Ranking SEC college towns from worst to first

Ranking the SEC’s best college towns.

What makes a town a great college town? Obviously, the presence of a quality academic institution, but also how the college is part of the community, the natural surroundings, the history, entertainment venues, food scene and the charm, all create that special college town atmosphere.

The SEC has more than its fair share of great college towns. These towns keep bringing the alums back, help recruit new students and form a special bond with all who walked their quaint streets, experienced a cool music venue, dined at their favorite local spot, hiked a nearby trail and strolled through a picturesque campus.

We rank the best college towns in the conference by taking in the factors from above and our own personal history with each of these cities. Let us know how you would rank each.

Notre Dame Signee Deion Colzie Launches Website

Receiving recruit Deion Colzie signed with Notre Dame on Dec. 16.

Receiving recruit Deion Colzie signed with Notre Dame on Dec. 16. Now, Colzie, an Athens, Georgia, native who was recruited by Tommy Rees and DelVaughn Alexander, is taking a step towards what could be the future of NCAA student-athletes. Taking a cue from the possible new rule that student-athletes can get paid for their likeness and image, Colzie’s family has announced the launch of a website dedicated to him. The rule could be made official soon.

Yolanda Jackson, Colzie’s mother, explained the reasoning behind the website:

“There are so many people out there that like to take advantage of kids by using their names and their likeness, and the kids aren’t aware of it. We thought that we should do what we needed to do to protect his name and his brand. Even if it were possible to be able to profit for their name and likeness, we have always thought about making sure that his name and brand were protected.”

It’s a fair point by Jackson. Others profiting off young athletes when those athletes can’t even see a dime of that money at the risk of losing their eligibility is despicable. Heck, when his parents began this process, not only was Colzie’s domain name already purchased, but so were those of other young athletes. Jackson sees this as a cautionary tale more than anything else:

“If you don’t do your due diligence and find out things, just think about if we didn’t know that up front and we would have tried to figure out how to get the domain name from there. Who knows what would have happened? You could end up being out of thousands of dollars just because you don’t know. Fortunately, for us, we found out that the dot-com was gone, but there are others we can use.”

Even if this tweak to the NCAA rules ends up passing, others always will find ways to profit off these kids. What Colzie’s family has done may not prevent it completely, but it would take a big piece of that pie that complete strangers shouldn’t be eating in the first place. It’s a scary world for athletes trying to make the big time. They need more and more protection as amateur athletics continue to evolve.

UGA Football Signing Day Hub: Live updates, analysis and more

Your home for coverage of Georgia football on early signing day for the 2021 recruiting class

The Georgia football program officially began shaping its 2021 signing class on Wednesday with the first day of the early signing period.

To get the ball rolling, the Bulldogs were able to lock in commitments from a number of prospects throughout the morning while waiting on a few big decisions to take place later in the afternoon.

The 2021 recruiting cycle has been like no other as coaches deal with the challenge of pitching prospects on their program without official on-campus visits and the ability to tour facilities.

In a year like this, having the top recruiters in the country is as important as ever. Luckily for the Dawgs, that doesn’t seem to be much of a problem under Coach Kirby Smart.

No matter what happens on Wednesday, the Bulldogs will land another Top 10 and likely Top 5 class thanks to ‘The Closer’ …

Make sure to follow along with us here on UGAWire as we bring you the latest coverage of everything early signing day related.

You can find updates on the latest Bulldog signees and recruits yet to make a decision on the next page.

 

Georgia football play of the day – Georgia vs Auburn (2017)

Watch the Georgia football play of the day here!

It’s Tuesday, September 1, just 25 days until Georgia football is scheduled to kick off versus Arkansas.

Today’s play of the day comes from the 2017 SEC Championship game which featured No. 6 Georgia and No. 2 Auburn.

Auburn had thrashed the Bulldogs in their annual regular season matchup 40-17, so Georgia was looking for some redemption this time around.

We pick up early in the second quarter with the Tigers up 7-0. Auburn has controlled the pace of the game so far and faces a third and six from the Georgia 14 yard line.

Watch what happened next here:

A turning point for Georgia who would go on to score 28 unanswered points and secure its first SEC title since 2005. Truly an outstanding defensive performance by the Bulldogs in this one.

Auburn star quarterback Jarret Stidham was held to 145 yards passing and the Tigers offense tallied just 259 total yards.

 

Texas Tech limits home games to 25% capacity, will require face coverings. Will Georgia follow?

Texas Tech becomes the 4th school to reportedly plan to limit stadium capacity. Could UGA eventually release a similar plan for Sanford?

Per college football insider Brett McMurphy, Texas Tech University will limit its football stadium’s capacity to maximum of 25%, as well as institute a face covering requirement to both fans and staff at all home football games.

Texas, Ohio State and LSU have all reportedly planned to limit the capacity of their iconic football stadiums due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, now Texas Tech follows suit.

Sad thoughts, of course, to Ohio State with the Big Ten’s plan to postpone until spring.

But the real question is, with four major Power Five school’s already releasing a plan to limit stadium capacity – how long before more SEC schools, or specifically the University of Georgia follows with a similar plan?

UGA plans to have face-to-face classes starting Aug 20 – until late November when classes move online – and in early July, UGA listed a limited capacity ‘option‘ in a plan release by a UGA athletics group: Plans for a Phased Return to Full Operations.

Things said, I could definitely see Georgia doing something with Stanford Stadium this year that is similar to the schools who have college towns similar to Athens.

Athens is definitely one of those historic places at risk with so many small business in one place and, without students or fans, I suspect it wouldn’t be the city DawgNation knows and loves before long.

Notre Dame Makes Cut for Former Star Commitment

Deion Colzie is one of the top wide receivers in the 2021 recruiting class. The one-time Notre Dame commitment hasn’t eliminated the Irish.

Notre Dame once had a commitment from wide receiver Deion Colzie of Athens, Georgia before the star high school senior-to-be stepped away from that and reopened his recruitment.

Colzie still hasn’t announced the school of his choice but did make a cut down to ten teams over the weekend and Notre Dame is still in the discussion.

Notre Dame joins Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Penn State, Oregon, Virginia and Florida for the talented receiver.

247Sports ranks Colzie as the third best receiver in the 2021 recruiting class while the 247Sports composite rankings find him to be the 45th best prospect in the entire class and fifth best receiver.

Tom Loy of 247Sports reported the following of Colzie:

“In talking to a source on this front, some on the staff believe that if Colzie agrees to get back on campus at some point before making a decision, the staff feels strongly that they can get him back on board. However, again, nobody feels great about a return trip taking place. They are just hopeful at this point.” – Tom Loy of 247Sports

That’s not the most-optimistic of looks for the Fighting Irish who currently have just one wide receiver in their 2021 recruiting class, Lorenzo Styles, Jr.

Carmelo Anthony tells stories from 2004 Olympics with LeBron James

Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony told a great story about LeBron James and the as youngsters on the 2004 Olympics.

When it comes to stories of the quarantine, there may be no better active player in the NBA who is a better storyteller than Carmelo Anthony of the Portland Trail Blazers. Anthony, who entered the league in the iconic 2003 NBA Draft with LeBron James, has seen a lot over his years and he was also one of the game’s biggest stars in the last 20 years. And he and LeBron were often side-by-side, including during what was one of the blemishes on USA Basketball on the international stage, during the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Anthony was a guest on the UNINTERRUPTED WRTS: After Party that follows “The Last Dance,” on Sunday nights and he told a previously unknown story about how he and LeBron felt like the young guys on the 2004 team, with veterans like Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan as the veterans. Anthony also recalls that veterans who weren’t quite as big, such as Richard Jefferson and Shawn Marion, started over he and LeBron, leading to a pact between the two phenoms to destroy the veterans every time they played.

Four years later, Anthony and James weren’t the elder statesman but they were key members of the 2008 Redeem Team that won the gold medal back for the United States, along with Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul. In fact, Wade is currently producing a documentary on that 2008 team, which will hopefully include some more of those insights that Carmelo shared about a less-than-stellar 2004 performance for the U.S.

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Former players, current UGA staffers Jarvis Jones and Bryan Gantt helping others during coronavirus pandemic

Former UGA football players Jarvis Jones and Bryant Gantt gave out lunches in Athens-Clarke county during COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, former Georgia football players Jarvis Jones and Bryant Gantt provided lunches to the Athens-Clarke County Solid Waste Department staff.

Gantt wrote:

“We wanted to provide lunch to some of the people who are overlooked.”

Gantt was a letterman for the Bulldogs under the great Vince Dooley from 1988-90 and Jones was an All-American from 2011-2012. Both are now on the UGA staff.

It is nice to see the University of Georgia being represented by guys like Jones and Gantt. Hopefully acts like these can help to motivate and inspire us during these strange times.

All that is left is R.E.M. Steeple – Celebrating the beginning of Athens’ legendary band

Has it been forty years? Has four decades passed since the legendary indie-rock super group, R.E.M., one of the most consequential bands of the time, and perhaps the world’s greatest alternative rock band, performed for the first time as a group in …

Has it been forty years? Has four decades passed since the legendary indie-rock super group, R.E.M., one of the most consequential bands of the time, and perhaps the world’s greatest alternative rock band, performed for the first time as a group in Athens, Georgia?

The four University of Georgia students who formed R.E.M. captured the spirit of Athens in the early 1980s and took college radio by storm. Over a 31-year run as multi-platinum-selling artists, R.E.M. became international superstars by creating a niche never witnessed before…..oblique lyrics, intellectualism, a quirkiness, all encompassing, soulful music….a new musical language that captured the imagination of a generation and spawned a musical revolution.

Five months before the glorious debut of Georgia freshman running back Herschel Walker and the Bulldogs march to the national championship, R.E.M. began its musical and creative ascent and would help define the Classic City as a world-recognized music and cultural mecca.  From that first performance in the old St. Mary’s Church on April 5, 1980 to selling some 90 million albums worldwide, bassist and vocalist Mike Mills, front-man Michael Stipe, guitarist-mandolinist Peter Buck and original drummer Bill Berry were a pioneer of the genre and always were true to their early, college underground musical roots.

The boys, who called it a day on September 21, 2011, transcended underground and mainstream music but forever held on to that rock-rebelliousness. At the time, Michael Stipe told the Daily Beast, “If anything, in disbanding, R.E.M. managed to do something that’s never been done before in the history of pop music. We did so as friends, with no external forces causing that to happen and without lawyers having to square off. It was just that the time had come.”

Let’s go back to the beginning, to October 1979, because it’s here in the Classic City, that four students became known to the world as R.E.M. Stipe was an art student, where he befriended Buck, an Emory transfer working as a clerk at Wuxtry Records downtown. At a local party, they met UGA students Mills and Berry, Macon natives.

Berry and Mills had played together in a high school band called Shadowfax and were living in Reed Hall, enjoying college life and experiencing the burgeoning music scene around Athens. Stipe and Berry moved into converted apartments at St. Mary’s Church, a place only college kids could appreciate. One of the oldest structures in Athens, the church had been turned into a space where the city’s local artists hung out, practiced and lived.

The boys rehearsed at St. Mary’s in anticipation of their first show at the birthday party of friend Kathleen O’Brien. On Saturday afternoon, they stopped by WUOG, the campus radio station, for a pre-show interview. Some reports said the group appeared as Twisted Kites, but the band later confirmed that they hadn’t yet decided on what to call themselves. The band opened with The Troggs’ “I Can’t Help Myself” and followed with the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen.”

No one had any idea what the significance of that event on Saturday night in St. Mary’s would be. They weren’t even called R.E.M. but that night would be the beginning of 31 years of musical magic.

By the time R.E.M. played their second show on April 19th at the 11:11 Koffee Klub in Athens, they had picked a name (out of the dictionary): “R.E.M.” A reported 150 fans attended the show and true to their alternative form, the police shut the show down at 2:30am. The band was building momentum in May with Athens’ shows at Tyrone’s O.C., Memorial Hall, the 40 Watt Club and the Mad Hatter.

During a May show, R.E.M. opened for The Brains. The Georgia student newspaper, the Red & Black proclaimed, “R.E.M. blew away The Brains.” Mills and Berry moved into St. Mary’s in June and the boys were playing several dates a month.  In July, they had their first gigs out of Georgia, when they played two shows in Carrboro, NC followed by a show in Raleigh.

Shows primarily in Athens continued throughout the fall and in December, the band opened for the Police in Atlanta’s Fox Theater before 4,000 people. In early 1981, the band released Radio Free Europe. The single received critical acclaim, and its success on college radio earned the band a record deal with I.R.S. Records. The band was well on their way to becoming a world-renown icon.

Meanwhile, St. Mary’s slowly began to disappear. History in the South is woven into the fabric of our lives and in Athens, history is as thick as a sultry August morning. Originally designed as a place of worship in 1849 for a local manufacturing company, the church was later decommissioned after the plant closed. The Red Cross revamped the space into residences, setting the stage for an important moment in music history. Within a decade, R.E.M. were international superstars, but the site of their first show was set for demolition.

The building was demolished in 1990 but the steeple was saved. Condos soon rose where St. Mary’s once stood but the steeple began to badly deteriorate.

“The steeple is the iconic symbol of Athens music, I think — what’s left from where we were,” Marc Tissenbaum, a project manager who sought to restore the site, told Flagpole. “When I first got here in 1986, everyone knew that was the R.E.M. steeple. … It’s a landmark. It’s a beacon. It’s a lot of things.”

The condo association gave the steeple to the nearby Nuci’s Space, a nonprofit organization that provides an array of services to assist in the emotional, physical and professional well-being of musicians. A crowdfunding campaign raised $150,000 to cover the restoration of the steeple and provide some needed support for Nuçi’s Space. R.E.M. and Athens alumni like the B-52’s, Drive-By Truckers and Neutral Milk Hotel donated guitars and autographed items for backers.

Today the “R.E.M. Steeple” is known to be a pilgrimage site of sorts for R.E.M. fans or music fans in general. It is a landmark in rock history and one of the most important sites in alternative music. Forty years ago, four college boys who simply wanted to be in a band and create some inspiring music, reached heights no one could ever imagined and inspired a generation.