half. I thought you left since a chorus of boos was not raining down from your ugly mug. However, you did not leave. Instead, you weren't booing. Not once in the second half did you manage to boo. Apparently, you're not one to boo a team when they're coming back and winning. In fact, you were high fiving all of your friends at the end of the game. How convenient for an asshole like you.

Fairweather doesn't even begin to describe you and the manner in which you can swing your loyalty to this team from absolute abandonment to complete support. It's awful having people like you consider themselves Georgia fans and present an image of absolute stupidity to everyone around them.

Kentucky Does Many Things Well...

Horse Racing

Fried Chicken

College Basketball

Bourbon

And even grass....

But beating Georgia at football is not one of those things. Georgia holds a 49-11-2 record against the Kentucky Wildcats dating back to the first meeting between the two teams in 1939 (which was actually a Kentucky victory). Georgia has won 10 of the last 11, the one blip being the Kentucky upset in 2006. Kentucky has only won twice in a row once in the series history, but those games took place nearly seven years apart (1949 and 1956).

Let's keep the dominance up. GO DAWGS!!!

The King Strikes Twice

With touchdown runs of 24 and 11 in the fourth quarter, Caleb King now has 3 rushing touchdowns (and 4 total touchdowns) for the 2009 season. For the first time since the Vanderbilt game, the King is back!

Hey Auburn, Fear the Thumb!

A few years ago, Auburn was in the middle of a 6 year run of dominance over their in state rival Alabama. In 2006, the Tigers were going for their fifth straight over the Crimson Tide and came up with a slogan to ridicule Bama fans with. "Fear the Thumb" was born and was found on everything from banners to t-shirts.

With the Georgia victory over Auburn last night, the 2010 match up of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry will see Georgia attempting to win it's fifth in a row in the series. So now I only have one question for Auburn fans:

DO YOU FEAR THE THUMB?

GO DAWGS!!!

Thoughts on Auburn

Down 14-0 and having just lost their best player, Georgia looked like they were in serious trouble on Saturday night. A blowout loss to Auburn would have made me question whether the Dawgs would even get bowl eligible. But what the players and the fans needed, the Dawgs delivered on Saturday night. It was an amazing team effort and with two games to go, a shot a New Year's bowl is suddenly a reality once again. Here are my thoughts on 2009 version of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.

- The first quarter was one of the worst quarters of football I have witnessed at Sanford and I've seen some bad ones over the last ten years (Tennessee in 06 and Bama in 08 just to name a few). The defense was lost and once again penalties looked like they were going to be a problem. But then a strange thing happened...we made adjustments.

- I have to give Willie some credit on this one. Auburn was making us look ridiculous, but suddenly things changed and we were getting pressure on Todd. Couple that with the best tackling effort I have see Georgia put together this season (Tennessee tech doesn't count) and we shut Auburn's offense down. When you allow 14 points in the first quarter and only 3 the rest of the way, the defense is definitely doing something right.

- For the first time all season, I can honestly say the special teams was not the best unit for the Dawgs. Obviously the kick off return hurt, but our return game only turned in a mediocre effort at best. And I can't for the life of me figure out why we picked this game to stop letting Walsh at least attempt to kick it deep. Butler was solid and Walsh made the 51 yarder look like a chip shot.

- When Auburn's field goal attempt hit the upright but still went through, I felt like we were getting paid back for the tipped pass to Orson.

- Losing AJ again sucks. It sound like his shoulder is pretty banged up. At this point, let him heal and get ready for the bowl game. The man has done enough for one player to do for his team this, we can't ask him to go out there hurt. With AJ out, it will be a chance for the other receivers to step up, just like Israel Troupe did last night.

- The combination of King and Ealey was awesome. The line finally played up to its potential and the running backs did their part. it was a lot of fun to have a real running game again. These two are going to be monsters next season.

- My final thought is concerning the player who was the MVP of the game and is on every one's mind right now. Baccari Rambo is the playmaker we have been missing in the secondary. Like Rennie Curran, he just seems to be everywhere around the ball. After Evans dropped the easy interception, Rambo came into the game and it was a whole new Georgia defense. He saved the game for the Dawgs and knocked himself out doing it. That is called heart and this kid definitely has it. Heal up Rambo, can't wait to have you back!

Overall, an amazing night in Athens. I was yelling at people for booing early in the game but the support the crowd showed at the end heals all those wounds. It seems like Auburn always brings out the best in Georgia fans.

Two games to go. Let's close it out strong!

GO DAWGS!!!