Ole Miss vs. Georgia in Athens
Posted on 15. Jan, 2010 by Corey in All, NCAA Basketball.
Life on the road in conference play for a Division 1 College Basketball team is always tough. They are in a strange town, an unfamiliar arena, and in front of a full house of screaming fans. There is history between the two schools that the players, and sometimes even the coaches, just do not understand. And then there are the student sections of young adults holding signs, screaming personal remarks, and dressed like Rocky or a man in a green suit (I will get back to those later with pictures). So anytime you come out with a win, you happily run for the bus and head home.
The University of Mississippi Rebels came into Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia on the heels of a tough loss at home to arch rival Mississippi State. I had no doubt that head coach Andy Kennedy would have Ole Miss ready to play against the Georgia Bulldogs.
This game was a seesaw back and forth battle throughout to contest. The feeling in the building was that it would come down to one key play to separate these two Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams. Up two with 14.6 seconds remaining, Ole Miss inbounded the ball underneath their own hoop trying to seal the game with a basket. Rebel guard Eniel Polynice took a huge gamble, bouncing the ball of the back of a Bulldog defender and retrieving it himself and scoring on a layup. Ole Miss would win 80-76 and move to 13-3 on the season, 1-1 in the SEC.
Final
Intense and nervous was a good way to describe my mood as I was on the edge of my seat, halfway into the aisle, to cheer on the Rebels. Coach Kennedy left me and my buddy Mark amazing seats behind the Rebel bench and we could feel the intensity of this game.
I did enjoy my first trip to Athens, Georgia and the Stegeman Coliseum. The building is not overly impressive and nothing really stood out as fantastic.
Rebel Huddle
Weirdest stat given during the game: Last season Georgia Head Coach Mark Fox won the "Twitter of the Year in the SEC"...But hey, it was his birthday so I couldn't make fun!
Hairy Dawg and his friend before the game
Outside of Stegeman
Concourses were small and dull
Notice the disco ball hanging from the ceiling above the floor
Endzone where the students sit..good student turnout
View from the Endzone; PLENTY of seats available
Greatest thing about Georga? Coke is everywhere!
SEC Championships honored on the concourse
One of two trophy cases on the concourse
Loved the "Out of Town" Scoreboards in the endzone
Ole Miss Head Coach Andy Kennedy talking to Georgia Head Coach Mark Fox before the game
Tip Off
Ole Miss huddles before a free throw
A view from my seats
Enjoyed the small scoreboards with constant game stats
Andy Kennedy, they don't come finer than this in the game...
Dance Dawgs! One T-shirt you WILL NOT find on the UGA campus, "Georgia Girls Are Ugly!"
A huge thank you goes out to my buddy Trent for providing me with a guide to some great food in Athens. Upon arriving in town, Mark and I had dinner at Cali n Titos, having steak Cubans and fried plantains. Following the game, we were sent to “The Grill” for some fries and feta. Simply wonderful would describe these two places. Like “Angels Dancing on My Tongue.”
Cali n Titos
Cuban Sandwich
I have always been a big fan of cities doing special sculptures around town. Cincinnati has done decorated Pigs and Baseball Bats. Chicago did cows and bobbleheads for the All-Star Game, and it appears Athens, Georgia did giant Bulldogs that were decorated. I did see a bunch driving around, but only obtained pictures of two of them.
Painted Bulldog
Another painted Bulldog
Had the chance to walk around campus a bit, and all of the buildings seemed nice. I enjoyed the student union and the two floor bookstore on the other side of it. Right outside of this building was the football stadium, where you can stand on a bridge and look into it. It was way too dark to obtain any pictures worth sharing. But like any major college football stadium, appeared to be A LOT of concrete.
Student Union
Bookstore, and yes, I got a hat...
So in the second half of the game, a student dressed like Rocky (from the movie) tore off his rope and danced around the arena, climbing the arena stairs as they played a clip from Rocky on the arena scoreboard. Not really sure if they do this every night, and it seemed a bit out of place, but I took a picture of it anyways. There was also a student dressed in a all green jumpsuit. Mark told me it was from the TV show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” but I still have no idea what he is talking about!
Rocky
Green Dude
All in all, a great trip to Athens. Only about 75 miles from Mark’s house in Atlanta to campus and a good time was had by all. An outstanding basketball game was played, everyone shook hands and then went home.
Post Game Handshake
Ive seen “ Green Man” At most every UC football games this past seanson. Often more than one atteded games at the same time. ESPN Recently did a pretty cool article on the phnominon I remembered reading…
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=mergler/091022
If you need to borrow the series… let me know.
i’m jealous you were at cali n titos… glad you enjoyed and you got a good dawg hat.
man, i miss athens
Enjoy the new format. Very nice and easy to read. Keep up the good work