Damn Good Dawg

It's a sad day in the Bulldog Nation. Uga VI has gone to the big Dawg Pound in the sky.

My 5 year old nieces are coming to visit this week and I don't think I'll tell them about this. I introduced them to Uga on their last visit and now they LOVE him. During their last visit, we went around town and found many of the painted statues Ugas that line the streets. Think: Cow statues in Chicago.

At each stop, the girls climbed on Uga's back and waved red and black pom poms, chanting "U-G-A, U-G-A!" and proudly demonstrating their newfound bulldog spirit. In a final show of devotion, each girl kissed Uga's concrete jowls and professed their love for him. It was a scene that was sure to send both grandfathers into conniption fits - one is a Vanderbilt Commodore and the other is an Auburn Tiger.

I'm not sure my nieces will understand the whole "Uga died, but now there's a new Uga and we love him just as much as the old Uga." They know that my mother's beloved west highland terrier died a couple of years ago. One of my nieces showed her understanding of the circle of life by remarking, "Grandma's dog died. Now she's in a hole." So, maybe I could start with, "Remember how Grandma's dog died and is now in a hole..." My mother has a new dog now, but they've christened the dog with a new name, so the analogy falls apart at that point. That, and my parents didn't build a marble shrine to the dog, though none of us would have been surprised if they did.

So, maybe I'll start by explaining how the Supreme Court works, or the papacy. Supreme Court justice, Pope, Uga - all the same thing really. Except Uga only has to see Clarence Thomas when the Justice delivers the commencement address at the local university.

Following the hallowed tradition, Uga VI will be enshrined with Ugas I - V in the marble vault at the stadium. The local paper has a several-page tribute to Uga VI and his accomplishments, naming him the "winningest" Uga in Uga history. The entire Bulldog Nation will be in mourning until a successor is named.

All of this makes me wonder what those folks at that engineering school do when their mascot goes to that big wasp nest in the sky.