City: Atlanta, GA

Category: Spectator Sports

Telephone: (706) 542-1231

Description: About 70 miles away in the college town of Athens, the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia renew their football legacy in Sanford Stadium on Saturday afternoons in the fall. UGA was one of the first colleges in the country to take up the new sport of football when the team played Mercer College in January 1892. The next month, a game with Auburn University in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park began one of the nation’s oldest college football rivalries. Two Bulldogs have won the Heisman Trophy as the country’s best player, running backs Frank Sinkwich in 1942 and Herschel Walker in 1982. Other noted players to wear the red and black were Fran Tarkenton, Vernon “Catfish” Smith, Bob McWhorter, Charley Trippi, and Garrison Hearst. Coaches Wally Butts and Vince Dooley also are in the College Football Hall of Fame. The Southeastern Conference provides a number of long rivalries besides Auburn. Each year Georgia and Florida battle in the game that accompanies what’s known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” in Jacksonville, Florida, and no Bulldog ever looks past the season-ending clash with Georgia Tech. Many of the games are sold out early. For information on availability and to get tickets, call the University of Georgia Athletic Association ticket office, (706) 542-1231, or toll-free, (877) 542-1231. Besides national and regional television coverage, the Bulldogs games can be heard on WSB-AM (750).